Mated To An Enemy

Chapter 706 Replace The Cold And Bitter Memories

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[Present]

Ashleigh took a deep breath as she opened her eyes and the vigil from five years ago fell away. Caleb sat in the chair beside her. He was hunched over with his elbows against his knees, holding him up as his head hung down.

She could feel some of what he was feeling through the connection they shared. His sadness, guilt, and frustration.

She didn’t know what he must be thinking. For five years, she had searched for him, missed him. She had blamed him and held tightly to the anger she felt to keep from feeling the heartbreak of losing him.

But for him, it had been only days. Now, she had shown him his own funeral. He had witnessed the people he loved mourning him through her eyes.

Ashleigh felt a knot in her stomach. She had wanted to make him witness because she had to. To make him feel all that loss because she had to.

She sighed to herself.

After all these years, was she still so childish?

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Caleb sniffled and sat up. He turned to her with furrowed brows and red-rimmed eyes. The trail of tears he had shed shone on his face.

“What for?” he asked.

Ashleigh looked away toward the fire.

“I shouldn’t have made you experience that moment,” she said softly. “It was selfish and cruel.”

She licked her lips and took a deep breath.

“I have held onto this anger for so long, even now when I have you back, and I feel so happy and grateful, I just…” she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat as she felt the warm tickle in her nose that signaled the gathering of tears that would soon blur her vision.

She took a breath, letting it out slowly.

“Ash…” he whispered, reaching out and taking her hand. “Look at me, please.”

Ashleigh hesitated but turned to look at Caleb. He smiled warmly and looked into her eyes with affection and love.

“I cannot begin to imagine how you have felt all these years, how much pain you have endured,” he said. “But if that anger is what kept me in your heart, what kept you from giving up on me, on us… I will take it all and more.”

Ashleigh sniffled, and her jaw quivered as she listened to his words.

“If it helps to ease any part of your pain, I will relive that moment for you a thousand times,” he continued. “Show me anything, everything.”

Caleb reached out, wiping her tears with his thumb, and then held her cheek in his palm.

“Let me experience your pain, your misery, your joy. Every part of you, Ashleigh, is what I want… then, now, and always.”

Ashleigh let out a sob. Caleb got out of his chair and moved to the floor before her. He planned to kneel before and praise her, comforting her until he could draw a smile from her lips. But, as he moved to his knees, Ashleigh threw herself into his arms.

Caleb held her close as her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms held tightly to his neck. Ashleigh’s tears fell uncontrolled.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to live in that horrible moment… I want to be here with you... in this moment when you have finally come back to me.”

Caleb stroked her back gently.

“I’m here,” he whispered. “I promise you, I am here.”

Seeing his vigil had been grueling. Watching as each person stepped forward to make their offering. Knowing the memories they shared and watching the pain in their eyes as they said goodbye.

Ashleigh’s anger and resentment were understandable. He knew that it was a mask for the pain she felt. In her heart, she wailed louder and harder than any other. But she couldn’t accept that pain, so she used it to fuel the anger, and the anger fueled her drive to find him.

It hurt to see her like that, but he had her in his arms. He could comfort her. He could talk to her and reassure her that he was truly back.

But the look that his mother wore, that Galen wore. Those had cut deep into his heart.

He needed to return home. He needed to see them, to tell them how sorry he was for the pain he had caused them.

Ashleigh could feel his guilt settling over him again. Though, rationally, she understood where it came from and why, the part of her that was shaken by the memory of the vigil felt as though he were slipping away into the cold darkness of the past. The sadness and guilt crept in between them, threatening to pull them apart again.

She felt a panic building in her heart, a need for warmth, reassurance, and their connection to be strengthened.

Caleb continued to stroke her back and whisper in her ear, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more of him to calm her worried heart.

Ashleigh loosened her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Her hands rested on his shoulders, and her knees dropped to the floor on either side of his legs.

“Ash?” he called to her, noticing the change.

She leaned beside his ear and parted her lips just enough to nibble at the top.

Caleb gasped, and his hand on her back pressed against her.

Ashleigh reached behind her to his hand as her tongue moved over his ear. She took his hand and brought it back around her body to her stomach.

