He leaned his head on top of hers for a moment and she wished she could freeze-frame everything exactly how it was at this moment.
"Do you know what the best cure is for a hard day?" he asked seductively.
"I can imagine what it might be," she said with a chuckle.
"So you're willing to do anything I ask?"
Oh, how his voice was melting her. Even when she wanted to pull back from him, he made it impossible. He was bending her to his will, and she wasn't even trying to fight it.
She murmured an incoherent reply. He turned her around and lightly brushed his lips across hers, then he deepened the kiss while he began stripping away their clothes. "I wasn't going to do this," she told him.
"Don't worry, it only hurts for a minute."
"Hurts? What?"
"Skinny-dipping."
Her shriek as he lifted her up and ran for the water was the only sound that could be heard in the quiet of their perfect night.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Lindsey couldn't breathe-literally-as freezing water engulfed her body. When she came up, her mouth gaping open, she was ready to kill Maverick. Before, she'd been so caught up in the romance, so caught up in feeling pity for herself and the warm fuzzy feelings she had for Mav, but now she was ready to inflict some torture on this man who liked to shock her. The problem was she couldn't feel her body.
Finally, a blessed breath of air managed to get down her freezing cold throat.
"How in the world is this helpful?" she shuddered as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her with a big smile on his face.
"There's something about a nighttime skinny-dipping session that frees the soul," he told her as his hand roamed her back.
"I can't feel my body, let alone my soul," she said as she pressed closer, trying to find warmth.
"Just remember that things shrink in cold water," he said as she sought him out.
"Mmm, doesn't feel like anything is very small," she murmured.
Her body was already warming up and apparently his was as well. He laughed before pressing against her, his thickness nice and hard and big for her.
"It seems even freezing water can't inhibit me when I'm in your arms."
"So I have power over you?" she said before shoving off him and diving into the water to swim away.
"Yes, you little minx, you do," he said, as he began to give chase.
They played in the water for a few more minutes before she couldn't take it anymore and she rushed out, running back to the fire and grabbing one of the warm robes he had waiting. She placed it around her freezing body. He threw his on before grabbing her.
"Why would you cover up this delicious body?" he said, lifting her off the ground and moving to the massive lounger, and more importantly, the nice thick blanket.
"Because you froze me."
He set her on the cushions and got all the sand off her feet. Then he brushed off his own feet before the two of them dived beneath the blanket, where he immediately pulled her back into his arms.
"You are so unbelievably beautiful," he whispered as his fingers cupped her face.
"You make me feel it," she said, reaching for him, needing to feel his hot flesh beneath her fingertips. "And you've made my day so much better by doing this for me," she admitted.
"Good. Because I don't think I can say it enough. My entire purpose right now is to make you feel good."
"I'd rather you just kissed me," she murmured as she leaned her face closer to his.
He didn't say another word, but instead pulled her lips the last inch to his. Her mind went blank as she kissed him with a passion she couldn't inhibit. She'd tried to stay away from him and that had only caused misery. Now she just wanted his arms around her and his lips . . . everywhere.
And he more than complied. The dancing fire next to them and the blankets on top had quickly warmed her. His touch against her skin was scorching her. She regretted the robe now.
But he didn't let the material get in his way. He untied the robe and then his magical fingers were moving up along her trembling stomach and up over her breast, pinching her hardened nipples.
She moaned against his mouth and then grumbled when he broke the connection. Soon that grumble faded, though, as his lips trailed down her collar bone and he sucked on the peaks of her nipples, his teeth nipping them, making her groans turn into pleasurable cries.
Before he could move lower, she grabbed his head and pulled him back up to her mouth, kissing him hard as she pushed him over onto his back.
"I was on a mission there," he said when she released his mouth.
"My turn," she purred as she undid his robe and moved down his strong neck, kissing and sucking on his salty skin.
"Mmm. I'm liking your turn," he rumbled as his fingers twisted in her hair, tugging slightly, making her moan against his skin.
She kissed her way down his hard abs, reveling in his strength and taste. She was aiming for his magnificent thickness, but she wanted to take her time getting there, building up the anticipation.
His groans of pleasure encouraged her as she reached his strong pelvic bone and then her fingers wrapped around his thickness, her thumb brushing across the tip where his pleasure leaked out, making her body accelerate to boiler levels.
She had to taste him.
"Come here," he groaned as she moved down a little farther, her mouth inches from his tastiness.
She didn't say anything, just bent forward and ran her tongue along his tip, his tangy essence superb, making her want more. Without further hesitation, she wrapped her mouth around him and pushed down as far as she could take him.
Her spit and his excitement lubed the way, making it easy for her to slide up and down his solid rod of steel. She groaned around him as she devoured every drop of his juices, his groans making her speed up as she pleasured him.
Suddenly, Maverick's hands tugged at her, making her mouth pop off his tasty arousal. He pulled her up his body so that she was straddling him.
She could feel his wet, stiff thickness below her, begging for entrance as she sat atop him, his eyes glowing with heat and desire.
"I want to come inside your sweet center, not your mouth," he growled.
She'd never had sex on top before. It was exposing and she was nervous about it-that was, until he lifted her and pulled her body back down over his erect rod. He pushed upward, sinking fully inside her.
Then there was no thought of embarrassment. A cry of pleasure escaped her as he buried himself so deeply. She truly felt they were one person. His face was a mask of pure ecstasy, which made her want to satisfy him even more.
Her body knew exactly what to do. She gripped his shoulder as she began moving her hips up and down, his thickness sliding in and out of her.
He reached up to grip her breasts, his fingers tweaking her nipples as she continued to ride him. Their panting escaped into the night, floating up to the stars as they consumed one another.
"Yes, baby, just like that," he groaned, and she moved even faster, enjoying every single inch of his manhood as it touched her inner walls.
"Yes, Mav, yes."
Moving one hand down to her sweet spot, he flicked his fingers across her swollen bud and she went soaring into the sky. She clamped around him, her body clenching as tremors ran through her, the pleasure too much to handle.
He grabbed her, pulling her head down to consume her mouth. She felt him pumping inside her, his pleasure heating her up.
When both of them stopped trembling, she laid against his chest, listening to his heartbeat pounding steadily in her ear, the most reassuring sound she had ever heard.
"I don't ever want to stop this," Mav said.
That made her own heart pump even faster. That was something she couldn't even begin to think about right now. It was too much for her overloaded brain.
"You might just break me if we keep having this magnificent sex," she told him, trying to make a joke, but he was in a serious mood.
"I would never break you, sug."
His hands ran up and down her back as he whispered the sweet words. She realized he meant them. He wouldn't ever hurt her on purpose. It just wasn't the kind of man he was.
But he could hurt her. He could hurt her so much more than that man had today at work, and so much more than the man who had attacked her. He could break her heart in two, break her soul.
It was up to her to not let that happen. She feared, though, that it might be too late for her to stop it. The only thing she could do at this point was to love him as much as she was capable, appreciate that he wanted to take care of her now, and live in the moment.
"I wanted to stay out here until morning, so we could watch the sunrise together, but it's getting a bit colder than I was expecting," he said as he continued to rub her back.
"I guess it is a little cold," she said as a shiver rushed through her.
He clicked off the fire, threw the blankets back on the bed in a heap, and lifted her into his arms. She sighed against his neck. She was perfectly capable of walking back up the path, but at this moment there was no place she'd rather be than against his chest with his solid arms around her.