I felt his heartbeat under my palm, the hard marble of his muscles warm against my skin. “Being yours sounds like a dream come true, Maverick.”
He paused, as if my words had stunned him like a gun. His eyes dropped, a breath sinking his chest before he nodded and smiled. “Good.”
“Please, touch me everywhere.”
A rumble vibrated through his chest with my words. He pressed his lips on me then, sinking his tongue past the seam of my lips and hauling me to him in one swift movement. My hips arched against him, seeking his friction as his hands held my face still for his kiss.
“I need to show you what that means.” His words came out ragged as one of his hands slipped between us, sliding against the waistband of my pants before sliding beneath the fabric and using his fingers to find my wetness.
I groaned softly, pleasure rippling through my body as I rode his hand eagerly, his stubble rasping at my cheek as he brought me to a slow and quiet release was almost enough to shatter me.
“I’m not done earning my stripes yet.” His heavy hands caught my thighs, spreading me for him before his lips snaked down my torso, around my navel and then landed at the soft triangle of curls between my thighs.
“Mm, so soft and pretty.” He tugged delicately before burying his nose in my scent and inhaling. “My own private flower patch.”
His tongue darted out in a deft stroke, licking softly and lighting my nerves on fire. I arched and groaned, but his hands held me close to him as he tasted me eagerly. The tip of his tongue hit its target, singeing my flesh with pleasure and driving me deeper into Maverick's brand of bliss.
Tremors of uncontrolled release tightened and quaked my muscles as he sped his swipes and added his thumb to the assault on my body. He was amazing, a work of art and so attuned to me. His hands were in my hair, our breaths mingling, our bodies quaking with need.
I was humming. I felt alive. I felt totally owned by him. And then the stars burst behind my eyes and Maverick melded his mouth to my core as waves of sweetness rolled through me. He licked and moaned against me, forcing me to take more of his assault even though every nerve in me felt overworked.
“Love the sounds you make when I taste this pretty petal.”
And then he laid me back, slipping one hand between us and yanking his zipper quickly. A moment later, his body was on me, his torso held taut above me, rigid as steel as he clenched his jaw and watched me with a tortured gaze.
“Are you ready for us, Petal?”
I didn’t answer, my overwhelming need to convey my feelings too tightly wound in my throat.
“Petal, trust me, I need to hear it.”
“Yes, Maverick, I want you. I want you now, tomorrow, always.”
His forehead dropped to mine, a kiss claiming my lips as one palm gripped my hip and held me still, the other guiding our bodies together until the hardness of him was between my thighs, slipping past my entrance, and stealing me.
I gasped into his mouth, his hands and lips moving across my body and easing me into a slow dance of sensual rhythm.
Maverick made me his, sank inside of my soul so slow and so deep, I’d never be the same. Maverick was the piece I hadn’t known I was missing, the haunted hole in my heart that's never been filled until this moment.
He sank deeper, catching my ear in a breathless pant. “You’reeverythingto me.”
CHAPTER NINE
Maverick
“You rotten son-of-a—”
Cold steel dug into my neck. I jerked awake, eyes landing on the man on the end of the barrel of a gun.
Captain O’Henry.
“Get off my ass,O’Henry.”
“Get out of that sleeping bag and face me like a man.” He dug the barrel deeper into my neck.
“Dad? Dad, put your gun away!” Poppy screeched.
The man’s eyes were hard on mine. I gnashed my teeth together, unpeeling myself from Poppy’s form and leaving her the sleeping bag to wrap herself in. We were both fully clothed, but just hours ago we’d been hot and sweaty together, the scent of our shared intimacy still lingering on our skin.
