PRESENT

"We're going to get in so much trouble." I mumble against Asher's mouth.

"Only if we get caught." He lifts me onto my desk and several pens and papers fall to the floor.

"Asher." I laugh. His lips suck on my neck and I sigh, my fingers sinking into his hair. "You're going to get me fired."

"No one can see us and the door is locked. The only chance we have at getting caught is if you can't stay quiet." He pulls away and the grin I'm met with is wicked. "Not a sound, baby."

I raise a brow as Asher slides his hand under my knees and spreads my legs apart. My pencil skirt was already discarded moments ago, leaving me in just my panties. Asher hooks his thumbs in the waistband and drags them down my legs, discarding them somewhere in the room. He gets on his knees between my legs and I look down at him with heavy breaths. There's something so fucking hot about a man kneeling for you.

I scoot closer to the edge just as Asher leans forward and licks up my centre. A moan gets caught in my throat and I fight to keep it down, my hands gripping the edge of my desk tightly and diverting my frustration. Two fingers suddenly push into me and my hips arch forward, back bowing.

Okay. Keeping quiet is definitely going to be harder than I thought.

I have to lift up the collar of my blouse so I can bite down on it when Asher slides his fingers out of me, using my arousal that's coating his fingers to spread it all over my pussy and rubbing it over my clit. His tongue slides into my entrance and a breathy sort of strangled sound escapes me before I can stop it. Asher chuckles softly, his tongue fucking me in long and languid strokes. The little hungry sounds he's making, the soft moans and the needy growls, convey how much he's enjoying this and it's such a turn on that I already feel my orgasm drawing closer.

"Asher." I whisper, grinding hard on his face.

He throws my legs over his shoulders and gets even closer to me, taking his tongue out so he can suck on my clit. He teases the bud with little flicks and nips that has me writhing and begging. It feels so good that I lose my senses and throw caution to the wind.

"Not like this." I demand quietly and push him away. He's confused until I tell him, "I want to come while you're inside of me."

His eyes flash, raw lust dilating his pupils, and he slowly rises to his feet. Our chests heave and brush against each other as we lock eyes.

"You sure?" Even as he asks his hands are already working on his belt. "You said it yourself—we could get in trouble."

"Only if we get caught, remember?" I grin.

He shakes his head, a small smile playing on his face, until he suddenly grows somber and jerks his chin behind me. "Bend over the desk and spread your legs."

I'm almost giddy with excitement. I think I've officially become addicted to sex because no matter how much Ash and I fuck—and we fuck a lot—I still can't get enough of him. He's just so hot in bed with his filthy words and dominant presence. It's a whole side to him I've just recently discovered and I plan on making up for lost time to get thoroughly acquainted.

I follow his instructions now and turn around, bending so that my stomach presses into the edge of my desk and placing my elbows on the surface. I arch my back to stick my ass out and spread my legs, watching him over my shoulder. I bite my lip to contain my satisfied groan when I catch him pumping himself with harsh strokes, his gaze pinned to my pussy. Watching him get off to me is also hot. Everything this man does is so hot and it's insane how attracted I am to him. He's made me a total sex fiend.

With one hand still gripping his cock, he licks his other hand before bringing it back down to my pussy and rubbing lazy circles at my entrance. My eyes become hooded as I watch him watch me. He licks his lips, his fingers sliding up and down my folds. "So fucking wet. You're driving me crazy."

He poises the tip of his cock at my entrance, teasingly rubbing against it before he slides in with one smooth thrust. I bite down on my lip so hard I taste blood. The urge to moan is too damn strong, even more so when he pounds in and out of me. I have to hold the edge of my desk to steady myself when Asher starts fucking me harder, faster. My stomach digs into the wood but I hardly notice it, too wound up by how deep he feels inside of me.

His fist wraps around my hair right before he yanks on it. My back arches, head falling back, feeling that delicious mix of pain and pleasure.

"Oh my God." I moan quietly. "Ash."

"Yes, baby?" Comes his teasing murmur. He knows damn well how difficult he's making this for me.

A moment later I feel his hard chest press against my back, his lips pressing on my ear right before he takes it into his mouth to suck. I press my lips together in a pathetic attempt to contain the little whimpers that I can't hold inside. When Asher grabs the back of my leg and lifts my knee on to the desk, my mouth falls open again from pure pleasure. He feels so deep this way, like he's everywhere all at once.

Another moan escapes me, strangled and tortured but still quiet. "I can't...I can't, Ash."

"Shh." His hand covers my mouth, the other one still holding my knee at the top of my desk. "You can and you will."

If he wasn't giving me the best sex of my life I might slap him. The only time I'd ever let him boss me around like this is in bed.

With his next thrust he stops when he's all the way inside of me then rolls his hips. I cry out against his hand and he tightens it, doing the little motion again and driving me out of my mind. I press my ass further back against his pelvis and this time it's him who groans, biting down on my shoulder to muffle the sound.

