A moment of doubt filled her. But not because she didn’t want him. She had felt those first tugs of attraction that very first time they’d met, too, when he had crouched to pick up Markus’s phone off the floor. But she doubted her own readiness because Nina knew, unequivocally, that if they took this step, things would change.
‘It’s not smart,’ she said.
Maverick sighed, but he surprised her by agreeing. ‘No, I don’t suppose it is. But I’m too selfish to deny myself you –ifthat’s what you want too.’
‘I hate to ruin the moment by being the voice of reason, but maybe we should come up with a few ground rules,’ she said.
‘Ground rules?’
Nina nodded, but she didn’t climb off his lap. ‘We keep this a secret so that you don’t get harassed by the media and so that Poppy doesn’t get the wrong impression. She needs to think I’m only a guest.’ When Maverick smiled, Nina raised one eyebrow. ‘Why is that funny?’
‘Oh, it’s far from funny,’ he replied. ‘I’m laughing at myself. Because here you are, coming up with ground rules, but the fact that the first one involves protecting my kid just makes me want to keep you more.’
A skitter traced her spine, but Nina was very aware that it wasn’t all fear. It was pleasure too, pleasure at the thought of Maverick wanting to keep her. No man had before …
Knowing that was dangerous territory, she didn’t let it play out in her head. She said, ‘We do this while I’m here. But when I leave, we sever all contact.’ It was an odd ground rule, but somehow Nina knew she wouldn’t move on if he was still in her life.
He tensed beneath her. But he didn’t object. He resignedly said, ‘That’s probably for the best. I hate it,’ he insisted, making her smile. ‘But, yeah, if we stayed in touch, it’d complicate things for both of us.’
She didn’t ask him what he meant by that. She was too afraid she’d be pleased by the answer. Instead, she was filled with sudden urgency because she knew that their time together was slowly ticking down.
She scrambled off his lap, asked, ‘Do you have any to add?’ as she hurriedly stripped her pyjamas, her inexperience making her rush through the motions.
When she looked up at him again, he shook his head and rasped, ‘Nope.’
She stepped towards him then, wanting to hide her nakedness in the shelter of his big body.
But he held up one hand, stopping her.
Nina paused a few feet away from him. While his eyes, dark with lust, drank her in, his obvious pleasure eradicating her self-consciousness, she looked her fill too. Maverick was so big, so tall and strong. Sculpted. His broad shoulders were straining with well-defined muscle, his abs clearly defined above his low-slung sweatpants. That dark brown hair, such a beautiful contrast to those piercing blue eyes, and when he looked at her like that, it made her feel like the only woman in the world.
‘I have to taste you, Nina.’
It wasn’t technically a question, but she sensed he was still asking for permission. She nodded, almost cautiously.
He slowly lowered himself off the bed and knelt on the floor in front of her.
He held out one hand for her and waited for her to take it before tugging her closer. ‘How’s your balance?’
‘My-my balance?’ she asked uncertainly.
He gently tapped her leg and, when she raised it, guided it over his shoulder, exposing her completely.
Her balance was excellent on any normal day, but with Maverick Hunt on his knees in front of her, one of her legs draped over his shoulder, his face inches from her, she felt a little weak in the knee. And when he didn’t touch her with his fingers as she’d asked, only brought his face closer and blew a cool breath over her damp flesh, that same knee threatened to buckle at the intimacy.
Desperate for him to make contact and eradicate her nerves, Nina gripped both hands in his hair. ‘Mav …’
He didn’t have to be asked twice. Both of his hands steadied her from behind. He licked through her once, slowly, his eyes closed as if he wanted to savour the taste of her.
Nina’s entire body shuddered at the wet, firm contact. She braced herself, tightening her hands in his hair, and though she wanted to close her eyes and enjoy it, she couldn’t look away. She watched as he drew closer again, felt her core liquify completely as he used his tongue to furrow deeply into her, and when he worked his way up and gently flicked her clit, she lost the battle. She closed her eyes, arched her back, and sighed.
She pressed her hips forward, begging for more even as her stabilizing leg trembled beneath the weight of the sensations pummelling her.
‘Your taste was made for me, Nina,’ he said roughly. He momentarily rested his forehead on her pubic bone. ‘I can feel you entering my bloodstream, taking over every cell.’
He didn’t sound very pleased by it, but Nina didn’t have time to think much about that as he held her hips and pivoted her so that her back was to the bed. He sent her backwards with the smallest nudge. Nina fell onto the bed, one leg still draped over his shoulder.
She easily ignored the ache in her ribs as he strung her legs over his shoulders. And this time when he lowered down to slide his tongue over her, he didn’t stop.
