Chapter 19
NINETEEN
STERLING
The car ride up the mountain to the chalet is heavy with silence.
The wipers drag across the windshield in a steady rhythm, pushing snowflakes aside as the road winds higher.
Beside me, Maisy sits angled toward the window, her breath fogging the glass.
Her fingers twist anxiously in her lap, tugging at each other.
I can tell her mind is racing a million miles per minute, probably replaying last night the same way I am.
“We should talk about it,” I say finally, keeping my eyes on the snowy road. “The kiss.”
“It was more than just a kiss, Sterling,” she says, turning to look at me. “We crossed a line that exes shouldn’t cross.”
I hum in response, neither agreeing or denying, because the truth is I’d cross every damn line if Maisy was the one waiting for me on the other side.
A lookout point appears through the falling snow, the guardrails frosted, the wide pull-off deserted for once.
Usually, it’s crowded with people taking pictures of the view, but tonight it’s empty.
I ease the truck to the side, kill the engine, and the silence deepens until all I hear is the tick of cooling metal and the muted roar of the wind.
I turn toward her fully. “Well,” I say, steadying my voice, “I don’t regret crossing that line. Do you?”
Maisy doesn’t answer right away. Her hands are still moving on her lap, nervous little fidgets, until she forces them flat against her thighs. She takes a deep breath, her lashes lowering as if the confession is easier to make when she isn’t looking at me.
“I don’t know.” Her voice trembles. “Maybe I just needed to get you out of my system.”
Her words sting and I try to hold my expression steady, but inside, everything twists. Get me out of her system? I’ve spent three years trying exactly that—changing my career, my friends, my home, my everything—but no matter what I do, she’s the constant that remains. Always her.
I nod slowly, my jaw tight. “And did you? Get me out of your system?”
She turns back to the window, the snow falling thick and heavy behind the glass. For a long moment she doesn’t say anything, and I let the silence stretch until I can’t take it.
“Maisy?”
Her shoulders lift with a shaky inhale. “No,” she whispers. “I didn’t.”
My heart kicks hard against my ribs, because maybe it’s not possible for her to let go of me either. But there’s only one way to know for sure.
I lean closer, my voice rough. “So what are you waiting for?”
She turns her head slowly, and when her eyes meet mine, they’re darker than before, filled with need. I don’t think as I pull the lever on my seat as far back as it’ll go. She climbs over the console and into my lap, her body fitting against mine like it always belonged there.
I cup her face in both my hands, greedy and desperate, pulling her down to me. Our mouths crash together, and the kiss is like the one we shared the other night. A deep and hot collision of tongues and teeth that sucks the air straight from my lungs.
Her jacket rustles as she shoves it off, tossing it blindly into the back seat, never once breaking the kiss. Her hands work at mine next, tugging the zipper until it falls open.
When she grinds down against me, the friction is unbearable. My cock is already straining, rock hard, every nerve lit on fire by the feel of her moving over me. I break away, gasping against her lips.
“If you keep doing that,” I grit out, “I’m going to come in my pants, Mais.”
Her answering giggle drives me insane.
Before I can reach for her, she’s sliding down my body, her knees hitting the mat on the floor of the truck. My breath punches out of me as she pulls at my jeans, yanking them and my boxers down in one determined pull. My cock springs free, thick and aching.
Maisy’s eyes widen, lips parting. “Wow,” she breathes. “Was it always this bi—”
I don’t let her finish as my hand slides into her hair, guiding her mouth to me, and the second her lips wrap around my length, I nearly lose it.
She takes me deep, farther than she ever managed before, her throat tightening around me.
A guttural moan rips from my chest, my head falling back against the seat.
“Fuck, Maisy,” I groan, looking down at her. Her big eyes are lifted up toward mine, glinting playfully as her mouth works over me. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
I swear I could die happy right now, because there’s no image in this world more perfect than Maisy Hart on her knees, lips stretched around my cock, making me forget the last three years ever happened.
Her lips slide along my length, her tongue working me with practiced strokes that make my vision blur.
Every time she takes me deeper, I grip the edge of the seat tighter, my knuckles turning white as I try to hold myself back.
