Keeping one hand on her ass, using it to hold her tight against him, the other hand rose until he was able to run his fingers through her long auburn hair. He wrapped a large section around his palm, closing his fist around it so that he could use that grip to twist her head in such a way that he could deepen the kiss even more.
She moaned into his mouth, then the playful, sexy minx nipped his lower lip.
Ella was the first to break away after several more minutes, panting for air, trembling with desire when Maverick’s lips slid along her cheek and down her neck.
She squealed softly when he tugged one strap of her sundress down, paying her back for the bite by nipping her shoulder.
Unfortunately, it was at that moment when Grayson’s words returned to him, and he pulled back the tiniest bit. “I don’t want to scare you, Ella. Or hurt you. You have to tell me if I do anything that?—”
“Maverick. You’veneverscared me or hurt me. Not once. God. Not even close,” she interjected. Ella’s genuine look of confusion instantly healed that wound he’d carried for fifteen long years, ever since he got that letter.
Those words were like aloe on a burn, even though they added at least a dozen more questions in his mind about their past. Because that letter…
Before Maverick could say anything else, she gripped his cheeks in her hands, pulling him back into their kiss.
Jesus. Christ.
She tasted sweet and salty.
Like wine and fresh baked, buttery bread.
Their tongues tangled, and when he grasped her hair again, giving it a tug, there was no mistaking her moan of bliss.
“Harder,” she murmured against his mouth. “Pull it harder.”
She was made for him. Maverick had never doubted that, not even when they were younger, but he had to admit that the years they’d spent apart had only sharpened their edges until they were the perfect fit, snapping together with a satisfying click.
Maverick didn’t know what really made her run all those years ago, but he would chase her to the ends of the earth if she tried to leave him again.
He didn’t have a clue how long they stood there, locked together in that kiss, but Maverick suspected it would have continued for a good hour or two more if not for the soft knock on the door.
Ella jerked at the sound, blinking several times as if she were coming out of a trance. Maverick appreciated the feeling. He felt drunk as a skunk, just from her kisses. Because he hadn’t had a drop of wine today.
“I am really,reallysorry to interrupt,” Mila said through the door, “but I need to just pop in to grab like six or maybe twenty-five things if you think you’re going to be in there a while.”
Ella’s laugh was breathy and quiet, and Maverick couldn’t stop himself from stroking his thumbs over her cheeks, which were flushed a beautiful pink.
“Go tell Edith you’re leaving with me. I’ll take you home.” Maverick didn’t speak the rest of that sentence aloud, including the wordtomorrow. No, scratch that,next week…
Neverwas probably the most accurate.
Ella—halle-fucking-lujah—didn’t hesitate for a second. She merely nodded. “Okay.”
She moved toward the door, pausing when she realized he wasn’t behind her. When he attempted to adjust his pants and the obvious erection beneath, she giggled at his dilemma.
Maverick narrowed his eyes playfully. “Laugh it up, Firefly, but just know payback is a bitch.”
Her expression softened, both of them struck by his term of endearment.
She bit her lower lip, her lashes suddenly wet with unshed tears. Then she gave him a smile so bright, it was almost blinding. “I’ll hurry.”
Able to walk—barely—he stepped next to her, opening the door. Maverick was amused by the way her pink cheeks turned red as they stepped out of the pantry. That color, partnered with her kiss-swollen lips and messed-up hair, was a dead giveaway that they’d been doing exactly what Mila suspected.
“Sorry, Mila,” Ella murmured, as she slipped by quickly, leaving the kitchen.
Maverick started to follow—but stopped when Mila grasped his forearm.
“Mav,” his cousin said softly. “I’ve never said anything about your…” Mila paused, trying to choose her next word carefully. “Conquests,” was the one she landed on. “But Ella’s become a good friend, and I don’t… Well, I mean, please don’t?—”
