Silence ticks around us while I wait for her to speak. “I, well . . . I just thought we could spend some time together today. I should have asked you first before assuming that you weren’t busy. You probably are. Busy, I mean.”
It takes me a second, but I shift our bodies so that she’s still straddling my body between her legs, only this time she’s sitting in my lap. Her legs folded on the couch, spread wide around my body. Her ass resting midthigh. After guiding her arms up and around my neck, I place mine on her hips, then I pull her forward so that her center is right above the hard ridge of my cock. I couldn’t have stopped the deep rumble of pleasure that vibrates from my chest if I’d tried.
Her eyes widen and her fingers push around my neck into the curly hair that is way past needing a cut. I feel her give a little tug, whether it’s subconscious or not, and I vow right then and there that I won’t cut my hair again until I feel her do that while I’ve got my head between her legs. Just the thought of her using her hold on my hair to keep my head where she wants it makes me feel like I might come right then and there.
“Let’s get something straight right now, sweetheart.” My voice is thick with gravity while I speak, but in the position she’s in, I have her full attention. “If you want to spend the day with me, all you gotta do is tell me. If I’m busy, I’ll do what I can to change that. If I can’t, I’ll do my best to free myself up as early as I can. All I have to offer you is my word, which isn’t something I give without thought, but I’m giving that to you now, Leighton. I’ve never broken my word once in my life, darlin’. We’re both findin’ our way here, but we will do that together and without holdin’ back. We’ve lost too much time already because of my bullshit . . . so yes, in answer to your question, I think spending today together sounds real damn good.”
“Okay, Mav,” she responds, her cheeks pink and her breath coming in harsh pants.
“I’ve got some stuff I want to talk to you about anyway, but I would rather do that after you’ve gotten dressed and I’m not fightin’ myself not to fuck you right here on the couch in front of this big cat/beast that I’m not entirely convinced hasn’t been fuckin’ sizin’ me up for his next meal.”
She giggles.
I take a playful swat at her delicious bottom. “Go get dressed, darlin’. We’ll grab somethin’ to eat and then I’ve got some stuff I want to discuss with you.”
“That sounds serious,” she hesitantly says, the lighthearted expression on her face clearing.
“Hey,” I whisper. “None of that. Shit!” She jumps in my lap when my voice rises. “Sorry. I’m tellin’ you this, and I really want you to understand what I’m sayin’. I’m goin’ to do whatever it takes so that I never see that fear in your eyes again. Yeah, I have somethin’ serious I want to talk to you about, but I promise you it’s not anything that will cause this heart harm. Trust me to take care of it and you.”
“Okay, Maverick. I trust you.” Her words are so soft that I almost can’t hear them.
“Not completely, but you will.”
Her fingers tighten again, tugging on my hair. The tiny bit of fear I had seen cross over her expression clears. She looks at me now with the love I hope to hear her one day confess to me, completely open and unguarded. She allows me to drink in my fill of what she’s showing me before closing the distance and pressing her lips to mine. The touch is brief, but no less intimate.
“I trust you, Maverick, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared. I’m working on it, but it’s going to take a little more than one night for me to be able to stop worrying that this is all just some dream that I’m going to wake up from only to find you gone again. I just need some time to let myself believe you’re really here and offering me everything I ever wanted.”
I nod, pressing our lips back together. “That’s all I’m askin’ for, but I’m tellin’ you right now that if this is a dream that we’re ever going to wake up from—no matter what, I’m still goin’ to be right here, right where I belong. Where I’ve always belonged.”
19
LEIGHTON
“Next Boyfriend” by Lauren Alaina
Maverick didn’t tell me much about what we were doing today. All he said was to wear jeans and my boots. It was days like this that you forget summer had already started. It had been a mild May for Texas standards. Even now, with June already halfway over, the temps were still comfortable. It was only a matter of days until we started feeling triple-digit temps, though, and when that happens, I wouldn’t be caught dead in jeans.