Ash’s hands frame my face and his mouth covers mine as soon as we’re inside his house. He kicks the door shut and we fumble around, walking through his dark house.
“I’ll give you the full house tour later,” he says, sweeping my hair away from my neck and kissing the sensitive spot above my collarbone.
Goosebumps race down my arms. His hands return to my face and he captures my mouth again. The man can kiss.
A throbbing started between my legs hours ago. Everything about him. His touch. His words. The way he spent all night acting like no one else mattered but me. His attention is all-consuming.
I slide my hands under his sweater and flatten my palms against his warm, toned stomach and then up over his chest and around to his back. Hard planes of skin and sculpted muscle. Chiseled and lean, strong.
He’s doing his own exploration. His hands roam all over my body. From cradling my face to pulling my hair to squeezing my ass and teasing the skin just under the hem of my dress.
I let out a whimper when his fingers graze the inside of my thigh.
“I don’t usually do this,” I say, knowing I’m such a cliché.
“Do you want to stop?”
“God, no.”
He chuckles, then moves his hand up over the curve of my ass. He hooks his thumb around the back of my thong and pulls so the material tightens around my core. My entire body trembles and I react by sinking my nails into his skin.
He lets out a low groan. Long fingers splay out over my ass cheeks. He pulls back and looks down at me with my dress bunched up around my hips and my panties wedged between my slickness.
“Goddamn, Bridge.”
Flames dance over my skin. I pull his sweater up and he helps me remove it. My eyes adjust to the dark and I admire his tattoos. I trace the butterfly tattoo with a finger and read the script over his chest. Collect moments. It seems appropriate because this moment right now, I don’t ever want to forget it.
Slowly, I let my hands drop back over his six-pack abs and v-cut to the top of his jeans. He’s patient, letting me have a moment to take him in. But his jaw is tight, and his muscles are coiled taut.
He flips on a light, revealing his living room when I flick the button open and then slide the zipper down.
He goes back to kissing my neck and collarbone as I glide my hand down the front of his open jeans, under his boxers, until I can wrap my fingers around his hard length. He’s thick and long. He rocks into my touch and I swipe my thumb over the tip.
I’m rewarded with his teeth scraping along my skin and his hands squeezing my ass so hard it almost hurts. He shifts, sliding one leg between mine. My sensitive pussy jolts at the contact.
“Wait,” I say, pulling away only enough to get out the word. “This…us. Is this just tonight?”
He freezes immediately, but his dick twitches against my stomach in protest. “Definitely not.”
“But it’s just casual, right?”
His gaze narrows a fraction. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes.” I swallow. “We should keep it casual. It works with your schedule and I’m not ready to do another relationship. Plus, who knows what Gabe would do if he thought we were together, and I don’t want to do anything that could come between me and Everly.”
“That’s a lot of reasons.”
“I’ve thought about it a lot.”
He clicks his tongue and nods, fighting a smile at my admission. I’ve thought about us together and now he knows it. “We can do this however you want.”
“Casual,” I repeat. “We’ll see each other when we both want but no labels, or going out together in public, and when it’s over, we’ll be friendly or at least civil when our paths cross.”
“Already talking about the end and I haven’t been inside you yet.” Ash chuckles, then groans again as he finally moves his fingers to my clit. It feels too good to do anything but rub against him. I need more.
“I just want to make sure we have a plan,” I say. What I mean is that without one, I think this man could crush my heart into a million pieces.
“Got it.” His voice is gruff. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Sit down? Why? Do you want to stop?”
“Fuck no.” He takes my bottom lip between his teeth and lets out a low growl. “I want to keep kissing you, but I think we’d both be a lot happier if you were riding my dick while I did it.”
My body shudders. “We agree on something.”
I push his jeans and boxers down while we walk over to the couch, and Ash frees me of my panties.
He takes a seat, dick jutting up strong and proud. I swallow thickly as he hooks one arm around my back and pulls me down onto him.
We lunge for each other, kissing like it’s been days instead of seconds since his lips were on mine last.
While he devours my mouth, he pulls the fabric of my dress up. He breaks the kiss to pull it over my head, then tosses it on the couch beside us as his stare locks on my chest. A bra didn’t work with this dress, and damn am I grateful.
