Beyond the Horizon (The Sons of Templar MC Book 4) (23 page)

I stared at him for a long moment before I stepped out of his embrace.

“Can I get anyone a drink? Beer? Before you commence....” I trailed off, my gaze darting to where Dylan was situated.

There was a short course of clipped nos.

“I’ll take that beer,” Lucky replied, his eyes now focused on the situation at hand.

All the men gave him a look.

He held out his hands. “What? She offered.”

Asher shook his head at him. “We’re fine, babe,” he reassured me.

“Okay, well, just let me know,” I replied quietly. “Thank you,” I said a bit louder, echoing Bex’s sentiment. “I know this hasn’t got anything to do with you, and I appreciate you doing it anyway,” I blurted quickly.

Asher frowned at me.

“You’re family, Lily. Someone hurts you, they hurt us. We don’t stand for that. Appreciate the sentiment, sweetheart, but it’s unnecessary,” Gage said softly. “Plus, it was gearing up to being another boring Wednesday, I do love a good body disposal.” He winked at me.

Despite the situation, I smiled shyly. “Thanks all the same,” I repeated firmly.

I turned to go to my room, Asher still frowning at me.

I didn’t focus on what the reason for that could be, nor ponder how he could still look hot as anything with furrowed brows. I had a friend to look after.

“I’m thinking,” I said finally.

“About today,” Asher clarified.

“Yes. About your friend shooting someone, and both of you being prepared to kill that someone. No talk of calling the proper authorities was even entertained,” I answered.

Asher sighed and sat up, taking me with him. “You may not have been an Old Lady for three years, but you’ve been connected to the club. You know the way we live our life, our distaste for law enforcement,” he said slowly.

I looked into his clear eyes. “Yeah, I guess it’s different being on the sidelines and having to argue with your boyfriend over not killing someone.” I never thought I’d utter a sentence like that in my life. “It’s a lot to deal with. I’m already trying to pick myself up, this is something that has me in danger of falling down,” I whispered, the truth of my words slicing through my soul. I was still trying to figure out who I was after my mom’s death. Trying to understand whether being a nurse was what I wanted, if being who I used to be was what I wanted. If I did decide being a nurse was what I wanted, I had to study. Hard. I had to work harder to be able to survive. One of my scholarships had been dropped which meant I would need to pick up more shifts. My life would already be crazy. I didn’t need shootings in my living room. I didn’t need Asher consuming me.

His whole body tightened at my words. “I’m here to make sure you don’t fall, babe. That shit, it wasn’t exactly our fault,” he ventured carefully, and rightly so.

I leaned back. “The man getting shot by your brother was not your fault?” I repeated.

“He put his hands on you. Almost killed your best friend. What the fuck did you expect me to do?” he bit out.

“Call the police instead of discussing the dumping of his body?” I suggested.

Asher’s face was granite. “Shit that Tucker’s connected to, means half the police are in his pocket,” he said.

It was my turn to freeze. “What do you mean, shit that he’s connected to?” I repeated. “And how do you know Dylan’s last name?”

Asher seemed to contemplate something before speaking. “Everyone knows the Tucker family, babe. They’re crazy sons of bitches with a lot of money and a heap of power. Crazy plus power plus money means dangerous. Dangerous as fuck to be exact,” he clipped. “His family is into everything. Prostitution, drugs, arms. You name the pie, their fingers are in it.

“Dylan’s rich?” I asked in disbelief “He never even chipped in for groceries when he was here, regardless of the fact he ate everything in sight,” I complained. “What a ... dick,” I said finally.

Asher raised his brows in amusement. “I’d say dick is a kind word to call him, though you’re focusing on the wrong details, babe. He’s dangerous. His family is off the charts crazy.” His face turned serious. “The fact he’s been in your presence, in your house without you knowing who he is, what he is,” he grimaced, “fuck babe.” He ran his hand over his mouth.

“Well, I don’t exactly run in those type of crowds, I just thought he was your regular run-of-the-mill douchebag,” I explained, not liking that yet again I was a clueless naïve girl needing to be saved.

Asher’s face softened, as he stroked my cheek. “Of course, you didn’t know, babe, I didn’t expect you to….” he paused, “Bex would have. It’s not a secret, and she does run with those type of crowds, Lily. As much as you wouldn’t like to admit it,” he added, seeing me open my mouth to argue, “she should’ve been smarter,” he said tightly.

I leaned back. “So you’re saying it’s her own fault that she got beaten up?” I asked in a quiet voice.

“Shit no, flower, of course not. The blame for that lies firmly on Tucker’s shoulders. Any man that does that shit is no man…” he paused again, “but she should’ve known the danger in getting involved with a man like him.”

My anger was tamped down slightly. “Bex doesn’t exactly live a cautious life. You don’t know what she’s had to go through,” I defended my friend.

Asher gazed at me. “No, babe, I don’t. Everyone has their own demons. I know that. I don’t presume to know hers. But when her demons cause my woman to get involved…” he stroked my face … “to get hurt, it gets to me, flower. I don’t want you to face any more demons, your own or anyone else’s. I’d slay dragons for you, babe,” he murmured quietly.

