He growled at the thought. No. Friends was not something they could ever be again.
“Fucking virgins with a riding crop… Is that what friends do?” He meant the question to be as brusque as it sounded.
She frowned, even as a blush painted her cheeks. “Don’t be crass.”
He huffed a near laugh, drawing closer to her. “There’s nothing about our arrangement that isn’t crass.” He crossed the room to stand directly in front of her, the heat of their bodies mingling.
She stared up at him, those delicious bee-stung lips of hers drawing into that damn impertinent pucker. “Fine. Then yes. For us, yes. That’s part of what being friends means,” she challenged.
He didn’t try to hide the aroused growl that rumbled in his throat. “I don’t have friends. As you pointed out, these days I’m…” He searched for the word she’d used.
“Frustrating? Stubborn? Surly as hell?” she offered.
He frowned, which he guessed only proved her statement. “Grumpy,” he supplied. “I believe that was the word you used.” He’d tossed that description around in his thoughts so many times since. Admittedly, he’d even tried to force himself to smile since then, but it had backfired when Blaze had asked him why the hell he kept trying to grimace in the reflection of the pack’s computer screens.
She shrugged as if the word was of little consequence. “Well, grumpy or not, you do have friends. My brother at least.”
He waved a hand in dismissal. “He’s the exception that proves the rule.”
“The other elite warriors?”
He shook his head. “They don’t count. They’re forced into proximity with me.”
She let out an annoyed huff. “Well, we were once friends, and I…” She glanced toward the floor, refusing to look at him as she hesitated. “If we went back to that, I just think it would make life easier on us both.”
“Friends.” He rolled the word around on his tongue.
As much as he liked the sound of that word on her tongue, it brought her too close for comfort. Too close to him.
“Friends.” She nodded.
He wouldn’t agree to it. Not a chance.
A devious grin curled his lips. “I’ve never had a friend I wanted to fuck more.”
She inhaled a sharp hiss. The sound sent a thrill of pleasure through him. He enjoyed shocking her, watching her lips part on a quick intake of breath.
But she recovered quickly, squaring her shoulders and offering a handshake despite the flush of pink creeping down her throat. “Do we have a deal?”
He ignored her outstretched hand in favor of brushing a wayward strand of hair from her cheek. What he wouldn’t give to see her hair down. Wild and free, cascading down her back as he claimed her. His cock stiffened.
“Are you certain you want this?” he countered. Not friendship, but the heat that was between them. Gently, he traced a single knuckle across the curve of her cheek.
Instinctually, she leaned into his touch. “Yes,” she breathed.
She was so responsive, aware. Perfection.
His jaw clenched. “Then your next lesson begins now.”
Chapter 17
Easing away from her, Maverick crossed the room to the bedside table as he began to disarm. Blades, guns, utility belt. He dropped them onto the table with an audible thunk before he stripped off his shirt. He could feel her eyes on him, smell her arousal. She wasn’t unaffected. That made two of them.
“Any questions?” he grumbled.
“Why did you wait so long since…last time?”
He nearly laughed. In truth, he’d had to stop himself from going to her on more than one occasion. It’d been so long since he’d been with a woman that he’d wanted to be certain he could restrain himself. “In seduction, anticipation is everything.”
One of the floorboards groaned behind him as she moved. It wasn’t like him to be so open, but he wanted her to feel safe, comfortable. Protected. Full-grown woman or not, if he was going to deflower his friend’s sister, it was the least he could do.
He heard her hesitation. The deep breath followed by a moment’s pause. “Will it hurt?”
He flicked on his gun’s safety and placed it on the table. “There are ways I can make it more comfortable for you. You’ll feel pressure, stretching, but then it should start to feel good, pleasurable.”
She forced a nervous laugh. “You say this like you’ve been with so many virgins before.” There was a hint of insecurity in those words. He heard it in the quiver of her voice.
“As you said, when I was younger, your brother and I were cut from the same cloth.” He turned toward her. “But I’m not going to take your virginity, Sierra. Not until our wedding night.”
“You’re not?” She frowned as if her innocence was a nuisance.
He cast her an amused grin. “So eager?” he teased.
She lifted her chin. “I’m not ashamed of my desires.”
His grin only widened. Of course she wasn’t. “Good. You shouldn’t be.” Unbuckling his belt, he watched as her gaze fell there, both innocent and curious.
A dangerous combination.
“If we’re not going to…” She swallowed. “Have vaginal intercourse,” she said, choosing such a sanitary phrase that he had to fight back the amusement that twitched at his lips. “Then what are we going to do?”
He dropped his belt to the floor. “In your words, other things.”
“Oh.” Her hand flew to her lips and stayed there. But her eyes gave her away. They roamed over his torso, tracing the lines of the dark tribal tattoos there.
Fuck. This woman was dangerous.
Innocent yet aroused. Vulnerable yet strong. She ignited his desire until he felt alive with it, like a damn glowing beacon. He’d lived in the dark for far too long.
