“Where’s Leyton?”
She met his gaze, her face somber. “Did you see us?”
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“I’m sorry,” she began, but he quickly cut her off.
“Don’t be sorry. There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“It just happened.”
Jase smiled down at her. “Did he leave?”
“Don’t know,” she said, turning to face him, leaning against the window. “I thought you’d have the answer to that question.”
Making his way over to her, Jase put his hands on her hips. He tried to read her expression, but Ashlynn was keeping whatever she was feeling under wraps. Not that it surprised him.
Neither of them said anything for a minute. Moving closer, Jase cupped her shoulders. “You saw us last night, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “It was … incredible,” she whispered. “So fucking beautiful to watch.”
“Never figured you for a voyeur,” he teased.
“I want to watch the two of you again.”
“I want you to join us,” he said. Jase nuzzled her neck. “You should’ve joined us last night.”
“I know how much you needed that,” she told him, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck.
“The same way you needed Leyton,” he said. That was the very reason he hadn’t interrupted them. Leyton had told him that he’d have to work things out with Ashlynn on his own. Apparently they’d gotten that out of their system.
That still didn’t explain where Leyton was.
Sliding his hands down into her silky shorts, he cupped her bare mound, easing his middle finger between her soft folds. “I watched you,” he admitted. “Watched Leyton fucking you in the kitchen.”
“And?”
“Fucking beautiful.”
“Jase,” she whispered, widening her stance as she grabbed his biceps, holding on tightly.
“I wanted to join you, wanted to be part of that.”
To his surprise, Ashlynn pulled away. “I’m not sure that’s gonna happen again.”
Jase’s forehead creased, unable to disguise his confusion. “Why’s that?”
“Leyton wants more from me than I can give.” Ashlynn headed across the room and flipped on the lamp beside her bed. “He wants me to love him.”
Jase knew better than to broach this subject with her. Anytime he thought she was remotely close to showing her true feelings, Ashlynn had a habit of closing herself off. Whether that was because she truly didn’t want to care about him or she simply didn’t understand what those feelings meant, he hadn’t yet determined. But he’d been with her long enough to know that pursuing that conversation would only end up with him alone in his bed.
Clearly something had happened between them. Whether it was during or after, he didn’t know, but something had changed in her. He just wasn’t sure what.
“He’ll come around,” he told her instead, following her around to her side of the bed.
“I doubt that,” she said. She forced a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes, which told Jase she was about to change the subject entirely.
And he knew exactly which direction she was headed.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
It was only a matter of time.
Ashlynn couldn’t get Leyton’s words out of her head. She’d been going over their conversation since she’d left him in the kitchen, trying to figure out why he would want to pursue something that she wasn’t capable of giving, even when she’d told him as much.
That… That was more than sex, Ash.
He’d taken her completely by surprise, diminished the glow from the amazing orgasms he’d given her with those few words.
Do you have a problem with sex, Leyton?
No. I don’t. But I told you earlier, when it comes to you, it won’t just be sex. And it damn sure wasn’t.
Get over yourself, Leyton. An orgasm is an orgasm. There’s not a whole helluva a lot to it.
He hadn’t been happy with her retort, but she hadn’t stuck around to talk about it, either. After wrapping her robe firmly around herself, she’d made a beeline for her bedroom, hoping to find Jase but coming into an empty room instead. Not wanting to have another run-in with Leyton, she’d opted for a shower.
She still couldn’t believe Leyton had told her that he loved her earlier. Those words still played in her head even though she’d tried to erase them.
Are you tryin’ to tell me you love me? Don’t be naïve, Leyton.
I do love you.
Even if that were true, she knew she couldn’t love him back. She didn’t love anyone. Well, no one other than her brothers and sister. And yes, possibly her mother. But that was different. They were family. She was obligated to love them. That was the unwritten code, right?
But Leyton? Or Jase?
She didn’t think she was capable of love. She didn’t even know what it meant.
And when she had sex with someone, it damn sure didn’t mean she loved them. People used sex as a weapon, as a way to hurt one another. How in the world could anyone confuse sex with love? Love wasn’t supposed to hurt. Not like that.
