45. Emmy
FORTY-FIVE
Pretty Boy
I miss you.
Me
I’m out with Hudson right now.
Pretty Boy
The fuck?
Me
Our dads are best friends, so now we’re best friends.
He needs a new personal chef, so I’m wingwomaning for him at a cooking class.
Pretty Boy
… Are you fucking with me?
Me
Open your door and find out.
Maverick dragsme into his apartment before I have a chance to knock. He pins me against the wall and puts his hands on either side of my head.
“Hi, Emmy girl,” he murmurs.
“Hi, pretty boy.” I touch his cheek, and he melts against me. “How was your afternoon off?”
“Better now that you’re here.” He kisses my forehead and smiles. “You really did go to a cooking class with Hudson, didn’t you? Did you have a good time? Where are my leftovers?”
“There weren’t any leftovers to bring, but I thought I could give you something else to eat.” I pull at the tie of my trench coat, the fabric opening and showing off the lingerie I have underneath. “If you’re hungry.”
Maverick takes a step back, looks me up and down, and groans. “Christ, baby. You’re a fucking vision.”
I shrug out of the jacket and it pools at my feet. I ordered a sexy red set the other night when I was at Lexi’s. The girls told me Maverick would go crazy if he saw me in the outfit, and from the way his eyes are blown wide and his cheeks are turning pink, I’d say they were right.
“Do you like it?” I ask, toying with the straps.
“Yes,” he rasps. “Please don’t tell me you wore that when you went to your cooking class.”
“I did. Under my other clothes, so it was my little secret.” I pause and arch my back off the wall. “Maybe I’ll start wearing it to the rink too. A special blue set that matches our jerseys.”
He scoops me up, lifting me off the ground and marching down the hall to his bedroom.
“I’m going to have to come into your locker room before every practice,” he says in my ear, and he kisses my throat. “Just to see what surprises you’re hiding.”
“It’s sweet of you to call my storage closet a locker room.” I reach down and cup his length through the front of his athletic shorts. He’s hard already, and I smile when he shudders under my touch. “And it’s funny you think I’m going to let you in there.”
“Why? Don’t want me to see all the pictures you have of me taped up on your wall?”
“You’re so full of yourself.”
“What if I beg?” Maverick bends his head and grazes his teeth down my neck. “What if I beg like a good boy, Emmy?”
“Maybe,” I breathe out. “That could persuade me.”
His laugh is beautiful, and he kicks open the door to his room. He drops me on the edge of his bed and stares at me, his mouth half-open and his hands flexing at his sides.
“You’re beautiful,” he says. “I can’t believe I get to have you. I can’t believe you’re mine.”
When we’re together, it’s an inferno. Hot, quick, a race to see who can get the other off first. Sometimes we barely make it into the bedroom, choosing a counter or a wall or a chair instead.
Now, though, it’s different. It’s slower, like Maverick is trying to savor me. Trying to preserve it in his memory. And when he drops to his knees in front of me and nudges my legs open, a gasp works its way free from my chest.
I love watching him when he looks like this. Raw and needy. Glazed eyes and his chest rising and falling so quickly, you’d think he sprinted here.
“Have me,” I whisper, and his gaze flashes with heat.
Love me, I want to say too, but I keep that to myself. I swallow it down, because when Maverick leans forward, kisses the inside of my knee, I almost forget my name.
“How wet are you?” he asks, and his mouth presses against the front of my underwear. “Soaked, I bet.”
I hook a leg over his shoulder, and his grin is smug. “Find out for yourself.”
“You’re so pretty like this, though. I don’t want to take this off you.”
“Then fuck me in it.” My fingers curl around his comforter, and I squirm, desperate for him. “I don’t care what you do, just do something.”
“Now who’s begging?” Maverick hooks his thumb in my underwear and pulls it to the side. He hums, and I drop my head back. “Fucking look at you.”
“Less looking. More doing, Miller.”
“Yes ma’am.” One finger presses inside me, and I groan. “There you go, baby. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I whisper, grinding into his hand. I roll my hips, searching for what I want, and he rewards me with a second and third finger without me having to ask. “Maverick.”
“The way you say my name drives me fucking wild.” His left hand folds around my leg, keeping me in place. I feel him crowd my space, the bump of his shoulder against my knee and the soft cotton of his shirt against my stomach. “This is my meal, isn’t it? I’ve been a very good boy, Emmy. I’ve earned a taste, haven’t I?”
