Storm Front (The Charistown Series) (Volume 2) (42 page)

Before Ashley could formulate any sort of response, Ryan was
lowering himself to one knee. As if by magic, a small black box appeared in his
hand.

“Holy Shit, Ryan…what? What are you doing?”

“It’s after midnight, Princess. Happy birthday. I love you,
Ashley Kynde and I will never
ever
stop loving you. Will you please do
me the honor of finally becoming my wife?”

His insides were trembling as he asked the question. Not
because he feared her answer, he knew she’d accept, but because he’d been
waiting for what felt like forever to ask this question and he could taste it
on his tongue. It tasted sweet, like honey and chocolate. It tasted like bliss.
The only thing that would taste better was the heavenly sound of her
acceptance.

“Oh my God, Ry…Yes. Yes! Yes, I will marry you, Ryan Baker!”
Ashley cried, shaking as he placed the engagement ring on her left hand. The
one-syllable word repeated over and over again through tears, both his and hers
had her heart slamming into the wall of her ribs. As she laid the hand donning
her new engagement ring against his chest, she knew his reaction to her answer
was the same.

Her legs began to give way but, as always, he was there to
catch her before she fell. “I love you. I’ve
always
loved you,” she
cried shaking as excitement filled her body.

“I know, Ash, I know. And I’ve always loved you…we just took
the scenic route to get here, Princess. And now that we have each other, I can
guarantee I will never let you go again.”

His first kiss was soft but filled with intent, filled with
promise. He slid his hands down her torso to the hem of her dress and whipped
it up and over her head before lifting her up and lying her down in the center
of their bed.

“Mmm, not playing around here are you?” Ashley asked with a
breathy tone as she shimmied out of her leggings.

“No, babe, I’m not.” The lacy red bra and panty set covering
very little of Ashley’s body, had captured all of Ryan’s attention. “I’ve been
dying to make love to my fiancée for almost two minutes now. How long are you
gonna torture a man?”

Staring at his woman dressed in nothing but scraps of red
lace and his ring was the best Christmas present he could have ever wished for.
His cock hardened in his slacks, begging to be released from its prison.

“Is your chest sore?” She asked through a lust filled haze,
as she pointed to the new ink that he had to have gotten either last night or
earlier that day when she had spent long hours at the shelter, preparing for
the influx of people.

“No more than any other tattoo, baby.”

“Then come here, because I need to feel you.” He joined her
on their bed, lying back with one arm behind his head and the other flat on the
comforter. Her fingertips felt amazing on his warm skin. Every time they
touched it felt like a gift. He moaned when she placed her soft kisses and long
licks across his chest. He couldn’t hold back the deep groan that vibrated deep
in his chest when she tongued the hoop through his nipple and undid his belt at
the same time.

The sound of the zipper being lowered ever so slowly made
him want to scream in anticipation, but instead, he slowly lifted his hips to
assist her in shedding his pants.

Just as she was about to lean in and take his hard length
into her mouth she looked up at him. Her eyes were blazing, her soul was pure,
and the best parts of her past were now entwined with her present. She was
perfect. She was his future.

She leaned forward and licked the weeping head of his thick
cock. Slowly she took him into her mouth, taking the time to lick and suck
until she could take him no further.

He moaned when she hollowed her cheeks and he groaned when
she took him to the back of her throat. His hands weaved through her hair
encouraging her quicker pace. “Oh, Ash. Oh my…
fuck
…Ash…”

As he continued to thrust into her mouth, she used her right
hand to pump his shaft as his thighs quivered with his impending release.

“Ashley,” he growled, “oh, fuck, baby, I’m gonna come.” She
deep throated him again and then used shallow sucks and strokes until his
entire world went silent. There was no sound, no sight, and no breath. When his
lungs begged for air he realized he hadn’t been breathing. Panting, he opened
his eyes to see a very beautiful, very happy, and very horny woman licking her
lips and touching herself.

