God, I Hate That Man Read online

  Finally, I come up for air and I gently push her legs away from my shoulders. They fall to the mattress, floppy and pliable. Her pussy is still open, but it now looks swollen and red. I have to force myself not to suck it anymore, because I know it must be tender by now.

  Gently, I kiss Ashley’s stomach and move up to her breasts. I suck one of her nipples into my mouth and work the other one between my fingertips. Ashley’s nipples are as hard as rocks and I know how sensitive they are by the way she writhes beneath me, small whimpers escaping her mouth as I tease her.

  I kiss up along her chest and run my tongue up her throat until my mouth is locked on hers. She reaches down and puts her hands on my ass, pulling my body tighter against hers. I push into her, feeling her warm, wet pussy opening up for me.

  I began to move, but instead of pounding into Ashley, I move slowly, filling her up with slow, sensual strokes that make her cling to me and whisper my name. I keep kissing her as I move inside of her, our tongues entwining as her hips move with mine. Her hands roam over my back, holding me to her.

  I feel her pussy clenching around my cock, gripping me like a glove and sending fire through my body as she comes again and again. She presses her face against my shoulder and calls my name in a strangled, broken voice as liquid douses me. I up my pace, not able to hold myself back any longer. I can feel the fire in me spreading out, warming my body as pleasure explodes through me and I spurt into Ashley.

  She breathlessly whispers my name again as I remain inside and kiss her on the mouth. The kiss goes on and on, until I cannot tell where I end and she begins. Eventually, when I roll off her, she scoots towards me and snuggles against me. I kiss the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair.

  I hold her until she falls asleep in my arms.

  I smile down at her and I know then I never want to let her go. This didn’t feel like an end, it felt like a beginning. I admit to myself, lying here in the darkness listening to Ashley’s gentle breathing, that I haven’t just fucked her. I’ve made love to her. It wasn’t the perfect way to say goodbye.

  It was the perfect way to claim her as mine. And only mine.

  All at once, I know I can’t tell her about the document I found, because the thought of her walking away from me is just too much. I will tell her at some point; of course, I will. I just have to make sure she feels the same way about me first. That she’s not going to take this as her cue to leave me behind and get back to her old life, a life that doesn’t include me.

  18

  Ashley

  The days are flying by. It’s Friday and Finn and I are getting married next Saturday. The time has really whizzed by and I can’t believe I’m getting married in a little over a week. It’s especially crazy, considering I didn’t even know Finn this time last month.

  The time has gone by filled with dress fittings, tasting menus, and a hundred other wedding details. I have spent a lot of time with Helen who doesn’t seem as scary anymore, although I still wouldn’t like to think I made a wrong choice for something and somehow angered her. All the details I consider minor seem so terribly important to her. I’ve even allowed her to plan my hairstyle. The hairstylist is going to sweep my hair together with some hair extensions and put it into a loose bun at the nape of my neck. I suppose it will look nice.

  I’ve had my final dress fitting today and I have to say it’s a beautiful dress and while it’s way more expensive than anything I normally would have chosen I can’t wait to wear it. It actually has a rather magical effect on me. It makes me feel like a fairy tale princess when I’m in it. Maybe Finn’s ideas on marriage are rubbing off on me, because you don’t have to wear a pretty dress just to sign a contract.

  Pretty much all of the plans are in place for the wedding now, and the few bits that still need to be done are all in Damon’s hands. The RSVPs are all in and it’s on Damon to work out the numbers, make sure the right amount of meals and drinks are ordered, the wedding favors are all put together then delivered. And on the day, all I have to worry about is getting ready, with help from the professionals Helen has hired, of course. Damon will worry about everything else. I guess I can sort of understand the point of a wedding planner now. With so much going on, I would be a complete wreck right now if all of the responsibility were on my shoulders.

  I finally got around to telling my parents that I’m engaged and they were so thrilled I instantly felt guilty I hadn’t told them the full story. It even helped to mend the argument my father and I had and led to him apologizing to me. I think they’re just relieved that I have something to focus on other than the charity.

  Oh well, at least their joy at me having something more traditional going on in my life stopped them from asking a thousand and one awkward questions about why we’re moving so quickly with all of this and why Finn’s parents are happy to pay for everything. They probably think I’m pregnant or something.

  Although I really wanted to tell them the truth about the marriage, I knew I couldn’t. The bridges my father and I have mended would be well and truly burned without any hope of fixing them if my parents found out my wedding is just a sham to get money for the charity. And here’s the thing… I don’t want to tell them and not just because of how disappointed they’ll be. I don’t want to tell them because in my heart, it no longer feels true. It’s not a sham.

  What Finn and I have is beautiful.

  I know logically that nothing has changed. Finn and I will still divorce down the road, but it feels different now. Both my best friends think I’m setting myself up to get hurt, but Finn and I have talked, and it seems like I’m not the only one who is starting to think this could be something more than a fake marriage.

  Finn has cautiously admitted to me that he thinks of me as more than just a friend. The whole time he said it he kept staring at me warily as if I was going to jump up and bite him. I’ve admitted the same thing to him, but we’ve agreed to take it easy. That we’re not going to make a big deal out of it. We’re just going to take things one day at a time, but this feels special.

