Desiring an Angel, page 15
part #1 of Missing Link 3 Series
The anxiety fled at his comforting touch, my body sagging against him.
“I desire more than your womb—so much more, Sky. I want your smiles, your laughter, and tears. All the good moments and the bad.”
I ignored the voices in my head that sounded like Mom and Dad saying it was way too soon to be declaring such things.
“And what if that isn’t what Rhett wants?”
“Then we have to change his mind.” Ash pressed his lips to my neck and squeezed me tight. “There’s no rush and no need to worry. With you all up in our space, he’ll have no choice but to admit how perfect you are in every way.”
I held in my snort, knowing Rhett would never see me as anything more than annoying.
But perhaps I could attempt to tone down a bit. Maybe I would grow on him if I made enough pies and created a happier home than the one he and Ashton had already built.
Chin lifting, I decided to do that very thing.
“There’s the fire I needed to see.” Ashton kissed my neck again and released me. “Should I let Rhett know breakfast will be ready soon?”
“The best one he’s ever tasted,” I sassed over my shoulder and winked.
Ashton snickered and left me to finish preparing their meal.
If only attempting to win someone over came as easily for me as cooking.
24
Ashton
Rhett was the type who needed time to process, so I hadn’t pushed a conversation that would set him on edge when I’d joined him in the shower. He’d already finished washing, so we shared a quick kiss while changing places.
Slight body aches had hounded me on and off since the day before, but the hot water soothed them away.
Rhett had been gone from the bathroom when I finished.
The kitchen had been empty—until it no longer was.
Sky’s arrival had brought warmth to my blood and a smile to my lips. A simple sundress covered her gorgeous body, and the memory of being inside her for too damn short of a time had me wanting another taste.
I’d bid her a good morning, and her smile dazzled and enlivened every cell in my body with an addictive warmth. Pink had stained her cheeks when I’d asked if she’d slept all right. Her murmured affirmation had made my insides smile.
She’d zipped around the kitchen like a ball in a pinball machine, every little murmur and quirk lighting me up with buzzing energy. Rather than helping her, I’d stood back and enjoyed the sight of her making herself right at home in our kitchen.
I’d imagined her belly swollen, her hand on the baby bump in loving caresses while she flipped the French toast.
Longing to see that reality weakened my knees and caused my throat to tighten. I used the excuse of telling Rhett that breakfast was ready to keep from crying.
I got hold of my emotions before I reached the office.
Rhett stood at the window with his back to the door. “You’re helping her with her resume and headed out to fill applications today?”
He was in plan mode—all business as usual.
“I was thinking she could maybe come work for us.”
Rhett turned toward me, face unreadable. His defenses were up— “No.”
“It would give you the right to run a background check,” I tossed out what might sway him.
“It’s not a good idea, Ash. You fucked her, I know you want to do it again—and being involved with employees is a hard limit.”
He had a point, but I wanted her near us all the damn time.
“Look.” Rhett came closer, grasping the back of my neck. “She’s got you wrapped up around her little finger, but we have to think with our brains, not our dicks. Instigating sex this morning wasn’t one of my smartest ideas—”
“It’s the most I’ve ever connected with a woman,” I said, grabbing hold of his hips and pulling him against me.
He studied me in silence, his dark eyes assessing as always. “I’ll admit she’s beautiful, but she’s…too much.”
Her sister had stated the same.
My stomach tightened.
“What’s wrong?”
I smoothed away the involuntary grimace on my face. “Keep an open mind, Rhett. Look beyond the quirks for the inner beauty, the sweet-natured woman who desires to give love and be loved. She has so much to offer…”
“Bacon,” he murmured at the same time the scent drifted past my nose.
“And French toast.” I grinned, grabbed his hand, and tugged him toward the office door. “Let her spoil you rotten and show her appreciation in one of the ways she claims to do best.”
I imagined being a recipient of her love in our bed but squashed the idea so my dick didn’t lead the way into the kitchen.
Sky had settings on the breakfast nook table. A flush still painted her cheeks, and she’d wound her hair up atop her head in a messy bun.
Regardless of what Rhett decided he wanted, he couldn’t take his eyes off her as she ordered us to sit.
“How do you like your coffee, Rhett?” she asked while pulling another mug from the cabinet.
“Black.”
She huffed a quiet snicker. “Not surprised,” she murmured but loud enough we both heard.
I choked back a laugh at Rhett’s raised eyebrow.
“She has you pegged,” I whispered, elbowing him.
A flash of heat went through Rhett’s eyes and disappeared just as quickly as he shut down whatever thought—
Oh fuck.
Lust kicked me in the groin, and I glanced between him and Sky a few times. He’d never given his ass to anyone but me…did he have a secret kink I wasn’t aware of? We had dildos aplenty but hadn’t ever played with one attached to a female.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked while leaning into his space and sliding my palm over his groin.
He’d gone half-hard.
Snickering, I squeezed until he shifted beneath my hold. “Maybe Sky and I will stop by our favorite toy store—”
“Ash.” Rhett’s tone didn’t recommend an argument, so I gave him space, having every intention of sitting back and enjoying the hell out of that show some day.
