Chapter Eight
It was Friday night.
I was sitting on my kitchen counter.
The only thing I had on was my pink cotton robe.
Seeing as it was open and falling off my shoulders, on was debatable.
Maverick was nearly fully dressed.
Jeans open, dick out and thrust inside of me.
I was close. So close. So gloriously close.
But I wasn’t ready to let go yet.
I’d earned this moment.
I was going to make it last.
The day before, Tess had sent me a text, asking if I was free for our rescheduled pedicure date with Mary-Kate. Seeing as I didn’t want to make Mary-Kate wait for my next Sunday off, I called around and found a nurse who was willing to swap my Sunday shift for her Friday one. This meant rather than my normal forty-eight hours off, I only got twenty-four.
This wasn’t a big deal. I was happy to make the sacrifice. I was looking forward to catching up with my best friend and introducing Mary-Kate to our sacred pedicure ritual.
But what I didn’t know was how much of a nightmare Friday would be. The kind of nightmare where I got thrown up on not just once but twice . By two separate people. After the second vomit attack, which happened thirty minutes before the end of my shift, Rhonda showed me pity and allowed me to clock out fifteen-minutes early.
I’d texted Maverick, letting him know that if he was already at my place, I would be untouchable until I’d bathed.
When I got home, Maverick’s bike was not parked in front of my house.
Neither had he returned my text.
But twenty minutes later, fresh from a shower and wrapped in my robe, I’d walked into my kitchen to find that he’d not only arrived and let himself in, he’d also brought Thai takeout and a cold six-pack of beer.
This made me so happy the only proper response was to kiss him until I couldn’t breathe.
So, I did.
And before I was finished, he had me on the counter.
This was why I was currently on the verge of unraveling at his touch.
He had one hand against the small of my back, his other hooked behind my left knee. I had hold of both of his arms, my fingers wrapped around the back of his biceps. With my head thrown back, my damp hair brushed across the back of my shoulders as my body jerked with his every thrust.
The closer my orgasm got, the harder it was for me to keep silent.
I moaned, squeezing my eyes closed tight, wanting the feeling of anticipation to last a while longer.
“Let go, foxy,” Maverick demanded.
With a shake of my head, I whimpered, “Not yet.”
“Noises you’re makin’, I’m fuckin’ there, babe— let go .”
I righted my head and opened my eyes, in search of his.
Dark and molten .
As he stared down at me, I moaned again.
I couldn’t help it.
He pounded into me harder.
Bested, I surrendered.
My whole body trembled as my orgasm detonated within me.
Then awesome became unfathomable when he moved the hand at my back in order to reach down and swirl his thumb around my clit.
“ Maverick! ” I cried, my fingertips digging into his arms as I held him tighter.
He groaned, ramming into me three times as he filled his condom.
When the height of our passion began to subside, he then slammed his mouth down on mine and devoured me in a scorching hot kiss.
I grabbed hold of the back of his neck, sinking my fingers in his curls as I did, and drank from him.
Hungrily .
Our kiss ended with my soft mewl as he pulled out of me.
He gave my leg a squeeze as he instructed, “Don’t move. Be right back.”
I nodded and let him go, then watched as he exited the kitchen, headed for the bathroom.
I slid my robe up and over my shoulders, then closed it around me and retied the belt. As I raked my fingers through my hair, I smiled to myself.
Safe to say, my day had just gotten a whole hell of a lot better.
When Maverick returned, he pulled out a couple of beers, twisted the caps off, and handed me one. I took a sip as he went for my silverware drawer to grab two forks. He handed me one, then proceeded to take out two containers of pad thai from the plastic sack next to me. He removed the lids, then held out my dish. I set aside my beer and accepted his offer. With his own meal in hand, he stood beside me, leaning back against the counter’s edge, crossing one booted foot over the other.
“Thanks for dinner,” I murmured before taking my first bite.
“Yup.”
I smiled at his simple reply, then filled my fork and dug in.
As we ate, I thought about the next few days. Maverick had come over every night since Monday, but my schedule wouldn’t allow for that the following week.
Plus, I had weekend plans to consider, too.