“Whatcha you doing, Princess?” While the question came out
lazy and sedate, she found herself on her back and under him before she had the
chance to answer. “Because it looks to me like you got really worked up sucking
me off, so now it’s my turn to return the favor.” He kissed her neck, her
collarbone, and her chest and his strong hands cupped her breasts just as his
face leaned in to inhale her cleavage. “Fuck, you always smell amazing, Ash.”

Lost in his dark eyes, she felt her bra loosen from the back
as a smirk pulled up one side of his mouth. His tongue drew circles around her
tightened nipple, the sensations heightened by the small metal bar pierced
through it. “Christ, Ash, your tits are incredible.” His dirty words turned her
on almost as much as each sensual touch. “Your body is perfection, every single
inch of it.” His hands skated over her breasts to her taut abdomen. “One day,
when you have our babies, your body is gonna be even more perfect.”

Snickering, Ashley covered his hands with her own. “My belly
won’t look like this after having babies, Ry.”

Shaking his head, “What I’m saying is, it won’t matter if
you’re no longer cut with muscle or exactly how you are now, because you will
always be perfect for me.” His thumbs hooked the sides of her panties and
dragged them down her long legs. The ragged hitch of his breath was the sexiest
sound she’d ever heard, but not nearly as delectable as the look in his eyes
when he took in her naked form, lying in wait on the bed beneath him.

“I want you Ryan, I need you inside me.” Her desire for this
man knew no bounds and she had a feeling it never would. His mere presence
turned her on, a fact made evident when his fingertips made their way down her
torso to the juncture between her legs.

“Baby, you’re already so wet, you’re dripping.” His fingers
glistened with her arousal. “Mmm, you taste amazing.” He licked her juices off
his fingers before inserting them back into her drenched pussy. The slight
brush of his thumb over her pulsing clit had her mewling with need. Her body
was already primed from blowing him, and she was euphoric from the proposal and
his beautiful words. She was a firecracker ready to burst—all she needed was a
spark, and good thing for her, Ryan Baker was the match.

“Please, Ryan. Please.”

“Please, what, Ash?” He taunted as his fingers pulsed in and
out of her wet heat, bringing her closer and closer to the edge. “You want me
to make you come, baby?” Without waiting for a response Ryan dipped his head
down between her thighs and licked her slit with the flat of his tongue. Her
loud moans were unconstrained and pleading as he plunged two fingers into her
opening and gently pulled her clit between his teeth.

“God, Ash, your pussy is so fucking sweet.” Tremors traveled
through her body, shaking her limbs and catching her breath. Her climax was so
close, so damn close. She shamelessly rubbed her core against his face as she
sought the ultimate release. As he licked at her clit he sunk his fingers into
her once more, hitting just the right spot at just the perfect time.

As her body shook and her insides quaked, Ryan slid his hard
cock into her magnificent wet heat. “Oh, Ry. Yes, thank God, honey.” She purred
in appreciation when his hand slipped between them and massaged the small
bundle of nerves at the top of her sex. With a strangled moan, Ashley squeezed
her ankles tighter around his back and came apart at the same time Ryan rode to
his own incredible climax.

And together they finally found their happiness.

After the storm and into the light.

“GOD, YOU LOOK like shit, man.”

“Ryan, don’t be an ass.” Ashley pulled her bottom lip
between her teeth trying to come up with a better adjective to describe the
sight in front of her. “Kyle, you don’t look like shit, you look…” she paused,
“you look better than the last time we saw you.”

“Nice save there, Princess.” Ryan chuckled, roping his arm
around her shoulders. It was New Year’s Eve day, Ashley and Ryan were visiting
Kyle who had just arrived back to his apartment from his prolonged stay with
Nixon in Philadelphia.

“Knock, knock!” Janie announced as she and Max entered the
apartment. “We come bearing food.”

“Ugh, and cleaning supplies. It’s fucking disgusting in
here,” Lyla said, pinching her nose and wafting her hand through the air.

