"What did she mean when she said I was so vanilla? Does it have something to do with my hair, because I'm blonde?" Riley asked as soon as they got in the town car.

Ashe knew this was coming, Riley asking her questions, and if he didn't, then he was a fool. This was exactly what Catriona had wanted, when she said the words she said.

Ashe took her hand and kissed it, wishing they'd talk about something else or even better, do something else. But then, why couldn't he just answer her question? What was he hiding?

"It has nothing to do with your hair," he said. "Unfortunately, Catriona Marks is not known for her subtlety."

"So what does it mean? She's so...vanilla," Riley asked, her voice mimicking Catriona's words as she pulled her hand away and cross her arms in front of her chest.

"Catriona's tastes are what we call alternative," Ashe said. "In some circles, she's better known as Mistress Cat."

"As in dominatrix, you mean?" She asked before raising her hand to stop him. "No! Actually, don't answer that, Ashe. I don't think I want to know."

For a few moments, Riley didn't speak. She brought her hand to her mouth, her expression distraught as if the thoughts of Ashe and Catriona together came to her mind, unbidden. Then she turned her face towards the window, watching the snow outside as the town car made its way through the streets.

"Riley -"

"It would have been so much better if you'd just said she was your ex-girlfriend," Riley said.

"It would have been, yes," Ashe said. "But I wouldn't be telling you the whole truth now, would I?"

They spent the rest of the ride in silence. Ashe had much to say, but the venue - a town car, of all places - was not the best place to tell Riley the things he wanted her to know about his past, and the people who belonged there. Catriona Marks was part of his past, just as Gareth Roman had been a part of hers. Ashe had learned to respect that. He learned to accept the division made between the past and the present, and trusted Riley in her assurance that she had left the past - and Gareth - behind.

But as far as Ashe knew, Gareth hadn't dabbled in an alternative lifestyle. Neither had Gareth been mentored by a woman such as stage and movie actress Catriona Marks, who paid all the fees required for him to attend RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he earned his BA in Acting, an achievement which, undoubtedly, also helped him get into the Royal Shakespeare Company. When he repaid Catriona with money he made from his first movie, she returned the bank check with the signature line signed not with her name, but with the words, Come back to me.

So Ashe sent her cash, £30,000, not caring whether he drained his bank account in the process. Catriona donated the money to RADA - in his name.

She'd been one of the reasons why he left the world of British entertainment, choosing to throw his hat in the ring that was Hollywood. By then, his sister Hazel had been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer, and treatment options in London were limited. If he landed a good Hollywood career, he would hit two birds with one stone - money to pay for Hazel's treatments, and freedom from Catriona.

But now Catriona had set her sights on Hollywood, her prospects in London growing slim. At 49 years old, she was no spring chicken though Ashe had to admit that she was still stunningly beautiful, with catlike green eyes and full lips that knew the ways to serve him though even that could not erase the hell he had to go through with her.

But that was then.

And as far as Ashe was concerned, Riley was his now.

As the car stopped in front of his Waverly Place building, Riley didn't wait for him to open the door. She told Dave, the driver, to wait for her because she needed him to drive her home, to her apartment in the Upper East Side. She then pushed open the door nearest her and bolted out, hurrying towards the building. She did have her own key to Ashe's condo.

Ashe handed Dave his tip for the evening, a generous one that Dave accepted with a worried smile.

"I'll wait here for Miss Eames -"

"You'll do no such thing," Ashe said. "There's a storm coming. Best to get the car parked and enjoy the rest of your evening. Treat your wife."

"But Mister Hunter -"

"Just go."

But of course, Dave wasn't going to leave, Ashe thought as Dave blasted the heater one notch higher and told him that he'd wait ten minutes for Miss Eames, before he'd leave. Just in case...

Ashe caught up with Riley in his condo, where he found her in the master bedroom, stuffing her clothes inside her large purse, even though it was overflowing. She always loved big purses. It was one of the things he remembered the first time he met her, how her purse was able to carry all her essentials, including a pair of jeans, a vintage t-shirt, and her favorite canvas shoes.

