Because he was begging for one.
Kallie tried to step out the door, but the man made another grab for her. And that pissed Ash off. She could see it in his eyes. Ash stepped in front of her and Kallie squealed, then watched as the drunken man shoved Ash again. He stumbled into the door and Kallie tried to catch him, and that was when Ash glanced down.
And his eyes took in the bruise on her arm.
She watched Ash’s eyes flare before he shrugged. He drew in a deep breath and sighed as Kallie backed away. She wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want the guys to fight, but he had hurt her. And she knew that made Ash angry. The drunk man lunged at Ash again and she yelped, but in the blurry moment between him lunging and her yelling out for Ash to be careful, his arm came up. Ash used the man’s heavy motions to his disadvantage and ran him into the doorway, taking the man to his knees.
Without ever throwing a punch.
Kallie looked back up into Ash’s eyes as her jaw unhinged in shock. He stepped over the man as the security guards tried to scoop him up. Ash threaded his arm around Kallie’s shoulders, his fingertips dancing along her bruise.
“Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” he said.
And she was more than happy when Ash
hailed them both a cab.
Chapter 10
Kallie
The cab pulled up, but Kallie couldn't keep her eyes off the man beside her. He opened the door for her and she slid in, missing the heat of his body next to her. Kallie lived a sheltered life. Away from anything that was violent or overtly sexual. It wasn’t something her family indulged in, and it had never been something that had interested her. But as the man slid into the cab beside her, her hormones went crazy. Her hands were trembling and her breasts were puckering at the mere thought of him.
She wanted him more than anything.
All her life, she’d held back. Held back in her feelings and her emotions. Held back in her actions and her words. She bit her tongue more than she needed to, even with her ex. Keeping quiet when she needed to speak up. Lying back and taking things when she needed to be voicing what she thought was good and necessary. And watching the way Ash had handled that drunk with such a graceful force had her insides melting. Churning. Pulsing for more of him.
Kallie was tired of holding back.
She wanted to experience life. To no longer be chained to the wants or expectations of her. All her life, she had been good at organizing other’s lives. At helping them with schedules and bills and budgeting. Hell, she had made her own personal career out of it. She took on clients for monthly fees that gave her access to everything. And in return, she scheduled their days, cut out the excess, helped them budget, and took that once-frazzled human being and turned them into a shining beacon of adulthood.
She was good at it.
But she wanted to be good at other things.
She wanted to be good at letting go. At exploring life for what it was. She wanted to be good at experiencing the world around her, like Ash could. She wanted to indulge in the things she wanted, like bowls of cereal at two in the morning and chocolate milk just for the hell of it. She wanted to break free from all of the boxes she’d put herself in because someone somewhere along the line told her it was inappropriate.
That it was inappropriate to drink chocolate milk whenever she wanted and that cereal wasn’t a proper meal.
It was all she knew, but that didn’t mean it was right. Just because the sand was all the waves of the ocean knew didn’t mean there weren’t other things. There were fish and coral reefs and humans swimming in the water. There were storm and water spouts and tsunamis. The ocean had so much to explore and so much to give, and so much to receive in return. All it had to do was be open to the prospect of what something else could give it.
All Kallie had to do was open up and receive what was being given to her.
Screw holding back.
Ash didn’t get his ass in the seat before she flung herself at him. Her lips crashed against his and his arms were immediately around her. Pressing into her exposed back and shimmying between her thighs as she straddled his hips. His lips pressed into hers. His tongue pressed into her mouth. Her tongue raked against his, dancing the same dance that had consumed them the entire night.
She was lost in a sea of endless lust, and she wasn’t going to stop it.
She felt his hands traveling her body as she ground against him. His cock was rising to the occasion and throbbing against her skin. He was thick. Long. And the idea made her shiver. Ash’s hand rushed down to her ass, gripping her tightly and pulling her closer. She was wet. Her pussy was pooling juices into her panties. Her lips broke the kiss and her face fell to his neck, her hand twisting in his hair.
She pulled his head to the side, commanding his body as he groaned.
He kneaded her ass, pulling her cheeks apart and pressing her pussy against his clothed cock. She whimpered against his skin and his hands grew needier. He slapped her ass and she yelped, but the sting was oh so wonderful. Unlike anything she’d experienced in her life before, and she smiled into the crook of his neck.
“Again,” she said breathlessly.
He cracked his hand against her other cheek, and she felt electricity surge through her veins. Her lips nibbled at the skin on his neck. Her tongue slid along his pulse point. His cock was throbbing endlessly against her leg. Begging to be taken out and paid attention to.