"Princess." He warns with a growl.

I laugh softly against his hand, rotating my own hips this time and grinding against him with my ass.

"Jesus." He chokes out, breathing hard. In a blink his hand comes down hard to spank me. I make a throaty sound of appreciation and he does it again, this time harder. I love it rough. I love bringing out his dark side so he can play with me.

His hand slithers to the front of my body, flicking my clit and rubbing it in tight circles. I bite down on his hand and he chuckles, inviting me to do it again. He loves it rough too.

When his strokes turn hard and fast against, I snake my arm behind me and wrap it around his neck to hold on. His neck is slightly damp and I can feel his chest growing warmer against my back, both of us well on our way to becoming a sweaty mess. I spread my legs even further, desperate to feel more of him and chasing my release. His hand slides under my blouse and up my body to cup one breast, kneading it hard and pinching my nipples through my bra and I find myself wishing I was completely naked so I could feel those rough palms against my skin. His hand continues its journey until he reaches my throat and grips it just tight enough that I feel pressure but not so much that I'm alarmed.

It feels ridiculously hot to have one of his hands pressed against my mouth and the other digging into the column of my throat, especially while he fucks me from behind. I feel equal parts dominated and exhilarated because he feels so good and each time we fuck, it's better than the last. My lower abdomen tightens in warning and my thighs clench and I hold my breath in anticipation of my orgasm.

Asher can tell by now when I'm about to come so he presses his palm even tighter against my mouth right before he thrusts into me long and hard one final time. My restraint snaps and then I'm shaking all over as my orgasm rips through me. Wave after wave sends my body through a series of tremors and moments later I feel Asher's body vibrate against mine. He pants into the crook of my neck and I tip my back to give him more room. The feel of his warm breath skating over my skin in short gasps makes me erupt in goosebumps. I feel impossibly turned on even though I just came.

"Fuck, Ria." He mumbles and finally removes his hand from my mouth so he can turn my head to kiss me.

Our mouths meet in a kiss that's less frantic than the quickie we just managed. I tease the seam of his lips with my tongue and he parts them so he can tangle his tongue with mine. My arm adjusts so I can grip his hair at the back of his head, angling him better while I explore the taste of his mouth. He moans deeply into mine, his lips sucking on my own and his body pressing into me.

"I love you." I tell him between kisses. "God, I love you so much."

He slides out of me and turns me around to face him, his hands on my waist as he continues to kiss me.

"I love you more than anything in this fucked up world." He whispers into my mouth and I grow warm all over. "Fuck, baby. You are my world. My fucking universe and all that shit."

I have to laugh at that because even when he's declaring his love for me, he's so Asher about it. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

He finally pulls away to press our foreheads together and sighs deeply. "Every time we have moments like this, I want to kick my own ass for not being with you sooner. Things would have turned out so differently."

"We definitely would have been prom king and queen." I muse.

"The obnoxious 'it' couples that we used to make fun of."

"The middle school sweethearts who lasted all these years and got married and made loads of babies."

He chuckles under his breath, thumbs brushing my hipbones. "Yeah? You want that someday?"

For a moment I panic at what I just said until I realize I have no reason to. This is Asher. My best friend. I don't have to hide anything about him, including what I hope for our future. "I would love it if you gave me all your babies. I think they'd be cute as hell."

"With your brains and my attitude, they'd conquer the fucking world."

"Like a bunch of little evil geniuses." I laugh. "I totally see it."

"You know what else I see?" His nose brushes against my jawline before he kisses my neck. Over and over he places little pecks all over me and I tip my head back to invite him, sinking my hands into his hair and releasing a content sigh. "I can see you walking down the aisle to me in a white dress. I can see myself putting a ring on you and vowing to spend my life with you. I can see us fucking so good and so long that our wedding night will be more like a wedding weekend. But most importantly, I can see myself being happy with you. And fuck, me being happy? That might be the biggest miracle of all of them."

I laugh again but this time it's part-sob. Hot tears prick the back of my eyelids as I bring my head down to meet his gaze, cupping his face. "I'll never stop making you happy, Ashes. You deserve it. Every last bit of it. I'll do it for the rest of our lives."

Then I drop my hands to where his are, wrapping our pinkies together with both hands and holding them up to my mouth to kiss them.

The ghost of a smile on his face is warm. "Two pinky promises? That's some serious shit, baby."

"Because this is the most important promise I've ever made to you and I need you to believe it."

"I believe you." He kisses me long and slow and I swear I can feel his adoration every time our lips part and meet. "Do you believe me? That I want to spend my life with you?"

"I believe you." I peck his lips again. I love kissing him and I can never seem to stay away from that pouty mouth.

"If I had a ring right now, I'd grab your hand and put it on you."

