Maeve had always been pretty cool about all of us kids hanging out at her property, figuring it was better to keep an eye on all of us that way. It was our clubhouse, without the house. It was our space where we’d made so many memories, dreamed about our futures, cried over heartbreaks, strengthened our bonds, and laughed so damn much.
I stared at the mural and then back at him, waiting for an explanation.
He nodded. “It centers me. I walk by it every morning as I’m leaving, and it reminds me where I’m from and who I am.”
I walked down the hall, trailing my fingers and continuing to study the mural. “We used to sit down there by that creek—just the two of us—and not say a word.”
“I know,” he said. “I used to have photos of all of us I would put up, but as the years went by and we all grew further apart… Well, I just thought this would make me happier.”
I reached over and squeezed his forearm. “It’s beautiful.”
“Would it be cheesy to say, ‘So are you’?” He latched onto my hand and pulled me gently toward him. “I’m so happy you are here.”
Overcome by his sentimental confession and unable to speak to it, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling on him while I raised onto my toes to meet his lips.
The kiss was long and languid, unlike the stolen ones we’d had on the back porch, because we didn’t have to worry about interruptions.
His hands wrapped around my waist and trailed down my back, settling on my backside. He groaned. Then he stopped kissing me, rested his forehead on mine, and said, “I have my hand on your ass.” His breathing was heavier, his voice deeper, and I loved it.
“You have both of them on my ass,” I whispered in a tone that was more seductive than I’d ever dreamed of being.
His hands roamed up and down my ass, and his groan turned into a sexy moan of delight. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to put my hand here? Right here.” He slapped my butt with a playful smack that made me giggle and jump. “You couldn’t even begin to imagine.”
His sweats weren’t hiding anything, and I resisted the urge to check him out. Instead, I reached behind him, spread my fingers as wide as they would go, and squeezed as much of his deliciously solid gluteus maximus as I could grab. His eyes darkened and narrowed, but his mouth grew deliciously devilish as his teeth scraped across his bottom lip.
I wanted his teeth on me.
Whoa—we’re into biting now?
With him. Yep.
With his hands fixed on my ass, he dragged me even closer. His sexy voice growled, “Kiss me.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice.
I released my grip and wrapped my arms around his neck again, reveling in the fact that I was here, and he was mine.
“Hold on,” he warned before he moved his arms farther under my legs to?—
I pushed at his shoulders in complete panic. “Don’t!” I yelled. “Have you lost your mind?” I slapped his chest. “Don’t you dare lift me with that shoulder the way it is. You shouldn’t be lifting heavy objects.”
But up I went. Most of my weight was distributed to the uninjured shoulder, but both hands cupped my thighs, and I straddled him high to distribute my weight and avoid strain on his shoulder. “First, you aren’t a heavy object. You are the only thing in the world that matters to me right now.” He turned to a door and opened it. “And I want to find out if you are as bossy in bed as you are out of it.” He sat me down gently on the bed, pulling off my shoes, staring at me under lowered lashes.
I pretended to smack him again, but he dodged it.
“I need to hear you moan. I need to feel you writhe with pleasure. I want to speak dirty words and tell you all the things I want to do to you. I want to hear you tell me all the things you want me to do. I want to touch you with my hands, with my lips and tongue…with my cock. I want to hear you pant my name, and most of all, I want to see you straddling me when you come.”
Images flashed through my mind of satisfying all of those desires. “Someone is quite specific.”
“I just want...”
He pulled up my sweater, his eyes going to the new, expensive, lace pink bra I’d spent a fortune on to give “the girls” the illusion of firmness that had been lost with time and pregnancy.
He traced his hand over the top of each plump breast with such tenderness it sent a shiver down my spine. “I want it all.”
It had been worth every penny.
I closed my eyes and begged for patience not to jump him.
