“Asher … please … I need you.”
I hear her screams in my mind as water hits my back and I press my free palm into the shower wall. My eyes screw shut as a sort of static lines my vision and fire licks up my spine and hips.
Giving myself a final tug, I picture those blue eyes on me.
“Fuck, Liv,” I grunt out as I come, hard. Spilling into the shower, I bite my lip to contain my groan, then try to catch my breath as my cock jerks in my hand.
I’ve reached a new level of fucked, jacking myself off just because she’s sleeping in my home. All my fucking control—the rules I’ve had my entire life—officially broken.
As I push my hair off my face, my heart rate slowly starts to come down. I have no idea how long I’ll make it like this with her here. Taking care of her while also wanting to strip every bit of clothing from her and get her between my sheets, is a balance I worry I won’t be able to find.
I towel off, tossing on my boxers, then my sweats, before making my way downstairs to check on her. I search for Duke as I pass through the kitchen. But he isn’t in his bed in front of my fireplace. I continue my search for my suck of a dog until I find him curled up in my bed with Olivia, as if that has always been his home.
My patio door is open and a light breeze blows through theroom. The sounds of summer cicadas and tree frogs outside fill the air as I lean on my bedroom doorframe for a moment, allowing myself to watch her. The glow of the TV—which I assume is playing one of her rom-coms—is the only light in the room, illuminating Olivia’s sleeping form. Her copper hair is splayed around her, the red tones a stark contrast to my white bedding, and her full, pink lips are slightly parted as she breathes softly with one arm up over her head. My duvet is untucked and messy—surrounding her in soft tufts—and her cow slippers peek out from just beneath the heavy throw. Even those stupid things are growing on me.What is this woman doing to me?
I couldn’t tell you how long I stand here, just watching her, noticing the tiniest details I normally force myself to look away from. I could easily forgo sleep to just look at her like this until the sun eventually rises. I’ve watched her for years, but this is different. She stirs with a soft moan, and it brings me out of my trance. Tapping the side of my leg lightly, I signal for Duke to follow me. He lifts his head up but makes no sign of movement, simply grunting and lowering his head back down beside her feet. It seems he has zero interest in coming with me.
“Don’t blame you,” I mutter to him as I flick the TV off and cast one more glance at Olivia sleeping peacefully in my bed. And that’s when I hear it, another tiny moan that sends all the blood in my body rushing back to my cock.
“Asher …”
Yep. Fuck it. I’m keeping her.
CHAPTER 36
Olivia
“Mmmm … that’s it, kitten.” I look down into those dark mercury eyes to the beast of a man nestled between my thighs, gripping them tight to hold me close. He uses his free hand to spread me apart before running his tongue firmly through my soaking core. The ache is too strong. I want him too badly. Ineedhim. He doesn’t hide the way he wants me either as he groans against my clit, his eyes closing as he tastes me. My legs begin to shake as I cry out his name. “Asher!”
I’m panting so hard I feel dizzy as my body quakes for him and desire rolls through me at the sight of him on his knees for me. I moan as he sucks my clit firmly into his mouth and those eyes spark open, now vibrant and light as he burrows his face deeper, watching me.
“Show me how well you ride my tongue, Liv ….” Asher feasts on me in a way no one before him has. I do what he says and rock my hips. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I exist only for the pleasure his tongue and his perfect mouth offer me. I can’t keep up as he trades between licking, sucking, and nipping at me. My legs shake and, in mere seconds, I feel the orgasm taking its firm hold, centering everycell in my body. My eyes meet his, and he lets out a rumbling growl as his tongue laps against my clit.
“Your cunt is always so needy, always fucking dripping for me, isn’t it?” He smirks against me. “Only for me. Because you’remine,Olivia.”
I bolt up in bed, sweating, my heart beating erratically fast. The ache between my thighs is real, even though I was dreaming.
My attention is brought back to the present when I feel something move at my feet. Duke gruffs and lays his furry, warm head on top of my blanket-covered feet. I slump back down into the pillows.
“You stayed with me all night, boy?” I say. He isn’t interested in waking up yet and, instead, slumps against my feet as his pillow.
I glance out to the woods behind Asher’s house. The lightening gray sky is a stark contrast to the mountain, and the patio door is still open. The morning breeze enters the space, bringing the sound of birds with it. Asher’s bed was so comfortable to sleep in, and as I look around the room now, rested but still very turned on, I breathe in the delicious scent of him that lingers in the plush pillows. I flip my phone over on the bedside table to see that it’s just after six a.m.
I listen for movement anywhere else in the house but find nothing. I do, however smell coffee … which tells me Asher is already awake? Mortification washes over me as I wonder if he just heard me, if I wasactuallymoaning his name in my sleep.
All I have to do is sit up for the nausea to creep in. I reach for my bag beside the bed and grab two salted crackers from the stash I brought last night when we stopped at my place on the way home from the hospital. Popping them into my mouth, I close my eyes as I chew, willing my stomach to settle andreminding myself it’s good that I feel this. The ER doc said morning sickness is a sign of a healthy pregnancy.
After a few minutes my stomach feels calmer, so I slide my feet out from the blankets and stand, stretching as I grab my hoodie and toss it on over my tank, my pajama shorts still on from when I crawled in last night. I toss my mass of tangled hair back into a bun, then pad out to the kitchen. I’m surprised when I don’t see Asher anywhere, though there is a pot of coffee brewed and an empty mug in the sink.What time does this man get up?
I spy a Post-it note on the counter.Went for a run. This is half decaf, there’s cream in the fridge.
I putter around the kitchen, pulling out a mug from the mug cabinet—all black, all in a neat row. I pour myself a cup of coffee, breathing in the delicious smell and taking a big sip. Then I look for the ingredients I might need and, surprisingly, Asher has everything. I wonder if it’s overstepping but then decide it’s the least I can do to thank him for being so supportive.
It takes me no time at all to whip up a quick batch of pumpkin spice muffins from the puréed pumpkin in his refrigerator. As I wait for them to bake, I scroll through my pregnancy app to understand the changes I can expect this week. This week, the baby has officially leveled up to fetus, and it says he or she is already an inch and a half long. I’m watching a 3D rendering of a little alien when the oven beeps. The smell of pumpkin and spice fills the air when I pull the muffins out to cool.
I yawn and top up my mug as my phone buzzes on the counter,
MOM
