“Nothing’s wrong.” He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around him. “Let’s go back to bed.”
“Möosh, something’s up,” I pressed as he carried me down the hall.
“I’m patching in.”
I gasped. “What?”
Maverick lowered me to the bed and kissed me again, dragging off his shorts and climbing in beside me. I placed my hand over his mouth before he could distract me further. “Nope.”
He chuckled, pulling me against him. “It’s time I patch in, Lil. Dad’s right. If I want to protect you fully, I need information, and I don’t get information unless I’m a member. I’ll have to pay my dues like any other recruit, but I told him that as long as it didn’t mess with my residency schedule, I was willing to do that.”
Maverick was in vet school and didn’t have much time left, so it was a rush to the finish.
“But you’re too pretty to be a biker,” I said. “Not to mention, leather and denim aren’t really your go-to.”
Maverick had always been a clothes horse. He loved nice things and owned more shoes than I did. He rode, but he didn’t own his own Harley. Instead, he’d use his dad’s if we wanted to enjoy a clear day.
“I can pull off denim and leather, baby doll.”
“This is very true.” I shivered. “But you don’t own a bike.”
“Hatch’s got that covered. He bought an old Harley a year ago or so. He was going to sell it for a mint, but he’s going to give me a deal.”
“This must be bad if your dad thinks you need to patch in.”
He gave me a squeeze, pulling the covers up around us. “I’ve been talking to him for six months about this, babe. It’s not a new development, so I don’t want you worrying for no reason.”
I frowned. “I’m not worrying for ‘no reason.’”
He sighed. “Fair enough, but for the moment, will you let your man figure it out? If you need to know something, you will.”
“I won’t bug you until Tuesday morning, but only because I’m not ready to burst our love bubble yet.” I stroked his cheek. “But after that, all bets are off.”
Maverick pushed me onto my back and slid his hand between my legs. “I can live with that.”
I arched into his hand as he kissed me, whimpering when his thumb connected with my clit. “Mav,” I rasped.
“What do you want, baby?”
I pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips. “Control.”
He grinned, squeezing my bottom and lifting me so he could slide inside me. I dropped my head back and relished the feeling of him filling me. He lifted me again, bringing me back to the present, and I met his eyes and smiled. “Control, Möosh.” I removed his hands from my hips and pushed them above his head. “Which means you don’t get to touch.”
Maverick raised an eyebrow. “Kinky.”
“No kink, just fun.”
“Can I request some kink?”
I rolled my eyes. “When it’s your turn, you have free rein to get creative, but tonight, I get to play.”
Before I could do anything, Maverick flipped me onto my back and buried himself further inside me. “Hey!” I squeaked but was quickly rendered speechless when he started to move, slamming inside me over and over until I exploded around him.
He kissed my neck as he rolled with me onto his back. I shifted, so we were still connected, but my cheek was on his chest. “I hate you,” I breathed out.
He squeezed my bottom and chuckled. “You kept jabbering, baby doll. And when your pussy’s firmly encasing my cock, I’m not really interested in the jabbering.”
“What about when my pussy’s not firmly encasing your cock?”
“Then I love your jabbering.”
I settled my chin on my hand and met his eyes. “I don’t jabber.”
“Didn’t I just say I love your jabbering? It’s a compliment, baby doll.”
I contracted my “encasing” and grinned when Maverick let out a quiet groan. “Do you want to rephrase?” I offered, contracting again.
“You’re way too good at that, Lil,” Maverick complained.
I giggled. “Mom told me Kegels were important.”
“You and Payton’s sharing nature is weird.”
“You don’t talk about your body with Ace?” I asked, already knowing the answer to that question. He didn’t.
“After the basics, no.” He rolled me onto my back again and cupped my breast, drawing a nipple into his mouth. “Your skin is incredible.”
He slid his hand between our bodies and fingered my clit. I arched against him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. He started to move again, and I gripped his bicep as I slid my legs around his waist. “Möosh,” I whispered and kissed him again.
