Fortunate Son by Jay Crownover

Ry

IT WAS WEIRD to be back in this situation with Bowe.

I didn’t want to rush her inside or let all the blood and heat rushing to my cock overtake my common sense. The first time we did this, it was all about chasing the heady sensations and the rush of desire that was so new to a couple of inexperienced teenagers who may or may not have snuck a couple of drinks and let their emotions run wild.

Now, I knew there was so much more involved. As good as it felt to be with her, as much as she got to me in a way no one else had ever managed to, the emotions entangled with Bowe Keller were tricky and could lead to another heartbreak. I realized how different it felt when Bowe left back then versus how I felt when Aston told me I didn’t make her happy. I thought I was devastated and destroyed. I was so confused about how it all went wrong when I envisioned being together for far longer than we were. Holding Bowe in my arms, thinking about how empty it felt when she would no longer talk to me, and when she made it clear I would never get close enough to touch her again, I understood real loss and disappointment.

I’d rushed into a boring, predictable relationship where I wouldn’t have to work for anything or be challenged every step of the way because I was so terrified and disappointed by the void left by Bowe. It’d never been about being with Aston and building a future with her. It’d been about trying to distract myself, so I didn’t have the time or space to think about how I’d royally screwed up the one relationship I couldn’t control. I was playing it safe so I didn’t get hurt, and in the end, I managed to cause so much collateral damage it was unbelievable. I owed Aston a huge apology.

I owed one to Bowe as well.

Which meant I was going to go home sooner than I originally planned.

But first, I was going to take her mind off what had her so wound up and hopefully put her in a better mood.

I didn’t have a magical dick by any stretch of the imagination, but even the first time we fooled around, my instincts had been on point, and things had ended up far better than expected. Bowe and I worked well together sexually without much effort. It seemed like that hadn’t changed.

She took the choice to linger in the darkness and the confines of my truck out of my hands by opening her door and nearly sending us both to the ground when it swung outward. It was a good thing I had a hand on her headrest for balance, or we would have landed in a very undignified heap on her driveway.

She blinked up at me and darted her tongue out to lick across her lower lip. She used her hold on the back of my neck to keep herself upright and inclined her head in the direction of her front door.

“Inside.”

I liked her bossy side. I always had. I was used to calling the shots and guiding the way things should go, but she wasn’t seeking out direction. She was going to go her own way, even if she ended up having to change course when she realized her destination wasn’t the right one.

“All right. Let’s go inside.” I lifted my weight off of her and watched as she scrambled out of my truck and dashed toward the front door.

My ego wanted to believe she was excited to be with me, but my heart couldn’t deny the reality that she was using me in the same way I’d used my ex-girlfriend for years. It wasn’t the best feeling in the world, and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered exactly what I’d put Aston through for the last couple of years. I always believed I was a good guy. That was the role I played day in and day out.

I wasn’t so sure anymore. It wasn’t like I was bad or anything, but I was starting to think I might have a bit more of my father in me than I originally believed. He’d told me endlessly when I was growing up that he made a lot of bad decisions and hurt a lot of people when he was my age. He didn’t do it on purpose. It was a defense mechanism and a way to protect himself from the overwhelming guilt and grief he battled after losing his twin brother. He was used to putting his own interests first… until he fell in love with my mom. She forced him to see a bigger picture and made him realize how lonely he was by pushing those who tried to get close to him away over and over again. I had never understood why he felt the need to pass the stories along in the form of a warning, but now I did.

No matter what, I was my father’s son. I just did my best to downplay the similarities because they didn’t fit with the image I’d been trying to live up to for so long.

Shaking my head to get my focus back where it needed to be, I followed Bowe into her cute little house. The lights were off except for the faint glow coming from her bedroom. I followed the light and stopped in the doorway so I could catch my breath. She’d stripped out of the tank top and short-shorts. She was left in all black satin and fishnet tights. If I had to pick how she would look in some of my dirtiest, raunchiest dreams about her, this would be it. I almost needed to pinch myself to make sure this was real and not a hallucination. I let out a deep breath, drawing her attention to me. Her honey-colored eyes widened when she saw the way I was standing there staring at her. She gave me a crooked smile and stepped closer. She was shorter without her boots on, but I still liked that she fit against me like she was made to do exactly that.

