Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires, Book 1) (19 page)

Emily ran her hand down her stomach and her trimmed sex. She dipped a finger between her lower lips. She was wet and ready for him. She circled her clit slowly, then faster, building a tempo she was well familiar with. Then she stopped, pulled him forward with her legs, and ran her wet finger across his lips. He made an animalistic noise as he lost control and took her sex into his mouth. His tongue plunged inside her while his fingers encircled her engorged clit.

The push and pull of their lovemaking had never been clearer than in that moment. Asher was definitely a man who knew what he wanted and was used to demanding it, but he was as helpless as she was in the face of passion. He teased and loved her sex until she was on the brink of an orgasm.

He replaced his tongue with two fingers and rose to his feet. He dug his other hand into the back of her hair and raised her face to his. Emily tasted herself on his tongue and cried out as he plunged his fingers into her again and again. Deeper and harder until she came with a sob, clenched around his fingers.

She was still in a haze when he stood and stripped. A moment later she felt the tip of his cock rub over her clit. He lifted her hips off the table with one arm and continued to kiss her as he plunged deeply into her. His thrusts were powerful, and each one had Emily gasping as it was almost too deep, too good. There was no escape, but Emily wasn’t trying to.

He nipped her neck and moved down to claim one of her breasts with his mouth. There was nothing gentle about the way his teeth pulled at her nipple, but Emily grabbed the back of his head and held him there, begging him not to stop. And he didn’t. He easily took her to a second orgasm, and only when she was calling out his name wildly did he give himself over to his.

He pulled out, lifted Emily into his arms, and walked to his bedroom where he laid her across his bed. He was back a moment later with a warm washcloth and wiped her intimately. “Are you on birth control?”

“I think so. I mean, yes,” she said, barely able to think in the aftermath of the soul-rocking climax.

He threw the towel across the room into the door of the bathroom. He joined her, pulled her into his arms, then covered both of them with a sheet. “It wouldn’t matter. You’re mine, Emily. We’ll figure everything else out, but you’re not leaving Boston.”

Emily opened her mouth to argue with him but closed it when she realized she was too relaxed to fight. She was floating in the peaceful sated place she only found in his arms. An hour would change nothing. She rested her head on his shoulder and let herself melt against his side. She’d give herself a few more minutes of bliss, then she’d tell him exactly what she thought of the way he’d spoken to her.

She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. She didn’t want to rehash the conversation they’d had earlier. Not yet. All she wanted was a few more minutes in heaven.

Asher watched Emily
pretend to sleep and smiled. He knew she hadn’t liked what he’d said, but she was too happy with him to say so. It was adorable.
Note to self: multiple orgasms win arguments.

He absently caressed the curve of her ass and her lower back as he rehashed the night in his mind. He knew he wasn’t an easy man to get along with, but he did want Emily to be happy. He understood that her land was important to her. It was why he’d agreed not to move forward with the facility there. That didn’t mean, though, that he liked the idea of her living in New Hampshire while he was living in Boston. He’d hoped she would see his offer to help her relocate to Boston as a declaration that she was important to him.

For Emily he was breaking his own rules. He’d changed business plans for her and had offered to invest in hers. He had never done that for anyone, not even his family. He’d also never asked a woman to live with him before.

He remembered how he’d suggested she should be grateful. He hadn’t meant that the way it had sounded. He’d meant she should appreciate the fact that he’d put time and money into finding a nearby location for the museum. He cringed when he considered the pompous ass he’d been. Emily was a woman who would always keep him on his toes and demand better from him. He was beginning to think that was a good thing.

“Emily,” he said.

Her eyes opened slowly, and she watched him warily. “Yes?”

“I care about you, but . . .”

She tensed in his arms. “But?”

“But I’m not what people would call a romantic guy. I don’t do relationships. I never have. So I don’t spout smooth lines. I’ve always been blunt about what I wanted, and it has always worked out. Women usually want to sleep with me, and it’s never been more complicated than fitting them into my schedule.”

