“I fucked up,” Maverick said and I wasn’t sure if he was saying it to me or to himself, but as he said it the oddest feeling settled in my chest. “Oh man I fucked up so badly.”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes with a frown. It was almost like I couldfeelthe panic that Maverick was feeling despite the relative peace I’d been feeling when I first woke up.
Then the top of my shoulder throbbed.
Slowly, my hand came up to press on the tender skin there, finding the slightly jagged mark that could only mean one thing.
Maverick, at some point last night, had bonded me.
The alpha was up on his feet pacing from one end of the room to the other, his eyes wild as he raked his hands through his hair, muttering to himself about being chucked into Guantanamo Bay and my mother throwing away the key.
He was fully naked, and even though I knew it wasn’t the time, I couldn’t help but appreciate his lean physique in the early morning light that was streaming in through the hotel window.
Maverick’s crazed pacing came to an abrupt halt. “Are you seriously checking me out right now?”
I jumped. I had forgotten that bonds were a two-way street, so while he was freaking out and I could feel it, he could feel the attraction on my end.
“Maybe?” I said, my voice weak as my face flushed.
Maverick looked at me like I was insane. “Is this not making you upset? I didn’t even ask your permission! I was so wrapped up in it all that I lost control and… oh, man, Zeke is going to kick my ass. Brooks and Dallas too. I was the one who insisted we set firm boundaries and here I am bonding with you on day one!”
I sat back in my feelings while Maverick resumed his pacing, revealing yet another side to his personality that was different from the stoic bodyguard persona that he had worked so hard to curate over the years.
It was panicked and flighty… andadorable. I liked that he seemed to be coming undone because of me, as toxic as that sounded.
“Stop that,” Maverick groaned, pointing a finger at me. “You’re not helping the situation at all.”
“I’m not mad at you, Maverick,” I told him firmly. “I like that you bonded me because you couldn’t help yourself. It’s actually kind of flattering.”
“Even if it complicates things?” Maverick asked, finally flopping down onto the bed. “Even if your mother fires me and catapults me into the sun?”
I snorted at that. “She won’t catapult you into the sun.”
Then I paused, considering his words.
“Well, maybe we can wait to tell her until after the election. She’s pretty stressed out and sometimes doesn’t make the best family decisions when she’s stressed.”
Maverick groaned covering his face with his hands and I quickly pried them away so I could look down at him, making sure he could look me in the eyes when I spoke again.
“Thank you for not pushing me away last night. You had every reason to.”
Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to his forehead, then his nose, and finally his lips.
Finally, I felt the panic and worry that had been swirling down the fresh bond begin to abate.
… only for it to spike again when someone knocked hard on the door.
“Mav? Are you up? We can’t find Lennon,” Zeke’s voice came from the other side of the door, causing Maverick to stiffen completely.
“Are we telling them?” he asked me in a low whisper.
I nodded. “Does it bother you that I want them the same way I wanted you?”
He seemed to think about that for a moment, complicated emotions tangling up and then smoothing out into acceptance. “No. Though they’ll probably be pissed.”
I grinned at him. “Then I’ll let you do the talking.”
He reached up and swatted my bare thigh. “Minx. Get dressed and then I’ll let them in.”
