MAVERICK

There's a heated look on Ryan’s face hearing my dirty talking. Fuck, this girl is perfect. So fucking perfect for me.

Moving to stand up in front of her, I wrap my hands around her waist and pull her closer to me, pressing a kiss against her lips before tugging her by the arm with me.

For the first time since stepping into Ryan’s loft, I let my eyes take in her space. It’s everything I would expect in her home. She has a small living room with a kitchen off to the side. She doesn’t have a lot of furniture, just a small high-top table and a loveseat facing the wall-mounted television. Off to the side, taking up most of the space, is an easel and a desk. Papers litter the table top and I can see this is where she likely spends most of her time. I picture her sitting there for hours, drawing.

Looking over my shoulder at her, my eyes connect with hers and I find her watching me take in her home. I’ve always found myself looking for the hidden meaning, little tidbits of information that cue me in to who she is or what she’s thinking.

Running the palm of her hand over my forearm, she pulls me closer and presses a soft kiss against my mouth again. It’s as if she can read my thoughts; I only hope she knows how much it means to me to be here. To soak up any time with her I can.

“Let’s go upstairs,” she whispers against my mouth before feathering another soft kiss against my lips. Nodding my head, I let her pull me behind her.

Not many women I know feel as comfortable in their skin as Ryan does. Standing in front of me in her black lace thong underwear and bra, she leads me across her apartment and up the stairs into the loft.

As soon as we take the final step, I don’t waste any time. We’ve never been alone like this before, where there is no one threatening to interrupt us. Wrapping my hands around her hips, I step up close to her, moving her so she’s standing at the foot of her bed.

Rubbing my dick against the curve of her ass, it strains against my zipper, begging to break free. Ryan’s soft hand reaches behind her and wraps around the front of my jeans. Squeezing my eyes shut, I moan into her ear, “Easy, baby. When I cum, I plan to be inside you. I don’t care if it’s in your mouth or in your pussy, I’ll let you choose.”

Leaving the invitation hanging in the air, she wastes no time to make her decision as she slowly lowers herself to her knees, kneeling before me. Her hands make quick work to unzip my pants and pull them down my legs. They only make it about halfway down my thighs when she pulls on the belt, sliding it through the hoops.

She moves to stand, the salacious grin that stretches out across her face has me raising my eyebrow.

“Hold your hands out, Mav.”

My lip curves up, knowing where she’s going with this.

“Rebel,” I taunt.

“You’re not going anywhere this time around. Hold your hands out.”

Letting out a deep chuckle, I hold my hands together in front of me and watch as she wraps the leather belt around my wrists. The buckle tightens, biting into my skin as she peeks up at me. I’m not about to tell her it’s too tight.

Pieces of her hair fall over her breasts, distracting me from the way her hands work.

Holding my hands against my chest, I lean my head toward her and feel her shallow breaths against the curve of my neck. Her small hand runs along the planes of my chest while the other wraps tightly around the base of my dick.

“I promise, before the night is over, you’ll remember who you have belonged to for all these years.”

She slides down to her knees once again, leaning forward and swipes her tongue over the head of my cock. She hums softly in appreciation as she licks the bead of pre-cum before taking me in her mouth.

My hips jolt forward on their own accord, taking her off guard but she quickly recovers. Grabbing onto my thighs, she urges my body toward her. The sounds of her moans fill the air as she continues to bring me closer to her.

“Fuck, that feels so good,” I grit out, watching as my dick tunnels in and out of her mouth.

Reaching down, I wrap my hand around her fist, holding off my release. “I changed my mind, baby. I want to cum in your pussy. Stand up,” I command.

She moves to stand and doesn’t wait for another word as she pushes me down, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

Wrapping my hand around my aching cock, I pump my hand up and down as she moves to stand in front of me, sliding the lacy material down her legs until it falls on the floor. She leans forward, pushing me forcefully on the chest so that I recline back.

Moving to climb over the top of me, she positions herself above me as I move my restrained hands behind my head. She rubs the head of my cock along her folds, lining the head up and leaning back onto her haunches.

I’m not sure what I expected this to feel like after all this time, as she slowly takes my dick until I bottom out. She doesn’t move as I tilt my hips up, making a rotating movement. I’m scared if she moves to pull out, I’m going to cum, ending this before we have a chance to get started.

Forcing my eyes shut, I let out a deep breath as I tilt my head up toward the ceiling. I’m searching for some sense of control because this woman is going to ruin me.

“Gimme a sec. You’re so tight, so hot, and so fucking perfect. Just give me a fuckin’ second.”

I feel her hand reach down, rubbing her fingertips over her pussy seeking her own release. The movement causes her pussy to clench like a vise around my dick.

“Holy shit,” I mutter as she raises up and forces her body back down against me.

“Oh, god, Maverick. That feels so good,” she mutters as her head falls back. Her cries filter through the air as I raise my hips up meeting her thrust for thrust. Now that we’ve been together, now that I’ve had a taste of her again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to look back.

“I’m going to come,” she moans. Her fingers resume their strumming on her clit, causing her pussy to tighten around me.

“Shit,” I sputter, unable to hold back anymore. With one, two more thrusts I slam into her a third time and unleash a deep moan as my release follows right behind it.

Ryan collapses onto my chest. Holding my hands up, she unbuckles the belt and eases it off my wrists and onto the floor before she wraps her arms around me. She looks so beautiful, almost peaceful like this. The thought of her falling asleep on my chest has memories from the first night I stayed with her in her room floating back through my mind.

