Chapter 14
Once we got the topic off of mountain shit, Maya fit right in with the team. It wasn”t unexpected, but I dug it all the same.
After the guys cleaned up, and we saw them off, Maya started pushing furniture around the living room, staring at it, then pushing it someplace else. I didn”t know what she was doing, but I wouldn”t let my wife do the heavy lifting, so I helped.
We were on the fourth placement of the sofa.
”Now, when you sit there, you can see the big windows, and when you sit there, you can watch television, and if you sit all the way over here, you have a perfect view of the kitchen.” She finally—thank fuck—nodded at the placement.
”Is it always like this for you with the team?” she asked.
”Sorry?” I asked.
”This… busy?” Maya asked, studying the sofa from another angle.
”It”s a different busy during the season. I do have an apartment in the city if I need it. Or if you need it.” I hoped she wouldn”t need it. ”During the off-season, I like it better up here in the mountains. Despite all their talk, the guys come up a lot since it”s so quiet here.” I paused. ”Quiet until they show up, anyway.”
”I get it.” She nodded, and her eyes softened, as though she really got it. ”Needing some space. And this place up here… even just the inside? It”s worth the drive.”
”Are we done moving the furniture?” I asked. ”Or are you thinking we might try the sofa in the kitchen?”
I”d hired a decorator to come in and arrange all this for me when we closed escrow. I hadn”t thought twice about how she”d laid it out—figured that was her job, not mine.
Maya laughed and squeezed my arm. ”The sofa placement is finally perfection.”
I mean, I could move furniture all night if we had to, but there were lots of other things I”d rather be doing. She”d mentioned her love of sex. And I”d agreed that I also enjoyed sex.
And now, we were here alone, and there were all kinds of surfaces to use. Like that sofa—that could be fun. We could pile the pillows and?—
”The couch is okay, but the rug isn”t centered,” she said, hustling to yank one of the rugs into a new placement below the windows.
God, she was pretty.
Blood flow had gone south when she’d bent over to move the rug, so I needed a minute to scoop all the bits back together in my brain. Then I”d be good for conversation again.
We were rearranging furniture, but my body didn”t care. The pull to move to her and touch her was magnetic.
”You know, I didn”t say it, but you know that if you need anything here, you can help yourself.” Not that I needed to vocalize this. She”d already been moving the furniture around and had re-organized the closet, so there was all kinds of space for her stuff.
”I know, I”ve had like four ZipZings,” she said. ”For a guy who ticked them off, you sure have a lot.”
Yeah, cases of the stuff came with the initial endorsement deal.
”You had four?” Along with all the sugar, those things had loads of caffeine.
”Good news. I have zero hangover left. I think they cured it,” she said.
I bet they did.
”Well, anything else you need? You go ahead and take it,” I said.
”Anything?” she asked, absolutely checking me out by doing a full body scan.
The little twitch at the edges of her lips? Oh yes, she liked what she saw. And so did I.
”Anything,” I agreed, giving her the same look right back.
Look at me, flirting with my new wife.
Maya offered a genuine grin. Not the fake one I”d noted she sometimes pinned to her lips. This one was the real deal.
”I was thinking—” I said.
”You know what would be fun?—”
That magnetic pull took over, and she took a step toward me, her eyes locked with mine. I took a step toward her, still holding her gaze.
Another step from her, and the play was in motion on the field, and nobody cared where the rugs were.
I moved forward toward her with no direction from my brain. My body was doing it all by itself. Like a magnet, she met me halfway.
The air between us shifted.
”We”re alone,” I said, lifting my hand to her cheek.
”And the flow of traffic for your living room is going to work so much better.” She nodded and with the motion, she doubled down on the hand-to-cheek scenario.
”Moving furniture turns you on?” I asked, mostly joking.
”An organized room is always a turn on,” she agreed. ”Have you ever had a blow job in front of that window?”
Um… ”That one specifically?”
She waited for my answer.
”No,” I said with a sly smile.
Maya gripped at my shirt and held on. Was she holding on to keep her balance or so I wouldn”t slip away?
”You know, legally, we can do what we want.” Was she flirting with me, too? She totally was.
”No one could stop us.” I lifted my index finger and traced the apple of her cheek, trailing it around to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.
Her pupils dilated, and her lips parted.
”Sloan,” she said my name and nothing else.
