Page 15 of Cowhand Crush

I trailed off when I breathed in the scent of her arousal—sweet and thick in the air. We were seconds away from fucking.

With a huff, Avery unhooked her legs and lowered herself to the ground. Just as I thought she would turn away and storm back to the house, she started unbuckling my belt. I caught her hands.

“Avery, stop.”

“No,” she shot back. “I know for a fact that you’re not a coward, Bowen.”

I arched an eyebrow. If she had been anyone else, she would have been decked for talking to me like that.

“It has nothing to do with being a coward,” I replied. “I owe your father every respect in the world for taking me in, giving me a purpose—a job.”

Avery leaned in closer until her lips nearly touched mine. Then she slipped one hand lower, cupping my achingly hard cock through my jeans. I gritted my teeth, fighting back a moan.

“Don’t you ever feel like doing something you want for a change?” she asked.

When I didn’t respond, Avery managed to free part of my shirt from my belt and skimmed her fingers with a feather-light touch up my torso. Then she dragged her nails down my stomach with a sharp sting. My cock twitched against the weight of her palm.

“What if I said this is what I wanted?” she added.

“Don’t make me choose between you and your father, Avery,” I said through my teeth. “Please.”

At first, she was quiet. I almost expected her to retreat, but I should have known she wouldn’t give up that easily. Nuzzling into my neck with the most delicate little kisses, her lips curved up against my skin with a smile.

“Claim me,” she said. “Prove that I was meant to take every inch of your cock. I saw the disgust on your face when Isaac was talking to me on the porch. Make me yours, Bowen. Stop holding back and show every man in Ash Ridge that I belong to you.”

Fuck.

She moved to my front door and opened it, glancing back over her shoulder at me. Then she disappeared inside.

I blew out a breath. How could she play me so easily? How could she pluck my deepest, most carnal desire from my mind when I hadn’t even admitted it to myself?

It was wrong on every level. Avery needed protection, not sex. She was younger than me by over a decade.

I turned to face my chair, with my half-empty cup of coffee still resting on it. Knowing that Avery was inside my home—my personal, private living space—wearing those lacy little shorts, no underwear. Knowing the taste of her lips and the silken heat of her pussy wrapped around my fingers. How could I possibly sit out here until sunrise?

…show every man in Ash Ridge that I belong to you.

I thought I was better than this. I thought I could ignore the hollow pit in my chest when I heard Avery talk about her desire to have a husband and kids one day.

But Isaac Farley changed everything, with the predatory hunger in his gaze when he looked at her. To him, she wasn’t Avery. She was something to be conquered, a trophy to display on his wall like the pelt of an animal.

I wouldn’t stand by while a sack of shit like him thought he could get away with treating my woman like that.

Opening the door, I stepped inside.

Avery waited for me in the cramped little entryway, nothing like the grand foyer of her father’s house. Her boots were kicked aside, and her shorts were a pool of fabric on the floor.

The only thing she wore was that big, loose sweater, brushing the top of her bare thighs.

After toeing off my own boots, I took Avery’s hand, smoothing my thumb over her knuckles. When I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, she leaned into my touch with a hum of contentment.

I was going to lose everything for her.

And I knew it would be worth it.

Chapter 6

Avery