I stared at him, a cocktail of emotion swirling in my belly. How do you respond when someone says that to you?

“You scare me,” I said finally.

Asher didn’t betray any emotion at my strange response, nor did he say anything.

“Saying things that like, it terrifies me,” I confessed. “Having you come in with your brothers, talking about bodies and killings like it’s a plan to go bowling, that scares me, too,” I whispered. “I feel afraid all the time. Afraid to be with you. Be without you. A girl that’s always afraid, that’s broken, isn’t ever going to be strong enough for
that
life. For
your
life,” I told him. “Bex was wrong before. I wasn’t going to do it. Shoot him. Even if it meant he hurt us, killed me even, I wouldn’t have had the strength to pull that trigger,” I choked out, feeling ashamed.

Asher moved me so I was straddling him, his hands grasping my hips tightly.

“You’re strong enough, flower,” he told me with certainty. “When someone breaks, they heal, twice as strong as before. You were strong before, babe, you’re stronger now. You’re strong because you’re gentle when most people would be rough. You stand when most people would fall. Strength comes in different forms,” his hand crept up my hip, “and you would’ve done it. As much as it pains me to say, you don’t have enough sense of self-preservation. You might not have done it for yourself, but you would’ve done it for your friend. I know that, because you’d do anything for the people you love,” he said with pride in his husky voice. “If I could have dreamt up my perfect Old Lady, she wouldn’t have been as good as you,” he murmured. “And that’s what you are. It might scare you, I’m man enough to admit it scares the shit out of me. When the world hands you something you treasure more than anything else you’ve ever had, all you can think of is the agony of losing it.” His hand moved to the waistband of my panties.

I sucked in a breath.

“But the feel of it, of you, in my hands is enough to make me forget that fear,” he murmured, his finger moving to caress my bare skin.

My body moved against him, tingles of pleasure radiating to my fingertips.

His eyes blazed with desire as his finger plunged into me. “You want this?” he rasped.

I let out a little moan and started to move with him. “Yes,” I whispered.

He sat up, grasping my neck with his free hand. “Then that’s all that matters,” he declared, flipping us so I was on my back.

I barely registered the change in positions, his finger continuing to move inside me.

“Top off,” he commanded.

I quickly complied, wrenching my tee off. The moment I’d tossed the fabric to the floor, Asher’s mouth fastened on my nipple. My hands drove into his hair and I arched my back slightly, moaning as his teeth grazed my sensitive peak. The cold air bit my bare skin as Asher’s mouth left my breast to travel downward.

“You’re going to come in my mouth, Lily,” he instructed, pulling his finger out of me.

I writhed in frustration at the loss, but my fingers grasped the sheets in expectation from Asher’s words.

“You’re going to come in my mouth, then you’re going to come on my dick,” he growled.

“Yes,” I hissed, my voice husky with desire.

I cried out as his mouth fastened on me, licking me, working his magic. My back arched even more, and my hands fisted the sheets ever tighter at the blinding pleasure that erupted from the base of my spine and shattered through the rest of me.

Asher moved from between my legs, his body moving atop mine and grabbing my legs so they were pressed up close to my ears.

I felt him poised at my entrance and he paused. “This is us, flower, all that matters,” he declared before plunging into me.

I cried out once more, this angle intense on my sensitive flesh. Asher held my ankles, pounding into me mercilessly. The pleasure was all-consuming, almost too intense, almost to the point of pain. But it danced that glorious line. Asher released my legs so he could settle his body completely atop mine and slow his strokes. His hands cradled my head and his mouth claimed mine. I could taste myself on his lips.

“Open your eyes, Lily,” he commanded.

I did as he commanded, not even realizing I had them squeezed shut.

“This is one of them,” he whispered while he made slow love to me. “One of the million and one moments that makes the fear worth it,” he continued as he built me up to my second orgasm.

“Every second, every moment I’m with you, it’s worth it,” he said, the cords in his neck tight, his eyes tender.

I didn’t say a word, my climax hit me without warning, and I rode it without tearing my eyes from his. I rode the wave of pleasure while my heart pounded with the power of his words, of his gaze. And when I was done, the aftershocks started all over again as he poured into me without moving his eyes from mine.

“It’s worth it,” I whispered in a small voice after minutes of loaded silence. “Every moment.”

Asher pulsed inside me and his mouth covered mine. We didn’t speak any more that night.

“This is a change,” Asher observed lazily from his spot in my bed.

I glanced at him over my shoulder as I buttoned my blouse. “W-what is?” I stuttered slightly over my words at the view I was getting. Asher was propped up on pillows, shirtless, with the entirety of his muscled form on display. The background of my mom’s mural intensified his beauty.

“Me lying leisurely in bed while you rush off.” He frowned. “I don’t like it,” he added.

I stood, slipping my feet into my mules. “Well, I wouldn’t be rushing if someone had let me get up when my alarm went off,” I scolded lightly.

His eyes turned dark. “Your beautiful, naked body was pressed against me. You’re lucky I only fucked you once. That I let you leave this bed at all,” he growled.