Tribal (7 page)

Chapter
12

Ash

I
woke up straddling Cris as he was slowly pressing into me.  I had no idea
how he got me into this position, but I was enjoying it too much to ask. 
I moaned quietly as I felt him stretching me, and pushed back against him
taking him farther.

“Mmm
you’re awake, I never thought you’d wake up,” he murmured kissing my neck.

I
pushed up against his chest still half-asleep and felt the rest of him slip
inside me.  “Oh god,” I groaned as I sat astride him.  He felt
amazing inside me.  I noticed that we were in his bed in his house. 
I didn’t remember much after he fucked me into oblivion last night.  I
shrugged it off and pressed more firmly against him, my clit rubbing against
him.

“Feel
good, Ash?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Then
ride me.”

I
took that as a challenge and began to slowly rise then slammed my body back
down against his, we both groaned.  I continued rising slowly only to
force him back inside of me quickly.  We were both panting when he pulled
me off him, tossing me on my stomach.  He climbed behind me and jerked me
up so my ass was in the air and my shoulders were against the bed.  He
thrust into me hard his hips pressing against my still sore ass, and I grunted
against the onslaught of sensation.

He
didn’t stop to let me get used to the new position but instead went to work fucking
me.  Both of us grunting, groaning, and searching for our release. 
It was hard, fast, and messy the perfect way to wake up in the morning.  I
felt myself flutter around him and he increased his pace until my face was
buried in the mattress as I screamed his name.  He continued to pound into
me, then grunted shoving himself in deep and staying there.

He
finally pulled out and flopped on the bed beside me, while I straightened out
my body feeling new aches and pains.  We both laid there quietly trying to
get our breathing back in control.  Finally, I rolled over and went in
search of my clothes.

“What
are you doing?”

“Getting
dressed.”

“Why?”

“Because
we need to talk and I’d prefer doing that with clothes on.”

“Oh
okay,” he muttered.  “You still have some pajama pants and stuff in your
drawer.”

I
nodded and went to pull them out of the drawer Cris had cleaned out for me
months ago; it was just easier to leave clothes here.  I pulled on a pair
of warm pajama pants and a tank top then went to the bathroom to brush my
teeth.  After I was through, I headed to the kitchen to start coffee and
breakfast.  I knew I was stalling, but I was trying to process everything
that had happened last night and this morning.

“You
okay?” Cris asked as he padded into the kitchen in nothing but a pair of
unbuttoned jeans.  It was truly unfair that he looked this damn good early
in the morning.

“Ash?”

“Hmm,
yeah, I’m okay,” I said forcing myself to stop staring at his hard chest and
defined abdomen.

He
smirked and ran a hand down his chest, lightly scratching his stomach. 
“What do you want to do today?”

“We
need to talk but I thought we could do that over breakfast.”

“Need
help?”

“No,
thank you.”

I
watched as he turned and walked out of the kitchen.  I went to work making
us a simple breakfast.  While I was cooking I tried to organize my
thoughts, figure out where I stood on his revelation last night.  I never
thought about the lines of Dom and boyfriend crossing, but I could see now how
they might.  I had some of the same concerns being his sub and being in a
relationship with him.  That he would see me being his sub in the bedroom
as being a sub in real life.  While I may try to avoid confrontation, I
wasn’t willing to be a twenty-four/seven sub either.

“Cris,”
I called, “breakfast is ready.”  Then I went about making myself a plate
and second cup of coffee.  There would be no more stalling, and I had an
idea of what I wanted but I wanted to hear what he had to say first.

I
sat down at the table and started eating when he walked in, fixed his own plate
and coffee, and sat across from me.  We both ate with  only the sound
of forks scraping across plates to disturb the uncomfortable silence.

Finally
I dropped my fork on my empty plate and looked at him.  “I get why you
have concerns, but I think it would be best if we put our relationship ahead of
all the other stuff.”

He
looked up at me.  “I agree, we should talk about what’s going on in our
lives without the fear of it affecting our other relationship.”

I
nodded.  “Yes, and I have my own concerns about the other side of us as
well.”

