Page 47 of Puck to the Heart
“Will you let me help you through it? I think it’ll help, like before.” His eyes searched mine with no judgment.
Did he read my mind? “I think that would help.”
“Good.” A slow grin spread across his gorgeous face. “So, are you gonna let me tell you what to do?”
I scoffed, grateful to him for bringing us back to a lighter place. “Maybe.”
“Be a good girl for me, Barnes, and do as you’re told.” The grin grew wider at my gasp.
The praise bolted heat right to my center, which was already molten and aching, but my desire to rail against authority also perked up at being told what to do.
Interesting.
Ash quirked an eyebrow at me, suddenly serious again. “I want a verbal answer, though. I need you to say yes or no if you want this to go forward. You said sex was like an experiment for you, so will you let me learn what works for you? Let me take the lead?” His hand slid up my arm in a caress meant to soothe and ease my flayed nerves.
“Yes.” The pressure lifted, somehow, agreeing to let him take control. A whoosh of air left my lungs.
Ash’s whole demeanor shifted, his posture going straighter and more commanding. Sharper, fully in focus. “Good. Now, on the bed.” Watching him with every step, I backed up until my knees hit the mattress and I sank down. Following, Ash towered over me in my sitting position until he gently pushed me backward, silently directing me to fully lie back. And then his heavy, hard body was over mine, engulfing me.
The heat of his exhale brushed over the shell of my ear, the ghost of sensation sending wisps of heat curling over my skin. Soft lips against my jaw, below my ear, and finally brushing over mine with a gentle force melting my body against his. Damn, I turned to putty so easily in his hands, and he barely touched me.
But after a few minutes no matter what he did, how much fire he stoked in me, all those old echoes came bouncing back into my skull, louder than everything else. My brain kept cataloging details, even when I wanted it to stop. The heat of his hands as they slid beneath my shirt. The whir of the air conditioner. The glide of his tongue against my bottom lip. The faint yellow tone of the light. As much as I tried to keep my body under control, he must’ve noticed the shift and backed away to look down at me.
“What’s wrong?” Concern tugged the corners of his mouth own, inverting his dimples. I wanted to press my thumbs in them, set them right, anything to keep him from giving me the startled, almost sad look on his face.
“I just…I can’t get out of my head. My brain won’t shut the hell up. Everything sort of zooms in and out, and I justcan’t.
“So, you’re distracted?”
“Yes, but no? Iwantto be here, but…” I let it trail off as Ash’s breath ghosted over my skin when he leaned his forehead against mine again. “Sorry.” I mumbled, tucking my face against his shoulder to hide burning cheeks.
“I have an idea.”
His warmth vanished. A click, then darkness enveloped the room, the only light from the glow of the candle he’d lit earlier. It was softer, less real, more like the liminal spaces in my mind when I fell somewhere between sleeping and waking and dreams.
The darkness fell like velvet against my skin, and removing the extra source of sensory input heightened my other senses to a new level. The clean, warm scent of his sheets and the creak of the bed as he settled over me again, the places where we touched and where we didn’t.
And itworked. Heat pooled low in my belly, tension unspooling along my limbs, desperate for friction. I inhaled slowly, and Ash laughed. It was so light and close to my ear, his voice reverberated through me, and I shuddered, clamping my thighs together.
“Is this better?” Smug confidence rang in his voice. “Are you ready, Barnes?”
“Yes, so much better. Ash,please.” I didn’t mean to beg, didn’t know what I was begging for, but the velvety dark drew all my focus to how wet andneedyI was.
“You know, I don’t think you’ve ever been this nice to me. I’m going to remember this moment.” The deep rumble of his voice against my neck had me squirming beneath him. Until he moved away.
“I don’t care what you do, just—” The bed shifted with his movement.
Strong hands slid beneath my arms and pulled roughly aligning my back with his chest. It wasn’t what I expected, but hesurroundedme again, caging me in in a way that felt safe, not confining.
He loosened my ponytail, gently tugging the elastic to release the strands. Slowly, his fingers trailed down the back of my neck, with a light pull to tip my head back against his shoulder. When his mouth pressed to a spot beneath my ear, the unexpected light touch in the darkness would’ve had my body jerking if he hadn’t held me in place. Warmth seeped into my skin as he moved one hand to the hem of my shirt, sliding it beneath the material, lightly drawing his hand over my stomach.
In another life, I might have hissed at him not to touch me there, to avoid the soft flesh, but I’d given up hating myself over what someone else thought I should look like after constant comparisons. Instead, I let his hand continue the caressing path up my body until he found what he sought. The soft fabric of his shirt was light and barely touched me, but still agonizing against the peaked tips of my breasts until his rough palm glided over them, nearly making me whimper at the contrast.
Ash’s breath remained even, mostly, though he inhaled sharply when he palmed my breast. A mental image of how we must look popped in my mind, and I nearly regretted the darkness until I remembered he switched off the lights to keep me from drowning in my thoughts. Which was exactly what I was?—
Pressure on my nipple, sweet and sharp almost to the point of pain, snapped my mind back to the situation at hand.
“I hear you thinking again.” His voice sounded near my ear.
