Chapter 9 Mav #2
I lift my gaze to hers and nod. “It’s been over two weeks with no sign of him. I’m worried he’s…biding his time for something big.”
“We can’t stop living our lives.”
“I know,” I sigh. “I just, I feel better when we’re here, in one of the brownstones, with Drew outside.”
“We can’t keep Drew working around the clock.”
“He’s being generously compensated for it,” I point out.
“He could train someone else.”
“I don’t trust anyone as much as I trust him.” I cut the lasagna into squares, swearing as a glob of melted cheese burns my thumb.
Mckenna places a hand on my forearm, stilling my actions. “Talk to me, Mav.”
Sighing, I tell her the truth. “I don’t want us to always stay in, feel like we can’t go on dates, or have fun.
We’re supposed to be enjoying this time together.
And yet, I’m fucking terrified that if we go out, to dinner or the theater, something will happen that I don’t see coming and…
I’m sorry. I know I promised we’d do this your way and I feel like I’m holding you back, or holding us back, because, well, I’m scared of losing you again. ”
“You’re not going to lose me, Mav. I understand that this is hard for you too. And if you feel better that we stay in until we have a better handle on the situation, it’s okay.”
“Is it?” I look up miserably.
Mckenna nods.
“It’s the silence that’s unnerving. He popped up for one stupid message and now…nothing. It still feels like he has control over us even though it’s through his inaction.”
“I know,” Mckenna says quietly. “I spoke to the detective today.”
“You did?” I look up in surprise.
“I was going to tell you over dinner.” She points to the table.
I add a piece of lasagna to both of our plates and take the seat across from Mckenna.
“What did he say?” I ask, unable to eat until I know the details.
Mckenna sighs. “They have nothing on Bran. He’s not in Texas—”
“Of course he’s fucking not.”
“But they’re not sure where he is. He’s…lying low.”
I shake my head, pushing back and balancing on the hind legs of my chair. “Is he in Boston? I mean, we know he’s in Boston, but they haven’t clocked him anywhere?”
She shakes her head. “So, I get it, if this is our new normal for the next little while.” She gestures between us and the lasagna I made. “I promise, Mav, there will come a time for you to wine and dine me all over our city.”
I crack a smile.
“But, for now, I’m fine staying in too.”
“Okay,” I whisper, relieved that she understands. And also, fucking furious that we’re no further along in nailing down Bran than we were two weeks ago.
Mckenna takes a bite of her lasagna and moans. Pointing at the slice with her fork, she grins. “This is delicious, Mav!”
“Thanks.”
“Also, I wanted to ask you, how’s Jameson doing? He seems good at bowling, but is he moving on from Amelia?”
“He’s okay. I think so. We’ve been running in the mornings, which helps set the tone for his day. He’s not drinking as much and is spending more time in the studio with Reign. Amelia moving out of the city has been good for him.”
“Where did she move to?”
“Colorado,” I offer, leaning back in my seat. “She met someone.”
“Ohh.” Mckenna wrinkles her nose. “Is Jameson okay? Does he know?”
“He knows.” I blow out a sigh. “And he’s handling it. Better than I thought, to be honest. But, given the history, the years, between them, it’s been hard.”
“Of course.”
“And I think it’s time I tell him the truth about Big Jim.” I heave a forkful of lasagna into my mouth, swearing as the melted cheese burns the roof of my mouth.
Mckenna nudges my water glass closer and I take a swig.
“Thanks,” I manage to say.
“Do you think it’s the best time to tell him that you guys don’t share a biological father?”
“I don’t know. Is there ever a good time?
I don’t want to pile on too much shitty news, but at the same time, I think he should know the truth.
And if he’s going to start rebuilding his life and changing his outlook about the future, I don’t want him to get to a good place and then it feels like I drop a bomb on him and everything he rebuilt. ”
“Yeah. I get that.”
“If it was you—”
“I’d want to know.” She cuts me off. “That’s the only thing I know for certain from all this shit with Bran.
