Chasing Ava: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove) (25 page)

“OMG, you have a fireplace in your bathroom?” Whoa. If she had known this sumptuous space was available to her weeks ago, she would’ve jumped at the chance to share his master suite.
 

“Hot and naked is preferred.” Behind her Logan’s powerful bare arms circled her waist. He brushed his lips over her curls. She let her body soften, molded herself to him and waited. Her thoughts were racing as she felt his burgeoning hardness press into her bottom.
She wanted him again too
and that scared her a little.
 

“Go back to bed. I’ll be back in a minute.” Covering his hands with hers, she marveled at the indulgence of touching him. Of feeling all the power and strength of him made gentle for her sake. Last night he had given her a gift she never dreamt to receive. She felt her feminine power with him. And she loved very physical, toe curling, hoarse crying, multi-orgasmic sex with Logan. And that admission scared her a lot.
 

“I asked you not to be gone a long time, this is officially too long.” He gathered her in his muscled arms and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Get all your sweetness back in our bed,” he teased.
 

“It’s almost eleven in the morning Logan, I should go home.” His expression hardened.
 

“Why are you trying to go home?”
 

His grip firmed around her shoulders. He pulled her closer, as if he was afraid she would vanish.
 

“I don’t live here with you.” He took a deep inhale, his expanded chest pressed against her back.

“You could.” Looking straight ahead into the mirror, she saw the crease between his brows. The thinning of his full lips in displeasure. He’d used those lips to taste every inch of her skin. The strain of her reluctance clearly reflected on his face. Line in the sand, this was a boundary she wouldn’t cross.

“My things are at my house,” she pushed the words out with a resolve that didn’t quite echo her feelings. “I need to get cleaned up. Start my day. I still have a life outside of you Logan.”
 

“You can start your day from here. Being with me should not exist in some far off realm. I am a permanent part of your life, whether you realize it or not. Your life includes me, the same holds true where I’m concerned. I explained this to you already and you acted as if you understood. I want us together in every sense of the word. My definition of together includes physically together. Ava, I have never asked this of another woman. What exists between us is a new experience for me, but I know I don’t want it to end.”
 

“My going home doesn’t translate to the end. Why do you need to see me, touch me, to know I’m with you?” His body stiffened behind her, she took in his blank stare. His normally verdant eyes were the muted green of jade stone. She didn’t think he would answer the question.

He spoke, but his voice was cold, flat, minus emotion.

“Women don’t always do what they say,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “I want to know where you are. Know that you are mine.”
 

She was speechless. No man had ever felt this level of intensity for her. Logan’s words were everything a woman wanted to hear from her man, but his words terrified her. One night of sex with Logan and she couldn’t go home, literally and figuratively speaking.
 

“Logan, we had sex. It doesn’t mean we have to move in together and our previous lives cease to exist.”
 

 
“I didn’t have sex last night. I made love with you. I want you here with me. Our lives are not connected, they were blended together, and forever changed the second you gave yourself to me. You are mine, my woman. I would give you the world if you asked for it, but don’t ask me to let go. I am not letting you go.”
 

Beyond speechless. It was official. The line from the
Wizard of Oz
came to mind, “
You’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy
.” What the heck had she gotten herself into?
 

“Logan, we need to talk.”
 

“I don’t need to talk. You should have talked before you gave yourself to me. Willingly Ava. You gave yourself willingly.” He was clenching his jaw now at the continued conversation. “I never misled you. You knew what I wanted from day one. For some unknown reason you have been afraid of a relationship with me from the moment we met. Last night you tamed your fear and gave me one of the most precious gifts a woman can honor a man with, her body. You chose me and I in turn will honor you. We will take it slower. You have all the time you need to process everything that has happened between us, but I refuse to back down, back off, step back, or any other nonsense.” He kissed her with a slow, thorough passion, liquefying her resolve. “I am keeping you,” his roguish smile causing somersaults in her belly. He kissed the top of her head. “Everything you need is here with me.” Logan pulled her in close, squeezing her waist.

“I’m going to get us some breakfast. Be here when I get back Ava.”
 

He dressed quickly, leaving the bedroom without another word in her direction. She heard the door leading to the garage close. Finally she was alone with her thoughts. She needed to busy herself to calm the onslaught of emotion flooding her brain. Images of her joined with Logan permeated her thoughts. His body was muscles of steel wrapped in the finest linen, his touch, his voice, his breath on her skin was a long lost caress, a heated wave overtaking her, cleansing away the fingerprints of everything that was before him. Could she do what he asked?
 

Logan was demanding everything. Her foolish heart was ready to surrender, but what would he do if he discovered her secret? It was a risk she wasn’t willing to make. Not yet. Absentmindedly she stepped into the deluxe shower enclosure, complete with heated tiles and a rainfall shower control in the ceiling and washed away the evidence of the previous night’s passion. Donning her wrinkled blouse and a pair of Logan’s boxers, her bra nowhere in sight, she finger combed her damp curls into a messy cascade. She would change clothes once she reached her room downstairs.
 

