TAUT (16 page)

“Pour,” she says as she sets the glasses down.

“I’ll make it a double, how’s that?” I ask her with fake amusement.

She takes her glass and sits on the far side of the couch. As far away from me as she can get. It’s only then I notice she’s still only in her pink panties under that t-shirt. It’s hard to miss, she’s flashing them at me. “Cute,” I say, tilting my glass in the direction of her open legs.

She laughs. “You think I’m going to give in and let you win this game, Ford? I won’t. I don’t like to lose either.”

“So you’ve been hiding this cut-throat fem-Nazi behind some demure broken-hearted wife routine for what purpose?”

“Fuck you. Don’t speak about my—” She stops mid-sentence and takes a deep breath and this sets off a small alarm bell in my head. “Don’t talk about him.”

“Then don’t talk about my father.”

“I’m allowed. You wanted me to submit to you for this game. I wanted you to answer my question. That’s the deal we made, and from what I can tell, you’re being disrespectful to me right now. Rude, even. Because you’re not doing what you promised.”

Wow. I might regret ever meeting this girl.

“Fine, you want to know why I don’t go to funerals? I’ll tell you. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome as a child. I’ve seen more than forty specialists over the course of my life—”

“Wait. Why? Asperger’s doesn’t require that many doctors, especially if you’re high-functioning. And if you do have Asperger’s then you’re definitely high-functioning. So you left something out.”

I squint at her again. Who the fuck
is
this chick? “I’ve left a lot out. But you only get one question. You want to know why I didn’t go to my father’s funeral. I don’t do funerals because I don’t experience emotions like most people. Funerals, celebrations like birthdays, that sort of thing… New Year’s parties—none of these things have meaning to me. And my father would’ve understood my decision not to go to the funeral. So don’t pretend like you know enough about me, or him, to even form an opinion about that.”

She stares at me.

“Are we done? Are you satisfied?”

She downs her double shot of whiskey and sets her glass down on the coffee table. Then lets out a long breath. “OK.”

“OK?”

“I guess that’s the only satisfaction I’m getting tonight, so I’ll take it.” And just like that the other Ashleigh is back. The pit bull has been collared and leashed.

I huff out a laugh and then drink my whiskey as well. “
You
decided you didn’t want me to satisfy you, so don’t blame your disappointment on me.”

“You hit me!”

“You disobeyed. I told you I would spank you if you disobeyed. You admitted to liking it. You pushed me on purpose.”

“It fucking
hurt
.”

And this is not an exaggeration. I did hurt her and she’s mad. Mad enough to have tears building, so I ease up a little. “Believe me, I’m not into hurting girls. I’d rather make you squeal my name in pleasure.”

She shakes her head but a reluctant smile comes forth. “I thought it would be”—she shrugs—“fake. Playful. I didn’t expect it to hurt like that.” She palms her breast through the t-shirt and pauses on the nipple I pinched. “And it still hurts now. I won’t be able to nurse.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know they were so sensitive. And for the record, if you were just some one-night girl I’d never touch you again after your behavior. I’m not looking to punish people. I just like to be in control. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not into whips, I don’t want to humiliate you or piss on you for fuck’s sake. I just like to call the shots and I like to fuck girls who let me do that.”

“And that’s why you have the sphere of privacy?” She laughs as the words come out. “You’re so stupid, Ford.”

“What can I say, it’s my Jedi power.” I smile and she sighs, then leans back into the couch, tucking her legs up close to her chest. “Come here, Ashleigh.”

“Why?” She’s scowling at me with suspicion. “So you can pinch me again? Or smack me? Or something else equally stupid? No, thank you. I might be in a tight spot but I’m not a slow learner.”

This girl, I swear. She is kinda cute with her silly superiority complex. “Because I’m sorry I hurt you. I know better, so this was all my fault. It
can
be playful, but for me it’s serious. Now, come over here and I’ll make it up to you.”

“I thought you don’t like to be close to people.”

