CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Worth
Guilt was like a needle under my skin, pricking me constantly, taking over my entire life.
I’d failed my family – completely, totally, miserably. And I didn’t know how to make it right.
So I threw myself into work, as always. I was also throwing myself into the bottle more and more. It was my bed fellow. My only chance of a good night’s sleep. My only source of oblivion.
Until this week.
It had been eight days since Auggie broached the subject of selling the farm and I’d given it a great deal of thought since our discussion. I broke down and called Brandon, asking him to begin the process of splitting up the land and deeding it to Hawk. I hadn’t decided when to offer it to him. Perhaps in December for Christmas or January in honor of the new baby. Or maybe just on a random Thursday, so it didn’t look so much like a gift.
I shook my head. I was overthinking it. Overthinking everything.
The therapy pool and spa area would be completed tomorrow and I was ready to bring our son home the day following that. I couldn’t believe how much better he was doing. Taking a few steps on his own. His speech becoming clearer. A smile replacing the pained look on his face.
“I’m so proud of you,” I told him at my last visit. “You’re a hell of a lot tougher than any LaViere man before you.”
He’d laughed and took another step with his walker. “Yeah, right. I’m practically Mario Andretti here.”
Clapping him on his back, I went on, “It’s not about speed. Hell, it’s not even about surviving a crash like you did. It’s inner strength, son. It’s about laughing like you just did, even when you’re in pain. It’s about caring for others, giving second chances. That takes strength. More strength than I’ve ever had.”
He stopped and turned toward me, looking me in the eye. “It’s not too late, Dad. It’s only too late when you’re six feet under.”
Yet, here I was. Scared to death of fucking another thing up.
Things were looking brighter, at least there were momentary sparks of possibilities. Except for one area in my life… Hawk.
He still scowled at me each time we ran into each other, his face growing red, his shoulders tense. I’d say hello and he’d turn away, muttering things I couldn’t quite hear. That was probably for the best.
Once, Liane had taken me by the arm and pulled me aside. “Give him time, Worth. He’s still working through everything. But he’ll get there, I know he will.”
I’d nodded and she’d raised to her tiptoes to give me a kiss on the cheek. I’d damn near collapsed into tears.
I went to bed that night feeling brighter, more hopeful. The feeling instantly increased when I noticed Auggie waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom. She was wearing nothing but lace panties. She held out her arms, and I fell into them. “There. That better?” she whispered as she pressed her fingers into my temples. I closed my eyes, losing myself into her touch.
She kissed my nose and I laughed, pulling her tighter to me and inhaling the sweet fragrance of her skin. She kissed the place behind my ear that seemed to have a direct link to my dick.
“I love you, Auggie,” I said, looking down into her glorious green eyes. “Thank you for not giving up on me. Or us.” Damn it. I had to choke down the emotion. “Any of us.”
In response, she pulled my head down until our lips touched, sealing us together. I deepened the kiss and she moaned against my tongue.
“I need you so much,” she said and smiled before scooting backwards off my lap and moving to the floor between my legs. Reaching for the waistband of my pants, our eyes met. “I need us.”
“My green eyed temptress,” I said before lifting my hips to help her pull them down. “I need us too.”
I hissed as her mouth closed around me. Hot and wet. Sliding down my aching cock. I closed my eyes but opened them again, not wanting to miss a thing.
She took me into her throat, gagging a little before swallowing more. Good. It was so damn good. Her fist around the base. Her lips. Her tongue. The tips of her hair on my legs, the feathery softness of their touch. This was my Auggie. This was us.
I could come now. Come so hard into her mouth. But I closed my eyes, forcing myself away from the edge. It’d been so long, though. So damn long and my control was slipping by degrees.
“Baby, you’ve got to stop.”
Grabbing a fistful of hair, I pulled until her mouth released me and that cat like smirk appeared on her lips. “I don’t want to stop,” she purred and my cock pulsed in response.