“Should I take my clothes off now?” she whispered. Using both hands, she stroked the tip of her braid, the golden strands threading through her fingers.
“No,” he growled.
“No?” Her blond brows shot up. “Why not?” There was a hint of exasperation in her tone.
She was getting impatient, but that little spark of defiance was everything he craved. That was how he enjoyed her most. Not a meek, mild virgin, but the fierce, dangerous woman she truly was. He grinned. He’d make her dangerous, mold her into the kind of woman who didn’t just ask a man for pleasure. She’d demand it, because she deserved it and so much more.
“If we’re not going to have sex and you don’t want me to take off my clothes, what are we going to do?” She placed her hands on her hips.
“I think you’ll agree that your clothes didn’t get in the way the last time I pleasured you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff, drawing his attention to the swells of her breasts. His cock gave an eager throb. He saw right through her. She wanted to be desired, to feel wanted, and clearly, he needed to give her a taste.
Slowly, he prowled toward her, backing her up against the wall as he planted his hands beside her head. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t have you naked and beneath me.”
Her eyes flew to his and locked there.
“I don’t want you to take your clothes off, because I want to take them off. Piece by damn piece, and any red-blooded cowboy would feel the same.”
She reached for him, but he captured her wrists, pinning them above her head. “No,” he growled. “If we’re going to make it through this, there need to be rules.”
“Rules?”
“Unless you want me to take you now against this wall with little restraint like the wolf I truly am.” He feared what her answer to that might be.
She smiled, soft and warm. “You say you’re more wolf, but when you touch me, it’s with a cowboy’s sure hands.”
He released her from where he had her pinned, and she l
owered her arms.
“I touch you, but not the other way around. Not unless I give you permission. Understood?” he said.
“Why?”
When he didn’t answer, she frowned. “Is that an order or a request?”
“That’s an order, warrior.”
“As my packmaster or my friend?”
“Both.”
A spark of challenge flared in her eyes as she looped a single finger through the belt loop of his jeans.
He let out a warning growl, but that didn’t deter her.
She leaned forward, their noses no more than a hairsbreadth apart. “Yes, Packmaster,” she whispered, the hint of a coy grin curling her lips.
His cock stiffened, and it took every bit of willpower he had not to take her over his knee, leaving her ass rosy and pink before he drove into her. She’d remember it with each bounce in the saddle of that damn horny gelding of hers.
Oh, she was dangerous alright. Deliciously so.
He wanted to take those rosebud lips and claim them, but if he tasted her again when they were alone like this, nothing but the howling Montana wind whistling outside the window to keep them company, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back.
Pushing off the wall, he eased away from her, placing some much-needed distance between them. “On second thought, perhaps it’s wise if you do take your own clothes off.”
Her eyes flashed to her wolf. “Is that an order?” She quirked a brow in challenge.
With her standing there, near the edge of his bed, that deliciously tempting spark in her eye, he couldn’t contain the aroused growl that escaped his lips. “Yes,” he purred. “Get on the damn bed, warrior.”
Turning toward the window, he parted the curtains and stared out into the dark Montana night. The cold winter winds whistled and howled. The mountainside was blanketed with several feet of snow. From behind him, he heard the quiet swish of her clothes hitting the floor, the rustle of the sheets as she crawled onto the bed.
“Maverick.” Her voice was tentative, uncertain.
His name on her lips was like a siren’s song. He let the curtain fall back into place as he turned toward her.
A sharp hiss of breath tore from his lips. She was gorgeous. His eyes feasted on her, tracing every curve and dip of her smooth skin as she lay in the low lighting of the room, sprawled nude across the bed. Free from the sports bras she wore, her breasts were fuller, curvier than he would have anticipated from how she hid beneath her baggy athletic clothes. Muscled abs led down to a wide swell of feminine hips and the delicious curve of her ass that caused his cock to stiffen in need. His mouth watered as his gaze fell to the patch of trimmed blond hair nestled between her legs.
As his gaze lingered there, a gentle blush highlighted the spattering of freckles on her face. The wide alertness in her eyes was a reminder this was new territory for her. She was watching his every reaction with rapt attention. But despite that, she didn’t try to cover herself or hide her body. She wasn’t ashamed. She was powerful, breathtaking, strong.
“Beautiful,” he purred.
His hands clenched into fists as he struggled to remain by the window. He didn’t dare move. If he did, he would cross the room in three quick strides and spread her legs wide before him. He’d bury himself deep inside her tight core, and it wouldn’t take long before he’d spend himself. His release would come hot and quick.
But he couldn’t allow that. He wanted to pace himself. Savor this moment.
Savor her.
He’d wanted her for too long not to.
Hands curling into fists, he reached out and gripped one hand on the curtain, using the material to anchor himself. “Spread your legs,” he ordered. It was the tone of voice he reserved for when he expected compliance without question.
To his pure, delicious agony, she listened. She spread herself wide for him, that swath of blond curls parting to reveal her rosy pink folds. From where he stood, he could see up the length of her body to where her head rested on the pillow.
