Ashes Read online

  He would not vanish into the smoke, she assured herself. He was real. And still very much a part of her.

  “I’ve changed my mind, Ash.”

  At her whispered words, he stopped swirling the brandy. “About what?”

  “Our agreement. I … I cannot keep it.”

  In one fluid movement, he looked over his shoulder, a shadow crossing his brow. “I beg your pardon?”

  “I’m sorry, Ash, but it won’t work—we won’t work, living as strangers.”

  “I see.” His muscles tensed. “And you realize what it means if I go?”

  “I’m not asking you to go, Ash.”

  His brow creased and his lips meshed in obvious consternation. “I don’t understand. What do you want, Lizzie?”

  She funneled a mouthful of air into her lungs, then released in a raspy voice, “You.”

  Mercy, he verily leveled her with his torrid stare.

  At last, he said in a low timbre, “And what do you want from me?”

  “A kiss,” she echoed his earlier words.

  Those grey eyes wracked her soul with their uncompromising intensity. But she girded her muscles and remained in the middle of the room, tamping her primal instinct to retreat. Whatever his answer, she would hear it. She was not a coward.

  “Come here, Lizzie,” was his oh-so-tender command.

  And her blood surged at the invitation. Taking a step forward, she floundered, but soon regained her footing and rounded the armchair.

  She was positioned across from him. The fire at her backside toasted her flesh, while his balmy expression charred the front of her.

  He set aside the crystal glass.

  “Come,” he beckoned again.

  There wasn’t room for her to maneuver. She was already nestled at his knees. But when he spread his thighs apart, her heart missed a beat.

  She stepped closer to him, pressed herself between his splayed legs. Moisture trickled down her spine. Her breathing hastened, swift and shallow.

  Heat. So much heat. An earthly fire danced at her posterior. A divine inferno flared in her soul. An inferno he had set alight. How she’d missed the fire!

  “Come,” he said again, mouthed the word, his voice so raw.

  And with a ragged sigh, she curled into his lap.

  He gripped the armrests at first, but as the tension in his muscles eased, he circled the small of her back and lifted a hand to her hair. He stroked the tresses with his fingers, combing the locks, his eyes wrapping her in a passionate embrace.

  That his eyes caressed her even more than his touch was ever a mystery, and she relished every shivering moment.

  Yes, she had missed him.

  And the fire.

  He thumbed her swelling lips. “Where would you like me to kiss you?”

  She breathed, “Everywhere.”

  At that entreaty, he hardened, and something sparked in his eyes. A need. She felt it, too. A need so alluring, there was no turning away from it.

  His fingers grasped the back of her head and pulled her toward him for a smoldering kiss.

  She gasped. Her hand went to his cheek, his temple before she smothered him in her arms with a long-forgotten yearning, an unmatched want. She savored his brandy-soaked lips, his balmy breath. And her soul cried in her breast at the sweet taste of his masculine scent.

  In a swift twirl, he carried her toward the bed and settled beside her on the mattress, their bodies sinking into the feathered tick. She was surrounded by downy softness, the warmth of his chest. He brushed her lips again in ravishment before skimming across her throat, nipping at her neck, her pounding pulse.

  Her wrapper widened and his tongue delved between her full breasts, making her shudder with utter delight. Mercy, she had suffered such aloneness without Ash. She hadn’t realized how much until his dark curls grazed her belly, and his tongue dipped into her navel, swirling with unbound desire, renting a salacious moan from her lips and sending decadent shivers down her spine.

  She shut her eyes. Tight. She heard the stays of her wrapper being ripped apart. The fabric crumpled. And a brisk breeze tickled her exposed abdomen.

  “Lizzie,” he groaned, his able mouth roving even lower.

  When his steamy breath drifted over her quivering clit, her muscles clenched in unbearable titillation. She raised her knees, grabbed the bedding between her fists and cried out. Ash slipped his thumb between the curls of her apex and bussed the dewy flesh there, making her writhe.

  Well, she had asked him to kiss her everywhere, and he obliged her in the most tantalizing ways, sucking at her clit, then laving the sensitive nub. Over and over, he tortured her with honeyed pleasure until she orgasmed in his mouth.

  Elizabeth collapsed, lightheaded. Her bones felt hollow. A tear of bliss escaped the corner of her eye, and Ash quickly brushed away the briny drop with the pad of this thumb.

  He had removed his trousers. Soon his naked body covered hers. Finally, she opened her lashes. And she witnessed the most intense, the most hungry pair of eyes. She had not seen the likes of such need, not even from Ash.

  His voice shattered, “I’ve missed you, Lizzie.”

  “Oh, Ash.” She bussed his mouth. “I’ve missed you, too.”

  He rammed inside her, taking her breath away, and she gripped his backside, digging her nails into his moist flesh. He rocked her. Hard. She undulated her hips alongside his every piercing stroke, matching his urgent rhythm, his swift and eager thrusts.

  Harmony. Unparalleled harmony. Bodies joined. Limbs interlocked and covered in salty sweat.

  Elizabeth cooed under the weight of his movements. A blinding lust unleased in her loins. And she orgasmed again. Ash, too, released a guttural groan before, weakened, he dropped beside her, wrapping her in his arms, holding her in a protective embrace.

  And in that flawless moment, Elizabeth knew she would never be cold again.

  “I still love you, Ash,” she said, breathless. “I never stopped loving you. You are the fire that warms my soul.”

  “And you are the light that shines in mine,” he returned in an achingly soft whisper. “I love you, too, Lizzie. Always.”

  “Kiss me, Ash.”

  He lifted an amused brow. “Again?”

  “Yes, again.” She smiled. “And make it a kiss worthy of a fairy story ending.”

  He obliged her.

  And what a kiss it was!

  It scorched her right to her toes.

  THE END

  MORE ROMANCES BY ALEXANDRA BENEDICT

  CASTLES IN THE SKY

  Ashes

  THE HAWKINS BROTHERS SERIES

  Mistress of Paradise

  The Infamous Rogue

  The Notorious Scoundrel

  How to Seduce a Pirate

  How to Steal a Pirate’s Heart (includes:

  All I Want for Christmas is a Pirate)

  THE TOO SERIES/WESTMORE BROTHERS

  Too Great a Temptation

  Too Scandalous to Wed

  Too Dangerous to Desire

  THE FALLEN LADIES SOCIETY

  The Princess and the Pauper

  STAND ALONE ROMANCE

  A Forbidden Love

  ANTHOLOGY

  Tales of Forbidden Love

  YOUNG ADULT FICTION

  So Down I Fall

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Alexandra Benedict is the author of several sensual historical romances published by Avon Books. She also writes fiction as an Indie Author. Her work has received critical acclaim from Booklist and a starred review from Publishers Weekly. All of her books are translated into various languages. For more information visit: www.AlexandraBenedict.ca. Or friend her on FACEBOOK.

 

 

 
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