It’s been awful. An absolute nightmare. But so many things make sense now that I know the truth.
Things I second-guessed myself on, things I felt uncertain about…
a lot of pieces clicked into place once I knew what happened between Bran and me, and what happened between my dad and Isabel.
Dad didn’t want to tell me right away. I know he was nervous because I had so much going on, like Jameson, but honestly, having all the information made me feel better. ”
“Yeah. For Jameson, it may even be pieces he isn’t fully aware of but once he knows…well, I think it will help put some aspects of our childhood, of Big Jim’s relationship with each of us, in perspective.”
“What does your mom think?”
“You know, it’s funny, my mom didn’t want us to know the truth for so long.
She was scared that if we knew, it would add distance between Jameson and me.
But he’s my brother no matter what, and now that we’re adults, and in the band together, she knows that too.
I told her I was going to tell him and she said to do whatever I think is best. My mom’s been out of Boston and our day-to-day lives for a long time.
She isn’t really in the position to weigh in. ”
“She sounds very open-minded.”
“She’s a free spirit.”
Mckenna smiles. “A bit like you.”
I consider her observation before nodding slowly. I never thought about it before. I always knew I didn’t want to be Big Jim, and for years, I feared that I was. But the truth is, I’m more like my mom and that realization is freeing in a way. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Mckenna eats another bite of lasagna. “I’m more like my dad even though I didn’t want to admit it for years. I was trying like hell to not be like my mom that…”
“You couldn’t see the good qualities you shared with either parent.”
“Exactly.”
“We’re more alike than not, Mckenna.”
“I know that, Mav. I didn’t want to admit that either.” She laughs. “In many ways, you saved me.”
I snort, ducking my head. “Not like how you saved me, beauty. Not even close.”
I dry the last dish, placing it in the overhead cabinet, and close the cabinet door. I love these quiet nights with Mckenna, when things between us feel easy and natural. When I truly feel at home.
For me, it will always be Mckenna Byrne.
When I turn around, she’s leaning against the entranceway to the kitchen, her ankles crossed, staring at me. But her expression has morphed from thoughtful to…hungry. Longing washes over her face and her eyes smolder. Bedroom eyes.
I’m instantly hard. Desperately wanting her. The way I have for so many months. God, I want to bury myself in her.
“Come up with me,” she says softly.
I step closer, my eyes locked on hers.
Mckenna smirks and cross her arms in front of her tank top. She pulls it up and over her head. Her breasts spill over the lacy edges of her nude bra and my fingers twitch to touch them. To cup their heat, test their weight, and palm their softness.
Mckenna unbuttons her denim cutoff shorts and they slide down her legs. She steps out of them, kicking them to the side. Then, clad in her underwear, she eyes me up and down.
I chuckle but lose my sweat shorts and cutoff tank in seconds.
Mckenna laughs as my cock, already hard for her, always for her, springs free.
“Going commando?”
“Sometimes, less is more.”
She laughs as I stride toward her and take her in my arms.
Our mouths crash together as Mckenna wraps her arms around my neck and presses into my frame. My hands are on her hips, her waist, the center of her back. We come together desperately.
I grab the underside of her thighs and lift her. She wraps her legs around my waist and allows me to carry her to the butcher block island. I set her on the edge and nudge her thighs wider, stepping between them.
My palms flatten on the smooth surface as I brace my arms and rock into her space.
She cups the back of my neck, guiding my face to hers. She kisses me lightly, her tongue tracing the outline of my upper lip. Nips and licks and delicious, playful kisses.
“I missed this side of you,” I tell her honestly.
“So did I.”
I kiss her deeply. She shimmies to the edge of the island and grinds herself against my length. The friction of my cock dragging along the silky satin of her panties causes her to groan.
“Mav,” she pants.
“I got you,” I tell her, dragging my lips down the column of her neck.