"Riley, we need to talk," Ashe said.

"We don't need to do anything. We're over," Riley said angrily, tears running down her face as she zipped her purse closed. Slinging her purse over her shoulder, she stormed past him towards the hallway.

"If I've accepted your past with Gareth without question, Riley, why can't you accept mine with Catriona?" He asked as she paused by the front door.

"Because -" She paused, the words barely able to come out, for her sobs took over.

Ashe walked behind her. "Because what?"

"Because I can't stand to imagine you as her slave, or sub...or whatever it is you must have been called," she said, her voice breaking. "Is that why you're so busy being perfect for me? So you can erase that past you shared with her as her...as her -"

"I was her Master," Ashe said, his voice deep and low.

Riley turned to face him, her expression confused. "But I thought she was a...a Dominatrix."

"I was her Master," Ashe said again. "To others, she was their Domme. With me, she switched."

"You mean, she was your slave?" Riley asked, before her expression turned angry. "Is that what you want me to be, too? Were you simply grooming me to be your slave one of these days?"

"Have I ever treated you as a slave, Riley?"

Riley shook her head, lowering her gaze. "No."

"Have I ever made you feel like a slave?"

"No," she whispered, looking up at him, though her gaze stayed on his mouth, avoiding his eyes.

"Don't ever mistake any of my actions for anything other than pure love for you, Riley. I have treated with nothing but utmost respect. I have treated you as if you were my queen, and nothing else," Ashe said, tipping her chin up so that she had to look at his eyes. His voice grew hard as he continued, his anger tempered only by the sight of her eyes glistening with fresh tears. "And if it worries you - shames you even - to believe that I was once someone's submissive, remember this. I was never anyone's submissive or slave and never will be, just as I am not your knight in shining armor or your Prince Charming. But what I am - and I have told you this before, Riley, and as far as I know, nothing has changed. What I am, is yours. Heart and soul."

As a tear rolled down her cheek, Ashe brushed it away with his thumb.

"How can you possibly pick me, so...so vanilla, over her?" She stammered. "I have to be honest here, Ashe. Really, I do. I just don't understand how you can forego everyone else, women more beautiful than I am, probably with more daring in the bedroom than I can ever give you, women like Cat -"

"Women like Catriona are what you call a dime a dozen," Ashe said, his anger slowly rising. Why did he have to prove to her why he felt the feelings he felt for her? "I can have any woman I want. I have them lining outside the theater door, discussing the firmness of my ass in online forums, and the size of my dick in bars. But I don't see any of them, Riley, because I only see you. It's always just been you."

"And I'm not about to pick apart the reasons why I choose you, why I love you," he continued. "I'm not going to break you down by the sum of your parts - your eyes, your nose, your lips, your breasts, your pu -" He took a deep breath, stopping himself from continuing, his fist clenched along his side.

"I love all of you, Riley, not just a part of you," he said. "But if that is not enough for you, if my past is proving a hindrance for you to feel the same for me, to respect me as I respect you, then I don't know what else I can do. Maybe then it's better you walked out that door right now and never come back."

"Is that what you want?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"You know what I want, Riley. You know who I want," Ashe said, swallowing. "But right now, the only thing that matters to me is what you want, who you want to be with. Because no matter what you do, what you decide, whether you walk out that door where Dave is waiting to take you home, life will go on. For you, and for me."

When Riley didn't say anything, Ashe lowered his face towards hers and kissed her forehead. He closed his eyes, willing the tears not to fall, for he was nothing but a fool to think he could go on like nothing happened, should Riley walk out the door. She had his heart, and if it was to become his prison, he'd gladly throw away the key.

"I've changed my mind," Riley whispered, biting her lip nervously. "I think I'll stay."

Ashe found himself smiling, the tension between them fading away. "Good. Because I'm afraid Dave's gone home, and the snow's coming down quite hard. I'd hate to have you walk home."

"There's always the subway," she smiled.

