I cling to Ares, soaking his shirt as he walks to the top level and heads toward my bedroom. He continues to hold me as he opens my door and steps inside the dark room. With supreme tenderness, he lays me down on the bed. I turn on my side, sobbing into my pillow as I curl into a ball.
My mind loves torturing me, sending visual slideshows of what is most likely happening next door. Every image I have stored in my brain of the guy I gave my virginity and heart to first replays unhelpfully behind my eyes. Yet in this version of my memories, it is Julia Chad is sliding inside. It’s her lips he’s kissing, her pussy he’s devouring, and her ass he’s pounding. It’s her Jase is joining as he too slips into the bedroom.
My cries grow louder as the bed dips behind me. Ares circles his arms around me, and I lean back into his touch, needing his warmth and the comfort he’s offering.
I know I will regret this tomorrow.
That he’ll find some way of turning my vulnerability around on me, but tonight I don’t care.
I need him because I have never felt more heartbroken or more alone.
“It’s okay,” he whispers against my neck, his warm breath sending shivers rippling over my skin. “You’re going to be okay. He never deserved you, Ashley. Jase didn’t either. You were always far too good for them.”
I cry harder because it’s not true.
We were perfect together.
Until we weren’t.
Jase tore apart what we had, and Chad and I took a machete to our relationship together.
Although I was the one who dealt the deathblow—I cheated, and that is unforgivable—Chad is far from innocent of blame. Distance had grown between us from the moment his family’s fortunes changed and he made one bad decision after another. His actions derailed his life, yet in those few weeks before we split, he did nothing but turn it around on me. As if it was my fault. He seemed to resent me when all I was trying to do was help. I’m not saying it excuses my cheating. It doesn’t. But he gave me no emotional support when Jase and I broke up despite supposedly taking my side.
Tonight confirms it. Chad and I are truly over forever. He won’t ever forgive me for sleeping with his enemy, and I will never forgive him for sleeping with mine.
Our joint choices led to this place, and there is no point crying over spilled milk.
It’s done, and there is no going back.
That realization lands hard, and my sobs slowly subside as I mourn the ending of my first love. Turning around, I face Ares. Pushing my body up close to his, I gently cup his face. God, he’s so gorgeous when he’s holding nothing back like now.
I see the full extent of his adoration, and this time I believe it.
Does it excuse his shitty behavior? Nope, but maybe it’s time I stopped fighting the feelings I have for him.
“Why did you do it? Just tell me that,” I ask.
“It started out as revenge for reasons I will explain if you want to know.”
“I do.”
He nods. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But not now. Now isn’t the right time or place, but soon, I promise.”
Maybe I’m a gullible fool, but I believe him. “Okay.”
“It started as vengeance, but it became so much more.” Taking my free hand, he places it over his heart. “You’re in here, Ashley.” He doesn’t often say my full name, but I love hearing it tumble from his lips. “And you were always meant to be mine.Onlymine.” He brushes his lips against my mouth. “Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. We were meant to find one another.”
“That’s some heavy shit for the middle of the night when I’m still nursing a broken heart,” I admit, snuggling into his chest.
His chest rumbles with light laughter. “True.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Sleep, dollface. I’ll be here when you wake.”
“Ares.” I lift my head and stare at him. “Thank you for being there tonight. Despite what I said, I don’t think I would’ve been brave enough to step up to that door if I’d been alone.”
He brushes my pink hair back off my face. “You would have, Ashley, because you are stronger than you know.”
My eyes lower to his mouth the same time he leans in, and we move as one, our lips colliding in a slow, sensual, passionate kiss I feel all the way to my toes. His kiss is unhurried and worshipping, and I’m melting against him because it’s everything I have been denying myself for months.
I thread my fingers in his silky-soft hair, and he presses his large palm flat against my back, holding me close. He nips at my lips, and his tongue prods at the seam, asking for entry. I don’t deny him, readily parting my lips so his tongue can slide inside. I moan into his mouth as every nerve ending in my body sparks to life. He ignites a fire inside me with every expert sweep of his lips and flourish of his tongue, and I have never been kissed like this before.