“Mav?” I asked.
He merely looked at me, indicating I had his attention.
“Have you told anyone about… us? ”
He stared at me for a moment then replied, “Hate to break it to you, but the Stallions aren’t a bunch of bitches sittin’ around talkin’ about our feelings and shit. No. I haven’t told anyone. You?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “Should I? I mean, I have plans with Tess on Sunday.”
He shrugged. “That’s on you, babe.”
I lowered my pad thai into my lap and pressed, “Okay—you might not talk to other people about your feelings and shit , but I don’t want to tell her if you don’t want her to know. She’ll tell Mustang.”
“Suspect she would. An ol’ lady doesn’t keep shit from her man.”
I reared my head back a little in surprise.
There wasn’t a whole lot I knew about the MC world, but I knew enough to know when a man called a woman his ol’ lady, that was a big deal.
“I didn’t—I didn’t know he was calling her his ol’ lady.”
He quirked an eyebrow at me, and the look in his eye told me he knew things I didn’t know. It was weird that he knew something so significant about Tess that I didn’t. Moreover, it was the first time in the last five days our worlds had collided.
“Thought you two were best friends.”
“We are. But we don’t talk every day. We’re nurses with crazy schedules. We check in when we can, and I’m seeing her on Sunday.”
“Right,” he muttered.
I frowned. “You still haven’t told me whether or not you want to keep us— this— a secret.”
“So far as I’m concerned, where I stick my dick is my business. Seein’ as I’m stickin’ it in you, that makes it your business, too. You feel the need to tell your girl—that’s on you, babe.”
He went back to eating, and I mulled over what he’d said. I wasn’t sure if I should tell Tess or not. On the one hand, I didn’t like keeping it from her. On the other hand, Maverick and I weren’t together , and I would hate for her to get excited over nothing.
I decided I’d give it some more thought, then shifted my focus to the other plans I had that weekend.
I had a date.
The next night, after work, I was going to meet Allen for drinks.
While Josh—the defense lawyer—had initiated conversation after I liked his photo, he and I were still messaging each other sporadically in the app. It was obvious our schedules were a bit challenging to navigate. We were never online at the same time. That said, he hadn’t gotten around to asking me out yet.
Allen, who I considered after he hearted one of my photos just the previous day, didn’t waste any time asking me out for drinks.
He was thirty-three. An accountant. Never married. No kids. Interested in monogamy. And, if his pictures were anything to go by, he was an accountant with personality. Allen was a self-proclaimed foodie who liked to hike and—surprise, surprise— fish. He was also pretty straight forward in his approach, and I kind of liked that about him, so I’d said yes.
I didn’t have any plans of being out all night, but Maverick and I agreed, if one of us had something going on, we’d let the other person know.
“Um, I should also tell you, I have plans tomorrow night. I’m not sure what time I’ll be home.”
“Noted.”
I hesitated, suddenly feeling odd admitting the full truth.
We weren’t together, which meant we weren’t exclusive, but this was all uncharted territory. I wasn’t sure if he’d want to know about my seeing other people—or if I would want to know about him seeing other people.
Then again, friends told each other things like that.
We were friends.
Friends who were sleeping together, but friends nonetheless.
“It’s a date,” I blurted. “I’m going on a date. We’re meeting for drinks.”
Maverick’s bottle of beer was halfway to his mouth when he turned his head to stare at me.
I knit my eyebrows together, suddenly second guessing my decision to tell him.
“It seemed like something you should know…maybe.”
“You plan on fuckin’ him?”
“What? No!” I insisted. “It’s a first date. And I met him online, so who knows if he’s even legit or not. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.”
He continued staring at me, saying nothing at first and making me crazy.
Finally, he said, “You wanted me to tell you how I feel? Feel like I haven’t stuck my dick in anyone but you for a week. Seein’ as you’re not some club sheep, regardless of the fact you like this Stallion dick, wasn’t plannin’ on fuckin’ anyone else out of respect. You want someone else in your bed, this ends, and you’ll get your key back.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of things bikers got into on the compound on a regular day, or how many chances he had to have sex with someone else, but I assumed the fact that he wasn’t sleeping around wasn’t insignificant, or he wouldn’t have said it. I also thought it was really nice of him.
