“I don’t want his fucking money. If he wanted me to have it, then he’d have done so, and this wouldn’t have been my life.”
“Ash, this place is freezing, there is no hot water, no food. If we are going to stay here, then we need to fix it.”
“Why? Can’t Princess Ruby cope with a little cold?” I raise my brows at her.
“I can cope perfectly fine. But we don’t have to.” She forces the card my way again. “I’m not some prissy little girl who’s going to scream when I don’t get my way, Ash. But why suffer when we don’t have to?”
I step toward her and she once again presses her body against the doorframe in her need to keep some space between us.
“Trust me, little one. I know exactly how to make you scream.” I look at her from under my lashes as I close the space between us. The heat from her body seeps into mine and for a second I almost reach out and hold her to me as if she’s a fucking heater. But I don’t. I hold my arms at my sides and stare into her quickly darkening eyes. “And you know I could do it again in a heartbeat if I wanted to.”
“Ashton,” she warns, although all I hear is a plea for me to do just exactly as I said.
“Is that what you want? You want me between your thighs again, licking your pretty little pussy until you scream my name?”
She swallows as her eyes shutter at my words.
“You’re wet for me again, aren’t you?”
“Ash.” Her chest heaves, her breaths almost coming out as pants.
Reaching out, I slip my hand under her hoodie and tank until I find the smooth skin of her belly.
“If I were to push my hand inside your panties right now, I’d find you dripping for me, wouldn’t I?”
She shakes her head almost violently in denial, and all I can do is smile at her attempt to deny what’s crackling between us.
It’s the perfect distraction and one I’m not sure I’m going to be able to put off diving headfirst into very, very soon.
Her entire body tenses as I slide my hand into her sweats and panties.
“Oh God,” she gasps when I graze her clit.
“You’re a really shit liar, little one. You feel that?” I ask, dipping my finger inside her and coating my finger in her juices.
This time she nods, her eyes closed and her head resting back against the doorframe.
Leaning forward, I brush my lips against her ear and delight in the shudder that rips through her at my simple touch.
“Soon, I’m going to fucking ruin this. I’m going to make sure you remember forever who took away your innocence, make sure every other motherfucker who dares try to take what’s mine pales in comparison.”
She gasps at my words but her body defies her because a flood of wetness drips down my hand.
“So fucking desperate for it too, aren’t you?”
She shakes her head once more.
“Don’t fucking lie to me, Ruby,” I bark, making her lift her head and open her eyes.
I circle her clit once more and she has to fight to keep eye contact with me.
“Tell me you fell asleep last night thinking about what it would have been like to suck my cock into your mouth.”
She drags her bottom lip into her mouth, her teeth sinking into it until I’m sure it must hurt. Then after a beat, she nods.
“Good girl. If you’re lucky, you might just have to do it soon.”
Ripping my hand from her, I lift my fingers to her lips.
“Open.” She hesitantly does as she’s told, and I push my wet fingers past her lips. “Now suck them clean.”
She does as she’s told, my cock weeping as her tongue laps at her juices.
Fuck me.
“Good girl,” I repeat. “Now, don’t even think about finishing yourself off because this...” I cup her over the fabric of her sweats. “Is mine. Your pleasure, your pain, from here on out, is mine. You understand that?”
She nods once more, and I pluck the credit card from her fingers and walk away from her.
“Code?” I call over my shoulder and she quickly rattles off the numbers before I rip the door open and storm out of the apartment.
17
Ruby
I once again find myself with my ass on the cold, hard wooden floor watching Ashton walk away from me. My chest heaves, lust races through my veins and my head spins.
I was so close. So fucking close. And then he ripped his fingers away. Asshole.
Climbing to my feet, I walk back to the kitchen on shaky legs. My core throbs with my need for release and the temptation to go against him and finish myself off in his bed, surrounded by his scent is almost too much to ignore.
But I don’t. Instead, I walk toward the bathroom.
“What the hell?” I mutter as I round the couch and find something I wasn’t expecting to see. My case.
I lift it onto the couch and flip it open to find all my things exactly as I packed them.
I pull out my toiletry bag and a clean set of clothes and take them through to the bathroom.
I already know there’s no hot water, so as I strip down, I brace myself for the blast of ice.
“Oh my God,” I squeal as I dance around under the water. If I weren’t awake before then I certainly am now. I wash my hair, cursing Ash out during every second of the torture.
By the time I step out, my teeth are chattering and my skin is covered in goose bumps.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” There’s no towel.
I pull the door open and peek out, making sure he’s not already returned before running across the apartment, aware that the windows look directly into someone else’s. The second I’m in his bedroom, I reach for the towel he dropped earlier. It’s still damp and now freezing, but it’s better than nothing.
I wring out my hair and whip the towel over my body, soaking up the ice-cold droplets.
In minutes, I have my clean clothes on, but I’m still shivering despite pulling my hoodie tightly around myself.
I fill the coffee machine that’s sitting on the counter in the kitchen, praying to anyone who’ll listen that it works before returning to Ashton’s bedroom to retrieve his sheets.
With a steaming mug of black coffee—not my favorite, but I’m not exactly in a position to complain right now—and the only packet of crackers I could find, I huddle up in his sheets and hug the mug in front of my face in the hope it’ll take the chill off.
The sensible side of me knows that I should walk out and go and find our parents. But there’s something that stops me from leaving. I know what it is, it’s the pain in his eyes, a pain I don’t want to make worse, and I have a feeling that me walking out that front door will do that. So I torture myself in here as the sun begins to set outside, turning the entire apartment a murky orange. I guess I should just be glad there’s still electricity and that I have light.
I scroll my way through social media, catching up with everything I’ve missed while sleeping today before I shoot my dad, Harley, and Poppy a message catching them up on what Seattle is like. In other words, I lie. I also, somewhat reluctantly, return the missed call I have from Mom. I know she’s worried, probably for a very good reason, but I force some happiness into my voice and convince her that everything is fine and that we’ll be at the funeral in plenty of time tomorrow.