Sometimes in a guy”s life, things didn”t seem natural. When I had to give direction to my body to move here or go there or pay attention to this or that thing. But in that moment, my body moved of its own accord. Understood precisely what to do with no direction.
”I”m going to kiss you,” I said.
”Where?” she asked, quirking a brow.
”Everywhere.” I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. Light. Nothing serious, only enough to test the waters.
She pulled me closer, repeating the gesture on my lips.
”Have you ever had a guy go down on you in front of that window?” I asked, mirroring her question.
”That window, specifically?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.
My brain didn”t compute the joke at first. I was already hard, and my blood wasn”t flowing like usual.
”I”m going to listen to you come and know that I”m the one bringing you there,” I said.
”You should do that,” Maya said. ”It”d be my first time.”
”In front of that window?” I asked.
”Uh-huh.” Her mouth was on mine, her hands in my hair.
God, but I wanted to lay her on that couch we”d moved, touch her everywhere. Use my tongue and taste her. Feel her body against mine and remember every fucking second.
”I want you so bad it hurts.” It physically fucking hurt.
”Then you should do something about it.” Her hand was already undoing the fly on my jeans.
I kissed her—pressed my mouth to hers and rolled her onto her back along the cushions of the sofa facing the window.
Her mouth moved against mine, and her hands roamed along the ridges of my back. I moved back only long enough to pull my shirt over my head. Then my mouth was back on hers, hands roaming everywhere.
My fingers trailed up her abdomen, along the side of her belly, to her breasts. The tight buds of her nipples stood pert and hard. I traced the pad of my thumb over one, then the other.
She moaned and arched up into my hand. Her hands gripped my shoulders like she was afraid I would disappear.
But that wouldn”t happen.
”Shirt off,” I said.
She groaned and pulled away from me but clearly enjoyed the direction. I allowed her to move away to remove her shirt but traced her other nipple as she moved away.
With a quick motion, she removed her shirt, and without being asked, she shimmied her pants and underwear down to her ankles and kicked them off.
”Pants off.” She countered my demand with one of her own, and, hell yes, I got off on that.
I pulled off my underwear and shorts, my hard dick practically rejoicing in being removed from the cotton restraints.
Her hand moved to me, and she stroked once, twice, then used her thumb between the crevice at the tip.
My dick jumped in her hand, ready to do whatever she asked of me.
But I got to play, too, and if she kept that grip with the up and down motion, the swirl and press of her thumb over the top of my shaft, then things would end entirely too soon. I”d be embarrassed.
But then I”d get to go down on her to finish things off.
Not that the latter would be a hardship. Not at all. ”When you come, I”m going to be inside you.”
She made a strangled sound in the back of her throat and pulled my mouth harder against hers.
I pressed up over the top of her and savored the feel of my bare chest against hers. Her bare breasts, full and heavy, pressed up against my pecs.
She groaned and pressed her wet center against my thigh.
”You don”t know what you do to me,” I murmured against her temple.
Neither of us could say anything after that because our lips and mouths moved against each other. Tongues darting and tasting, lips pressing, brushing… savoring.
She parted her legs, making room for me there. The tip of me nudged the damp warmth of her, bringing me back to the present.
”Condom, baby,” I said against her mouth. ”Gotta get a condom.”
I wanted to push inside her body and have it all, but after the chaos of the morning, the last thing I wanted was for either of us to have regrets. Any regrets.
The quickest way to regret was to do something regrettable.
Fuck it, I”d never been a poet.
She moaned a low groan but released her tight grip on me. ”On the pill. I”m on the pill.”
”I”m clean,” I assured.
”Me, too,” she said.
Careful not to give her too much of my weight, I moved down her body—licking and tasting all along the way. Brushing butterfly kisses to the side of her breasts, down her abdomen, along her hip, to the apex of her thighs, and farther down to her knees, ankles, even toes. Then I worked my way back up.
”This okay?” I asked, checking in because my body might know hers, but the rest of me was still learning.
She answered without speaking, pulling me to her in answer while groaning something that sounded like a yes.
Both of us naked, we made out like this was all we”d ever have. And if it was all we had, then by hell we would milk it for all it was worth.
My erection ached, blood thrummed, and my body demanded more. But I wasn”t in a rush anymore because this position allowed my fingers to trail between her legs and explore the warmth there. Gently, I slipped one finger inside.
