Chapter 19

Maverick

After a long day at the clubhouse and our various businesses, all I wanted was to go home, eat some food, and relax undisturbed. I stepped inside my home and inhaled the various scents that assaulted my senses. It felt like a real home. How could I have forgotten that there were two females residing in my home? "Grace?"

"In the kitchen," she called out, a hint of a smile in her voice.

"Back here, Mr. Maverick."

I couldn't help but smile at the sound of Sophie's greeting. My feet carried me towards the kitchen almost instinctively, and I stopped abruptly at the sight before me. Grace was at the stove, one hand on her hip as she stirred and flipped things on the different burners, while Sophie smiled and hummed as she colored different pictures in that creative way that little kids had about them. I was hit with a pang of longing for something I hadn't realized—until this moment—that I wanted.

This could be my life.

The thought entered my mind and took hold like one of those strangling vines that climbed up old buildings until they were completely covered. But it wasn't just a life like this that I wanted, it was this life with these two girls. I wanted the exact picture right here in front of me.

"What smells so good?" I hadn't come home to such smells since I lived with Mabel.

"Dinner," Grace answered without turning to face me. "Have you eaten?"

My stomach growled at her question. "I haven't," I answered easily, inhaling deeply. "But I, uh, need to take a shower first." Sweat clung to my body along with the dirt and grit of the day.

Grace turned over her shoulder with a sweet smile that knocked something loose deep in my chest. "I didn't want to say anything," she offered with a smile and a sigh.

"Mommy is saying that you stink, Mr. Maverick." Sophie giggled, scrunching her nose up into an adorable scowl.

I smiled again and shook my head at their teasing, closing the distance between Grace and me. "It's called man musk," I whispered in her ear, and a swell of masculine pride shot through me at the shiver my words produced in her.

"Interesting." Heat filled her gaze as it raked over my body. "Man musk." The words fell out of her lush mouth on a soft, almost breathless whisper.

My cock twitched in my pants, and I knew it was time to make my escape. "I'll be back," I said gruffly and damn near ran from the kitchen.

I needed to get myself under control before I came back down. I stripped out of my clothes and tossed them in the laundry basket inside the bathroom. Then turned on the shower, and almost immediately the bathroom filled with steam and the tension in my shoulders started to fade.

I stepped under the powerful spray and closed my eyes, which was the worst fucking idea imaginable, because there was Grace with that same heated look burning in her green eyes, only now I was naked and alone, though my cock still stood at attention.

I took my cock in hand, loving the way the Grace in my mind licked her lips like she wanted a taste. "Want some?" I asked her in a low, gruff voice.

Without a word, she nodded and dropped to her knees, fisting my cock in a tight grip just the way I liked it. Her pink tongue slipped out and flicked against the tip of my cock.

"Grace," I moaned, and ran my fingers through her hair.

"Show me how you like it," she demanded in a throaty whisper.

My eyes squeezed even tighter and I gripped my cock just as tight, pumping hard into Grace's imaginary mouth, showing her just how I liked—no, wanted—her to take my cock. I gripped her hair and fucked her mouth, growling when her tongue shot out and coated the underside of my dick in moisture, the tip of her tongue grazing my balls. "Oh fuck, Grace."

She took me deeper and moaned as though she liked it too.

The sound vibrated against me and shot up my spine, then she took me even deeper until I hit the back of her throat. "Fuck, babe. So good." My hands tightened in her hair and my hips thrust faster and deeper until the telltale needles pricked the base of my spine and down my legs. "Grace," I warned as my balls tightened.

Her response was to grip my ass cheeks and take me deeper, swallowing around me with a moan.

"Fuck," I shouted as my cock exploded and shot down her throat.

My eyes opened as long jets of come arced across the shower and fell down the drain. "Oh fuck!" One hand smacked against the wall as I sucked down oxygen, desperate to catch my breath.

Balls empty and lust momentarily satisfied, I stepped out of the shower and dried off quickly, suddenly hungry, and eager to set eyes on Grace again. When I stepped into the kitchen, I realized my mistake.

Grace was bent over the oven and her beautiful heart-shaped ass high in the air, and my cock was interested as if he hadn't just come down her throat minutes ago.

"And now we have rolls! Oh, hey!" Her smile was bright and my gaze lasered in on her lips, pink and plump and shiny.

"Hey. It smells good in here." My stomach growled loudly, making Sophie laugh.

"He's hungry too, Mommy!"

I laughed and sent a mock glare in the little girl's direction, which only made her laugh harder. "What can I do to help?"

"Um, grab drinks." Grace loaded the rolls into a basket—where in the hell did she find a basket—and set them on the table, turning around instantly to grab a bowl of mixed vegetables.

"Beer, wine, or water?" My voice was accidentally gruff.

"Wine," Sophie answered with a giggle, and damn if that wasn't the best sound in the world.

I frowned. "You got some ID, ma'am?"

"What's that?"

"It's a card that says you're old enough to have wine." I hadn't spent much time around kids until Leo came around, but being around a little girl was different. She was funny and sweet, but she was affectionate and looked at me like I was some kind of hero. "How about water for you? Or juice?"

"Soda?"

Grace groaned as she set the steaks in the middle of the table. "Juice for Sophie. Wine for me. Water for everyone."

"I don't like water, Mom. It doesn't taste like anything."

"Then how can you not like it? It's refreshing and tasteless, and so good for you." She flashed a smile at the little girl, and it was still there when her gaze landed on me. "For everyone," she repeated.

"I'm having a beer," I said with a frown.

"Of course," she stammered nervously before she found her confidence and squared her shoulders. "But you're also having water."

I laughed. "That mom glare doesn't work on me."

She held the stare until I reached into the fridge and grabbed a third bottle of water. "Now," she sighed as her smile grew. "Let's eat."

It was, hands down, the best damn dinner I'd ever had. The steak was perfectly juicy everywhere except the ends, which she'd cut and given to Sophie. The vegetables, which Sophie and I both ate reluctantly, were delicious and fresh. The rolls were incredible, and I ate four of them.

"Fuck, Grace, this was incredible." I patted my stomach. "Seriously, I loved every bite of it."

"You said a bad word," Sophie said, her tone accusatory but her smile filled with awe. "Can I say that word too?"

"No," Grace said immediately.

"No," I answered at the same time.

Grace blushed prettily and turned her gaze to her plate. "I'm glad you liked it, but try not to say fuck." She whispered the last word, but Sophie heard her and gasped, pointed at her mother.

"Mommy."

"I know and I'm sorry. Finish your vegetables."

"Okay, but only because they're in-cred-i-ble." She sounded out the world in slow syllables as if it was a new word for her. "Mommy is the best cooker, isn't she?"

"She sure is. A da—a darn good cook." I winked at Sophie, and she giggled, the sound hitting me square in the chest. My gaze swung back to Grace, and I smiled. "Thank you for dinner. It was great."

She held my gaze for a long time, and I couldn't have looked away even if I wanted to, which I didn't. "You are, um, welcome."

I felt a hell of a lot more than welcome. I was hot and horny. Again.