PRESENT

With the kind of life I've had, there are a few days where I actually woke up in a good mood. I can probably count on one hand how many days I've woken up and thought damn, life's good. I can also admit that all of those days had something to do with Aria or were because of Aria. Including today.

As soon as my eyes crack open, disrupted by the morning light and reminding me we forgot to close the blinds, (I guess some lucky fuck got a show of our porn-worthy fucking—three times, thank you very much), I stretch my arms above my head with sore muscles. Images of last night slam into me and I smirk in my sleep, remembering why everything aches. Just as quickly I come to with a deep groan, my eyes completely open now when I realize something happening south of my body.

I look down and groan again. Aria sucking my dick first thing in the morning is the fantasy I've had all my life and today is the day it finally came true.

I watch through hooded lids as her mouth works the length of me, sliding from the tip to her fist wrapped around me that twists and pumps in alternation. Her wild reddish brown hair is unkempt and wiry but I love it because she looks freshly fucked. My eyes track her cleavage, her breasts crushed against my thighs, and drag up to where her ass is jutted high in the air. That ass is going to be the death of me. Full and round and the flesh jiggled every time I smacked it which is exactly why I spent the better half of the night spanking her until her pale cheeks became a violent red. I briefly wondered if she would be against the roughness I enjoyed in sex—spanking, choking, tying limbs—but Aria was all game and fuck if that didn't make me fall harder. Everything I threw at her, she gave right back. It's hard to believe at this point that she isn't made for me.

I groan deeply when Aria sucks on the head of my cock, swirling her tongue around it before dragging the flat of it down to the very base. She licks her way back up and the little sounds of enjoyment she makes only makes me harder.

"Fuck." I grunt and she looks up at the sound of my voice. Her gaze is locked on mine as she takes me into her mouth again, her cheeks hollow as she sucks and her full lips dribbling with my cum. My balls tighten and my hand sinks into her hair, tugging at the roots to guide her head back down and urge her on. I use my hold on her to fuck her mouth, careful not to trigger her gag reflex.

As fucking amazing as she makes me feel, I'm needy as hell to reciprocate. Her pussy is my own personal heaven and I could have my head buried in it for days, not once caring to come up for food or water or even oxygen.

"Turn around." I demand.

She releases my dick with a pop and raises her brow in confusion. "You want me to stop?"

"Definitely not." I chuckle, rubbing a hand along my jaw. "Keep sucking my cock but turn around and give me your pussy so I can have some fun, too."

Understanding dawns on her and she grins coyly, crawling up my body before turning around. She bends over to take my dick again and I rub my hands over her ass cheeks, parting them to reveal her pussy that's already dripping for me. I lean forward and get to work, licking and sucking and biting and genuinely enjoying myself. I hum in the back of my throat at the taste of her, wondering if I'll ever get tired of eating her likes she's a five-course meal. Probably not. She moans around my cock and her sucking becomes more fevered with her own desire. This is why I love sixty-nine. It's all about giving and receiving pleasure at the same time. The two are meant to go hand in hand for a fuck ton amount of pleasure and with Ria it's even better. For starters, she's actually tall enough that I don't have to bend at uncomfortable angles just to reach her. On the other hand...it's fucking Ria. Everything is better with her.

When my tongue enters her, her answering groan is like an earthquake to my dick and my hips jerk in pleasure. I flick my tongue in and out of her rapidly, picking up the pace, and she does the same as her head bobs up and down on the length of me. My index finger plays with her clit, rubbing circles around the bud teasingly and she squirms against my face. She isn't one to back down. Instead, she gives me a taste of my own torture by gripping my balls in her hand and squeezing them until I think I'll explode. I take her teasing as a silent competition and kick it up a notch. I pinch her clit hard and tug. She somehow manages to take me in to the back of her throat and not gag. We both come at the same time.

My hips push into her mouth as she swallows me up, gulping noisily, the sound turning me on even more. I use the pads of all four of my fingers to rub her clit furiously while she comes all over my mouth, dripping on my lips and my chin. It's fucking perfect.

