From Ashes

GAGE

OH MY GOD, how is she mine? I couldn’t have taken my eyes away from her even if I wanted to, which I definitely didn’t. Her small body lay there; the only part moving was her chest, which was rapidly rising and falling as she watched me look at her. “So beautiful,” I muttered, and she was. Every part of her, scars and all, was absolutely beautiful.

My eyes raked over her perfectly curved hips and flat stomach leading up to a tiny waist and perfect breasts. Perfect. There was no other word for this girl lying underneath me. How could I have wasted a second of my time on any other woman than her? And yet, I’d never paid a tenth of the attention to them that I was giving to Cassidy. Every other woman had been a means to the end result, but I could have spent the rest of the night simply looking at Cassidy, and it wouldn’t have been long enough. My jeans were uncomfortably tight, but I resisted the urge to let them join the rest of the clothes on the floor and continued my visual exploration of her. I glanced over her small shoulders, dipping into her neck and up her throat before looking at her full lips, swollen from kissing and partially open. And finally, finally, I reached her gold eyes, bright with unshed tears. Mine. This beautiful girl is mine.

“You’re perfect, Cassidy.”

A sound that was a mix between a laugh and a sob left her and she tore her arms from under my hands and threw them around my neck, burying her head in the crook of my neck. She was shaking slightly and I ran my hand through her long, thick hair.

“Are you okay?” I asked when she still didn’t let me go.

Her face flashed before mine for only a second before disappearing again down my chest, where she began to place damn near torturous openmouthed kisses. But that second was enough; her eyes were still wet but she had the softest, most beautiful smile I’d ever seen on her. It was more than just my smile, and I wanted to see it again.

With a gentle tug of her hair, I brought her lips back to mine. They moved against each other for a short time and I about thanked God out loud when she arched her back and guided my head to her chest. Her hands moved to the top of my jeans when I brought my mouth to the swell of her breast and I groaned against her skin at the extra space she’d given me by undoing my jeans and pulling them down slightly.

“Touch me,” she urged, and I once again forced myself to move slowly.

My fingers had just glided over the soft cotton of her underwear and curled around the top, ready to push them down, when the doorbell rang quickly three times. “Ignore it,” I growled against her breast.

“ ’Kay.” Her voice was low and breathy and a shiver went up her body when my fingers trailed over her heat as I pulled down her underwear. The bell sounded again and her body locked up. “The guys are coming for the game and dinner!”

I almost told her that they would get the hint when I remembered I’d given Adam a key after the whole Popsicle Cassidy incident. Shit. “Adam has a key,” I said in a rush just as I heard the front door open and voices enter the house. With a frustrated growl, I kissed her hard one more time, jumped off her, and had my shirt back on in a few seconds. Adjusting my painfully hard erection and buttoning up my pants again, I looked back to see a flushed and frustrated Cassidy watching me from the bed. “I’ll tell them to go.”

“No, it’s fine. They’ll be gone later tonight.” There was so much promise in that last sentence; I knew it’d have to be enough to get me through the game.

I nodded and opened the door slightly so I could slip out without anyone seeing in if they were near the hall. Glad I did, because Ethan was just starting to walk down it.

“Hey, man, we thought you guys weren’t here.”

“Nah, I was just busy. Anyone want a beer?” I called as I walked uncomfortably into the kitchen, hoping to get their focus away from my bedroom door. It was a futile attempt though, because as soon as a fully clothed Cassidy stepped out with her somewhat messed-up hair and red cheeks, the living room went completely silent.

My beautiful girl straightened her shoulders and walked confidently into the kitchen, keeping her eyes on me the entire time. “Any requests for dinner tonight?” she asked when she finally looked at them. I saw her cheeks flush even darker, but she kept her chin up as they all gawked at her.

Ethan glanced at me with a sly grin and mouthed, Fucking finally, before looking back at Cass. “Uh, can you make your inside-out burgers?”

“Sure.” She glanced at the rest of the guys, who still weren’t talking, but Adam was smiling at her. Trying to avoid the stares, she set about getting out a massive amount of snacks for us. When she pulled all the ingredients out of the fridge for the burgers and put them on the counter, I stepped up behind her and put a hand on each side of her.

“You okay, darlin’?” If the guys didn’t start talking soon, I was going to get uncomfortable.

“I’m great.” Her head tilted back and she smiled widely at me; her hand came up around my neck and brought my head down for a slow kiss in front of everyone. Knowing how much she hated showing affection with Ty in front of anyone, that kiss meant the damn world.

