Talon (Ashes & Embers Book 4) (18 page)

I
've always believed
that magical things happen in the night while we're sleeping. I attribute this to the fact that when we were little kids, Gram would tuck us all in and tell us to go to sleep so the things that lived in the dark could come out and play and whisper dreams into our ears while we slept.

Tonight, I awake at three a.m. to the most incredible soft warmth wrapped around my cock. I only know the time because the clock on the nightstand projects digital purple numbers onto the bedroom ceiling. At first, I think I'm dreaming, but when I gaze down the bed, I see her, kneeling between my legs, her long, silky hair flowing over my thighs, her lips raining the softest of kisses up and down my shaft. My second thought is that
she
must be dreaming and she's sleep-sucking me, and I think maybe I should wake her. But what is that saying about not rousing a person sleepwalking?

I touch the side of her head very gently and whisper, "Baby…"

A sexy moan vibrates around my cock in response, and my head falls back against my pillow.

Oh God, she's really awake.

My mind races back to the moments before we fell asleep. What did I do or say to entice her to finally touch me on her own? I come up blank.

I don't fucking care. All I know is her tongue feels like wet velvet swirling the tip of my cock while her little nails dig into my thighs. The more she licks and sucks me, a tingly sensation cascades over my shaft that's both hot and cold, amplifying the ecstasy of her mouth.
Fuck me
, she's got some kind of sorcery on her lips that's driving my dick wild.

Fisting a handful of her hair, I lift it away from her face so I can watch her as she goes down on me, mesmerized by the sight of the first few inches of my cock disappearing into her sweet mouth. She sucks me like she does everything else, soft and sweet at first with moments of teasing. As she works up to taking me deeper, her teeth lightly graze the sides, tantalizing me. I smile down at her, impressed that she remembered I told her that's what I like.

Realizing there's no way she's getting all of me into her mouth, she grasps the base of my cock, wrapping her small hand around me and moving it up and down in perfect unison with her mouth, creating a long, wet tunnel for me to slide in and out of.

Usually, I could go at it in a chick's mouth for hours, but her mouth feels so fucking perfect feasting on me, mixed with that crazy icy-hot sensation she's got going on with her lips that I'm ready to blast already.

My other hand flies down to grip the other side of her head as my cock explodes in her mouth without much warning. I silently pray she's not a choker, but she swallows me down and continues to suck and lap at my cock as the ripples of pleasure slowly subside and the erotic haze clears from my brain.

Leaning up, I grab her and haul her up onto my chest, devouring her mouth, tasting cold mintiness on her lips mixed with the taste of me.

"Holy shit, baby, if we weren't already married, I'd fucking marry you right now." I kiss her deeper, my hands sliding down her body to cup her ass in the little bikini panties she's got on. "That felt amazing," I breathe against her cheek. "What the fuck is on your lips? It feels insane."

She smiles shyly, clasping her hands tightly behind my neck. "Just a special lip balm I made."

"I love it." My mouth captures hers again, and my hands are itching to rip off her T-shirt and panties and fuck her seven ways to Sunday right now, but I stop myself, not wanting to do anything to screw up this moment, like I seem to do every time. She just made a huge leap out of her comfort zone to give me the best blow job of my life, so I'm not going to push my luck. Instead, I hold her and kiss her, letting my hands slowly roam over her body, learning the curves of her petite figure she's been hiding from me for way too long.

"You're the best surprise I've ever had," I whisper, stroking my knuckles across her cheek. She gazes up at me with those huge, mystical eyes and starts to cry, her hands clutching my shoulders.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I kiss the tears from her cheeks. "Don't cry. It guts me to see you sad."

She leans her forehead against mine. "I'm not sad, Tally. I just want us to be like this always."

With one swift movement, I roll her over so she's beneath me and rest my arms on either side of her head, my face inches from hers. "We're never gonna be perfect, baby, but we'll always be like this. Whatever this is between us, it's always going to be here. I promise you."

"How do you know that?"

"I feel it in my bones. This is us."

