Chapter 3 Have You Lost All Shame?
Rose came awake when a sharp pain shot through her lower back and traveled down her legs.
She shifted beneath the covers, wincing slightly as she turned onto her side, only to feel the ache spreading through her body.
Even the soft bed beneath her felt strangely uncomfortable against her sore body, despite being one of the softest beds she had ever lain on.
Thankfully, the pain didn't last long. It was only a brief flash before slowly fading, leaving behind a dull soreness that made her move more carefully.
She slowly lifted her head and blinked, her eyes adjusting as she looked around the unfamiliar room.
A fluffy white cover was pulled up to her waist, its softness wrapped around her as she tried to make sense of where she was.
Her gaze moved across the room, confusion gradually tightening in her chest until the realization struck her.
This wasn't her room.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She looked around again, more carefully this time, and that was when her gaze landed on the figure standing beside one of the windows.
Morning sunlight streamed through the glass, spilling across the room and illuminating the tall silhouette standing with his back toward her.
Rose recognized him immediately. She could have recognized that silhouette anywhere because it always made something inside her shiver, and this time was no different.
If anything, the reaction was even more intense because when she looked at him, she realized he was wearing nothing but his pants, his broad upper body completely bare.
Then he turned around.
Rose's heart seemed to stop.
"Maverick..." A faint whisper escaped her lips as her gaze remained fixed on him.
Those familiar dark eyes settled on her, and Rose couldn't look away. Maverick Bishop was one of the men she had always felt intimidated by, one of the men who had always made her feel an instinctive sense of fear.
Yet at the same time, there was another emotion that moved through her whenever she was around him, one she had never been able to understand.
It made her want to stay as far away from him as possible, yet somehow, at the same time, it made her want to step closer and feel that strange thrill again and again.
It was confusing, unfamiliar, and impossible for her to explain, but she had felt it every time his eyes had fallen on her.
She continued staring at him as Maverick's intimidating gaze slowly moved over her face before dropping lower. His expression suddenly stilled, and Rose instinctively followed his gaze.
The moment she realized what he was looking at, heat rushed into her face.
Her breasts were completely exposed.
As if struck by lightning, Rose immediately grabbed the covers and yanked them up to her chest, clutching them tightly against herself. Her eyes flew back to Maverick, her lips parting as she tried to say something, but her mind was suddenly too overwhelmed to form a single word.
Maverick moved away from the window and began walking toward her.
Rose's body tensed with every step he took.
A strange panic surged through her, and without allowing herself to think about what she was doing, she shifted toward the edge of the bed.
She tried to slip out from beneath the covers, her only thought being to get away from him and reach the door before she had to face whatever had happened between them.
But she barely managed to move before Maverick was already in front of her.
He had crossed the distance between them so quickly that Rose stopped dead, her body freezing as she found herself with nowhere to go. He stood between her and the door, his tall frame blocking her escape as his dark eyes remained fixed on her.
Rose felt her heart drop and then immediately begin pounding so hard that she could barely breathe.
The presence of the man in front of her suddenly became even more intense.
That familiar sensation she had always experienced whenever she was near him swept through her again, leaving her body strangely still, as though she had fallen under his spell.
Maverick began stepping closer.
Rose instinctively stepped backward, having no choice but to retreat as he continued moving toward her. One slow step followed another, closing the distance between them until the backs of her legs finally hit the edge of the bed and she came to an abrupt stop.
Her fingers tightened around the bedsheet she was desperately holding against her chest as she looked up at him.
“I need to go,” she said, but the words came out so softly that they sounded almost as though she were asking for his permission.
Maverick’s eyes intensified.
He leaned forward, and in the very next instant, his hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her toward him.
Rose’s hand abruptly let go of the bedsheet she had been clutching to her chest. On instinct, both of her hands reached for his shoulders to steady herself, and the sudden movement brought her against him.
Everything seemed to disappear for a moment.