“Seriously, open the windows—and get rid of the dead body.”

“People, give the poor man a break, he’s been gone for
almost two months, so of course this place smells like shit.” Ashley kissed
Kyle’s whiskered cheek. “It’s great to have you back.”

“I hate to break it to you, babe,” Ryan grinned, “but this
isn’t much worse than what the place smelled like before.”

“Dude, fuck off.” Kyle lazily flipped Ryan the finger before
letting his head drop to the back of the sofa.

Ashley had visited Kyle a few times over the past month and
a half, and each time she left him she’d hoped that the next visit would show
more improvement. While his cuts and bones were mending, he still seemed so
off, so sad and broken. Uncertain as to what it was that he needed, she’d tried
to make herself useful without becoming overbearing. Kyle, like the rest of
them, had his skeletons and sometimes they came out to play. He had always
managed to shove them back in the closet but over the past year, she—along with
everyone else—had noticed his decline. She wanted do what she could to help him
get through his dark period, starting now.

“So at the risk of getting tomatoes thrown at my head, or
worse, Lyla mixing cocktails for me,” Ashley fake shuddered, “how about if we
girls go about cleaning this shithole…oops, I mean
apartment
up and let
the guys do some bonding?”

“I’m all for that,” Janie agreed easily.

“Sure, but I’m not going near the bathroom,” Lyla announced.
Ryan shot Ashley an appreciative glance and the women dispersed, leaving the
three men huddled together by the sofa.

“Dude, seriously, how are you feeling?” Ryan twisted his
hands together. His friend’s bruised face wasn’t the only thing that was
raising red flags. Kyle, whose demeanor had changed over the past year—between
the excessive boozing and rapid mood swings—had Ryan certain there was more
than just an alcohol addiction to be dealt with.

“Ky, at the risk of sounding like the women”—Max looked
behind him to make sure none of them were within ear shot—“we’re your family,
man. Talk to us. What the hell is going on with you?”

Kyle grimaced as he tried to reposition his body on the
sofa. Not an easy task, with a cast on his left leg and another on his right
arm.

He glanced out the window, and a faraway look settled over
his face. “I’m not okay. I’m not ready to go there yet, but I know I’m not
okay.” Ryan bit the inside of his mouth to avoid probing his friend for answers
he was clearly not ready to give. Quietly Kyle continued to speak, “And then
there’s
her
. She comes to me every night.”

He scrubbed his left hand over his beard. “Every fucking
night, man. She’s fucking radiant, with her flaming red hair and her whisky
eyes. She whispers to me, begs me to hold on. She tells me that this world is
better with me in it and it’s time to fight, and then she floats away like a
fucking…Christ, I don’t know an angel? Maybe? It sounds insane, I know, but
when I go to sleep, she’s there. I’ve seen her. I can smell her, she smells
like gardenias. And I swear, she’s the only reason I didn’t die in that
accident.”

Ryan studied and watched in awe as a lone tear slowly
trickled down his friend’s cheek. “Fuck,” Kyle griped, swiping the wetness away
with his fist. “These meds are making my eyes water. How about if someone gets
me a beer?”

“Dude,” Max stared at Kyle with stern eyes, “you’re on
pretty heavy drugs. I don’t think you should be drinking.”

Kyle growled, “Max, if I needed a mother, I’d have asked for
mine. Now get me a beer or shall I get up and get it myself?”

Conceding, Max left and returned shortly after with the
drink. “Here’s your beer, you stubborn fuck. Just know that you are going to
crash again—I just hope you’re lucky to survive another brush with death, you
arrogant asshole.” Max slammed the bottle down on the table, called for Janie,
and hastily left Kyle’s apartment.

Ryan watched in silence as Kyle took a few deep breaths and
then opened the beer. Within a couple of gulps the bottle was empty. Max wasn’t
wrong. Kyle was going down and whether or not he would get back up was anyone’s
guess.