Storm Front (The Charistown Series) (Volume 2) (39 page)

“So ready for me. I love that, Princess.”

“I was made for you, Ryan,” she whimpered as his thumb
rubbed circles over her engorged bud. Climax quickly rippled through her body,
robbing her of thought and breath. When she floated down from her
orgasm-induced haze she looked at him through hooded eyes.

“Nothing more incredible.” He said on a heavy breath as he
palmed her naked skin causing goose bumps rise under his touch.

“Ry, I want you. I want you inside me. Make love to me.” Her
short sentences were the result of both breathlessness and an overwhelming
desire to be joined with this man. His voice was low and thick with lust. “I
have to go get protection, baby.” She reached out to stop him before he moved
to get up.

“You know I’m on the pill…the question is, how careful were
you during ‘Operation Piss Off Princess?’” While she meant for the question to
be light-hearted, she could tell by the way his brows furrowed that she had
struck a nerve unintentionally.

“Ashley, my heart has
always
belonged to you. I’ve
never had an encounter with a woman where I haven’t been properly protected—not
once, not ever.” His tone told her that he spoke the truth and she knew exactly
what she wanted.

“Then nothing between us, Ryan.” His nostrils flared when her
meaning became clear.

“Are you sure?”

“Nothing between us ever again,” she clarified and brought
his face closer to her own. His weight felt amazing pressed up against her
naked skin and she melted underneath him, his kisses turning her to liquid
while his touches set her ablaze.

“More, Ryan,” she begged. “Please, please…more.”

Her pleas were like a lighter to a gas tank, each one
igniting a spark while Ryan waited for the motherfucker to blow. He reached
between them and placed his hardness at her opening and Ashley lifted her hips
to drive him in. Flames exploded around him and his mind melted, not just at
the feeling of being inside of his woman but being inside her bareback. He
thanked God he’d only ever experienced this with her before, and now with her
again. This was what men fought for—what they died for. This was heaven. This
was him and Ashley.

He rocked into her and felt her tight walls grip him as he
kissed her breasts, her neck, and her sweet lips.

“Ash, I fucking love you.”

Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, clasped at the
ankles, and she lifted her hips to pull him in even deeper. They both groaned.
Faster, he pumped into her and the sting of her nails scoring his back turned
him on even more.

He growled when she licked at the sweat that ran down his
neck. He could feel his release brewing at the base of his spine, and his balls
pulled up tight against his body, so he reached between their joined torsos and
grazed her sensitive clit.

“Oh, oh, God, fuck, Ryan…”

“Let go, Ash, give it to me. One more, baby, let me have one
more.” Her walls tightened around his shaft as she blew apart, bringing him
with her. A perfect union. No, a perfect
reunion
.

TAKING ANOTHER LOG from the pile and
throwing it onto the fire, Ryan fanned the flames while Ashley lay snuggled on
the floor, wrapped in one of the many blankets they had put down at the
beginning of the night. He watched out of the corner of his eyes as she pulled
her bottom lip into her teeth, her gaze firmly on his ass.

“Staring again, Princess?” He taunted.

“Ryan, I’m never gonna not stare. You are male perfection,
and you’re all mine. Now get back over here. I’m cold.” She lifted the blanket
and he slid in next to her. As his naked body touched hers it sent a shiver
through her.

“Come closer, Princess. Geez, you
are
cold. Come
here, let me warm you up.”

“So smooth with the ladies, Romeo,” she teased and his body
tensed.

“Listen to me, Ashley.” He lifted up on his forearm, and
used his other hand to take her chin between his thumb and index finger. “I
fucked up, I know I did, but there are some things I think you need to know—”

“Ryan,” she cut him off. “It’s okay. What you did when we
weren’t a couple is your own business. I was wrong to bring it up, and I won’t
do it again.” Regret filled her eyes.

“No, you need to hear me out.” When he was certain that he
had her attention, he moved his hand from her chin down to her arm, sliding his
fingers up and down her soft flesh, and then stopping periodically to trace the
“
Leo
” tattoo on her bicep.

“Did I sleep around this past year? Yes, I did, but I didn’t
hook up with as many women as you think. I couldn’t, Ash, because I only wanted
you. It was childish and asinine, but true. The nights I didn’t come home I
crashed at Kyle’s on his filthy, germ-infested couch. So,” he shrugged, “in
essence, maybe I did sleep with people those nights too.”