Her legs part, allowing my body to settle between them, my cock pressing against her heat through the thin material of her panties. I can't believe I've been with her for two months and this is the first time I've been able to lie fully on top of her. Her hands go around my back, slowly sliding down my spine as I kiss her neck, gently sucking, the need to devour her and fill every part of her simmering just under the surface of my sanity.

"It feels so good to have you touch me," I murmur as she wraps a leg around mine and rubs her foot lazily up and down my calf. "You have no idea how much I've been wanting to feel your touch like that."

"It feels good to
be
touching you," she whispers. "You almost don't seem real." Her hands glide over my ribs, up around my shoulders, then down my arms and back up again, repeating that same path all the way down to the base of my spine. The softness of her touch reaches way beyond muscles, ink, skin, and bone and touches my very soul. Now I know why Asher, Lukas, Storm, and Vandal lost their minds for their girls. There is nothing in the universe that comes close to this feeling.

"Are you shaking?" she asks, kissing my chest and peering up into my face.

"Yeah, I think I am."

"Why? Are you okay?"

"I want to be everything you need me to be. I just don't know how. I'm constantly fucking up."

"Talon, no, you're not. You do so much right, you don't even know."

She pulls my head down to kiss her and moves slightly beneath me, rubbing against my naked cock that’s getting harder by the minute. My hips grind a slow, seductive circle against her as I run my hand down the length of her body, hooking my finger on the edge of her panties and tugging them down a few inches.

"Asia…" I breathe, my voice desperate for her, my lips lingering on hers.
I want her so badly.

"Yes. I want you," she says breathlessly, her hand pushing down the other side of her panties and together we pull them off, our bodies pressing together in a frenzy the moment the red silk fabric is out of the way. I press my cock against her warm folds and kiss her lips hungrily. "You're sure?" I whisper between kisses. "Please be sure…"

She reaches down between our bodies and palms my cock, rubbing the head against her wet entrance. I grab her hand from between us and pin it above her head, entwining her fingers with mine. My mouth claims hers again as I slowly push my cock into her, causing her to gasp against my lips. Her body trembles as I go as slowly and gently as I can with her, frustrated with the harsh realization that there is nothing I can do in this life that will not cause her pain in some way, physically or emotionally. She will always bear the cross of me.

I move in and out of her with drowsy strokes, our lips resting against each other while her breath flutters against me, a mix of pain and pleasure for her. This isn't how I fantasized being with her would be like. I envisioned taking every inch of her with my mouth and hands, driving her insane and ramming her from every angle on every piece of furniture I could get her on and then doing it all over again.

But this…this has nothing to do with actual sex and everything to do with finally connecting in every way and becoming one with her. A truce of sorts, of giving in, of throwing our hearts up in the air and hoping the other doesn't miss and lets it fall splattering to the ground.

I push her hair away from her face and cup her cheek with my hand, sinking into her just a little bit more. Her thighs spread wider for me, and she lifts one toned leg to wrap around my waist, hesitantly taking me even farther into her. She feels like heaven wrapped around me.

My dick pulsates as she moves slowly with me, her hands flexing on my hips as small moans and sighs flow from her lips. I let her set the pace and depth and continue to kiss her, coaxing her to find that sweet spot and let herself go. And when she does, her walls contract fiercely around me and she hugs me tighter to her, whispering my name as I come with her.

Our tongues tangle in a slow, dreamy kiss as our breathing calms and steadies, and I don't want to let her out of my arms or my sight for anything. I'm not sure how, but this girl is seeping into my heart.

Rolling us to the side, I keep my arms around her and rain soft kisses on her cheeks, her eyelids, her throat—the need to make her feel cherished all I care about right now in hopes she doesn't regret letting me through that barricade she had around herself. I am guilty of not ever being a gentle or sweet lover, but she makes me want to be one now for her.

We lie in silence, not speaking or playfully teasing each other as we usually do. But her hands moving slowly over my body while I kiss her speak way more than words ever could. She tucks her head against my chest, beneath my chin, and wraps her arms tightly around me like she's afraid I'm going to disappear once she falls asleep.

