Getting Ava

by Hope Carter

  His hands dipped beneath the bottom of her shirt and brushed along the curve of her ribcage. Ava arched up when his hands slipped past the wire of her bra to cup her breasts. She was desperate to feel more. He pulled away to kiss and nibble his way down the column of her neck while his fingers kneaded the liquid flesh, pinching her nipples until she cried out for more.

  Smoothing her hands along his back, Ava memorized the way his muscles shifted beneath her palms. The past few hours were a surreal and distant memory beneath the weight of Sawyer’s body draped over hers in a protective cocoon. Her panties were drenched with excitement when Sawyer’s nimble fingers undid the clasp of her bra. He sat up on his knees to tug her shirt and bra over her head, tossing them over his shoulder carelessly. His eyes were dark with desire while he drank in the sight of her naked from the waist up.

  “Has anyone told you how sexy you are?”

  The deep rumble of his voice made her stomach tighten with desire. He reached out to caress the underside of her right breast.

  “It’s been awhile,” Ava whispered, breathless when Sawyer lightly pinched an aching nipple.

  “Let me show you then how fucking sexy you are to me.”

  He leaned forward to lick and suck at her breasts. She cried out in pleasure, burying her fingers in his hair again while he stroked her pussy through the fabric of her shorts and panties. His hips ground against hers in perfect timing with the rhythm of his fingers until her world threatened to split apart.

  The ache between her legs became a painful throb of need. Unable to stand it any longer, Ava used her toes to push Sawyers sweat pants and boxers down past his hips. His erection sprung out from the confines of his boxers, nudging the inside of her thigh. Before he could pull away, she reached between them to wrap her fingers around the hard and hot flesh of his cock. A groan echoed in Sawyer’s chest. She pumped her hand up and down him in the rhythm of his fingers stroking her. He panted hotly against her breasts while his hips moved in time with her strokes.

  A part of her marveled at how the touch of her hand could give so much pleasure to a man who, without a doubt, had sex every weekend with gorgeous women. She wanted to absorb every detail and never forget it.

  Sawyer sat up abruptly between her legs and pushed her hand away from him. His eyes were wild with desire when he hooked his fingers on the elastic band of her shorts and panties. He tugged them down past her thighs and ankles. Dropping the rest of her clothes alongside the bed, he slipped out of his remaining clothes and gazed down at her.

  Unable to breathe from the weight of his stare, Ava took in every inch of his gorgeous body, toned and cut in all the right places, before he climbed off the edge of the bed. She didn’t have a chance to wonder what he was doing next when Sawyer seized both her ankles, flipping her over onto her stomach like she weighed nothing. Ava gasped in surprise at the sudden roughness, but her body responded eagerly to it. He pulled her along the edge of the bed and coaxed her feet to stand firmly on the carpeted floor.

  A blush stained Ava’s cheeks when he pulled her ass up into the air. A wave embarrassment swept over her, but before she could straighten up, she felt Sawyer sink down to the ground behind her. His fingers stroked down the back of her thighs, assuring her that he was enjoying the view before his face nudged her legs further apart.

  “Oh God,” Ava whimpered when hot breath touched the moist flesh of her throbbing womanhood.

  She hated how her legs quivered when Sawyer’s tongue replaced his hot breath. He sucked and licked at her clit while his hands massaged her thighs. She hated the wetness that covered her thighs and how her body responded to him without a second thought. Sex had always been so straight forward for her. Nothing ever crazy, or dominant. She couldn’t read through any hot romances without blushing, but it felt too good to hide.

  Ava buried her face in the covers to muffle the cries of pleasure that were building inside of her. Her body tingled in anticipation of an approaching orgasm. She ground her ass against Sawyer’s face in desperation for a release.

  Sawyer’s mouth pulled away abruptly. She pushed herself up on the palms of her hand, panting when she glanced over her sweaty shoulder to watch Sawyer rise behind her. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. A smirk spread across his lips. Fuck me, she thought, gripping the covers and sheets with her fingers. That smile made him even sexier.

