BEAST (38 page)

She could no longer resist the urge to run her hands through his silky curls. She hugged him against her and sighed. “I’m far from freaked out.” He was different but she could still see her Christopher there, familiar and comforting. His eyes were still the warm dark and light that mesmerized her, and when he smiled up at her his lip twisted in that familiar crooked smile of his.

No. She hadn’t needed him to change. But he had needed it.

They spent more time than either of them wanted taking pictures of his new face and receiving instructions on care. But Christopher couldn’t even think about heading back home until he had visited with his commander.

“Ashleigh, do you care? I don’t know when I’ll see him again.” Soon he’d be released and Christopher wanted to tell him about his meeting with the team. He also wanted to show off his face. The Commander was a pivotal part of him looking brand new and he wanted to share it.

“Not at all.”
She actually wanted to see the Commander again. He had been nice to her. Christopher had forgotten that he hadn’t explained about the Commander’s injuries and when they were invited into the room, her face dropped at the sight of what remained of his arm.

Bruce
Kopke
looked from Ashleigh to Christopher. “You got to be
shittin
’ me…” His mouth was hanging open in complete surprise.

Ashleigh perched herself on the side of his bed and Christopher was surprised that she talked to him like he was an old friend. And he could have hit the floor when the old sob smiled and blushed when Ashleigh leaned forward to kiss his cheek goodbye.

“I’m not surprised that the team doesn’t want to lose you, Beast.” The Commander spoke as they headed out the door.

Christopher grinned. “I’m not Beast anymore.”

Bruce cocked his head in surprise. “You do know that we called you Beast because of how you are out on the field, right? The way you went through Crucible and everything else you tackle is what makes you a beast.”

Christopher shrugged. “I guess I didn’t know that. But it didn’t bother me. I don’t mind being called Beast by you guys…” He left the rest unsaid and headed out of the room.

Ashleigh slipped her hand in his as they walked out of the medical facility. She glanced at him and considered how wrong it was that she so desperately wanted to make love. Why did it feel a little bit like she was cheating on him? Would he be jealous if she…liked his face?

Two women walked past them as they walked hand and hand to the car and both began squealing and giggling. They looked behind them and Ashleigh saw that the two grown women were almost tripping over their feet craning their necks to look at Christopher.

“He is so hot!” They were whispering and giggling. Ashleigh rolled her eyes and Christopher looked at her in surprise.

“Did you hear that? They said I was hot?”

“Baby,” She heard herself whine. “Didn’t I always make you feel like you were hot?” Crap, she hated the sound of insecurity in her voice. This was not a repeat of DeAngelo. Christopher wasn’t waiting to bang every good looking girl that passed him by. Christopher didn’t want her to be his fluffy girl and she would never ever be a fluffy girl again.

Christopher reached over, tilted her chin up and studied her eyes. “Ash, I love you. I’ll never want another woman, do you understand? You are all I’ve ever wanted.” She nodded and tried to smile. “What’s wrong sweetheart? Are you sure that my face doesn’t bother you?”

“It’s not that. Christopher I love your face so much!” She said in a rush. “Oh baby, but I don’t love the old you any less. I swear it-”

He threw his head back and began to laugh. “Oh Ashleigh, honey, I want you to totally accept my new looks! I did it for you, for us!” He leaned forward and gently kissed her. “You’re the one that reminded me that this face is all me.” Ashleigh’s eyes closed as she eagerly returned his kiss. Oh god, she wanted him so badly. He gave her one last peck before withdrawing. She noticed that his grey eyes had darkened.

“We have to go visit Mom and Dad. They are going to be anxious.” He said, either trying to convince her or to convince himself.

“Oh…yeah.
Of course.”
Damnit, she wanted to jump into the next available dark corner and bang the hell out of him!

“We won’t stay long,” he promised.

“No. We should. They’re just as anxious about the surgery as we are.”

He gripped her hand and led her to the car. While they drove he touched his lips and nose and she would catch him smiling to himself. When he realized that he was being watched he blushed.

“I’m not being vain, but I just can’t believe this face is mine.” He chuckled.

She was watching him and hiding her smile. “You
sorta
look like that guy who played
Thor
, except with red hair.”

He scowled. “No. You think?”

“A little.
But better.”

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. He glanced at her and gave her a crooked grin and she saw him, her old Christopher, so clearly in the new angles of his face.

“God, I love you.” She whispered.

The smile slid from his face. “Mom and Dad can wait…” He changed lanes and drove towards the next exit. “I need you now.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m finding a hotel. You need to eat, I need to shower and shave, but first,” he gave her a smoky look. “You need to cum. I know when my baby needs to cum.”

Her eyes got big and she squirmed in her seat. Wow, he was talking dirty.
Yum.

They quickly located a Highway Inn which didn’t look appropriate for more than what they wanted it for. Christopher checked them into a small dingy room. Ashleigh pulled the comforter from the bed, allowing it to land on the floor where it surely belonged. When she turned Christopher was standing right there. He lifted her easily and sat her on the blankets.

