Dare to Surrender (27 page)

He couldn’t name one relationship he’d ever had in which that was the case. And he’d never felt for another woman anything
near what he felt now.

Moving to the opposite side of the bathtub, he took one of Joy’s feet in his hand. She had beautiful feet, long and narrow,
her arch curving as perfectly as Mary’s cheek in Michelangelo’s
Pieta
.

She shivered under his touch. “Feel good?” he asked.

“Heavenly.”

He continued to rub her foot, from her toes to her ankle, which he rotated a few times, and her eyes seemed to roll back in
her head. “Mmmm.”

He moved to the graceful arch of her foot, using his fingers to rub out the last bits of tension. With slow, firm circles,
he worked across the arch, her heel, back over to the ball of her foot. When she looked damn close to a state of ecstasy,
he moved on to her other foot.

When he was done, he leaned forward and pulled her toward him. Yeah, judging by her expression, he’d done a good job; she
looked ready to sleep, much like she did after they made love. Her nipples hardened once again as she wrapped her legs around
his back and settled against him. He groaned; her pussy felt so good against his rock-hard cock. Even through the water he
could feel how wet and slick she was.

He fisted her hair and brought her in for a kiss, feeling a shiver run over her when he tugged sharply. He kissed her leisurely,
slowly, while tightening his fist in her hair.

He continued his treatment of tender kissing and sharp tugging until she moaned and started rubbing her pussy up and down
his cock.

“Yeah… beautiful Joy,” he murmured, kissing her face, her lips, her nose. She continued to moan, to rub herself against him
until it would be easy, too easy, to just slide right into her.

Breathing heavily, he broke away. “Let’s get out of here, sweetheart.”

Her eyes were wide and deep, and she nodded.

He unplugged the drain and helped her to her feet. Then he turned on the shower and rinsed both of them off quickly before
wrapping Joy in a huge towel and taking her to his bed.

A
s Ash returned from the bathroom, Joy watched him. He was naked and so beautiful he took her breath away. He was so thin and
tight she could see the ridges of his abdomen, the muscles visible, and she wanted to touch him there, to taste him everywhere.

A streetlight was the room’s only illumination, and it highlighted the blond streaks in his shaggy hair as he came for her.
She was lost from the kissing session in the bathtub earlier. She didn’t think she’d ever been more relaxed in her life.

“Ash, come here. I want to taste you. I want to suck your cock.” She unwrapped the towel and threw it onto the floor.

His eyes bore into hers as he climbed onto the bed. “Jesus Christ, Joy.” He climbed on top of her, and she licked her lips,
waiting for him to feed her his cock.

But he paused over her, looking at her breasts. “So beautiful… ,” he murmured, his breath soft on her skin.

He kneaded one breast while licking around her other nipple, swirling his tongue around and around until he finally sucked
the tight, sensitive nub across his teeth.

“Oh…” She moaned, arching under his touch.

He released her nipple and blew gently onto her damp flesh. Her nipple tightened even further, and she
whim-pered.

Drawing her into his mouth once more, he bit her sensitized nipple, softly at first and then harder and harder, until she
clutched his head and opened her legs around him, inviting him.

But instead of slipping himself inside her, he flipped onto his back, taking her with him.

Straddling him, she looked at him in question.

His emerald eyes were nearly black now, and he said, “Do you want to fuck me, babe?”

A surge of power went through her, and she felt herself get even wetter. Her gaze swept over him, the hard ridges of his body,
the dusting of hair below his navel. And his cock, so hard, so gorgeous; it was long and strong, just like the man himself.

She bent to his chest and circled one of his nipples with her tongue. Like he’d done to her, she swirled her tongue around
the hard flesh, licking, sucking, tugging. She felt him inhale sharply, and she bit down.

“Joy…”

“Mmm.” Joy continued to lick his nipples, going back and forth between them. She felt his cock pressing hotly against her
pelvis, and after a minute she made her way down, kissing his ribs, his stomach, and finally the head of his cock.

