Chapter Two
Ashton
"I'd like to thank everyone for coming here tonight. It's a double celebration as not only is it Ivy's twenty-first birthday, but she's also graduated college early," Kathy beams at the guests gathered around in the large drawing-room at the three-story townhouse.
She looks happy, maybe the happiest I've seen her since Jack, her husband, and my best friend died. Pride shines from her face as she mentions her daughter, and a whole shit-storm of emotions hit me.
Ivy.
The daughter of my two best friends.
Tonight is her party to celebrate her twenty-first birthday and graduation, her coming-of-age. And damned if the way she keeps looking at me doesn't prove she's all grown up. No longer off-limits. Everything inside me wants her, wants to own her, possess her.
She's a woman now, and, Jesus, fuck, she's hot. Somehow, cute little Ivy has grown into the most desirable woman I've ever laid eyes on. She's all plush tits and wild curves with an ass I want to palm and squeeze as I fuck her.
She's womanly, and she walks around like she has no fucking clue how tempting she is. She's also clumsy and disorganized, but she has a determination and intelligence that's rare at her age. There's a freshness, a youthfulness that clings to her, but she's also got a good head on her shoulders. Losing her father probably had something to do with that when she was sixteen. She had to grow up quicker than most girls her age.
A natural caregiver, she's just completed her Associate Nursing Degree, and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, she'll be amazing in her chosen career.
How can I interfere with that? With her plans for her future? There are so many reasons I can't, I shouldn't, claim her as mine, but it's getting harder and harder to remember a single fucking one of them.
Especially tonight, when she looks like a dream in an ocean-blue dress that transforms her into a goddess. It skims all her delicious curves while emphasizing her magnificent tits and rounded ass.
At eighteen years her senior, I'm too goddamn old for her, but there's something about Ivy that has me as hard as fucking steel. And that is a real problem.
It didn't happen overnight. My feelings for her slowly started to change just before her eighteenth birthday. I hugged her that night, lifting her off her feet as I held her close, her warm body and soft skin under my hands. Her whole face lit up when she was in my arms, and as I pulled away, something passed between us, something primal and needy.
Then, later that evening, I glimpsed her in her underwear as I passed her bedroom on the way to the bathroom. Her door was ajar as she removed her dress. She didn't shy away from my eyes as I paused outside her door, held immobile by the sight of her in silk bra and panties. No, she turned to me, letting me look my fill, her back arching slightly, her eyes drowsy with desire.
And what did I do? I walked away. Hardest fucking thing I've ever done.
Maybe I should've claimed her that night, but I had to let her spread her wings a little, experience a little of life first, even if it was in the sheltered confines of an exclusive college. If she came back to me after that? Well, then all bets were off.
"To Ivy!"
"To Ivy!" the guests raise their glasses and bottles of beer in unison.
I glance across at Ivy to find her golden-brown eyes already fixed on me. My heart skips, and my dick throbs at the look in those tawny eyes. I raise my glass an inch, silently toasting her, giving her what I hope is a cool smile while my insides turn to lava.
My self-control is slipping where she's concerned, and I'm dangerously close to the precipice. One nudge, and I know I'll be tumbling face-first over the edge and straight into Ivy's arms.