Page 194 of Forgotten Prejudice

Closing my eyes, I leaned in until my lips met his. The warmth of them, I’d never get used to, and I opened my mouth, allowing his tongue in. He was as sweet and eager as always, and with my hands cupping his head, I held him close, nearly eating him alive. He chuckled at my eagerness and groaned when I went a bit too forceful, but he didn’t stop kissing me back. Every bit of me melted into this moment, which was probably the happiest I’d ever been before.

“I love you,” I breathed into his mouth, and he drank up my words before swirling his tongue around mine, pulling me closer to him until I nearly covered his body with my own. If only he hadn’t been injured, I would have made sweet love to him. But thankfully, there would be plenty of time for that.

“You’re getting me too excited,” I rasped as I adjusted myself.

Ashton’s hungry eyes darted to my crotch, and he licked his lips. “What a shame I can’t do anything about it right now,” he pouted, and I laughed.

“There will be time for that later.”

He moved a bit on the bed, giving me space to lie beside him, so I did.

“Speaking of, how are your injuries?” I asked, worried I’d taken it too far with this kiss.

“They’re okay. Right now, my cock’s bothering me more.”

“My, my, you sure learned to be vulgar with your words.”

He laughed. “You asked!”

“About your injuries, Ashton, not the current state of your—”

“Dick?”

I rolled my eyes, secretly wishing to suck it. But I knew my limits. And doing it on a hospital bed was definitely one of those.

“There was something I planned on asking you, though,” he suddenly said, his voice taking on a serious tone.

“What was it?” I tilted my head aside to face him as he did the same.

“Your photos. You took them all down. What happened?”

I wondered if he’d noticed it the last time he’d been to the house.

“When I was in the hospital after my breakdown, I had to teach myself how to fall asleep without them, and I guess I kept that habit with me.”

His forehead creased.

“So what did you do?”

“I thought of you.” I smiled and leaned in close until I kissed his forehead. “Now, whenever I close my eyes, I have two hundred and twenty-two pictures of you, Ashton. And when I count, no matter what it is, whether it’s the seconds passing on my watch or the tiles on the floor, I imagine it’s your photos I’m counting.”

I dared to look him in the eyes only to find him staring back at me with love. Real, true, pure love that cured my broken soul in more ways than I’d ever be able to thank him for.

Unable to resist the urge, I leaned against him and closed my eyes. This time, I didn’t need to imagine him in my head because my little Sparrow had finally returned to me. Only now, he was more of a falcon than a sparrow. And while beautiful and majestic, I had no plans to try and tame him again because birds were meant to fly. And if loving him meant spending my days looking up at the bright sky, that was precisely what I’d do. Because loving Ashton Sage wasn’t even a question but a given fact that had engraved itself onto my heart years ago, when he found me lost in a garden of roses.

Ash

One Year Later

“What are you doing over there?” Soren called from where he was waiting for me under a tall palm tree.

“Hold on just a second,” I told him while typing Levi back. “Levi just texted me. He doesn’t know how to turn on the heat.”

With how hot it was here, in Thailand, Koh Samui, it was hard to believe it was winter back home.

“Are they struggling with the new house? I can ask my assistant to go and help them,” Soren said, stopping before me.

“Don’t worry, I explained to him how to turn it on, and he just texted back, saying it worked,” I said and pocketed my phone.