She smiled and stood up, pushing her panties down her legs. I watched her face come closer as she straddled me, her mouth finding mine again.
Pushing her thighs apart, I watched her head fall back as my fingers found her center. She was wet. Of course, she was wet. She was always wet for me. And so warm. So willing. So responsive. She pressed harder onto my fingers, and I let her set the rhythm, twisting my hand until my knuckles found that sensitive place. She moaned, riding my hand harder and faster. When my thumb found her clit, her body rocked with a powerful orgasm.
Even while she still trembled, I tossed her backwards onto the bed. She gasped as I pushed her thighs apart. Then I was there, blowing cool air on her pussy, watching her back arch in response, wanting more. I gave it to her, lowering my head to feast.
She went crazy, clamping those strong thighs around my head, her fingers grasping my hair as I took my time licking up her slit. She whimpered when I sucked those juicy lips into my mouth. Finding her clit with my thumb, I pushed down on the bundle of nerves and held her still while she bucked. I remembered this. Remembered that my wife was a hellion in bed.
Sinking two fingers into her, I pulled her clit into my mouth while I circled her tight walls. I was so hard. So ready it was painful, but I clamped down on my own need. I wanted her to come in my mouth.
I turned my fingers, stroking her, pushing her, cursing as she pulled harder at my hair, her nails raking down my scalp and into my shoulders. I bit into her clit, circling it with my tongue as I worked her with my fingers.
She was panting. Almost screaming as she came, her thighs twisting, body bucking. Crying with her hands over her face.
I licked her juices, soothing her, stroking her until she breathed out that soft, amazed laugh I so loved. Then I climbed up her body to take her mouth with mine, forcing her to taste herself.
Surprising me, she turned us until she was lying on top, her tongue still in my mouth. She rose up and smiled down at me. “I’m going to fuck you so hard.”
Her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes dilated as she leaned down once again to take my lips. Open. Wet. Her tongue searched for mine as she ground her sex into my stomach.
I grasped my cock, straightened it, waiting for her. She slid down and moaned into my mouth as we connected. I fought for control as she impaled herself on me, pushing down until I’d reached the very end of her.
So good. An exact fit. We always had been.
She began to move and I gripped her hips, watching her breasts sway with the rhythm. Her head thrown back as she rocked on me faster and faster.
I sat up, until we were face to face and she cried out as her clit brushed my abs on her downward thrust. “That’s right, baby. Use me. Make yourself come.”
Her eyes met mine, her breath warm against my face. “Oh,” she whispered as I squeezed her hips, lifting her and bringing her down hard. “Please.” I brought her down again harder and she moaned, her eyelids fluttering closed.
“Look at me,” I demanded and she immediately did as she was told. “I love you.”
Her eyes softened, the green growing wet as she leaned forward to kiss me again. “I love you too. So much. So very much.”
Flipping her once again to her back, I plunged hard and she gasped. “Hold on,” I said against her ear. “This isn’t going to be gentle.”
I thrust again. Deep and hard, feeling her body jolt beneath me. Her mouth seized mine, her fingernails scraping down my back to grab my ass. I relished the pain. The aliveness. The feelings.
Plunging into her body. Over and over. Harder and faster. Listening to our bodies merge and slap together, the sounds echoing around the room. Her body grew tighter as she fought for release. Tighter, clamping down on me. I didn’t want this to end, but… I exploded.
The vision of her face grew white around the edges as I was rocked by one of the most powerful orgasms of my life. My breath was harsh and my arms turned to jelly as I sank all of my weight into her willing arms.
She was crying, her entire body trembling as I rolled us to our sides, our bodies still connected. I kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her nose, her mouth. I tasted her salty tears, breathed her scent.
“You are my heart,” she said against my lips. “No matter what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future, I wouldn’t give anything up.”
In that moment, I vowed never to turn away from her again, to not fall into the darkness of isolation. To stay by her side even when my brain screamed for me to run. We were better together than we were apart. Stronger.
As her breathing slowed, I told her, “I promise to be a better man.”