Cris

“You
do?” I asked concerned she’d been withholding from me as well.

She
bit her lip and nodded.  “I know it’s not likely to happen, but I do worry
that the Dom/sub relationship we have will leak into our daily
relationship.  That you’ll want or expect me to always do what you say, or
what you want.  I can’t and won’t do that.”

“I
wouldn’t want you to.”

“Okay,”
she mumbled.

“Have
I done that before?”

She
shook her head.  “No, but it’s still a concern.”

I
thought about that for a minute and I could see where the concern would come
from.  This was going to be more difficult than I thought.  Only I
knew if we laid out ground rules like we did at the beginning of our Dom/sub
relationship it could work.

“We
need rules, guidelines per se, so we can keep everything clear.”

“Yeah,
that might work.” Then she looked at me intently. “No lying and no more
withholding information.”

“No
lying.”

“We
need to be able to talk freely about everything without fear of it affecting
the other.”

“Yeah,
but how do we do that?”

She
reached over and grabbed my hand.  “Cris, you won’t look weak to me for
telling me things.  I want to be your friend as well as your partner.”

“Okay.”
Then we went on to talk about the things I had been holding back—fears about
the shop, my relationship with Devi.  We talked, both of us trying to
break down the walls that had been closing us off.  We spent the morning
just talking, laughing, and enjoying each other.  It was the first time
we’d had this since our relationship started, and it was perfect.

After
lunch we both received texts from Devi, telling us that there was a family meeting
at her place in an hour, and not to be late. 

“What’s
that about?” I asked.

She
shrugged.  “Probably getting everyone ready for the guys leaving on
Monday.”

“Makes
sense.”

We
got in my car and were driving to Devi and Seth’s when I asked, “Will you think
about moving in with me?”

“I
don’t know if that’s such a good idea, we’ve just now started to really work
things out.”

“I
know, but I want you with me.”

“I’ll
think about it.”

We
left it at that.  I was just happy that she was willing to think about it,
finally.

Chapter
13

Ash

We
walked into the house hand and hand.  I was happy with the way things were
going.  I still wasn’t sure about moving in together, but I would think
about like I promised.  I jerked to a stop noticing everyone was staring
at us—Devi smiling smugly.

“Yeah
yeah, shut up,” I muttered.

We
found a seat on the floor and I looked around noticing everyone from the band
plus Mags, Drake, Max, and Jules sitting around.  I wasn’t sure what to
expect from her impromptu meeting.

“Since
everyone has finally decided to show,” Devi said looking at me, “let’s get to
it.  Ash, you know I love you, right?”

I
nodded.

“Good,
you’re fired.”

“What?”
I yelled.

“You’re
fired.  I’ve already hired a new nanny; she’ll be here in a week.  So
I need you to clean out your stuff in a week’s time.  Good, glad that’s
settled,” she said smiling at all the gawking faces.

“What
the fuck, Devi?” Cris yelled.

Seth
held out his hand towards Cris.  “That’s enough, just listen.”

We
all looked back at Devi.  “So I’m pregnant,” she announced, “with twins.”

“Ah
fuck man, you promised not to do this to us again,” X whined.

Devi
glared at him.  “Do this to you?” she screeched.

X
shrunk back and I would have giggled if I wasn’t trying to process the fact
that Devi fired me.

“Things
around here are changing.  Ash, I need a house mom in essence—someone to
help with the kids when needed, do the grocery shopping, and help keep everything
organized, paid, and running.  You need a job, so you’re hired.”  She
nodded like this was a done deal and I just stared at her.

“You’ve
lost your mind,” I stated.

She
tilted her head.  “That is a possibility.”

She
looked over at Cris.  “I’ll need to cut my hours at the shop soon.”

He
nodded looking at her wearily.

“Okay,
I think that’s all.” She stood up and started walking out of the room.

“Don’t
you want my answer?” I called after her.

“It’s
not a choice,” she called back.  “Oh and Cris, Ash needs a place to live,
want a roommate?”

