Page 59 of Beached Wedding

“I know, but Fliss, nothing stays the same.” I started to add more, hesitated, then decided to give her the courtesy of being raw and real. “Are you going to stay twelve and need me exactly this same amount? You already don’t.”

She snapped a look at me and I could tell she wasn’t sure if she wanted to deny that or assure me that she didn’t need meat all. Twelve. Such a ridiculously difficult age for the person in it, let alone the people around them.

“I wasn’t much older than you when your mom had you,” I reminded her. “Grandma was working and your Dad...” I shrugged because I barely knew the guy and his absence had made things less complicated in the long run so I didn’t run him down to his daughter. “Your mom’s friends were doing what teenagers do. They weren’t around to help her. I was the one she leaned on and I don’t resent it. I love you, Fliss. I love youso much, but you’re finally old enough that Icanleave. I can think about what Iwant to do, rather than what Grandma thinks I should do, or what your mom needs me to do. You’ve already started making a life of your own. You’d rather hang out at Sofia’s than hang out with me. Which isfine.”

She had her arms folded and wasn’t looking at me, but I could see a gloss on her eyes.

“This is the age where you’re going to want more and more independence. Growing up is like learning to walk. You want cushions to fall back on, but once you figure it out, you keep going with it. You never go back tonotwalking. Not if you can help it. Shane was my cushion. He’s gone and I stumbled and it hurts, but I have to pick myself up and keep trying. I can’t go backwards.”

“You thought you would feel more independent by gettingmarried?Grownups really are stupid.”

“We really are. But you realize I’m not leaving you at the pound, right? She’s your mom. And wherever I end up, you can come visit.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.” I offered mine.

After a discontented sigh, she hooked hers into it and gave it a jiggle.

FOX

Ashley was beside me, soft hands whispering across my bare chest, lips touching my throat. Her hair fell to tickle my shoulder and the short blue nightgown she wore was slippery beneath my palms, heating under my touch as I grasped her waist and drew her onto me. I ran my hands down her back, slow, savoring the feel of her, sleek and smooth and lovely.

She parted her legs over my hips, settling intense heat against my cock while her mouth found mine in the dark. The soft mounds of her breasts were squashed against my chest. I wanted her nipples in my mouth, but I didn’t want to stop kissing her or lose that volcanic heat crushing my rocket.

This was the kiss of life that was the prelude to the little death. I was hard and throbbing, aching to be inside her, but wanting to play it out. Savor. My greedy hands flowed down to the lace that cut across the tops of her thighs. I drew circles with my palms on her bare cheeks so the silk rode up. I let my fingers follow the strap of her thong into the crease of her ass, reaching to probe beneath into slippery heat.

I groaned with gratification, wanting inside her so bad?—

“Fox?”

I snapped my eyes open. I was wo close to losing my load, I had to clench my fist around my throbbing cock. My heart was pounding, the room dark, my breath broken.

“Are you having a nightmare?”

She was still in the bed on the other side of the room, thank God. Not standing over me, witnessing me nearly succumb to a wet dream.

“Yeah,” I lied belatedly, voice rasped with acute sexual frustration. “What time is it?”

Her body shifted across the sheets. It was the most erotic sound I’d ever heard in my life. “Five eighteen. Are you going to surf?”

If I could climb out of bed without breaking my dick off, “Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about your dream? Was it about the rescue?”

“No.” I hoped like hell she couldn’t see I was tenting the front of my briefs as I made my walk to the bathroom. I couldn’t even take a piss, I was so hard. My balls were still tight, my skin damp and so sensitive, I felt every molecule in the air as I moved through it. My heart was thudding unevenly, pushing blood around that didn’t know where to go.

The waves would cool my jets, but I’d have to sport this trophy all the way through the lobby and down to the beach. Fucking brilliant.

What was even happening to me? I’d always thought Ash was hot and sure, I’d ogled a few times, keeping it subtle and always reminding himself she was off limits.She still was.

I splashed cold water on my face and the back of my neck, rinsed my mouth, thought about a story I’d once heard about a torn scrotum. That scared enough starch out of Fox junior, I could step into my borrowed boardies and shirt. I held a towel in front of me as I searched out my keycard, dimly aware thatAshley was sitting up in that big, wide, sweet-smelling bed, peering through the dark, watching me leave.

It was So. Fucking. Hard.

ASHLEY

As the helicopter banked, I resisted the force that pressed me into Fox, not wanting him to think I was literally pushing up on him. Each time I did end up squashed against him, he subtly pulled away with what felt like avoidance. On the next tilt, he was in my space, though, so I really didn’t know how to interpret it.

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