Bennett got suddenly serious, his smile sliding from his face. I wondered if I’d hit a nerve somehow. After a moment he looked like he was about to say something; something serious that would shatter the illusion of this perfect day, and I didn’t want that. I wasn’t ready for it.
Smiling, I jumped to my feet instead.
“Come on!” I said, starting to pack up our lunch. “I want to go for a swim before dinner.”
He rose as well, customary grin sliding back into place, and waggled his eyebrows. “Why wait?” he asked, and before I could respond, he’d swept me from my feet and tossed me over his shoulder, making a beeline for the stream.
“Bennett Dallas Campbell, don’t you dare!” I shrieked between peals of laughter, and a moment later we were both soaked, standing in the middle of a stream that proved deceptively deep.
“You were saying?” Bennett asked, managing to still look sexy, even with his hair half wet and falling in his face. His feet touched the bottom of the pool, but mine didn’t, and I was treading water in front of him.
“You’ll pay for that,” I promised, laying my head back to wet my hair thoroughly, and then wiping it forward, spraying him in the face with a shower of droplets. It wasn’t much of a payback, but I could hardly stay mad at him. Bennett hardly even noticed as his hands found my waist under the water, and my hands went to his shoulders, sending a fresh cascade of water sliding down his skin, pooling briefly in his clavicle before continuing on.
“Name your price, Sunshine,” he said, and I pressed a little closer, the heat of our bodies together warming me even in the cool water.
“Kiss me,” I said quietly, meeting his eyes.
“Done,” He dropped a quick kiss onto my lips, his eyes sparkling mischievously.
“No,” I said. “Really kiss me.”
“Ava,” he began, but I cut him off.
“I’m your wife, Bennett. So stop making excuses and just kiss me.”
As I pressed myself as close to him as I could, I felt his erection growing against my thigh and leaned in, my lips a whisper away from his. “Kiss me,” I repeated softly, and he finally obliged.
The kiss was slow and sweet to begin, but it quickly heated up, and soon my legs were wrapped around his waist under the water, and his fingers were sliding up the back of my wet, clinging tank top.
“Bennett,” I murmured against his lips when we broke to breathe.
“Ava,” he whispered in return, voice a low rumble that sent a wave of lust through me.
Surprised by my own boldness, I let my hand slide down his bare chest, finding his jeans beneath the water, fumbling open the button and zipper and sliding my hand inside his boxers. Bennett groaned as my fingers curled around his hard length, and it pulsed in my hand as I began to stroke.
“Fuck,” Bennett muttered. “Fuck, Ava.”
“Soon,” I answered, feeling my own arousal rapidly building. “Tonight.”
And then we were kissing again, tongues teasing each other, and Bennett’s hand moved between my legs, rubbing against me, making me shudder.
We moved together for a few, frantic moments, and then we were both hovering on the edge, and I gasped a soft, “Please.” He groaned and bucked forward, his hand moving more insistently over my clit and I clung to him, shuddering out my own orgasm.
Our lips met lazily, huffing out breaths between kisses, and I’m not sure how long we stayed in that pool, holding each other and kissing slow and sweet once again.
16
Bennett
I’d pulled myself away from Ava after dinner just for a quick moment to check my email. I knew she still didn’t want to get onto the Internet, so I was careful to make sure I was always alone when I got online. She’d been so happy. I didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize that.
Over the past few days, her happiness had become more and more important to me. I felt like I finally had a job to do. If I could just keep her smiling, I’d know I accomplished something.
It wasn’t always easy. Since our dip in the meadow, it had only gotten more difficult to avoid her advances.
Not that I didn’t want to touch her. I wanted to touch her so badly that sometimes I forgot to breathe when her leg pressed against mine or when she tucked her head under my chin. I was in a constant state of sexual frustration, and I had no one to blame for it but myself.
I pushed away thoughts of waking up in the middle of the night to her pressed tight against my body, her hand so close to my hard cock that it was all I could do not to shift it those few inches closer.
