35. A Desire

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A little Recap (just like many of you wanted :))-

After discovering about the fact that Ashton has been hiding his identity, that of a painter, from her while she had been pretty vocal about her life, she feels betrayed and decides to put an end to her 'friendship' with him. But his persistency doesn't let her do it as he lands up in her apartment to sort out things. He tells her about his past (no, I'm not explaining that here, lol) and asks her if she knows that he likes her or not. Very cleverly, she dodges his question and thinks of it as a joke. After a prolonged test of Ashton's patience, he decides to take matters in his hand, by kissing her.


CHAPTER – 35 (not at all proofread, bear the mistakes)


LOVE IS... A DESIRE


'Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.' – Robert Frost


The first time Ashton and I had shared a kiss, no, hell lot of kisses, was on that drunken night four months ago. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't exactly recall how those kisses had felt; courtesy my drunken state, but I remember them being a perfect distraction from my cheating ex-boyfriend.

The second time he had kissed me was at my cousin, Seth's wedding, successfully taking me off guard. However, being off guard didn't mean that I hadn't reciprocated. This time, it was not my boyfriend who had betrayed me, it was my hormones. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't forget the electrifying feeling that that kiss had ignited in me, the warmth that had filled my heart along with the confused mess that my mind had converted into. I couldn't forget the feeling of belonging in his arms. I couldn't forget how he had felt just like home.

And now, when he kissed me ever so softly, lighting the fireworks all over, I couldn't help but kiss him back. This time, it was neither the distraction from my betraying ex-boyfriend nor my deprived hormones that compelled me to kiss him back like my life depended on it; because this time, I blamed my treacherous heart; the heart, which couldn't believe that Ashton, the guy who had managed to make a permanent place in it, was kissing me, and thereby telling me that he actually liked me.

He bit my lower lip, quickly changing the soft kiss to an urgent one, and I resolved to play the blame game some time later and getting engrossed in the kiss and his manly musk fragrance that had effectively enveloped around me. His hands found their way to my back, running up and down till the curve of my hips while mine rested on his chest, caressing his toned muscles, and feeling his racing heartbeat. He pressed himself completely against me, making me melt into him, as he ran his tongue over my lips. My mouth fell open on its own accord and he slipped his eager tongue in my equally eager mouth. And that was the start of yet another round of fireworks; fireworks that I didn't want to put an end to. Thankfully, Ashton had the same opinion as he didn't stop there. His hands slipped to my hips and in a quick motion, he picked me up, making me gasp and he chuckled into the kiss. With his strong, rough hands, he wrapped my legs around his torso and walked towards the table. During this ordeal, one of my hands grabbed a fistful of his T-shirt and the other went to his amazing soft hair.

The horny Liana wanted more of Ashton, and it was bad.

The way he held me with one hand and cleaned a little part of the table with his other hand, showed that he wanted me equally bad. Contrary to his hot and bothered kiss, he handled me with care and made me sit on the table. The sound of a glass breaking made me break the kiss, much to both of our disappointment and look at the broken glass, which was right next to Ashton's feet.

A gasp escaped my lips and I managed to whisper in a state of breathlessness, "That was my favorite glass crockery." Apparently, while handling me with care, he didn't handle my glass crockery with care. Not that I was complaining.

Lifting my chin with his hand, he chuckled and whispered back, "We'll get a new one." My heart skipped a beat at how he had said 'we' and I smiled at him. His desire filled eyes fell on my lips and his lips curled up in his heart stopping smile. With that smile intact on his lips, his eyes roamed all over my face while one of his hands, caressed my cheek, eventually tucking my hair behind my ear.

I couldn't help but return the gesture. All I could do was look at him with the happiest smile on my face and take in every feature of his perfect face.

I loved his smile.

I loved how his beautiful eyes brightened whenever he genuinely smiled, like he was doing now.

I loved how his hands were touching me, making not just butterflies flutter like crazy, but an entire forest go berserk in my stomach.

I loved his earth shattering kiss.

I loved how he was looking at me like I was the only girl in this world that mattered to him.

"Liana, you're f*cking amazing," he whispered and kissed me again; demanding my attention, my touch, my mouth with complete desire. And I gave it all to him because I wanted the same things from him. He caressed my cheek with his hand and I sighed into the kiss. I felt him smile as we continued the sweet assault on our lips and I couldn't help but smile back. But his smile changed to a groan and mine to a frown when the doorbell disturbed us.

Who invented these stupid, useless doorbells anyway?

Despite of the groan and the frown, we silently decided to ignore the doorbell and concentrate on the heated kiss, but the person waiting for me to open the door seemed persistent.

"I f*cking hate doorbells." Ashton groaned, pulling apart from the kiss.

"I should see who it is," I managed to breath while chuckling at his valid outrage.

Ashton scowled. "I should kill whoever it is."

I grinned at his humor and he mirrored my expression. He leaned in for yet another kiss, but I sympathized with the person waiting at the door, so I ducked him and said, "Maybe it's Dad."

He pulled back in confusion and asked, "Why would he be here?"