* * *

The sound of an alarm clock blaring in the distance rustles me from my sleep as I peek one eye open just as Ryan is rolling out of bed. Still dressed in her bra, she stumbles across the room and down the stairs, leaving only the sound of her soft footsteps in her wake.

A few minutes later, I hear her pad across the hardwood floor as she rounds the end of the bed with her cell phone in hand.

Adjusting the pillow under my arm, I gaze up at her as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed.

“It’s after nine in the morning,” she states as she turns her head toward me. “I’m not sure if you have anywhere to be, but I can give you a ride if you want. I don’t have to be at the shop until noon, so we have some time.”

“That works. I have to be at the funeral home around eleven-thirty. If you want to drop me off at my hotel room, that would be great.”

“How are you doing with everything? I’m sure it can’t be easy knowing he’s gone.”

“Please,” I sigh, knowing my father doesn’t deserve an ounce of sympathy. “You know how I feel about that asshole. Nothing has changed. Except now I don’t have to put up with him, not that I did to begin with.”

“I know you didn’t see eye to eye, but he’s still your dad.”

Her eyes roam over my face, looking for any sign I’m not being truthful.

“He was anything but a dad to me. Anyway, I’m going to meet with the minister today. Thankfully, he left behind a will so most of his last wishes were outlined there. I just have to get all of the shit handled. I’ll likely be in town for a little bit, at least to figure out cleaning out his house and get it up for sale.”

Nodding her head, she looks at me before glancing back down at her phone. I know based on our conversation she wasn’t expecting me to stay, but I also know by the look on her face she wasn’t prepared for me to leave either.

“I’d like to spend some time together while I am here, if that’s alright with you.”

I can see the thoughts swirling around in her head before her eyes meet mine.

“I’d like that.” She smiles as I reach for her hand. She studies our fingers as they wrap together before looking back up to meet my eyes. “I’m sorry; if I didn’t already have appointments booked, I’d come with you. Give you a hand and help you with anything I could. You shouldn’t have to go through all of this alone.”

Sitting up, I let the sheet fall away covering only my bottom half as I wrap my hand in Ryan’s hair, pulling her closer to me. Pressing my mouth against hers, I do my best to avoid the topic of my dad and focus on being here with her. She’s always been able to give me peace when my thoughts get to be too loud.

* * *

I feel relieved after I get all the arrangements made at the funeral home. After I leave, I catch an Uber and get dropped off at Compass Security. Walking along the sidewalk toward the front door, I can see Graham pacing the floor with the phone pressed against his ear.

The doorbell rings when I swing the glass door open.

“Well, that’s not fucking good enough. We need to lock in this account. It’s huge for us, considering the opening is less than a week away.”

Turning to face me, he holds up a finger before marching toward the back of the room and into his office. Giving him a minute to finish up the phone call, I take a seat on the couch in the lobby area. With my arm draped across the back of the cushion, I look around the room to the art hanging on the wall.

It’s been less than two months since Graham moved back to Iowa and he’s accomplished a lot in a short time, kicking off the opening of his security business in Des Moines. I’m completely blown away by what he’s accomplished.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. Reaching in, I pull it out and quickly unlock the screen. I’m so absorbed in a text message from Ryan thanking me for how tired she feels this morning that I don’t even bother paying attention as the doorbell dings again until his voice rings through the room.

“Well, I’ll be fucking damned. Look who it is.” The husky voice has my lip curving up in a small smile.

Hitting send on my text, I slide my phone back in my pocket and move to stand. Holding my hand out in front of me, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was good to see Dean again.

A lot has changed between us since the last time I stood before him. He still looks just like he did that night, except for the change in his build. He’s obviously changed his workout, adding a lot of bulk and muscle to him than what he had when we were eighteen.

“Here you thought you ran me out of town,” I joke, winking at him.

“Fuck you,” he retorts as I let out a laugh.

Pulling me closer, he claps me on the back in a hug as he mutters how it’s good to see me in my ear.

Leaning back, he widens his stance as he crosses his arms in front of him.

“It’s good to see you back. You plannin’ on staying long?”

“He’s not going anywhere, I’m giving him a job,” Graham says from behind me as I turn to face him. My eyes narrow, knowing now he’s mentioned it in front of Dean, I’m going to have the two of them hounding me until I agree.

“Really? Man, that’s great!”

I shake my head at Graham and the small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, I don’t know about that. I’m due back on the base after I get everything in order. I’m not sure where I’m going from here.”

Dean’s hand wraps around his jaw, pausing as he tries to read me. It’s no use, I’m a closed book.

“Well, it’s good to have you home. You should stay; I know Ryan will be happy to see you, too.”

Graham passes by Dean, walking around to the other side of the lobby.  He glances at me over Dean’s shoulder, knowing that I’ve already been reacquainted with his sister for the first time in years. The rare grin that stretches on his face has me silently telling him to fuck off, which earns me a silent chuckle as he begins shuffling through the papers on the table.

The mention of staying in Everton and Ryan has my mild filtering back to all those nights I spent alone with my thoughts while I was away. I told myself if I ever made it out of there, when I got out of the army for good, I’d come back for her. The only time I feel any peace is when I am wrapped in her arms.

I don’t know if I can bring myself to walk away from her for a second time.