Not a chance.

I wait until her breathing is soft and even against me before I let myself drift off to sleep, like I've been doing every night for the past few weeks. Slowly, everything in my life is turning into putting her first, and I'm not going to fight it.

"
T
his
, and this. And this. And this shit too."

I shake my head in amusement as Talon fills the shopping cart with various rolls of fabrics in just about every texture and color possible.

"We have to cut it to the length we want," I say.

"No, let's just buy the whole roll thing. I like this stuff. We'll definitely use it."

"Okay…"

We go up and down every aisle of the craft and fabric store, buying more stuff than I've bought in the entire five years I've been making clothes. He piles the cart with threads, lace, dyes, paint, glue, thin strands of leather rope, tassels—you name it, he's getting it.

"Talon, this is going to cost a small fortune," I whisper, the girl in me who never had any money constantly piping up when he does things like this.

"Baby, no worries." He swoops down and kisses my cheek, causing my heart to flutter. Every time he touches me now, I'm reminded of our night together four days ago when I woke him with the lip balm blow job and then we had sex. Daydreaming about the way he touched me and kissed me, the expression in his eyes when he slid into me for the first time, and how he held me afterward makes my insides quiver and turn to jelly. I never expected him to be so gentle and slow, and it certainly pushed me further down the slippery slope of love I'm already sliding down.

We haven't had sex since, though, and I'm sure part of that is because I fell back into a bit of shyness with him because I've been consumed with worry he may have been disappointed. He didn't even take my shirt off that night in bed, and maybe I'm being silly, but I don't know if it's because things happened rather quickly or because my body is that much of a turn-off for him. The words he said to me when we first met are still ricocheting around in my head, especially now.

Talon whips out his gold card at checkout, and I try not to faint at the amount of money he just spent. But I remind myself that most of these outfits we're designing will be purchased by his bandmates, the girls from Sugar Kiss, and the online orders I've been getting almost daily.

As we're walking across the parking lot with our cart, a young blond girl comes flying up to us seemingly out of nowhere as we're reaching our car.

"Talon! Hey!" She throws her arms around him, and he embraces her back with a big, startled smile on his face. She's absolutely gorgeous with long blond hair, pouty lips, green eyes, and a perfect, petite body.

"Hey, sweetheart, what are you doing here?" Sweetheart? He doesn't even call me sweetheart.

They let each other go and she smiles up at him. "We stopped for coffee at the café next door," she motions to a rugged looking guy on a motorcycle a few parking spots away from us who's got huge, muscular arms covered in black tats and a short ponytail at the base of his neck. Wow. I guess good-looking people tend to run in flocks. Everyone Talon knows is either a gorgeous girl or an incredibly hot, muscular guy.

Talon raises his hand to the guy, and he in turn nods and waves back. "You're here with Toren?" he asks.

"Yeah…" She replies a bit too casually in a way I instantly hone in on. "He picked me up from school to give me a ride home. I just wanted a latte first."

"You know I can give you a ride if I'm not busy. Just call or text me."

I eye this girl without trying to make myself obvious. I have no idea who she could be. Friend? Ex-girlfriend? A fan, maybe? And did she say school? As in high school?

"It's okay, Uncle Talon." She turns to me, smiling sweetly. "So, is this your wife?" Oh my God, is this actually his niece I've been getting all crazy jealous over for the past five minutes? Of course, now I can actually see a resemblance between them.

Talon smacks himself in the head. "Shit, where the hell are my manners? Asia, this is my niece, Kenzi. Kenzi, this is Asia."

I extend my hand to her. "It's so nice to meet you."

"I'm so sorry I missed your wedding. I was out of town on some stupid class trip."

"I understand. I'm glad we're meeting now."

"Are you guys, like, shopping?"

"Yes, we are, like, shopping," Talon teases. "Asia makes some kick-ass clothes, so we're going to design some stage wear together."

"Ooh, that's rad! I need to see this stuff. Can you make me cool clothes too?"

I nod at her excitement. "Of course. You can come over anytime you want and show me what you like, and I'll do my best to make it for you."

