He curved his free hand around her waist and slid his fingertips over her clit.
She cried out, arching her hips to take him deeper, and then she lost track of where his hands were and how he was touching her. She only knew he was taking her hard, hitting all the right spots. Sending her spiraling into a climax that had her screaming.
His harsh groan followed soon after, and he thrust once, twice, and a third time before she felt him pulsing inside her.
“Jesus,” he muttered as he pulled out of her.
“Yeah.”
“Bed?”
She nodded, needing to get off her feet. He helped her stand before pulling off the condom and tying it off. He headed to the bathroom and she made her way to the bedroom. He caught up with her, hooking an arm around her waist and tossing her onto the bed, coming down beside her.
* * *
Sebastian pushed himself back, pulled Ashley against him, settling them side by side against the pillows on the back of the bed.
“Are you okay?” he asked, because he’d taken her hard, bending her over the sofa and pulling at her hair. Not looking into those beautiful eyes.
He winced at his behavior, but her cheeks were glowing, despite the fact that she wasn’t meeting his gaze.
“I’m good. Really good. I wanted you to take what you needed,” she said. “And I’m glad that you did.”
God, she was amazing. Pulling him in deeper every day they were together, every night she spent in his arms. He didn’t know what kind of progress he was making with her emotionally, probably wouldn’t know until it was time for her to leave him. His stomach twisted at the notion, and he pushed the thought aside. They had a lot to do between now and then.
He turned his attention to them now instead. He was fucking starving. At that moment, her stomach growled and he chuckled. “That answers my next question. You’re obviously hungry, too. Do you want to order from room service or Grub Hub?” he asked of the food delivery service.
They ended up debating, then ordering hamburgers from the hotel and chocolate cheesecake for dessert.
“You’re going to make me fat,” she said to him, curling into his arms, where she felt oh so perfect.
He frowned at her comment. “That has never been an issue except in your mother’s warped mind.” She’d always been perfect to him.
“I think I’m brainwashed sometimes,” she mused.
He knew she was talking about her mother. “What do you mean?” He smoothed her hair down so it wasn’t in his face, but she rolled over so she could face him.
“Mom used to make me watch what I ate so I would attract men.”
He coughed out loud. “As if that was ever an issue.” He’d had plenty of friends interested in the girl who’d moved into his house. Only Sebastian’s threat to bloody a nose or three kept them from making a move.
“Well, for Mom, she wanted to be some man’s trophy wife, be it your father or the next sucker.” She winced. “God, I didn’t mean to call your dad a sucker.”
He couldn’t help the grin that hit his lips. “If the shoe fits… Every woman he’s had since my mom has been his version of the perfect country club woman.”
She nodded. “And my mother has wanted to be kept.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “And it’s not that I want to be thin for any particular reason, it’s that I hear her voice in my head. Healthy eating makes for a healthy body, Ashley. And then the right man will take notice. She just didn’t mean healthy in any correct way. But old habits die hard.”
He groaned. “We sure do come from dysfunction,” he said. “Do you keep in touch with your mother?” They hadn’t discussed her relationship with her only parent before now.
She swallowed visibly and hard. “On the holidays and birthdays, if she remembers mine, because otherwise I call her. Mostly because she’s my mother and it’s the right thing to do. I have to be able to live with myself, after all.”
He could see the pain in her eyes at the admission, one he understood more than she knew. “Same here with my dad. I’ll check in because he’s my father. But I know he’s the reason for a lot of my past bad behavior. Whether it was punishing him or following his behavior by example without even realizing it. But those days are over.”
“Why?” She tilted her head and met his gaze. “What changed for you?”
He hesitated, gathering his thoughts, debating how much to tell her. She didn’t need to know how many women he’d been with, how often. “A few things hit at once, to be honest.”
“Mandy’s death.”
He nodded. “My family couldn’t reach me the night she died.” He recalled the pain he’d felt on hearing the news, the desperate need to get to his brother. But he’d also sensed they didn’t know how badly he’d felt. How much he’d hurt for Ethan.