Sky set a steaming mug of coffee in front of Rhett, and his low, murmured “Thank you” tightened her nipples.
“You’re welcome. I hope you like French toast. Bacon too. Oh, and cinnamon,” she chatted while turning away. “I used the rest of the canned coconut cream leftover from the pie in the egg mixture—it smells divine—I think it’ll taste good? I’m sure it will. Maybe.”
Rhett’s eyes tracked her as she retrieved a platter of French toast.
Her nervousness didn’t dampen the sexual tension between them I’d noted from the moment they’d met.
My lover fought a losing battle, I assured myself when he closed his eyes and moaned around his first bite of breakfast.
The coconut twist wouldn’t have been my first choice, but Sky’s attention to pleasing him clicked all my buttons. I would gladly gorge on coconut everything if it meant she eventually won his heart.
Rhett went into the office downtown but told me to take the day and help Skylar find a job. He spoke as though he wanted her gone as soon as possible, but with the many limits she had—no car and no savings—I knew it would be a long time before she could afford to live on her own.
Sure, I could have easily have offered a loan to get her set, but that wouldn’t allow her time to be all up in Rhett’s space and break him down.
Considering her short work history, even I wondered over the skimpy resume we pieced together. No matter the exaggerated wording about customer service skills on paper, Skylar had no chance of landing anything other than a basic, entry-level job like high schoolers managed.
“Would you be open to seeing a doctor about your ADHD?” I asked as we headed to a small restaurant for lunch after filling out applications at most of the mall’s stores.
“I don’t have insurance, and I don’t need a label beyond idiot.”
I yanked my focus off the road to find her frowning. “It’s a neurodevelopmental disorder, Sky.”
“I’m well aware—I’ve read everything I could get my hands on. Struggling to focus on definitions, symptoms, and diagnosis has been proof enough I have issues.”
“If you’ve read all that, then you know it’s possible to manage.”
“This is who I am!” she burst out, angling toward me and waving a hand around herself. “I-I thought you liked me—now you’re talking like you want me to change to better fit the image of that angel you want. Well, I’m no angel. I’m a damn mess.” Tears clogged her throat, and I cursed myself for causing her outburst.
“I don’t want to change you,” I assured her. “But you said you hate how antsy your feet get, how you wish you could focus beyond mundane tasks that you enjoy. There’s medication that can help—and it won’t alter who you are, Sky. No drug is going to take away your sparkle, the light and joy you bring into people’s lives.”
“Not all persons,” she muttered, turning to stare out the passenger window.
“Their loss,” I hastened to correct her negative thought. “And if people can’t appreciate your sunshine, then you’re better off without them.”
“Rhett doesn’t enjoy my type of sunshine.”
A slow exhale sagged me into the driver seat as I pulled into a diner’s parking lot. “Because he’s never had it. Delightful happiness is something he doesn’t understand or know how to process. His emotions are so damn repressed…” I shook my head, my heart aching over the inner wounds he hadn’t yet learned to overcome.
The one time I’d suggested speaking with a therapist, he’d revealed his annoyance easily—and vocally. Not one for confrontation, I’d accepted the line he set in front of me and hadn’t spoken of it again.
But his outburst had been proof those emotions he kept bottled up needed exorcised—by someone exactly like the woman sitting beside me. I felt sure Sky was the perfect chisel to breach his heart—or perhaps the flame to ignite the keg waiting to explode.
He had shown me his love, his unbridled passion, countless times in bed, but I rarely caught glimpses outside sex.
Bed.
The one place Rhett allowed vulnerability.
He hadn’t been pleased with himself initiating sex that morning, but he’d been caught up in desire. We just needed to get him there and often, show him how lowering his walls would lend to breaking down his stoic life.
I parked, and Sky grabbed my forearm before I could climb from the car.
“I’m sorry for my outburst.”
“There’s no need to apologize for your emotions,” I reminded her. “I understand your sensitivity—but I promise you, you’re not alone, and the last name I would ever call you is an idiot.” I cupped her cheek, and she leaned into my touch, her eyes closing. “You’re beautiful just the way you are, Sky. I wouldn’t change a thing—but I want you to be comfortable with yourself, to be happier. I think seeing a doctor and getting recommendations on how to regulate some of the tics you dislike about yourself will only add to your life. Not take away from.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I…I’ve just been called so many names—”
“Wouldn’t you rather have a medical diagnosis than ignorant people’s labels?”
“Yes.” She opened her eyes, wetness causing the green of her orbs to intensify.
“You’re so very beautiful—inside and out. I’ll never stop saying it until you believe it.”
Sky opened her mouth but slammed it shut in a rare display of self-control.
I grinned. “Don’t you dare start regulating yourself now.”
“I could fall in love with you so damn easily—I…I kind of am already—and that’s weird, right? Too quick. I hardly know you. You’re way outside my league but everything I’ve ever dreamed about. I want to carry your babies—”
I leaned in and claimed her mouth, my hand on her nape in a possessive hold like Rhett always did to me. She gave me hope so damn addicting I couldn’t let her go.