“Ashleigh,” Caleb whispered with a soft pant, already feeling the effect of her mouth anywhere on his body. “What are you doing?”

“I feel cold,” she whispered against his ear. “That memory… was so cold…”

She moved his hand down her stomach, slipping their fingers beneath the waistline of the pajama bottoms and the panties she wore.

“Warm me up,” she whispered, then bit down on his ear lobe.

Caleb hissed with pain and pleasure as her teeth sank into his flesh while her fingers guided his over her.

Ashleigh moaned into his ear and rolled her hips as she pressed his hand firmly against her mound. With her other hand, Ashleigh reached up and tangled her fingers into his hair, grabbing hold and tugging it back to expose his throat. She bent forward and bit down on his throat, sucking and licking as she moved against his hand.

Caleb allowed her to move him how she pleased. He groaned as she bit down on his throat and tugged at his hair. His heart was racing, and his excitement was well on its way to matching hers.

As she continued to rock against his hand, Caleb extended his middle finger into her hot folds. Ashleigh gasped and paused her movements, tugging harder on his hair as his finger grazed her sensitive bud.

Caleb released a soft growl and moved his hand, pressing and making small circles against her clit. Ashleigh let out a moan and bit his collar. She pulled her hand away from his, bringing it up to help brace her against his shoulder as he teased and probed her.

He moved his thick finger down into her wetness, slipping inside. Ashleigh cried out and gripped his shoulder. Caleb slipped in a second finger before moving and curling them inside of her. Ashleigh gasped and moaned, rocking her hips without even meaning to.

Caleb turned and caught her lips, kissing her fiercely as he moved inside her. Ashleigh dug her nails into his shoulder and pulled on his hair. His aggressive kiss filled her mouth while his fingers plunged in and out of her lower half driving her wild. Her heart raced, and the heat in her belly threatened to explode.

She groaned into his mouth as he curled his fingers and hit the spot that pushed her over the edge. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders until she broke the skin as her body shook from the release of her pleasure.

Ashleigh took deep breaths and closed her eyes as Caleb eased her back to lie against the chair while she tried to recover. Her entire body tingled with warmth and the electric feeling left behind by her orgasm.

She felt her knees being lifted and pressed together. She furrowed her brows and opened her eyes to see Caleb lifting her lower half off the ground.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Caleb smiled and reached forward to her waist. He grabbed her pants and the panties below them, yanking them down over her hips and thighs and then past her knees to land beside him.

He lowered her back down and pulled her knees apart. Ashleigh swallowed as she was spread open before him. Her heart was racing again, and she licked her lips.

“You had to know we weren’t done yet,” he whispered, his hand moving down to his own waistline. He tucked his thumbs under the fabric and lowered them to free his hardened cock.

Ashleigh swallowed and took slow deep breaths as the fire inside was ignited again. Caleb smiled and sat back, removing his pants entirely.

He then got to his knees and crawled forward until he was directly above her. She could feel the tip of him pressing against her entrance. Ashleigh released a shaky breath as he slipped his hand under her lower back and lifted her just enough to place her legs over his.

When he finally had her in position, Caleb reached between them, taking himself firmly in his hand. He moved against her until she groaned with desire, and her hips arched toward him naturally. He grinned and lined himself up again.

Caleb slowly moved into her, clenching his jaw and taking slow breaths as he dipped into the heat of her core and the creaminess of her juices. He wanted to thrust into her wildly until they were both satisfied. Still, he needed to ensure she felt every movement. That she was assured that all they were experiencing together now was real.

He needed to replace the cold and bitter memories of the past. To fill her with the heat of his desire and the longing in his heart.

Ashleigh’s arms had found their way to his shoulders once more. Her nails dug into him as he stretched her walls until he was completely buried in her.

Caleb leaned forward and kissed her. Ashleigh looked up at him, taking tiny breaths as the thick pulsing of her walls around him sent ripples of pleasure through her body.

“I’m not going to stop,” Caleb whispered in a thick voice, “until neither of us can move anymore.”

Ashleigh licked her lips as her heart raced with anticipation.