by J. L. Wilder
The moment his teeth raked over the tender spot, Maggie grabbed the back of his head and one of her long legs wrapped around his waist. It wasn’t good enough. Maverick grabbed her thigh with his free hand and lifted her so she was fully wrapped around him. There was magic and fire and everything right in the world in that embrace. He felt it in his bones.
Licking that spot, he kissed back to her mouth and took it again. He let go of his anger in that kiss, giving it all to her, and she took it willingly. When he growled against her mouth, she grazed her nails gently over his scalp, comforting him. When he nipped her jaw and held her gaze with fire in his, she moaned softly and held his stare the way no one ever had been able to. She didn’t bow down to him. She met him where he was and demanded even more.
“You never should’ve left.” He stroked her hair away from her face and shook his head. “I woke up that morning looking for you.”
Maggie brushed her fingers over his cheeks and then through his beard. “I didn’t want to leave. I just never have belonged here.”
“That’s bullshit, Mags. You’ve always belonged here.” He meant right there with him, but he didn’t think she’d ever be ready to hear those words so directly. She was like a timid deer at times, ready to run at the smallest sound of emotions.
She unwound her legs from around him and brushed her skirt down her legs, trying to right herself. “You got your kiss. I should get going.”
He watched her move away a few feet and then glance back at him, a daring look in her eye. He just smiled and nodded, wondering how far she’d get before coming back to him. They’d always played the game of should they, shouldn’t they. It didn’t matter that the answer was always yes.
When she was almost out of reach, he snapped his arm out and grabbed her wrist, swinging her back into his arms. She jumped into his embrace and held his face so she could kiss him. Hurried, like she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get enough of him in the time they had, she clutched at his hair and then his shirt.
“Take it off.”
He put her down and dragged his shirt off before grabbing her back into his arms. Her hands raked over his bare chest and back, her heated skin burning him everywhere she touched. He worked the sweater over her head, leaving her hair a mess. Then, she was in front of him with her breasts being held by the softest looking silk he’d ever seen. He cupped her in his hands and groaned.
“Still the best breasts I’ve ever seen in my life.” He watched anger flare in her eyes as he said it, the same way it always did. He liked pushing her buttons, making her think he could possibly ever be thinking of another woman when she was in front of him.
She shoved at his chest and followed him down when he fell back on the couch. Straddling him, she reached between them and gripped his hard shaft through his pants. “I want you naked.”
He growled up at her, loving every second of letting her dominate him. It wouldn’t last, but it was fucking hot while it did. He loved seeing her dragon at the surface, demanding she take Maverick. It was hot as hell to know that she was just as affected as him.
Thrusting into her hand, he raised his brows at her. “You first.”
Maggie reached behind her to undo her bra and tossed it aside. Bare in front of him, showing him the soft curves of her naked upper body and the pink of her nipples, she sat tall and proud. Until he cupped them again and rolled his fingers over those stiff nipples. Her body folded into him, her moan needy as she called his name.
“Tell me what you need, Mags. Tell me.” He gripped her chin and made her look at him. “Do you need me to fuck you, or do you want to be in control? You want to ride me until you come?”
Her eyes fluttered at his dirty words, but she managed to squeeze him harder and nod. “Fuck me, Mav.”
He stood them up and rushed through undressing her, only pausing to take in her long legs and the way her hips flared into her perfect ass. Her tiny panties snapped off with a quick tug and went into his pocket for later. When she was completely naked, he pinned her over the side of the couch and ground his erection against her.
“Is this what you want, Mags? This what you came for?” He ran his hands down her back and then gripped a handful of her hair. “Do you know how many times I’ve had to make myself come with just the thought of you in my head? You never leave.”
She arched her back and circled her hips, trying to take control back. “Mav, do it!”
“Do what, my pretty little dragon? You want something?” He circled his arm around her hip and used his fingers to spread her lower lips. Without touching her more than that, he growled against the back of her neck. “You’re soaking wet for me.”
The couch cushions under her fingers tore as she lost control. “Maverick, please!”
He let her go and quickly freed himself. “Don’t leave again, Maggie.”
She lifted her head and met his eyes just as he thrust his entire cock into her waiting core. She was tight and hot, drenched in sweet juices for him. Just like always, it felt like she was made for his cock. She gripped him tight, and he could feel every pulse of her core. Her eyes went wide at the invasion, and she reached back to grab at his hip.
He gripped her ass in his big hands and held tight. “You remember? How you like me to move to make you come the fastest?”
She nodded and straightened so her back was pressed into his chest. “Keep me quiet. I don’t want to wake up Milo.”
A wave of something strange washed over Maverick as he realized they were fucking while their kid was napping. It was all so domestic that he almost forgot that it wasn’t real...yet.
Covering her mouth with his hand, being sure that she was okay, he slowly pulled out of her welcoming body and then rammed back into her hard and fast. The pace was brutal, but it was the way she always came the fastest. And just like always, after barely five strokes, her core fluttered around his cock, and she screamed into his hand.
