6. Avery
Chapter 6
Avery
As Bowen sat on the edge of his bed, he curled his big, warm hands around the back of my thighs. He pulled me closer to stand between his knees, gliding his palms higher to cup my waist.
For one moment, I thought, my father is going to kill me.
Then Bowen lifted the hem of my sweater, pressing his lips to my naked hip in a kiss that wiped all thoughts from my mind. The soft heat of his mouth was a sharp contrast to his prickly stubble that rasped against my skin with hot sparks of friction.
I threaded my fingers through his dark hair, noticing the gleam of silver at his temples in the low light of his bedroom.
This wasn’t really what I came out here for.
Worry and guilt had nagged at me, making it impossible to sleep. Every little noise and rustle made me flinch. I hated that Isaac had been here, on Dad’s porch. It showed just how far he was willing to go to get what he wanted.
For the first time, it made me realize how dangerous Isaac could be.
Seeking out Bowen in the middle of the night wasn’t supposed to lead to sex. I just wanted to talk, to find a way to protect the people I cared about in all this mess. I would never forgive myself if Isaac hurt my family because of me, and Bowen was level-headed, practical. He knew how to tackle any problem, no matter how impossible it might seem to find a solution.
But now that I had his hands and his mouth on me, talking was the last thing I wanted to do.
Bowen continued to push my sweater higher, and graced each new inch of exposed skin with a kiss—sweet and chaste at first, lingering and unhurried. By the time he reached my breasts, his kisses turned open-mouthed and hungry, punctuated by a flick of his tongue.
When his lips closed around my nipple, I practically melted into his lap, straddling him. He pinched with his teeth—a teasing jolt of sweet pain—soothed by the slick sweep of his tongue. Pushing my sweater off, he tossed it to the floor, leaving me completely bare before him. I felt the bulge of his cock throb and twitch in his jeans, pressed against the relentless ache between my thighs.
Bowen hooked an arm around my waist and twisted to the side in one smooth motion. I found myself spread out on his bed, flat on my back as I gazed up at him. My fingers flew to the buttons on his shirt, shoving it off his shoulders. The faint traces of red marks left by my nails were still visible on the muscled planes of his torso.
I smoothed my hand up Bowen’s chest, soaking up every detail—small scars and dark chest hair, the shift and contraction of muscles when he sucked in a breath. My throat grew tight at the unbearable sexual tension hanging in the air between us.
Bowen wrapped his fingers around my wrist.
“We can stop, you know,” he whispered. “Any time you want to.”
I brought my thighs up to bracket his hips with a squeeze.
“There’s no way in hell I’m going to do that, Bowen,” I said. “Believe me. Not now.”
He skimmed his callused thumb along the sensitive, soft curve under my breast. I whimpered and squirmed beneath him, arching into his touch. Every nerve in my body pulsed with insatiable need.
Bowen held my gaze as he crawled lower. Scooping his hands under my ass, he settled between my legs, using his shoulders to spread my thighs apart. The warmth of his breath on my core made me tense with anticipation.
With the first hot, slow drag of his tongue, I twisted my fingers into the sheets. The vibration of his moan made my pussy desperately clench around the ache of emptiness inside me.
Bowen pried my death grip off the sheets and intertwined our fingers together. I glanced down to see him watching me while he lapped and sucked at my clit. When his hips flexed against the mattress—the tight stretch of denim across his ass, the shift of every muscle in his bare back—a rush of heat swept through me from head to toe.
Anchoring my heels in the bed, I rolled my hips against Bowen’s face, matching the rhythm of his tongue. I was desperate now, my orgasm just out of reach. I didn’t want to wait any longer.
Bowen locked a strong, tanned forearm across my hips to hold me in place. My legs trembled as he licked up, down, and around my clit with slow, steady strokes.
“Bowen,” I said, exasperated and strained. “Please, just—”
I broke off with a gasp as he pulled away. For the second time in less than ten minutes, Bowen had worked me into a frenzy, bringing me right up to the edge. And then he screeched to a stop.
“Do you want to come?” he asked.
Jesus Christ. The low, gravel-rough timbre of his voice had that hot coil of need in my lower belly burning white-hot with desire.
“Bowen, asking for consent is sexy as fuck, but this—“
“Do you want to come?” he repeated, more insistent this time, pinning me with a beastly look.
