When it was finally time for dinner, Felicia sat across from Courtney, who sat next to her husband. She wasn’t surprised when Ash sat down next to her. His jean-clad leg brushed against her bare one, since she’d taken advantage of the covered table to hike up her dress in an effort to try and cool down.
“You must be hot,” she said, in what she hoped would be a way to begin a topic about the weather, a hopefully innocuous conversation.
“With you around, always.”
“I meant because of the jeans and the leather. It’s so humid.” She picked up a napkin and fanned herself.
“The weather has nothing to do with how I’m feeling,” Ash said, his voice low. “I want to see you tonight.”
“I can’t.” The words were hard to say. “I promised Courtney I’d stay with her. She wants to paint toenails and do other girlie things.”
“Yeah, she’s making me sleep by myself tonight,” Doug said. Felicia saw him frown at his wife. She hadn’t realized they’d been listening to her and Ash talk. Doug leaned into the table. “Shall we go find a strip club, Ash? Maybe go all the way into New Orleans and Bourbon Street?”
Courtney huffed in pretend anger. “I don’t think so.”
“It’s what we did last time, only we were in Albuquerque,” Ash said with a laugh.
“This time he’s already married,” Courtney said. “No strippers.”
“Fine.” Doug threw up his hands as if he were disgusted. “What do you suggest Ash and I do?”
“Well, there’s always TV,” Courtney said. “Felicia and I are going to stay up all night and do fun things to get ready for tomorrow.” She batted her eyelashes at her husband, and then they bent their heads together.
“I know Courtney, and how much wine she’s had,” Felicia said. “She’ll be asleep by midnight.”
“Then meet me,” Ash whispered in her ear.
Why the hell had she said that? She’d left it wide open for Ash to repeat his invitation, one she wanted desperately to accept. “Where? Plus I’m not certain she’ll fall asleep.”
“She will.” He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket. “Once again, this is my number. Call or text, when she’s asleep, and we’ll set it up.”
“You came prepared.” She took the paper.
“I did.” He leaned close to her. “I want you, Felicia. I’m not going to beat around the bush about it. If you don’t want to see me, just say so and I’ll jack off tonight, but I’ll be thinking about being inside you.”
He smelled so male, a hint of sandalwood with just a touch of cigarette smoke, a habit she knew he’d picked up when they were younger. And his words were so like him, open and honest.
She glanced over at Courtney and Doug. Their foreheads were pressed together, and they were talking softly. “What happens if it turns out to be just an infatuation we had when we were younger? What if you see me naked and wonder how you could have ever wanted me? What if we lose the fantasy of it?”
“Never going to happen.” He ran his strong hand up her bare thigh, and for the second time that evening, Felicia thought she would climax.
Despite the fact it had been thirteen years since they’d been lovers, that every outside force in their lives had conspired, and been victorious, in an effort to keep them apart, she knew she was going to lie under him again tonight.
“I’m not active,” she said. “I don’t have any birth control.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
The grin on his face made her laugh. “Just like you did when we were younger?”
“Call me the condom king.” Her breath caught in a hitch, and she raised her hand to a scar that ran under his right eye. It was faint now, but she could see it.
“It’s not that bad.” He took her hand and lowered it to his mouth, pressing his lips against her skin.
He might say that, but it brought back vivid memories of her screaming while her father slammed his fist—complete with a large silver ring—into Ash’s face. When she’d tried to go to him, her mother had held her back. At the hospital, his mother had kept her from seeing Ash. After that, he’d been behind bars, barely eighteen.
His parents had wanted her father to be jailed for assault, but Ash had refused to press charges; as a legal adult, he’d had that choice.
“It’s a reminder, Ash, of all that happened.”
“It’s a blemish—one that reminds me to fight for what I want. I’ll fight again, if I have to.”
She wanted to touch it once more, see if it felt different now that Ash said he didn’t notice it.
Instead she lifted out of her seat just enough so she could place her lips against it. His skin was hot, salty, and just a little uneven from where the puckered skin met the smooth. She kissed it again, then blushed when Doug’s voice broke into the moment she and Ash were sharing.