”Sloan,” she said my name like it meant everything to her. Like I was all that mattered.
A guy could get off on that.
She tried to grind against my hand, but there was no way for her to gain traction in this position. Given that I was a nice guy, I handled that for her—pressing my finger against the rough bundle of nerves near the front of her opening.
”Yes.” She moved against my hand, clenching her internal muscles around my finger in a way that made my dick seriously jealous.
I pressed my finger in and out, trailing over the spot I knew would make her wild, until the primed muscles inside nearly came on my hand.
That”s when I stopped.
Because I had a plan.
Eyes glassy, she reached for my hand. ”Don”t stop.”
”Trust me,” I said, kissing each of her fingers before moving along to her wrist, then her elbow, then down her belly.
Using my tongue until she arched off the cushions.
Her breaths came quicker, and I had to press my hips into the couch to relieve some of the pressure in my groin.
And then I ate. She clearly dug it. This was obvious both from the sounds she made and from the way her fingers threaded in my hair to push my tongue deeper.
I got her right to the edge again, her internal muscles tight and ready.
Then I stopped.
She let out a garbled cry as I sat—ass to ankles—and stroked myself, enjoying the view. Then I was over the top of her, aligned with her body, my erection pressing into the space between her thighs.
I threaded my gaze with hers, letting them mingle with anticipation, waiting for her to give me the green light that she was still good with this.
She reached with her thumb to trace the bottom of my lip. ”Yes, Sloan.”
That”s all the permission I needed. Gently seating myself inside her, I reveled in the feeling of her tight warmth wrapped around the hard length of me.
I never broke the thread of our gazes, keeping track of her, ensuring things were still working for her.
Her eyes went wide when I buried myself to the hilt, so I stilled, letting her adjust to me, until she nudged me on with her hips.
Wet and ready and mine, I thrust inside and pulled nearly out. Then on repeat. All while murmuring how gorgeous she was, how perfect she felt, how amazing I thought she was, until her breathing shifted and she made a little mewl right before she climaxed.
I kept the tempo steady, but when her muscles clenched around me, I let myself fall along with her. Letting out a growl or a roar, or maybe both? It was hard to tell who made which noises.
Even as the aftershocks subsided, she didn”t release her grip on me. Holding me against her. Her face buried in my neck.
”I think I”m still coming,” she said, against my skin. ”How did you…?”
I would”ve moved so we could see each other, but she still had that killer grip on me and after coming like that, I couldn”t find the strength to move.
”Delayed gratification,” I said into the couch cushion.
She loosened her grip on me so I could roll over—my side to her front.
”Next time, let me come the first time, so you don”t have to wait,” she whispered with a sly smile.
”Baby, you”re mine, and that means you”ll come when I”m ready for you to come,” I said.
”You”re good at this,” she announced.
That was a compliment, so I”d take it. ”Thanks.”
”I don”t just mean the sex part—although you are exceptional at that. I mean, total gold-star worthy.”
She seemed so serious with this declaration that I couldn”t help it. I grinned.
”I mean the rest of it, too. The whole gig here. You”re good at the whole attentive thing.”
”Okay,” I said, because I wasn”t sure what a guy was supposed to say to that. She made it easy. It”s not like I had to try.
We lay there together, tangling and untangling our hands while staring outside. I lost myself in the landscape stretching beyond the window.
Maya’s voice was soft and inviting as she said, ”This place means a lot to you, doesn”t it?”
I nodded. ”It”s more than just land and a house,” I began, my voice barely above a whisper.
”This place is your Las Vegas at night, isn”t it?” she asked, facing me, brushing the hair away from my forehead. ”It”s your field during a game.”
”It”s my stage once the concert starts,” I added, nodding.
Maya”s presence was a comforting warmth against the cold I”d felt only seconds earlier. I hadn”t realized the warmth was missing in this place until that moment.
”Thank you for sharing it with me,” she said.
We lay there together, letting that be enough.
”You think you can sleep?” I asked.
She nodded. ”You?”
This time, I nodded.
”Let”s get some sleep?” she asked, like there was a shot in hell I didn”t plan on tasting her again before morning.
But then she yawned, so I knew I should let her rest first.
”Yeah,” I said.
Swear to fuck, she purred.
Then I carried her to bed, pulled my wife into my arms, and let myself savor my new reality.