“I don’t like people
touching me. But I can touch them if I want. And right now I want to touch you, so come here.” I beckon her with a finger. “Come on.” She crawls slowly across the couch to my side and I open my legs to make room for her. “Turn around and lean back.” She obeys and when her back rests against my chest I feel a bit of satisfaction. She did not submit to me tonight for the fight, but she does for the make-up. I lean down and whisper softly in her ear. “Thank you. Now put your hands in your lap and don’t move them, OK?”

“OK.”

I put my arms around her shoulders and squeeze her a little, then nip her ear until she sucks in a breath. “I
am
sorry. If we do it again, I’ll be more careful. But you have to obey.”

“I’m not sure I want to do it again.”

“I’m not gonna force you. I won’t even bring it up.”

“I might, but I’m just not sure yet.”

“If we do it again, then no more questions about my dad. Don’t take this personally, but I don’t want to share that with you. I don’t want to share that with anyone.” She stays silent, just calmly breathing. “Oh, and one more thing.” I get my phone out of my pocket and find the picture. “Here,” I say as I hand it to her.

“Oh my God! You took a picture of me like that?”

“It’s sexy, huh?”

She giggles and it vibrates through to my chest.

“You can delete it. I just wanted to show you how fucking hot you looked.”

The phone makes a few noises as she deletes the picture and then she lets out a little gasp. “You have a picture of me and the baby on here.”

“I took that this morning, remember? You looked pretty cute with her when she was laughing.” Ashleigh squirms in my embrace and I hug her tighter to keep her from turning around. “Stay put, Ash.”

“Ford?” she asks softly as she stops wiggling.

“What?”

“Thank you. For helping me. For talking to me this morning. I just freaked about the duck thing. It was a gift. A very special gift. I’m sorta sorry for making you worry, but then again, I’m not. Not really.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you said you’ll take me to LA and honestly, that makes me really, really happy. I thought I’d be OK by myself when I left Texas, but I don’t think I can do this alone. It’s not good to have too much time to think about things, ya know? It’s not good. And I know you’re only in it for yourself, but I’ll take any help I can get.”

I sigh and internalize this. I can relate to that, for sure. Thinking too much about Rook is getting me nowhere. “I can use the company on the drive. And you’re pretty, so what the fuck, right?’

She leans into me a little more and for a moment my heart rate jacks up. I don’t usually embrace the pets, hell, I don’t even talk to them beyond barking commands and handing out the occasional praise when they’re exceptionally good. So I’m not all that skilled at this comforting stuff.

“You’re like crazy sexy, Ford. And all this weird shit you do, that just adds to it. I’m not sure why, but I like your strangeness. It’s real. And it drives me a little wild.”

It’s my turn to laugh and my heart calms down as I let it out.

“I better go back upstairs. I can hear the baby fussing.”

“You can
not
. She’s fine.” The truth is I don’t want Ash to leave. I kinda like this.

“No, listen.”

And sure enough, when I listen very carefully I can hear small cries. Not anything urgent like she was this morning when Ashleigh was in the van looking for that duck. But she’s definitely about to become demanding. I let go and Ashleigh sits up and turns a little to look at me. “I’m tired anyway, and I need some alone time to satisfy myself.”

I pull her back and poke her ribs until she laughs. “Don’t. If we do it again, then there are rules. One is you obey me. The other is no cheating. And
that
is cheating.”

“I was kidding.”

“You were not.”

She laughs and wiggles free and gets up. “You’re right, I wasn’t. But I’ll be nice and give you one more chance to pleasure me. Then I’m on my own.” And then she runs to the stairs, her pink panties blinking at me as my t-shirt bounces along her ass to the rhythm of her climbing.

I think about those panties and her bare ass spanked red for hours before I finally fall asleep.

Chapter Nineteen

A squealing baby wakes me, but I’m getting used to it, so I just try and let it go. She sounds happy, not upset like yesterday. And I can hear splashing, so I figure Ash has her in the tub down here for a bath.

I close my eyes again and drift off until the spin-cycle of the washer wakes me back up. Laundry room is downstairs too. Babies make lots of things dirty, so… right.

The smell comes next. “Fuck, Ashleigh! You have the whole upstairs to do that shit. Come on!”