His movements are slow as he brings both hands up to cover my breasts. Calloused fingers stroke and squeeze. He leans in to taste me. Licking, then taking a nipple between his teeth.
His cock stirs underneath me.
“Condom?” I ask.
He doesn’t remove his face from between my breasts as he answers, “In my wallet.”
I lean down to get his jeans off the floor. They’re just out of reach so I bend farther, arching away from him. He holds on to my hips and keeps me from falling back onto the ground as I grab his jeans.
I basically do a sit-up to get back on his lap. Hello, ab workout. I hold them up over my head like a prize. “Got ’em.”
He takes them, pulls out his wallet from the front pocket and opens it to get the condom. He tosses everything except the rubber back onto the floor.
I gawk a little as he tears it open and covers himself. He’s bigger than anyone I’ve been with before. It all seemed normal and proportional until I thought about putting it inside me.
“Wow,” I say. “Umm…that’s kind of a lot.”
His body shakes with silent laughter.
“No, really. Are you above average or has it been too long since I’ve seen a penis in real life?”
In one sweeping motion, he has me on my back on the couch and he hovers over me. “Let’s just say we need to make sure you’re ready for me.”
My eyes widen, but any trepidation is quickly replaced by pleasure as he slides down my body and buries his face between my legs.
Heat pools in my stomach as pleasure jolts my hips up. Ash pins me in place, devouring me until I’m squirming and whimpering.
“Ash.” His name comes out raspy and quiet.
“Ready for me, babe?” He places a soft kiss on my inner thigh and then chases it with a bite.
I am so ready. If I have to wait another second, I might die. I’m unable to form the words, so I nod.
I’m more than a little nervous as the head of his dick nudges my entrance. He pushes in slowly, inch by thick, long inch.
“Still okay?” he asks.
I let out a shaky breath and look up at him. His beautiful face is tense but painted with pleasure.
“I’m great.”
“You feel so damn good squeezing my dick. So beautiful. So tight. So perfect.”
His words feed the frenzy of emotions bouncing around inside me. I’ve had casual sex before, but I don’t remember it feeling like this.
When he starts to move, pleasure rolls through me so fast I’m a little embarrassed at how quickly he’s going to be able to get me off. I’m not usually so fast to orgasm. But Ash. Oh god, Ash.
I accidentally say that last part out loud and he gets a wicked gleam in his eyes. His pace is slow and lazy like he’s in no hurry.
Still, every thrust takes my breath away and makes my limbs liquify. I’m putty in his very big and capable hands.
“I like it when you say my name,” he says as his lips sweep over mine.
“Ash,” I say again as he licks my neck and then sucks.
“Been dreaming about this since the first time I saw you,” he admits, pausing with his dick buried inside me. He wraps an arm around my back and pulls me back to a sitting position on his lap.
The new angle is bliss. Stars explode behind my eyes and my head falls forward and rests against his shoulder.
“You’re close,” he says.
“I think it’s the alcohol.”
“I think it’s my dick.”
I laugh and the movement makes me clench around him again. We both groan.
Ash starts to move underneath me, raising his hips to push himself deeper and using the arm around my waist to hold me in place.
It only takes a few more pumps before I’m coming apart around him so hard that I see stars. It’s the best thing I’ve ever felt but it still somehow doesn’t quell the ache between my legs. He follows a few seconds later, threading his fingers through my hair and sucking hard on my neck as he groans through his release.
We collapse against each other, breathless and panting.
“Damn. That was hot. Your pussy is still clenched so tight, I don’t wanna pull out.”
Laughing softly, I move off him with all the grace my jelly legs will allow. Ash removes the condom and gets rid of it while I look for my panties. I’m pulling them on when he comes back into the living room.
His body is insane. And his dick—wow. I don’t know how that thing was inside me. He arches one brow with a cocky smirk. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Umm…I’m not sure. Home maybe. I know you said I could stay over, but Everly is probably still at the party and I can grab a ride home with her. This was fun.”
I have no idea how to act after casual sex that felt very not casual. I should have laid that out in the plan. We had sex. Now what? Am I supposed to stay and chat or get the hell out of here?
“Fun, huh?” He walks over to me and places both hands at my waist. Those long fingers caress my skin and my core throbs.
“It was fantastic, okay?” I roll my eyes at the ego on this man. “But there’s no need for me to stay the night.”
