Ash

A sharp pounding resonated through my skull. I hadn"t felt anything like itsince the night I"d drunk myself into a stupor and tried to leave Jesse. I forced my eyes open anyway. Jesse's face swam into view. He looked relieved, and terrified. What was going on? Fuck. That fucking giant had tried to kill me. I sat up quickly as my adrenaline surged once more. Resting in the center of my chest, Jesse's hand held me down gently.

"Shh…it's ok love. You're ok." Though his voice was calm, his eyes were anything but.

I looked around, taking stock of where I was. I was on the couch in the waiting room, naked, save a sheet wrapped around my hips. I was startled to see my long-time client Casey standing not far behindJess. Right, his appointment had been after the giant"s.As our eyes caught, he appeared just as concerned as Jesse.

"Where is he?" I asked, startled at the sound ofmy own voice. It was harsh and gravelly, and it hurt when I spoke. I brought my fingertips up to my throat. Tender. He'd done some damage. I was furious.

"It's ok." Jesse spoke gently. "We've got the fucker tied up with his own cuffs and locked in the bedroom." Jesse rarely swore; a testament to the emotional turmoil rumbling under his calm demeanor.

I jumped, startled by a knock at the front door. Jesse increased his hand's pressure on my chest and Casey moved toward the front door.

"It's ok." Jesse said once again."It's just the authorities."

I shifted to a seated position, pulling the sheettighter around my hips as I heard Casey leading them over to the seating area we occupied. Two officials, and older woman and a younger man, came to stand facing me, looking concerned and compassionate.Jesse moved to sit at my side on the couch with his hand resting on my knee.

"What happened here?" Theserious looking womanasked kindly. Her gaze and question directed at me.

I shook my head a bit trying to remember as I started,"He was a new client. Everything was going well, and as we neared the end, he just started…." My hand moved to my throat automatically. "He's huge. I couldn't get him off me. I guess I was able to reach the panic button before I passed out.," I said half questioningly as I turned to look at Jesse.

He nodded and started talking. "I was at the desk when it went off and…"

She interrupted him. "And you are?"

Jesse and I spoke at the same time.

"My partner."

"I'm his assistant."

She looked at each of us once more.

I caught Jesse"s gaze and smiled lovingly. "He's both. We just don't usually reveal our relationship at work."

We turned back to her, and she simply nodded.

Jesse continued. "When I got the doors open, Ash was just lying there. That huge…thing...had his hands around his neck." His voice was hard and quiet. "I thought he..."

He trailed off and cleared his throat before continuing. "He panicked when he saw me, jumped off Ash, and charged toward me. I wasn't even thinking and took a swing when he got close enough. It just pissed him off and he kept running, but Casey was right behind me. Casey broke a lamp over his head, and he went down. His handcuffs were on the chair. They must be his, we don't have anything like that here. I went to checkon Ash, and by the time I let go of Ash to look around, Casey had the cuffs on him and had used the bathrobe belt to tie him to a chair. We got Ash cleaned up a bit, brought him out here, locked that fucker in the bedroom, and called you."

I watched him closely as he spoke. While he"d conveyed his story professionally, the amount of emotion on his face was startling.

Sheturned to Casey. "And your role here, sir?"

"I'm a client." Casey said. "I've been working with Ash for eight years now. We have a very good professional relationship, and…" he glanced at me as he continued. "I consider him a friend."

A friend. I had a fiancé and a friend. I nodded softly and smiled as our gaze met.

He turned back to the official and continued. "Clearly something was wrong when Jesse jumped up and ran to the doors, so I followed. The guy rushed at Jesse. Ash was on the bed, not moving. I just grabbed the closest thing and swung it at him without thinking. He went down, thank God. I don't know that the two of us could have taken him otherwise. Jesse went to check Ash, and I cuffed him and tied him up before I joined them."

She nodded shortly. "That should really be everything we need for now. We'll get him out of here for you. Assault on a consort isn't taken lightly.Do you need us to get a physician here?"

I shook my head. "No, thank you. Jesse is a medical student and I feel fine."

She looked doubtful. "You're sure?"