  “Are you on birth control?” Sawyer asked.

  “Yes,” Ava said.

  He slapped a hand on the flesh of her ass cheek. “Good. You sure about this?”

  There was no going back even if she wanted to. Even if this decision was fueled on by the alcohol in her system, or needing to forget about what she had witnessed earlier, she couldn’t pull herself away. She needed this. She needed him.

  “I’m sure,” she said, nodding.

  Sawyer leaned forward to kiss her before pulling back to place his hand between her shoulder blades. She wriggled against him eagerly, listening to his sharp intake of breath before the blunt tip of his cock pushed up against her entrance. Her eyes watered when Sawyer rolled his hips back and sheathed himself into her tight wetness with a satisfied groan. His fingertips gripped her right hip while he slid himself in and out of her at an agonizing pace. He was so hard and thick inside of her that she could barely breathe.

  “You’re so tight,” Sawyer whispered, fingers stroking down her spine before gripping her other hip.

  Ava gripped the covers of the bed when he pulled all the way out to slam back into her. Pleasure spiraled through her body. He did it again and again until her arousal coated the inside of her legs. Her pussy throbbed each time Sawyer pounded into her. Her toes tingled when the pressure in her body threatened to rip her apart.

  She couldn’t remember sex ever feeling this good, but with Sawyer it was effortless. He fit inside her perfectly, stroking that hidden ridge of pleasure with each thrust. It didn’t take much from his hands either when he reached around to spread her pussy lips apart and rubbed her roughly. Fireworks exploded at the back of Ava’s eyes when an orgasm crashed over her body, leaving her a thrashing and sweaty mess on the mattress.

  Sawyer dug his fingers into her right hip, hard enough that she knew there would be bruises the morning. She managed to peek over her shoulder to take in the sweat glistening on his face and how his muscles quivered when an orgasm crashed over him. Buried deep inside of her, she felt his dick swell up and twitch before coating her in the hot spurts of his release. He collapsed against her with a deep groan a second later.

  A tumult of emotions rose inside of her when Sawyer pulled out of her with a relieved groan. Fighting back a wave of tears, she slid off the edge of the bed to search for her clothes on the ground.

  “Ava? Are you all right?”

  She ignored the concern in Sawyer’s voice. Grabbing her damp panties from the floor, she slipped them back on and reached for her shirt. Strong fingers curled around her wrist. Sawyer balanced on the balls of his feet when he crouched down in front of her. His eyes were sympathetic when she looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “It’s okay. Let’s just lay down and get some sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” He tucked a strand of her sweaty hair behind her ear. “Deal?”

  Ava nodded before letting Sawyer pull her up to her feet. She didn’t fight when he pulled the blankets back and tucked her in. Curling up on her side, Ava inhaled sharply when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her in a secure embrace. She could feel the steady thump of Sawyer’s heart against her back while their bodies cooled.

  Sawyer kissed the back of her head. “Try to sleep. You’ll feel better.”

  She doubted that she would, but exhaustion tugged her into a dark and dreamless sleep seconds later.

  Chapter Six

  Sawyer woke to an empty bed early the next morning. He rolled over to gaze at the indent that Ava’s head had left in the pillow next to him. The sheets and blankets were tossed back, but cold
to the touch when he reached out to skim the cotton with his fingertips. Disappointment swept through him before he could push it away. A small part of him had hoped that her warm body would be still curled up next to his.

  Pushing back the tangled sheets away from his legs, Sawyer sat up with a heavy sigh. His teeth and head felt fuzzy from the night before. He slipped out of the bed to navigate through the bright room to his suitcase and found a bottle of Tylenol in his bag.

  Sex with Ava had been amazing. A shudder went through his body when he remembered how tight and wet she had felt around his dick. Twisting the cap off, Sawyer glared down at his growing erection. There were no doubts in his mind that if Ava was still in his bed that he would gladly be tangled up again in the circle of those gorgeous legs of hers.