She put one of her hands on my waist and grabbed the hem of my shirt. She used her other index finger to lightly tap my chin. I didn’t realize my mouth was hanging slightly open.

“I grew up almost as well as you did, Archer.” She smirked at me while dragging me by the hem of my shirt toward the bed.

I gave my head a little shake and followed her obediently. “I think you grew up even better.”

We weren’t exactly children the last time we landed in bed together, but we had been young. We still were, but in some ways, we were both much closer to adulthood than we’d been when we initially tried to figure sex out. And everything that it changed after it was introduced into our friendship. She was curvier, taller, and had piercings, tattoos on both her shoulder blades, and one high on her hip that hadn’t been there before. She was also more confident and bolder about standing in front of me mostly naked. Bowe knew she looked good, and seemed to know exactly what she wanted from me. I found both of those things unbelievably sexy.

She worked on getting my shirt over my head as I kicked my sneakers off. I sucked in an audible breath when I felt her fingers trace over the lines that etched out my abs. Her eyes drifted over the intricate tattoo that scrolled down my arm, and her lips lifted in a soft smile.

“I always wondered if you were going to cave in and let your dad give you something you couldn’t get rid of.” Her eyes lifted to mine. “It’s pretty.”

It was hard to think of what to say because I was kind of confused by her words, but mostly because her hands were tugging my jeans open. There was no hiding my reaction to being this close to her or how much I liked kissing her. I was hot and hard, becoming even more so when I felt the brush of the back of her knuckles against the straining flesh behind my boxers.

“You’re pretty.” The last person I needed on my mind when I was seconds away from getting Bowe into bed was my dad.

I grasped her face in one hand and bent my head so I could kiss her. I backed her toward the edge of the bed, using my free hand to skim up her side and around her ribcage, following the line of her bra to her back so I could finesse the clasp open. I felt like she’d been teasing me all night with the glimpses of it peeking out from her shirt. Her risqué style suited her and inspired a lot of wayward thoughts.

When the slinky material slid down her shoulders and off her arms, I followed the progress with hungry eyes. I ran the backs of my fingers across the upper swell of her breasts, noting that those had changed a bit from the last time I had unfettered access to them. Her perky little nipples still looked like raspberries, but her breasts were now fuller than a handful. She wasn’t overly curvy, but it didn’t matter. She used what she had to her advantage, and I liked everything she was working with just fine.

I kissed her mouth hard and fast, then let my lips skip down the side of the neck as I bent her backward onto the mattress. Once she was beneath me, I kissed across her collarbone and lifted a hand to hold the weight of one breast while using my thumb to lightly circle a taut nipple. Bowe’s mouth opened with a tiny gasp and she lifted her arms to wrap around my shoulders. I remembered that soft, sweet sound from before. I remembered the way she tasted across my tongue when I savored her. I never dreamed of being able to put my mouth and hands on her again, and it certainly hadn’t been on my agenda when I left Denver. But all of it immediately felt so right and so good; I was furious at myself for being the one who deprived us both of a chance to experience more of this over the last few years.

I chuckled against her warm skin when she wiggled impatiently and shifted so she could pull the rest of my clothes down around my hips. She used both her hands and feet to get me to an acceptable level of undress. Her eagerness was cute, but it turned into something much more serious when her warm hand wrapped around my straining dick. Her touch made it throb and sent shivers dancing across my skin. It was impossible to think of anything but how good she made me feel when I had her hands gliding across my body and her lips whispering my name.

I placed wet, sucking kisses all along the valley between her breasts until I reached her other nipple. I pulled her nipple into my mouth and used my teeth to gently nip at the tight bud. The little sting I left had her hand tightening on the rigid flesh between my legs and made her shift restlessly beneath me. I smiled against her skin, moving so I could drag my tongue down the length of her body until I reached the edge of her tights. I hooked my thumbs through the high leg holes in her black panties, making sure to collect the fishnet material as well. I pulled all the sexy, black fabric away from her skin, getting on my knees between her sensually parted legs.

I put a hand on the inside of her knee and looked at her as she lifted herself up on her elbows so she could see what I was doing. Foreplay hadn’t really factored into our youthful foray into sex and intimacy, but this definitely wouldn’t be the first time I had my mouth on her most private of places. I wondered if she remembered every little detail of everything we’d ever done to one another the same way I did.