I nodded once more. "Yes, I'm fine thank you."

"Then we'll get him out of here and be in touch."

We all simply nodded, still in shock.

As they brought him out, Jesse stood. I had no desire to see that...thing...again, so I watched as Casey and Jesse glared while he was led out. Casey followed them, and I heard him shut and lock the door as they left.

Jesse shifted to kneel on the floor in front of me, taking my hands in his, and as tears fell silently down his cheeks, he reverently took my ring from his finger and slid it back onto my hand. He brought my fingersup to his trembling lips and kissed themtenderly. From the corner of my eye, I saw Casey behind him watching the exchange before he moved off in the direction of the kitchen.

I took his hands in mine and smiled gently down at him. "I'm ok, sweetheart. We're ok." My voice still sounded strange.

When he dropped his forehead to rest on our hands, I slid one away to trace it along his neck and shoulder.

"I thought I lost you." His voice was shaky, heavy with pain and fear.

"Shhh. I know you did. But I'm here. I'm just fine."

His body trembled as tears continued to fall and I tightened my hand in his. I glanced up as Casey made his way back in, holding a tray with a pot of tea and two mugs. His eyes wore only concern as his gaze held mine across Jesse's back. Casey poured tea and held a mug out in our direction with a raised, questioning eyebrow.

I urged gently. "Come on, hun. Casey made tea. Why don't you have some? It'll help."

Jesse nodded against my lap and pulled himself together enough to turn and take the mug from Casey with a quiet, mumbled thank you before settling on the floor with his back against my legs.

Casey smiled gently as I took the other mug from him with one hand and let my fingertips play across Jesse's shoulder with the other.

"So, the two of you, huh?" he asked curiously, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

I couldn't have stopped the wide smile that crossed my face in response if I'd have wanted to.

"Seems pretty serious." He indicated our rings with a nod. "How long?"

I simply continued to grin. "Just over a year now."

He chuckled a bit and nodded. "That makes sense."

I raised an eyebrow in question.

He looked like he was trying not to offend me as he started speaking. "You've been…" He contemplated his words carefully. "Different this past year."

My brow furrowed.

"Not bad different." he continued quickly. "For years you've been…" He hesitated, trying to come up with the phrasinghe wanted. "Sexual, and confident, and everything your clients need you to be. Recently, you've been calmer, I suppose. It's as if you're content instead of overly confident. You simply know who you are and what you offer and that's enough. As a friend?" The term was clearly a question. I smiled and nodded before he continued. "It's been nice to see. I just wasn't sure what brought about the change."

Even though he"d saidit wasn't a bad thing, I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about the fact I had apparently changed when I was with my clients. To be honest I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about anything at that moment. All I could manage was a weak half-smile. "Well, I'm glad it wasn't a bad change."

He wasn"t sure how to respond, and we sat in silence for a few moments.

Eventually Casey spoke. "I don't have a ride until Kim gets here to pick me up from my appointment, but if you want, I can wait in the café."

"Don't be absurd. You're more than welcome here. In fact, go get a cup and join us." Jesse responded before I could get a word out.

Caseylooked slightly more at ease and nodded briefly before following the suggestion. As he left the room, Jess leaned his head back onto my lap and I let my fingers play in his hair. We sat together, the three of us, quietly drinking tea until Kim arrived; each trying to process what had happened that afternoon. When Kim joined usand we explained what happened, she expressed her concern and support. They only stayed a few moments before hugging each of us, and Jesse walked them out, locking the door behind them.

As Jesse came back to me, his eyes caught mine. He looked tired. Tired and scared. I smiled gently as I stood, letting the sheetaround my hips fall to the floor asI pulled him tightly into my arms, crushing him in my embrace. He returned the gesture; his arms holdingme so tightly I could barely breathe. I didn't care. We stood there, each thankful for the other, for a long moment.

"Shower with me before we go home?" I whispered into the bend of his neck.

I heard him sniff quietly before he answered. "Of course."

Fingers tightly intertwined; we made our way to the bathroom. The bedroom was a mess. Thesheets had torn in the altercation, and the broken lamp Casey had used lay on the floor.

