Avery's Game Of Revenge
Chapter 115: Body and Self dignity.

Chapter 115: Body and Self dignity.

With his arms wrapped tightly around her, Avery could not help the way her heart pounded in anticipation in reaction to his hot breath fanning her ears. She could tell that he knew what he was doing to her, but she also had no idea why he was stalling.

"Can you feel that?" his whisper wafted into her ears, causing shivers to run down her spine.

"What..." Avery was about to ask what she was expected to feel when it dawned on her suddenly.

She was suddenly aware; In fact, hyper aware of his erection pressing against her lower belly. She nodded slightly, and his head lowered, his lips trailing down to her nape.

"If simply hearing you talk, requesting of me what I am very much willing to do, can make me as hard as this," he began, pressing his lips slightly against her skin, "Then imagine how hard I was last night. It was painful...so painful. But I made sure to control myself."

Another kiss, this time a wetter one where his tongue peeked out to slid over her skin, causing blood to rush up her neck and face.

"Because if I had let myself go ’all the way’ as you said, you won’t be standing here tonight, planning any revenge." He growled, "I would have fucked the pain out of you. Fucked the memories out of you...and when you remember yesterday, it won’t be the pain of seeing your family in that cemetery that would overflow your mind. But memories, recollections of the way I fucked every single hurt from your past identity out of you."

Avery bit down on her lower lip, partly to hold in a surprised gasp and an aroused moan from the hickey he just created on the skin over her collarbone.

"Asides that," Archie continued, "I stopped because I was aware you don’t really want that. You only wanted the peace that came with knowing your replacing my wife hasn’t only helped you gain a lot, but has also made you lose a lot; your body and self dignity. And I’d be damned if I let that happen!"

"Why?" Avery tried to ask, the words coming out in a breathless moan instead. "Why won’t you just let it happen? Isn’t that my ultimate task as a permanent replacement? Give you my body like your wife would have done. It tops the widely duties, doesn’t it?"

"Maybe," he breathed into her ears, while one of his hand slid down her back and lifted her blouse to make contact with her bare skin. "But I don’t want it being just a duty to you. I might be a patient man, but I’m also very greedy. Ava..." he drawled, "I want more. And I need you to want me as much as I want you."

And that was it. He stepped away from her, causing her to almost hiss at the loss of his warm palm from her waist.

"I’ll find a band-aid. It should be somewhere around this house, I think," he said.

Biting down on her lips, Avery raised her head to see the slight smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. Was he teasing her right now?!

"It’s alright," she tried to talk, but what came out was a whisper, "I will clean it up and get back. You also look like you need..."

"A cold shower?" he concluded for her, his eyes crinkling in amusement. Noticing the manner with which a blush crept on her face and how tongue-tied she looked, he decided to save her from embarrassment, "Or is it a hot shower? What temperature of water do night joggers use in freshening up?"

Avery jumped at the opportunity, "How would I know? I guess the one you feel more comfortable using..." She turned away from him before he could answer, bending to grab her phone and backpack from the couch as she took quick steps towards the stairs.

She was halfway up when his voice stopped her.

"Ava?"

She whipped her head around to face him, curiosity expressed vividly over her facial features.

"Yes?" she raised her brows.

"Last night, you tasted like... heaven," he deadpanned, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on her. "Can’t wait for next."

Jaws dropping in stupefaction at his frank words, Avery had no idea how she got to her room, got out of the clothes she was wearing, into the shower, out, into an oversized t-shirt and denim shorts and out of the room. By the time she regained her composure, she was already back downstairs.

She sat in the swing chair, a cluster of books over her laps as she waited for him to get the band-aid, her cheeks as red as tomatoes.

Swinging the chair around so she could be staring straight out the floor to ceiling window, she was soon distracted by the perfect sight of the city she was overlooking. She looked in the direction where she was sure the Walker Group headquarters was stationed, her eyes darkening in rage. Would the city still look as perfect as it did right now after she burnt that building down to the ground?

’’Let’s see about that, shall we, Avery?" she muttered beneath her breath.

Ping!

She lowered her eyes to the lit screen of her phone, grabbing it immediately she saw the notification was from an email she had been expecting.

It was from Leroy, and just as she expected, it was an email to remind her that her next shoot would be in three days from that day. With the fresh bout of fury coursing through her veins—now that she couldn’t be bothered with taking her revenge step by step anymore—she felt more excited for the upcoming day. Having now discarded her earlier decision to fawn over Valentina and act like she was an harmless person, she was ready to take her stupid ex-cousin head-on, and make her more terrified than she could ever be.

Archie appeared before her just then, also in a different outfit that elicited raised brows from her.

"Are you going out?" she sat up immediately, completely ignoring the band-aid he had in hand.

He nodded.

"A work meeting that is best settled tonight," he supplied.

Avery’s eyes roved over his clothes; a grey sweatshirt with a black coat over it, and black trousers.

"Ian mentioned something about you not working for the rest of the week. I guess you decided to, after all," she probed, suspicions clouding her gaze. "Except you mentioned only work as a simple excuse and your destination is actually somewhere else."

Archie’s brows furrowed in genuine confusion.

"Why does this feel familiar and at the same time, unfamiliar?" he asked, the question directed at no one in particular. "It’s not your way of saying you want to come with me, is it?"

"Definitely not!" Avery snapped, snatching the band-aid from his hand to apply it. Feeling his inquisitive gaze on her, she added, "I have so many plans to make; I can’t afford to gallivant around the city under the pretense of a work meeting."

Totally expecting Archie to pick up on her grievances immediately, she almost scoffed in disbelief when the next thing he asked wasn’t about her last sentence, but,

"Oh really? What plans do you have to make?"

She rolled her eyes. However, there was no other way to back out of this without getting out something to tell him. Something that would sound genuine and sensible. Thank goodness she’d already made her plans earlier that day while waiting at the church,

"I have to try the church again. I saw Kathy today but couldn’t approach her because of something stupid I did; I badmouthed her in her illegitimate daughter’s presence," she said.

"Oh... Anastasia Keller?" was his bored reply.

"Anastasia Keller?" Avery shook her head slowly."I didn’t catch her name. How would you even—No...no! You knew she had an illegitimate daughter?! Since when?" she exclaimed.

"The day Kathy McCallum found she was pregnant? Then...I guess the day Anastasia was born and named," he replied.

Eyes widened like saucers, Avery almost pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. What the hell was going on? At the very first idea from her brain whom she couldn’t trust right now to form anything sensible, she raised her fingers and began to count."

"How old is the girl?"

Watching her with a very interested look in his eyes as she counted, he replied, "She was born 15 years ago. Do the calculations."

"She’s 14 then," she murmured.