She collapses beside me when we're both done and turns her head to grin at me. "Good morning."

"Isn't it?" I clasp my hands behind my head and watch her. Fuck, she's beautiful. It's still hard to believe that she's mine now.

"What time is Greg getting us?" She asks after a brief pause. The reminder of everything that took place before I finally got to fuck her brains out is like being dosed with a bucket of cold water and she cringes in apology. "I had to ask."

"No, it's okay." I rub a hand over my face and grab my phone from the nightstand. I read the text Greg sent me last night and close my phone again with a sigh, putting it back. "He'll be here in around three hours. He says there was no sign of Christian or anyone else the whole night so we should be fine. Then I need to go meet him to plan our next move."

"That's good." She says reassuringly and runs a hand through my hair. I take hold of her wrist and drag her hand to my mouth, kissing her palm tenderly. Her gaze softens. "It's going to be okay, Asher. Somehow."

"It has to be." I shrug. "Now that I have you. I'm not letting any fucker come between that. I don't know how this shit will play out but it's going to end with me standing."

"Damn straight." She whispers. "And I'm going to be standing right beside you."

Something expands in my chest at her words. In my world, there's no better or greater gift than loyalty and if there's anyone in my life who's been unfailingly loyal to me, it's Aria. Nate and my parents too but Aria...Aria has always been my partner in crime. The girl who would listen to my stupid ideas even though we always got in trouble, the girl who would smile sweetly at me every time I acted like an asshole because it's all I knew, the girl who fiercely defended me to anyone who gave me shit or at least tried to. She's always been everywhere. In my head, in my veins, in my lungs. It's like Matt said—I live for her. She's my one.

"Does it scare you?" I ask the question that's been burning in my mind since yesterday. "My life? Do you feel unsafe?"

She doesn't even need time to think about her answer and I wonder if she knew I would ask this. It wouldn't be a surprise. She knows me better than I know myself. "Your world does scare me but only because I'm constantly scared for you. Every day you step out of the house I wonder if you'll come home safe. If you'll come home at all. I don't feel unsafe, though. Never with you. Maybe that's stupid of me considering how dangerous the people around you are but you've always protected me. I have no reason to doubt that."

"Not always." I bite out. My guilt breaks our stare and I look down at our joined hands instead. "I didn't protect you from Robbie."

"Hey." She says sternly. "That's not your fault and if you really think it is then I'll smack it out of your head. You tried, Asher. What more could you have done when I went bat-shit crazy every time you pointed out a bruise or a mark and basically told you to get the hell out of my life? I spent all my time and energy into making sure everyone around me stayed away instead of getting myself out of that situation. If you think about it, it's not so different from what you're doing. That's why I understand why you hid it from me and that's why you need to understand why I hid it from you. We were just looking out for each other, Ashes. It's what we do. There's no fault in that."

"Jesus. Yeah." I blow out a breath. Aria was always the one who made sense of the things I never could. That's why I need her. "I still wish you never had to go through that."

"And I wish you didn't have to go through this. But it's life and we get what we get and deal with it. We just can't forget that it's worlds easier if we have people on our side to fight with us. You have me. You have Greg. You have Nate and the boys. You're not alone the way your birth parents try to convince you that you are. If anything, they're the ones that are alone. They should be scared."

"They should." I agree. My hand tightens around here. "I'm going to raise hell on them, Ria. For us."

She raises our joined hands to kiss my knuckles. "Do it for you. Redeem yourself for you."

I run the back of my fingers down her face, cupping her cheek. "Thank you. For not leaving me even when you should have."

"You're always with me." A rare blush takes over her face and I tilt my head in curiosity. After everything we've done in the past twelve hours she hardly has anything to feel embarrassed about. "I doubt you noticed the tattoo on my back last night. It was probably too dark. And you were a little too busy a few minutes ago to notice then."

"I noticed." My brows close in together, wondering where she's going with this. "Looked like a bird."

"There's more." Her blush deepens and without a word, she flips to her side to show me her back.

