Chapter 28

Grace

Even without being present in the room with me, Trent had managed to turn me into a hollow shell of who I was just twelve hours earlier. His note had shaken me, badly, and I still hadn't recovered. It was so bad that I'd mostly been absent during dinner, leaving the heavy conversational lifting up to Maverick and Sophie.

I managed to pull myself together just enough to keep Sophie oblivious as we went through her bedtime routine. She was as bright and sunny as ever, full of smiles and happy chatter about the picture she made for Maverick and how much she missed Mabel. We made up a quick story, which she fell asleep in the middle of.

I rushed through my own nighttime routine before I got settled in bed. Despite having slept with Maverick, spending the night in his bed felt wrong, and I insisted on remaining in the guest room. After all I was still a married woman—though I know how messed up that way of thinking was. Every thirty minutes or so I crept to the window, peeking out the curtains to see if I could spot Trent. I knew he was there even though I couldn't see him. He was there, watching, waiting for me to let my guard down so he could strike.

I was a mess, a big ball of nerves as I moved from the bed to the windows and back again. It was a sick and twisted choreography that I kept up for a few hours, unable to sleep because every time I closed my eyes, there was Trent, furious and violent as he held my baby, used her to leverage me into obedience.

So I avoided sleep and opted instead for the wide-eyed, crazed woman who couldn't sit still and could only obsess about her ex for all the wrong reasons. The street outside was as normal as it always was. There were no unfamiliar cars out there—I knew because I memorized them all—and there were no men lurking in the shadows, at least that I could see. But still, despite all of that, I knew he was out there.

Somewhere.

"Grace." Maverick's voice was a low, deep whisper, slightly raspy and sweet from the other side of my door.

I sucked in a sharp breath and nearly jumped to the ceiling at the unexpected nearness. I jumped out of bed and opened the door, "Maverick," I panted. "You scared me."

"What can I do?" His expression was genuine and earnest because he was the kind of man who wanted to help, to pitch in, to do more than was required of him just to make things better.

"I don't know," I admitted, my voice shaky and unsure.

"Come here." He opened his arms wide.

He was shirtless, exposing tanned skin with tattoos and a sprinkle of hair that made my mouth water. Good lord but the man was gorgeous.

His body was a dirty fantasy, and the memories of the way he'd used it on me, the way he tasted, all rushed back to me in vivid color. "Maverick." My lips had a mind of their own as they met the springy hair over his left pec. And then his right pec.

He froze. "Be sure, Grace."

"It's the only thing I'm sure of," I admitted, and pressed another kiss right to the center of his chest.

Maverick let out a low growl before he picked me up, leaving me no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist. "We'll get through this," he promised a moment before his lips descended on mine and he kissed me with his whole body as he carried us to his bedroom.

We fell to the bed together, his big, hard body on top of mine, pressing me deliciously into the mattress. I kept my legs wrapped around him. His cock was hard and long as it pressed against me, the only thing keeping us apart his boxer briefs and my pajama shorts. "Maverick," I moaned. "Please."

The sound of his low, guttural growls as his mouth left mine and kissed his way down my body was enough to soak my shorts through. "You're so wet," he whispered against my thigh. "I fucking love it."

My lips tipped into a reluctant smile. "Show me," I said, feeling bold and sexy. Free, despite everything.

In mere seconds, Maverick me had me completely naked, my feet on his shoulders so I was completely exposed to him. "So wet," he moaned. "So pink." He flashed me a devilish smile. "Your pulsating pussy is so hungry for me."

"Yes," I moaned, overcome with desire as he teased me with slow kisses to my inner thighs, small puffs of breath against my bare skin.

He chuckled. "You like it. Tell me you like it."

I said nothing for a long time and then I felt it, his tongue, wide and flat as it slid from my opening all the way up until I shuddered and bucked off the bed.

"Tell me."

I said nothing still and he laughed again, licking me over and over, slowly at first and then faster and faster. His tongue swirled around my clit like a snake playing with its prey, every move making my arousal spike. My desire pressed to the surface in a way that overwhelmed me, and I didn't know how to act, how to respond.

My body clutched at him, holding him closer while also pushing him away. I'd never felt anything this good before, not even the first time I was with Maverick. It was too much. My body pulsed and I knew my orgasm was imminent.

And then he stopped.

"What are you—" The words died on my mouth at the sight of his teasing grin. "Oh my god, seriously, you want me to say it?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, okay. I love it that you're dirty. It's hot in a way I hadn't expected."

With that, he leaned forward, his big hands gripping my ass while he feasted on me like I was a slice of watermelon on a hot summer day. He devoured me, fucking me with his tongue and his lips and teeth, pleasuring me until the dam broke and I had to cover my mouth to stifle the shouts and moans of pleasure he pulled out of me.

"So fucking beautiful when you come," he said as he stared at my face while his fingers and thumb never stopped moving until my body collapsed against his bed in a messy pile of sweaty limbs and smiles.

"That was…holy shit, Maverick."

"I could spend forever between your legs. The sounds you make, the way you grip my hair when something feels especially good. The way your pussy drenches when I flick my tongue over your clit, so fucking hot."

I rolled my eyes. "You don't have to say that, and you don't have to do…that."

"I don't have to do anything, Grace. But why would I deprive myself of those sexy sounds, of knowing that it's my mouth turning you into a wild animal?" He stood and shucked off his underwear, showing off the proof to go with his words. "How do you want it?"

His question shocked me, and then I smiled, sitting up and turning around so I was on my hands and knees. "Is this okay?"