“I disagree,” he says, lifting me into his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist instinctually. “I’m not done with you yet.”
I wake up in Ash’s bed with his muscular arm wrapped around my waist. My body feels like I ran a marathon or climbed Mount Everest. Sex with Ash was a workout.
I carefully wiggle out of his hold and get up. He offered me a T-shirt and sweats to sleep in, then proceeded to strip me out of them again once we got into bed. I find both discarded items and put them on before padding out of the room in search of my phone.
I think I left it in the living room. Or maybe the entryway.
“Good morning.” Everly scares the crap out of me. She’s standing in the kitchen and wears a pleased smirk as she leans against the counter, cradling a mug in both hands.
I squeak my surprise and place a hand over my now racing heart. “Holy crap.”
She laughs wickedly. Bless her, she hands me a cup of coffee before she says, “Looks like someone had fun last night.”
I bring a hand up to my messy hair. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Must have been some night. Ash never sleeps this late.”
I don’t tell her that he only stopped giving me orgasms about two hours ago.
“Morning.” Ash ambles out, eyes still half closed, wearing only a pair of loose sweats that are dangerously low on his hips. He aims a sleepy smile at me as he rubs the back of his neck. God help me, I glance down at his crotch like I could possibly have any more sex right now. I’m going to be sore for a week. “Morning, Little Sharpie.”
“Hey. Thanks for letting me crash last night. It felt like old times.” She looks at me. “Well, almost.”
“You’re always welcome to crash here. You know that.” He pours a cup of coffee before joining me on the other side of the counter. He brushes his lips over mine in a kiss so quick I don’t have time to freak out. Okay, not too much time. “You’re always welcome to crash here too.”
“Yeah, I bet she is,” Everly mutters.
“What are your plans today?” Ash asks us.
“Food and then a nap. By the way, Leo and Declan stopped by about five minutes ago to see if you wanted to go on a run. And Ty texted me to get a hold of you. He and Maverick were going to play on the outdoor rink behind Mav’s house. I told all of them that you were occupied.”
My face heats. I’m not embarrassed that his friends know we spent the night together, but it all feels very not casual.
“We should get going,” I say to Everly.
She shoots me a surprised, wide-eyed look, but nods. “Sure. I’m starving. Want to see if Grace will pick us up and we can find somewhere for brunch? Her flight got in about an hour ago.”
“That sounds great.”
Everly nods and picks up her phone.
“I can take you guys home,” Ash says as he brings his coffee up to his lips. He looks real good shirtless, and those sweats should be criminal. Another inch and I could see his dick.
“Already on her way.” Ev’s fingers tap quickly over the screen. “She’ll be here in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes? I snap out of my trance. I don’t even know where my panties are. I glance down, then up to find Ash smirking at me like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
“I’m going to get my stuff together,” I say and hurry away.
My clothes are all over the place. I finally get a good look at his house. It’s cozier than I expected. In the living room is the big, gray sectional we had sex on last night. My stomach does a cartwheel at the memory. There’s also a chair and smaller couch on either side of the room. I bet half his team could comfortably sit in here.
A huge TV takes up the other wall, but there isn’t much else in terms of art. Still, it’s impressive and I can picture Ash in here with his friends.
Once I find all my clothes, I scurry back to Ash’s room as he continues to chat with Everly in the kitchen. I’m slipping back into last night’s dress when he comes in and wraps his arms around me.
“Running away?” he asks, voice still a little gruff from sleep.
Definitely. I slept with Ash. Many times. And, wow, I’m going to need a minute to freak out. Ash Kelly blew my mind. Instead of saying all that, I go with, “You have things to do. Your friends are looking for you.”
“They’re not as pretty as you. Stay and hang out. I’ll feed you and then we can chill. I don’t have anywhere I need to be until late this afternoon.”
“I can’t.”
“Fine,” he huffs playfully. “What about tomorrow? We leave for St. Louis around four, but I’m free after practice in the morning.”
My first instinct is to say no, even though I want to spend more time with him. I’m hesitant about jumping into a new relationship, even a casual one. But Ash has agreed to everything I’ve asked. He’s nice and funny, and I lost track of the number of times he made me come last night.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
A smile takes over his face. “I’ll swing by and pick you up after practice.”