I dip my hand between us, hooking her panties to one side so I can dip my fingers into her heat.
“Fuck, Mckenna,” I groan. “You’re so wet for me.”
“Always.”
I gather her want and bring it up to her clit, dragging my fingers around the bundle of nerves. Mckenna presses her hands to the side of my face, kissing me hard.
I play with her sweet pussy, tracing her clit, pumping two fingers inside of her. It’s a slow, torturous pace. At odds with the frantic need underlying her desperate kisses.
“I’m close,” she warns.
I drop my forehead to her shoulder, watching my fingers disappear into her heat, and swear.
Then, I pick up my pace, pumping my fingers in and out as my thumb finds her clit.
Mckenna detonates, shattering with my name on her lips.
I grin, slowing my movements as she rides out her orgasm.
“Oh fuck, it’s so good,” she sighs. Her thighs tremble slightly from the intensity of her orgasm, but my sexy wife unhooks her bra and flings it off the island. Her delicious breasts swing forward before she leans back on the island, bracing her hands behind her.
She grins at me, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wild. “You’re not getting out of it this time, Maverick.” She eyes my cock and licks her bottom lip as if she’s hungry for it. Hungry for me.
“Mckenna,” I say slowly, removing my fingers from her tight body and shuffling back a step.
“Nope.” She shakes her head and slips off the island. On the edge are drops of her arousal, her want, evidence of how fucking good we are together.
Mckenna drops to her knees and wraps her hand around me, fisting my cock.
“Shit,” I swear, gripping the underside of the island’s ledge. It’s been so fucking long, entire months, and I want to come just from the way she’s looking at me. Greedy and needy and— “Fuck.”
She wraps her lips around the head and I see stars.
Mckenna bobs her head, working me in tandem with her sliding hand, and my balls tighten.
I gather her hair in my hand, pushing it away from her face.
The image of my wife on her knees in front of me pleasuring me is a core fucking memory I never want to forget. I nearly come from the visual alone.
“I’m not going to last long, beauty,” I warn. “It’s been too long. And I…oh, fuck, Mckenna, yes.” Words fall from my lips, but I’m barely conscious of them.
The base of my spine coils, my cock twitches, and right before I come, my fucking beauty releases my cock with a pop and grins up at me. “Not yet.”
“Fuck,” I mutter.
Mckenna drops back onto her ass and reaches for my hand. Tugging me over her, she lies back. “Put it in me, Maverick.”
I swear. “What? Here? On the…on the floor?” Panic races through my veins. Isn’t this what happened with Bran? What if this encounter triggers something for her? What if—
“Please.” Her voice cuts through my thoughts. She takes my hand and laces our fingers together. “Here, Mav. I’m not going to break. I’m not fragile. I want you to make love to me here and erase everything that came before. Will you do that for me?”
I’d fucking cut off a limb for her. “Of course. But if it’s too much or—”
“Just love me, Maverick.”
I line myself up at her entrance and push into her slowly. Painstakingly slow so I can watch her expression and read the emotions that flit across her face.
Mckenna smiles and it’s breathtaking. Relief filters through her eyes right before they flutter closed. “That’s it,” she encourages. Her arms wrap around me, hugging me closer.
I never take my eyes off her face as I move over her, pushing in and out. Slow, gentle, and so damn reverently, and time seems to stop.
Our playful has turned serious.
Our needy has turned steady.
This isn’t lust or want. This is pure fucking love that shimmers between us like sunshine and oxygen and life.
I drop my mouth to Mckenna’s and kiss her. She receives me, her arms entwined around my neck, her knees dropping open an additional inch.
We stay connected, embracing, kissing, murmuring sweet nothings, until she comes a second time. I’m not far behind, spilling inside of her.
“I love you, Mckenna.”
Her eyes open and the sweetest smile crosses her lips. “I love you, Maverick. This is us.”
I’m still inside of her when I nod. “Always us.”
And for the first time in years, I feel whole.