"Later." I said, as I led the way to the bathroom whenJesse paused to look around.

I turned on the water and stepped in as Jesse stripped. I wanted all traces of the giant off me. I had already scrubbed myself down once before Jesse followed me under the water. I repeated the process a second time.

Jesse's fingers found my skin. As they roamed along my collarbone and up the front of my throat, his forehead furrowed deeply in anger at the bruises already darkening on my neck. I'd caught a glimpse of them in the mirror as we entered the room.Eventually he backed away and gestured to the marble seat on one side of the shower. I sat without hesitation and leaned my head back against his belly as he stepped behind me to work mint-scented shampoo through my pale tresses.

The first time he'd done this was the night he'd silently taken me home after his school mixer. He'd done it a few times since, and it was always an intense and intimate experience. I closed my eyes and found nothing else in the world existed. I made no attempt to hold myself up as he stepped backward, I knew he'd support my weight as he rinsed the suds away.

He moved in close once more and worked a cream through my hair, untangling the mess it had become during the struggle. We lingered under the nearly too-hot spray until the water began to cool before dressing quietly. Neither of us had much to say as we made our way to the train station and home with our fingers tightly interlaced the entire journey.

We'd barely stepped through the door before his jaw was in my hand and I crushed my mouth to his. Deep.Deeper.I thrust my tongue into the warmth to dance with his. I needed him. I needed to be his. Without a word I pulled away and led him to the bedroom, stripped us both, and fell onto my back, pulling his strong, warm body over mine. There were no words; none were needed.

His mouth possessed mine; grateful I was still here. His body did everythingit could to show me how much he needed me. I stroked his silken shaftbriefly as my knees tightened around his hips and I guided him to my entrance. His lips left mine and glowing, golden orbs hovered so close they were all I could see as he pressed forward. Our gaze held as he inched his way into me, and I fought the urge to let my headfall back as the ecstasy I always felt when his body became a part of mine engulfed me.

My arms wrapped tightly around his back, fingers digging into his shoulders, clutching him to me as if he might disappear. As his hips settled against mine, our lips met once more in a kiss that was as loving and intense as any I'd known. We moved together rhythmically; when his hips pulled back, mine would follow likewaves follow the pull of the moon. He was everything.

We writhed together, bodies slick with sweat,taking pleasure in every inch of connected skin, in the scent and warmth and strength of the other. By the time my body found release, I was long lost to reality. The sudden eruption of heat deep inside as he joined me was all it took for the last remnants of the world to fall away.

As he softened and slipped from me, Irolled him to his back so that I could curl up against his side with my head on his chest. He held me close as he whispered into the darkening room. "I thought I'd lost you. The way you looked on that bed, unmoving…" He trailed off.

"But you didn't."

He said nothing as his arms tightened around me.

When we woke the next morning, I felt almost normal. A night in Jesse's arms had remedied all for me. Still, when he shifted at my side and I knew he was awake, I mumbled into his chest. "Will you cancel my appointments for the rest of the week?" It was Thursday, so only two more days of clients would need to berescheduled.

"Of course. Do you want me to call in to classes and stay with you today?" His voice sounded a bit off.

I leaned up onto an elbow and his fingertips reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear as they so often did. "No. I'm fine. Truly. My neck is just sore, and I'd like to have someoneclean the place before I go back."

His expression darkened, but he nodded, and I curled back up against him.

He left for class soon after we wokeas he usually did, and I spent the day tending to the garden. When he came home that night, he informed me he'd excused himself from Friday's classes, and we spent a blissful three days in one another's arms. He was quieter than normal that weekend. When I asked what was wrong, he"d tell me that he was fine, but he stayed closer to me than usual, often following when I left the room. I couldn't blame him. I didn't want to imagine what it would have been like to walk in and see him lying on that bed. Though apart of me couldn't help but wonder if it was more than that. It was one thing for him to theoretically know what I did behind closed doors, and another for him to have walked in and seen me inside of someone else. I wasn't sure how to ask if that was bothering him, or if it was simply the trauma of seeing me hurt that had him a bit off, so I left it alone for the time being.