"JUSTIFIED" FANFICTION by vkeithley

SOMETHING REAL, CHAPTER ONE

"Ava, I'd like to thank you for coming to my aid in the way that you did. Otherwise, I'd be back in a prison cell contemplating the mistakes of my life. I realize you might face some repercussions. There are those who will sling unkind words at you."

"I don't really care what people say, Boyd. They already think we are sleeping together." Ava was a tough woman, and Boyd appreciated her strength. But strength could be beaten down. He had seen it firsthand.

"But now they will think they know for certain." Boyd looked truly sorry for having put her in such a predicament. Ava still didn't trust Boyd, but she thought he was embarrassed for her.

"If coming to the door in my nightgown, you following me in just your boxer shorts, makes people think we are sleeping together, but it gives you an alibi, and I get to keep that $20 thousand dollars, and keep this house, well, then it's worth it."

Boyd watched Ava's face, his own face still and searching.

"Boyd, don't look at me like that. It makes me uncomfortable."

"It would hurt me to no end to cause you discomfort, Ava." Boyd directed his gaze to the floor. "I'll be outside on the porch."

The screen door opened and closed before Ava could raise her eyes, her cheeks burning.

What in the hell?

Tentatively, she called out. "I never thanked you for washing the dishes. The last Crowder man I lived with didn't know a thing about cleaning up after himself."

Outside, Boyd smiled. He owed Ava a lot more than $20 thousand dollars and a few clean dishes. He knew that his brother had been beating her during their marriage, but he had been so busy with his own wrongdoing that he ignored it.

Mentally he chastised himself. Boyd, be truthful to yourself even if you aren't to anyone else.

In truth, he had ignored Ava's bruises because he had thought she deserved them. Not for any wrongdoing on her part against Bowman. But for the sole fact that she had chosen Bowman over him. Boyd had desired Ava for a long as he could remember—he couldn't say it was love; he wasn't sure—but she had always preferred Bowman's attentions to his own. When the bruises began to show up, Boyd thought, "If she had chosen me, I would never have bruised that beautiful face. She should have chosen me."

Now, Ava had taken him in when he didn't have anywhere else to go.

Boyd couldn't look at her beautiful face without feeling remorse, regret, thankfulness, and another emotion he didn't want to identify. It may have been lust. It may have been just not being with a woman for a long time. It might have been deeper. But he couldn't entertain it. Not one bit. Ava would shoot him through the guts for sure. And she was his brother's widow. They were in Kentucky, but there was no use in being the stereotype.

"Good night, Boyd. I'm off to bed. It's been a long, stressful day." Ava ran a tired hand through her long, blonde hair. Boyd loved watching the way her thick hair waved and bounced in the light.

Working the night shift the way he did, he never got to wish her a good night. His time with her was limited to early mornings during the week, mostly.

"I know that I have been part of that stress and for that I apologize deeply. Good night, Ava."

He spoke sincerely, in deep measured tones. Everything he did these days was slow, thought out, and measured. It was the only way he could keep control. He fought for control now.

He didn't look at Ava. He kept his eyes glued to the wooden boards of her porch. Her perfume drifted to his nose and he inhaled deeply. He didn't hear her footsteps move away. After a minute, he spoke.

"Ava?"

"Hell, Boyd, I'm so keyed up, what with defying the law and all, I know I won't be able to sleep. And my feet hurt something terrible. Working at that salon is pretty good money, but it's killer on your feet."

Ava sat down in the rocker beside him, one foot in her lap, kneading the sole with her long, thin fingers.

"I would not like to brag, but I have been told, a time or two, that I give excellent foot massages. In light of your generosity this evening, I would be remiss in not offering my services."

Ava looked at his face for a moment, then stuck her right foot in his lap. "Far be it for me to refuse a free foot massage."

Ava leaned back in her rocker and closed her eyes.

Holding her foot gently by the heel, Boyd turned his chair so that he was facing Ava. Without opening her eyes, Ava lifted her other leg and placed her left foot in Boyd's lap.

