12. Asher

CHAPTER 12

ASHER

I should bein my office catching up on emails and messages from the website and checking up on the irrigation system that’s now gone out on the west side of the orchard, but instead I’m exactly where I want to be.

Before Madelyn got here, I hardly ever worked the fields. Not during pruning season, but yet, here I am, and I’m loving every minute of it.

I’ve never laughed as much as I have when working side by side with her. And I’ve succeeded in not fucking her against a peach tree. I’ve thought about it all day long, but I’ve refrained.

“You love this, don’t you?”

I search her face. Can she tell just by looking at me what I’m thinking? My forehead creases in confusion.

She points to the orchard around us. “You love working on your family’s orchard?”

I turn back to the peach tree. “It’s all I’ve really known. Our parents died a long time ago. My older brother Owen stayed until Beau turned eighteen, and then when he moved, it just made sense for me to take over.”

“How long ago was that?”

I try to calculate in my head. “Uh, well, Beau is twenty-eight, so I guess around ten years ago.”

She nods and continues to talk as she continues to work. “Have you ever wanted to leave?”

I guess I’m quiet for too long because she turns to look at me. There’s no hiding the discomfort on my face. This is not something I ever talk about, and I sure as hell didn’t expect to be talking about it today.

When I say nothing, she shakes her head. “Forget it. It’s none of my business. Sorry for being nosy.”

“No, it’s okay.” I take a deep breath and let it out. “I uh, I just never really talk about it, but it was a long time ago.” There’s a part of me that can’t believe I’m doing this and then there’s another part of me that wants her to know. “I uh, was married.”

She stops working and turns to look at me. The only way I can describe it is pure jealousy on her face. That’s what keeps me talking. “It was good while it was good, but it wasn’t good long, if that makes sense.”

She walks over to me. “What happened?”

“Uh, it wasn’t really one thing. There were a lot of little things, but what turned it all around was after one bad winter. We uh, well, the orchard barely survived it. Janet, she’s my ex, wasn’t ready for that kind of life. She didn’t want to sacrifice fashion, traveling, or anything really. Her family had money. I thought she understood what kind of life the orchard would afford us, but in the end, she wanted a certain kind of life, and I couldn’t give it to her.”

I pause, remembering all the fights and how I felt when I couldn’t make my wife happy. “She wanted me to sell.”

Madelyn slaps her hand on her hip. “The Wild Peach? She wanted you to sell the orchard? Your family’s farm?”

“Yeah, she wanted me to sell and for me and her to move to the city. I couldn’t do it.” I shake my head. “Don’t get me wrong. I considered it, but I knew I couldn’t do it. My family needed this place… hell, they still do. I couldn’t just…”

Madelyn holds her hand up and presses it to the side of my face. I’ve been looking off in the distance, partly ashamed of my past, and she pulls me down until my eyes are on her. “I get it. She should have gotten it too. I may have only met one of your brothers, but it’s obvious what your family and this orchard means to you. She shouldn’t have asked you to choose.”

As I search Madelyn’s blue eyes, I can’t help but wonder if history is repeating itself. I’m a fool to get involved with her because in some ways, she’s just like Janet. She’s rich, she’s talked about traveling, and she’s young. She probably has no desire to settle down anytime soon. This will probably lead to nowhere, and one or both of us will end up hurt, but there are parts of me that knows Madelyn is nothing like my ex-wife. And that freaks me out too.

“It actually worked out. Janet is remarried and living in the city. Last I heard, she had a kid too.”

Madelyn tilts her head to the side. “And you have the Wild Peach?”

I nod, even though for the first time ever, I’ve wondered if it’s enough. All this time, the orchard, my family and my brothers have been my priority. One night with Madelyn and I want more. But I don’t say that. I just answer her with “Yeah, I have the Wild Peach.”

She leans her body against mine, pressing her breasts against me. “What are you thinking about right now?”

I look down to where our bodies are touching. “You probably don’t want to know.”

She giggles and slides her hands up around my neck. “I can handle it. Tell me.”

I lean down and capture her lips with my own. I’m not sure what it is, but if she’s close, I want to touch and kiss her. “I want to fuck you against a peach tree.”

She gasps, but the way her eyes light up tells me she wants it too. “What about the others?”

I nip at her ear. “Nope, I don’t want them… just you.”

“Har har,” she says. “I mean, I really don’t want everyone I work with to see my bare ass.”

I pull back. “Honey, if you think I’m going to let anyone see you like that, you’re mistaken. I wouldn’t let that happen.”

She looks around again. “But…”

I pull her chin up to look at me. “Do you trust me?”

She nods her head and tells me simply, “Yes.”

I put my hands at her waist and pick her up. Instantly her legs go around my waist. I carry her down the lane in the opposite direction from where everyone is working. I stop next to the side-by-side and set her in the seat.

After running toward the driver’s seat and sitting down, I take off toward the west side of the property.

“Where are you taking me?”