That gets another laugh out of me and I shove his shoulder.

"I'm serious." He cups my face and stares intently. My laughter dies out when I realize that yeah, he's really fucking serious. "Even though we just got into a relationship I've known you all my life. I've loved you all my life. I know for a fact there isn't anyone else for me and there never will be so why would I wait? I mean fuck, baby. You as my wife? Fuck yeah, I want that. Sign me up."

"Asher." I laugh a little nervously. "What are you saying? You sound like you're proposing."

"I'll do that when I have a ring." He shrugs a shoulder casually like this is the kind of talk we have everyday. "I guess you can consider this a pre-proposal or some shit. But you're going to be my wife, Aria. Hell, the way I love you and know you now? You're already my fucking wife. Marrying you is just a formality at this point."

My lips part in shock and all I can do is blink at him. I have no idea how things took such a serious turn all of a sudden and everything he's saying sounds straight up crazy but...is he? Part of me wonders if we're in the honeymoon phase of our relationship since we've only been dating for three weeks but another part of me knows what he's saying is true. We've loved each other all our lives. There isn't a thing we don't know about each other inside and out. It makes sense when you put it that way.

"Well," I start and my voice shakes slightly. "Just so you know, whenever you do propose to me it'll be a yes. There's nobody else I would want to spend my life with other than you."

"It was always us, Princess." His smile widens to reveal that dimple and I can't stop myself from leaning forward to lick it, earning his amused laugh.

"Always." I rub my nose with his before pulling away reluctantly.

I'm warm all over and my heart is beating ridiculously fast. I can't believe we just had that conversation. I can't believe Asher wants to marry me and give me all his diabolical little children someday. Ten year old Aria is doing a happy dance inside of me as I wipe myself up and put my clothes back on and twenty-seven year old Aria is trying not to squeal herself. But seriously, that was fucking surreal. And hearing him refer to me as his wife? Hot. I want to jump him all over again.

I guess I'm transparent as hell because he smirks that infuriating smirk that melts my panties. "I just gave you a mind-blowing orgasm and you already want another, huh?"

"So?" I grumble. "As if you would stop me if I got on my knees right now and sucked you off."

I strut over to my desk and squeak when Asher slaps my ass. A second later he plasters his body behind me, arms winding around my waist. "Don't fucking tease me like that, Ria."

"Or what?" I ask breathlessly, pressing my ass into him.

He groans, his tone become sharper. "Or I'll tease you right back. Your boss is supposed to stop by in a few, right? Maybe I'll eat this tight little pussy from under your desk during your meeting. Then you'll really have to make sure we don't get caught."

A gasp gets stuck in my throat at the image he plants in my brain. Even though he basically painted a crystal clear picture of me getting fired, I'm pretty sure I would still risk it. That sounds hot as hell and I wouldn't put it past us to try it.

He groans again and he sounds tortured. "Fucking hell. You want me to do it, don't you? So fucking filthy."

"You tainted me." I throw back and elbow him away.

I flop into my chair and he takes the one across from me, grinning. "Can't say I'm sorry."

"When are you ever sorry, Asher?" I roll my eyes.

"Never." He smirks in agreement.

I jump in my seat when there's a loud knock on the door, quickly patting my hair down and making sure my clothes aren't inside out. I point a finger to Asher as I get up and whisper-hiss, "Behave."

He responds by slapping my ass when I walk past him. Asshole.

I clear my throat and plaster on an innocent smile before I unlock the door and open it. Fawn's highly amused stare greets me, her brows raised, and I feel heat creep up my neck.

"Hey." My voice sounds higher-pitched than usual so I clear my throat and try again. I ignore the quiet and deep chuckle behind me. "Need something?"

"A pair of ear muffs next time you go and do whatever you just did." Her mouth twitches. "Jesus, Aria. I thought we were having an earthquake or something. The banging scared the shit out of me."

Asher's laugh goes up a notch and he tries to hide it through a fit of coughing. Points for effort, I guess.

"Did anyone else notice?" My wide eyes plead with her.

"I don't think so. Almost everyone is still on their lunch break and I probably got the brute force of things since my office is beside yours."

"Sorry, Fawn. It won't happen again."

"You shouldn't lie to your friends, baby." Asher calls from behind me.

I glare at him over my shoulder and he winks back. How can he make winking look so sexy instead of obnoxious? When I turn back around, Fawn is...well...fawning.

"Your boyfriend is ridiculously hot. No wonder you moan like that when you orgasm."

"Oh, Jesus!" I smack a hand over her mouth while Asher full-blown breaks out into laughter. I close my eyes and muster up the remaining of me dignity before meeting Fawn's gaze again. "Did you come here to give me the play-by-play?"

"Oh! Right. Sorry. I almost forgot." She jerks a thumb behind her. "One of your clients is here."

