And just when she was braced to go under, he stopped.
Nina’s eyes flew open as the orgasm started receding immediately. ‘Mav,’ she whined.
‘Ruthless doesn’t have to mean violent,’ he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.
‘But—’
Before she could say more, he started again, slower now, each press of him against her meant to build that wave back up. ‘Watching you like this makes me so fucking hard,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I could come just from looking at you.’
Nina moaned loudly when she realized that he was torturing himself too, delaying his own release with hers. She was so wet that she could hear the slap of him against her, and somehow that only made it hotter.
Her hands gripped the comforter.
She buried her face in the bed, smothering her wanton cries.
But when he stopped the second time, she groaned at the loss.
Her arms and legs shook, as if her suppressed release needed to escape her body through different means.
Mav didn’t continue right away. He demanded, ‘Look at me,’ and when she turned to look at him over her shoulder, he leaned down, angled his head, and licked through her once, his wet tongue dragging sensation everywhere it touched.
‘Mav,’ she begged, as her body danced on the edge for the third time. ‘Please.’
‘Please what?’
‘Make me come.’
He entered her in one powerful thrust. Nina didn’t have time to brace as the orgasm he’d been teasing exploded through her. She cried out as her body pulsed around him, taking him deeper, holding him closer.
Mav didn’t even move.
He held himself inside of her as she came down from the tide, and the moment he felt her body quieten, he let go, spilling inside of her without a single thrust.
He released her hips and collapsed beside her on the bed.
They took a long moment, both of them lying on the bed, facing the ceiling. But it was Nina who moved first, sprawling over him, a well-loved woman in the afterglow of self-discovery.
She knew what she had to do. What shewoulddo.
Maverick, with his kind, gentle heart made her want to be stronger. He made her realize that while he constantly went out of his way to protect and help people, nobody did the same for him. His parents were gone. Sierra and Benji, though they loved him fiercely, were both just trying to survive their own storm. Poppy was protective of him, sure. But Nina loved him enough to give him the gift he’d given her daily since they’d met, even when she’d been a stranger. So, she’d protect him. And she could only hope he’d forgive her when the time came.
Mav levered up to kiss her forehead. ‘Was that okay for you?’ he whispered.
Nina smiled. She said, ‘Ruthless.’ And although she was decided, she needed this night to say goodbye. Because Mav would be hurt. He would feel betrayed. He might never see that she had done itforhim – because she loved him. He might not take her back when it was over.
So, she’d take tonight.
And tomorrow … Tomorrow, she would do what she had to do.
She fell asleep on his chest in minutes as the day’s events caught up to her. Maverick memorized the feeling of her slight weight pressing into him. He closed his eyes and inhaled the familiar coconut scent of her hair, and when she stirred, he wrapped both of his arms around her because she had once told him that it made her feel safe to sleep that way.
Nina shifted. She sighed in her sleep and then settled again.
Mav stayed like that, holding her while she slept, for over an hour. But when a glance at the clock showed him that it was nearing seven, he gently rearranged her and slid off the bed.
He picked up his phone from the nightstand and carried it through to the lounge that sat just off the bedroom, making sure to turn off the light on his way out.
He grabbed a bottle of water and the room service menu before he sat down on the couch and unlocked his phone.
