In one fluid movement, she pulled it over her head, the bra slipping down her arms, until both items of clothing were gripped tightly in her hands.
Maverick stood there, spellbound. He’d seen naked women before—one of his friends’ dads had a stack ofPlayboysthey frequently perused, and there were TV shows his mother didn’t know he watched.
“Jesus, Firefly. So beautiful,” he finally murmured, the word coming out in a rush of breath when he realized he’d forgotten to breathe for a minute or two.
Ella’s face was bloodred, but the brave, gorgeous, sexy girl stood there before him, letting him look his fill.
Maverick stripped off his shirt, wanting her to see him too.
Ella’s eyes widened. Biting her lower lip, she dropped her shirt and bra to the floor before reaching for him, her hand shaking slightly. She’d almost touched him before she started to pull away.
Maverick grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand back and placing her palm flat on his chest, right over his thudding heart.
She stroked his chest, her fingers traveling around his pecs, teasing his small brown nipples, before shifting lower, to his stomach.
Maverick tried to give her time, but his own fingers were itching to feel.
Ella moaned softly when he cupped her breasts in his hands, his thumbs toying with her hard nipples.
Maverick might be woefully inexperienced, but he decided in that minute, as he held her breasts, that he was a tit man. Period. End of sentence.
Ella stepped closer to him, both of them needing more.
She kissed him again, and this time, it was her bare chest against his. Maverick had never felt anything better. He’d kissed half a dozen girls in his life, but he’d never really made out with anyone. Not that it was for lack of interest in the act. It was more because none of the girls in his class had ever really caught his eye or grabbed his attention.
Not until Ella.
Maverick’s hands slid around, stroking up and down her bare back, as Ella’s traveled from his shoulders to his elbows and back up again. He shifted the two of them slightly, pressing his thigh between hers. They were both still wearing pants—him in his faded jeans, her in another pair of loose linen pants.
While Maverick wanted her, he wanted to take this slow. He hadn’t brought her to the cabin today to have sex with her. Honestly, that hadn’t even crossed his mind. Which was why he hadn’t thought to bring a condom. Jesus, if he ever confessed that to his brothers or buddies, they’d probably make him turn in his teenaged boy card.
In his mind, he’d just imagined them making out on the couch, fantasized about himself copping another feel through the bra.
Maverick broke the kiss, sucking in some much-needed air. “Ella—” he started.
He wasn’t sure what she heard in his tone or saw on his face, but she interrupted him. “I don’t think I’m ready.” She said the words so quickly, it took him a second to decipher them.
He released a breathy laugh. “That was what I was going to say.”
She frowned for a moment, and he got the sense she didn’t believe him, so he persisted.
“I didn’t bring a condom. Didn’t even think about it,” he added.
Those words seemed to do the trick, and she gave him a genuine smile. “I do want to be with you,” she confessed, “but maybe we could…” She shrugged.
“We’ll take it as slow as you need. As we both need.”
Ella kissed him again, both of them more relaxed, now that they knew where the line in the sand was drawn.
For a full hour, they made out like their lives depended on it, kissing and touching. He sucked her nipples into his mouth, something she seemed to love, given the way she threw her head back, closed her eyes, and groaned.
While they remained shirtless, their pants stayed on.
At one point, Ella straddled his thighs as he played with her breasts, rubbing her center against the obvious erection tenting his pants. The friction she created was out of this world.
They were both innocent in this, but the lack of experience only made this moment more potent, more exciting. Every new thing they did pushed him closer to the brink.
When he literally felt his balls constrict, he gripped her hips, halting her gyrating. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to come in my pants,” he admitted.
