Southern Secrets by Natasha Madison

Chapter 23

Asher

"Dance with me."I hold out my hand to her. I don’t know what I’m doing because I’ve never been in this position. I’ve never been with someone I couldn’t wait to see again. I haven’t been with someone who causes a sense of peace to wash over me as soon as I see her.

She places her small hand into mine, and I pull her to me, smashing our chests together. "I didn’t know you were a dancer." I wrap an arm around her waist while she puts one hand around my shoulder. I look down at her smiling face, her eyes turning soft blue right before my eyes.

"I don’t dance," I say as we turn around in a circle. "If we are being honest." The words come out so low I don’t know if she can hear them.

She stops moving, and I can sense her whole body going stiff. "Being dishonest is not an option between us.” The words come out curt and direct.

"I know," I whisper. She nods her head, and I can feel her relaxing in my arms again. "Like I was saying …" I kiss her forehead as we turn around in a circle. "I’ve never danced with anyone before," I admit. The thought of her in someone else’s arms is almost too much to bear.

She looks up at me. "Are you saying I’m your first?" she jokes, tilting her head back, her index finger coming to rub my cheek. My head turns to catch her finger with a kiss.

"I’m saying you are the first girl who I’ve ever danced with. You are the first girl I’ve wanted to dance with," I admit.

"I’ll take it." She laughs. I bend my head, and she tilts her head back, waiting for my kiss. My mouth lowers to hers. My hand moves from her hand to her neck, intertwining my fingers in her hair. Her tongue comes out to slide with mine. Her hand falls to my hip, her thumb holding the side of my jeans. The arm around my shoulder comes down to hold my arm, her touch like an electric shock bringing me to life. I close my mouth and open it again, my tongue coming out to seek hers. She moans into my mouth, and it shoots straight to my cock. Her hand goes to the back of my neck as her fingers go into my hair.

The song ends, and all you can hear in the dimly lit bar is the sound of us kissing. My head moves to the other side, deepening the kiss. My lips let hers go, and I rub her nose gently with mine. Our chests are pressed against each other. "Another thing I was dying all night to do." I kiss her lips. "Is kiss you."

"Really?" She kisses under my chin. "What else have you been dying to do?" she asks me in a wicked way. This past week has been pure torture for me, lying with her and kissing the shit out of her.

"Other things I can’t say," I joke, kissing her lips and then moving the kisses to her cheek and then to her neck. The smell of lavender is still on her. “So many other things.”

She giggles, and it’s like music to my ears. Even more so, it’s hurting the fuck out of my cock that is restricted by my jeans. “Really?” She bends back to see my eyes, and I love the color of her eyes when she’s playful. They are a crystal blue, and in her left eye is one little speck of dark. "I’ve been thinking of other things also." I stop moving as I look at her. My hand drops from her neck, and we stand in front of each other. Her long tanned legs are on show, and when I saw her outfit tonight, it took everything in me not to cover her up. When she turned around to grab something, I made sure to stand in front of her, even though she was wearing my shirt around her waist and you couldn’t see anything.

"Amelia," I say her name in more of a plea, looking up at the ceiling.

"I’ve been thinking about …" She wraps her arms around my waist and kisses my neck softly. "About kissing you." She moves over to the other side of my neck and kisses me, driving me fucking mad. All I want to do is bury my hands in her hair and then drag her to the middle of the floor and have my way with her.

"I’m hanging on by a thread," I say, my hands on her hips to force her not to move any closer to me or else I’ll shoot off like a kid.

"Tell me what you're thinking about?" she asks, her voice so soft.

"That’s not fair." I look down at her.

"Why?" she asks, and her hands slide under the hem of my shirt, making me hiss.

"Because," I say, trying to focus on anything but the way her hands feel on me.

"Fine, I’ll go first," she says. "I want to kiss you in places no one can see."

I groan and take a step back as I look at her. "You have no idea what you do to me."

"Tell me?" she whispers.

"You drive me crazy,” I finally huff out. "Kissing you is what I think about doing all day long." I put my hands on my hips. "All day, every day. I want to lay you down and kiss every single inch of you. I want to claim every single part of you. I want to put my mark on you so bad. I want to go out and know that under your clothes, you have my mark." I watch her eyes to see if it’s too much for her. I watch her eyes to see if she feels the same way I do. "I want to take you home and make love to you." I finally say the words I’ve been dying to say, my heart beating so loud it echoes in my ears. "That is what I’ve thought about. I want you, Amelia."

She looks at me, and then she blinks, and her hand comes up to wipe the tear before it runs down her face. My stomach sinks in fear that I’ve scared her in some way or another, so I reach out for her, cupping her face with my hands. "I’m sorry," I say, my thumbs rubbing her cheeks.

"No one …" she says and looks down, but I move her face up with my hands.

"Don’t hide from me," I say. "Whatever you do, don’t hide from me."

She starts over. "No one has ever said that to me." Her hand cups my cheek. "No one has ever wanted me that bad."

I kiss her lips softly. At this moment, nothing would stop me from kissing her. The fear seeps into my bones that there will come a time when she won’t want me. There will be a time when the rest of my baggage comes to light, and just knowing she won’t want me anymore is enough to crush my soul. But we have this, and this is our time. Everything from the outside is unimportant right now. For once in my fucking life, I’m going to do something for me. I’m selfish enough to know that what I’m taking will never be mine, but for today, for tonight, for next week, I’m going to pretend I’m just a man who wants a woman.

"Asher," she whispers.

"Yeah, baby?" I answer, and she smiles shyly.

"I like that you call me that," she admits, and I smile as she walks out of my arms.

I watch her walk to the stage, climbing on it and grabbing my phone. I watch her walk to the back as she goes into the office.

My whole body is on edge, thinking about what she is doing. Wondering if I pushed her too far and worried that she would look at me differently. She comes out with her purse in her hand, and the clicking of her cowboy boots on the floor echoes in the empty bar. She holds out her hand to me. "Take me home," she says, putting her hand in mine.

I bring our hands up to my mouth and kiss her fingers. I hold her hand the whole time she turns off the rest of the lights. We don’t say anything as she locks the door, and I walk to the truck. I open the door for her and help her in, then walk to my side. She holds my hand while I drive to her house.

I put the truck in park and look over at her. She is looking down at her hands in her lap. "Talk to me," I say.

Her hand reaches for the handle of the truck, and she opens it. I follow her out, and when we get to her front door, she unlocks it and walks in. She waits for me to enter before closing the door behind her. "I didn’t want to do this outside," she says, “because I know the cameras are watching."

I’m so mesmerized by her that I didn’t even think about the cameras outside. The only thing I could think about was her and what was going through her mind. "I didn’t even think of that," I say honestly, and she comes to me. My back is against the door, and the only light is coming from the small side table lamp in the living room.

Her hand comes up to touch my chest, the palm of her hand flat against my chest. She can feel my heart pounding. "I want it," she says softly. "Everything you said." Her hand moves from my chest to my shoulder. "All the things you said you wanted to do to me." She swallows. "I want to do them. I want to kiss you until you snap and take me." She steps in just a touch more, and our chests are almost touching. "I want you to take me to bed." Her nose nuzzles my neck, and then she kisses me softly. My whole body melts under her touch.

"I want to worship you," I finally say, my voice trembling. "I want to worship every part of you."

I look into her eyes as she takes the step to close the distance between us. Two words is all it takes for me to finally snap. "I’m yours."