Chapter 227

For the remaining few days before the transfer exam, I spent all my free time cram studying in the dorm room I shared with Asher.

I was trying very hard not to over worry. I knew I needed to stay very calm for the sake of the baby.

Asher was doing his best to assist me. Occasionally, he would break from whatever it was he was doing around the room, just to come over and surprise tickle me until I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Mercy!” I said between my giggles. “Mercy, please!”

He laughed too, when he stopped, then kissed me soundly.

I was so blessed to have such a good man at my side. The way he had stood up for me against my parents still made my heart since.

He had told them he would take care of my baby and me for the rest of our lives. He’d spoken with such conviction, I couldn’t help but believe him.

Still, a small worry tugged at me.

“Asher,” I said, suddenly serious. He recognized my shift immediately and sat beside me on the bed.

“What’s wrong?”

I felt a bit silly asking, especially with everything he’d proclaimed, but I wanted to be certain.

“If I fail the exam…”

“You won’t,” Asher said at once.

I gave him a soft smile. “But if I do… If I end up having to leave school… What will happen to us?”

He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “I’d move off-campus with you. I only have a few more months of school. I don’t mind commuting. Then when I graduate, I’ll get a good job and be able to full support you. Though I imagine, by then, you will find a new dream and a way to support yourself.”

I stared at him, surprised by his easy answer.

“I want to stay with you, no matter what happens, Cyn.” He met my eyes. His were warm as a summer’s sky. “We’re mates. I only get one for life, and I’m so glad it’s you.”

My heart swelled so big, I thought it might bust from my chest.

Occasional sadness had sometimes slammed into me over the course of the past few days, heartbroken over my parents’ final goodbye. Yet so immediately, Asher’s kindness and strength helped me move beyond. That sadness quickly fell to the background.

Truth was, I didn’t know what family – what home – was supposed to feel like until I bonded with this man. I loved him more than I ever thought possible, and that love helped me love myself too.

I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life at his side.

I only hoped he wanted me romantically. Because I wanted to hold and kiss and adore him for as long as I lived.

“I want to do my part, too,” I said.

He nodded. “I know you do, and you will. We’re a pair. A partnership.”

I agreed, though inwardly, I hoped he knew that during certain… situations, I didn’t mind when he took the reins. Thinking of it now, I licked my lips, and my cheeks went a bit red.

His lip quirked in a tiny smirk. “With that partnership comes certain privileges.”

“Oh?”

He leaned into me and pressed his mouth to my neck. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his hot tongue lapping a mark under my jaw.

“You are mine, Cyn.”

I swallowed hard.

He kissed his way up to my ear. There, he whispered, “Are you my good girl?”

A shiver ran all the way down my spine. I pressed my thighs together, suddenly damp at my core.

God, it had been too long since he had used that term with me. I absolutely loved when he called me that. It made me want to fall to my knees to please him. This time, however, he was the one who dropped to his knees.

He moved between my opened knees and placed his hands on my thighs.

“Is my good girl going to let me taste her?” he asked, voice low and lust-rough.

I nodded so hard, my neck hurt.

He chuckled lightly as he helped me undo my pants. Then, slowly, he pulled them down my legs, exposing me to the air.

He wasted no time, ducking his head and dropping his mouth straight to my core.

I nearly jumped off the bed as his tongue touched my clit. I nearly fell backwards, but I didn’t want to miss the show. Instead, I laced my fingers through his hair, keeping him just where he was.

I spread my legs farther, offering myself as much as I could.

He accepted my offering with eagerness, lapping and sucking until I was a shaking mess.

His hands reached up to cup my breasts through my shirt. He rolled my hardening nipples between his thumb and forefinger.

I tried to stay upright, but with my trembling and squirming and begging, I couldn’t manage anymore and fell backwards onto the sheets.

Asher only seemed encouraged by the action, and doubled his efforts. He reached down one of his hands and slipped a finger inside of me.

“A-Asher!” I cried. It felt so good to have some part of him inside of me.

I wanted all of him. I wanted to become one with him body and soul.

Someday, I wanted him to fill me with his seed and give my baby more brothers and sisters.

I wanted Asher for the rest of my life.

He added in a second finger along with the first and I was lost.

When I awoke sometime later, I was wrapped up in Asher’s arms. He had cleaned and dressed me in my cozy pajamas.

He smiled at me smugly when he saw I was awake.

“I take it you enjoyed yourself?” he asked.

He had no idea what I wanted him the way I did. I couldn’t begin to imagine how I would ever tell him the full truth.

What if he rejected me? What if he didn’t want me the same way?

At my silence, Asher’s smirk faded. “Cyn? You okay?”

I didn’t want him to worry, so I nodded. “Just tired,” I said.

A line formed between his brow and stayed there as he continued to stare at me.

“You can talk to me,” he said. “I swear I won’t judge you, if that’s what you are worried about.”

I dipped my head down.

He pressed his nose to my cheek. “Talk to me.”

His demand was gentle, but a demand all the same. I could resist it if I wanted to, but I was so tired of being worried and scared.

And I did trust him. He would kind to me. He wouldn’t make fun of me.

“Asher,” I whispered. He waited for me to continue. “Do you think that, the next time we… are intimate…?” I lost my nerve.

“Yes?” he prompted. He wouldn’t let me escape now, it seemed.

I swallowed down my nerves. If I could be brave in other ways, I could be brave with my wants.

“Next time,” I said, “I want you inside of me.”

Asher’s eyes went wide. His hands tightened around me.

“Now?” he asked, suddenly eager.

His brightness made me laugh, removing any tension I had felt. “Next time,” I said.

He nuzzled at the corner of my neck, kissing over one of the marks he’d made. “Can next time start now?”

Smiling, I very nearly give in. I wanted to. If we could seal our bond like that, then I might feel whole for the first time in all my life.

I wanted Asher in ways I had never desired with Joseph.

I turned my mouth toward Asher, opened my lips –

When my phone rang.

My heart leapt into my throat, and fear returned tenfold.