Focusing on the computer in front of me, I quickly sifted through my emails.
I had two conferences asking me to come and speak. I fired off quick declines. The one with the subject “Consulting Contract” I deleted without even reading.
I didn’t need cash, and I wasn’t in any rush to leave the ranch. Not as long as Ava wanted to stay. She wasn’t the only one avoiding the real world, although we had very different reasons for doing so.
For me, returning to the real world meant no longer having Ava in my life—never again hearing her sweet voice call me Cowboy.
The real world was one where I would have to not only admit to the truth, but finally face it. And then I’d lose her. She would be gone. She’d never stay here, not for a single minute after hearing what I’ve done, how I’ve lied.
A tiny part of me still argued that maybe we could make it work. Just say a big old “fuck you” to the world and hide away at the ranch forever, but that part of me was delusional, and there was no use dwelling on fantasy.
I closed my laptop with a snap and headed back out to the patio where the girls were pouring sangrias.
“Look who’s back!” Layla said, raising her glass in my direction. “We missed you, boy toy!”
Layla had taken to calling me Ava’s boy toy ever since Ava had pointed out how good I looked in a swimsuit. Of course, I was fine with being their eye candy. I was fine anytime Ava’s eyes were on me.
“Does that mean you’ve finally decided I’m not an ax murderer?” I teased, picking up a glass once Ava had filled it.
“Well,” Layla said, as though she were seriously considering the question. “Actually, I think the person mostly likely to be a crazed murderer around here is River.” My caretaker walked up just at that moment, a bemused grin on his face. “I mean, he’s the one that’s been living up here alone all this time, with access to all the power tools.”
“Huh?” River asked, sidling up to Layla. “I think I missed something.”
“Nothing important, hot stuff,” Layla assured him.
Ava had moved over to the sofa, and I took a seat next her, sighing in contentment when she curled against my side. We had already started settling into each other almost by habit.
Just as I set my glass down, she leaned into my ear and spoke so quietly I was sure I was the only one who could hear, “I remember something else about that night. About our wedding night.”
My heart started pounding, and I could hear the rush of blood through my ears. I had no idea what she was about to say, but I couldn’t help thinking that this was it. My time was up.
“Oh?” I said, trying not to sound terrified.
She lifted her head, lips brushing my burning ear. “I remember the elevator,” she whispered, and when I turned my head to look at her, she pressed into a kiss.
I remembered the elevator, too. And as she kissed me it all vividly came back. How she’d clung to me; how she’d come for me.
But the memory was still nothing compared to the reality of having Ava in my arms. The kiss quickly deepened, and she slid into my lap, straddling my thighs. I was dimly aware of Layla and River making a retreat, but all I could think of was Ava. This whole week I’d been struggling to be good, to do the right thing, but ever since the meadow I hadn’t been able to think of anything else. When I closed my eyes, I saw her stretched out on the hotel bed, hand held out in invitation. When she touched
me, I remembered the grip of her pussy around me, pulling me further into her. When she curled up against me, I remembered passing out together, exhausted and sated, tangled in each other’s bodies.
Her delicate hands framed my face, keeping me close, as though worried I would try to pull away once again. Only this time my resolve had weakened to the point that I couldn’t, even if I still wanted to. My arms wrapped around her, and I stood slowly, giving her time to wrap her legs around my torso.
We stumbled into the house, unable to pull away from the kiss long enough to see where we were going. Somehow we made it to the bedroom, and I began to tug at her clothes, peeling away the layers that had been hiding her from me all week. I felt a spike of possessive desire when she was down to her bra and panties, standing in front of me, looking me in the eye as she stripped away the last of her clothing.
I was so hard I thought I might burst through the zipper of my jeans. Somehow I managed to get my shirt off, but that was all the time I had before she was lying naked on my bed, once again beckoning to me with a wave of her hand. I crawled over her, my body sliding smoothly along hers as I bent to kiss her, slow and hot and aching. She gasped as I let my lips drag along her jaw and down her throat, tongue pressing briefly against her fluttering pulse.
