I nod. “I’m on the pill.”
His eyes seem to narrow at that into nearly a glare, as if he’s consideringwhyI might be on the pill, remembering the man who was standing outside my door the other day. We never talked about it. I never told him that he was my ex stopping by to try to rekindle things. I never told him that I basically made Billy leave before I went over to scream at Maverick to turn his music down a couple hours later, only to end up in his bed.
“And I’m not sleeping with anyone else right now,” I add softly. His glare eases at that, and he moves so he’s hovering over me. “Are you?” I ask as our eyes connect.
He shakes his head slowly without a word as he reaches down between us to pull himself out of his shorts and grasp his cock in his fist. He strokes it a few times before he guides it into me, nothing between us, and a low moan rolls out of me in sync with his growls of pleasure.
“Fuck, Ev,” he murmurs, shortening my name. He hardly ever addresses me by name at all, and hearing him murmur it in the heat of the moment feels more intimate than I was expecting.
His mouth drops to my neck, and he peppers kisses there as he starts to move. I close my eyes as I wrap my arms and my legs around his body while he takes me for a ride.
“Open your eyes,” he demands, and my eyes fly open to meet his.
His are stormy and dark, the blue irises nearly black like this as intensity seems to pour out of him and into me as he slams into my body. He’s taking no prisoners, giving no mercy as his hips drive against mine in a slow, punishing rhythm. It’s hot. It’s hard. It’s powerful. It’s filling a need I didn’t realize I had.
As our eyes connect, my tightly coiled body seems to spring free, and a soul-shattering orgasm plows headfirst into me. I cling to him with my entire body as I ride out the wave. His mouth covers mine as he swallows my need to cry out, and as my body finishes contracting over his, he lets go of me, pulls out of me, rocks back onto his knees, and grips his cock in his fist, pumping up and down his shaft.
He aims at my lower stomach as his own orgasm takes over, and hot white streams land on my skin, branding me, scalding me, marking me as his.
I watch his face as he gives into the pleasure, and his eyes are focused on my stomach where his cum lands as grunts drop from his lips in time with each new pulse. When the pulsing stops, he jerks himself off a few more times, then rolls the head of his cock through his own cum.
“Jesus, you’re pretty like that, all marked up with my cum.”
My jaw might drop open. I’m not really sure.
But I bask in the glow of his words. It feels like approval, and that means something coming from this man who seems to hate everything and everyone.
If nothing else, this was a success.
I helped him forget whatever happened tonight, and that was what he wanted.
He walks to the bathroom and returns a moment later with a washcloth. I’m damn near shocked as he wipes off my stomach, taking sweet care of me, a heady contrast to the intense sex we just had. He gets rid of the washcloth and returns to me only to find that I’ve stood up and put my clothes back on.
“Stay,” he commands softly.
“We both know I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. We’ll just tell anyone who might happen to catch us that we had an early meeting in my room.”
“With me dressed like this?” I ask, holding a hand in the air to indicate my body.
He tilts his head, relenting. “Fine. Can I just…I don’t know.” He’s muttering, and he wants to ask for something, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know how to ask. He’s the kind of guy who never asks anyone for anything. “It’s fine. You should go.”
I want to stay the whole night just like he asked. And maybe if I wasn’t in the post-sex haze of the two orgasms he just pleasured my body with, I’d be thinking clearly enough to come up with a plan. I could go grab my bags and just stay in here with him. We could shower together, stay together,betogether.
There’s too much at stake. I’m just starting to get through to him. I can’t let Jack or Lincoln catch us. If I were to lose this job now, just when we’re making breakthroughs, just when we’re getting closer…I feel like it would do irreversible damage to this poor man who’s clearly going through some shit that he’s not ready to talk about yet.
But we have a trip to Los Angeles planned for Monday. We’re sharing a hotel suite—with too many beds, but maybe we’ll share one anyway. Apart from attending the actual event, it’ll be twenty-four hours where it’s just the two of us.
I finally nod and press a soft kiss to his lips before I reluctantly make my way back to my own room next door.
CHAPTER 23: Maverick Jennings
Standing on the Sidelines
I hate standing on the sidelines when I should be out on the field, but Coach is letting me communicate with Brandon and call plays, and at least I feel like I’m a part of the game. Even if it isn’t the part I want to be involved in. I’m listening to the plays being called upstairs through a headset, and I give Coach my opinion when I’m asked.
And I rip the headset off my head and throw it on the ground in anger when I’m ignored and it leads to a turnover.