“Ashlynn,” Jase whispered as he stepped closer, his big body pressing up against hers.
He was so big, so warm, so … safe. Being in his arms was the closest thing to safe she’d ever felt. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, wouldn’t want something she wasn’t willing to give.
Do you love Jase?
Why does that matter?
He loves you.
He does not. You don’t know him well enough to determine that.
I think I know him pretty damn well.
Because he let you fuck him? You think that you know him?
I’ve seen the way he looks at you.
So? And that changes anything?
Ashlynn didn’t think Jase loved her, and she had no idea why Leyton would believe such a thing. The sex between them was phenomenal, sure. But that was all it was. Sex.
Pleasure.
Intense, gratifying pleasure.
Reaching for the button on his jeans, Ashlynn peered up into Jase’s crystal-blue eyes, wondering if she could see what Leyton saw. As she freed him from the confining denim, she noticed the way his eyes closed briefly, his lips parted ever so slightly.
Pleasure. That was all it was.
Taking a step back, Ashlynn went to her knees before him. While he toed off his boots and forced his jeans down his legs, she ran her hands over his thighs, enjoying the crisp hair that scraped her palms. She continued to watch him, mesmerized by the way he watched her right back.
When she took the head of his cock in her mouth, he groaned, but he didn’t reach for her. Little did he know, but she liked when he was forceful with her. Although he freely gave her what she needed, Ashlynn knew there were times when he held himself back, allowing her to have control.
Unlike Leyton.
Touch me, Ashlynn. I won’t tell you again.
Why’re you doin’ this?
Because I know it’s easier for you if you’re in control. I know what you’ve been through, understand that you want to be the one holding the reins. But, little girl, that’s not how this works.
It did last night.
I hadn’t made up my mind what I wanted last night, so I let you lead.
But now you know?
Now I know. And I want you to touch me.
Why?
Because this is what you get. Scars and all.
Jase wasn’t like Leyton in that regard. Ashlynn got the feeling Leyton couldn’t give up that control, the same control she craved. Jase appeased her, gave her what she needed, let her maintain that control even when she knew he wanted to take it from her.
So why couldn’t she stop thinking about Leyton? Why, if Jase gave her everything she needed, did she still want Leyton to be there with them?
As she sucked Jase’s thick cock into her mouth, she thought back to the morning she’d stumbled upon Leyton and Jase… As she’d told Jase, it had been so beautiful to watch. A battle of wills had taken place right before her eyes, and in the end, they’d both come out on top, both gotten what they’d wanted. Ashlynn wished she could be that flexible. Wished she could lay it all on the line the way Leyton had.
Contrary to popular belief, control isn’t somethin’ I’m willin’ to give up.
So does that mean instead of begging for my cock, you’re gonna order me to give it to you?
It means I’m gonna fuck your ass, and you’re gonna beg me to let you come.
If you’re man enough to take it.
I’m definitely man enough. Are you?
I guess we’ll find out.
Ashlynn had watched the interaction between the two of them, watched the way Leyton had taken what he wanted from Jase while giving a part of himself in return. It had been a little strange at the time. Not only had it been about sex, but she’d sensed that something else had been taking place there in that room with them. Emotions had been running high, more so than she’d expected.
Was that how it was with her and Jase?
“Ash. God, baby,” Jase groaned, his hand caressing her head but not gripping her.
She continued to control the encounter, her hand clutching the steely length of his cock while her lips wrapped around the swollen head. She wondered whether or not Jase was thinking about Leyton right then.
The doorknob turned, and Ashlynn’s eyes slid to the other side of the room in time to see Leyton stroll in as though he owned the place.
Jase’s body hardened, his cock pulsing in her mouth, his hand fisting in her hair, but he didn’t stop her.
“Keep going,” Leyton ordered as he closed the door behind him, then flipped the lock. She wasn’t sure why he’d done that. No one was stupid enough to come into her room.
No one other than Leyton, apparently.