“Mav, respect is why I told you in the first place,” I murmured. “We’re just meeting for drinks, I swear. If anything changes, you’ll be the first to know.”
He jerked his chin in a nod, then proceeded to take a long pull from his beer.
Now didn’t seem like the best time to tell him I was working the overnight shift three days the next week, so I kept it to myself. I’d tell him in a couple of days.
We finished our dinner in an easy silence. While I nursed my bottle of beer, Maverick finished his and indulged in another. As soon as he’d drained his second bottle, he looked at me and said, “Bed this time.”
Knowing sex in bed meant I’d get to have him naked, I smiled, nodded, and followed him there.
Allen was shorter than his profile indicated, but I tried not to hold it against him. He was still taller than me in my tan, wedge-heeled sandals. Plus, he hadn’t cat-fished me. His pictures had been recent representations of him, and he was nice enough to look at.
Trouble was, nice was about the only adjective I could use to describe him.
We agreed to meet at Humphry’s, a local bar and grill. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it was a chill place, which took the pressure off of me whilst choosing what to wear.
I wore a pair of my favorite skinny jeans and a floral blouse with a sweetheart neckline and a flared long sleeve. It was cute but casual and when I was ready to leave after an hour, I didn’t feel as though I’d wasted a banger of an outfit.
Conversation with Allen wasn’t boring, per say, but it wasn’t particularly effortless, either. He wasn’t big on small talk, and I learned way more about him and his family background than I anticipated on a first date. I knew his parents were divorced, his younger sister struggled with depression, and his father’s second wife was a pill-popper, but his third wife was far more stable. What I didn’t know was what kind of music Allen liked to listen to or what he enjoyed doing in his spare time other than hiking and fishing.
He also had a really odd laugh. So odd, in fact, I had to control my face every time he did it.
It was a quarter to ten when I told him it was getting late, I’d had a long day, and I really needed to be getting home. I laid it on thick how twelve hours in the ER was incredibly exhausting. It wasn’t a total lie, but I didn’t think I wanted to know what topics of conversation he might broach if we both ordered a second drink.
On my drive home, I convinced myself the date hadn’t been a total waste. I’d put myself out there. I was making an effort, and that wasn’t nothing .
But I had to admit, it didn’t compare to a night spent with Maverick.
When I pulled onto my street and saw his Harley parked in front of my house, rather than confusion as to why he was there when he knew I had plans, I was actually quite relieved. I didn’t even think twice about it as I entered my home, climbed the stairs, and found him on my couch—boots off, feet on my coffee table, the television turned on and streaming some show about cars. I didn’t hesitate to join him either, plopping down on the cushion beside the one he occupied.
He muted the volume, then turned his head as he shifted his attention my way.
“How’d it go?”
I scrunched my face as I looked over at him.
“He was nice, I guess. But there was no chemistry. And he had this really weird laugh.”
Maverick furrowed his brow. “Weird laugh?”
“Yeah, like—” I took a breath and then did my best impersonation of what a donkey might sound like if a donkey could laugh.
Maverick’s eyebrows shot up in astonishment before he burst out laughing.
I watched as he threw his head back and closed his eyes, his knees bending as he curled into himself a little, surrendering to the hilarity of it all.
My chest tightened and, for a moment, I held my breath.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him laugh before—at least not that hard.
The sound was deep and rich, like the perfect cup of dark chocolate cocoa on a cold day.
It was also contagious, and I chuckled along with him, suddenly really happy I had his company.
When his amusement subsided and he looked at me once more, I told him, “I didn’t think I’d come home to find you here.”
Without missing a beat, he explained, “You went on a date with a guy you met on the internet. Wanted to make sure you got home okay.”
It was in that moment when I realized we’d made it.
We really were friends.
And I kind of loved it.
“Thanks, Mav,” I murmured.
He smirked at me and said, “That’s one way to express your appreciation.”
I grinned, his smirk stretched into a smile, and I felt butterflies for the first time that night.