Emily rose up onto one elbow and looked down at him. “Do you know what a nipple twist is?”

Asher rolled onto his side. “I’m being honest.”

Emily nodded but continued to look at him in a way that made him want to protect parts of his body from her. “I know.”

He sighed and continued, “Don’t look at me like that. I remember telling Andrew he shouldn’t join the Marines. He told me he didn’t have a choice. I joked that he was born to smash things, kill people, and save the world. He joked that I was born to make money, make more money, and in general be a dick. I’ve always laughed. I’ve never cared what anyone thought of me until I met you. How do we always get to this place?”

Emily cocked her head to one side. “Because you speak dick?”

His eyebrows shot up, then he threw back his head and laughed. She joined in, seemingly thoroughly amused by her joke. He rolled on top of her and growled, “I was being serious.”

Her expression softened. “So was I. Asher, if you want to be with me, be with who I am, not who you want me to be. I don’t need you to give up what’s important to you; don’t ask me to do that for you.”

He ran a hand lightly up her bare arm. “I don’t want to change you.”

She leaned over and kissed his lips lightly. “Then instead of looking for real estate for me, buy me flowers on the opening day of my museum in Welchton. That’s all I want. Can you promise me that?”

“I can.” He hugged her to his chest. Her request touched his heart. He was used to people wanting something from him, but Emily didn’t care about his money or his social circle. She held him to a higher standard, and as he held her he admitted to himself he could no longer imagine his life without her.

‡

T
wo days later
Emily was sitting next to Asher on the couch in his parents’ living room as Kenzi drew what looked like a lizard on a large sheet of paper. Weeks ago, dinners were always followed by tea or coffee in the living room and serious conversation. The tension had been unbearable for Emily so she’d suggested board games. The Barringtons didn’t follow all the rules, but they embraced the idea of making evenings fun. Dale told Emily she’d brought laughter back to his house, and that was why she’d always be welcomed there. Emily still got misty just thinking about it.

“Godzilla,” Ian called out.

Kenzi shook her head and put clothing on the lizard.

“It’s that gecko from the commercial,” Sophie guessed while waving her hand at the picture.

“No,” Dale said, “it’s an alligator, but why is he wearing clothing?”

Kenzi drew a bell next to the alligator. Then a trash can with broken cans next to it. She tapped the alligator’s neck, the bell, then the trash can.

In frustration, Kenzi drew a golf tee and ball after the alligator and then after the trash can. She tapped all of the items again.

“Time’s up,” Grant announced. He looked over at Asher, Emily, and Lance. “Does our team have a guess?”

Emily assessed Kenzi’s art ability and let her imagination go wide. “I’ve got it! Humpty Dumpty.”

Kenzi clapped. “You got it.”

Ian said, “You realize you’re clapping for the other team.”

Kenzi threw the marker at her brother. “I would clap for my team, but you can’t figure out a simple pictogram.”

Andrew laughed. “How could anyone get Humpty Dumpty out of an alligator and a bell?”

Kenzi pointed to her first drawing. “That is obviously the hump on the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Why would I put clothes on an alligator?”

Ian sat back and folded his hands over his chest. “Since when does Quasimodo have a snout?”

“If you think you can draw better than I can, why don’t you come up here next?”

Ian flexed his shoulders and rose to his feet. “Oh, I will. Wait, isn’t it the other team’s turn?”

Asher said, “Doesn’t matter; we’ll probably get the point anyway.”

Andrew threw a pillow at Asher, who caught it and threw it back.

Sophie told them all to stop, but she was smiling when she said it. Dale looked over at Emily and nodded in approval. Emily turned to look up at Asher and saw a similar expression in his eyes. Emily spontaneously gave Asher a quick kiss then hugged him. She couldn’t remember ever feeling happier.

