Chapter 34

Celine felt her heart drop painfully into the puddle of heat that was her stomach when Asher abruptly stopped a short distance away from her, his eyes widening. She felt her knees buckle when he took a step back and then another, her eyes burning with tears which she refused to let fall.

“You don’t want me?” It was supposed to be a firm deciding question that would stop her from hoping once and for all but it came out in a shaky whisper.

Asher’s expression fell, “What?”

“You don’t have to be nice about it, a simple yes or no will suffice.” Celine went on, her voice getting stronger. She just wanted to get an answer.

Asher was having a difficult time processing Celine’s words, his train of thoughts crashing with every inhale of her scent, it felt like he was snorting crystallized sugar. *He didn’t want her?* How did she manage to arrive at that conclusion? They were in this muddled situation because he wanted her too much to let her go.

He had taken a couple steps back because it helped him not jump her but now he swiftly closed the distance between them and pulled her hard against him, “Does staying away so I don’t lose control say I don’t want you? Does pulling away so I don’t hurt you say I don’t want you? Does this moment say I don’t want you?”

Celine listened carefully to Asher with wide eyes, pieces of the puzzle slowly sliding into place. “B-But you intend to get rid of me,” She murmured, not mentioning the fact that if that happened, she would immediately become Mafia King Nolan’s prey. She didn’t want that to be the reason why Asher would change his mind about sending her away.

Everywhere that they made contact burned, the temperature of her skin becoming unbearable but their conversation was to important that even her quickly encroaching heat couldn’t interrupt it.

Asher’s ringed fingers found her jaw, the cool metal jarring against her heated skin. “Because my world is too dangerous for you.”

Celine soft smile was tinged with relief, “I’m sturdier than you give me credit for.” She said lightly, her hands holding on tightly to his shoulders because his scent and presence had made it quite difficult to stand.

She didn’t look away when he leaned in, and she couldn’t tell if it was her heat that made her bolder or if it was getting the answers she always wanted. To think that all she had to do was ask Asher instead of getting so hung up in her own head.

She met him halfway when he claimed her lips, his hold around her waist the only the keeping her balance as she stood on her tiptoes even as he leaned down. The kiss was gentle and hesitant and it felt like Asher was holding back which did nothing to sooth the liquid heat under her skin.

Celine rested her upper body on Asher when he broke the kiss, her eyelids drooping ever so slightly even as she stared up at him, the distance between them nonexistent. “You don’t have to be so gentle. I won’t break-”

She barely got the rest of her words out when Asher captured her lips again, his eyes flashing as he slipped a hand around her neck to keep her in place. This was nothing like their gentle first kiss, the onslaught felt like Asher truly wanted to devour her, tongue first.

Celine broke away from the kiss this time, gasping for air, her head swimming. Asher’s lips found the column of her neck almost immediately, his hand slipping from her neck to find its way under the flimsy nightdress she wore. It felt like too much and not enough all at once, the heat underneath her skin was melting her into a puddle, and she craved Asher’s touch on every inch of her skin.

She must have managed to communicate her growing desperation somehow because in the next moment, her nightdress was ripped off her body like it was made of paper, her body going light as Asher picked her up and placed her on the bed. She welcomed his weight on her, sinking her fingers into his long hair to bring him in for a kiss, her eyes closed.

The further their kiss went on, the more delirious she became, it felt like Asher was spilling molten lava down her throat. She barely noticed his hands getting free reign to explore her body, unable to think of anything else but how much she needed him inside of her.

Celine didn’t remember going this insane the last time she had her heat so she was going to blame Asher for making her this way. She opened her eyes when his sharp teeth on the outline of her collarbones made her shudder, her crystal blue eyes almost glowing from pleasure.

“A-Asher, please…” She begged mindlessly, her hand finding its way into the soft locks of his hair again. She threw her head back with a gasp of his name when he lightly bit her sensitized nipple, a finger dipping into her soaking wet heat.

“Asher! Asher!” Her litany of his name trailed into unintelligible moans as pleasure and heat coalesced into a tidal wave that threatened to drown her.

It cleared up momentarily when he pushed into her, a brief spiel of pain quickly washed away by pleasure. Lucidity encroached on her unwanted when Asher didn’t move, forcing her to pry open her eyes to stare up at him, soft pleas on the tip of her tongue and tears in her eyes.

She was slightly startled to find him staring right at her, his face barely inches away from her, his hazel gold eyes like wildfire as he stared at her with a look she had never seen before. When she returned his stare, he slowly pulled out and slammed back in and that was enough for Celine to go under the wave of pleasure that had been threatening to drown her.