Boyd took a deep breath but tried not to release it in a gust. He slowly ran his hands over the tops of her feet, a silky texture that affected his breathing.

Slowly he ran a finger down the sole of Ava's foot, and she yanked it away, and laughed.

"No, Boyd, don't you dare tickle me."

"That was not my intention, Ava." But he smiled.

Placing her foot back in his lap, she instructed, "Rougher. I like a rough touch, Boyd."

Using both hands, Boyd took her right foot and began to rub the sole with his thumbs inward, pressing deeply into her arch. He nearly came undone when she moaned, squirmed in her seat, and said, "Yes, Boyd, just like that."

He tried to control his breathing as he worked one foot, and then the other. Ava's moans made him dizzy and his logical thought was harder and harder to maintain.

He rotated her feet gently, stretching and flexing the ankles. He massages her shins and backs of her ankles, working his way up to her calves.

"Oh. Ow!"

"Did I hurt you?" Boyd asked anxiously, releasing his grip on her right calf.

Eyes still closed, Ava said, "Nah. My calves are just aching. I feel like I had a charley horse."

"I'll get all the knots out for you," Boyd said. "I'll take good care of you, Ava."

"I know you will, Boyd," Ava said, dreamily. She sounded as though she were drifting off.

Kneading the back of her calves, first one then the other, Boyd slowly slid his hands up and down Ava's legs, finding knots in her gorgeously well-toned legs and working them out.

It was too hard to stop his hands from sliding up to her thighs, and as her breathing rapidly increased, his stroking became faster and firmer, until his fingers were only a few scant inches from all of heaven's glory.

Stop it, Boyd. You are taking advantage. This is lust, and you are more of a man than to stoop this low.

But Boyd could not break contact easily. He slid his hands lower and lower until they were safely back on her feet.

Boyd closed his eyes and got himself under control. His breathing slowly returned to normal.

You have been tempted, Boyd, and you have passed the test. Boyd congratulated himself.

Boyd opened his eyes to find Ava's blue eyes boring into him.

"Ava, I…"

"Don't apologize, Boyd. I don't want to hear it."

Boyd was silent for a moment. "I was weak. I'll pack my belongings."

"Boyd, I don't want you to leave." Ava stared directly into Boyd's eyes. She didn't look angry or upset. She seemed...undecided.

"Ava, forgive me if I seem confused. I was under the impression that you had forbidden me to even consider our relations taking a carnal nature."

"Boyd, I don't know what I want these days."

Ava put her feet on the floor and leaned close to Boyd's face.

"It's been nearly as long for me as it has for you." She reached out and brought her lips to his, hungrily kissing him.

Boyd grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, onto his aching center, and touched her heaving chest, feeling the gloriously hard nipples through her thin blouse.

"Oh, Boyd, I need this so much. You are going to scratch an itch I've had for a long time."

Ava's hands went to unfasten his belt, but Boyd stopped her hands, gently, but firmly holding her wrists still.

"Ava, is that what this is? Scratching an itch?"

Ava's face changed from a near frantic desire, to confusion, then amusement. She laughed. "What did you think it was, Boyd? Love?"

Ava watched his face and instantly regretted her tone. But what did he want from her? Surely he didn't think that they could have anything real.

Gently lifting her from his lap, Boyd stood.

"I think that I should retire for the evening, Ava. I hope that you sleep well tonight. And again, I thank you for your many kindnesses to me. Good night, Ava."

Boyd went into the house, careful not to let the screen door slam. Ava heard the stairs creak as Boyd slowly ascended to his room.

Well, hell, Boyd. What do you want from me?

The crickets chirped merrily away in the heat of the night.

~The End, For Now~

I hope that you liked this first chapter of Boyd's and Ava's burgeoning relationship. I don't know where the television show will take them. But I want to see where they could go. They are two of my favorite chapters. Please review. Thank you so much! ~vkeithley