“God, I love you,” he rasped, stroking my cheek.
“I love you, too.”
He rolled over again, and I was back in control. I braced my palms on his chest and rode him, slowly at first, and then, unable to actually control anything, I sped up. His knees hit my back, and his body locked before I was ready, but because he was Maverick Quinn, he didn’t revel in his post-climax glow; instead, he thumbed my clit and rolled one of my nipples until I felt my orgasm build. I came undone, falling against his chest and kissing his collarbone.
Maverick gently slid out of me and headed into the bathroom. He returned with a warm washcloth to clean me up, and then climbed back under the covers and pulled me back against his body.
I faced him and slid my arm around his waist. “Do you ever wonder why sex is so good with us?”
He smiled, running a lock of my hair around his finger. “Nope.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He flattened his palm against my hip and tugged me closer. “Why?”
“Because I hear girls complain that sex sucks and it’s always a trending topic on television shows.” I shrugged. “I just figured since we were both virgins when we finally did the deed, that it would have been more awkward.”
“It was pretty awkward, Lil.”
I giggled. “It was not.”
“I came as soon as you got naked.”
I gasped. “You did not!”
“Close enough.”
“You were amazing.”
“That right there is why it’s always good between us,” he said, running his finger between my breasts.
“Because I think you’re amazing?”
He nodded. “And because you rewrite history.”
“I do not!” I smacked his leg.
Maverick grinned. “Baby doll, you totally freaked out that your dad would find out. Then you bled like a stuck pig and got freaked out because you thought you were going to die because there was so much blood.”
I bit my lip. He was right. I didn’t remember any of that... I mean I did as soon as he reminded me, which bummed me out. “I preferred my version of the memory, thank you very much.”
“I do too,” he admitted and kissed me quickly. “What are you making me for breakfast?”
“Cereal.”
“Thanks, baby doll.” He nodded. “Eggs, bacon, and pancakes would be awesome.”
I giggled, throwing the covers off. “I regret ever sharing with you that my parents taught me to cook.”
He sat up and slid off the bed. “I’ll cook tonight.”
I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Um, no, that’s okay, Möosh.”
Maverick dropped his head back and laughed. “Maybe you should teach me to cook.”
“I’d be happy to.” I pulled on a clean pair of undies and snagged one of his T-shirts out of his bag.
“Is that all you’re wearing?” he asked.
“Yes. Why? Want me to put more clothes on?”
He shook his head. “Hell, no. Just gonna deal with a hard-on for the next few hours.”
“I’ll take care of you, Möosh, don’t you worry,” I promised as I knotted his T-shirt on my hip. Maverick groaned, and I couldn’t help but grin. I loved how I could drive him cr
azy without effort.
“I think you need to take care of me now, baby doll.”
“I thought you wanted breakfast.”
“I do.” He sighed. “If you figure out how to flip pancakes and give a blowjob at the same time, let me know, huh?”
“Oh, I’ll get right on that,” I deadpanned. “Do you think there’s a class I could take at Clark?”
“I think they could charge more for a class like that.” Maverick pulled on a pair of sweats and followed me out to the kitchen.
“Only if men were paying for it.”
“You might have a point.”
He kissed me and then, while he made coffee, I went about making my man breakfast.
Lily
TUESDAY MORNING CAME, and I woke with a groan... and not a good one. Instead of my man waking me by doing something delicious to my body, I was jarred awake by his phone buzzing on the nightstand next to the bed.
The bed jostled, and Maverick whispered, “Hello?” He sighed. “Yeah. Yep. Okay. Bye.”
I rolled over and slid my arm around his waist. He dropped his phone on the nightstand and pulled me closer. “Gotta head back.”
“What?” I squeaked. “No way. We have three hours!”
“Our dads want us home. Mom said we don’t have to clean up.”