“Yes. Of course I do.”
“Then you’re doing it on my cock.” He shook his head and skimmed his palm along my inner thigh. “I’d love nothing more than to take my time with you. Make you come again and again—on my tongue, my fingers. But tonight…”
He trailed off and lifted his gaze to meet mine again.
I nodded my understanding.
Isaac’s appearance had unsettled us both, pushed us to this—declaring what we’d been denying ourselves for too long. I came to Bowen tonight because he made me feel safe, because I loved him in a way that I’d never loved a man before in my life. And Bowen had welcomed me into his bed because protecting me wasn’t enough. He wanted the honor of being the man in my life, and he would never take it for granted as long as he lived.
Bowen turned his head and kissed the inside of my thigh, circling his thumbs over my hips for a second or two. Then he broke away just long enough to retrieve a condom from the drawer of his bedside table. I sat up and started unbuckling his belt, unzipping his fly.
I inhaled a sharp breath of surprise when I felt the weight of his cock in my hand—a heavy eight inches, with a thick crown that I knew would make me feel so perfectly full. Bowen shuddered as I caressed his length, teasing at his slit with my thumb.
“Keep doing that,” he rasped. “And we won’t need a condom.”
“What if I don’t want to use one?”
Bowen’s eyes darkened for an imperceptible moment. Then he huffed a laugh and shook his head.
“Don’t tell me we need to have the safe sex talk right now.”
“I tested clean two weeks ago,” I replied. “And I’m on birth control. Last I heard, you haven’t been with anyone since high school, so…”
I trailed off, giving him the chance to fill in that blank with a confirmation or a denial either way. Bowen’s gaze shifted over my face, studying me.
“There’s still a risk of pregnancy,” he pointed out.
“Only a small one. Besides, you would be the best father in the world.”
Something darkened in Bowen’s gaze, but I couldn’t put a name to it. His chest swelled on a slow, deep breath. His cock twitched in my grip. He reached down and curled his fingers around my ankle. With a simple tug, he pulled my legs out from under me until I was nestled in his pillows again.
Bowen propped one hand by my head and leaned down, brushing a feather-light kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“You’re not trying to baby trap me right now, are you?” he murmured.
I grinned and cupped his face in my hands.
“Why do I get the feeling you would love it if I did?”
He sealed his mouth to mine, settling over me. Without breaking the kiss, he reached down and aligned his cock with my entrance. I grabbed his waist, pulling him closer. With his jeans still on, the denim scratched at my skin.
I gasped against Bowen’s lips when I felt the breach, then the stretch, followed by the hot, thick glide of his length. He broke the kiss, burying his face in my neck.
“Fuck, so hot and tight for me,” he rumbled.
I dug my nails into Bowen’s back, desperate to get tighter, closer to him. My brain was blissfully blank as I felt every inch of his cock, dragging against my walls, and the bruising press of his fingers into my thighs.
He dipped his head lower, sucking one of my nipples into his mouth. I shifted my legs wider, cradling his hips. Bowen hooked my knees over his forearms and spread me open even further. When he thrust in again, the new angle had me seeing stars.
“Oh, yes , right there.”
Bowen’s careful control faltered. His strokes became harder, deeper. He tangled his fingers in my hair with a sharp tug to tilt my head back, exposing my throat. I was completely at his mercy, coiling tighter and tighter with the pleasure he ignited in every part of me.
“Squeezing me so fucking good, sweetheart,” Bowen murmured into the curve of my neck.
He drew back, pressing my knees up toward my chest. Then he rubbed against my clit with his thumb and I shattered. A raw sound of ecstasy tore from my throat. Bowen kept fucking me through it. Every time he buried his cock deep inside me, a fresh wave of my orgasm dragged me under again.
With one final sloppy thrust, Bowen went still with a grunt, tendons in his neck straining as he came. I felt every pulse and throb of his cock when he emptied inside me.
Locking my legs around him, I wiggled my hips, savoring the sensation of our connection, so full and deep. He peppered my chest and neck with kisses, placing one last kiss on my lips with a low, pleasant hum.
How am I going to tell Dad about this? I thought.
