Rock Him (15 page)

There were no pretentions to the venue selected. No VIP areas. Just great DJs and
dancing. Shane showed off some of his TruAchord moves, which had them in stitches
trying to follow him.

A slow song came on and Asher swept Maddy up in his arms. She melted into him, shifting
her body weight to and fro, her body automatically following the rhythm of his.

“Maddy?”

She looked up and lost her step at the intensity in his eyes. He lowered his head
slowly.

Her hands, which had been resting on his shoulders, crept around to his neck, then
to his head, bringing him to her. She threaded her fingers through his thick hair
and urged him to her lips. Their mouths met, tongues tangling.

His body, taut with tension, pressed against her as his large warm hands swept down
her body, lingering on her hips, tugging them against him.

One of her hands strayed to his back and his hips, finding its way under his shirt
to the damp, hard flesh.

Asher’s hands fused her body to his and she laid her head on his chest. The slow song
had changed to one with an upbeat tempo, but they shifted in a slow circle, drifting
as one in a crowd of whirling limbs and strobe lights.

“Let’s go,” he whispered.

Maddy nodded.

• • •

Maddy was as jacked up as if she’d had a triple shot at the coffee shop. Heart racing
and mildly nauseated, her body radiated tension as Asher slid the white key card into
the slot of the door at the Four Seasons suite. If only she’d had more to drink and
she could shut off the voices shrieking “stay” one moment and “bail” the next. God
help her, she was nearly coming out of her skin. This would be a mistake of cataclysmic
proportions.

She’d seen the kind of women he dated — twelves on a scale of ten. He was her boss.
But none of that mattered. She was in the hotel suite with Asher tonight.

What are you doing?

The rigid control she kept on her feelings for him had been completely overwhelmed
in the cemetery of the old Pembrook church. God knew she’d never been immune to his
attractiveness, but living with him revealed so many appealing facets of his character.

Each time she glimpsed his mouth, every time she got close enough to smell his citrusy
leather scent, her body quickened. Her feelings for him were much more complicated
than lust. Lust she could deny. Her heart ached for him.

“I want you,” he admitted baldly. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

She stepped closer to him, trembling.

He moved closer to her and yanked her into his arms, holding her up against him. His
chest rose and fell. She stared into his eyes, hot and heavy-lidded with desire. His
face was serious, intent, tense. Then his lips met hers and she stopped thinking at
all.

Maddy reveled in his hard lips on hers. His kiss tasted of urgency — the desperation
of passion long denied.

She moaned her pleasure as her tongue met the slick, wet, thrust of his. Asher’s hands
came up behind her head, locking her mouth to his, feeding at her, spiraling out of
control.

She whimpered as his mouth left hers to explore her face, the sensitive areas on her
neck, stroking, teasing, and leaving a burning trail of sensation. Her pulse accelerated
as his tongue laved the thick coursing of blood in the veins of her neck. His body
bowed with tension, pressed against her knees to chest, his hands swept down her body,
binding her hips tightly, urgently against his.

Her hands left his hair and drifted down to the muscles in his shoulders, the ridges
of his abdomen. She unbuttoned his shirt and slid her mouth away from his, panting.
Laying her cheek against on his warm, hard chest, she listened to his thundering heart
in wonder. She gave his nipple an open-mouthed kiss, then a tiny nip.

His body shuddered in her arms. His hands yanked her hips harder against the swelling
in the front of his trousers. Pulling the heavy cotton dress shirt out of his pants,
she savored the feel of his hot, bare flesh where it met his waistband. She traced
the seam covering the zipper of his pants. His hand fisted in her hair as she explored
his thickness, the outline of his throbbing hardness. She stroked him, once, ungently,
and he made an anguished sound, pulling his hips away, giving her more room to caress
him. Her hands shook with desire and nerves.

He pushed her back until she was sitting on the edge of the bed, but instead of joining
her, he disappeared into the bathroom, emerging moments later with a foil wrapped
condom.

