Yeah, he wasn’t going to examine that thought too closely.
“Well, then I guess I’ll just mind my own business.” She tried to turn from him, but he didn’t let her go.
“That’s not what I meant.” He took a step closer. “I know what you’re capable of, Gloria. I just want you to be able to lean on me, rely on me. Let me fight a few battles so you aren’t fighting them all.”
There came the wave of hurt again, rolling through her eyes like troubled seas in a storm. He sensed she wanted to let go. She just didn’t know how.
“Partially my fault,” he said. And it was. He hadn’t exactly stepped up for her in the past. “I haven’t proven much to you, Sarge. That changes tonight.” He had exactly zero experience with being anyone’s hero. High time he started living up to it. Hell, past time.
“You don’t have to do anything!” Her shout drew a few glances from their friends. She closed her eyes and held her arms with her hands. Closing off. Closing in. Protecting herself.
The reasons behind her reaction became ridiculously clear in an instant. She’d never had anyone stick anything out with her or for her.
Until now.
“Tough shit, Sarge. It’s done.”
She’d opened her eyes but refused to look at him. Somehow he had to get her out from behind her barrier. He could see she was uncomfortable. Probably because the dynamic had shifted between them. She would have one hell of a time accepting him calling the shots instead of her. Asher grinned. She was like a wild mare who needed to be broken. But he wasn’t a complete idiot. Even a broke mare could kick his teeth in.
He grasped her hand and she accepted, weaving her fingers with his gently. Slowly. He started for the stairs leading to the deck, but she didn’t move. Their arms stretched straight between them.
He tugged her hand the slightest bit. Once. Twice. Finally, she came to him. One trudging step at a time, but she came. When she was within reach, he leaned close but didn’t kiss her.
Her eyes darkened and her lips parted. He put his forehead on hers and took a deep breath. Inhaling her, feeling her warmth. Her softness.
Still, he didn’t kiss her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice breathy.
The answer was simple. “Making you want it, honey.”
Chapter 11
No one’s looking, Sarge.” His grin was as Big Bad Wolf as they came.
Like that mattered? Like she was just supposed to follow wherever he led? Her mind turned over the conversation they’d just had.
“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” she said. Belatedly, but at least she said it.
“Yeah. I do. But first, I have to thank you.”
“Thank me?” She was getting more uncomfortable by the second.
“Repeatedly.” His eyebrows jumped and he tugged her hand and she followed.
God help her, she followed him up the stairs, past a scowling Jordan and mildly concerned Broderick, into the house, and straight to the main bathroom.
A night-light plugged into the wall was lit, and Ash didn’t bother hitting the switch. He shut the door. Then locked it.
“What are we doing in here?” She swallowed, nervous, and backed away from him a step.
“Thanking you.”
“For what?”
“Taking up for me out there.” He palmed her hips.
“I was taking up for Hawk.” She backed up another step and he went with her, pushing her to the wall beside the door. How did she keep ending up in this situation with him?
“Same thing,” he murmured, then his lips crashed down onto hers.
There wasn’t a single part of her—now that he’d preoccupied her mouth so thoroughly—that wanted to argue. The pressure had been building between them. What was about to happen? There was no denying it.
In a flash, he unzipped her dress and yanked it down, exposing her bra. He buried his face into her cleavage, just above the pretty little bow in the center. She dropped her head back against the wall. Fingers in the center of the bra, he tugged it down, suckling each of her nipples while her back arched to get closer to his heated mouth.
“Take this off,” he said, then put his lips on hers. Shakily, she removed her bra and he pushed her dress to the floor. She stepped out of it, kicking off each of her flats. Anticipation had turned to expectation and she was vibrating with it.
Asher pulled off his T-shirt and pressed into her, his skin warm. She looped her arms around his neck and he kept his eyes trained on hers in the dimly lit room.
“Let’s have some fun,” he said.
She smiled. Yes. Fun. That’s what sex had been with Asher before things became deep and complicated. Fun was just what she needed.
He smiled back, wrapping his hands around the backs of her thighs. “Legs around me, Sarge.”
He lifted her and she wrapped her ankles around his back. Her back was pressed flat to the wall, and propped there only by his hips. Which was lovely, because that left his hands free. He thumbed her nipple with one hand and curled the other around her jaw, his lips hovering just over hers.