They both laughed before Ryan continued. “I stayed out
because I was drunk, and I knew if I came home I’d make a fool of myself. Not
once did I stay the night at some random chick’s place.”

He saw the questions in her eyes, “I never wanted to give
any woman the impression that what we had was anything other than sex. Does
that make me an asshole? Yeah, I guess, but the only woman’s bed I wanted to
wake up in was yours.” Ashley’s mouth opened in what Ryan assumed would be a
classic Ashley rebuttal.

“I know, I know,” He jumped in like he was reading her mind,
“I was a dick, parading women around to make you jealous.” He squirmed under
her narrow gaze. “I can’t change what I did. And I know it sounds like I’m
trying to make it seem less disgusting, but, really, I’m not. I’ve been a whore
but you’ll never know how sorry I am. What I did with those girls was never
based on love—not once, not ever—and I need you to believe that. It was just me
trying to move on from the only woman who has ever owned my heart. Please, tell
me you can get past that?” The tension slowly left his body as Ashley gave an
understanding nod.

Leaning forward, she gently kissed his lips and smiled.
“Yeah, Ry, I can get past that. I’m already over it. So let’s let it go. Okay?”

Lying on his side behind her, they both watched the dancing
flames of the fire. The grandfather clock that stood in the corner struck five,
as his eyelids grew heavy. So much had happened in the past twelve hours, so
much damage, so much destruction, and so much pain, but things had also begun
to heal and for that small favor he would be forever grateful.

“Ry?”

“Hmm?” He wasn’t yet asleep but he was emotionally and
physically spent from the events of the day.

“Is
Danny’s
really gone?” He felt the pain that laced
her question.

“No, Princess, just the building is.” He placed a soft kiss
on the round of her shoulder. “Buildings can be replaced, and as soon as the
weather clears up we’ll help Danny rebuild.” The rain and winds whipped around
outside and aside from the incandescence in front of them, the house remained
in darkness. “But right now, baby, let’s try to get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay, honey.” She wiggled her bare skin closer to him and
he felt her body relax when sleep finally claimed her.

Destruction And A Bet

“OH GOD.” JANIE’S voice was filled
the emotions that everyone else was feeling but were too stunned to verbalize.
It had been twenty-four hours since Hurricane Leo had hit Charistown with its
one/two punch before making its way up the coast to take on its next opponent.
Ryan, Ashley, Max, Janie, and Lyla had agreed to meet Danny and Julie at the
wreckage so they could all deal with the tragedy together.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Danny grumbled. His red-rimmed
eyes, accented with purple smudges, suggested how little sleep he’d had the
night before. He extended his hand to a quietly sobbing Ashley. Wrapped tightly
in Ryan’s arms, she gave him a loving squeeze before walking over to Danny and
Julie. They enveloped her in an embrace that to any outsider would look like
parents consoling their child and together they mourned their loss.

A few minutes elapsed and the embrace between three expanded
to include, Max, Janie, and Ryan, all forming a circle around the couple who
had become so much more than employers over the years.

“Lyla, girl, get your ass over here. You know this family
isn’t complete without you.” Clearly Danny’s cracked voice held no less
authority than normal because with no more than a loud sniff, Lyla slowly
walked through the sodden rubble to her family and melded into their warmth.

Pulling away, Ryan looked around the dilapidated wreckage.
“Hey, where the hell is Kyle?” No one had seen or heard from Kyle in days,
which was strange in its own right, but after such a big storm where it was
public knowledge that
Danny’s on Main
had been destroyed, even Kyle
should have checked in. “Look, I know he’s been off—getting worse for months,
even—but this isn’t like him.” As if on cue, Danny’s cell phone rang.

“Hello, this is Danny.” The group was quiet as Danny spoke
to the caller. It quickly became clear by the look on Danny’s face that the
news he was hearing wasn’t good. “Motherfucker. Yeah, Nixon, uh huh, I
understand. But he’s breathin’ on his own, yes?”

“Who’s Nixon?” Lyla whispered to Max.

“Kyle’s younger brother, now shh.”

“Okay, boy, I hear ya. No, I’ll tell everyone. When can he
have visitors? Yep.” Danny continued to listen and answer briefly. “You got it,
Nix. Anything you need, son, okay? Nixon Marx, listen up boy, he’s my family,
which means you are too, so hear me when I say,
anything you need
, got
it? Okay. I’ll call you later. Bye, Nix.”