I sat up and frowned down at him. “Something’s up if we’re not expected to wash the sheets.”
He dragged his hands over his face. “Sounds like it.”
“I’m washing the sheets.”
Maverick dropped his hands and looked up at me.
“Before you argue, it’s gross,” I said. “I would not want to sleep in a bed with dirty sheets, so I refuse to leave them like this. You go shower, I’ll start the washer, and then you can throw them in the dryer before we go.”
He tugged me down on top of him. “Quickie first.”
I obliged.
* * *
We climbed into Maverick’s truck an hour later. While he’d showered, I’d changed the sheets, thrown the others in the washer, made coffee, and managed to whip up a quick breakfast. After that, Maverick loaded everything in the dishwasher while I showered.
“We kind of rocked that out of the park,” I said as he pulled away from the beach house.
Maverick nodded. “We’re obviously a power couple in more ways than one.”
“We’re totally going to make marriage our bitch.”
Maverick laughed and reached for my hand. “We’ll have eighty years to do it.”
“Only eighty?” I challenged.
“Do you really want to live past a hundred and three, baby doll?”
“If I’m with you, hell yeah.”
He kissed my palm. “Okay, forever, then.”
“Better.” I grinned. “Besides, think about how good my blowjobs will be when I don’t have any teeth.”
Maverick bellowed with laughter. “Holy shit, Lil.”
I grinned. “You’re thinking about a blow job now, huh?”
“Hell, yeah, I am.”
“Sorry, not sorry.” I squeezed his hand and relaxed against the truck seat. We drove in comfortable silence, the music of Jackson Jackson and the Citizens filling the space. I knew I’d have to get back to reality sooner than later, but I chose to ignore that fact, sitting close to my man in the truck while he drove us back to real life. My heart fell as we drove into our neighborhood, and Maverick pulled into his driveway.
“I’m not ready,” I admitted.
“Me neither.” He turned off the ignition and faced me. “I’ve gotta head down to the Club.”
“Now?”
“Yeah.”
I sighed. “For the record, I hate this.”
“It’s time, Lil.”
“Is it?” I challenged, releasing my seatbelt. “Because I was under the impression we were going to live our life for ourselves, not the Club.”
He slipped his hand around my neck and stroked my pulse. “If you really don’t want me in, Lil, say it now.”
Shit! I hated it when he did this to me. “Can I think about it? Even if it’s just for a few days?”
“Yep.”
“Do you really want to do this, Mav? I mean I get that you want to protect me and everything, but don’t patch in if it’s not what you want. Dad’ll deal with the Club side of things. You can stay out of it.”
He stared at me for a few tense seconds. “I want in, Lil. But if you don’t want it, you know the deal—I’m out.”
I sighed, biting my lip. “Let me sleep on it, okay?”
His hand slipped away from my neck. “Yeah, baby doll.”
“Are you mad?”
He shook his head and climbed out of the truck, walking around the hood to my side. He pulled open the door and helped me down. I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. “You seem mad.”
He wove his hands into my hair and tilted my head back. “Not mad, Lil. Promise. Just need you with me on this. But you’re more important to me than the Club... or anything, baby doll... so if you’re not one-hundred percent in, then we’re out.”
He leaned down and kissed me, and I gripped his T-shirt like it was a lifeline. Adulting sucked. Especially now that Maverick and I had to make decisions that would affect the rest of our lives. It was daunting.
Maverick broke the kiss and stroked my cheek. “I’ll carry your bag in then I’ve gotta go.”
I nodded, and after Maverick had grabbed my duffel, I led him next door to my house. Unlocking the door, I pushed it open and heard the beep of the alarm. “It’s just me!” I called.
“Is Maverick with you?” Cash asked, and I heard footsteps jogging toward us.
“I’m here, bud,” Maverick said, dropping my bag to the floor just before Cash arrived in the foyer.
Cash grinned and gave Mav the “fist.” “I made JV.”