She licked around him, getting it nice and wet. The surface was smooth and rigid as she kissed and teased him, using her teeth,
mouth, and lips to pleasure him. With her tongue, she flicked at the underside of his cock as she slid the head in and out
of her mouth.

“Just like that… ,” he instructed.

She felt his abs clench as she gripped his cock. Sliding her hand down the base, she took him full into her mouth, deep, all
the way down until she touched her own hand. She heard his breathing get heavy, and she continued to stroke him as she worked
the head of his cock, then moved to the underside of his shaft, kissing and licking him there. She continued down, and then
she went farther to curl her tongue around his balls.

“Joy… damn, girl. You make me feel so good.”

Her own body was responding, her pussy throbbing with want. She felt her own juice on the insides of her thighs. Her nerves
were on fire; she wanted to feel something between her legs. As she continued to lick around his balls, she straddled his
leg and pressed her aching pussy to his thigh.

“Mmmm,” she gasped as she made contact with his skin.

“Go ahead, Joy. Fuck my leg.”

She did. She rubbed her wet pussy around his thigh, felt her juices coating him as she pushed her swollen lips to his hard
flesh.

Making her way back up to the top of his erection, she took him into her mouth once again. Relaxing her throat, she swallowed
him as deep as she could. He groaned, and she looked up to see he was watching her, his eyes dark with desire.

She continued to make eye contact with him as she went down on him, again and again. As they stared at each other, something
electric seemed to pulse between them, a connection pulling them deeper into each other.

And she wanted him to see how much she loved pleasing him, wanted him to see her getting off on his leg. She played it up,
moaning and grinding against him.

He was breathing hard, his chest rising and falling in deep, rapid breaths. She was equally as turned on, and her pussy slid
easily across the skin of his leg.

“Yeah, sweetheart. Suck me…”

“Mmmmm,” she said, and he groaned aloud.

Reaching lower, she took his balls in her hand. Using a fingernail, she gently scratched the soft skin until she felt his
abs clench again. She drew his balls into her hand and pulled them down, away from the base of his shaft. He groaned aloud,
and she saw him fist the sheets.

“You like it when I suck your cock?”

“You’re damn good at it, baby.”

She blew softly on the damp flesh, and he jerked. “Damn, woman… I’m so close…”

Smiling, she glanced up at him. “Not yet.”

Pleasuring him this way nearly sent her over the edge, and she ground herself even harder against his leg. Close, so close…

“I’m going to come, Joy,” he ground out.

“Do it.” She sucked him as deeply into her throat as she could, splaying her legs around his thigh, straddling him.

She felt him start to pulse, felt his ejaculation beating its way up his cock until it shot into her mouth in hot, wonderful
bursts. She swallowed it down, loving the taste of Ash on her lips.

She followed, coming in a rush on his leg, clenching her thighs around his.

“Holy shit,” he said.

Smiling, she got up and went into the bathroom to wash up. As she walked across the room, she realized she didn’t even feel
embarrassed to be prancing around buck-naked in front of him. Strange.

But she was too comfortable to worry about it. Instead she climbed into bed with Ash and nestled into her spot under his shoulder.
He lightly brushed her hair off her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. At that moment, she was too exhausted, too satisfied
to think anything except how good it felt to fall asleep in Ash’s arms.

The next morning as Ash ran in Golden Gate Park, adrenaline rushed through him, and he realized he was taking the course at
a much faster pace than usual. But it felt good to run, to be outside. It was foggy but not cold, and the closer he got to
the ocean, the heavier the scent of salt water became, pulling him toward it.

He couldn’t help but acknowledge the fact that he felt lighter today, like a weight had been lifted. Somehow he’d come to
terms with his sister’s decision, and even realized it would be good for all of them.

And Joy. She was… getting to him. She seemed to be in the back of his head all the time, and now he wasn’t even trying to
push her out of it.

But Joy wasn’t the reason he’d turned down the job in Iraq. She wasn’t the reason he felt calmer than he had in a long time.
She wasn’t the reason that antsy feeling had ebbed somewhat.

Was she?

The thought both frightened and excited him. Joy certainly wasn’t the type of woman he’d ever thought he’d settle down with.
Hell, he’d wondered if he would ever settle down at all. But, the thought of doing so with Joy wasn’t… horrible.