I sit up so I can examine it properly. I was right—it is a bird. But there's more, like Aria said. The entire tattoo takes up about a quarter of her back and I admire the intricate details that Lenny probably made. The bird has its wings raised halfway like its about to take flight. A silhouette of a woman sits on top of it with her arms spread out like she's flying too.

"It's a Phoenix." She clarifies for me before I can ask. "They symbolize rebirth. I chose it because I felt almost re-born when I got Robbie sent to jail and got my life back. In mythology, these birds are known to burn themselves when they reach the end of their life and are born again through the ashes their old body left behind."

My gaze snaps to the back of her head, stuck on only one word she said. "Ashes?"

"Yeah." She whispers. The vulnerability in her voice tells me I'm right to think what I'm thinking. "There's a quote in one of the wings of the Phoenix but it looks like a design. Look closely."

I bring my head closer to her back and realize that there's definitely words in the wing. Lenny did a kick-ass job with this piece.

"Read it out loud." She tells me softly.

I tilt my head so I can read the words better. "And the Princess rises from the Ashes."

My voice trails off, getting caught in my throat instead. Holy shit. The bird and the woman—it's us.

"Ria." I whisper in almost disbelief. My slightly shaking finger traces the ink like it might disappear any moment.

"I got it after I passed the bar exam. It was the day I met Lenny." I hang on to every word she whispers into her pillow. I remember her mentioning this tattoo over dinner with my parents all those months ago but had no idea it was this.

"When I finally got over what Robbie put me through, it was almost like wiping a foggy window and seeing what was behind the blur. I felt like I made a mistake running to California because I needed you. You got me through everything, you know that? I knew it killed you as my best friend to send me away but you did it. You held my hand when I bought the one-way ticket, you helped me pack for weeks, you drove me to the airport. Of course, you did all of that right after you beat up Robbie so bad that he permanently walks with a limp. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had my second chance. And when I achieved something like the bar exam and got drunk off my ass, I was a mess realizing you weren't with me when you should have been. So I went to the nearest tattoo shop and got this so I could spend the rest of my time in California with you somehow there, even though you were miles away from me."

I grab her shoulder and flip her onto her back to face me. There's tears streaming down her face and my own throat is closed shut with emotion. All this time...all this fucking time and I didn't have a clue.

"Princess." My gruff voice is full of awe.

"It was always us." She insists, cupping my face. "Even when it wasn't."

I lick my suddenly dry lips, remembering something. "But then...the way you avoided me a couple of years ago. What was that?"

She sighs with obvious regret. "It was just life, Asher. I hadn't seen you in seven years and every time we planned on flying out to see each other, something went wrong. Our relationship changed and we weren't as close as we used to be. I felt defeated, like a girl who was fantasizing about a boy who would never notice her. I thought that if so many years went by and we still didn't end up together the way I hoped we would, it was time for me to move on. So I started avoiding your calls and your messages and figured if you weren't actively in my life anymore then my feelings would go away. I regret it looking back but at the time..."

"It was life." I finish, understanding. I had done the same thing when I wanted to express my feelings for her when she first dated Robbie. After that talk with her dad, I genuinely did try to make her see how I felt but within a couple of weeks she moved in with him. Years later, I know he manipulated her into it but at the time I thought that she found her one and it wasn't me. So I gave up, also feeling like I was fantasizing about something that wouldn't happen. Our life has been a series of constantly missing each other, never on the same page.

"If I could go back in time and kick my own ass..." I shake my head, chuckling humourlessly.

Aria laughs in agreement. "Right? How is it that we knew everything about each other except the way we felt?"

"We know now." I run a hand through her hair and she smiles.

A knock on the door has both of us sitting up in alert. Aria quickly pulls the sheets up to her body and my hand goes to the knife on the nightstand.

"Room service!"

Both of us blow out a breath. Fucking hell.

"We don't want any." I call back.