Her eyes go wide and she does a little jump. "That would be amazing! I better go. Tor's waiting."

She gives us each a quick hug and then skips across the lot to her friend.

"I had no idea you had a niece," I comment as we put the bags in the backseat and climb into the front.

"Yeah, that's Asher's daughter."

"Oh! How old is she?"

"She's seventeen."

I watch them in the side-view mirror as they ride off on the motorcycle.

"He looks kind of old for her," I say.

Talon scoffs as he backs the car out. "They're not dating, Aze. She's known him since she was born; he's like family. He and Asher have been best friends since they were little kids."

I frown. "Hmm, he had his hand on her thigh when they pulled out of the lot."

"You're crazy, babe. He was probably just making sure she was holding on. She's kinda hyper. I'm not thrilled with her being on a motorcycle at her age, but Tor's a biker so he doesn't actually drive a car much. His family owns the bike place in town."

"Okay, it was just a gut feeling I got watching them."

"Hey, not my circus, not my monkeys." He pops his e-cig in his mouth. "Between her and my little sister, who is pretty much the same age, I'd lose my mind if I tried to get involved in all the things they do. I'm gonna save the parenting stress until I have my own kids."

I can't shake the idea that the way Toren touched her looked a little intimate, but if he's a family friend, then I'm sure it's okay and I'm overreacting.

"Good idea," I agree. "How many kids do you want, anyway?"

"Two would be nice. How about you?"

I nod as I stare out the window, trying to imagine being pregnant and having babies with him. I think he would make a good father once he grows up just a little bit. A vision of him shirtless holding a baby against his tattooed chest flashes through my mind.
Damn, that would be so sexy.
"I think two is good. One of each would be perfect."

"Are you on any birth control now?"

"It's a little late to ask now, isn't it?

He laughs a little. "Yeah, I guess it is. I figured you would have stopped me if you weren't. I wasn't trying to be irresponsible. It did cross my mind rather quickly, but I was a little bit distracted." He grabs my hand across the seat.

I give his hand a squeeze back. "It's all good. I'm on the pill, but I have been getting bad headaches, so I'm thinking about going on the patch."

"Is that safe? You don't get sick or anything?"

"I don't think so. I'd have to talk to my doctor about it. I don't have health insurance, so I haven't been able to go. I went on the pill three months ago when I found out we were getting married. Kat had to lend me the money to go to the doctor."

He turns to me and then quickly averts his eyes back to the road. "Baby…shit. I have private health insurance, and I never even thought to ask you about that. I'll call my agent and see about getting you on my plan or getting your own. Whatever you need, we'll get it."

"Talon, you don't have to do that. I've never had health insurance."

He squeezes my hand harder. "Asia, I'm supposed to take care of you. I'm an asshole for not thinking of this stuff sooner. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize."

"Well, we're getting it straightened out. If you want to see your doctor before that, I want you to go. Just use the credit card I gave you."

"It can wait, hon. Really. Let me know what you find out and then I'll go. A few migraines aren't going to kill me."

"I know, but I don't like the idea of you feeling sick if I'm on tour. You'll be home alone and migraines are nasty. Asher and Storm get them sometimes." Given how bad my head hurts when my ears ring occasionally, I can only image their pain with a migraine. I don’t want my wife feeling that sick while she’s alone.

"I've been alone for a long time; I'll be all right," I reassure him.

"I get that, but I still want to do what I can for you. So, no more debates."

I lean across the car and kiss his cheek. "You're a very sweet man." I rub my nose against his cheek and pull away, my insides doing little waves of happy bursts. I've never had anyone care about me like he does, and the fact that it's new for him makes me feel special.

A
s soon as
we get home, he carries all our new supplies to my craft room while I head to the kitchen to make us fruit smoothies.

"Come on, Pixie. Maybe I'll design you some badass cat clothes," he says as Pixie chases him down the hall. Lately, she's been riding on his shoulder, which I think is the most adorable, sexy thing I've ever seen. I posted a picture on social media, and it went viral in like an hour. Apparently, rock stars and kittens make girls go crazy.

