Page 131 of The Love Penalty

Asher shakes his head. “So fucking cheesy, you guys.” But he looks ready to cry.

They love him, and I think he’s starting to see just how much.

Reaching up on my tiptoes, I press my nose into his cheek, then kiss him when he turns his head. My fingers thread through his dark locks and I hold him against me, hoping he can feel how much I love him too.

CHAPTER 58

ASHER

I can’t remember falling asleep, but when I wake up, Lani is lying beside me. Her long black hair is draped across my pillow, and her naked shoulder is calling me like a siren. I brush my lips across it, then nibble my way up to her ear.

She lets out a sleepy murmur and a soft giggle, rolling over to face me.

Her brown eyes drink me in like I matter, and I soak in her gaze before pressing my lips to hers, then meandering down her body and taking my time paying attention to all her most sensitive spots.

Her fingers dig into my hair as I lick her clit and send her spiraling with an orgasm that rocks her entire body. She cries out my name, reminding me how important she is… why I’ve turned my back on blood for the sake of this woman.

Grabbing my shoulders, she urges me back up her body, sliding her tongue into my mouth and begging me to finish what I’ve started.

“I want you,” she whispers, kissing my whiskers and licking a line down my neck while I scramble for a condom.

She wraps me, then easily guides me inside her.

I take her slowly at first, filling her core and drinking in her ecstasy until I start to lose the ability to focus. She feels so fucking good encasing me that soon all I can feel is her wet heat wrapping my cock like a glove. She draws me in, her heels digging into my ass cheeks as she urges me deeper.

Our pants mingle together and we kiss each other’s breath, our rhythm picking up tempo. Her fingers draw deep lines on my shoulders as I suck her neck and she starts to gasp.

My pace quickens even more, and then I start to splinter. A choked groan oozes out of my mouth as I thrust into her and let myself go.

It’s fucking amazing, and she clings to me when I thrust again and bury myself as deep as I can go.

“Love you, baby.” She whispers the words repeatedly against my skin, and I revel in it.

She’s my woman, and I would do anything for her.

And that’s exactly what I say to my dad when I speak to him two hours later.

He called me as I was leaving a lecture, and as much as I wanted to ignore him, I figured, why delay the inevitable?

“They’ll crucify you for this,” Dad warns me. “Is she really worth it?”

“Dad,” I huff. “Even if she wasn’t mine and I’d found out what Harvey did… I still couldn’t stay silent. He can’t keep doing this. Someone has to stop him, and even if it means walking away from my Denver family, I’ll do it.” I hold my breath, almost afraid to ask the next part. “Will I, um… will I be walking away from my New York family too?”

Dad pauses, like he’s surprised I’d even ask that. After a thick beat, he assures me, “Of course not. You’re our son. And yes, it’s awkward right now, but our loyalties lie with you.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, still hating this great divide. Mom will be feeling it. Uncle Hayes is her brother. Her flesh and blood, and this whole thing will set them against each other.

Trudging down the stone steps, I find a bench in the sunshine and take a seat, ready to see just how far my father’s loyalties will go.

Pressing the phone to my ear, I will my courage not to fail me and quickly blurt, “Will you still be loyal to me if I tell you I don’t want to do the summer internship?” I wince and figure I might as well get it over with in one hit. “If I tell you, I don’t really want to work for Bensens & Co?”

He goes deathly quiet for so long, I actually check my screen to make sure he’s still on the line. “Dad?”

“I was worried that might be the case. You weren’t exactly excited about that internship, and…” He sighs. “Asher, your whole life, you’ve always been so determined to walk to the beat of your own drum. We had to make you go to that boarding school, and I had already bought you a Harvard jacket when you went and picked Nolan U. I thought you were doing it just to piss me off, but…”

“I wasn’t, Dad. I didn’t pick Nolan to spite you. I wanted to play hockey here, and they have a great?—”

“Is that what you want to do? Go pro?” He sounds more than disappointed.

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