him more room. My neck leaned back as he kissed across my throat.
While his thumb skimmed my clit, I fumbled with the button on his jeans, lowering the zipper and diving into his boxers. I surrounded his hardness with my palm, lifting and lowering it over his shaft.
“I need you,” he moaned. “Right fucking now.”
He was using his foot to pull down my jeans, and I slipped out of a boot to free up one of my legs. That was when he picked me up and straddled me across his waist, holding me against the bookshelf.
His lips were devouring mine when he said, “Can you reach my wallet? There’s a condom in there.”
“I’m on birth control.”
He pulled away to look into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Yes.”
Within a second, his mouth returned to my lips, and he moved my panties to the side to position himself. His grip shifted to my ass, and he slowly plunged inside me.
“Oh fuck, that feels good,” I breathed, the fullness taking ahold of my body.
The sensation of skin was entirely new—I’d only ever felt latex before.
“Damn it, Pearl,” he breathed as his speed increased, the power he was using causing my shoulders to bang into the hardcovers. “You’re so fucking wet.”
Holding on to the shelf with all the strength I had, I couldn’t focus on anything aside from the way he was making me feel. My orgasm was building, my breath gasping from my lungs, a tingling moving through me.
“Oh God,” I sighed.
I wrapped my arms around him, hugging his chest to mine, taking the pounding he was giving me, my wetness guiding him in.
“Kiss me, Pearl.”
My face had fallen into his neck, but I pulled it out to give him what he wanted. His mouth, as talented as the rest of him, owned me the moment his tongue slid in.
A sensation burst from between my legs, his dominance causing those pulses to increase.
“Mmm,” I groaned as his speed turned even faster, and in this position, I could do nothing but take it. Each plunge felt better, even when he gave it to me harder. “Just”—I breathed, my body heading toward the peak—“like … that.”
He bit down on my lip. “I can feel you getting close.”
His nipping set off another set of tingles, and I urged myself upward, meeting him at each thrust. My clit was rubbing against the top of him, the friction driving me there even quicker.
“So close,” I told him.
The intensity moved into my navel and then lowered, the sensitivity threatening to pound through me. His hips began to really rock, and his breathing deepened, telling me he was feeling just as good.
“Ashe …” His name was the last sound I made before the orgasm clutched me, my body going to a place I couldn’t return from.
Just when I thought it couldn’t feel any better, he changed again to hard, deep, relentless thrusts, the quivering now rattling through me.
“Pearl … fuck … me.”
His mouth slammed against mine, and I felt each buck of his hips shoot another stream into my body.
We moaned together.
And clung to each other until his movements stopped.
The feral look in his stare turned softer as he pecked my mouth. “Damn,” he exhaled. “That was …”
“So fucking sexy.”
He laughed, and the warmth of his breath heated my lips. “I want to have you on the stage.”
I thought about his statement, clarifying, “The one I perform on?”
“Mmhmm.”
As I gazed at him, I thought of the excuses I could come up with to gain access to the auditorium when no one would be there. “I think I can somehow make that happen.”
He kissed me again. “In the meantime, I have more ideas.”
“You mean, other places to have sex?”
“That …” He rubbed his nose over mine, his touch so gentle. “And ways to make you smile.”
Twenty-Nine
After
Ashe
Since the police had taped off half the street, I parked a block away from the crime scene. Several officers were huddled together on the sidewalk as I approached, everyone facing the alley, nestled between two commercial strips.
“What time was he found?” I said from behind the group, ducking under the yellow tape.
“Got a call about thirty minutes ago,” one of the officers said as he turned toward me.
I recognized him from being a frequent at many of these scenes.
I checked my watch; it was a little past eight in the morning.
“The chef of the neighboring restaurant came in to prep for lunch and found him,” Charlie, the officer, continued.
I stood with him