I arched my eyebrows at her and asked, “You ready?”

I still wanted her to have an out if she came to her senses and realized she would regret this when she was thinking straight.

She simply smirked back at me and told me, “Show me what you got, Archer.”

Gladly.

I was happy to show her that what I had was a ravenous appetite and a raging desire to leave the same kind of impression on her that she’d left on me all those years ago. I wanted her to think of me long after I was gone. I wanted her memories of me to invade her every thought and feeling, and make her long for me the way I longed for her even when I was trying to fool myself into thinking I’d gotten over her.

I licked my way up her thigh, pausing to lift the toned limb over my shoulder when I reached my target. Her skin was so soft and smooth, and all her pretty pink places were already damp and slippery. She made my mouth water.

I leaned in as close to her as I could get my mouth fully buried in her warm, wet center. I heard Bowe let out a low moan and felt her fall back on the bed with the first swipe of my tongue. One of her hands reached for the top of my head, her fingers threading through my hair as she writhed against my mouth. Her familiar flavor took me back in time and made me determined to make sure this wasn’t a one-time thing. I wanted her to want me the way I wanted her, against my better judgment. I wanted her to need me so viscerally that she could feel all the way down to her bones, the same way I needed her.

She moaned my name, and her legs twitched enticingly next to my ears. I pulled her even closer as the tip of my tongue dipped inside her fluttering opening. One of my hands pressed along the crease of her inner thigh, holding her still so I could dive as deep as possible. I loved the way her body clenched in response. My dick got even harder and started to leak at the erotic sounds she was making. It ached in a way that brought my hand to it so I could squeeze the shaft to keep myself in check. I’d never forgive myself if I lost it before I got my chance to be inside her again.

I bit back a moan as her heated insides quivered against my tongue. I wanted to drown in the wetness that exploded with every lick and flick. I moved so I could circle the sensitive little spot hidden within her slippery folds. The first pass made her back arch up off the mattress and caused her fingers to clasp my hair in a painful grip. She practically yelled my name, and I was pretty sure it sounded even better than having an entire stadium cheer for me when I scored on the field. It was a sound I wanted to hear over and over again, not just when she was looking for an escape from her troubles.

While I continued to make her crazy with my mouth on her clit, I added my fingers to the mix, stroking them through her wet heat and teasing her sensitive opening. I pumped them in and out of her twitching body, nearly losing it when I imagined my cock doing the same thing. Almost against my will, my palm started to slide up and down my dick. I wanted to be inside of her so bad I was shaking.

Bowe pulled on my hair with even more force when I used the edge of my teeth on her clit. She jolted so hard, one of her legs slid off my shoulder. She sat up, which forced me backward, and used her hold on the top of my head to pull my face up so I was looking at her. Her eyes glowed as she reached out and used her thumb to rub through the wetness that was clinging to my lips.

“Enough. It feels amazing, but that’s not what I asked you for.” She sounded breathless and impatient. “I want you, Ry.”

Her words were pretty much my dream come true, and there was no way I would ever be able to deny her anything when she said what I’d always wanted to hear.

I grunted my agreement, and after taking a moment to make sure we were responsible and protected, I leaned over her again, caging her underneath my body and bracing myself above her with an arm bent around her head. Her black and purple hair fanned out around her head in disheveled disarray that was really pretty. She was colorful both inside and out. I was so dumb for being afraid of all her brightness and intensity all those years ago. How had I lived being able to face down three-hundred-pound lineman, but constantly afraid of how this girl made me feel?

It was a joke. But it wasn’t funny.

Bowe wrapped a leg around my hip and nudged the base of my spine with the heel of her foot. I smiled down at her before dropping a kiss on the tip of her nose.

“I really missed you, Bowe.”

Of course, I wanted her to say she missed me too. I wanted to know I wasn’t alone in this, that I mattered to her and wasn’t just a convenient cock.

But, true to who she was, Bowe muttered, “Then you shouldn’t have made sure I had no other option than to hate you.”

She was right, but I wasn’t the kind of guy who made the same mistake twice.