I wanted to taste every inch of her, wanted to memorize her body in this moment and carry this memory with me for the rest of my life.
Her fingers tangled into my hair as I caught the pink tip of one perfect nipple in my teeth, giving it a gentle tug before soothing over the skin with my tongue.
“Bennett,” she breathed, arching up toward me. “Please, Bennett….”
I didn’t know exactly what she was asking for, but I could guess. It was the exact same thing I was ready to beg for as well. A moment later she was guiding my head down, the muscles in her stomach quivering under my mouth, until I was settled between her legs.
Lifting my head briefly, I caught and held her gaze. “Fuck,” I breathed. “You’re perfect.”
She gasped out a half-choked laugh, but I didn’t give her any more time than that to respond before I dipped my head to drag my tongue over her glistening folds. I was gentle, slow, teasing her with feather-light touches of my tongue to her skin, but I couldn’t keep it up for long, and well before she asked for more, I was pressing in closer, wanting to taste her, smell her, hear the involuntary noises of pleasure she made when the tip of my tongue finally made contact with her clit.
“Jesus!” she gasped, arching up, her fingers twisting in my hair.
That was the end of my patience. I sucked her clit between my lips, tongue flicking hard and fast over it. I wanted to hear her come, wanted to be reminded of the breathy way her voice failed her when she tried to say my name. My dick throbbed against the mattress, but I didn’t think anything of it, focused entirely on her pleasure, desperate to get her off.
“Ben... Ben,” she chanted, her thighs tightening around my ears as I relentlessly pressed into her with my tongue. “Ben... Benne—ah fuck!” Her body tensed, and I felt her climax as though it were my own, her pleasure washing through me.
As she came down, trembling, I gave her clit one more teasing flick of my tongue, gratified to hear her shaky laugh.
“Come here,” she breathed, tugging at my hair to pull me back up for a kiss, arms looped around my shoulders, legs coming up to frame my hips. Her hands slid down my chest, fingernails dragging a slow, methodic line over my abdomen until they reached my jeans and hastily opened them.
I groaned into Ava’s mouth as her hand wrapped around my length. “Fuck,” I muttered, hips bucking forward automatically.
“Please,” Ava answered, guiding my cock to her entrance with one hand, the other still tangled in my hair.
I met her gaze, addicted now to the look on her face as I slowly pushed into her.
She was as tight and as perfect as I’d remembered. More so, even. I never wanted to leave the sweet torture of her grip on me. As I began to move, Ava held my gaze, and it felt like we were panting in unison. She settled into my rhythm, and I moved slow and deep, dragging it out, wanting this moment to last forever. This moment where I could allow myself to believe this was real, that it wasn’t a fantasy threatening to crumble around me in an instant.
“Bennett,” Ava whispered, drawing my attention back to the moment. “Bennett, I want you. I want you in me. I want you... fucking me.” The word sent a shudder through us both, and I pulled back, almost withdrawing completely, before thrusting home again.
“Like this?” I breathed, though I remembered exactly how she liked to be fucked.
“Yes,” she answered, her head falling back as I finally allowed myself to give into my desire and thrust hard and deep within her core, sending us both racing toward our climax. Her fingernails dug into my shoulders when she came, pulling me close, holding me tight against her as I followed, burying my face in her shoulder, spilling everything I had into her.
For a long while, we just lay like that, my dick, now completely soft, just barely slipping out from her warm embrace. Eventually, I got up to find a washrag to clean us both off, and then climbed back into bed, scooping her into my arms.
“Ava,” I whispered, not knowing if I wanted to apologize, or confess, or what.
“Shh,” she said, tucking herself into my chest. “Just hold me right now.”
“Of course,” I answered. “Anything you want.”
Anything at all.
Damn, I was fucked.
