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Chapter 9

Tempest

He doesn’t know I know everything. I didn’t want to accept it at first, but then I realized it’s the best of both worlds. That my sweet, encouraging Midnight Cowboy and my sexy never-was-my-enemy Maverick are the same man.

Cupping the back of my head, he kisses me, his beard gently rough against my skin. His lips are demanding, full of longing. Needy, drinking me in, demanding everything and giving me the same in return.

I wanted this with him. Only him. The intense dislike I thought I had for him never truly existed. That was me fighting my heart. Not wanting to hear it tell me that I’ve had a thing for Maverick for years. That I longed for him to love me back.

I think I ignored my heart because for years, he was my one constant in my upside world, and I didn’t want to shake that up. Didn’t want to say or do anything that might cause him to avoid me.

I pour those feelings into the kiss, hoping he feels the sincerity because I’m afraid to put the emotions into words. I love the boy he used to be, and I love the man he is.

His hands slip below my shirt, and he lifts it over my head. My nipples pebble through my bra cups.

“So beautiful,” he says as he dips his head and pulls one of the buds into his mouth, sucking me through the scrap of lace.

His fingers dip into the cup and he pushes the material below my breast, then he gazes at my exposed skin. “I’m glad I didn’t know this is what you looked like. I would have had a perpetual boner.”

“Is this all you want to see?” I tease.

“Not by a long shot.” He reaches around me to unfasten my bra. Then he cups both of my breasts and runs his thumbs across the nipples simultaneously.

“Mmm…” I moan, closing my eyes.

“Open your eyes,” he says.

When I do, he holds my gaze. “Do you enjoy this?”

“I do.”

He plucks at one of my nipples. “This feels good, right?”

“It does.”

“Just wait, my little sunflower. I’ll show you how well I can touch you. How much I’ve longed to touch you. And you can get as loud as you want. No one will hear you over the fans. In fact, I want you to get loud.”

He runs his hand down my abdomen to the top of my shorts. Working the zipper, he lowers it slowly until my panties show.

“I want you to get loud as I fondle you, honey. But only if you really enjoy it.”

I know for a fact there won’t be any worries about that. My body is ripe for him, eagerly waiting for him to touch me. For him to take me.

I draw in a sharp breath when he puts his hand down my shorts to palm me. He massages between my legs, pumping his hand against me.

“I feel your wetness through your panties,” he says, leaning down to nip the top of my ear.

“Mmm…” I moan.

With his index finger, he pushes my panties aside. “So wet. So juicy for me. I feel it but that’s not the same as seeing. Lie down and let me see how much you want me.”

I lie back on the pool table and Maverick lifts my legs. I thought he was going to remove my shorts and panties, but he only drags them down to my ankles.

He ducks under them so they’re at the back of his neck. “Bend your legs and spread them,” he says, drawing me to the edge of the pool table.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m about to eat you out.”