"Too fucking bad, kid." I recognize the voice on the other side of the door as Mitch. "This ain't a five-star hotel where I'm going to fluff your pillows and scrub your bathtub. You eat now or you don't eat for the rest of the day. After last night, I'm sure you and your miss worked up an appetite, huh?"

"Oh my God." Aria smacks a hand over her face in embarrassment.

"What a dick." I scowl and make my way to the door buck ass naked. I could give a fuck right now. Mitch is leaning against the wall with two bags of takeout boxes in his hand, swinging them and looking bored. He pauses when he looks at me, eyes dropping to my cock that's completely erect thanks to Aria. What the fuck ever.

"Is it the food exciting you or are you just happy to see me?" He snarks. I grab the bags of takeout boxes and slam the door in his face, hearing his laughter. "You're welcome, asshole! Jesus, you got an attitude problem."

"You could have said thank you." Aria scolds. I shrug, setting the plastic containers and cups of water on the nightstand. I open the takeout boxes and the scent of waffles and eggs immediately floods the room.

"I think you have a tendency to forget that I'm a total asshole. There's a reason I'm not likeable, baby." I hand Aria her cup of water while simultaneously chugging my own. The ice cold liquid trickles down my system and I breathe a sigh of relief. "I don't give a shit about blindly respecting anyone except you."

She snorts into her cup, placing it back on the nightstand. "My hero."

My mouth curls at her sass and I eye her challengingly. "Would you rather I act up? Maybe torture you a little?"

She raises a brow like she's indifferent but the way her nipples suddenly perk up give her away. "And what do you mean by that?"

"I'm curious," I go on, ignoring her. My eyes scan the floor and I bend down to retrieve the wool belt of Aria's robe, twisting it around my fist. "How much of me could you handle when I'm not being particularly...kind?"

Her breathing grows heavier, eyes dilating. I never would have guessed that Aria is into kink but fuck, that does things to me. Mainly makes me hard.

"Let's see what you've got, Pryce." She challenges.

"Hmm." I chuckle under my breath, my tongue darting out to lick the corner of my mouth. "Arms above your head, wrists crossed."

She kicks the sheets off her body and does as I ask, eyeing me in excitement and curiosity. I use the wool belt to tie her wrists together just tight enough that she would be able to free herself but not so much that it would hurt. I lick my lips again and walk around to stand at the foot of the bed and admire her.

Jesus, she's fucking gorgeous. Every inch of her drives me out of my mind, from those full and soft tits, to the narrow dip of her waist, to her wide hips and the little swell under her belly button. Her full thighs lead to insanely long and shapely legs and I groan, dragging my gaze back up to her face. She watches me under her lashes, her chest heaving, mouth curled like she's enjoying this.

My mind races with possibilities of things I want to do her. Ravish her, fuck her, ruin her. My sweet princess, all grown up and bad to the bone. Just like me.

I casually walk back to the nightstand and her eyes track me curiously, following my every movement. I dip my hand inside one of the cups and grab an ice cube, putting it between my teeth. Aria's eyes flash and her thighs press tighter together.

"You know," I start and crawl on to bed with my knees, hovering above her. I take the ice cube out of my mouth and casually press it in a slow circle around her belly button. She gasps, her body sinking into the mattress like she's trying to get away from the cold sensation. "I'm a firm believer that pain and pleasure are meant to coincide. What do you think?"

"I think you should prove that theory to me." She says boldly and I can't help but laugh. This fucking girl.

"Ask and you'll receive, baby." I grin wickedly, placing the cube back between my teeth and bending my head to run it along her skin.

"Ahh." She cries out and her body erupts into goosebumps. "That's cold."

I trail the cube up the centre of her body and around her breasts, tracing one swell and then the other. Aria's eyes squeeze shut, shivering from the cold but hot from what I'm doing to her. I circle the cube around one nipple and she moans and then I do it the other nipple. I bring it back down her body until I've reached her pussy and drag the cube down her folds.

"Oh, fuck." She gasps. Her face is twisted, tortured. "Way too cold down there, Ash."

I take the cube out of my mouth for a moment and smirk. "Too bad. You asked for it."