17
Ava
For the second time in my life, I woke up naked next to Bennett Campbell. This time, though, I could remember exactly why my muscles ached so pleasantly. By the time I opened my bleary eyes, Bennett was padding naked across the floor to the bathroom. I watched him as he went, allowing myself the opportunity to just observe and appreciate.
My husband was one handsome man. The thought made me feel warm and sort of gooey inside, and I wondered when that had become my reaction to the words “my husband.” I wanted him to come back. I wanted him in bed with me again and maybe forever. I still didn’t know why we’d waited so long to finally make love, but now that we had, I wanted it again and again.
I heard the water in the shower running and contemplated joining him, but I didn’t want to leave the coziness of this bed where I could still feel the warmth his body left behind, still smell his cologne on the pillow. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt that way. It had been a year, at least, since I’d wanted to linger in bed with Ken; or since he’d wanted to linger in bed with me.
Deliberately pushing those thoughts aside, I shifted to press my face into Bennett’s pillow, breathing in his scent. I was still cozied up to it when he finally came out of the bathroom.
I lifted my head to smile at him, not caring that my hair was likely a mess and my eyes were sleep-puffed. “Morning, Cowboy,” I said, stretching leisurely across the king-sized mattress.
“Good morning to me, indeed,” he said with a grin, pulling back the covers and holding them up for a moment. I felt the heat of his gaze like a physical touch against my skin, and it sent a shiver through me that settled low in my belly, raising my temperature.
“Come here,” I murmured, my voice rough with sleep. He climbed into bed with me and pulled me into his arms, catching my lips with his for a slow, languorous kiss, one that I never wanted to end.
When he did pull back, it was only to trail light kisses down my throat and along my shoulder, pausing at the tiny birthmark that rested in the hollow of my throat, his tongue flicking over it.
“You’re perfect,” he said, and I beamed, unable to contain how happy that made me feel. It was the second time he’d said it. Ken had never called me perfect, never would have. He was too busy reminding me of all the things I still needed to improve, both as an actress and as a girlfriend.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, and he lifted his head to look at me.
“People don’t tell you that e
nough,” he noted, letting his fingers trace lazy, looping patterns over my skin, moving gradually down my body, stoking the heat that was already growing. “But you should hear it every day. You’re perfect. Everything about you. Even this.” He dipped his head to kiss my birthmark again. “Perfect.”
“They always cover it up,” I remarked idly. “For the show. Makeup always covers it.”
“Never again,” Bennett said. “Don’t let anyone cover you up again.”
He sounded so earnest, that I couldn’t help answering, “Okay,” though it was a little breathless as his fingertips teased through my curls, finding me already wet.
His lips trailed lazily down my body until they reached between my legs again. Slowly, his eyes on my face the whole time, he eased my thighs apart, settling between them and finally dipping his head. Instead of licking, though, he parted my labia with his fingers and just blew softly, sending a rush of surprise through me that bubbled out in a surprised laugh.
“All right?” he asked, smiling up at me.
“Very all right,” I answered, and then he did dip his head to drag his tongue over my folds. All I could do was hold on to his hair, murmuring encouragement. Twice in the space of twelve hours he’d gone down on me, and it made me feel decadent. Ken had almost never done that. I’d asked him to once, and he’d given it a half-hearted effort, but he said he didn’t enjoy it, and I shouldn’t ask him to do things he didn’t enjoy.
Bennett, on the other hand, seemed to take great pleasure in the task. His tongue worked over me eagerly, teasing and tickling and stroking before focusing directly on my clit, flicking lightning-fast over me, almost overwhelming me with sensation.
“Fuck,” I breathed. “Don’t... don’t stop. Just….” I felt my entire body seize up for a fraction of a second before an orgasm came crashing through me. This time Bennett was gentle, soothing me through the aftershocks of pleasure before dropping kisses across my stomach and chest on his way to my mouth. Once there, his lips and tongue brushed against me slow and sweet and easy, which was exactly how he slid into me—slow and sweet and easy. Lazy morning love making. I hadn’t done this in far, far too long, and I’d forgotten how perfect it was.
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