Wordlessly she raised her arms and he strode across the room, roughly yanking her
dress up and off, leaving her clad only in her lacy panties and bra. He unhooked the
clasp, stroking the sides of her breasts as he removed it. She shivered, nipples tightening
into peaks of arousal. He met her eyes as his fingers caressed the tip of one nipple.
She closed her eyes and moaned. It was indescribable. The ache of desire transmuted
into an insistent pulse.

He shrugged off his shirt and pushed off his boxer briefs and pants in one swift motion.
She opened her eyes to a hungry, aroused, naked man. His body was extraordinary —
broad strong shoulders; chest, shoulders and arms covered with tattoos; a tapered
waist; narrow hips; rock hard abdominal muscles that she followed with her hand until
she reached his thick, jutting cock. She wrapped both hands around it, exploring,
watching in awe as his face flushed and he groaned, surging into her hands.

He pulled back, watching her hands on him. “God, Maddy,” he ground out. The feel of
his hot skin, his whole naked body pressed against hers was extraordinary. She leaned
back on her elbows. He stripped off her panties with impatient hands. His heated gaze
met hers as his hands slowly spread her legs. One long finger trailed up her inner
thigh. She shivered and shifted restlessly as his fingers moved to her cleft where
she throbbed, slick and aching.

“Asher,” she pleaded. Her hand at his shoulders urged him to her, desperate. He gentled
her with a deep, kiss, while his long fingers stroked, coaxed — preparing her.

She reached for him and he surged in her hand.

He leaned back and she could not tear her eyes away as he rolled the condom down over
his erection, then spread her thighs with gentle hands. Her body shifted restlessly
on the bed.

And she arched her back, eyes riveted to his. Slowly, so slowly he pushed the broad
head of his cock against her warm, wet cleft, rubbing and stroking her. She pressed
down, desperate to have him inside her.

He resisted her machinations and continued the slow, inexorable press forward, entering
her, stretching her, making her wild. She gasped, shutting her eyes tight. It was
too much; he was too much. She rolled her hips in a desperate attempt to accommodate
him. Opening her eyes, she met his fierce, hazel gaze. He froze, panting, giving her
time to adjust to his size. Her hands went to his hips and she grasped them, urgently,
eyes still locked as he withdrew, then started forward again as her hips rocked. He
thrust all the way in. A small cry escaped her and they both froze.

He started to move, more frenzied now.

She clutched at him, at his hips, shoulders. “Please,” she begged.

He kissed her, licked the inside of her mouth and groaned his pleasure into her, making
her frantic as he stroked in and out of her, establishing a relentless rhythm. She
raked her nails down his back, mindless and panting.

She came with a long, thin wail, swept over the edge. Boneless, half-conscious she
was vaguely aware of his final thrusts. He came with a hoarse shout, then stilled.

Slowly, she surfaced, her body delightfully sore.

He’d shifted them both to the side, so she lay on one of his arms, his free arm tucked
around her hips.

She stretched, experimentally, and a twinge of pain in her hip made her rub it, wincing.
She peeked up and met his gaze.

He was staring with something akin to horror.

The bottom fell out of her stomach and she knifed up in the bed, scrambling, awkwardly,
joints uncooperative.

Oh God.

He followed, on his knees reaching for her. She knelt stiffly in his arms. He rested
his chin on her head. Gently he helped her back down and under the covers, up against
his body so she was facing him. He sighed, her body taut in his arms.

“Maddy, relax.”

She shook her head, throat thick with tears.

He pulled back and looked down.

“Maddy?”

She rubbed a hand over her face.

“I’m sorry — ”

“Please, Asher, your pity is more than I can stand right now,” she said, hoarsely.

“
What
?”

“That look you just gave me.”

His voice gentled. “Maddy, I felt you flinch and saw your face. I hurt you.”

She relaxed, infinitesimally. Oh. That. She sniffed. “You didn’t hurt me.
Geez
. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Not during. I mean after … ”

“It’s nothing.”

He put a finger under her chin and tipped her face to meet his eyes. “Should I have
been more gentle? I completely forgot about … about your RA,” he said.