“You look…” She hesitated, her voice dropping off as her gaze roamed over the tension in his body, the raw desire in his face. “Hungry,” she finally whispered.
The muscles in his throat clenched as he swallowed. His cock strained against his jeans, erect and eager.
Christ. If he expected to control himself, he needed to make this quick.
A low, aroused growl escaped his throat. “Touch yourself, warrior.”
Her lids popped wide before she blinked at him in confusion. Much to his disappointment, she closed her legs and pushed to sitting on the bed. “What?” There was a skeptical growl in her words.
But at the very least, her change in position gave the growing ache between his legs a reprieve. “You heard me. I want you to touch yourself.”
From the hint of frustration cinching her brow, she wasn’t pleased with him…yet.
“I thought you were going to teach me how to pleasure a man.”
“I am.”
“And how are you going to do that if you don’t let me touch you and if you don’t…” She paused, as if she wasn’t certain if her next words revealed too much. “And if you won’t touch me.” There was a hint of hurt in her voice, and he hated that he’d been the one to put it there.
Slowly, he released his death grip on the curtain and prowled toward her. Leaning over the end of the bed, he supported the weight of his torso with his hands as he drew close to her. “I want to touch you, Sierra. I want to touch every inch of you, and it would be one of the great honors of my life to have you touch me.” He reached out and cupped her chin in the palm of his hand. “Don’t ever doubt that.”
Her quick intake of breath as he slid the rough pads of his ranch-worn fingers over her skin thrilled him. “But if you expect me to teach you, we’re going to do this my way. Understand?” He released her, straightening to his full height.
Pulling her bare legs up to her chest, she watched as he returned to the window, glancing out into the dark night.
“I just don’t understand how I’ll learn if we don’t—”
He cut her off before she could undo him even more than she already had. “We will. Just not tonight.”
“But—” She started to protest.
He faced back toward her. “Any man worthy of you will care more about your pleasure than his own. If you expect to know how to please a man like that, you have to be familiar with your own body.”
He had her attention now. She was hanging on his every word.
“You’re going to pleasure yourself, and I’m going to watch so I can see what you like, see what makes you moan.” He braced his forearm on the wall, leaning against it. “So then next time, I can do all those things to you. So I can be the one who makes you moan.”
Her blush deepened, and she looked away as if to hide her embarrassment. “You already did that in the stables.”
A smirk curled his lips at the reminder as he let out an aroused grumble. “That was only the start of all the things I plan to do with you.”
Her gaze flew to his and locked there.
“Trust me, warrior,” he said. “Please?”
Her breath hitched. He could see it. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you beg for anything.”
At that, he nearly laughed, as close to the sound as he’d come in some time. “I’d beg on my knees if it got you to let me see that pretty, pink pussy again,” he growled.
Her cheeks flamed, even as she smiled in satisfaction. He’d given her a glimpse of the sort of power she held over him, over any man who asked for her consent, and from her wide-toothed grin, she reveled in it. “I’m not used to you talking this much,” she whispered.
“Most of the time, I won’t, but when we’re alone…”
When they were alone, he planned to lavish her with endless dirty talk.
“I have a hard time using just my hand,” she admitted. “I usually use a toy.”
“A toy?” He quirked his brow in amusement.
“A vibrator,” she clarified. “It’s shaped like a tube of lipstick, so it’s inconspicuous. I keep it in my bedside drawer.”
The thought of her using a sex toy on herself as she imagined her most private fantasies caused his balls to ache in anticipation. “We’ll get to toys later. For now, I want to see what you’d do if it were just you, all alone. No assistance.”
She nodded, but he wanted, needed, to have her clear permission. “Are you certain you want to do this, Sierra?”
“Yes.” She didn’t so much as hesitate. “Yes, I want this.”
A low, aroused growl rumbled from his throat. “Good. Then spread your legs, warrior.”
She nodded, leaning back on the bed again. As she did, she paused, holding her weight on her elbows as she opened her legs. “Maverick?” she called to him.
He grunted in acknowledgment as his gaze roamed over her. She was more relaxed now. So open and comfortable in his presence. When he met her eyes, his breath caught.
“I do trust you,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t have asked you to do this if I didn’t.”
Her words humbled him, immediately sparking a sharp ache of longing in his chest. Lord, if he didn’t wonder every day what trust, what intimacy could have been between them.
If only…
He cleared his throat, lowering his head and raking his fingers through his hair to mask the pain in his expression. He may never be able to explore the complex emotions between them, but he could explore her, her body. At least until their wedding night…
“I said, spread your legs, warrior.” His words were a harsh command, but she obliged him like any good soldier would.
Lowering herself onto the mattress, she trailed a hand over the curve of her own breast, the taut pink nipple puckering with each brush. Slowly, her hand trailed lower, nestling in the soft pink folds there and probing until she located her clit at the apex. As her fingertips connected with her most sensitive flesh, a soft groan of pleasure escaped her.
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