“Hey, you two, get a room.”
* * * *
“Didn’t we do this when we were teenagers, driving around to find condoms?”
Ash couldn’t help but laugh at Doug’s words. “The difference is, then we
hoped
we were going to get laid. Tonight, I know I’m going to, which is more than I can say for you.”
“Mine’s coming tomorrow,” Doug retorted. “I can wait.”
Ash piloted the car down the strange stretch of road, keeping his eye out for a drugstore. What was really foremost in his mind, though, was Felicia—his sweet, beautiful Felicia. When she’d kissed his scar, he’d thought he would flood his pants. The blemish, as he’d called it, reminded him of her every time he saw it. It didn’t piss him off; it made him want her, made him remember the passion he’d felt for her, one that would be rekindled tonight.
A smile touched his lips.
Rekindled
might not be the right word. His passion for her had started when he was young and continued even when he didn’t see her.
When she hadn’t called after the first wedding, he’d been crushed. He’d tried to tell himself that her parents had kept her from contacting him, but he knew it hadn’t been true. They’d been adults, capable of making their own decisions.
So he’d thrown himself into his art, into working out, and into other women. He discovered lots of about himself, like the fact he enjoyed tying women up for sex. He believed a good spanking heightened sensations for both of them. But the hardest thing for him to come to terms with was that he always—always—thought about Felicia while he was screwing someone else.
Eventually it drove him to limit his sexual partners to one—a woman named Alison who had told him up front that she would never fall in love and she wanted nothing more than a good fuck buddy. That had ended a year ago, and since then his only partner had been his hand.
Part of his problem was his newfound fame. His statues attracted attention, and he’d sold a lot of sculptures to Hollywood stars and other famous people. When he attended parties hosted by the people who bought his work, a great number of women cozied up to him. He never knew if they were interested in him or in the idea their photo might be featured in art magazines once they were on the arm of Ash Chee.
Alison had been perfect for such events. When they’d split, he’d been sad that he would have to search for someone else to accompany him to parties. In the end, though, he’d go alone and turned down the advances he constantly received.
The only real attention he wanted, had always wanted, was from Felicia. He needed to make sure it didn’t get screwed up. He’d waited a long time for this chance.
“So is this a one-time fuck or what?”
Doug’s question drew Ash out of his thoughts. He turned into a drugstore parking lot before he answered. “Not for me. I want her in my life again.”
“Listen, don’t get pissed, but you’re my best friend, so I think I need to point some things out here. You don’t really know her anymore, do you? I mean, don’t get me wrong. She’s great; she always has been. But the two of you haven’t spoken two words to each other, other than tonight, in seven years. What if you want her just because she makes your dick hard?”
“Then I’ll have some good sex.” Ash put the car into park. “But I don’t think that’s the reason. Wait here.”
Damn Doug for bringing out things Ash didn’t want to think about. He was right, of course. That didn’t mean he wanted to be responsible tonight. He wanted to feel Felicia’s soft skin under his hands, wanted to savor the tightness of her around him once more.
There were few people in the store, but those he passed gawked at him. He might be well-known at home in Santa Fe, but here in this small town near New Orleans, he was an oddity—a brown-skinned man who wore braids and stood out in a crowd.
He found what he wanted and started toward the register, then turned back around at the last minute. He located the sale aisle and selected the cheapest T-shirt he could. The front of it proclaimed it was
Party Time!
and had a photo of beads and champagne glasses.
At the register he put the condoms and T-shirt on the counter. The young clerk stared at him.
“Something wrong?”
“No, sir.” He picked up the items and scanned them.
After Ash had paid, he told the kid to have a good day.
“Looks like you’re going to have a better one than me,” the kid replied with a smirk as he bagged Ash’s purchase.
At that very moment, his phone buzzed. Ash dug it out of his pocket and checked the screen. It read,
Thirty minutes. Just tell me where. F.
“Yeah, it looks like I will.” He picked up the sack and headed out of the store. The shirt he would use when they were in his room. But for now, he wanted to see Felicia under the stars, make love to her in the hot, humid night.