I didn’t have an answer, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
After Bowen and I cleaned up, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I yawned as I burrowed under the covers, snuggling into Bowen’s side. He looped an arm around my shoulder, tucking me close against him.
Resting my cheek on his chest, my eyes slipped closed at the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Bowen twisted one of my curls around his fingers and turned his head, brushing a kiss to my temple.
“How do you want to handle this?” he asked, idly trailing his fingertips down my bare back.
I sighed.
“I don’t know. I’m working on it.”
Bowen nodded. He hooked his hand behind my knee and hauled my body on top of him, draping me over his chest.
“Try to get some sleep,” he said, wrapping his arms tight around me. “I’ll wake you in a few hours. Then you can get back to your room before Grady notices you’re missing.”
I tilted my chin up and kissed his jawline with a quick peck of appreciation. Poor Bowen—caught between the woman he loved and the boss he worked for. He must hate the idea of sneaking around behind my dad’s back like this.
Part of me selfishly wanted to keep it private, just the two of us. Only for a little while. There were bound to be comments in town from people, claiming the boss’s daughter could do better than a foreman.
I couldn’t bear to make Bowen suffer for too long though. It was better to come clean and let Grady and Birdie know that we were together. Dad would hate it—I could see that coming a mile away. He would simply have to get used to it. I loved Bowen. Nothing and no one could change my mind about that.
It seemed as if I’d barely drifted off to sleep when a thunderous bang echoed through Bowen’s cabin. In an instant, he was on his feet, zipping up his jeans and grabbing the shotgun tucked into his closet.
“Stay there,” Bowen said.
The heavy tread of footsteps in the hallway marched closer. Just as Bowen yanked the bedroom door open, the unmistakable figure of my father came into view.
My stomach dropped.
“Avery’s gone,” he said. “I’ve searched the house, and there’s no sign—”
Dad broke off at the sight of me in Bowen’s bed, clutching the sheets. My face must have been cherry-red with shame.
His mouth snapped shut. A muscle in his jaw twitched.
The unbearable silence felt like it stretched for eternity.
Then Dad jabbed a finger at Bowen.
“Outside. Now.”
“Dad, wait,” I fumbled to stand and keep myself covered at the same time. “Whatever you have to say to him, you can say to me, too.”
“It’s okay, Avery,” Bowen said, propping his shotgun in the corner by the door. “Get dressed first.”
I sank down on the edge of the bed as I watched Dad and Bowen walk out. My heart squeezed at Bowen’s strong, square shoulders, head held high, despite the fact that he was shirtless and barefoot. He was heading into the fight of his life with my father, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.
The front door closed. A moment later, I heard Dad’s voice.
“How long have you been putting your hands on my daughter?”
“Sir, I—”
“Answer the goddamn question.”
Bowen’s response was too indistinct for me to make out. I started searching for my clothes, snatching them off the floor and pulling them on as fast as I could.
“I trusted you, Bowen,” Dad barked. “I expected this from everyone else, but not you. Never you. I thought you were the one man I didn’t have to worry about getting in my daughter’s pants.”
“I meant no disrespect, sir,” Bowen replied.
My heart was racing so fast that it felt like it would explode in my chest. Meanwhile, Bowen sounded calm despite my father bellowing at him like a bull. Hopping on one foot, I yanked my boots on and stumbled outside.
On the horizon, a faint lavender pink graced the sky, indicating the arrival of dawn. The sun was about to rise on a world of destruction if my father had anything to say about it.
“You meant no disrespect?” Dad repeated, incredulous. “Avery is in danger. She has this stalker harassing her, and rather than keep her safe, you take advantage of her vulnerable state and use her for sex.”
“Dad!” I snapped. “I came to him. I chose to sleep with Bowen because I wanted to.”
Dad’s gaze flicked to me. I came to Bowen’s side and took his hand, leaning into his shoulder. His skin was still warm from sleep. He returned my grip with a fierce squeeze, brushing his thumb over my knuckles.
Dad turned away, shaking his head. As he studied the mountains in the distance, it struck me like a kick to the chest—the gray in his hair, the wrinkles around his eyes. He was beginning to look older, tired. And this was hurting him more than he wanted to admit. His foreman had betrayed his trust. His daughter was growing up.
“Pack your things, Bowen,” Dad said in a rough voice. “You’re fired. I want you off my property within the hour.”