“You did?” I asked.
Cash nodded.
“Dude, that’s awesome!” Maverick exclaimed. “Did you get running back?”
“Yeah. Coach says if I keep going the way I’m going, I’ll be starting varsity next year.”
“I’m so proud of you.” I hugged my brother. At fifteen, he was already a total stud, and the hours he and Maverick spent throwing a football around had obviously paid off.
“We’ll go out this week, and you can tell me all about it,” Maverick said. “I’ve gotta head out right now, though.”
Cash gave him a very manly chin lift. “Cool.”
I turned and kissed Maverick quickly. “Be safe.”
“Always, baby doll.”
Then he was out the door, and I reset the alarm. “Is Mom around?”
Cash nodded. “Laundry room, I think.”
“Thanks.” I squeezed his arm. “Super proud of you, little brother.”
“’Preciate it, big sister.”
I headed upstairs to the laundry room and peeked inside. “Mom?”
She jumped, spinning in place with her hand on her heart. “Ohmigod, Lil, you scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry.” I smiled, leaning against the doorframe.
“How was your weekend?” she asked, handing me one end of a sheet.
“It was good ’til Mav got a call, and now, he’s off to the compound.”
“Is he patching in?” Mom asked.
“You don’t know?”
“I suspected, but you know your dad doesn’t share.”
I sighed, handing her my folded end of the sheet. “He really doesn’t tell you anything?”
“Well, no, but he doesn’t share unless I needle him, and he feels he can tell me something.”
I rolled my eyes. “See? I don’t think I can do that.”
She set the sheet on the folding counter and then faced me again. “What does Mav want to do?”
“He wants to patch in.”
“I see.”
“But he wants me to think about it because he doesn’t want to do it unless I’m a hundred-percent in.”<
br />
Mom gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Adulting’s hard,” I whined.
Mom chuckled. “Right?”
“How do you handle it?”
“Your dad was in the Club when I met him, sweetness, so it’s all I’ve ever known.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the dryer. “Daddy shares enough with me, though, and I think the other guys are like that with their old ladies, too. At least, in our immediate group. The older ones, probably not so much.”
“But what’s ‘enough’?”
She shrugged. “I can’t answer that for you, honey.”
“Yes, you can,” I countered. “I give you permission.”
Mom grinned. “The fact Mav’s asking you to think about this shows me—and it should show you—that he will always consider your feelings in the decisions he makes. So right there, honey, that’s a good thing.”
“Well, he’s a good guy.”
“I know.” She reached her hand out. “Do I get to see the ring, or did you say no?”
“Oh!” I squealed. “I forgot about the ring!” I held out my hand, and she oohed and aahed over the setting and diamond, hugging me tightly.
“I am so unbelievably proud of you, sweetness.” She cupped my face, and I didn’t miss the tears in her eyes. “You’ve taken your dreams by the balls and made them happen, and you deserve this.”
“Thanks, Mama.” I hugged her again. “I love you.”
“Love you too, baby girl.”
“So... should I say yes or no?”
“You’ve already said yes.”
“To the patching in... I’m going to marry him, obviously.”
She laughed. “Can’t answer that one for you, Lil.”
“Dammit!”
“I love most things about the Club, if that helps. The secrecy doesn’t even bother me that much. I was kind of used to it in a roundabout way, being so close to your uncle Brock and being kept out of all of his super-secret mission stuff.” She cupped my chin. “I have a feeling Mav won’t make a whole lot of moves without you, so whether he’s in or he’s out, you two will be the same couple you’ve always been.”
“I guess that’s true.” I smiled. “You’re kind of smart, you know that?”
“Don’t tell anyone. Bimbo’s my M.O.”
I laughed. Bimbo was so far from my mom it wasn’t even funny. “Okay, I’m going to read for a bit. Want me to cook tonight?”
The Promise (Dogs of Fire: Wolfpack Book 1) Page 6