He smacked my ass with one hand while his cock pressed against my opening. "So much fucking more than okay, Grace." He smacked it again and a low moan escaped.

"Why do I like that?"

"Some kinks can't be explained." He smacked me again and again with every inch he sank into me. "Fuck, so wet. So good."

"Maverick, yes." I tossed my head back and arched my back, which allowed him to sink even deeper. "Oh god!" I began to move and buck against him. "Oh fuck," I moaned when his big hands gripped my ass and he pounded into me hard and fast. "Yes!"

"Ah, shit, Grace." His hands moved up to my waist, gripping me tight as he pounded, thrusting deeper and deeper. So deep, tears sprang to my eyes as another wave of pleasure rushed over my skin.

I didn't get it. How was it so good like this with a man I barely knew? It was shocking. It was terrifying. "Maverick," I moaned as goosebumps ran up my flesh.

"I know, babe. Let go. Come all over my cock. Drench me in your come, Grace. Do it."

My heat flamed at his dirty words, but they did the trick, and when he reached out to pinch my nipples, my orgasm shot out of me like a rocket, fast and powerful and over far too fucking soon. "Goodness," I moaned as my legs shook and my arms gave out.

"Fuck. Stay like that," he commanded as his cock swelled inside me. "This angle is every-fucking-thing."

He wasn't wrong. It felt different. He felt deeper and thicker, and I felt fuller, but every scrape of his thickness against my walls sent a shiver through me. Eventually, those shivers turned into aftershocks, and I found myself pushing back against him to take more of him. "Oh god!"

Maverick pinched one nipple while the other grabbed my hair, and before I could think about whether I liked it or not, another orgasm—my third—burst free, more powerful than the first two.

"Fuck, babe. Milk my cock!" He fucked me harder and deeper until my own orgasm faded and his exploded in a cloud of growls and cruse words. He bent over and I felt his teeth nibble at the small of my back. "Oh fuck, you wrecked me, Gracie."

Gracie?My lips curled into a smile, and I buried my face into the mattress, enjoying the soft kisses and nibbles he gifted me until we were both sated and exhausted and lying side by side on the bed. "Sex is amazing."

He laughed. "Sex with you is fucking amazing, Gracie. You just give yourself over to it so freely, and that shit is so fucking sexy."

I sat up straight, shocked. "Really?"

He nodded, still panting. "Oh yeah. All those moans and how easily you come? I just want to see how many times I can make you come. I want to show you something new to see how you react."

"Like smacking my ass and pinching my nipples?"

His lips curled into a smile. "Yep."

"What if I hadn't liked it?"

He shrugged. "Then I would've tried something else. You can always tell me if you don't like something because then I get to figure out something else you do like."

I shivered at his words and laid my head on his chest. "Thank you, Maverick. Thank you for showing me how wonderful and honest, and hot this could be."

He kissed the top of my head, and when he spoke, I heard the smile in his voice. "Believe me when I tell you it's my pleasure."

Silence settled between us for a few minutes, and I let my fingertips use his chest and abs as a playground, exploring and teasing every inch. "There's something else I need to tell you about Trent. And me."

He froze momentarily, but true to form, Maverick relaxed, and his fingertips skated up and down my spine. "I'm listening."

"Just after Sophie was born, Trent took me out on a date night. It was the first time he'd taken me out in years." I thought about that night, the memories now bitter and gross.

"That's good, right?"

I let out a harsh laugh. "That's what I thought too, that things were different. That maybe becoming a father had softened him. But he only took me out because my boobs looked so good while I was breastfeeding." I rolled my eyes, and I remembered that conversation. "He made me change my clothes five times until I found a shirt that was cut low enough."

"Asshole," he growled. "Your tits are perfect, though."

"Thanks." I pressed a soft kiss to his ribcage. "Anyway, there was a guy who I guess didn't realize I was with someone, and he hit on me. He was nice. He told me I was beautiful, and he complimented the way the burgundy top enhanced the green of my eyes. He was…sweet. And Trent was furious about it. That night, well, let's just say he burned that shirt and made sure I understood that cheating on him was a mortal sin." I inhaled and finished this part of the story on a sigh. "My eyes were swollen shut for four days."

"Christ, Grace." His grip tightened in a protective hold. "I'm so sorry that asshole didn't appreciate you."

"I'm not done." This was the important part. "A few days after the swelling went down, I caught a story on the news about a missing man. It was the nice man from the bar. His name was Joel, and his family was desperate to find him. His twin brother begged for his safe return." Tears streamed down my eyes and onto his chest as I thought about it. "A few months later, Trent was passed over for a promotion and he came home in a rage, which he took out on me, sexually and physically."

"He's a dead man."

"He told me that he killed that man, and he threatened that the same would happen to me if I even thought about leaving him. And then, wearing a look I'll never forget, he confessed that he'd planted evidence that would implicate me, just in case I thought about telling the police about what he'd done." He'd made sure I was stuck with him while he benefitted from my silence.

Maverick said nothing for a long time, and I wondered if he believed me or not. "That's fucking terrible, but, Grace, you know he was probably lying, don't you?"

"I do, but I can't risk that it's true. I can't risk going to prison and leaving him to raise Sophie." I would kill him and me both before I left my baby girl in his clutches.

"I promise you that Trent will never, ever get Sophie. Or you."

"You can't promise that."

"Well, I just did, and I am a man of my word. He won't get near you two. Period." He gripped my biceps and pulled me on top of him with a smile and a slow, hot kiss. "Just listen to me when it comes to your safety, and I will keep you safe."

"Okay," I whispered, and leaned forward, smiling as I touched my lips to his and shot for orgasm number four.