Letting that initial tension out helped her settle down enough to savor the rest of the ride. It’d always been their thing. Same as always, after that first orgasm, she was softer and moved like honey on a summer day, rolling her hips and stroking him wherever she could. She took his fingers into her mouth and sucked on them even as she worked her body against his body, milking him.
Taking his time and stroking into her body over and over, he worked them both higher, their pleasure building together. He kissed her shoulder and neck, cupped her breasts, and spread his fingers to feel the space where he entered her body.
Maggie’s moans grew louder, and she tilted her head to the side, exposing more of her neck to him. His dragon demanded he mark her as his own, but he fought the urge. Instead, he thrust into her harder and cupped her sex, letting his palm press into her clit. Each stroke ground her clit into his hand and made her body shake under him.
“Mav, I’m close...” She reached back and grabbed the back of his neck, stretching her body out, arching her back and pressing her core tighter against him.
He nipped that tender spot under her ear and growled. “Come for me, Maggie. I want to feel your sweet little pussy clamp down on me as I fill you with my seed.”
Her head fell back as a loud cry ripped from her throat. Her hands tightened in his hair and her core clamped down on his cock so hard that his body bowed forward, engulfing hers. The broken sound of his name from her lips pushed him over the edge.
He locked his arms around her as he came so hard that his knees threatened to fail him. He groaned out her name and buried his face in her hair, breathing in her sweet scent.
They were both left panting, their bodies coated in a thin layer of sweat. The fireplace was too high after their wild encounter, but Maverick couldn’t stand up and do anything about it. He was wiped.
“Shit.” He stroked her hair out of her face and kissed the side of her head. “Shit.”
Maggie shuddered under him and groaned as he slowly pulled out of her. She went still after a moment, and her voice came out
worried and full of regret. “I broke your couch.”
Maverick grunted. “You broke me. I don’t give a fuck about my couch, Maggie.”
She gently patted his side until he took the hint and climbed off of her. “I have to go.”
He swore and reached for her, but she shied away from him and grabbed at her clothes. “Maggie, stop. The couch is fine. What are you doing?”
Her eyes went to the rips in the couch where her hands had torn the material. “I’m going to Sasha’s. I need to check in with her. I, um, I have to take Milo. If he wakes up without me, he’ll be cranky. You can see him, though. I’m not taking him from you.”
Groaning, he stuffed himself back in his pants and yanked on his shirt. “You don’t have to run away.”
“No, I do.” She didn’t meet his gaze as she dressed. “It’s not going to be graceful, either. I have to gather up Milo and then buckle him into his seat. I need you to just...pretend that I’m leaving faster than I’m going to.”
“Want to do dinner later?” He couldn’t help grinning at the shocked look on her face. “What? We can’t have dinner?”
“Honestly, Mav, I have no clue. I don’t know what is happening. I’ve been in town for less than twelve hours, and I’ve already done...this. I thought things would be different.”
“Some things never change, Maggie.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
5.
***Maggie***
Running away after having sex with Maverick wasn’t something she could say she was unfamiliar with, but it’d been a long time. She’d spent most of her adult life sleeping with boring men who didn’t push any of her buttons. She’d never once had an orgasm with anyone besides the Walker men. Men, as in plural. Not just Maverick, but his brothers had managed it, too.
Driving carefully down the mountain to get to town, she couldn’t stop thinking about how easily she’d lost control. She’d ripped his couch cushions to shreds and begged him to basically nail her to his couch. She couldn’t get the sounds out of her head. The moans, the growls, even the way he’d groaned her name. It was all rattling around her head like a perverted marching band.
At least Milo hadn’t woken up. He hadn’t batted an eye when she’d scooped him out of Maverick’s bed and put him in the car. Small miracles, she thought.
Driving through the middle of town to get to Sasha’s, she couldn’t help looking around at the main street. Filled with the old places that she remembered so clearly from childhood, nothing looked like it’d changed. It didn’t help the nauseating feeling she was experiencing that no time had passed at all and that everything was just a bad dream. Had she ever really left at all?
When she pulled in behind Sasha’s Jeep, she was quickly brought back to reality as her twin nieces came running out to greet her. She hadn’t seen them in a few years, except for video calls, and seeing them in person was totally different.
Both girls were almost as tall as she was, nearly six feet, and they both had almost white-blonde hair down to their waists. Their pale blue eyes and pale skin added to their hair to make them look almost aethereal. Their smiles were wide and bracketed with hot pink braces that brought their looks back down to earth.
At sixteen, they were growing up so fast, but they were good kids, and they weren’t too old to appreciate seeing their aunt. Aubrey and Gabbi were also going through a phase of being obsessed with babies. It was no surprise when they hugged her quickly and then rushed to see Milo.
“He’s sleeping. One of you can carry him inside, though.”
Gabbi hip-checked her sister out of the way and opened the car door. “Me!”
Aubrey scowled at her sister and crossed her arms. “Brat. Aunt Maggie, tell her she’s a brat.”
Maggie grinned and then grunted as her breath was knocked out of her. A smaller body had slammed into her from the side, all excited energy and pre-teen funk. “Oof! Jack!”