  After a cold shower to calm his body, he dressed and went down to the hotel restaurant to grab a coffee. To his surprise, he spotted Ava sitting alone at one of the tables with her laptop open. Her fingers danced over the keyboard while her eyebrows furrowed together in concentration. She had showered, too, judging from how damp her hair appeared and the fresh layer of makeup on her face. Her legs were squeezed into a pair of tight skinny jeans and a plain black sweater.

  Sawyer hesitated. He was torn on wanting to avoid her, to give her space since his damn body was responding to the sight of her again, and needing to talk to with her about what happened between the two of them.

  Sensing his presence, Ava glanced up from her computer screen to peer at him through her glasses. Uncertainty sparked in her eyes. Her fingers lifted away from the keyboard to slowly close her computer shut.

  He took it as a sign that she wanted to talk and approached the table.

  “Morning,” he said, taking a seat across from her. “I didn’t expect to see you down here so early.”

  “I needed coffee to get rid of this headache,” Ava replied, squinting up at him. “I’m sorry that I left without saying anything. You were sleeping really hard and I didn’t want to wake you.”

  Sawyer waved her words away. “Don’t worry about it. Working on your draft?”

  “I needed the distraction,” Ava said. “Plus, I was assigned to cover this protest. I don’t want to lose Greg’s respect.”

  “I don’t think that will happen.”

  He ordered a cup of coffee when a waitress appeared. A tense silence filled the space between them while they waited for Sawyer’s cup of coffee.

  “About what happened last night,” Sawyer started, clearing his throat.

  “I think it’s better that we forget it happened,” Ava interrupted, drumming her fingers on the top of her computer. “We were both drinking to deal with what happened. It’s just better to pretend that nothing happened.”

  Sawyer nodded in agreement. Any type of relationship between the two of them was impossible because of their jobs. No inner office romance was a cardinal rule under Greg’s management.

  “I agree,” he said. “We’ll pretend that nothing happened.”

  “Thank you.” Ava offered a nervous, but small smile. “For rescuing me yesterday and everything else. My emotions were all over the place.”

  “Drinking never helps that,” Sawyer commented, wryly. “But, you’re welcome. I’ve been through it more than once.”

  “Does it get easier to deal with?” Ava asked. “We really didn’t get a chance to talk about anything yesterday.”

  A blush filled the middle of Ava’s cheeks. She glanced down to avoid the heat that filled Sawyer at the memory of Ava’s soft lips against his.

  “You get used to it when you see it all the time,” he said. “Aside from what happened at this protest, it’s rare to encounter something like that unless you go looking for it.”

  “That’s relieving to hear.” She reached up to run a hand through her damp hair. “I just hope that I didn’t disappoint Greg.”

  “You’re a talented writer,” Sawyer said. “Greg likes to collect writers that he thinks will benefit the paper the most. So, he’ll push you to do things that he believes will make you grow and flourish. Which benefits you and him.”

  “I suppose that it does. It’s funny how I moved to Miami thinking that I would always be safe behind a desk.”

  Curiosity got the better of him. Other than tidbits of information, he didn’t know that much about Ava.

  “How did you end up in Florida?” he asked.

  A shadow danced across Ava’s face. She reached over to grab her coffee and took a small sip.

  “A breakup,” she said. “Anti-climatic, I know.”

  He sensed that there was something else was there, but he didn’t want to pry.

  “What about you?” Ava asked.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “How did you end up in Florida?”

  The waitress appeared with his cup of coffee to set it down in front of him. Picking the warm ceramic mug up, Sawyer gazed down at the steam swirling off of it. He normally didn’t disclose personal information to anyone, but he didn’t want to be a jackass after everything that happened between the two of them.

  “I ended up in Florida after my last piece in Iraq,” he said. “I was tired of the violence and traveling abroad, so I took the first job offering when I came back to America.”