Her phone rang, and she almost ignored it, but she saw it was from the caretaker of her museum so she said, “Excuse me. It’s Mr. Riggins. I’m sure this will be quick.” She stood, walked to the doorway of the living room, and answered the phone.

Asher was on
his feet and at her side the moment he heard her gasp.

“Oh, my God. No. No.” She looked around the room frantically and her voice rose. “No.”

She slumped against the wall and would have sunk to the floor if Asher hadn’t caught her.

Asher took the phone from her. “What happened?”

Mr. Riggins said, “The fire department is already here, but they’re not sure how much of the building will be left. It was already engulfed in flames when I went to check on it. I did everything I could.”

“What are you talking about? What’s burning?”

“The Harris Museum. The whole thing is ablaze. I checked in on it as I always do, but it was already too late.”

“How did it happen?”

“No one knows yet. The firemen say they have to get it under control before they can determine the source for sure. They keep asking me what I know, but I don’t know anything. It’s like I said, as soon as I saw the fire I called them.”

Asher hung up the phone and tossed it on the table beside him, turning his attention to the woman he was partially supporting. He turned back to his family and said, “It’s Emily’s museum. It’s on fire.”

Everyone was instantly on their feet and gathered around her, asking both Emily and Asher the same questions neither of them had answers to. Asher turned his attention to the woman in his arms who was shaking from the shock.

She went to pull away from him. “I have to go.”

“I’ll go with you,” Asher said instantly.

Emily looked up at him and an expression of horror entered her eyes. “You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you? Swear to me you didn’t.”

Asher’s head snapped back in surprise. “I didn’t do this.”

Pale and shaking, Emily looked past him to his family. “I want to believe you. You have all been so good to me, but is this why? Was all of this some sick plan to get my land? You lure me away, have me relocate my pieces, then burn it so I have nothing to fight you over?”

“You can’t believe that.” Sophie reached out to Emily, but Emily backed away from her.

“I don’t know what to believe,” Emily said as tears poured down her cheeks. She pushed away from Asher. “Don’t touch me. I need to think.”

Grant stepped forward. “Emily, no one here would ever hurt you.”

Emily swayed on her feet and waved a finger at Grant. “Why did you encourage me to take out more insurance? Did you know this would happen?”

Dale put his arm around Sophie. “She’s in shock. She doesn’t mean what she’s saying.”

Kenzi looked from Emily’s distraught face to Asher’s and asked, “Did you do this, Asher? Could one of your people have done it?”

Sophie covered her mouth as she gasped. “Asher, tell me there is no chance you could be involved. Even you wouldn’t go this far to get what you want, would you?”

Asher opened his mouth to deny it, but he remembered what Ryan had said about Hearne. “I told my team we were pulling out of New Hampshire.”

Andrew shook his head. “Did you tell them it was because you fell in love with Emily? I bet you didn’t.”

Asher met his father’s eyes. “I didn’t tell them anything. I don’t explain myself to anyone. But I told them to look for another location.”

Ian interceded. “Let’s not assume anything until we have the facts.”

As he walked away, Lance said, “The facts look pretty damning.”

Emily turned back to Asher. “Would anyone who works for you do this?”

If Asher had been a liar, he would have lied then. “If they did, it wasn’t on my orders. I don’t condone arson.”

Emily sank to her knees and started to sob. Asher tried to help her up, but she pushed him away. His family looked on helplessly, a mixture of sympathy for her and anger at him.

Sophie walked up to Asher, tears in her eyes, and laid a hand on one side of his face. “If you did this, Asher, you went too far. You. Went. Too. Far.”

Dale led her out of the room.

Kenzi and his brothers continued to hover around Asher and Emily, as if ready to intervene if Emily needed it. It wasn’t Asher’s proudest moment. He went down on his knees beside Emily and gave her a tissue Kenzi had pushed into his hand. “Emily, I’ll get a plane readied. We can be there in a couple hours.”