I sat up and leaned down to free my feet from my wedges before I maneuvered myself until I was straddling his lap. He slid his fingertips into my back pockets, and I reached for his face as I brought my lips to his. This time it was me who slid my tongue along the seam of his mouth, and he opened up for me immediately.
It wasn’t long before we were both lost. Together .
When I felt him grow hard beneath me, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and spread my knees wider, pressing in closer. I held him as I began to grind against his length, confined behind a closed zipper. A moan spilled from my lips, my clit rejoicing at the sensation.
After just two passes, Maverick grabbed hold of my hips, forcing me to keep still as he yanked his face away from mine.
“We don’t dry hump, foxy,” he declared, giving my hips a squeeze. “You wanna ride, lose the jeans and climb on.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I threw myself onto the cushion next to him and reached for my top button, capturing my bottom lip between my teeth to contain my smile when I saw him do the same. By the time I was naked from the waist down, his pants and boxer briefs were halfway down his thighs, and he was ripping a condom open with his teeth.
Feeling impatient, I didn’t wait for him to roll it on before I threw my leg over both of his, positioning myself for when he was covered. As soon as the condom was on, he took his dick in his hand and grazed the tip along my slit, coating the condom in my arousal. Then he stopped, positioned himself at my entrance, and lifted his eyes to find mine.
“This Stallion’s ready to ride, babe.”
My hands at his shoulders, I lowered myself over him until I was completely full.
Impeccable .
I rocked my hips slowly at first, longing only to luxuriate in the control he’d offered me. He felt so good, it was almost unbearable.
Much like when we’d still been fully clothed, his patience was short lived. I was alerted to this fact when he slapped the side of my ass, eliciting a squeak of surprise from me.
I stared at him wide-eyed as I froze.
“This ain’t no kiddie ride, foxy.”
My giggle wouldn’t be silenced.
Taking his not-so-subtle hint, I brushed a kiss against his lips and then got to it.
I rocked my hips up and down, then back and forth, trying to decide which way I liked more. Given what I was working with, both were good—but back and forth was better. Once I found my rhythm, Maverick took it one step further, thrusting his hips up every time I rolled forward.
It was perfect.
The longer we went, the hotter I got. Not wishing to break our stride, rather than take off my shirt, I used my hands to gather my hair and hold it away from my neck. This helped only until I felt the bud of an orgasm on the horizon.
Suddenly in need of both hands, I dropped my hair, pressing my palms against the center of Maverick’s chest. Using him as leverage, I thrust my hips harder, chasing the promise of my release.
“There she is,” muttered Maverick, slapping my ass once more.
This time, I didn’t stop—I moaned and bucked my hips faster.
“I’m gonna come,” I panted, balling the fabric of his shirt into my fists. I squeezed my eyes closed tight. “Mav— oh, yes. ”
I gasped, my body trembling as I tried to keep my rhythm, the bud of my orgasm now on the brink of blossoming wide open.
All hope was lost the instant his thumb made contact with my clit. I threw my head back like a woman possessed, moaning loudly as I unraveled on top of him.
“Fuck,” he grunted as he moved to hold tight to my waist. He then leaned back, held me still, and began to pound in and out of me from below.
I didn’t think it was possible to come twice in a span of ten seconds, but he proved me entirely wrong.
No sooner had my first orgasm subsided, then he forced another one out of me.
“Shit, yes— Maverick! ” I mewled, dropping my head until my forehead was propped against his.
He growled—actually growled —and then I felt it as he swelled and succumbed to his own release. He pounded into me twice more, pausing on his last upward thrust before we both collapsed, my head falling to his shoulder.
For a minute, maybe two or three, neither of us spoke.
Then, still a little breathless, he muttered, “Babe?”
I knew he needed to get up and deal with the condom, but I wasn’t ready to lose him.
“Need a minute,” I insisted, not moving an inch.
I then felt him slide a hand up my back, until his fingers were tangled in my hair, holding the nape of my neck. I smiled at his silent acceptance.
As we sat there, Maverick still inside of me, I spared not a single thought for Allen.