She never imagined how good sharing her body with Logan could be. She felt connected to him in a way she didn’t know was possible. This was the first time in her life that she had participated in sex. More than a hapless bystander in the act, allowing a man to use her body for his pleasure. Her eyes settled on her bra tangled in the bed sheets all but forgotten after Logan stripped her bare. She was the only one in the house, no need for the chest binder at this point. A shiver ran through her body as she recalled the moist heat of his mouth on her skin. The fabric of her blouse chafed against her budding nipples.
Get yourself under control Ava
. She smiled to herself. Even the thought of him commanded a response from my body.

Chapter 12

The faint verbal chime of Ava’s phone signaled a new text message. She crossed the room searching through the two piles of discarded clothes looking for her phone. It wasn’t there. She dropped to her knees to inspect under the bed before climbing onto the bed lifting all the bedcovers.
 

Check the sofa
, she thought to herself with a snap of her fingers.
 

With bare feet she bounced down the stairs delighted in the joy of having Logan love her last night.
 

“Let’s go to breakfast,” Lina’s text message read. Ava texted back, “Busy.”
 

Her phone rang, “Busy doing what?” Lina said. Straight to the point.
 

“I’m having breakfast with Logan.” At Lina’s squeal, Ava pulled the phone away from her ear. She wandered around the family room touching and mock arranging the plaques and trophies on the mantel.
 

“What time did he pick you up this morning?” She positioned the phone back to her ear. Ava remained quiet, cursing her routine life. Nervousness crept up her spine, trying to permeate her voice, she managed to steel her tone before answering the expected question.
 

“He didn’t.” Ava closed her eyes bracing for Lina’s reply.
 

Ava pulled the receiver away again, but not before the scream and laughter resounded off her ringing eardrum. “You stayed the night with the love doctor didn’t you?” Lina said, in a sensual mock tone, full of breathy endings and giggles.

“Don’t call him that.”
 

“You’re defending him? O-M-Goosebumps, he got you good.” Ava heard the sharp intake of breath before Lina dropped the verbal bomb.
 

“Logan met Cricket!” Her friend screamed. You would think someone had won the lottery listening to Lina holler in the background.
 

“Don’t hold out on me girlfriend. How much action did Cricket get?”
 

Ava could not respond. She was embarrassed that her best friend knew all the details of her previously non-existent sex life. She didn’t realize there was a post-sex celebration requirement between best friends.
 

“Yes, yes, yes!” Lina chanted into the phone, “Ladies and gentlemen, Cricket has left the stall, she’s burning up the track, she’s rounded the bend, hurdle in her sight and she nails it.”
 

They both burst into laughter.
 

“Are you supposed to be this happy for me? I don’t think it’s customary for women to rejoice over each other’s sex life.”
 

“I’m celebrating your sex life. There is no ship pulling into my harbor. Besides, we’re best friends, we can celebrate anything we want.” Ava heard Lina clear her throat. “So was he all that and a bowl of steaming hot, buttery, slow cooked grits?”
 

 
“I’m not kissing and telling. My mortification at you celebrating my love life should be enough to fuel your one woman party.”
 

“So, what all did you kiss?” Lina asked low and playfully. “Does he have skills in the bedroom or not?” Maybe, a little sharing was okay. No details.
 

“Lina,” Ava said, in a singsong voice, “The man had me climbing the octave scale higher than vintage Mariah at the MTV awards. Cricket was doing back flips, swinging from the high bar, and flash dancing all at the same time.”
 

“Dang, girl. You got a show under the big top and all the stuff animals.”
 

“It was Lina.”
 

“Oh my, goose bumps is right. I want to break off a little piece of him, then hide the rest away because I’m afraid I might run out if I eat it too fast.” Lina screamed into the phone.
 

“Girl, I’m jumping up and down in this condo. My neighbors are going to call the cops. Yeah, you found yourself a Master Cricket Tamer.” Lina was giggling now. “I am so happy for you Ava.” A sound coming from the kitchen caught her attention.
 

“I’ll call you back, I hear Logan in the kitchen.” Not wanting to be caught sharing details about their night together, Ava was anxious to end the call.
 

“You got him cooking?”

“Yeah, right. He left to go get us breakfast.” This was the opening to ask about what had happened between her and Jace. “How are things between you and Jace?” Logan could wait a few minutes. Especially since the conversation had shifted from talk about last night.
 

“Don’t blow my secondary high by mentioning
his
name.”
 

“What’s happening, Lina?”

“It doesn’t matter. Jace is officially a part of black history.”

“Black history?”

“As in, my big, black butt is history. In more ways than I care to discuss.” Lina sounded more than sad. Ava recognized the hurt.
 

“I’m so sorry. Are you really okay? You haven’t been available in the last few weeks. And why aren’t you working on the psychiatric unit?”

“You know me. When love calls, I answer. When love hangs up, I find myself another number to call.” Ava wasn’t convinced Lina was coping as well as she claimed.

“No more talk about me and another sad love song. Kudos to you Ava, you’ve got that man out of bed on a Saturday morning to do your bidding. Logan is a keeper.”

That’s what she was afraid of.
 

Ava ended the call with Lina. She hummed as she glided across the carpeted floor to the cool kitchen tiles. She was happy. Her elation had everything to do with Logan especially after her love summit with Lina. Logan was a keeper. And she would be doing the keeping.