Page 47 of Fatal Vengeance

“Asher,” I breathe out in warning, because I’m so not down for the dirty promise in his eyes. I may like an audience, but only when it’s one of my guys. Not anyone else, and sure as fuck not my sister.

Asher smirks as he settles in his spot on the ground, his hands still on my thighs and burning through my pants, his touch scorching hot. “What’s wrong, pet? I thought I was supposed to beg for scraps?”

My cheeks burn with a mortified blush, which is only intensified when Genevieve tosses her head back with a cackle. She claps her hands, practically wheezing, “Pet? Okay, I’m calling it. I don’t want to know any more about my sister’s kinky shit.” She shoots me a look, almost like she impressed by this turn of events, which is really not helping my flaming cheek situation, and then she pushes up off the couch and heads for her bedroom. Before she walks down the hall, she stops and adds, “You know, Asher, I expected you to throw a bitch fit, but you surprised me. I guess you’re not totally a lost cause. Just don’t hurt my sister again, or I'll be forced to disembowel you. I know a guy who could teach me.” And then she’s gone, leaving me sitting stiffly on the couch with Asher kneeling between my fucking knees.

I clear my throat once I hear her bedroom door shut, murmuring, “You can get up now.”

He skims his palms up higher, stopping right before his thumbs reach the apex of my thighs. “You sure?”

No.

“Yes,” I breathe. We may have finally gotten over the intimacy hurdle the other night, but that was in a group setting and we didn't go all the way. Having Asher on his own? I don't know if I'll survive all the dark promises I see glittering in his eyes right now. Something to test another time. Soon, just not now.

Asher squeezes my thighs possessively before slowly standing, licking his lips as if he wishes he could taste what he was just so very close to, and my insides liquefy. Focus, Prudence. Stop thinking about his perfect lips. Sitting beside me on the couch, a much safer position, he shoots me this cocky, panty-melting grin, like he's just so damn proud of himself.

I huff out a breath, trying to clear my mind. “I hate you so much.”

Asher laughs, deep and delicious, tossing his arm over my shoulders and urging me to lean into his side. “No you don’t. I’m not sure you ever really did. Strongly disliked, sure. But hate? Nah, I don't think so,” he counters like a smug asshole.

Part of me wants to slam my fist into his dick just to set the record straight. Yes, I did hate him. I fucking loathed Asher. Until… I didn’t. But I don’t want to get into our messy past. Maybe we can fight it out another time. In, um, private. Today, though, while two pieces of my heart are so far from me, I don’t want to argue. I just want to melt into Asher and stare out the window until Creed and Griffin are back and safe with me.

“Tell me they’re going to be okay,” I whisper as I shift a little and get more comfortable, leaning my head on Asher’s shoulder and sighing as he rubs my arm mindlessly.

“They’ll be fine, Prudence. Don’t worry about them, okay? Creed is on high alert, even with his— um, you know, his current state. And Griffin has enough silent fury to down an army bare-handed. They’ll come back to you,” Asher reassures me, his voice soft and gentle, which is strange coming from him after so long hearing his bitter, icy tone. Strange, but not unpleasant.

"They’ll come back to us," I correct, poking his stomach, which is rock fucking hard. Asher breathes out a chuckle, but doesn’t say anything, so I continue, "Can we talk about you and Griffin?"

I don’t know what I expect. Maybe this’ll be a touchy subject. Maybe Asher will recoil and tell me it’s none of my business. I stiffen as soon as the words are out of my mouth, regretting bringing it up. I should have waited and spoken to Griffin instead.

But Asher doesn’t lash out. He doesn’t make some harsh remark and storm off. There isn’t a hint of my bully anywhere in this man as he peers down at me with a filthy smirk that’s only dimmed a bit by the slight blush climbing up his cheeks.

“What exactly do you want to talk about regarding my relationship with Griffin?” he muses easily, and I find myself relaxing in relief, curling closer into his strong body.

“So it is a relationship, then? I wasn’t sure if you two were just…"

“Just fucking?” Asher finishes for me. I nod. He shrugs a little beneath me, my head lifting with the movement. “I don’t think I’m capable of just with him. Griffin is my best friend, aside from Creed, but being my cousin, that was a built-in friendship that we didn’t have much choice in. But Griffin? He had a choice. He could have walked away from me many times over the years. When I acted out because my dad beat the shit out of me, when I was an asshole teenager with an attitude too big to control, when I became a puppet for those sick fucks and tried to hurt you because I was told to." His voice softens over that last part, regret thick in the low tone. Neither of us comments on it, though, so he adds, "I’ve been out of control in my life too many times, getting pulled in directions I couldn’t come back from. But even when I wasn’t truly myself, when I was the very worst version of the man I should have been, Griffin stood by me. So, no, there isn’t any just fucking when it comes to us."

I smile softly, tracing the swoop neck of his soft gray t-shirt. “You love him.” It’s not a question, but a statement because it’s so obvious from the almost awed way he speaks about Griffin.

Asher drops his cheek to the top of my head, nodding a bit and whispering, “So do you.”

Butterflies take flight in my stomach, a mix of the best feelings and the worst. Is this the moment when Asher tells me Griffin will have to choose?

I love Griffin so much. He’s just as integral to my well-being as Creed is. I can’t imagine trying to live without him. It’s be like walking through life without my soul, just an empty shell with organs and a useless heart keeping me going.

Asher kisses the top of my head, murmuring, “Take a breath, Prudence. Whatever you’re worrying that gorgeous mind about, quit it.”

Lady balls, Prudence. Grow them.

“I was just wondering how you felt? About me being with Griffin? While you’re also with Griffin?” The other day when we'd all been together, it was just so spur of the moment. A punishment and a claiming. But none of us have spoken about it since. What if Asher regrets it or doesn't want to share a man as amazing and kind-hearted as Griffin?

“What do you mean?” Asher asks, as if he really can't fathom what I'd be concerned about.

“Like, well, does it bother you?” There’s an annoying high pitch in my voice that exposes my worries, but I try to ignore it.

Asher leans back and tips my chin up with his finger, his eyes flicking between mine while a truly obscene smile tugs up his lips. “No, pet. It doesn’t bother me. In fact,” he starts, his voice dripping with pure fucking sex. “I can think of some amazing ways to show you both how okay I am with this dynamic.”

Annnd there my mind goes, right back to the gutter.

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