Twelve-year-old Jack was just about as tall as his sisters and already filling out with muscles. His hair hung in his face, in need of a wash, and there was a breakout on his forehead that couldn’t completely be hidden by his hair. He was already struggling so much more than his sisters, but he was an adorable kid, and Maggie had such a hugely special place for him in her heart.
“Aunt Mags! You took forever! Mom said you’d be here so much earlier.” He sniffed at her, and his mouth turned upside down in the most perfect frown. “Hey, you stink.”
She scoffed. “I do not. I just took a shower this morning at the hotel.”
Aubrey grinned. “Not that kind of stink, Aunt Mags.”
Gabbi cradled Milo in her arms and wagged her brows. “Yeah, it’s man stink.”
Maggie felt her entire face go beat red and eased away from them. “Okay, that’s enough sniffing. Go on in.”
“Mom told me to help you get your stuff inside.”
“Tell her I told you I don’t need help. Call the dogs in with you, too.” She shuddered and backed away from them farther. “Just go on in.”
Aubrey shoved her little brother and snorted. “You’re not supposed to tell people when you smell stuff like that, freak.”
“How was I supposed to know?” Jack shoved her back and they took off ahead of Gabbi.
She leaned against the back of the car and sighed. Dragons. Great night vision, hearing, strength, fire, smoke, and sense of smell. She’d lived amongst humans for so long that she easily forgot that being in Brady meant that she had to be more careful. The other dragons around her would be able to scent things on her like she was wearing her indiscretions on her sleeve.
She rubbed at her forehead and sighed. Of course, they could still smell Maverick on her. Even she could smell him, and she didn’t have any super-power sniffing. Maybe she had it, but she hadn’t used it since she was a kid.
“Oh, my god. You really did!” Sasha’s warm voice came from right next to Maggie, scaring her. “Sorry, I forget you don’t pay attention to people sneaking up on you.”
“So, you admit you were sneaking up on me?” Maggie scowled for all of two seconds and then grabbed her sister in a tight hug. “Sasha.”
Sasha wasn’t one for big shows of emotion, but she let her little sister hug her for a few moments more. “All right, all right. I’m not dead, yet.”
“Don’t joke like that. That’s not funny, Sasha.” Heart aching. Maggie turned away from her and wiped at the unexpected tears peppering her eyes. “I’ll never understand how you joke about the things that you do.”
“Come on, sis. It’s fine. Everything is fine here.” She pulled Maggie closer. “Unlike things with you. From the scent of it, you just came from a hot fuck session with Maverick Walker.”
Maggie gasped and looked around to make sure no one heard her. “Watch how loudly you say that!”
She rolled her eyes. “Maggie, how are you so out of the loop? Anything you do is broadcast through Brady like a nationally televised event. You just drove through town, stinking of Maverick. Also, I just caught a whiff of the cutest nephew ever and he smells just like Maverick.”
“That’s not fair.” Maggie was forty, but in that moment, she felt like stomping her feet. “I don’t want everyone to know.”
Sasha just shrugged. “Come on. Let’s get you inside. It seems like we already have some catching up to do.”
“You look really great. Can we focus on that instead?” Grabbing her suitcases, Maggie looked her sister over and smiled. “Really, really great. How are you feeling?”
“Like hell, honestly. I’ve been poked and prodded more in the last week than I was in the entirety of my marriage.” She made a face. “It could be worse, though.”
“You don’t get to scare me like this; you know that, right?”
“You just don’t want to be stuck with my kids if I die.” Sasha laughed loudly at the horror on Maggie’s face. “Relax, sis. If I can’t joke, I’ll just cry.”
“I’m going to die of a heart attack just to
show you up, I’m pretty sure. Then, you can have a toddler again.”
“Don’t make this a race. I promise you I’ll win if you threaten me with a toddler.” She grabbed Milo’s diaper bag and shuddered. “I’d rather stand here, breathing in your sex stink for the rest of my life. No offense.”
“Jesus, this is dark.” Maggie shook her head and motioned for Sasha to go ahead of her. “Were you always this way?”
“From birth, baby.”
Inside the house, the kids were all gathered around Milo, looking him over and talking quietly. Bash and Bully were at their feet, waiting for attention. Sasha walked over and shooed them all away so she could ease Milo into her arms.
Maggie watched with her heart in her throat, suddenly even more emotional than she’d been even when Sasha first told her about the cancer. Seeing her sister hold Milo and stare down at him with such love reminded her of just how special Sasha had always made her life. It’d never mattered to Sasha just how much of a mess Maggie made of things. Only a year older, she’d been motherly from day one. She’d always been waiting on Maggie to come home with a hug and kind words to reassure her.
Sasha looked over the kids’ heads and met Maggie’s eyes. “He’s perfect. Even if he smells like Maverick and has a big head.”
Maggie laughed even as she started crying. She hadn’t been ready to face Sasha. The idea of anything happening to her made Maggie feel like falling to pieces. She hadn’t fully let herself process the news but seeing Sasha and knowing that there was cancer growing inside of her right at that very moment sent a ripple of shock through Maggie.
“Oh, honey.” Sasha handed Milo to Aubrey and clasped her daughters’ shoulders. “Go and take care of Milo and Jack upstairs.”