When I join him in the craft room, he's sitting on the floor with all the supplies in front of him, his red Converse sneakers off and tossed to the side. And there, in the middle of everything, is Pixie rolling around. He picks her up and plops her to the side for the second time since I came into the room.

"How the hell do you do anything with this cat? I can't even cope."

Handing him his drink, I go to my desk and pull out a catnip toy from one of the drawers and toss it on the floor for her. Talon watches with interest as Pixie chases it and then rolls around on the floor with it.

"Aha. So you have secret weapons. I'll remember that."

"I usually work on the table, but if she starts to get annoying, I have to shut her out of the room. We can't have cat hair on the clothes. I usually roll everything with a lint roller before I mail it out to a customer or give it to someone."

He grins and stands up. "Let's buy a case of lint rollers, then. Okay, so tell me your process here. Do you sketch it first and then design it?"

I sip my drink and nod. "Usually, yes. Then I try to match the best fabric for the design. You'll start to see that some fabric works better for certain styles than others."

We spend the next few hours at the table going over different designs and fabrics, and I'm blown away to see he can actually draw like an artist. His sketches are amazing.

"Talon, seriously, is there anything you can't do?" I can't tear my eyes away from his sketches and how detailed they are. I'm even more excited now to actually start making these garments with him.

Closing the sketchbook, I put it off to the side of the desk. "Tomorrow we should start these," I say excitedly.

He closes the boxes we just organized all the supplies in and stacks them over in the corner where I keep them. "As soon as I get home from the studio we can. I'll try to get back here earlier than usual."

"That would be great. I'm gonna call Kat. I haven't talked to her in a few days, and she keeps texting me to see if I'm alive."

"Cool. I'll be on the porch playing some tunes. Come find me when you're done, and we'll watch a movie later if you want."

My rock star husband now does movie nights with me about three times a week, cuddled up on our huge wraparound couch in the living room, usually with the windows open so we can hear the crickets chirping and the wind chimes blowing in the breeze. Those are my favorite nights ever because they are the closest to normal we seem to get, and it’s almost easy to forget that we were total strangers when we got married. Sometimes I really think that missing out on the dating period of our relationship is the worst part of this experiment we agreed to. We missed out on most of the things people who are dating do, like calling each other, going on actual dates, finding out what the other person likes and dislikes, and ultimately deciding if we like the person enough to keep seeing them. I have a feeling if Talon and I had met on our own, we probably would not have made it past the first date.

I dial Kat's cell number but she doesn't answer, so I send her a quick text telling her everything is good and I'll call her tomorrow. I've been thinking about suggesting a double dinner date with her and Rob because the four of us haven't spent any time together other than when they stopped by briefly to bring us a housewarming gift when we first moved in. Unfortunately, everything was so chaotic that day we barely had a chance to talk at all.

I venture outside to the big front porch to find him sitting on the floor, barefoot with his legs stretched out in front of him, playing his acoustic guitar and singing softly. My heart nearly stops when I realize the song he's playing is "Hope Dies Last," and his voice is beautiful, filled with so much emotion that he sounds even better than the real vocalist who sings it. I kneel on the floor next to him, my feelings all over the map at hearing my husband singing a song I've loved for years. That song always seemed to play during a time in my life when I needed to hear it the most, like a sign not to give up hope.

"Wow," I say when he's finished. "That's my favorite song in the whole world. Every time I hear it, I swear it just takes me to a different place. You sang that even better than the original singer. I didn't even know you could sing."

He glances up and winks at me. "I wrote that when I was eighteen years old, believe it or not. It's always been my favorite too."

"Wait…that's an Ashes & Embers song?" I had no idea he was the one who wrote it and played that heart-wrenching guitar solo that brought me to tears more times than I can count, or that Asher was the singer. Just like that, I feel my heart and soul leap and fall, and I know I'll never be the same. I'm falling in love with him. I can't deny it to myself anymore.

He grins softly. "It sure is one of our songs, jelly bean. Part of the lyrics are what I put on your wedding band."