From the Ashes (Possessed 2.50)

“Your family is fucked up, man. You can inform them that until further notice, any contact you all want with her will go through me first. This… It ain’t fucking happening again.” I feel Declan’s anger boil over the edge and it brings me back down from my freefall.

My body feels light, my head is spinning, and I can feel the blood flow through my veins. Declan’s hands are on my shoulders as he searches my eyes, makes me smile. He frowns, and it fades. “Fuck!” His curse has me confused.

As he climbs on in front of me, I see Landon backing away as I melt into Declan’s back. My eyes close automatically, and I’m encased in his musky scent. The motorcycle’s start-up pulsations lull me into a state of oblivion. I feel nothing but the freedom of the road. No borders to hold me in, no restrictions. Nothing.

I’m free.

Declan

Fuck, fuck, fuck! I shouldn’t have let her do this. I knew she was in a fragile state, and I think I might have had a hand in it. I’ve been trying to make her step out of her comfort zone to find out who she is again, and in doing so, I’ve made her vulnerable.

Her body molds to mine as we fly through the streets, around cars, and through alleys to skip red lights. If it weren’t for the fact that I know she isn’t doing drugs, I might think she were high after her little experience at her house. She has this absent look in her eyes that you only get when you’ve taken an illicit substance.

Pulling up to her apartment, I shut the bike off, and before I can do anything, she’s kissing my cheek and telling me, “Thank you.”

Stunned for a second, I hop off my bike in a rush to run up to her. Gripping her bicep, I spin her around and can tell whatever elation she felt moments ago is gone and in its place, is the pain-filled walls she’s erected that I’ve been trying to breach.

&n

bsp; “Don’t do that, cupcake,” I breathe into her ear as I step closer to her.

“Do what?” she whispers back.

“Build those walls up. I don’t want to have to break them down every time I want in. I require easy fucking access, Ashley, and you shutting down with every knock isn’t conducive to that.” She sucks in a sharp breath at my bluntness, making her breasts graze my chest.

Licking her lips, she darts a quick look up to me. “And what if…” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “What if I don’t want you breaking them down?”

There’s something to her tone of voice that pisses me off. As though she has already decided that’s what she wants. Backing her into the corner of her stoop, I cage her in between my arms, lowering my body, my turbulent gaze meeting hers. “You have no choice.” Each word is laced with rage at her imagining she can make that decision.

I hear her gulp before responding, “But I do.” Looking around us, she quickly says, “I don’t want this. Relationships aren’t for me.”

I snap, losing control. I wrap one hand around her neck and the other in her hair. “You are mine,” I hiss. My grip on her throat flexes, her pupils dilate, and I know I have my in. Pushing her further into the wall, my grip tightens again, and I growl into her ear, “You want more?” When she doesn’t answer, I give her a little shake. “Fucking answer me.”

“Yessss,” she moans on a whimper.

“Good.” I let go of her throat, but my fingers remain tangled in her hair, pushing her forward. “Let’s go.”

As we walk into her building, I’m damn near dragging her by her silky locks, my cock harder than I’ve ever felt and ready to be as deeply buried inside her as humanly possible. Approaching her door, I pin her against the wood as she tries to unlock it.

A startled gasp behind us has me turning to see a middle-aged woman walking into the hall, her face a mask of horror. I know she likely thinks I’m hurting my woman, so I set out to prove her wrong.

Ash has no clue this other woman is here as I force my free hand down the front of her pants to find her soaking wet with desire. Touching her engorged clit, I lightly rub it with my thumb as I search out her warmth.

Her pleasure-filled gasp can be heard throughout the building. Lowering my lips to her ear again, my eyes never leave the stunned woman’s as I whisper only loud enough for Ashley to hear me, “Who’s your daddy, baby?”

“You,” she gasps as I pinch her hardened nub.

“Louder,” I command.

Her breathing increases as I rub her more firmly. “Oh, daddy,” she moans loud enough for the other woman to hear, “you are.”

A look filled with renewed horror and disgust crosses her face, and I smirk as I say, “That’s right, cupcake, I’m your fucking daddy.”

I watch in amusement as she skitters off, just as Ashley finally gets her door open. We nearly fall through, slamming it behind me. I say one word. “Strip.”

Chapter Six

Ashley