“God. Yes. Just?—”
He cuts me off with his tongue, a teasing circle against my clit that has my hips lifting off the mattress and my fingers pulling on the ends of his hair. His moan vibrates against me, a deep sound that makes me wrap both legs around his neck, giving him nowhere to go.
“Heaven.” He licks a hot swipe of his tongue over my entrance. “Fucking heaven. Let me die here, Emmy girl.”
“If I don’t come, you just might,” I grit out, and his chuckle is an imprint on my skin.
“Guess it’s time to show you my best work.” Maverick slips his fingers out of me, and I whine at the loss. He drops my legs from his shoulders and works my underwear down, tossing them away. “Hang on, needy thing. I’m going to take care of you.”
He presses on my clit with his thumb, and my eyes flutter open to find him looking at me.
“I want to watch you,” he mumbles, his gaze bouncing to every inch of my body. “Want to watch you fall apart.”
A string inside me tightens. It grows taut when he holds me open, his tongue replacing his fingers and driving me wild.
I get what I asked for—it really is his best work. The rhythm I like and the way he gets me there; thoroughly and completely, his mouth never stopping and his touch never wavering. Maverick stays latched to me until my legs shake and my skin burns.
“Maverick,” I whisper. “I’m going to… please don’t stop. Right there. That feels so good.”
“Never, Emmy,” he says roughly against me. “I’ll be here forever.”
I know the here he’s talking about is between my legs, but for half a second I pretend it’s a metaphor for something else.
By my side. With me. Loving me back and growing old. Bliss explodes in my blood, and I cry out, a hand on the back of his neck so he can’t pull away.
“All of it. I know you have more, baby.” Two fingers inside me and a palm on my stomach, and a second wave hits. “That’s my girl. There’s what I asked for. Doesn’t that feel good?”
I groan and ride the pleasure until my vision sparks with blurry colors. When the sensation subsides, I lift my arms above my head, trying to find air, but Maverick doesn’t give me a second to breathe.
“I’m not done with you.” I blink, and his shirt is already off. He steps out of his sweatpants and walks toward me, a hand around his thick cock and his eyes on me. “Sit up, Emmy, and open your mouth. Get it wet, and make it messy.”
I press up on my elbows and part my mouth. He rubs the head of his cock against my lips and smiles when my tongue sneaks out and licks away the pre-cum I find there.
I put my hand on him, my fingers curling around his erection and my mouth widening so he can get deeper. He hits the back of my throat, and I stare at him, silently telling him I can take more.
Maverick pulls down one of the cups of my bra and pinches my nipple. His touch dances up my chest to my throat and his palm settles around my neck.
“Talked to my tattoo artist yesterday.” He bucks his hips forward, and I groan against his cock. “I have an appointment next week. I wasn’t joking about putting mine on the back of my hand. I want to see it every time I touch you. A pretty necklace for my pretty girl.”
I press my thighs together, moisture pooling between my legs at the thought of him putting a permanent piece of me on his skin. I nod, wanting to convey how much I like the idea, and he grins bright and beautiful.
I pop him out of my mouth and stroke his length. A drop of drool hangs on the corner of my lips, and he reaches out, wiping it away with his thumb.
“Wet. Messy. Perfect,” he says.
“And yours,” I add, scooting back across the mattress toward the pillows. I relax against the headboard and tip open my legs, touching myself where he was before. “Come and take what’s yours, Maverick.”
He moves lightning quick, on the bed in a flash and straddling my hips. He holds the back of my head, fingers threading through my knotted hair and bringing his mouth down to mine.
“There’s nothing I want more.” Maverick lines himself up with my entrance, and glances up at me. “Okay?”
“Yeah.” I rub my hands down his arms and leave nail marks on the curve of his muscles. “It’s always okay with you.”
He kisses me at the same time he thrusts forward and fills me. Maverick swallows down my moan, a soft bite to my lower lip to help me work through the stretch.
“I’ve got you,” he says, forehead against mine and a bead of sweat on his cheek. “God, Emmy. I can’t believe I get to have you like this.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re eight inches inside of me.” I gasp when he lifts one of my legs, holding it against his side and sinking another inch deeper. “Fuck.”