I frown and wrack through my memory. "I don't have any appointments today."

"Should I send her away then?"

"Who is it?"

"Trixie? Tiffany? Aw, fuck. Let me go ask her name again."

"Trisha?" I interject before she can turn away.

Fawn snaps her fingers. "Yeah, that's it."

Trisha is here? That's bizarre. I know for a fact that she never leaves her house for more than an hour and the drive here alone takes up that entire hour. Why would she risk doing that and being out of Kennedy's sight if it wasn't an emergency? Or has she finally decided to leave him?

"Fuck. Call her in right away and tell Mr. Cortez to drop by at the end of the hour. Let him know I had a last minute client."

"You owe me coffee." She demands until I shoo her away.

When I turn around, Asher has already gathered his things.

"Sorry." I smile apologetically. "Client confidentiality or I'd let you stick around."

"It's cool." He nods understandably and grabs the back of my neck when he reaches me, bending his head to press our lips together. The kiss is quick but I feel it everywhere, my toes curling into my shoes. He pulls away and kisses my forehead. "See you at home."

"Ash." I grab his wrist and stop him. We didn't even get a chance to talk about what I initially called him over for. "Tomorrow..."

"Hey." He cups my face, face softening. "Don't worry about it. Coach and I have it all figured out and I won't be alone when we confront my birth parents."

"And Christian?"

"Mitch is watching him since that day at the motel. He's got our backs. I don't want you worrying about anything."

"Okay." I agree reluctantly. My throat tightens with fear but I can't get caught up in that right now. I'll have to save it for later. "Text me as soon as you get home. Be safe."

"You got it." He kisses me once more and then he's gone.

A sinking feeling takes form in my gut but just as quick I forget about it when Trisha appears in front of me.

"Who was that?" She points at Asher's retreating back.

"Hello to you too." I frown. She's really been difficult lately. "And my personal business is not your concern, Trisha. Our relationship is strictly professional."

She shrugs, shouldering past me and into my office. A muscle pulses in my jaw and I mentally decide that unless she gives me enough information today to open a case, I'll have to let her go. Fawn was right when she said Trisha was dragging out to the process, especially considering I've been doing everything for free. This is why pro-bono cases are such a tough line to walk. Clients have a habit of trying to take advantage and pushing things way too far. Case in point—Trisha.

"What's going on?" I ask tiredly and come around to sit in my chair.

She doesn't say anything for a moment and instead watches me with curious eyes. "You're a really decent chick, huh? Genuinely decent."

"Thanks?" My draw close in confusion. Where is she going with this?

"Look," Trisha starts, picking at the woodwork on my desk absentmindedly. I'm tempted to smack her hand away. Where are her manners? "There's something you need to know."

When she pauses and meets my eyes knowingly, I gesture a hand at her to continue. My patience is really starting to thin out and she's watching me like she expects me to catch on. She's in for a surprise because I have no idea what's happening.

"I'm not who you think I am." She blows out a breath and leans back in her seat.

I frown at her ominous words. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the scared, jittery Trisha you've gotten to know? That's not me. It was just an act. I'm actually a bitch if I'm being truthful."

I blink at the bizarre direction this has taken. For the life of me I can't make sense of her words.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm an actress. I was hired to play this role of a scared and abuse woman in order to grow close to you and get to know you."

All I can do is blink at first. Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that. "Is this a joke?"

She shakes her head and her somber expression is far from a lie. "I'm dead serious."

A sinking feeling starts low in my belly and my palms grow damp. Something is very wrong here. I lick my dry lips and force myself to say something. "Firstly, that's awful. Millions of women go through what you've pretended to go through and it's a fucking shame that you think this is something you can make fun of. Second, who the hell hired you and what do they want to do with me?"

A flash of remorse passes across her features. "I know. It was fucked up of me to take this gig and I felt guilty the longer I did it but in my defence I was told you were a fraud. A fake who was profiting off abused women. I thought I was part of something real until I realized you're a kick ass lawyer and you do your job damn well. When I realized the truth the first thing I did was tell the guy who hired me that I wanted to quit. He went ballistic. Acted like a fucking psycho. That's when I realized I was messing with someone seriously deranged and figured it was in my best interest to come clean to you."

This can't be happening. Is someone seriously trying to go out of their way to target me? And if so, who?

My heart pounds faster against my rib cage. The seriousness of the situation starts to sink in and I finally feel a flicker of fear. "Who hired you, Trisha?"

She chews her lip, hesitating for a moment, before clearing her throat and ripping the world out from underneath my feet.

"A man named Robbie."

___________________________

A/N

Cliffhanger much? Who saw this development coming about Trisha? I hope I took you by surprise.

Also, not to get you too caught up in the darker aspect of the story, but how cute are Asher and Aria? That hot sex scene followed by some serious feels? Swoon.

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

Happy Reading :)