  Finn doesn’t work late anymore unless he really can’t avoid it. And I spend more time thinking about Finn than I do about the charity which is a huge, big deal for me. Not because I’ve lost interest in the charity, but with Andrea there and enough money to do all the things we want, there is no longer a terrible stress of not knowing whether we’ll be around in the coming months.

  We eat breakfast together every day ever since that night we had our heart to heart about Janette. He told me she’s his driver’s wife, which had been a huge relief. God, I wanted to eat him that night when he told me he wasn’t sleeping with her. Talking of food, he even buys food to have at home. Yogurt, fruit, eggs, bacon, and cereal for our breakfasts together… it’s a start.

  We also make an effort to eat dinner together every night and we’re just enjoying the closeness between us. I haven’t slept in the guest bedroom since the last time Finn and I were together in there. It’s not even something we discuss now. We just go to bed together in Finn’s room and make love before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

  It’s definitely more than just physical between us now though. The more time we spend together and get to know each other better, the more we see that we have so much in common. We haven’t come together the conventional way, but Arthur certainly made the right choice by forcing us to come together.

  We talk about Finn’s business and my charity, and while we work in very different sectors, we both have the same fire, the same drive to succeed. We talk about our hopes and dreams for the future and they mostly align with each other, which is good because on most levels now, whenever I let myself think of the future, I see Finn beside me.

  It’s fast becoming clear to me that I massively misjudged Finn. He was never the enemy. He’s not the person I thought he was at all. He’s ambitious, but ethical. He’s warm, kind and generous. He can make me laugh, even after days where everything has gone horribly wrong an
d I’m sure no one could make me laugh.

  I think as Finn gets to know me, he’s realizing he’d misjudged me too. Or maybe it’s more a case of him learning to like the things he assumed he would hate about me, like how I am passionate and make decisions with my heart and not just my head. Like how I react to things emotionally, and if I see someone being wronged, I will attempt to fix the situation, even when doing so isn’t technically my problem to fix.

  “Ash? Are you almost ready? The car will be here soon,” Finn calls from the living room, pulling me out of my head.

  “Almost,” I call back. I stand in front of the mirror, tweak my hair one last time, and smile to myself, happy with the way I look. We’re going to a party tonight, one I would normally have dreaded, but I’m actually looking forward to it.

  It’s a yearly party being thrown by his father’s oldest friend. He normally attends, but he said he knew how much I hated these things, and since it would look weird him going without me, he would get us out of it, but I shook my head and told him we should go.

  I think he was more than a little shocked, but was also a little pleased. It wouldn’t look good for us to hide ourselves away, and tonight is a good chance for Finn’s friends and relatives to see that we’re the real deal.

  He gave me his credit card and told me to buy something to wear. Naturally, I started to object, accusing him of being pretentious. He laughed and told me I could shop in a thrift store if I wanted to, but he didn’t think I’d want to go in my work clothes and my pajamas weren’t the right shade of pink for a party. I found myself laughing with him and accepting his offer, remembering how I had felt when I was dressed all wrong for the restaurant the first day I met Helen.

  I hadn’t gone to a thrift shop, but I hadn’t gone to an expensive designer shop either. I settled for something in the middle, going for something right for the occasion without having to feel guilty for having the dress.

  “Seriously Ashley, the car is here,” Finn shouts from the living room.

  I can imagine him pacing, looking at his watch while wishing I’d hurry up and finish getting ready. “Coming,” I shout back.

  I quickly spray some perfume behind my ears and over my head. I step out of the bedroom and move quickly towards the living room.

  Finn’s eyes open wide when he sees me. His throat moves as he swallows hard.

  “What’s wrong? Is it too much?” I ask, instantly regretting the dress.

  “No, it’s perfect. You’re perfect.”. He looks at me as if he can’t take his eyes off me. He smiles slowly, possessively. “You look beautiful, Ashley. There’s not going to be a man there who won’t envy me.”

  “Thank you,” I say, feeling myself blushing and no longer regretting the dress. “You look great too.”

  And he does.

  Dressed in a full suit and a tie, Finn looks dashingly handsome. For a split-second, I have to admit I am tempted to suggest we skip the party to just stay home and make love all night long, but Finn holds his arm out to me. I slip my hand through his elbow, deciding we should go to the party after all. He will look this good even after we return from the party and we can still make love all night long.

  My hand tingles where it touches Finn’s arm, even through his suit jacket, he has this effect on me. As he leads me from the apartment, I’m a little bit surprised to find I have butterflies in my tummy.

  19

  Finn

  I can hardly stop myself from staring at Ashley. We’ve been at the party for almost two hours now, and I’m still as completely enchanted by her as I was when she stepped out of our bedroom. To say she was worth waiting for tonight, hell, for my whole life, would still be an understatement. She’s by far the most beautiful woman in the room, and I’m starting to think she would be the most gorgeous woman in any room.

