The groan he let out into my mouth as he pressed his tongue between my lips and threaded his fingers in my hair was full of anguish and longing and absolute relief. His other hand trailed down to my ass, where he pulled up the skirt of my dress until he found bare skin and then the lace of my panties.
He backed away just enough to whisper, “Fucking love that you dressed up for me. Also the fact that you wore these sexy little lacy things even though you didn't think we were going to be fucking. Jesus Christ, Clara. Thank God you don't want to wait until after we eat.”
I stared at him. “I didn't dress like this for you.”
He smirked. “Bullshit.”
My cheeks burned. “I just wanted to feel good.”
“Oh.” A wicked glimmer filled his eyes. “Follow me, darlin’. I promise you, you're gonna feel so fucking good in just a minute.”
He kissed me again, and this time, both hands cupped my ass, and he lifted me off the ground. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist and threaded my fingers behind his neck. The man didn't stop kissing me as he carried me into my bedroom, where my outfit choices for the evening were still strewn across the mattress.
“Indecisive?” he asked.
“I don't get to dress up much, so yeah. Is there something wrong with that?”
“Not a damn thing. I changed my shirt five times before coming over.”
I giggled and popped one of those pearl buttons open, revealing just a hint of one of the whirling tattoos on his chest.
“And yet you went with plain black.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes simple is better.”
“Very true.”
He lay me back on the bed, my whole body trembling slightly with the apprehension of what we were about to do. We couldn't go back after this. But he wasn't coming back either. Not really.
He stared down at me, dark heat in his eyes.
“Lift your skirt,” he commanded.
I did as he told me, rucking it up until it was bunched around my waist.
“Jesus. Black lace. You are trying to kill me.”
He dropped to his knees and grabbed me by the calves, gently tugging me until my ankles were on his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“I’m making sure you're ready. You've got to be fully prepared for all of what we're about to do. We want it to work, now, don't we?”
I worried at my lower lip, fighting the urge to say, I don't know, do we? Because the sooner this worked, the less time I would get with him. Hooking his fingers in the tops of my lacy underwear, he tugged them down my hips and then slowly pulled one leg free, then the other. Then he stared down at the panties in his hand.
“These make me fucking hard.”
“Noted. I have a few more pairs.”
“Good.” He let out a low laugh. “Then you won't mind if I keep these.”
Before I could protest, he tucked them into the pocket of his Wranglers. And then his lips were trailing up, up, up my inner thigh, one finger gently toying with my sex until he dipped inside.
“Oh God,” I muttered.
I moaned, my hands already fisting the sheets. When his lips wrapped around my clit and he sucked and licked me, it did all kinds of amazing things to me. My control vanished, and my hands, which were wrapped in the covers, somehow found their way into his thick hair. I held on for dear life as he pulled me over the edge.
He backed away as my legs were still trembling, my arousal glistening on his lips.
“That was the best appetizer I could have hoped for.”
He reverently took my legs off his shoulders and stood, his fingers lingering on the tender skin of my knees as he placed each foot on the floor. Opening his shirt, button by button, he stared at me, all serious and filled with need before sliding the fabric off, followed by his jeans.
“Fuck,” he said under his breath.
I sat up on my elbows. “What's the matter?”
“I forgot to take my damn boots off.” His voice was filled with amusement and embarrassment, endearing him to me even more.
He sat on the edge of the bed, and one boot thumped to the floor, then the next. When he stood, gentle but grumpy Maverick was gone, replaced by a cowboy sex god. “All right, darlin’. It's time for me to put a baby inside you.”
Okay, I could do this. I could let the most gorgeous man I'd ever known kiss his way down my body and take the time to give my lady bits a close inspection with his tongue. Plenty of women had one-night stands with cowboys in Sunrise without giving it a second thought. But most of them weren't trying to get pregnant. And none of them were with Maverick Wilde right now. That privilege was all mine. So why was I nervous?
“Your heart's going a mile a minute,” Mav whispered, his lips brushing the curve of my neck. “I can feel it here.” He pressed a kiss to the fluttering pulse point that gave me away.
“I'm just nervous. What if this messes things up between us?”
His soft chuckle sent tingles over my skin. “It's a little too late to be worried about that now.”
“Why?” His fingertip circled my tender nipple, causing the sensitive bud to tighten.
“Because I've seen you naked. I've felt your skin on mine. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't forget this.”
He nipped my collarbone with his teeth, then ran his palm down my belly until he rested just below my navel. “Is this okay? Can I touch you?”
What was I so afraid of? Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “Yes. Tonight, I'm yours. Tomorrow we go back to normal.”
“No, darlin'. You're mine until that stick says pregnant. Until my baby is growing inside you, I want you in my bed, in my arms, and everything in between. Understand?”
I swallowed through a tight throat. “Yours?”
“Damn right. Mine.”
“It might not happen right away.”
The rough scratch of his stubble as he dragged his mouth down to the swell of my breast at the same time his fingers sank into my slick heat was already overwhelming. I didn't know how I'd survive him inside me.
“Then we'd better make the most of it. I don't do things halfway.”
I cried out when he did this come-hither gesture, rubbing the pads of his fingers against a magic spot that sent sparks through me.
“That's right, darlin'. It's okay to be loud. It makes me so fucking hard for you when you make those noises.”
Oh my God, was it just me, or had Mav's voice gotten even sexier?
He pulled my nipple into his mouth as I began riding his hand in search of more friction, of the orgasm just starting to bloom. The hot and heavy length of his cock pressed insistently along my thigh, begging for attention. I reached down and slipped my hand between us, a thrill running through me at the pained guttural moan he let out.
“You're so fucking wet. Is this all for me?”
“Yes,” I admitted. I hadn't been this aroused in years. I was too focused on building my life, my career, to take the time for relationships. But Mav had always been the one man to steal my attention in a crowd. The one man to appear in my dreams and make me think, ‘what if?’
I just never let myself believe he was really attainable. But now that he was in my bed, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to accept that he had to leave.