Chapter 26
The Tipping Point
Ava blinked away the sleep from her eyes, worried for a moment she was still dreaming.
The ceiling fan above came into focus, as did the warmth under her cheek.
She traced the tattooed birds in flight across Owen’s chest. Owen grumbled in response, tightening his arms around her.
She buried her face in his chest and snuggled closer, inhaling the subtle notes of coffee that always clung to him.
Definitely not dreaming.
After a few moments, she felt the call of nature. She pulled back to roll away from Owen, but his arms banded tighter around her, tugging her back to his chest.
“No.”
Ava laughed and tried to pull away again. His arms refused to budge.
“Let me up, I have to pee,” she begged.
“Nope. Not allowed to leave,” he grumbled against her hair. He wrapped his leg around her hip, flipping them so he pinned her to the mattress beneath him. “That’s better.”
Ava huffed in exasperation and ran a hand through his hair, using her nails to scratch his head. She loved the length of his hair. She hoped he never cut it.
Owen sighed in contentment but still didn’t move.
“You have to let me up some time,” she said while continuing her ministrations on his scalp. Maybe if she softened him up some more, he’d drop the caveman act.
“Never. Maybe I’ll tie you to the headboard and keep you here forever. That way, you can’t disappear on me in the middle of the night again.”
She squirmed under him at the threat, excited by the prospect of being tied up by Owen.
He lifted off her the barest amount and looked down at her. “You like that? The idea of being tied up to my headboard, completely at my mercy.”
His voice dropped to a deep rasp that traveled straight to Ava’s core. She shivered at his words and bit her lip. “Maybe,” she hedged.
“We’ll work up to it.” He lowered his head and kissed her far more indecently than the early hour called for. All too soon, he pulled away and rolled to the side. “Straight to the bathroom and back. I’m not done with you yet.”
Instead of relishing her freedom, Ava propped her head on her hand to look at him. “You’re never going to let it go that I left the other night, are you?”
He smirked at her. “Birdie, I passed out after giving you three orgasms and you snuck away in the dead of night while I slept. I’ll be holding it over your head for at least the rest of the summer.”
She rolled her eyes and got out of bed before he changed his mind and actually tied her to the headboard. She snagged his t-shirt off the floor and pulled it on while walking to the bathroom. She did her business and took a moment to freshen up before heading back to the bedroom.
Owen gave a low whistle when she reentered the room. “Never thought I’d see you in one of my shirts again. Bring your sexy ass over here.”
She stopped just outside of his reach, knowing it’d drive him crazy. “I should probably get going. Summer is coming by the cabin this morning.”
“Damnit, please don’t mention my sister when I’m hard.”
She grimaced, spotting the pitched blanket around his waist. “Sorry … but I really should go soon.”
Owen pouted at her, which shouldn’t look cute on a grown man, but it was just as sexy as his smirk. “Fine. At least come sit on my face before you go.”
“You can’t be serious,” she laughed.
His pout deepened. “Dead serious. If you’re not going to stay in bed with me on my morning off, the least you can do is give me a taste before you go.”
Her legs shifted subconsciously as desire burned through her. “But we–I haven’t showered since last night–”
“Don’t care. I want the taste of you on my tongue to get me through the day. So come over here and sit on my face.”
Of their own accord, her legs rushed to the bed. She went to pull his shirt over her head.
“Leave the shirt,” he said. His eyes raked over her from head to toe.
Ava couldn’t bring herself to feel self-conscious about her messy hair she’d tried to finger-comb or the fact the oversized shirt hugged her hips instead of hanging loose.
This was Owen. The man who had given her the first orgasm outside of her own hand.
The man who’d gotten a tattoo to remember her.
The man who’d named their dream bed-and-breakfast after her.
With Owen, there was nothing to feel insecure about. So, she left the shirt, climbed onto the bed, and straddled his face.
Owen palmed her hips and squeezed before sliding his hands further. “God, I love this ass,” he groaned. “Grab onto the headboard.”
Ava leaned forward to grasp the wooden headboard.
Her inner thighs strained from hovering.
Like he felt her discomfort, Owen yanked her down and made quick work of finding her clit with his tongue.
He sucked on the bundle of nerves, causing Ava’s toes to curl in pleasure.
She let out an involuntary moan and relinquished one of her hands gripping the headboard to rake through his hair.
