Triumph gleamed in Ash’s eyes. “Good,” he said fiercely. “So he said nothing? Did he look at you?”
“I ran into him, or rather he nearly ran into me when I was waiting outside the ladies’ restroom for Mia and Bethany. He came out of the men’s restroom and I gasped when I saw him. He looked . . . horrible!”
“Good,” Ash muttered again.
“I asked him what happened but he never said a word. He acted like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”
Ash smirked. “Guess my message got through then.”
“Yeah, I guess it did,” she murmured.
He stroked his hand through her hair and then pressed a kiss to her temple. “It still bothering you?”
“No,” she whispered. “I think it bothers me more because it doesn’t bother me. I know that makes no sense, but I feel guilty. I feel like a horrible person for not being appalled over what happened to him.”
He kissed her again, leaving his lips pressed against her head. “You not feeling guilty over that scumbag getting what he deserves doesn’t make you a bad person. He’s an asshole, Josie. Think about the fact that not only will he not hurt you again, but he won’t hurt any other woman. Having him arrested doesn’t guarantee that. Me kicking his ass and threatening to ruin him if he ever so much as touches another woman wrong does.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll get over it. He did deserve it. I almost wish I’d been there so I could hit him in the nuts just once.”
Ash chuckled. “I got in plenty for you, baby. Don’t ever want you involved in that kind of shit. Want you to shine. Not be dragged in the shadows with me.”
“Sticking up for me doesn’t mean you live in shadows, Ash. It means a lot that you’d risk so much. For me.”
“Bet on that,” he said in a low, serious tone. “Don’t ever question it. Whatever you need, whatever you want, is yours. Never have to ask.”
She leaned up to kiss him. “In that case, make love to me, Ash. That’s what I really need and what I really want right now.”
“That, you definitely never have to ask for,” he growled against her mouth.
He shifted upward, leaned her forward before rising and lifting her into his arms. He carried her to the bedroom and gently, reverently laid her on the bed.
“Don’t know what you have in mind tonight, baby, but what I want to give you is the sweet. You’ve had the pain. Don’t want you thinking about pain tonight, not when you just saw the bastard who inflicted it on you. So tonight, I’m going to give you the sweet. Going to make love to you so you not only know how I feel about you, but you’ll feel it too.”
God, but she loved this man, and it grew increasingly harder not to let those words slip out. How easy it would be to tell him, but she wanted it at the right moment. Right now she wasn’t sure what the right moment would be. But she didn’t want him to think they were just words said in the heat of the moment. She wanted him to know with absolute certainty that she meant them and that they came from her heart.
He leaned down, fusing his mouth hotly to hers. Their tongues met and slid sensuously over one another. Rough then soft. Hot, damp, electric.
He wanted to show her, but she also wanted to show him. Wanted to make love to him. Let him feel what he meant to her.
She braced her palms on his shoulders and then slid them up to the column of his neck. She pulled him lower, meeting his tongue with hers, tangling them breathlessly. She tasted him. Wanted more.
Her fingers trailed down his shirt, tugging impatiently. “I want you naked,” she complained.
He chuckled, the sound vibrating over her mouth. “I want you naked too. What do you say we both do something about that?”
“Race you,” she challenged, a broad grin attacking her lips.
“Oh hell no,” he said with a laugh when she rolled, tearing at her clothing. “Cheating little wench.”