I open my eyes and see the baby, sitting in her carrier on the floor next to the couch, presumably content with her warm and stinky diaper because she is fast asleep. The shower’s going this time, so I guess I’m sorta doing babysitting duty.

“Fucking moms. They are sneaky shits.”

I drag myself up and go to the bathroom to see what the fuck Ashleigh’s gonna do about this diaper, because I’m sure as hell not taking care of that. The door is wide open so I just walk in. This bathroom is not modern and updated like the ones upstairs. It’s the only tub in the house, and it just has a shower curtain instead of glass doors. Ash is not singing or anything stupid like that, but I can imagine her washing her hair under the water because it makes various splashing sounds like she’s moving around a lot.

I have an urge to pull the curtain back.

Normally I do not give in to impulses, but today I want to. I’m shirtless already, so I just slip off my sweats and peek my head inside. She’s got her eyes closed as she rinses her hair. Water drips down her face, her mouth opens a little and catches some, spitting it out. But my gaze follows the stream that runs down her front, right over her nipples on those absolutely perfect breasts, one of which is actually bruised from me squeezing it last night.

“Sorry about that bruise,” I say in a low voice.

Her eyes pop open and I expect a little flash of protest, some squeal telling me to get out. Or a scowl at the very least. But she smiles.

I pull the curtain back and step in with her. She takes in my body. Like,
thoroughly
takes in my body. She checks me out for way longer than I did her. “Turn around,” I tell her.

“Why? Then I can’t look at you and you’ll get a good view of my ass.”

“You catch on fast. Now do what I asked.”

“Wait,” she says, putting a hand up as I try and turn her around. “Are we playing? I need to understand what you’re asking first.”

I am instantly hard and it is impossible for her to miss this. “Do you want to play?”

“We have no timer.”

“I have an internal timer, trust me. Now answer my question.”

“Yes, but I need some satisfaction this time. I can’t take it, Ford. I won’t last.”

“Satisfaction is yours to be had. All you have to do is comply.”

“OK, I will. And then I get satisfaction
and
another question.”

“But not about my dad.”

“Deal.” She lets out a low cackle. “I’m totally winning.”

“How the hell do you figure?”

“I get two things, and you only get one.”

“Yeah, but I get you, so
I’m
winning.”

She just stares at me, confused. “That was… almost… nice.”

“I can be nice,” I growl into her neck as I turn her around and bite her ear. My hands glide down her arms and then settle on her hips. “Now bend over.”

Her whole body shivers even though the water is hot and it’s still blasting down her front. My grip on her hips tightens as she leans forward, her ass bumps up against my hard-on, and then she lowers her hands to the floor of the tub. I reach up and adjust the water so it’s spraying down her ass and then lean back a little to take a peek. Her pussy is fully exposed and even if we weren’t in the shower, she’d still be sopping wet.

“Put your hands behind your back, Ashleigh.”

“But I might fall over.”

“I have you, I won’t let you fall over.”

“But—”

“And no talking.”

Her hands come behind her back and they are flashing signs at me.
This fucking girl!
I smack her ass, not hard, but the water makes it echo and the handprint appears immediately because of the heat. “How the hell did you know I understand sign language?”

She signs something else.
May I speak?
she asks sloppily with her hands.

“Speak.”

“I went through all your shit and found a crapload of sign language stuff. You even had a Boy Scout badge for it, you little over-achieving nerd. And for the record”—she tries to look over her shoulder at me but she can’t see much bending over like that—“you should not trust a girl alone in your bedroom. We’re nosy.” I smack her again, this time a little harder. She moans a little, like she enjoyed this one. “What was that for?”

“Fun, mostly. But also for snooping. I’ll get your sign language story later, but for now, what did you need to say that you had to break the rules and talk?”

“I’m not on the pill, just so you know.”

“I’m not gonna fuck you, so it won’t matter.” She almost stands up when I say this but I push hard on her back and force her down. “But I’ll take care of you if you’re good.” She says nothing to this but I can tell she’s unhappy. “What’s wrong now?”

She says nothing.

“You can talk, I won’t spank you.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

I smack her hard on the ass, but not as hard as I did last night. It still makes her gasp but she says nothing.