Chapter 18 Maverick
MAVERICK
The deep need to make today special for Payton dogged me through the entire day.
We’d taken her out and taught her wilderness survival skills, and she sat with Tarron and Reed at the kitchen counter while I prowled through the cabinets.
“Reed.” I motioned him over with a flick of my fingers.
He hopped off the stool beside Payton and sauntered over. “Yes, fearless leader?”
“Cut the snark.” I rubbed a hand over my mouth. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to be an ass.”
“Eh. I stopped worrying about that a long time ago.”
He patted my shoulder and gave me a look so ridiculous I snorted a laugh. “You’re all talk, man. Bluster but no action. What’s up?”
“We promised to have Payton home by Christmas. She’s putting on a good show, but she’s upset. I thought a good dinner might help. I thought your dad kept a freezer or something.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s in the back room.” Reed headed across the kitchen, bypassing the curve where the modern black stove was tucked into a corner across from an old-fashioned potbelly stove.
I followed him into the dark room and squinted when he flipped the light switch.
Row after row of silver shelves filled the space.
I barely had enough room to walk between the shelving units, and only if I turned sideways.
Reed sidled toward the back and opened the lid on a massive freezer. “Looks like we’re set up pretty good. What about steak?”
I eyed the packaging, then the thickness of the steaks.
“Would be better if I’d thought to thaw them out earlier.” I held out a hand. “Let’s do it.”
Reed gathered up four of the steaks and pushed two into my hands. “It’s elk. Not sure if Payton will want to know that. She seems to like them.”
“I won’t say anything unless she asks.” I’d never lied to her, and I wasn’t about to start, especially over something as mundane as what animal the steaks came from.
We walked back into the kitchen in time to catch Tarron looping an apron around Payton’s waist.
She beamed that brilliant smile that ravaged my heart and made me want to hit my knees and worship her. “Can I help?”
“Yes.” Hell if I could deny her anything. I motioned at the stove.
“I need two skillets heated with butter or beef tallow.” I doubted Reed’s dad managed to keep butter around when he only came here in the summer, but stranger things had happened.
“On it.” She bent and dug two pans from beneath the counter, then held them up for my inspection. “Will these work?”
I’d been so distracted by the sight of her ass in the air that I almost lost the ability to speak. I nodded. “Fine.”
Reed elbowed me with a chuckle and took the steaks. “I’ll prep these.”
Tarron disappeared into the pantry, calling back. “I’ll dig up some sides.”
“Do you always cook together?” Payton opened the cabinet by the stove and hauled out a tub of beef tallow.
It hit the counter with a solid thud, and she eyed it with an arched brow before spooning a healthy dollop into each of the pans.
I reached around her to turn the stove eyes on, using the motion as an excuse to cradle her hips and pull her against me.
The homey setup of all four of us in the kitchen together put a new meaning to the family dynamic we’d created over the years.
Payton completed us.
I worked the words out of my mouth, stuffing them down and out of the way.
I couldn’t tell her something like that.
What I’d said in the ice shack was one thing.
Admitting to heartfelt feelings…nope.
“Not always.” A dry feeling in my throat choked me, and I cleared it twice before finding my voice. “We’re family, so most times we end up pushing each other around and arguing more than we do cooking.”
“Like brothers.” Her nose crinkled when she smiled, and tiny lines fanned out from the edges of her eyes.
I loved that smile.
I loved everything about her, but that smile was special.
It was her heart on full display, her love and her joy shining bright for us to see.
“That’s what we are,” Reed spoke up from the sink where he’d unpacked the steaks.
Tarron stepped out of the pantry, his arms loaded with canned goods. “Fight with each other. Die for each other. They’re pretty much the same to us.”
They’d fought for me and given up their careers for me. That was why I’d worked so hard to ensure our venture into the private sector was a success.
They deserved it after all they’d given up for me.
I grabbed one of the pans and swirled the melting tallow around. “Few more minutes, Reed, then you can put the steaks on.”
“Hey, steaks were your idea. You’re babysitting them.” Reed washed his hands and dried them as he backtracked to the counter and slid onto a stool.
He crossed his arms on the butcher block counter and waited to see what I’d do.
I ignored him and concentrated on placing the steaks in the pans.
He eventually stood and found something to do, the four of us working with that same seamless connection we’d found in the bedroom.
Tarron whistled while he worked, a habit I’d found obnoxious when we first started working together. Not anymore.
My fingers shook when I tried to flip one of the steaks.
Payton took the spatula from me and expertly maneuvered the steak around the pan. “Is that the nerve damage Tarron mentioned?”
I scowled at Tarron, feeling slightly betrayed that he’d revealed my weakness.
“Don’t.” Payton grabbed my face in her hands and pulled me around until I looked at her.