I smiled down at her and kissed her softly once more before straightening up and facing the guys and a gleefully happy Dana and Jackie, who must have come in sometime after I’d pinned Cassidy against the counter. They shuffled past me toward the kitchen and I grabbed the remote out of Jake’s hand and turned on the TV.

Tossing the remote back at his stomach, I said, loud enough for him and Grant to hear me, “You come over to watch the game or stare at my girl? ’Cause if it’s the latter, y’all can leave.”

“You and Cassi?” Jake finally asked with raised brows.

“Yeah, me and Cass. If you have a problem with it, you can take that as another invitation to get the hell out.”

“I’m good,” he said, and I looked up at Grant, who had just pulled his eyes away from Cassidy and given me a satisfied smirk before settling into one of the couches.

I FINISHED SAYING bye to Grant and Jake after practically throwing them out of the house. Everyone else had left an hour before, and I wasn’t dumb enough to not realize they were staying to piss me off. I’d had a hard-on practically the entire night and I couldn’t stop touching Cassidy in some way or another. We’d been anxiously waiting for everyone to leave, and those two settled in further and started flipping through the guide on my TV when the game was done. Trying to give them a hint, Cass and I had done the dishes and stood in the kitchen talking after we were done. When I realized they weren’t going on their own, I made sure to let them know their time was up.

Turning around after dead-bolting the door, I caught sight of Cassidy dropping her shirt to the floor with a Come get me look on her face as she turned to go down the hall toward my room. Hell. Yeah. My girl is damn sexy. I didn’t wait for the bedroom either; my shirt was forgotten somewhere in the living room and my jeans made it as far as the bedroom door before being left behind as well. Cassidy had just slipped off her bra, and I picked her up and tossed her on the bed; a throaty laugh filled the room as she landed. Before the bed was done settling from my having her thrown on, I was on top of her and claiming her mouth. She moaned and secured me to her body with her arms and legs, but it wasn’t close enough . . . I doubted it ever would be. I would always want to be closer to my Cassidy.

Her hands trailed up my back, over my shoulders, and then one continued down to my hand, which was in her thick hair. Grabbing my fingers, she moved my hand and slowly brought it down her body, keeping our fingers intertwined as she led our hands to remove her underwear. I stopped kissing her to watch our hands make their way back up her leg and stop below her left hip. Looking down into her now-dark eyes, I held her gaze as I took my hand from hers and slowly ran it over her before sliding one finger inside. She gasped and let her head fall back as her eyes fluttered shut and her mouth opened slightly. I watched her face as every sensation ran through her body and soon added a second finger, earning a soft whimper from her. Holy hell, she was so tight. Glancing down again, I watched my hand teasing her body and got the strongest urge to do something I’d never done. I know I told her she was in control, and she was, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. Hell, I was about ready to beg her to let me do this for her.

“Darlin’, I—”

“Please, Gage,” she said soft as a whisper, and her heavy-lidded eyes looked up at me. “I’ve wanted and dreamed about this for so long. I don’t want you to stop.” She brought her shaky hands up to my hips and slid the band of my boxer-briefs down enough to take my erection in her hands, and a shiver ran through my body.

She’d barely touched me and already I had to work at not coming yet. I’d never had an issue with this, but then again, it’d never been Cassidy touching me. I focused all my attention on what I was doing for her and couldn’t wait another second to take what I wanted. The instant loss of her hands on me was like a physical blow, but this was about her. Sliding my body down the bed, I continued to work her with my fingers and leaned forward to taste her. Cassidy roughly whispered my name and her hands flew to my head, but instead of pulling me away like I was expecting, she held it in place. And thank God, because now that I had a taste of her, I didn’t want to stop.

When her body shook and she cried out my name, I pulled my boxer-briefs off the rest of the way and positioned myself between her thighs. She looked up at me after I cupped her cheek with a hand and I kept our gazes locked on each other. “You say stop and we’ll stop. Okay?”

Cassidy nodded and wiggled beneath me as she said, “I want this, don’t stop.”

All the muscles in my body locked and I clenched my jaw as I slowly entered her. God, she was so damn tight. “Fuck,” I growled. I saw the uncomfortable pleasure on her face and gave her time as her body stretched around me. I wasn’t even halfway in when her body locked and she huffed out harshly. I looked into her wide, trusting eyes. “Are you sure you’re ready for this Cass?” The first girl I’d ever been with had been a virgin, but since her, Cassidy was the only other one. My first time I hadn’t realized what I was doing until it was practically over, and even then I didn’t care that she was probably hurting. But knowing I was about to deliberately hurt Cassidy had my chest tightening.