She lifted her body onto mine, her bare chest pressed against my t-shirt, and I craved to match her bareness. Her mouth explored my lips before they made their way toward my chin where she left sweet, tiny kisses that trailed their way back to my neck. I embraced the way she needed to explore me. She was confident in this moment, something I hardly ever caught a glimpse of and it was breathtaking.
My hands caressed over her bare back, anchoring me fully in the moment. We lay there together as she continued to kiss my neck, tucked comfortably into my chest.
“Let’s go get a pet,” she said softly.
I let the words settle before a quiet chuckle slipped out of me. “What?”
She lifted her head, smirking, her natural face glowing in the sunrise light intruding through her window. “A pet. It’s on our list. It can live here, and you can visit it.”
I smiled. “Are we moving our relationship to the next step, little siren?”
Her brows immediately furrowed. “No, that’s not—-”
I cut her off with a laugh. “I’m just teasing you, beautiful. I’d love to.”
Moments passed as she bit the inside of her lip, considering her next words. Finally, she asked, “Can we get a dog?”
I looked into the soft light in her eyes, catching the vulnerability she offered, and nodded. Excitement began to bloom inside her, contagious in its warmth. “And can we go to the humane society to pick it out?”
I nodded again, a smile stretching to the edges of my cheeks.
“And…” she began, searching her head for her next request. I pressed my lips to hers, cutting her off.
“Lennon, anything you want is yours. We can do whatever you want. This one’s all yours. You never have to ask for permission.”
I meant it—and I think she knew it, because the smile that spread across her face was unlike any I had ever seen before.
“Okay, let’s go then,” she said, her voice soft with excitement.
Lennon
Duke pulled us up to the Humane Society, and a nervous flutter grew in my belly as I thought about what I had volunteered myself to do. This morning, I felt defeated—I didn’t want to fight Asher anymore. I just wanted some form of affection, and if I was honest with myself, this morning had been one of the most perfectly intimate moments of my life.
The way that our bodies had connected through soft touches and bare skin had been harmoniously personal. I was enthralled with him. Slowly, he was chipping away at the stone walls I had built over the years, and with effortless ease, he had left a small chip in the exterior. His mouth pressed against mine, my hands threaded through his hair…it was intoxicating.
A blush crept over me as the thoughts spiralled inward, a warm, swirling heat building inside. I pressed my legs together, seeking a quiet, private release. I had never felt this way about someone before. Licking my lips, I turned toward Asher, who was watching me with an intensity that set me ablaze. His eyes were fire—ravenous, consuming—and I felt it, knew it, and most importantly, believed it.
I believed it.Maybe? No. That couldn’t be right. I needed to snap back to reality—the one where those kinds of luxuries didn’t exist for me.
“I’ve never had a pet before,” I said flatly.
His perfect mouth twitched at the corner. “Me either.”
Surprised, I furrowed my brows. “Really? I would have never guessed that.”
He chuckled softly. “I’m the one who wrote it down.”
I then remembered he did, but he struck me as the type who had grown up with a family dog—a golden retriever fed scraps from the dinner table whenever they didn’t like what their mother had made. That was the type of life I had assumed Asher had lived. Maybe I had him all wrong.
“I know, I seem like the type to have grown up with pets, but my dad…well, he’s kind of a hard-ass.” Asher chuckled to himself. “Wow, that’s the biggest understatement of the year. He’s a total dick, and didn’t allow pets in the house. He had this mindset that they only cost money and didn’t really bring any value to the home—or some bullshit like that.”
Giving him space to be vulnerable, I whispered, looking away, “I never stayed in one place for too long, so I didn’t have the chance to have a dog—or any pet, for that matter. When I did live with my mother, she was the world’s biggest bitch and claimed she was allergic to pets, but I never believed her.”
“Guess we’ve known a couple of assholes in our lives, huh?” he asked thoughtfully. I smirked and gave a subtle nod in response.
“Ready to go pick out a dog?” I asked, shifting the subject.
He nodded. “Let’s go pick out our love child.”