“Trying,” he grits out, and a laugh bursts from me. “Your cunt is so fucking tight, it makes it difficult to want to do anything but sit here and enjoy.”
I grab his ass, urging him to move, and our bodies fall into synchronized movements.
It’s rough, with his hand at my neck again and his mouth leaving little pink marks on my skin, but it’s tender too.
Gentle in the way he flips us so I’m on top of him, one leg on either side of his hips as I sink onto him and control the pace.
Reverent in how he holds my cheek and smiles up at me, his hair a mess and my heart almost bursting out of my chest.
“Remember when you said you’re the only woman I’ve ever fucked twice because I can’t get enough of you?” Maverick asks, taking both of my breasts in his hands. His thumbs brush over my nipples, and a stuttered exhale leaves my body. “You were right, Emmy. I’ll never get enough of you. I’ll never get enough of your body and the way it fits perfectly with mine. I’ll never get over your brilliant brain and wonderful heart. I’m going to have you until the end of time, and it’s going to be just as good as right now, baby, because you’re perfect for me.”
I love you, I almost scream. I love you so fucking much, I almost yell, and I show him all the ways by fucking him hard. By kissing him until he’s panting my name, until he’s asking if it’s okay to come inside me, until his legs are spasming and his cock pulses, the warmth of his release making me tip over the edge with him.
I collapse on top of him and he holds me tight. When he pulls out of me, he nudges me on my back and pushes my knees apart, taking a spot on his stomach between my legs.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Want to see what you look like full of my cum. Want to see what it looks like when you’re mine.”
Heat creeps up my skin from my toes to my cheeks. Maverick uses his thumb to spread his release over my pussy, and in a moment where I should feel exposed and vulnerable, I feel nothing but adored.
“Emmy,” he says, and it sounds like it’s been pulled from somewhere in his soul. “I—” He licks his lips and kisses my calf. He taps my ankle and laughs. I want to laugh too. “You really are my most favorite person in the world.”
“The feeling is mutual.” I reach for him, and he adjusts our positions so I’m in his lap, the place where I never want to leave. “Will you tell me about the first time you saw me?”
“You mean the day when I hit on you and mistook you for a fan, and you called me out for being arrogant?”
“Yeah.” I play with his necklace and smile. “That day.”
“I thought you were hot. Which sounds so superficial, because you’re so much more than hot, but damn I was admiring your curves.”
“You did a lot of eye-fucking,” I agree, and he pinches my side.
“Can you blame me? My weakness is tall, athletic women, and you fit that bill pretty damn well, Red. Something weird happened, though. You know I’ve been with plenty of women, but when you talked to me… it was like my heart skipped a beat. My hands were clammy and I had trouble breathing. It had never felt like that before.”
“And then I kicked your ass on the ice.”
“We have different memories about what happened next.”
“I had seen photos of you, but I wasn’t prepared for meeting you in real life. You made me furious, but I thought you were the most attractive man I had ever laid eyes on. I still think that.” I brush away some of his sweat-soaked hair and smile. “You’re also so much more.”
“Tell me,” he pleads, and I know it’s his need for validation sneaking through. His need to be wanted.“Tell me what else I am.”
“You’re smart. You’re so kind. I’ve never met anyone as kind as you. I love that you can get me to laugh so much. That cockiness isn’t arrogance. It’s confidence, because you know how hard you work to be the best friend. The best athlete. The best lover. Sometimes I think about how lucky I am to have a man like you in my life and I—” I have to squeeze my eyes shut so I don’t look at him as I say this next part. “It makes me wonder what I did to deserve someone so wonderful. It makes me think I might finally be good enough to have earned something so… so lovely in my life.”
“Emerson. Look at me, please.”
I open my eyes. His gaze meets mine, and I feel the power of it behind my ribs.
“You are enough,” Maverick says. “You are more than enough, and you’re so far out of my league, it’s not even funny. I… you…” He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. “Every day I’m going to show you just how enough you are.”
“And I’m going to show you every day how wanted you are,” I say softly. “How wanted you are for being you, not your paycheck or your stat line. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you, Maverick.”
I love you.
I love you so fucking much.
We don’t say anything else to each other, but we don’t have to. The silence is perfect.
Completely and totally perfect.