  The dress she has chosen is long, coming right down to her ankles. It’s red, a color that looks absolutely delicious on her. The body of the dress is tight and fitted, but the skirt flows out slightly from the waist, so it billows when she walks. She’s wearing high red heels that not only make her taller, but make her walk with more confidence and grace. Along with this, she’s wearing a silver chain with a little rain drop shaped pendant on it and matching earrings.

  She’s not just stunning, she’s a vision, and how I’m keeping my hands off her, I really don’t know.

  Except I’m not keeping my hands off her. Not really. The whole night I’ve either held her hand in mine, had my arm draped around her shoulders, or had my hand subtly on the small of her back to let everyone know she is mine. And at every opportunity, I’ve leaned in to steal a kiss.

  I’ve introduced Ashley as my fiancée to my friends and family, to business associates and rivals, and it’s not just because it’s the polite thing to do, or because my mom would kill me if I introduced Ashley any other way at an event like this, where her friends and acquaintances are. But because I want to show her off. I want everyone to look at this vision of beauty and know she’s mine.

  I introduce Ashley to Joan, a friend of my mom’s, a woman my parents have known for a long time.

  Ashley smiles shyly and greets her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Joan.”

  “Nonsense dear, the pleasure is all mine,” Joan replies as she takes both of Ashley’s hands in hers and air kisses her on each cheek.

  I feel instantly jealous that she’s touching Ashley instead of me touching her. I feel lost without some part of my body touching some part of hers. As soon as Joan releases Ashley’s hands from hers, I take her hand again and kiss her cheek, feeling instantly better since I can feel Ashley’s skin against mine again.

  She smiles at me, although I can feel the tension in her body through her hand, the fear that she might say the wrong thing and risk the wrath of my mom, no doubt.

  Joan makes an aww sound as she looks at the two of us. “Look at you two. So in love,” she says with a dreamy sigh. “Are you nervous about the wedding, Ashley? I remember being where you are now, with my mother-in-law organizing this hugely extravagant wedding, and all I wanted was to marry John. I’d have been happy to do it in a quiet little ceremony, but that’s not the way with these society types, is it?” Joan laughs and winks at me as she describes me as a society type.

  Ashley relaxes a little, I feel her grip on my hand loosening. She has found a kindred spirit. “I’m not just nervous, I’m terrified,” she confesses. “I would have liked an intimate little affair too. There’s just so much that can go wrong with a big wedding isn’t there? It’s like there are hundreds of different moving parts that all need to come together perfectly and there are so many different ways I can mess up.”

  “Nothing will go wrong if Helen has anything to do with it, and I suspect she does.” Joan pats her hand. “And you’ll be fine. You want to know the best part of a big society wedding?”

  Ashley nods.

  Joan leans in conspiratorially. “Most of these people are secretly as out of their depths as we are. If you say or do something wrong, they’ll assume they were the ones who had it wrong and that you’re right. And even if it’s something major that they can’t imagine away, they’ll all just be so damned glad it wasn’t them making a mistake that they won’t mention it. And as the bride, the day is all about you. No one wants to be the one to upset a bride.” She leans in a little further and winks at Ashley, talking in a practical whisper now, her eyes gleaming mischievously, “Seriously, if your dress falls down and you flash the guests during the ceremony, all of the clones will be so desperate to fit in, they’ll probably all flash at you right back.”

  Ashley laughs and shakes her head. “I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “It won’t, but it’s always nice to have a backup plan, isn’t it? Speeches getting a bit too long and boring? Flash and see who does it too. Used the wrong fork? Take a look around and see how many others have just followed suit. Seriously, after a few years of this, you’ll learn to just laugh along with th
ese types.” Joan laughs.

  Joan’s husband, John, comes to join us. “There you are.” He smiles at us. “Is she telling you stories about how everyone in this world is just one giant clone colony?”

  I nod and smile.

  John laughs and nudges Joan with his elbow. “You have to stop doing that, dear.”

  “Ah, let me have my fun. It’s always nice to meet other people who feel the same way as I do.”

  “Come on,” John cajoles. “Let’s go and grab a drink before you convince Ashley to do something outrageous during her wedding, and Helen has a stroke or something,”

  “Now that would be a scandal, wouldn’t it?” Joan winks, but she allows John to lead her away from us.

  “I’m sorry about her. She can be a little much,” I say to Ashley.

  “Don’t be sorry. God Finn, she’s the first person I’ve spoken to all night who has a bit of personality.” Ashley giggles.

  “I’ll try not to take that personally,” I joke.

  “Obviously, I wasn’t including you in that assessment. In fact, you’ve been right on form tonight. You’ve really been getting into playing the role of the attentive bridegroom to be.”

  “What if I told you it’s no longer a role I’m playing, but the way I actually feel?” I ask, seriously. It’s about time I fess up how I feel about her.

  Ashley doesn’t let me take the conversation down a more serious path, “I’d tell you that you’d had far too much champagne and call a cab for you.”

  “I’d better not say anything then.”

  “If you want to tell me things like that there’s a whole tray of champagne over there with your name on it,” she teases.

  We head off in the direction of the waiter with a tray of champagne glasses. He sees us coming and steps to meet us, holding the tray out for us. We thank him and grab a glass each.