NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE, Part 1: Guarding the Broken

Chapter 7

When I woke in the morning, I was pinned down onto the mattress. Panic surged through me until I heard the soft snore and realised it was Ashton. I was on my back, and he was lying half on his side with his other half on me, his arm and leg slung casually over me and his face buried in the crook of my neck.

A quick glance at the alarm clock told me it was almost eleven thirty in the morning. I'd never slept in this late in my life, well, not without a substantial hangover anyway. Ashton moved slightly, his hand cupped the side of my head as his face nuzzled into my neck, making a sleepy moaning sound. I smiled and poked him in the ribs roughly.

He grunted and jerked up, frowning at me through sleepy, half open eyes. His nose scrunched up as he regarded me with clear confusion for a split second before his eyes widened. He gasped and jumped out of the bed so fast that he almost fell on his butt.

"Whoa, shit! I'm sorry! You okay?" he asked, his voice panicked, holding up his hands innocently. I nodded and smiled at him, trying not to laugh. He looked so funny; I'd never seen anyone move so fast. He blew out a big breath and his shoulders relaxed as he raked a hand through his messy black hair.

"I'm fine, calm down." I sat up, stretching my arms above my head. I groaned as my joints cracked and protested to the movement. My body ached all over; my muscles were tight and uncomfortable from my feeble attempts at fighting him the day before.

"Jeez, Anna, I'm really sorry. I didn't realise I was asleep on you like that. You should have pushed me off or something." He winced apologetically. I smiled as I noticed how cute he looked when he'd just woken up. His eyes were still sleepy; he had the line of my tank top imprinted across the bottom of his jaw where he'd been asleep on me, and his hair was sticking up everywhere.

"Don't worry about it, the lying on me was fine, it was the snoring I almost smothered you for," I joked, climbing out of the bed and grabbing my bath robe.

"I don't snore!" he protested, and then he frowned, looking at me curiously. "Do I?"

I burst out laughing, raising one eyebrow incredulously. "You don't know whether you snore or not? Haven't girls ever told you?" I scoffed. How could any girl not tease the life out of him for it? He was so loud, I'm surprised he didn't wake himself up.

He sat on the edge of the bed and shrugged. "I've never stayed the night with a girl before."

I glanced over my shoulder to see if he was joking. Nope, no signs of humour there. "Really? How come?" I asked, plopping down on the bed next to him and crossing my legs.

"I told you, I've never really had a girlfriend, so..." he trailed off, shrugging casually.

"Wow, you really are a player! So you fuck the girls then it's just like what, 'Thanks, ma'am', and you leave?" I guessed, laughing.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a player! I told you, I've just never met anyone who I wanted to spend the night with," he explained.

I smiled. "Until now."

He nodded. "Yeah, until now. But I've never once said 'thanks ma'am'!" he said, grinning.

Before I could protest, his arm shot across my shoulders and he pushed me so that I fell back on to the bed. He lay down next to me, pressing his body to my side. My heart started to race, but I wasn't scared because I could see he was joking. He was watching me intently, probably to make sure he was alright doing this.

"Well, thanks for letting me spend the night, ma'am" he whispered sexily. My breath caught in my throat at the husky sound of his voice.

"You're welcome, Agent," I answered. "And thanks for staying the night, I slept really well." I could feel the blush heating my cheeks because I'd spent the night in a bed with him and I'd had his body wrapped around mine when I woke.