The Promise of Paradise - By Allie Boniface Page 0,48

her, into her, faster and faster, bringing her with him until she came, tightening around him. She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood, and waves of pleasure raised gooseflesh along every inch of her skin. He pulled back the tiniest bit to look at her, focus his gaze squarely on hers. But he didn't stop moving, and after a moment he gathered her closer, let her feel him inside her, the perfect dance that took her orgasm and teased it into another, and then a third. In muted tones, Ash cried out, begging Eddie to stop, to go on, to lose himself inside her. Until he did.

Chapter Nineteen

Eddie slept better than he had in months—in years, really. At one point he woke, as early morning sunlight slipped through his bedroom window. Outside, the garbage truck dumped buckets of recyclables, shattering glass and clanking tin cans against cement. A car horn beeped. The church downtown struck the hour. He ran a hand across his chest, savoring the heaviness of morning-after satisfaction, though it had never before been so solid, so comforting.

He moved one foot and touched Ash’s warm, sleek skin next to his. She’s here. I didn’t dream it. He turned over with that lazy pleasure of knowing there was nowhere else he needed to be, no work commitments to fulfill, no bad dreams to outrun. Wrapping one arm around her, he pulled her into him, still naked. He curved around her. Her spine melted into him, her breathing deepened, and even in half sleep he felt himself rise against her. Something moved at the bottom of the bed, and after a moment, he felt the brush of kitten fur against his bare shoulder. Tiny settled into the sheets, one paw patting at him, until the cat fell asleep too. Its purr rumbled to a quiet snore.

Eddie closed his eyes. The perfect morning. He wished all of them could be like this.

* * *

“Eddie?”

He swam up from dreams at the sound of her voice.

“Eddie.” This time she nudged him, pressed a warm knee against his side and murmured the word into his ear.

He rolled over and opened one eye. “Morning.”

Ash smiled. Her hair, loose and messy, fell over her forehead. “Good morning yourself.” She glanced toward the living room. “You hear that?”

He shook his head and propped himself up on one elbow. One hand smoothed its way over her hips, rising to soft curves under the sheets.

“It sounded like a knock.”

Eddie shrugged and bent to kiss the tip of her nose. “Didn’t hear anything.” The sheets fell away from them, and he moved his hands across the ridges of her collarbone. Then down. He was ready for round two, no doubt about it. Usually for him, the morning after meant quick trips to the bathroom, fumbling for clothes, awkward joking about breakfast. Not this time. He felt no rush, no wondering, no moment of second thought. With Ash, it felt as though they’d done this a hundred times.

She shifted under his touch, and her eyes closed. Her breath hitched. He leaned in to taste the curve of her breast and stopped. There it was, a polite knocking from about a hundred feet away. Maybe closer. Definitely outside number two Lycian Street.

“Probably a salesman,” he murmured. “Or some kid selling candy.”

Ash laughed beneath him. “You’re not in the mood for Girl Scout cookies this morning?”

“Mmm…no. But I can tell you what I am in the mood for.”

“Hello?” This time a voice accompanied the knocking. A male voice Eddie didn’t recognize.

Ash sat up, and the covers fell from her shoulders. All color drained from her face.

“What’s wrong?”

She didn’t speak. She only raised both hands to her chest and clutched at her skin as if to shut him out. In slow motion she turned in the direction of the voice, and when she looked back at Eddie, something in her eyes had changed.

A pause. Some footsteps. Then the knocking came again, closer this time. Eddie realized that someone— Helen?—had let the stranger inside their foyer, and now he stood directly outside Eddie’s apartment door.

“You know who it is?” He stared at Ash, who was edging her way out of bed.

“Um…” She didn’t answer, just grabbed a T-shirt from the fresh stack in his laundry basket and pulled it over her head. The logo of Frank’s Imports, faded and peeling, landed above her ribs. The fraying edge came down below the swell of her ass. Barely.

The knocking continued. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Eddie swung