“I don’t like that look. I might not know you very well, but that look says you’re mad at Tarron.
I can only guess why. If it’s because you feel ashamed that you have nerve damage–which you can’t control and are lucky to have because it means you’re alive–then you don’t need to worry about that.
You’re brave and loyal and one of the hottest men on the planet.
You have everything going for you. A little tremble in your hands is nothing. ”
“That little tremble took away my career.” I tried to find my anger, but she’d effectively squashed it into oblivion.
For years, all I’d ever wanted was to ascend the ranks in the Rangers, then spend my remaining years building up teams like ours.
But then I never would have met Payton, and I couldn’t be too upset at how that was working out.
By the time we cooked and ate the meal, all I could think about was getting Payton into bed, or naked in front of the fireplace.
I had very distinct fantasies about her and the bearskin rug. I adjusted my pants beneath the table.
Payton caught the move and smirked.
She held her spoon of potatoes aloft and eased it into her mouth, wrapping her lips around it and puckering them with pleasure.
“You’re irresistible.” I reached across the table and cupped her cheek, running my thumb back and forth over her skin.
She swallowed the bite of food and sighed, pressing her face into my palm. “You make everything delicious. Sin on a plate.”
“I’d like to have you on a plate.” With Payton around, I felt like I’d truly found a home. For the first time in my life. I wouldn’t change anything about our relationship, only the danger to Payton.
“I can fix that.” Reed bounded up from his seat on Payton’s other side and rushed toward the pantry.
Shelves rattled, and Reed’s cursing splintered the air.
He came out seconds later with cans of whipped cream, a jar of cherries, and chocolate syrup. “No ice cream, but we don’t need any when we have Payton.”
Her eyes went wide. “What are you talking about?”
“You, my sweet and sassy delight.” I ran my hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. “You are our dessert buffet.”
Reed set everything on the counter and piled our dishes into the sink. “Clothes off.” He pointed at Payton.
She eyed me with a warm blush coloring her cheeks. “Are you sure?”
I’d thought she was over these brief moments of insecurity. Apparently not. I brought her in for another soul-stealing kiss. “Positive. We’re going to enjoy every single second. And so are you.”
“That’s a promise I’m damned sure going to keep.” Reed shook up the can of whipped cream and popped the top. “Need help getting out of those clothes?”
“I got it.” She stood and tossed her hair off her shoulders, peeling her shirt up as she took a step back.
The sultry look in her eyes held me.
Every inch of skin she bared while pulling the shirt over her head and tossing it aside burned through me, causing my cock to swell so hard it throbbed with my heartbeat.
I stood and waited for her to wiggle out of her pants and panties, scooping her into my arms and setting her on the counter the instant she stood naked.
Her surprised gasp was the final straw, and I buried my hands in her hair, lifting her face for a kiss that ruined all other kisses.
Reed and Tarron carried on a hushed conversation behind me.
I nipped and sucked Payton’s bottom lip until we both lost our breath, and I was forced to break the kiss with a sharp inhale.
“Lie back.” I nudged her shoulder and helped guide her into place, spreading her across the counter so we had access to every part of her.
Tarron dolloped whipped cream on her breasts, and Reed placed a cherry in her naval, then covered it with syrup.
She wiggled and twisted, her breaths going shallow when we continued to cover her in food items. “I should be doing this to you.”
“All in good time.” I licked a line of cream off her collarbone and slid a hand between her legs.
I had plans for her.
So many delightfully wicked plans that promised enough pleasure to last for hours. “First, we feast on you, then we’re going to fuck you senseless on the rug in front of the fire. I want to see you come so many times we lose count, and then keep going.”
Reed lapped at the cream on her breasts, revealing a peaked nipple that he pulled into his mouth.
I took advantage of her distraction and plunged a finger into her pussy, adding another when she grabbed my wrist and pulsed.
Grinning, I knelt at the end of the counter and buried my face between her thighs, using my fingers to propel her pleasure with the hard strokes I’d learned she loved.
Her spine arched, and a tremble quivered across her thighs.
Tarron noticed the problem and helped place her heels on the counter, opening her up even further for my exploration.
God, she was beautiful. If I was ever going to fall in love, it would be with a woman like Payton.
Scratch that. I was never going to fall in love with anyone.
But if I did allow it, that woman would be Payton.
No other woman existed for me anymore.
I tongued her clit and added a third finger to her pussy, stroking deep and curling my fingers into that sweet spot that brought her head snapping off the counter with a shout of pleasure.
Tarron and Reed continued decorating and licking away their handiwork, touching and pleasing every part of her body.
Time no longer mattered.
All I cared about was the next breathy scream of pleasure that complemented our lavish experience.
I palmed my cock through the thick material.
I was desperate to thrust into her and find my release, but not yet.
I had more than enough control to wait and play out my entire fantasy.