Priceless Treasure(21)

Ashton was inside her bedroom now, and that was insanity. What he had to do was turn around and leave. But for some reason the command that he’d issued to his legs — retreat — wasn’t registering in his hopeless brain. So now what? He didn’t know. But he found himself moving toward her bed, sitting down on the edge … and then he was reaching out and brushing a strand of hair from her high cheekbone.

Suddenly the alcohol kicked in and his head was spinning. Falling backward, he nearly blacked out. When he reopened his eyes, he was grateful when he discovered his head next to Savvy’s instead of against the hard floor.

He needed to move. Ashton knew that. He was lucky he hadn’t woken her up with his tumble, but if she did wake and find him lying next to her, she was going to kill him — and rightfully so.

If his brothers could see him now, they would smack him upside the head. Okay, he’d get up in just a moment. Just as soon as the spinning came to a full stop. He closed his eyes and felt himself nodding off, but he fought it.

When Savvy shifted, her soft, sleek waist brushed against his arm, and the pulsing that it engendered down below took him to whole new levels of pain. This would certainly be the time to get up and leave. Pronto.

Damn. He was attempting to do just that when she turned and flung her arm across him. And the sexiest sigh he’d ever heard in his life escaped her sweet lips.

He was trapped.

Of course Ashton knew he wasn’t trapped, but the feel of her warm breath against his neck, the touch of her fingers resting against his ribs — it was all too much to walk away from.#p#分页标题#e#

He wasn’t normally a man who enjoyed intimacy. Sure, he loved sex. What red-blooded male didn’t? But all the cuddle stuff, the quiet words at midnight, the talking of dreams and desires? Nah. None of that had ever appealed to him.

And yet, as he grew more and more sleepy while snuggled up close to Savvy, he thought that it was something he could get used to. This was the sort of woman who forever changed a man.

But he didn’t want to be freaking changed. He was perfectly happy with who he was, and with the goals he had for himself in life. He loved his business, one that he’d grown exponentially, and he loved his fiancée. Okay, maybe he didn’t love her, but he wanted to marry her. He did! She gave him good business connections through her well-established family. She made excellent arm candy. And she would produce perfect little Storm heirs.

Still, he couldn’t shake how good it felt to have Savvy’s arm resting across his tense abs, the smell of her sweet scent filling his nostrils, and the sound of her breathing lulling him into sleep. Ugh! He couldn’t think when he was drunk, especially when there was a sweet-smelling, softly sighing, achingly beautiful woman pressed against his side.

But even as he fought his desire, he knew it would be a losing battle. Maybe he just needed to bed her, get her out of his system, and then things would go back to normal. After all, he wasn’t married yet. It was better to get this out of his system before he had a ring on his finger. That didn’t make him a cheater. It made him a man sowing his final crop of wild oats.

That wasn’t going to happen tonight, however. So he was going to leave — in just another minute.

But he had to keep his eyes shut for just a few moments. The day had been long and he was tired. He could blame it on too much sun, too much manual labor, and too much drinking. But the reality was that lying there with Savvy, her breathing soothing him into peacefulness, he just … he just …

He fell asleep. And then, when his guard was down, he pulled her tightly against him.





Chapter Eleven


A piercing scream right in his ear shot Ashton instantly awake. Good thing he didn’t need agonizing moments to brush the sleep off. He was either awake or asleep, with no in-between. Even with the impending hangover.

He flipped on Savvy’s bedside lamp and then gazed at her. Although her hair was sticking out at odd angles, the woman was far too attractive. Okay, stunning. But he knew better than to voice his opinion right now as she clutched desperately at her covers and stared at him with gigantic pupils.

He’d expected anger, outrage, wild punches, and even murder from her if she found him in her bed. And he was certainly getting some of that. But as Ashton looked a little longer into her eyes, he saw something else, something that had his blood rushing through him in a hot flow of excitement. Sure, she was obviously horrified to find herself sharing a bed with someone she hadn’t invited into it, but he couldn’t miss the hint of arousal in her expressive eyes.