The wet sounds her mouth makes fills the space, obscene and perfect, mixing with my ragged breathing and the soft hum of her little moans.
“Maisy…” My hand fists in her hair as my hips twitch up. “I’m so close. You’re gonna make me lose it.”
She pulls back with a slick pop, her hand stroking me in a slow twist while her swollen lips curve in a wicked little smile. “That’s the point.”
“Please tell me you’re still on birth control,” I beg, my head falling back.
“Of course I am,” she says as she climbs back into my lap, her breath coming fast, her hair messy from where my fingers tangled in it. She looks wild, flushed, and I swear I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful in my life.
Her hands fumble at the button of her jeans, tugging them down with impatient jerks until she shoves them off one leg. My own hands are already there, greedy, sliding up her thighs, finding the damp heat waiting for me beneath the thin scrap of her panties.
“Fuck,” I groan, my fingers brushing over the soaked fabric. “You’re already dripping for me.”
She gasps when I push the material aside, teasing her folds with the head of my cock. Her body jerks forward, desperate, and I bite back another curse.
“Sterling—please,” she breathes, her voice breaking with urgency.
That single word undoes me. I guide myself to her, and with one push, I’m sliding inside. Her pussy clenches around me instantly, hot and tight, pulling me deeper until I’m fully seated in her. My head falls back against the headrest as a guttural moan rips out of me.
Her nails dig into my shoulders as she adjusts, her mouth parting on a shaky exhale. “You feel even bigger than I remember.”
I grab her hips, steadying her, grounding myself in the feel of her. “Let me help you get me out of your system,” I grit out, lifting her slightly before slamming her back down.
She cries out, her head tipping back, her dark hair spilling over her milky shoulders. The sight is enough to drive me insane. I thrust up into her, hard and fast, each movement rocking the truck, the windows fogging from the heat our breaths and bodies create.
Maisy clings to me, moving in rhythm, grinding down as if she can’t get enough. Her moans spill into the small space, sweet and breathless and completely fucking addictive.
I lean forward, capturing her mouth in a bruising kiss, swallowing her sounds as my hands roam her back, then her ass, dragging her tighter against me.
“Admit it,” I growl against her lips. “Admit you still want me.”
“I want you,” she gasps, her forehead pressing to mine. “I never stopped wanting you.”
The confession detonates inside me. I flip us, pressing her back into the seat now as I pound into her, deeper, harder, chasing the edge we’re both dangling on.
The truck rocks with the force of it, snow drifting heavier outside, but in here it’s nothing but heat and desperation and the kind of hunger that can’t be faked.
Her nails scrape down my back, her cries breaking into moans that push me closer to the edge. I slide a hand between us, my thumb finding her clit, circling, teasing, until her whole body seizes.
“Sterling,” she gasps. “Oh my God—”
She shatters around me, her body tightening, clenching, pulling me under with her. I slam into her once more, twice, before I lose it completely, groaning her name as I spill into her, the pleasure ripping through me so hard it’s almost painful.
For a moment, everything goes quiet except for our panting breaths, the world narrowing down to the two of us tangled together.
Her body sags beneath me, her chest rising and falling, her lips swollen and parted. I kiss her softly this time, a contrast to the wildness of before, unable to stop myself from lingering on her mouth.
“Maisy…” I murmur, brushing my thumb along her jaw. “Tell me this wasn’t just to get me out of your system.”
Her lashes flutter, her gaze meeting mine, still hazy from what we just did. She swallows hard before whispering, “Maybe…maybe it can just be this. You and me, no strings. We both get what we want without complicating it.”
Her words land like a punch to the ribs. Friends with benefits. That’s all she’s offering.
Every part of me screams that it’s not enough, that I’ll always want more when it comes to her, but I also know I can’t walk away.
I force a small nod, my throat tight. “If that’s what you want.”
She gives a faint, uncertain smile, like she’s trying to convince herself as much as me. “It is. You’re leaving at the end of the season anyway, right?”
“Right.” I lean in and kiss her again, because I’ll take her however she’ll let me, even if it leaves a hollow ache in my chest that I know won’t fade.
And as she rests her head against mine, catching her breath, I already know the truth: I’ll agree to her terms, but it won’t stop me from wanting more.