When Danny ended the call, he closed his eyes and absently
shook his head. The room stayed quiet, as if everyone decided to give Danny a
moment to clear his head, without ever having to discuss it.

“Honey,” Julie lovingly stroked his forearm, “what did Nixon
want? Where’s Kyle?” Ashley felt her insides tighten—a cub scout couldn’t have
tied a better knot. Danny and Julie were standing in the middle of what used to
be their livelihood, they’d lost everything in the last forty-eight hours and
now, Danny had the weight of something else on his broad, but not unbreakable,
shoulders. He needed her. No, he needed
all
of them. They were a team, a
family.

“Danny, talk to us. We may be like your children, but we’re
adults. Let us help you for a change.” As the words left her mouth, Ashley felt
strength firing in her blood. This was her time—her time to put away the past,
and start moving on in the present in all aspect of her life.
Reach for the
Light.
She felt warmth in Leo’s words and the strength in those around her.

“Fuck, I don’t know how to tell you all this—especially the
two of you,” Danny shot a quick look to Ryan who now had Ashley wrapped tight
in his arms.

“Kyle got into a car accident last night. They found his car
wrapped around an electrical pole. According to the paramedics who first
responded, he was semi-conscious when they first arrived but, he was also
pretty goddamn drunk. Once they were able to get him on the stretcher, he went
unconscious and hasn’t woken up since. Nix said that in Kyle’s case, being
drunk probably saved his life because his body was so limber it just kind of
went with the flow of the car. He never tightened up, never fought it.”

Danny shook his head in what appeared to be sorrowful
disgust. “That boy is tempting death every single day and this time death
nearly won. Jesus Christ. You should have heard the list of things damaged or
broken in that boy. Nix has been at the hospital all night. Kyle has had two
emergency surgeries. Nix sounds beat.” He turned to Julie, “We should head up
there, sweetheart. There’s nothing we can do to this place today.”

“Of course, Danny, but you didn’t tell us, where did the
accident happen?” Julie questioned.

“He was on his way back from Bethlehem.”

“Fuck!” Max groaned pinching the bridge of his nose with his
finger and thumb, and sent a look of understanding in Danny and Julie’s
direction.

“What the hell is in Bethlehem?” Lyla asked a question that
not only Janie, but Ryan and Ashley also, had no answer for.

“I’m sorry, Ly, I just can’t tell you that.” Max pulled
Janie close to his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I hate to fall back
on the standard answer, but it’s not my story to tell.”

“Christ.” Lyla shoved her hands in her leather jacket. “We
could write not just one book but a whole damn series when you put all of our
shit together. Fine, don’t share, but is he okay?” There was no misreading the
depth of the sincerity in her question.

“He will be, Lyla girl,” Danny mumbled.

“Ahem.” Julie cleared her throat in a loud and purposeful
fashion.

“Jules,” Danny grumbled, a smirk creeping across his handsome
face. “You can’t possibly be thinking about our bet now, while all hell is
breaking loose in our lives?”

“Danny Marcus,” Julie grinned, wiping the last stray tear
from her cheek. “You, my sweet husband, have always preached about finding the
silver lining when the skies are at their darkest and here it is buddy. Now pay
up. The rest of you too. Don’t think you can get away with stiffing the boss
lady.”

The confusion that marred Ryan’s sexy face was comforting to
Ashley because she had no freaking idea what the hell was going on around her.
“Ry?” She asked, but he shrugged his shoulders and they both watched silently
as Danny, Max, Janie, and Lyla each slapped a twenty-dollar bill into Julie’s
waiting palm.

“What the fuck, guys?” Ryan pulled Ashley closer to his
body. She went willingly, loving how his innate protective instinct reappeared
overnight.

“Son, no need to get upset.” Danny wrapped both arms around
his wife. “Julie, here won the bet, that’s all.”

“The
bet
?” Ashley sputtered through barely contained
giggles.

“Yeah, she said you guys would find your way back to each
other during the storm. Something about a ‘Power Party’? We all thought she was
crazy.”

Julie laughed. “Not looking so crazy anymore am I?” Her gaze
leveled on Ashley. “Pedicures on me, Spicy girl.”

The solemn mood was lifted slightly as the seven of them
carefully maneuvered their way out of the mess that was once
Danny’s
,
and headed to the hospital to see their friend.