She was held against his body, the bedsheet still gathered around her lower body as she struggled to keep it in place. Maverick’s gaze dropped briefly before sliding back up to her face.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Where are you rushing off to?”
Rose gave him an awkward smile, a nervous little laugh escaping her lips as she immediately reached down to grab the bedsheet again and pull it back up. But it had already slipped too far, and no matter how she tugged at it, she struggled to get it into place.
Her breathing grew uneven as she stood there in front of him.
Maverick was one of the men everyone feared without him ever having to say a word, and standing this close to him, Rose suddenly understood exactly why.
Rose didn’t know a single person who wasn’t aware of Maverick Bishop’s wrath.
His reputation alone was enough to intimidate people, and his presence had always affected her so strongly that she had never dared to stand in front of him for more than a few minutes without feeling like he scared the living daylights out of her.
Yet, at the same time, there was something about him that stirred a reaction in her so intense that she could barely believe it herself.
Her best friend’s brother was someone she had been around a few times in the past, but whenever he came too close, her body seemed to react before her mind could stop it. The strange, overwhelming feeling always made her instinctively move away from him.
And now that very man was standing directly in front of her, his body pressed against hers, her bare skin against his as his shameless gaze lingered over her exposed chest. A tremor ran through her, and for a moment, Rose couldn’t even force herself to speak.
Then she gathered every ounce of courage she had possessed over the last twenty-six years and straightened her shoulders, forcing herself to meet his eyes.
“The night is over. I should leave now, right?” she asked, lifting her eyebrows as though trying to sound confident. “Do you have something to ask me?”
The intensity in Maverick’s eyes immediately shifted into an irritated look.
Rose’s confidence faltered almost instantly.
Still, she forced herself to continue. “I should go home now.”
She tried to shift away from him, but Maverick’s gaze remained fixed on her.
“Why are you trying to run away?” he asked, his voice calm but carrying a sharp edge.
His gaze dropped toward her legs.
“You’re barely able to walk.”
Rose’s breath caught.
The moment he said it, memories of the previous night came rushing back.
Fragments flashed through her mind—the kisses, his hands, the intensity between them. The memories were so vivid that heat immediately rushed into her face.
Maverick watched her reaction.
A faint, knowing smile slowly appeared on his otherwise deathly calm face.
Rose’s entire body went on high alert.
He knew exactly what she was remembering.
And judging by that smirk, he was enjoying every second of her embarrassment.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
Her body went rigid at the question. Heat still lingered through her from everything she remembered about the previous night, and she immediately shook her head.
“No.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Maverick’s mouth.
It was the kind of smile she had rarely seen on his face, and somehow, simply seeing it sent a strange shiver through her. The sensation traveled from her heart down through her body, making her tremble again.
Maverick looked directly into her eyes.
“Do you remember last night?”
Rose stood frozen in front of him. The stare in his eyes was so intense that she felt as though he could see straight through her soul.
She swallowed before answering.
“Yes.”
The faint smile at the corner of his mouth deepened.
Rose visibly watched his gaze drop toward her lips once again. Then he leaned down and kissed her.
Her body reacted instantly.
She hadn't expected the gentleness of his touch. Unlike the intensity of the previous night, his mouth moved against hers slowly, his lips curling gently over hers before he pulled back.
When he finally lifted his head, he looked directly at her face.
“Wait for me here,” he said in that low, rough voice that always made her shiver. “We’ll get lunch together.”
Then he leaned down and pressed another soft kiss to her cheek before pulling back.
Rose waited for his arm to loosen and release her, but the damn man simply kept staring at her.
She tried to step away from his hold.
Instead, his arm tightened around her waist.
His eyes darkened.
“Screw lunch,” he muttered under his breath.
Before Rose could understand what he was doing, he suddenly grabbed the cover she was holding against her body.
It slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.
Before she could react, Maverick bent down and lifted her into his arms.
Rose stared at him in surprise as he carried her toward the bathroom, her arms instinctively moving around his shoulders for support.
She barely had time to say anything before he carried her into the bathroom.