Page 30 of Burn With Me

I caught the smirk on his lips as he closed my door. This was all very new for me. The fanning myself and complete mental fog that took over my brain were things that happened to other people. I was in control. I had my shit together and didn’t need a man in my life.

I gave myself a pep talk as he rounded the truck and got in, but it did no good. As soon as we were trapped in the small enclosure, my body continued to rebel against me.

“So where are we going first,” I asked.

“That is a surprise. I know a great spot where the water is crystal clear at this time of day, and I’m thinking we can start with going for a swim before the beach gets too busy. Then, we’ll head to the wharf and skate our way along until we get hungry and then stop somewhere to eat. Tonight is open for discussion,” he said and smiled.

“Sounds great.” I settled into the seat as I racked my brain for a question to ask. “Tell me something interesting about yourself,” I finally settled on. It was a safe question.

He looked over at me and cocked his head like he was thinking. “I prefer to be a dominant in most aspects of my life, including the bedroom,” he said, and you could’ve knocked me over with a feather. Okay, so not such a safe question.

I guess he showed me.

I was familiar with the term, but the full meaning was lost on me.

“Oh…okay.”

“Does that bother you,” he asked.

It did a lot of things to me, but I wasn’t sure bothered was one of them. “More uncertain about what that means. Are you talking like that grey movie and contracts kind of thing?”

“Sort of. How about I tell you a different fact for now?” I nodded.

I wasn’t sure I was ready to process anymore than that bombshell. Beck was going to have a field day with that knowledge. Before I knew it, she’d turn my room into a full kink club if she thought it would make Asher stick around.

“Well, my home life wasn’t great, and as I said, I was placed with my adoptive family and am still very close to the woman that became my mom. But before that, I lived for three years on a farm with a really nice elderly couple and helped them with chores in exchange for food and board. I was fourteen when I ended up back in the system and was lucky enough to be taken in by Mr. and Mrs. Pinchin.” He took a moment and rubbed the back of his neck like talking about any of this made him uncomfortable.

“I call both Monique and her brother, Ryan, my cousins even though we spent most of our lives living like step-siblings. It just didn’t feel right to call them that and one day, I introduced them as my cousins, and it sort of stuck. I was pretty lucky to find a decent family. At that age, most people are not looking to take on that sort of potential trouble.”

“I know that feeling. I don’t know where I’d be or what I’d be doing today if it wasn’t for my best friend Rebecca and her family. When my parents died, they took me in right away. My closest relative was an aunt who lived multiple states over, and I rarely saw her.”

“Sounds like we both got lucky,” Asher said.

I wasn’t sure about that, but I got what he meant. It could’ve been a whole lot worse for both of us.

“I like country music,” I blurted out. “Well, I like lots of different kinds of music, but I love country.”

“Rock mostly for me, but I’ll listen and can appreciate everything. Who have you gone to see in concert,” Asher asked.

“I’ve never been to a concert. Just wasn’t something I thought much about doing.” I shrugged as Asher’s mouth dropped open.

“Okay, that needs to change. Do you like Justin Timberlake, Blake Shelton or how about Pink?”

“I love Pink. She is a total badass, and I love her voice. I also adore Blake, and listen to his music all the time.”

Asher nodded like he was filing the information away. I really wanted to ask more about what it meant for him to say he was dominant, but we turned off the main road, and I had to grip the door to keep myself from thrashing about on the rough lane. My ass bounced mercilessly over the bumps, and all I could think about was how this felt like an old-style rollercoaster.

“Sorry, but we’re almost there.”

True to his word, the heavily treed road opened up to a spectacular little beachfront that sat on a tucked-away lagoon. “Wow, this is stunning. How did you find this spot?”

“I like to do some sailing, like the smaller racing boats. When I was nineteen, I took a date out on the boat, but we weren’t exactly interested in sailing, if you catch my drift. Anyway, I didn’t anchor properly and was a little too busy to notice we were floating. We ended up just outside the mouth of this spot. I was damn lucky that I didn’t hit a rock or part of the hard coral because there is a lot of it in this area.”

“Why am I not surprised that you found this spot because of sex,” I said.

“Why Vi, whatever are you insinuating,” he teased as he put the truck in park.

“Nothing. Just that I’m not surprised,” I said and shrugged.