He tossed the idea around in his head, let it percolate in his mind. Yeah, the thought of being with Joy wasn’t horrible at
all.

He rounded a corner and saw as he neared the ocean that the fog had begun to lift, lighting the foliage of the park in vivid
hues of green. The damp scent of seawater became heavier, and he sucked in deep lungfuls of it. He wondered if Joy enjoyed
the ocean like he did; would she want to go diving with him? He realized he didn’t know much about her, not as much as he
wanted to know. He realized he wanted—needed—to know everything about Joy Montgomery.

“Well, someone got laid last night.”

Joy rolled her eyes at Andrew, but she couldn’t help the revealing grin that spread across her face. After they’d fallen asleep,
she’d awoken to six foot of man between her thighs. She could wake up that way every morning for the rest of her life.

If the man was Ash.

She shook her head. Where had that thought come from?

You’re falling for him, you nitwit!

Was she? Yeah, probably. She never thought a guy like Ash would be interested in her, but the more time she spent with him
the less she doubted herself. And, she had to admit, that felt good.

“So who is he?” Andrew asked from his position at the reception desk. She could see today he was watching 1980s videos on
YouTube. Currently Wham! was blaring through the tinny computer speakers.

“I never said I got laid,” she said.

Today Andrew wore a brown sweater that was supposed to look like it was made in the seventies, and his Mohawk was extra spikey.
He raised a perfectly formed eyebrow. “Honey, I know that look. You had it the entire time Cartwright was here last year.”

At the mention of his name, Joy recoiled. Just the thought of that man made her feel nauseous. “Don’t remind me,” she muttered,
doodling on a pad of paper.

It was past noon, and although the gallery had had a bit more traffic lately since the invitations for Ash’s show had gone
out, overall things hadn’t picked up much.

She had a feeling that was about to change.

She’d seen most of the pieces Ash was going to include in the collection, and it was turning out better than she’d hoped.
She still had some anxiety about having herself featured in the show, but it was too late to do anything about it now.

In fact, she needed to go to Ash’s later that afternoon to take some pictures for a client who was interested in a presale.
She had expected a lot of interest in the show, but it was shocking just how many e-mails and calls she’d received from people
wanting an early viewing. And with the gallery as dead as it was, she wasn’t going to make people wait until the night of
the reception to make a sale.

But first she had a little errand to run. The museum was expecting her at eleven. All she had to do was take some pictures,
do inventory, and slip a little stolen sculpture back into the collection.

Easy-peasy. So why were her palms damp with nerves?

She heard the door to the back office open, and a minute later Panos was standing before her. “How many RSVPs do we have so
far, Joy?” he asked for the millionth time.

“About one hundred so far, but I told you most people don’t bother responding.”

He grunted. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Joy.”

“Don’t worry. It’s all under control.” Not for the first time, she silently thanked Ruby, who was endlessly patient with Joy’s
constant questions about event planning.

He gave a look that let her know he doubted anything was under control, grunted again, and made for the front door. “I’m going
to the framer’s,” he said on his way out.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Joy,”
she said in a mocking tone, all the while wondering the exact same thing.

H
i. I’m Joy Montgomery. I’m here to inventory Ash Hunter’s pieces.”

The museum curator looked up from the set of slides he was peering at, his gray eyebrows bushy over a pair of wire-rimmed
glasses. “Hunter?”

“Yes. I need to take some photographs for an upcoming exhibit at the Cartwright Gallery. I have an appointment.”

He shook his head. “There must have been a misunderstanding. Hunter picked up his work early this morning.”

“W-what?” She felt a cold sweat break out under her breasts. “That… that’s impossible.”

“I apologize for the mix-up, but I spoke with him myself. In fact, you just missed him.” He stood. “Miss Montgomery? Are you
okay?”

She could feel the blood draining out of her face—she must look like a ghost. “Yes.” She clutched her bag to her chest. “Yes,
I’m fine. Thank you.” Turning, she rushed through the hallway, the lobby, and exited the museum.