I put one hand on the steering wheel and the other on her thigh. “I thought I made that clear. I’m taking you to fuck you against a peach tree.”

She looks out at all the trees we’re passing and then back at me.

“No one’s working on the west end of the orchard.”

She puts her hand on mine.

I press harder on the gas even though I already have it to the floor. When we get as far away as possible, I slam on the brakes and am out before the side-by-side gets completely stopped.

Madelyn starts to laugh. “Asher! What’s the rush? You’re going to hurt yourself.”

I help her out of the recreational vehicle. “I need to be inside you.”

“You know this morning was just a few hours ago.”

“Too long,” I mutter against her neck as I kiss her. She tilts her head back to give me better access, and I undo her jeans. She kicks off her tennis shoes, and I pull her jeans and panties down her hips and drop them to the ground.

Her hands are everywhere, pulling my shirt up and pressing against my stomach. She’s trying to undo my jeans, and I help her. As soon as I get them down my thighs, I pick her up. She puts one hand on the tree behind her. “Asher.” She gasps in surprise.

“Fuck, I can’t wait. Can I…?” My voice trails off because what I’m asking is crazy. I just need to be in her.

She leverages herself and puts her hand between us, wrapping it around my girth. “Use me, Asher. Do whatever you want.”

“Fuck,” I grunt.

As soon as I’m at her entrance, I bring her down and impale her with my hard cock. She groans and winces as the tree scrapes against her back.

I immediately stop. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”

She grips my shoulders. “No, don’t stop.”

I want to move, but I don’t. “I’ll never take my pleasure when you have pain, baby.”

She searches my face. “Put me down.”

“But…” I start and stop instantly. She asked to be put down, so I pull out of her and let her body slide down mine.

As soon as her feet hit the ground, she looks around. “You sure no one is around here?”

“I’m sure.”

She reaches for the hem of her shirt, pulls it over her head, and then quickly undoes her bra and lets it fall to the ground. I’m on her in an instant. “Fuck, you’re perfect.”

She cups my manhood, kisses me, and then says, “I can say the same thing about you.”

She pushes out of my arms, turns her back to me, and puts her hands against the tree. She looks at me over her shoulder. “Is this okay?”

My mouth drops as I look at her with her ass in the air, her back arched, and her big eyes looking up at me. I kick off my boots, take my pants the rest the way off, and move up to her. Reaching out, I press my hands to her ass. I wasn’t lying because she really is perfect. “Yeah,” I grunt. “This is perfect.”

I slide my hand between her thighs and run my fingers through her wet slit.

Madelyn whimpers and pleads with me, “Yes, Asher. Please.”

I line myself up and enter her slowly. The farther I sink into her, the more she clenches on to me. When I’m buried deep inside her, I start to thrust. My hands grip her waist, and I hold on as I plow in and out. She moans my name, and it’s a little bit of everything that’s about to push me over the edge. I reach around her and rub her clit as I move in and out of her.

She vibrates under me and starts to writhe and jerk. Her pussy contracts, clenching onto me like a vise.

“Come with me, Madelyn.”

As if we’re one, we both orgasm, and I roar as my body loses all control and jerks as I shoot my seed deep inside of her. I’m panting as I lean over her, pressing my front to her back.

When I catch my breath, I lift up, bringing her with me. Slowly I pull out of her, and she turns. There’s pure vulnerability on her face as she looks at me and I bring her close. We stand here for a few minutes, just enjoying being in each other’s arms. “Let’s go eat up at the house.”

She pulls back. “Asher, I should work. I feel like I’m taking advantage—”

I cut her off. “You work harder than most of the men here, Maddie. There’s no way you’re taking advantage.”

She seems surprised by the compliment, and I know from this point on, I’m going to make it a point to tell her how I much I appreciate her hard work. She brushes her hair off her face, and when she does, she wipes blood across her forehead. I grab her hands. “You’re bleeding.”

I look at both of her palms, and sure enough, there’s a cut that has blood smeared across it.

She tries to pull her hand from mine. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You’re bleeding.”

I walk away from her, kicking myself. I just had to fuck her against a tree. What the hell is wrong with me? As I beat myself up over my poor idea, I grab her clothes and help her get dressed. As soon as she’s covered, I pull my pants on and then use my shirt to clean her palm. “But your shirt—”

I tensely look at her hand, trying to stop the bleeding. “I don’t care about my shirt, Maddie.” I suck in a deep breath and blow it out. “I’m sorry about your hand. I shouldn’t have—”

She cuts me off. “So help me, Asher Wild, if you’re about to tell me we shouldn’t have done that, I’m going to scream.”

I raise her hand up and kiss her palm. “I don’t regret that… but I do regret hurting you.”

She goes to her tiptoes and loops her free hand around my neck. “Well, kiss me and make it better.”

I wrap my hand around her neck and kiss her until she’s breathless. I don’t know what it is about Madelyn Weston, but I’m hooked, and I’m already dreading the day she leaves me.