He’d help where he could, of course. With any luck, Rowdy would settle things with Avery tonight. But even if he did, Cannon still planned to stick around, to stay alert and to be available—if needed.
* * *
AVERY HELD HER breath as Rowdy stood there, staring at her in stark surprise. Please, please, please don’t tell me to leave.
Eyes darkening, he stared at her so long and hard that she thought about running.
She held her breath, so hopeful it hurt.
And then he scooped her up and his mouth was on hers as he strode to the bed. Avery held on, thrilled that he wasn’t sending her away but fearful of him hurting his back.
As he lowered her to the bed, coming down on top of her, she freed her mouth to say, “Rowdy—”
Ruthlessly he kissed her again, his hands holding her head, his tongue exploring her mouth as he kneed her legs apart.
Giving up, she kissed him back and carefully wound her legs around his thighs.
His mouth left hers to put a hot, openmouthed kiss to her throat, her shoulder. He bit her lightly, making her tingle all over, then licked the spot, there and lower, down to her nipple.
When he sucked her in, she arched her back on a wave of red-hot pleasure.
He groaned, switched to the other breast and teased, licking her, tugging gently with his teeth, suckling softly.
She squirmed under the carnal onslaught. “Rowdy, take off your jeans.”
Without answering, he slid farther down, leaving a damp trail of kisses along her ribs, over her belly, her hip bone. He nuzzled against her, breathing deeply, groaning again.
Avery lay there, letting him do as he pleased, loving it all.
Loving him.
He sat up and hooked his hands in her panties, dragging them down and off. His chest labored as he lightly touched his fingers to her sex. “So pretty.” He looked up at her br**sts, reached a hand there to cuddle her while still touching between her legs.
It was so intimate, so personal, she turned her face away. But that wouldn’t do, not when she so enjoyed looking at Rowdy. He was waiting for her to look at him, and as soon as she did, he parted her, his fingers exploring.
“Already wet and hot.” He pushed two fingers into her, his gaze hard, going darker with her gasp. “Nice and tight, too.”
The pleasure coiled, and she tipped her head back, arching again.
On his knees beside her, Rowdy touched her br**sts even while fingering her, and all the while, he watched her in absorbed fascination.
“I want you to come for me, Avery, like this.” He brought his thumb up to her clitoris, touching her with a tantalizing rhythm. “Once I get inside you, I’m not going to last.”
What he said and how he said it turned her on as much as what he did to her.
She got her eyes open and stared at him. “Please kiss me.”
He looked at his hand between her legs. “Here?”
Oh, God. She swallowed and held her arms out to him. “Rowdy.”
Half smiling, he leaned down and lightly brushed his mouth over hers. “Tell you what,” he said, then sealed his mouth over hers in a hot, tongue-twining kiss that left her breathless. When he lifted his head again, he murmured against her mouth, “There’s that kiss.”
Muscles already quivering in a rising climax, Avery stared at him, suspended in anticipation of what he’d do.
He touched his mouth to her throat. “And this kiss.”
Next his hot breath teased her breast right before he drew on her nipple in a soft leisurely suckle that ended with a lick. “And that one.”
He worked his way downward again, and with each kiss the pleasure sharpened until she was gasping.
“And now...here,” Rowdy whispered, lightly kissing her where she was most sensitive, priming her before he closed his mouth around her and drove her wild with the rough stroke of his tongue.
There was no holding back, no conscious thought of guarding his injured back. All she could do was cry out as the climax swelled inside her. Flattening one hand on her abdomen to keep her still, Rowdy pushed her, moving his fingers in her, his tongue on her.
She fisted the sheets to anchor herself until finally the orgasm began to fade.
Rowdy groaned, holding her close a moment before rushing to his feet and shedding his jeans.
Breathing hard, her heart drumming furiously, Avery watched him through a fog of satisfaction, how he hurriedly rolled on a condom in record time.
He stepped back to the bed, hooked his arms under her legs and pulled her to the edge of the mattress. “Sorry,” he murmured, his face set with some dark emotion. He positioned himself, then used her wetness to glide against her.
With all her nerve endings still tingling, the sensation was too acute and she tried to pull back. Impossible with the way Rowdy held her.
Watching her intently, he leaned in and slowly thrust in. She groaned and drew tight around him.
“So good,” Rowdy murmured, straining against her as he buried himself and then went still with an obvious effort.
“Rowdy,” Avery whispered, loving him so much. She touched his shoulders, down over his chest hair. He was rock solid all over, now more so with his arousal. She loved the contrast of his solid muscles and soft chest hair. “You don’t need to wait,” she promised him. “I’m ready, and I want this. I want you.”
His jaw locked, shoulders tensed and gaze burning... “Fuck.” He broke, driving into her hard and fast, keeping her legs high, pressing them out and back until he was going so deep Avery felt another climax building.