“God,
she’s scary when she’s knocked up,” X muttered.

“I
heard that X.  And Seth, after I have these babies you’re getting snipped
or I will do it for you.”

“I
know, you’ve already warned me,” he shouted back.

“So,
who’s the new nanny?”

Seth
went pale and jumped up.  “Ask Devi,” he said over his shoulder as he
practically ran out of the room.

Cris

“What
just happened?” asked Sam.

“I
don’t have a clue,” Eli murmured.

“You
okay?” I asked Ash who was sitting beside me still shell-shocked.

“Was
I fired?”

I
nodded my head.

“Then
I was given a new job?”

I
nodded again.

She
looked at me blankly.  “I guess I will move in with you.”

“You
don’t have to if you don’t want to, we can find you something else.”

“You
can stay with Jules at my place if you want,” Sam offered.

I
shook my head.  “No, I want to move in with you, I think.”

“You
think?”

“Just
give me a minute.”

X
groaned, “We’re screwed.”

“How
so?” Max asked.

“Do
you not remember how Devi is pregnant?”

He
nodded.

“Now
think of that times two.”

We
all groaned and cursed.

Drake
looked over at Mags.  “We’re moving back home as soon as possible.  I
am talking like this week.”

Mags
nodded.  “It’s safer.”

Ash
stood up and grabbed my hand.  “Come on, let’s go home.”

I
smiled up at her and nodded.  “Sounds good.”

“I
wonder who the new nanny is,” she mused as we headed out the door.

Epilogue

Ash

I
looked around the bedroom I now shared with Cris.  We’d moved everything
in this weekend.  I still had a storage unit of things from before I
started working for Devi, but I was just going to leave it for now.  I
needed to go through it and figure out what I wanted to keep versus what to get
rid of.  I didn’t have the time for that now.  I stayed on as the
nanny for the past week while I packed, but starting next week Devi was
‘training’ me for my new job.  I was nervous yet excited about it, she’d
gone about it in a devious way, but I knew she had the best intentions.

Strong
tattooed arms wrapped around me.  “Happy?”

I
snuggled into his chest.  “Very.”

“You’re
sure this is what you want?”

“Yeah,
this is what I want.”

He
kissed my hair and held me tighter.  “You’ll let me know if—”

“Yes,
Cris,” I said interrupting him.  He’d been asking me all week if this is
what I really wanted, or if I felt pressured into it.  In all honesty, it
felt right.  After I let go of everything else and just thought about what
I wanted, I realized I wanted to be here with him.  Everything else could
and would work itself out.  For now, I was just going to be happy.

“So
is X talking to Devi yet?”

“Nope,”
I answered, “not since he found out his sister was leaving school and going to
be working for Devi.”

“That
woman is insane.”

“Nah,
she just wants to take care of what’s hers.”

“And
X’s sister is hers how?”

“They’ve
known each other for years, or so I was told.”

“They
have.”

“When
she decided to take a semester off, it just clicked into place for Devi. 
It’s what she does.”

“Like
the new job?”

“Haven’t
really started it yet, but yeah, I think I will.  I still get to hang out
with the kids and she’s right, she will need more help with twins.”

“Okay,
enough talk about Devi,” he growled.  “It’s time to christen our house.”

Cris

I
watched as Ash slept in our bed.  It still amazed me that she agreed to
this.  I pushed a lock her blonde hair from her forehead and just gazed at
her.  I wasn’t sure what I did to deserve her, I knew I would screw up
again.  That I would piss her off at times, but I vowed to both of us not
to push her away again.  I wasn’t sure I could handle living a life that
didn’t have Ash in it.

My
cell rang and I rolled over to answer it.  “Yeah.”

I
listened to Max speaking frantically on the other end, once he told me what was
going on I was up and moving.  I quickly got dressed and woke up Ash in
the process.

“Everything
okay?”

“No,
not really,” I told her. “Get dressed.”

After
she dressed quickly, we ran out the door.  I was scared of what we would
find.  We were all hoping this was over, but apparently not.  I just
didn’t know what we could do now to keep her safe.