I kissed her so she couldn’t use any more words to wound me. I snaked a hand between our bodies and grabbed a hold of my cock. It didn’t take much maneuvering to press myself inside her. We both made a slightly tortured sound as I sank into her heat, inch by inch. The intensity of everything I felt as she let me get as close as possible to her was overwhelming. I forgot to breathe for a long moment, and I was pretty sure I saw stars. My heart was beating so fast I was worried I might pass out, but I was determined to see this through to the end because I couldn’t fathom letting her down again.

Bowe curled an arm around my neck and started to rock her hips upward. I met her eager thrust with one of my own and watched as her eyes fluttered shut and her mouth dropped open in pleasure. I wanted to demand that she look at me but took a moment to appreciate the blissed-out expression etched on her features as we started to find a hurried rhythm, moving against one another in a nearly frantic way.

Her nipples dragged across my chest. Her breath made the crook of my neck warm and wet. Her pussy clenched and unclenched in a passionate caress that had my erection swelling and kicking with excitement inside of her. I loved the way she was clinging to me. I could fool myself into thinking she didn’t want to let me go when she held me this way. It was a nice delusion, one I didn’t want to rationalize away.

I kissed her eyelids and the curve of each cheek. I traced the outline of her ear with the tip of my tongue and used my teeth on the delicate shell. I loved the sounds that escaped her when I kissed all over her face, and I nearly came when those sounds changed as I slowed my pace and started to grind against her, deliberate and deep. I also wiggled my fingers back between our bodies and maneuvered what some had called my ‘million-dollar hands’ back between her legs. My fingertips were instantly coated in silky wetness as I unerringly found her hot spot. I stroked her tiny little clit fast and slightly rough while I continued to rock in and out of her body with an achingly slow pace.

I could tell it was driving her crazy by the way she writhed and undulated under me. Her honey-colored eyes popped back open, and her mouth pursed into a cute pout. She used the heel on my lower back to press me to her impatiently, and I could see that she was on the verge of flying apart as a flush moved over her chest and neck.

“Don’t play with me, Ry.” The bite in her voice made my dick pulse with pleasure deep within her. I hoped she could feel it because it felt really good.

“But it’s so much fun.” I grinned against the side of her neck before taking a bite out of it. I would force her to think about me even as I knew she was going to try and force herself to forget.

Pretty soon, I was unable to keep drawing things out and tormenting us both. Her body was making demands of mine that I couldn’t ignore. I heard her breath hitch and felt the way every single part of her started to clench and quiver against mine. There was a rush of wetness and heat that pulled me under. Desire unspooled throughout my veins as pleasure burst to life along my spine. I felt Bowe’s nails dig into my shoulders and heard her mumble my name incoherently. All of it was too much to resist, and there was no more holding back or denying myself the ultimate satisfaction.

I shuddered as I thrust through my orgasm. I felt it from the tips of my hair to the soles of my feet. It was a lot. Almost too much. I forgot who and where I was for a split second. I forgot about all the history between the two of us, and all the wrongs that needed to be set right before we had a fighting chance of figuring out what we really meant to each other. I forgot that I decided I was going home in the morning to a messy situation of my own making. I forgot that I suddenly had no clue who I was or what I wanted.

None of that seemed to matter, because I knew without question that being with Bowe was the one and only thing that always felt right, regardless of how complicated it might be.

I collapsed on top of her in a boneless, sexed-out heap. I hid a smile against her skin when I felt her lightly stroke my hair as she sighed with approval.

“I’m going to head back to Denver in the morning.” Before she could say anything and ruin the mellow, pleasant mood, I whispered against the small bruise I left on the side of her neck. “I’m so sorry, Bowe. For everything.” Being with her like this would’ve been worth the wait. If I’d gotten the timing right back in the day, it wasn’t hard to imagine me and her being unbreakable when we were together. Instead of coasting along, she forced me to be strong, to face my weaknesses, and admit I had them in the first place.

She stiffened underneath me, and I felt her pull on my hair. “What are you talking about, Archer? What did you do wrong now?” She didn’t sound shocked or surprised by the announcement of my sudden departure.

I didn’t answer her because there were too many things to name that I’d screwed up. I owed her more than simple words, but those would have to do for now.

I needed time to show her that I was truly sorry for pushing her away because I was afraid, and for not being able to let her go for the exact same reason.