He drew circles with his tongue, working her into a frenzy.
She ground her hips against his mouth, urging him on.
He left one hand squeezing her hip while the other traveled lower to work a finger inside her.
The added pressure had Ava grinding feverishly against his magical tongue as his finger pumped and curled inside her.
Ava leaned against the headboard as her orgasm rushed through her.
Owen continued to suck on her clit as he wrung every bit of aftershock from her system.
She pushed her hair away from her face with a shaky hand before ungracefully dropping to the bed to recover.
It was almost embarrassing how quickly he had her falling apart.
“What a way to wake up,” she breathed.
Owen smiled at her. “Come here.” He palmed the back of her head, fisting the base of her hair and pulling her closer in a dirty kiss. She could taste herself on his lips and couldn’t bring herself to care.
He broke the kiss and trailed feather-light kisses down her neck and across her throat, eliciting a moan of pleasure from Ava. She traced her fingers down his stomach toward his cock, gripping him under the blanket.
“Want me to take care of that?”
She squeezed him and pumped a few times, getting into the rhythm. Owen threw his head back on the pillow with a groan before placing his hand over hers.
“More than anything. But then I really won’t be able to let you out of my sight today.”
She pressed a few kisses to his chest. “I could be persuaded …”
Owen groaned again, releasing her hand to smack her ass instead. “Off you go, Birdie.”
She laughed and climbed out of bed, knowing it wouldn’t take much for him to change his mind and keep her here after all.
But then how would she explain to Summer the change in plans?
She pushed thoughts of telling Summer about their rekindled whatever this was to the back of her mind to deal with later.
Owen dropped her off at the cabin, still wearing the same dress as the night before, though much more wrinkled from the evening’s activities.
Six weeks. That’s what they’d agreed to.
She peered into the room her brothers shared across the hall from her own to see if anyone was home. Their dad’s old Subaru they’d been sharing was missing from the driveway, and the bedroom was empty except for their rumpled beds. That meant she could take a long, hot shower without interruption.
Ava took her time getting ready for the day and dressed in a pair of old overalls with her hair tied back.
Summer would arrive soon, and they were attempting a DIY project on the old dresser in her dad’s bedroom now that her brothers had gone through their dad’s clothes and decided what to keep or donate.
Summer was convinced they could flip the dresser and sell it instead of donating it to the church thrift store.
Considering her dad’s considerable debt, Ava figured any money they could get out of selling things would be a bonus.
Her phone lit up on the bathroom counter, and she smiled at the messages waiting for her.
Owen (Avery’s Dad): Can’t stop thinking about this morning. You look damn fine in my clothes. And out of them.
Owen (Avery’s Dad): On my way to get Avery. Call you tonight.
The crunch of gravel outside the cabin alerted Ava of Summer’s arrival. Ava closed out of Owen’s message and put her phone on the counter face down before walking out to the driveway to greet Summer.
Summer stepped out of the car, clutching two cups of coffee to her chest with her arm, her head pressed to her shoulder with her phone wedged in-between.
Ava rushed to relieve her of the coffee.
Summer straightened and flashed her a quick smile as she listened to whoever was on the other side of the call.
“Sounds good. You’ll have the proofs within the week to review. OK. Alright. Yes, talk to you soon. Bye,” Summer ended the call and gave her an exaggerated eye roll.
“Work?”
“Yes, clients always feel entitled to you, even on holidays. He wasn’t happy that I didn't respond to emails on the Fourth of July. Too bad, so sad,” she said. “Anyway, I have the sander and paint in the trunk.”
They grabbed the supplies out of the car and carried everything to the porch.
“So, how was your night with your brothers? Did you guys catch the fireworks?” Summer asked. “I didn’t hear from you much yesterday.”
Ava avoided Summer’s gaze and walked toward the porch door. “It was fine. Nothing too exciting,” she lied, hoping Summer didn’t catch on to her feigned nonchalance.
“Huh. Cool, cool,” Summer responded.
Ava led her upstairs to her dad’s bedroom. “We probably should’ve made Lucas and Noah move this downstairs for us,” Ava lamented as they approached the emptied dresser.
“No kidding. But we’re two independent ladies. We don’t need men.” Summer flexed her arm at Ava.
“You’re right. We got this.”
They took positions on either side of the dresser, Ava took the left side, putting her in the position to walk backward while hauling the furniture.