  “You seem more like a New York City type of guy to me,” Ava said, studying him with a small frown.

  “I was born here. That might be why.”

  Ava smoothed a hand over the top of her laptop. His body tightened when he remembered how her hands had felt on his body. “I came from a small town in Colorado. My parents are still trying to convince me that Florida is just as bad as New York.”

  “Not even close,” Sawyer said, nodding. “I’m sorry about having the wrong impression about you.”

  She looked up. “You had the wrong impression about me?”

  “I didn’t think you would be able to handle writing something else aside from columns.”

  “Drinking helped,” she replied with a small laugh, and looked the other direction to gaze out the spotless windows in the restaurant. “Writing has been the only thing in my life that has helped me get through things. Not very many people get that.”

  “I get it,” Sawyer said.

  His parents once had high hopes that he would ditch his writing career for something more stable. A doctor. A lawyer. He had done everything in his power to make a good career for himself before they died in a car crash. He hoped his parents would be proud of him now, but writing had helped him through a lot of heartache and grief.

  Sawyer sat back in his chair while he tried to decipher his feelings. Why he felt the need to tell this all to Ava was beyond him. The night before was burned in the back of his memory, but he couldn’t deny the tug between the two of them either.

  He was in dangerous territory and needed to set boundaries for himself.

  “I better go,” he said, rising from the table. “I have to get a draft in, too.”

  Ava glanced up at him in surprise. “Okay. Thanks for coming down here to check up on me.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll let you know when Greg calls with our flight information.”

  He nodded before leaving a five dollar bill on the table to cover his coffee. Sawyer crossed through the restaurant and stopped to look back at Ava again as she opened her laptop. Her attention was focused back on the computer screen with her fingers dancing across the keyboard.

  Something stirred inside of his chest. It couldn’t happen again. No matter how much a part of him wanted it to.

  Chapter Seven

  The smell of the sea, salty and full of sunshine, greeted Ava when she parked in the three-story car garage outside of The Florida Times. Her stomach fluttered with nerves when she thought about facing Sawyer again. They had spent two more days in New York City together, but away from one another. Sawyer had retreated into his own distant bubble since having coffee with her the morning after.

  Her skin burned at the memory of it.

&
nbsp; Ava grabbed her purse and tote bag from the passenger seat. Office romances were strictly forbidden, but this was Sawyer. He didn’t want a relationship. The night they had spent together was fueled on by alcohol and emotions. That was it. Nothing else.

  Sucking in a deep breath, Ava started in the direction of the stairway. She stopped when her phone buzzed from the bottom of her purse.

  “Great,” Ava muttered when she glanced at the screen. “Hi, Mom. I’m about to step into work, so can I call you later?”

  “Of course, honey. I just wanted to check up on you with everything that you’ve been through.”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I told you that. Nothing has changed in the past twenty-four hours.”

  “I was talking with your father about maybe flying you down for a week. You’ve been working so hard and--”

  “I can’t take anytime off,” Ava interjected, shaking her head. “I’m honestly fine, Mom. Just trust me when I say that.”

  “How about we discuss it after your done with work?” Her mother suggested, unwilling to let it go just yet. “Just think about it for a little bit. Given what happened, I think your boss would be willing to let you take personal time off.”

  “I’ll see,” Ava said, sticking her keys into her purse. “I love you, Mom. I’ll call you later.”

  She hung up before the conversation could go any further. Sighing, Ava shoved her phone back into her purse as well.

  “Ava?”

  Footsteps jogged in her direction from across the parking lot. Ava turned to spot John Myers, one of the feature sports writer for The Florida Times, approaching her with a concerned frown spread across his face.

  “I was so worried about you,” he said, reaching her side to sweep her up into a hug. “I saw what happened at the protest. It was all over the news.” John let her go and did a quick scan of her. “Are you okay? You weren’t hit or anything?”

  “No, I’m fine.” She offered a strained smile. “Aside from sleepless nights, I’m honestly fine.”