And then I'm back to business. I part her pussy with my thumbs and swirl the ice cube around her clit before pressing down on it. That earns me another loud and breathless cry and her thighs start to tremble. The ice cube is starting to melt and fat droplets of water run down her inner thighs. I slide the ice cube down her pussy and nudge her entrance with it.

"Jesus." Her back arches, the heel of her foot pressing into my shoulder and trying to push me away. Not happening.

Making sure my teeth are gripping the ice tightly, I plunge it inside her entrance and Aria screams. It's hard to tell if it's from pain or pleasure but that's entirely the point. In and out, I fuck her with the ice cube and she throws her head to side wildly, her wrists pushing against the belt and begging to be freed. Begging for something I won't let happen. My mouth is full of water and her cum and the taste is so fucking sweet I know I'll be doing this again. I'm fucking addicted.

I take the ice out of her and slide it along the seams of her inner thighs, making her whimper. Deciding she's had enough, I take the cube into my mouth entirely and crawl up her body. My head hovers above hers and she watches me, her hair matted to her forehead with sweat and her teeth chattering. She's cold and hot. Tortured and pleased. Excited and afraid.

I use my thumb to part her lips and nudge her mouth open. Taking my silently cue, she cautiously opens her mouth for me and I lean down, pressing our lips together. The ice cube slides out of my mouth and into hers and I release her, licking the residual taste on my lips.

"Keep it in your mouth." I command and she nods, the cube moving around her mouth as she tastes it, no doubt tasting herself.

I shift my mouth to her tits and breathe my cold breath over her nipple, making it harden and pebble. Then I run my freezing tongue over it with short flicks that make her moan and arch against me. I suck the little bud like it's my fucking job, playing with it while kneading her other breast, the flesh filling my hand completely. I tap her mouth and she opens for me again, her tongue sliding out to present the melted ice cube that's no more than the size of a coin now. I grab it with my fingers and bring my hand down to her pussy, rubbing the cube on her clit furiously while sucking on her nipple.

"Oh my God." She part moans, part cries. "Too much. Asher. It's too much."

I chuckle against her, picking up speed instead of slowing down. When her thighs clench tightly—her tell that she's about to orgasm—I suddenly release her and her eyes flash open.

"Stop doing that." She demands, looking enraged.

I calmly bring the ice cube to my mouth to eat the remnant of it and she watches me furiously as I chew. I make a big show of taking my time and she impatiently tugs her wrists, trying to break free again. I swallow and then grin.

"Where were we?" I ask patronizingly.

Before she can answer, I grab her hips and slam into her with one thrust. Her mouth falls open in pleasure, eyes rolling to the back of her head, and her hips rock against me as I fuck her. This is just as torturous for me, feeling the confusing clash of her tight heat and freezing folds, putting my cock nearly in pain. It feels fucking amazing despite the stinging pain as I slide in and out. My body hovers over hers, elbows beside her head, and I gaze down at her. She's a wet dream when she's being fucked by me. The unfiltered pleasure on her face, knowing I put it there, it does something primal to me. Ria has always felt like mine but when I fuck her, there's no doubt that I own her completely. It brings out the animal in me and that's why my hips pick up pace, my thrusts growing more frantic and trying to hit the deepest spots in her. Her legs wind around my back and the heel of her foot digs into my ass to bring me closer.

"Ohh." She moans when I hit her G-spot. Her eyes blink open through her drunken lust and they meet mine.

We stare at each other as we fuck and there's something wildly intimate about the eye contact. I cup her face tenderly and it completely contradicts the harsh way my cock drills into her. I bend my head at the same time she tilts hers up and our mouths meet, our kiss slow and deliberate and purposeful. My tongue meets hers, stroking, licking, fucking, and she sighs into my mouth as she kisses me back. I tilt my head to get a better angle and deepen our kiss, my hand sliding from her face and rooting into her hair. Our bodies might be fucking but our mouths are making love and I cherish the way her lips work my own. We come apart at the same time, both of our bodies quivering and shaking with our release and we grip each other fiercely. Sex with Aria is...whole. It doesn't feel like a mechanical act or robotic in any way. My body, my mind, and my heart are all present and I feel her in every cell, every nerve. Sex has never felt like this and it both excites and terrifies me when I collapse on top of her and can feel the way our hearts beat in perfect synchronization.