With a slight smirk, I answered, "Probably to tell me the various side effects of kissing."

He laughed at my joke and pecked me, taking me by slight surprise, before whispering, "I can list the many benefits."

This time, it was me who laughed and lightly pushed him back when we heard yet another doorbell. "Shut up." I chuckled over my shoulder as I sprinted towards the door.

"You can shut me up," he replied, making me blush.

Once I reached the door, I took a deep breath and covered my face with my hands to stop the blush that was spreading on my cheeks and to control the ear splitting grin I had on my face.

Ashton actually liked me.

That made me smile some more and I was brought back by another doorbell. With the delightful expressions intact on my face, I opened the door and found a distressed Stephanie there.

Upon seeing me, her worried expressions changed to that of relief and in an instant, she pulled me in a hug tight. "I thought something happened to you, you idiot. Where were you? You weren't answering your phone and you took a decade to answer the door. Is Ashton rubbing off on you? You never took such a long time to answer the door," she rambled while I grinned some more in complete happiness.

"I'm so sorry, Steph." She pulled out of the hug and stared at my face.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a confused frown. "You look. . . thrilled."

I stopped the ear splitting grin that was threatening to tear apart my face by biting my lips and told her, "I'm fine."

She raised her eyebrows at my response. "You look more than fine."

Before I could do anything other than smile, Ashton came out of the kitchen and announced, "It helps in burning calories." We looked in his direction with a confused frown and saw him leaning against the kitchen door with a huge smirk plastered on his very handsome face, staring right back at me. His random statement settled in my head and my eyes widened when I realized that he was pointing out the benefit of kissing. This jerk!

"Holy sh*t! Is that Ashton?" Stephanie asked, shock evident in her voice and on her face. My eyes widened in surprise at her shock and before I could express it, she added, "Without the beard!"

I understood her surprise and nodded my head when she looked at me for confirmation. Forgetting about her concern for me, she went towards him and stared at his face for a pretty long time. "Even I have never looked at myself for this long," Ashton mumbled, rolling his eyes

"Not my fault that you look hotter," Stephanie told him. "Liana, you should have included my name in the list of candidates." She pouted while I gaped at her. Ashton's smirk grew bigger and my cheeks reddened at the unnerving look he was suddenly giving me.

Like hell I would have done that!

"It lowers blood pressure," he said out of the blue, saving me in one way and putting me in trouble in another.

'Shut up!' I mouthed to him with my features contradicting my words.

"What lowers blood pressure?" Steph asked, obviously confused with everything that was happening around her.

He looked towards Steph and smiled at her. Her eyes widened in surprise. "I'm listing out the many benefits to Liana." An inaudible gasp escaped my lips as I shook my head, asking him to not say anything to her.

Steph looked back at me and I changed my head shaking motion to a neck rotating one. I looked back at her while she continued staring at me as if I was the weird one. Probably, I was. "Benefits of what?" she asked me.

Before Ashton could spill the beans, I told her, "Of working out." In response, she let out an 'oh' while Ashton snorted.

"You want to have some coffee? We were about to have some," I told her as I started walking towards the kitchen.

"Sure," she answered and followed me inside. I bit my lips as my eyes fell on the table where Ashton and I were just about to go wild. My cheeks reddened a deeper red when I reached the counter where he had started kissing me and I mentally thanked God that neither Ashton nor Steph could see me at this moment. My face would have been a huge giveaway.

"Ashton, what are you doing here today? It's Sunday and you don't work on Sundays, right?" My head snapped towards her when she asked him this question.

His eyes widened slightly and I watched as he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out of it. My lips broke into a grin when he scratched the back of his head, definitely thinking of something to say. He looked cute and I, again, wanted to kiss him.

He looked at me and I passed a big innocent smile to him. It was he who had told me last Sunday that he didn't work on Sundays. It wasn't my fault.

"I came here to convince Liana that working out is very good," he said with a straight face.

She looked at me from top to bottom and again, bottom to top with a frown. "Oh God! Liana, you've love handles. You definitely need to work out. Let's join the nearby gym. We'll work out together." Her enthusiastic self took control of her sane self and I shook my head at her.

"Don't worry about her. I'll make sure that she works out properly and regularly," Ashton interrupted her.

That was my cue to blush and I turned around to focus on making coffee for my best friend. I was very well aware of what kind of working out he was talking about. Not that I was going to refuse.

"Yeah, whatever suits you, Lia," Steph said. "Sh*t! Isn't that your favorite crockery scattered all over the floor? What happened here?" she shrieked, making me jump slightly.

I face palmed myself when I realized what she was talking about. I had completely forgotten to clean the kitchen, not that I even got the time to do so amidst our making out and Steph's arrival. I glanced towards Ashton, silently asking him for help, which he thankfully did. "That shows her excitement for working out-" My eyes widened at what he was saying, while he continued after a slight pause, "-with me." He finished off with a huge smirk on his face.

"Well, more like your excitement, Ashton." I smirked back. It was he who threw everything off the table. His smirk grew bigger and I could see the desire in his eyes again.