Christopher came out of his shirt and Ashleigh resisted the urge to run her hands along his muscular chest. He kicked out of his shoes and pulled off his jeans and boxers. She gasped. He was already so hard that his big thick shaft was nearly purple.

Moving quickly she squirmed out of her clothes while he watched her. She was aware of exactly where his eyes landed on every part of her body.

His eyes rested on hers. “I want to do this right…” he went down on his knees before the bed and she shuddered in anticipation, spreading her legs wide for him. The sight of her soft, wet flesh swelling from her brown lips caused Christopher’s salivary glands to go into overdrive. He loved Ashleigh’s pussy; the way it smelled, the way it looked the way it tasted. He quickly lowered his lips to her mound and he licked and sucked until she was whimpering and gyrating uncontrollably.

Her hands slipped into his hair, but instead of gripping it she rubbed him gently holding him in place while she gyrated against his face. He rubbed his beard against her flesh and she arched to meet it. The friction was incredible! She suddenly bucked.

“No! Don’t make me cum. In me baby, inside of me, please!”

Christopher quickly moved up the bed until he was covering her body. She ran her hands over his taut body while he guided himself into her wet and ready opening. Ashleigh’s eyes closed and her lips parted.

“
Ohh
…” She cried. “Oh, Chris…”

Christopher squeezed his eyes closed fighting to control his strokes; steady, not too hard, not to slow. His baby liked it fast. He dipped his head and sought her plump brown nipple. He sucked her into his mouth and it was the move that brought her over the edge. Ashleigh gripped his back, her fingers dug in while her legs closed tightly around him.

Christopher gasped as her hot satiny walls clenched around him, squeezing him and pulling him inside of her further.

“Yes!
Ashleigh, cum, baby!”
He growled as he drove into her faster. He could feel her body shaking. He didn’t know if all women did that but his Ashleigh did. Her shaking intensified until she let loose one last shriek of pleasure. With that sound and the intense pulsing that gripped him, Chris allowed his own cry of pleasure to mix with hers.

Christopher clutched the blankets in his fists and grunted his release into Ashleigh’s still pulsing body. “Oh my god…” He said as he allowed his body to collapse partially over hers. “So good…” he murmured.

All she could do was lay there and stroke his curls and his shoulders and his back. He rolled onto his side and stared down at her. She reached up and silently ran her finger over the bridge of his nose, and then allowing it to dip down into the cleft of his lip before she traced his upper lip. Christopher closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her fingers on his face.

“I love when you do that.” He whispered. He grasped her wrist lightly and returned her fingers to his lips where he kissed each fingertip. “I never thought I’d have this.”

She inhaled a shaky breathe. “Me either.”

~***~

Sharing his face with his family was like watching each of them open a valued present at Christmas. Christopher never realized how much his scars had so profoundly affected everyone until every single person that had come to his Mom and Dad’s house cried tears of joy for him. His mother was shaking and she kept touching his face. His father shed tears as well, but mostly because he thought Chris was Walt. And he kept saying that he knew Walt wasn’t dead, that his boy had come back. Christopher just buried his head against his father’s chest and let him think that he was Walt.

By the time they got home later in the evening, Christopher was emotionally drained. He dragged himself into bed but Ashleigh wasn’t ready for sleep. She changed into shorts and a sports bra and then went into the workout room. Maggie yawned and hopped up on the weight bench and watched as Ashleigh got on the treadmill. It had been days since she had run but once the endorphins released into her system, she got lost in the joy of her muscles working; tightening and loosening with each pound of her feet against the treadmill. It became a song for her, this sound of her running. Ashleigh didn’t even remember that once upon a time she had thought women who ran the treadmill like she now did were peculiar.  Once upon a time, Ashleigh had thought a lot of things.

The next day Christopher made Ashleigh’s protein shake and dropped her off at work promising to pick her up in the evening so that they could go wedding ring shopping. Ashleigh gave him a lingering kiss and hurried down into the subbasement for her workout. This was her gym, hers and Christopher’s. It’s how she would forever think of this place. She didn’t even worry about that creepy guy showing up because she knew that Christopher’s team would be watching her and making sure she stayed safe.

She entered the room, turned on the lights and then slipped a
cd
into the disc player; George Clinton and Parliament
Funkadelics
. She loved Christopher’s music but it was nice to mix some good funk into the workout. She turned to the treadmill and paused. Resting on the handles was an army fatigue hat and folded shirt. On top of the neat bundle was a folded piece of paper. She reached for the paper, looking around curiously. Written across it were two words; LITTLE TROOPER.

Ashleigh grinned. She placed the hat on her head and unfolded the shirt. It had USMC written across the front just like Christopher’s
shirts,
only this one was a whole lot smaller. Ashleigh looked up at the little camera nestled in the ceiling and tilted her head at it in thanks.

Lance and Ashleigh couldn’t wait until the end of the day so that they could walk out to Christopher’s truck to get a look at his new face. He wasn’t in his truck but standing out front talking to TK. Ashleigh immediately recognized the black man decked out in sunglasses even though she had never officially been introduced to him.

While Kendra and Lance gushed over Christopher, Ashleigh gave her attention to the man.