I think she's feeling what I'm feeling because she doesn't say a word as I gently untie the belt holding her wrists together and bring them to my mouth to kiss the red ringlets. She wraps her arms around my neck and holds me to her as I bury my face in the crook of her shoulder. She strokes my hair leisurely and I can't remember the last time I felt this relaxed, this content. I know my life is less than stellar right now—hell, when we walk out of this motel it's about to get a lot worse—but having Aria on my side makes it more than bearable. I feel untouchable.

I laugh into her neck when her stomach growls loudly and she cringes, pushing her hair out of her face. "I need to eat. You took way too much energy out of me."

I'm smug as hell and she slaps me for it, rolling her eyes. She rolls off the bed and makes her way to the bathroom and I eye her swaying ass the whole way. I just had her and I want her all over again. I'm a fucking sex fiend for her.

I join her a moment later since I need a shower and she warns me that she can't handle any more orgasms. That gets a laugh out of me but I let her win this one. Instead, we shower together without doing anything intimate except maybe making out every so often. I almost want to spend the rest of my life hidden away in this place with her where I don't have to worry about shitty birth parents and psychotic rivals. I can't wait to settle my score with Christian and my birth parents so I can move on for good. So I can be with Aria without worrying if my lifestyle will get either one of us killed.

We have breakfast back in our bed and I exchange a phone call with Greg who's on his way to pick us up. Aria answers more messages from her parents and Lenny to let them know she's okay and that she'll be home soon. When it's time to go, we share a grim and reluctant look. The little bubble we spent the past few hours in just popped and neither of us is happy about it.

"Do we have to go?" She whispers and I smile knowing that she wants to stay here as much as I do.

"I'm afraid so, Princess." I lean forward to capture her lips, kissing her once, twice, and pull away to press our foreheads together. "I swear I'm going to give you a normal life. A safe life. I promise you that."

I wrap my pinky with hers and she kisses me again, smiling against my mouth. "I believe you."

I reluctantly pull away and discard our trash, turning to face her. "Let's go?"

"Yeah." She stands up and smooths out the wrinkles from yesterday's clothes. She grabs her things and I grab mine and we head for the door.

"Got your phone?" I ask.

"Yup." She holds it up.

"Got the pocket knife I gave you?"

"In my pocket. Where else?"

"Got your pepper spray?"

"Yes." She rolls her eyes. "Jesus, Ash."

She reaches for the doorknob but I stop her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around suddenly. She gasps as I press my body into hers and plaster her against the door.

"One more thing."

"What's that?" She searches my face.

My hand cups her face, my thumb under her chin to tilt it up as I look into her eyes. "I love you."

Her mouth parts in obvious shock and for a moment she's stunned. "You..."

"I love you." I repeat confidently. "I've loved you since the day I met you. You have to know that but in case you don't, I love you, Princess. Always have, always will."

"Asher." She whispers. Her hands grip the collar of my shirt and bring my face down to hers so she can kiss me. I grip her waist and hold her against me, sighing into her mouth. It's beyond me how I feel so at peace when we're about to walk out into a shit storm. When we pull away, she's smiling that same beautiful smile she gave me when she was ten years old and I fall all over again. "I love you so much, Ashes. It was always you."

"No, baby." I kiss the lone tear on her face and bring her hand to my heart. "It was always us."

_________________________

A/N

GAHHHH!! It's official! These two are my favourite from all the couples!

Not only are they hot as hell (I mean that sex scene, WHEW Asher) but their love is so so real that I feel it everywhere. These two are truly soulmates and their love makes me so giddy. Who else?

Please VOTE, comment and share if you liked this chapter!

Happy Reading :)