How weird was it that we were talking about our excitement like we were discussing about the stupid weather?

Steph broke our eye contact when she said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but, yes, you should definitely work out, Lia. Working out makes us happier and keeps us healthy." With this, I welcomed the columnist Stephanie Wills in this conversation. I turned a deaf ear when she started with her own list of benefits of working out. Ashton was nothing but amused with her contribution to the topic, while I served coffee for the three of us. She continued listing the many benefits, while I started enjoying the heavenly taste of the black goodness.

"Yup, it helps in fighting off cavities. It helps in toning your facial muscles. Most importantly, it calms you down and promotes pleasure," Ashton added, gaining my attention and making me choke.

My choking and coughing didn't bother Steph as she asked him, "What are you talking about?"

I managed to look at him with narrowed eyes while he smirked happily at me. Before Ashton could reply, his phone rang and he went out of the room to attend it, thankfully.

"What was he talking about? Steph directed her question to me, clearly confused with everything.

Wide-eyed, I told her, "I have no idea. You say, what's up with you?" I was quick to change the topic.

My question changed her mood completely. With creases on her forehead, she told me. "Shane called me."

"What?" My shock was clear in my loud voice.

She started fidgeting with her cotton scarf while I waited for her to say something. I could not believe that jerk whom she had a convenient 'friends with benefits' relationship called her again. She had moved over him or had she?

"What did he say?" I asked her.

"He-he said he was really sorry for how things went between us. He wants to meet me and he said that he really misses me," she mumbled. I could see how one phone call had affected her, and the worst part was that I didn't want her to get affected in any way. Shane was not good for her. Wasn't she dating Ashton's amazing best friend? She couldn't do this to him.

"Okay." I breathed out. "You said no, right?"

"Are you crazy, Lia? Of course, I said yes. I'm meeting him tonight for dinner," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I wanted to shake her to bring her brains to their proper place. I wanted to shout at her for being so utterly stupid. I wanted to curse her for using Ashton's best friend while she was so hung up on Shane. "Don't do anything that you would regret later on, Steph, and you very well know that being with Shane is something you'll always regret. And, I would never forgive you if you end up hurting Ashton's best friend. You're dating him, aren't you?"

"Sherlock; he is Sherlock today," she answered with a fond smile.

She was confusing me. Maybe she was going to meet Shane for a new beginning or maybe to put an end to everything she had with him. Whatever she was about to do, I didn't want her to get hurt or Sherlock to get hurt. He was way too amazing to be sad or depressed.

After taking the last sip of her coffee, she got up and hugged me briefly. "I'll make sure I do the right thing this time. Thanks, Lia."

"I hope so too, Steph." I smiled and watched her leave.

Finishing my coffee, I got up to search Ashton in my tiny apartment. "Ashton," I called.

"Over here," he answered from my room.

Frowning, I went inside and saw him staring at the painting on my wall; the painting that he had painted of me.

"Come here," he called me and I went towards him. He held me by my shoulders and made me stand facing him, against the wall where the painting was hanging. He looked from the painting to me and back to the painting.

"I feel so foolish for not being able to identify myself in this painting," I confessed, feeling highly embarrassed.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Not your fault. I focused on your amazingly expressive eyes, anyways."

I smiled at him. "I know. No wonder, I could relate to her eyes so much."

He smiled back and I felt my insides melt at the way he was looking at me. "But I couldn't do justice to you. You're way more beautiful."

Blood rushed to my cheeks, yet again and he grinned. "We're going out today."

Furrowing my eyebrows, I reminded him, "But you don't work on Sundays."

He tapped my forehead with his knuckle very lightly, taking me by surprise at the sweet gesture and said, "You're not work, Liana."

A huge smile spread on my lips at his response and I couldn't help but look in his gorgeous grey eyes with all the love and longing I felt for him. Caressing my cheek, he stepped towards me. He trapped me against the wall and said, "It improves immunity, relieves you of cramps and headaches. It lowers anxiety."

Staring right back in his desire filled eyes, I whispered, "Maybe we should get back to working out. I would like to enjoy all the benef-"

Before I could complete my sentence, his lips were on mine, making me go insane with all the love and desire I felt for him. I wanted to ask so many things from him, I wanted to make things clear between us, I wanted to know what exactly we were and for how long, I wanted to know what would happen when I would move away at the end of the month, but I pushed all my thoughts deep inside my head and asked them not to resurface in the near future.

It chose to bask in the glory of his affection and his hot, sensual yet sweet kisses rather than my dark, confused and messed up thoughts. It was better that way. I was happy.

********


A/N

It's not the end. Obviously. They have issues to sort out. How was it, people? Liked it? Loved it? No option of hating it! :D

I'm engaged! Yayy! Thank you everyone for all your lovely, heartwarming wishes. I can't thank you all enough. You guys have no idea how much your wishes mean to me. It was an amazing ceremony. Everything my fiancé and I wanted t to be. Though, I would like to clear, that we're not married yet, just engaged as of now. :D

Thanks! <3 Loads of love!

Raima.


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