Page 96 of Ash Fall

"I’m being careful with you."

"I don’t want careful. I want you."

That goes straight to my cock. Careful is over.

She’s perfect. I’ve imagined this more times than I can count and got it wrong every single time, because what I built in my head was some polished fantasy and what’s in front of me is so much better. Sweet little freckles are scattered across her pale, smooth skin that I never knew were there and I want to trace every one of them with my tongue. She’s soft and flushed pink everywhere my lips have already been, glowing faintly, completely real and completely mine to look at.

"Look at you." It comes out breathless against her skin. "Sweetheart, you have no idea."

But I try and show her as I taste every inch of her. Her breasts first—thoroughly. I drag the flat of my tongue over one tight nipple, then close my lips around it and suck until her fingers twist hard in my hair and my name starts coming out of her in broken pieces. I switch to the other, teeth grazing just enough to make her gasp, then soothe it with slow, wet pulls. Her hips keep lifting off the mattress, chasing friction I haven’t given her yet, and every time she does it my control thins a little more. My cock is already aching behind my zipper, heavy and insistent, but I ignore it. Tonight is about her.

My mouth moves over her ribs as I slide my lips down her body to the dip of her waist, lingering on the soft plane of her stomach that twitches under my lips and makes her let out a sexy little laugh. It’s a short, startled sound that goes straight to my dick, so I do it again just to hear and feel it. Her hands stay buried in my hair and the glow follows wherever my mouth goes, gathering and brightening under her skin. I watch it happen while I hook my fingers into the waistband of those little shorts.

I take them and the lace underneath in one pull, drag them down her legs and off. Then I sit back on my heels and look at her laid out bare in front of me, hair spread across the pillow, breathing gone ragged and watching me look at every inch of her with hazy, desire filled eyes. Whatever I told myself about somebody else getting to her first…none of it survives this. This woman was made for me. It’s possible she was made for the five of us, and I’m not fighting any of it anymore.

I put my hands on her thighs and push them wider, opening her for me. She’s already wet for me. The soft pink of her core is glistening, swollen, and she makes a small, helpless sound.

"Gage," Her voice wavers. "Please."

I can’t wait one more second and lower my head between her thighs, taking my time now the way a man does when he’s waited years to do something and intends to savor it. At first, I just breathe her in, pressing my mouth against her warmth, then I drag the flat of my tongue up the center of her in one long, deliberate stroke. She tastes like heat and something sweeter underneath. Her whole-body jerks so I do it again, slower, spreading her open with my thumbs so I can see every detail while I lick into her. She’s so soft and wet against my tongue that a low sound of approval rumbles out of my chest. This must be what heaven tastes like.

I settle in, circling her clit with the tip of my tongue, gently and then change to flatter, firmer strokes that make her thighs tremble against my shoulders. When I seal my lips over her clit and suck, her hands fly to the sheets and fist them hard as she bucks against my mouth. I slide two fingers into her, slow and careful until I’m fully inside and the wet heat of her clenches around them immediately. She’s tight and perfect and so ready it almost undoes me.

I fuck her with my fingers while I work her clit with my tongue, curling them just right, loving the way her breathing fractures.

"Gage," she moans, softly at first then a little louder. "That’s so good…I’m going to…"

Then the words fall apart completely and all that’s left are sharp, desperate little sounds that get higher every time I suck and flick her clit while stroking in and out of her. Her back bows up off the bed and light pours out of her skin bright enough to throw shadows across the ceiling of the room. I hold her open and keep going, relentless, until she comes apart under my mouth with her thighs clamping hard around my shoulders and her inner walls pulsing around my fingers. A broken cry tears out of her throat while the glow flares white-hot.

I stay with her through every second of it, as every wave of her orgasm ripples through her body, licking her softly through the aftershocks until her thighs go loose and the brightness of her light starts to fade.

Only then do I kiss my way back up her body with slow, open-mouthed kisses, tasting the salt on her skin and the fading warmth of the glow. By the time I reach her lips she’s got both hands on my face, kissing me lazily, her eyes soft and unfocused, still trembling a little under me.

Her hand slides down my stomach toward my belt.

"Not tonight." I whisper as I catch her wrist and bring it up to my mouth instead.

"But you..."

"I'm fine." I am nothing close to fine and she knows it but that doesn’t matter. "There's time for the rest. We've all got a lot to figure out first, every one of us, and I'm not doing that part with you in a hurry. You deserve better than a rushed moment in the back of your parents' motorhome when your grandmother can walk in at any moment."

She goes quiet on me as her fingers trace along my jaw and then stop.

"Does this mean what I think it means?"

Rolling onto my side, I pull her in against my chest, skin on skin and she fits there exactly the way I always knew she would.

"It means I love you, Luna." I kiss her forehead and keep her there. "And I'll do whatever it takes to have you and see you happy."

Out in the bay, muffled through the walls, Jules loudly accuses Briar of running a criminal enterprise and Elenor tells him to take his losses like a man.

Luna starts laughing against my chest, and I tighten my arms around her in the dark, loving the sound of it and thinking how I want to hear her laugh in my arms every day for the rest of my life.

Chapter 36 - Jules

Gage comes down the motorhome steps at first light wearing yesterday's shirt and a contented expression on his face He looks more relaxed than I’ve seen him in a long time, even before the moon cracked. The biggest tell is that permanent crease between his eyebrows is gone. He crosses the bay toward the shower rooms without noticing me sitting on the fifth wheel steps with a cup of coffee. That says plenty on its own, because Gage notices everything. The fact that he walks right past me tells me more than I need to know about how his night went.

A slow grin pulls at my lips as I take another drink. It's about fucking time.