After that, they’d have the rest of the night to play.
Ash promised himself that he wouldn’t bring up the past. Now wasn’t the time to discuss the problems they’d faced. Tonight they would see if the spark was still there. If it was, then they’d take their new path together.
One step at a time.
“One of us needs to get laid tonight, Felicia, and since it can’t be me, you’re up.” Felicia pushed Courtney’s hand away as her friend tried to undo another button on her blouse.
“Show some skin,” Courtney said before she clapped her hands together. “Or better yet, just take off your bra so he has easy access.”
Felicia laughed. “Please, Courtney, I’m not going to—” She stopped speaking because she knew she was going to. “I’m so nervous.”
“Of course you are. You’re about to have sex with the man you’ve been in love with for the last fifteen years, and you spent thirteen of them apart.”
Felicia wrung her hands as she turned to her friend. “We’ve changed, you know. What if it’s not as I remember it? What if I’ve built it up, and it’s a huge letdown?”
“Felicia Louise, listen to me. There is such a thing as love at first sight, and the two of you are that saying personified. So you’ve been forced apart, by circumstances and your own stupidity, but it’s time to fit tab A into slot B again and get the show on the road.”
“Did you just call me stupid?”
“Not just you, Ash too,” Courtney said as if it should be obvious. “I call it like I see it.”
“I’m glad I’m not alone in that particular gene pool.”
Courtney plopped down on the bed, her arms behind her head, and her legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles. “If this were me and Doug, you’d be giving me the same speech, so just take it and go, woman. Enjoy yourself. Be here by noon tomorrow to help me dress and get ready to walk down the aisle—again.”
“I should be staying with you tonight, like I did the first time.”
Courtney giggled. “I’ll let you in on a secret. Doug’s calling in half an hour, and we’re going to have phone sex, something we haven’t done in a long time.”
“Were you going to make me hide in the bathroom while you moaned and groaned?”
More giggling. “We just decided it when you and Ash decided to, you know.” Courtney made a circle with her thumb and forefinger on one hand, and stuck her other index finger into the hole and moved it in and out.
“It’s definitely time for me to leave.” Felicia said. “Have fun.”
“You too!” Courtney’s laugh followed her out. “Practice safe sex!”
Felicia caught the door before it closed and popped back into the room. “Who says that anymore? Condoms are just a given now.”
“Great! Have lots of sex, use different positions, and have multiple orgasms. How’s that?”
“Works for me.” Once she was outside the room, Felicia wondered about her sanity. Physically, she wanted Ash more than anything in the world. He’d always been able to get her hot with just one look. Tonight was no exception.
He was sexier now than he’d ever been.
But in her mind, she knew that sleeping with him could be devastating. What if she loved every second of it, and at the end Ash told her that he didn’t think they were a good fit anymore? Then she would spend the rest of her days knowing he’d rejected her.
She’d almost exited the building when she finally convinced herself to stop overthinking it. Then, on a whim, she hurried back to her room. Once inside she shed her shirt and bra and then put the shirt back on. Next, she shimmied out of her panties, which left only her skirt and slip on her lower half.
The soft material against her bare skin made her feel naughty. She’d never gone without underclothes while out in public.
Maybe she should strip, then call Ash and tell him to meet her here instead of by the gazebo. Making love in an actual bed would be something new for them, since they’d been forced to find other places when they were younger. But the thought of doing it outside was too much fun, so she nixed the idea before she once again headed out the door.
As she crossed the lawn, she practiced what she would say first. “Hi.” Too casual. “Hey, sexy.” Too much. “Hey, Ash, fuck me.” Way, way too much.
In the end, she just settled for a surprised “Hey,” because she found him there before her.
“I was afraid you weren’t coming.”
“I had to make a pit stop.” She straightened her shoulders. Heat ran through her as her breasts pressed against the material. Ash’s gaze dropped to her chest, his mouth opening in surprise.
“What a naughty woman you’ve become. I like it.”
He took a step toward her, and she became instantly wet.