“Then let’s go.”
He picks me up off the counter and carries me to the bedroom.
14
Asher
Rose is lying across my chest while we both catch our breath. A sheen of sweat is on our skin, heat gathering between us even now. Having her beside me makes me feel settled in the way that I’ve been craving. A way that I didn’t even know was possible until she walked away.
Honestly, the second the words came out of my mouth—that I was falling in love with her—everything clicked. I’m not sure I’d allowed myself to actually think it before that moment, but it didn’t make it any less true. I didn’t realize I was capable of emotion like this.
And now, I’m lying in a bed with my wife. If she still wants that.
I know that I do.
Slowly I roll us over so that she’s beneath me again. This feeling…I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of it.
Her lips are so fucking sweet and wicked. They drive me mad. They make me absolutely insatiable. It’s not going to take me long to recover and want her again. I’ll always want her. Always.
Rose moans into my kiss, and I press deeper until she’s arching against me. “I don’t think that I can go anymore,” she says breathlessly. “You’ve worn me out entirely.”
“You’ll get your strength back,” I say. “We’ll get food. But other than that? We’re not leaving this bed tonight.”
A low sound in her throat. “Okay.”
I kiss her again, taking time to enjoy the feeling of her lips under mine and her tongue dancing with mine. “Do you still want me to sign the papers?”
Rose stares, so quiet that my stomach drops and nerves tingle in my stomach. “I know we were drunk,” I say, brushing her lips, “and it wasn’t exactly the best start to a marriage, but I would love to give it a go. If you want to. Nothing else that isn’t your choice, Rose.”
She smiles, and I swear it’s like the fucking sun has come out. My wife is beautiful. In a way that makes me ache and pull her closer. I want to hold her forever, just like this.
“If we do this,” she says, “I’m not going to be a normal wife.”
I laugh. “How so?”
“I’m going to finish my degree and pursue my dreams and no way am I going to be barefoot in the kitchen.”
“The very idea of that is laughable,” I say, running my hand through her hair. “I wouldn’t want you to be anything but what you are. But—”
“But?”
“I’m hoping that you might want to live with me. Be my wife in every sense. Because let’s be honest, conjugal visits in a dorm room are going to be awkward. Especially with how loud I can make you scream. Oh, and I want to buy you a ring so that everyone knows that you’re mine.”
She arches at the word but also smacks my arm playfully. “I don’t live in a dorm. I rent this house, thank you very much.”
I chuckle.
“Speaking of which, you don’t happen to know why the school called me right before I got home and told me that my tuition for senior year is entirely paid? Or why there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in my bank account?”
I can’t contain my grin. “I might know something about that.”
“Oh my God, what did you do?”
Briefly, I tell her about Gary’s visit to Blue Mountain, and how everything went exactly the way we’d planned it to. “And I told him that he had to help you. And that he had one week to do it.”
She blinked. “He showed up after he came back and told me that he wouldn’t.”
“I figured that out,” I say. “After I checked up on him. And I made some calls to all those companies that he sent you to using the list that you gave me. I told them about what we’d proven, and suggested that they might want to keep an eye out in case he tried to pull the same bullshit with them.”
She stares at me, and I shrug. “They thought that information that would help them avoid a bunch of lawsuits was worth compensation. I just made sure that your school account and personal accounts were the ones on the receiving end.”
“How on earth did you find my bank account?”
I smirk. “I have my ways.”
Rose laughs, rich and full. I can feel every flicker and vibration through her body. “That’s insane. You’re insane. But thank you.”
“Your father is on the run, by the way. He almost punched me in the face earlier when he came by to scream at you for setting him up. Lucky that I was the one here. I called the cops.”
Her eyes darken. “Good.”
“So, about that ring…”
A smile plays around her lips. “I haven’t said that I’m going to do this yet.”