“See?” she croaked out when I allowed her to breathe. “I’m so damn annoying you had to kiss me to shut me up.”
“I kissed you because I’m falling for you too—easily. Happily. You’re everything I desire and need in my life, Skylar Anne Larsen—and don’t you ever forget it.”
She sighed but didn’t smile. “But Rhett…”
“He’ll get there. You just keep being yourself. Spoil him rotten how I can see you’d like to do. Shower him with attention and affection.”
“He doesn’t seem to want it.”
“You don’t see the way he looks at you.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “How’s that?”
“Like he’s dreaming of devouring you like a decadent meal and gorging on seconds.”
“Oh!” Her pupils swelled.
“Yeah.” Grinning, I pushed open my door. “Now let’s go grab some lunch and plan how we can get him to fall too.” My eyebrow waggle caused the car to fill with her laughter.
I wanted to hear her happiness until death parted us.
Hopefully later rather than sooner.
25
Rhett
A day away from the house and the whirlwind of erratic behavior sounded like what I needed, but with every passing hour buried under work at the office, I found myself restless…
To return home.
Unease kept me from focusing on details, but I managed to ignore the strangeness inside me and stayed through the regular hour when Ash and I usually headed back to the house.
He hadn’t come into the office, taking a personal day to spend with Skylar, helping her find a job.
I hadn’t said anything, but I wasn’t fooled into thinking she would be out on her own, leaving my safe place in peaceful silence anytime soon. According to Ash, Skylar had no money for a deposit or first month’s rent. She didn’t have a car to get her to and from work. The cell phone she had belonged to her sister, and I was surprised her twin hadn’t already turned the number off considering how Ash had said they’d left things when Skylar had driven away with him.
She had parents on the farm in South Dakota where she refused to return even if they paid for her ticket. Sounded like she didn’t have a good relationship with them, something I knew all too well.
I didn’t want to feel a pull toward her for that reason and squashed it as quickly as it had begun, giving my attention to the next thought.
I’d seen my fair share of manipulative women, but Skylar didn’t give off that vibe. Either she was one hell of an actress, or she was simply a girl with issues and in desperate need of assistance.
While I didn’t know much about ADHD, it was obvious she had problems focusing, and like a little kid, she had energy to spare. Both would be a hindrance in getting and keeping any job.
Finding a position for her in our corporation wouldn’t work for the exact reasons I’d explained to Ash, not that she had the ability to complete tasks on time and in an organized manner like we required of our employees.
But that didn’t mean we couldn’t help her out.
Rather than give my secretary something to gossip over, I browsed local listings for apartments on my own. Ash and I could easily afford to get her a place that didn’t include being in our space, but I feared he was already in too deep to let her go.
I’d consented to his inviting her into our bed and hadn’t been surprised to find her there when I woke. But telling him to fuck her? Taking his ass while he did what I knew he’d woken up thinking about?
Impulsive.
Not like me at all.
I didn’t step forward without plotting first, but something in that moment had felt too right, too enticing to consider fully. Rushing forward in my horniness without thoughts of consequence had left us sated, but what sort of emotional connection had I inadvertently allowed to settle into place between the two of them?
Skylar had watched Ash like she was half in love with him already while we had eaten breakfast, and he did the same with her. I caught her gaze flitting my way dozens of times, and I recognized her longing for what it was, but she just…didn’t fit into the plans I’d laid for our lives.
Stubborn was my middle name, but I clutched to my damn self-preservation same as I did to the coldness instilled in me from childhood to keep emotion under wraps.
Fortitude.
Endurance.
Being unmoved in the face of danger—emotional or otherwise.
“Damn control freak.” I rubbed over my scruffy jawline, knowing I had to let go, but how? Stoicism had been ingrained in my bone marrow.
I wasn’t aware of any other way, and giving into feelings would be nothing but weakness.
Being unable to set a course or figure out the puzzle of myself brought on a goddamn headache. I made it through the rest of the work day, barely able to withhold a scowl from etching into my facial muscles.
I needed the silence of my home, the comfort of Ash’s body, but I expected I wouldn’t have either because of our houseguest.
Pop music blared from the house’s sound system when I let myself into the kitchen.
Savory scents flooded my nose, but it was the noise level and the sight on the far side of the kitchen that pulled me to a halt at the threshold.
Ash and Skylar danced around as if they were a couple of teenagers drunk on Boon’s.
The running man.
The sprinkler.
Ash attempted a…was that a twerk? The man had one fine as fuck ass, but he sure couldn’t shimmy it around.
I burst out laughing—and both jolted to a stop, gazes flying my way. Skylar’s face went red, but Ash’s grin widened.
“Come dance!” he called while spinning around and beckoning with his fingers.
I shook my head, willed my smile away, and put my bag on the countertop.
“Oh shit! Dinner!” Skylar hurried to the oven and pulled it open.
The scent of beef swarmed over me, turning my saliva glands the fuck on.
“Is that—”
“Beef Wellington, yes.” She set the roasting pan atop the oven, and I crept closer for another sniff as the music shut off around us. “Ash said it was your favorite. And potatoes dauphinoise made with Gruyere and roasted brussels.”