"There's also this," Ashe whispered, his hands moving from her face to cup the back of her neck as he kissed her eyelids, feeling her body soften against him. His kisses continued down her cheeks where he tasted the salt of her tears, and then on her lips where he tasted her, feeling her mouth mold with his so perfectly.

There were no words left between them, for this time, their mouths, their hands, their eyes did the talking. His tongue slipped between her lips, plundering her mouth and tasting her. He left her gasping for breath as his mouth found the sensitive skin behind her ear and nibbling a trail down the base of her neck, feeling her body tremble, her arms wrapping around him as she held onto him. When her knees buckled beneath her, Ashe guided her backwards so that she was leaning against the wall, his knee between her legs.

When he returned his attention to her lips, Riley loosened his tie before unbuttoning his shirt and Ashe swore she'd ripped a few buttons in the process.

"I want to be the only one for you," she whispered against his lips as she caught her breath. "There can't be anyone else. Will you promise me that?"

"I made my promise to you a long time ago," he said. "But I'll give you my word again. There's only you, Riley."

"You promise?"

"I promise," he whispered, pulling her hair back and raining kisses across her neck, beginning again at the sensitive area behind her ear that left her gasping and down to the space between her collar bones. Finding the zipper of her dress, he slowly pulled it down, loving the sound it made - soft, slow and sensuous. He took a step back as Riley slipped her arms from her dress and stepped out of it, wearing only her knee-high boots.

"Thank goodness I didn't realize you weren't wearing anything underneath," Ashe said softly as he took a step closer. "Otherwise, we'd have really given them a show at the restaurant."

Riley's cheeks colored and she bit her bottom lip. "Do you like it?"

Ashe brought his hands to her breasts, squeezing them gently before pulling on her nipple clips and hearing her gasp. Then he dipped lower, slipping between her legs and finding her slick and warm against his fingers.

"I love everything about you," he whispered, bringing his hand to his lips. "Especially this."

Riley took his hand and brought it towards her, slipping his two fingers, slick with her wetness, into her mouth as Ashe gasped, her mouth so warm and so soft. She was going to drive him mad, he thought, replacing his fingers with his mouth as he kissed her, deeper this time, no longer wanting to wait another moment for his surrender.

Ashe lifted her in his arms and carried her to the master bedroom. He lay her on the bed, amidst the rose petals he'd sprinkled earlier that evening, giving Ashe a delectable view of her body as he slipped off her boots, one at time and undressed as she watched him with heavily lidded eyes. Then he lay between her legs, planting soft kisses on the inside of her thighs as Riley moaned and whimpered, her body tightening when his mouth found her sensitive folds, his tongue dipping into her wetness.

Ashe couldn't remember a time as sexually charged as this moment, hearing her cry out his name as she lay on the bed, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she drank his fill of her. She writhed from the onslaught of his mouth and his tongue as he tasted her, feeling her shatter before him as her back arched like a bowed string, then loosened as he caught her sensitive bud between his teeth and sucked.

When her body shuddered with her release, Ashe positioned himself between her legs and entered her, seeking his own surrender. She clung to him then, her mouth seeking to claim him as he lowered his head towards her.

"Look at me," Ashe whispered as he made love to her, his fingers digging into her skin as she opened her blue eyes and looked at him. He loved looking into her eyes whenever he made love to her, watching her shatter before him as she did then, crying out his name. It was that connection with her that Ashe craved like she was the air that he breathed.

When his own release came, Ashe buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent of her hair, of roses blended with that which was just Riley's. She was both his ambrosia and his weakness.

But most of all, she was his.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note: I know it's a big bomb to drop, but for those of you who've read Loving Ashe, he did warn her while they were Atlantic City (His Surprise) that he'd done things in his past to get to where he is that he's not proud of. I always thought Ashe to be this restrained individual who was always in control of his emotions, to the point that some readers consider the dialogue in Loving Ashe stilted, and too formal. But it just goes to show you just never know the real person until you dig a little deeper...

Ready with your shovels?