Trying her best to ignore Leyton, Ashlynn continued to torment Jase with her lips and tongue. She pulled his dick free from her mouth, then slid her tongue down the underside, laving his balls and stroking his shaft with her hand.
“Fuck, baby,” Jase growled. “Take ’em in your mouth. Ah, yes. Just like that.”
Jase widened his legs while Ashlynn wrapped her lips around his balls, one at a time, then both. Teasing his sac with her tongue, she listened to the way his breathing increased, his hand tightening in her hair, though she wasn’t sure he even realized he was doing it.
She felt Leyton move behind her, and that was when she realized he’d shed his shoes, his jacket, and his shirt. When he knelt beside her, he didn’t hesitate before pulling her back against him, her ass resting on his thighs.
“Suck him,” Leyton commanded softly. “Wrap your lips around his dick.”
As she took the bulbous head of Jase’s dick into her mouth again, Leyton offered a hand, placing his over hers, which was still wrapped around the base of Jase’s thick cock.
“Fuck,” Jase growled when Leyton’s hand fisted tightly. “Yes.”
Ashlynn pulled back, freeing Jase from her mouth. Turning to look at Leyton, she waited to see what he would do. His eyes had slid up to Jase’s face, and when Jase’s hand fisted in Leyton’s hair, pulling him forward, Leyton didn’t refuse him.
Up close, Ashlynn watched in awe as Leyton wrapped his lips around Jase’s dick, sucking him slowly, easily. He wasn’t in a rush, didn’t seem to be ready to hurry this along. He simply glided his mouth over Jase’s smooth length, hollowing his cheeks briefly, then pulling back.
“Don’t stop,” Jase pleaded.
Rather than continue, though, Leyton released Jase, then cupped Ashlynn’s head, turning her so that his mouth was over hers in an instant, his tongue delving into her mouth. And in that moment, her entire body went liquid. She melted against him, gave in to the kiss even though every cell in her body rioted, her brain telling her this couldn’t happen.
He wanted too much.
Yet she couldn’t push him away.
He was gentle but firm, taking from her while giving in return.
For a brief instant, she forgot Jase was there. Her arms went around Leyton as she twisted around to face him. While he plundered her mouth, she slipped her fingers into the cool silk of his hair, holding tightly to him, afraid to let him go.
She had no idea what he’d done to her earlier, how, in a matter of minutes, he’d managed to disrupt everything she thought she knew, but she wasn’t willing to question it. Not right now. He was here with them, and he seemed willing. That was all that mattered.
Jase moved, shedding his clothes in a hurry. But before he could join them on the floor, Leyton picked her up and deposited her on the bed, coming down over her, his mouth still fused to hers.
“You can’t run from me that easily,” Leyton whispered, his rough stubble abrading her cheek as his lips trailed along her jaw. “I’ve waited too damn long for this. For you.”
When Jase joined them on the bed, she found herself reaching for him. He was her lifeline, her constant in this new ocean of sensation she wasn’t familiar with. Although she knew what to expect, it still took her by surprise.
Leyton wasn’t the only one who’d been waiting for this day, dreamed about having both of them there with her.
With one arm around Jase, her fingers kneading his muscular back, and her other arm around Leyton, she felt the differences in their bodies, but the strange part was that touching them both, having them both there, it seemed as though she was complete for the first time in her life. Their time together in the garage last night had rocked her, shaken her up, but still, it didn’t compare to this.
Unsure what to do with that knowledge, Ashlynn decided it was time to stop thinking. It would only get her in trouble if she did.
Leyton lifted his head, and when he turned to Jase, Ashlynn peered up at the two of them, tingles igniting in her core when their lips touched. Leyton wasn’t as gentle with Jase as he’d been with her, but she understood that. Jase had explained so many things to her when they’d hashed out their fantasies. How being with a man was different from being with a woman. How he craved that rougher touch, the ability to let loose without fear of hurting her.
Jase had been waiting for this for a long damn time. And though she knew they’d both gotten a taste of Leyton already, this still felt different.
Much, much different.