She frowned. “I don’t need you to treat me with kid gloves. I’m not an
invalid.”

“Okay, okay,” he soothed, his hands stroking her from the nape of her neck to her
hips.

“Stop trying to calm me down.”

He gave a short laugh.

“What happened tonight, was … fun and … uh … entertaining,” she lied. “You don’t
have to worry that I’m going to freak out.” His expression was unreadable.

“Good.” he said shortly. “Then you won’t mind if I call down and have another woman
sent up for the ‘entertainment’? Round two?”

Maddy’s eyes widened.

He chuckled as she went from stunned to pissed in two heartbeats. He held her squirming
body with gentle hands. She relaxed against him and sighed. “This was a mistake, Asher.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“You’re my boss.” She felt him nod, his chin resting on the top of her head.

“A complication. We’ll figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” she said.

“How to do this.” He squeezed her.

“I’m not going to continue sleeping with you. This was a onetime thing.” Oh, why couldn’t
she make herself get out of the bed? Why was she continuing to lie there, trying to
memorize his face, trying to sear this night into her memory?

“That’s unfortunate because I want to,” he hesitated, “be with you.”

What the hell does that even mean?

“Be with?” she repeated, blankly, examining him closely — his cheekbones still ruddy
from the after effects of passion.

“Yeah.” He reached out a hand and stroked the hair back from her the side of her face.

“But I work for you and we live together,” she sputtered.

“Yeah, that part’s odd.”

She moved her head on the pillow but wasn’t sure if she was nodding or shaking it.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“It never occurred to me that you’d want a … a relationship. I mean,” she gestured
between them “this is one thing, this chemistry, but, well, do you
do
relationships?”

His lips twisted. “I thought you’d gotten to know me these last few months.”

“I have. I just … why?

“Why what?” he asked again, impatiently this time.

“Why do you want a relationship with me?”

“The usual reasons. I care about you. I’m attracted to you.” His throat worked as
he swallowed, audibly.

Was he
nervous
?

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I
said
, what about you?” he repeated.

“I’m scared,” she blurted.

He settled her against him, until her head was resting on his bicep. She rolled onto
her back and stared at the ceiling. It was easier than looking at him.

“Of?”

“Of things not working out.” She sneaked a glance. “Of getting hurt. Uh … don’t
you like a lot of variety? ‘Cause I don’t think I could accept that.”

He propped his head on his hand. “You think I’m fickle,” he said. “I’m not. At least,
not with the people I care about. I’ve had long-term relationships, Maddy. I’m capable
of fidelity — ”

“No, I know.” She bit her lip, then lifted her face to his, running a hand over his
jaw. She studied her swollen gnarled hand against the perfection of his face.

“Do you?”

“Yeah, Asher, I know who you are.” Her gaze met and held his; she looked away, shocked
by the intensity there. “And, yeah. I like you and God knows, I lust after you. But
there’s a lot more at stake than heartache if things don’t work out — ”

“So we’re not supposed to get involved because things might not work out?”

“If Ella weren’t in the picture, I would take that chance.”

He stroked her nude body from chest to hip.

She shivered and caught his hot amber gaze. She arrested his hand. “Stop. When this
ends, I wouldn’t
just
lose you.”

His long fingers played with a lock of her hair.

“We’ll take it slow,” he said.

“We just had sex! How’s that gonna work?”

He grinned and held her against his rapidly hardening body.

• • •

The next morning he found himself reaching for her, drowsily, eyes still closed. His
hand met empty space, but the sheets were still warm. Lifting his head, he looked
toward the bathroom. The door was ajar, the room dark. He frowned, pushed the covers
back and went in search of her. He pushed open the doors to the suite and took two
steps into the room before he saw her lying on the floor, wearing his shirt from the
night before.

“Maddy?” He went to his knees next to her.

She pursed her lips, attempting to disguise a smile. “Asher, put some clothes on.”

“What are you doing?”

“Stretching.”

“Why?”

She sat up, wincing.

Oh God. He
had
hurt her, despite her denials last night. He’d have to be more careful with her.
“Jesus, Maddy — ”