Fearless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires, Book 3) (19 page)

She’d never expected to find a man she could be so totally open with, so completely available to, giving him anything he wanted, and yet trusting that she’d be okay. Not just okay—
amazing.
She wouldn’t let herself be afraid to ask for everything. To ask for
him.

“Yes.” She wriggled back against him, loving the way his muscles tightened against her. “Take me, Matt.”

“I will.” He pressed a hot kiss to her shoulder. “But I want you to close your eyes and
feel
first. Feel what you do to me, Ari.”

Nudging her legs farther apart, he slipped his rock-hard erection between them, stopping just short of entering her.

He was hard and pulsing against her sex, and with her eyes closed, her senses came totally alive. She was lightning ready to strike at any moment. When he slid a hand under her belly and found the center of her arousal, it was the ultimate—and the very best—shock to her system. She felt him everywhere, his fingers slip-sliding over her until she throbbed madly, his big muscular body blanketing her, his mouth on her neck, his kisses in her hair, his breath at her ear. There was delicious friction everywhere, beautiful sensation all over.

“
Matt
.” Everything he did made her body surge and crest. It was so good. Too good. Scary good. She wanted to be fearless, but she was in so deep now that it frightened her a little. “I don’t… I can’t…”

“You can. For me, Ari. Only for me.”

With his words, she shattered, his deep voice wrapping around her, his arms tight and possessive. She shuddered with a pleasure so intense that she lost all thought—there was only his heat surrounding her, taking her higher.

“I love how ready you are for anything,” he murmured. “For
everything
.”

She trembled with the sensuality of his touch. “Don’t stop.”

“I already told you,” he whispered as he hauled her back against his hard chest, her legs splayed open over his. “I can’t stop. Not when I’m with you.”

She couldn’t see his face, could only feel his heat between her legs, his breath in her hair. Instead of pushing into her, he simply held her against him as he ran his big, strong hands over her belly, her breasts, up to her throat. He nudged her head aside to give him access to her neck and caressed her with his tongue, licking in tantalizing paths.

“Put me inside you, Ari. Make us both feel good. So damned good.”

She loved that he knew so many different ways they could be together. Even slightly kinky ways. Especially those.

“You brought condoms,” she said as she reached back and realized he already wore protection.

“I didn’t plan this,” he whispered against her hair. “But I’m a man who’s learned to be ready for anything. And still, I wasn’t ready for you.” He buried his face against her neck. “You were standing in sunlight the first time I saw you…and you were perfect. I’ve been trying so hard to fight what’s between us.”

“The first time I looked at you—” She felt overfull with emotion, but it no longer frightened her. “I knew you were special. When we finally spoke, once I learned what a wonderful father you are, what an incredible man…” She covered his hands with hers and held them over her heart. “I started falling. And I can’t stop.”

“Ari—” She heard the groan of conflict in his voice. “I’m not a hero.”

“You are, and you don’t even know it.” She tipped her head back against his shoulder to look at him. “I’m not fighting what’s between us anymore. And I don’t want you to fight either.”

“How can I?” The words came out on a growl as he cupped her chin and kissed her. “How can I keep fighting when I see how good you are with my son? When having you in my arms is hotter than I’d ever thought possible. When I think about you all day—all night.”

His exquisite words pulled her closer, became a part of her, and now, finally, she needed to do what he’d commanded in that sexy voice. Shifting her hips back toward his, she slid onto his beautiful erection, one glorious inch at a time. They both held their breath until the moment of complete connection, his chest to her back. She felt stretched to her very limits. And filled all the way to her heart.

As he moved inside her, his hands roamed down her body, leaving fire in their wake. And when he slipped his fingers between her legs, stroking her most sensitive spot, she hovered right on the edge of total bliss.

“I can feel you everywhere.”

“I feel
you
, Ari.” Holding her tightly, he continued that intoxicatingly slow rock-and-roll of their bodies. “You’re so soft. And so strong at the same time. So sweet. So perfect.” Shifting his hips, he reached a spot inside that made her tremble and quake, and when her body involuntarily rose to a faster pace, he held her hips, forcing her to match his slow, erotic, mind-altering rhythm. “Slow, baby. Slow and
wild
.”

She moaned deep in her throat, the sound so rough she couldn’t believe it came from her.

“I know.” His voice was harsh, overwhelmed. By pleasure. By need. By
her
. “I’m right there with you.”

Her legs shook, her breath quavered, her mouth falling open with small cries she couldn’t contain. Then everything shot down to the point where their bodies met, where he filled her, joined with her, where they’d become one.

And she exploded over him.

GodYesAri

The words he said—
groaned
—blurred together as he never stopped moving, never stopped touching. Hands everywhere, their skin sweaty and slick against each other.

When she couldn’t remember her own name, let alone his, he withdrew and rolled swiftly to his back, lifting her onto him so they were chest to chest, face to face, heart to heart. “Again. Like this.”

As she took him deep inside once more, she closed her eyes, relishing that he was her perfect fit as sensation began to build all over again, slow and heated.

“Put your hands here.” He brought her palms to his chest.

She leaned over him, the angle changed, and she gasped. He grinned, the sexiest smile on the planet. “Yes. Right there. That’s where I want you. Hot and wet and trembling over me. All around me.”

And then he found her with his hand again and everything inside her burst into flame one more time.

When she finally resurfaced, she was on her back, with him tall above her, her legs draped over his hips. He pulled them high, holding her at the ankles, her feet bracketing his ears.

He’d turned her into a wild thing tonight. But this—having him in so many incredible ways—ways she hadn’t even known existed.

She clutched the comforter in her hands, threw her head back, and cried out, wordless sounds, his name,
God
. The pleasure was relentless. Never-ending, so that she was barely able to tell where one climax ended and another began.

Finally, he came down over her, falling with her into ecstasy, clutching her so tightly that she could barely breathe. She could only pray he wouldn’t fight what he felt for her anymore.

And she wished with everything in her that it would never end.

* * *

After long minutes in his arms, Ari laughed softly. “Oh my God.” Her breath was warm against his ear. “I didn’t know it could be like that.”

He cradled her close, moving slightly to the side so he didn’t crush her frame. “It’s never been like that before.” Only that one beautiful, perfect night with her had come anywhere close.

Tonight, he’d wanted to experience every ounce of pleasure he could wring from her. Through her climaxes, he’d barely been able to hold himself back, the effort tensing all his muscles—until the moment hit him when he had no choice but to take her hard and fast, losing himself in her.
Finding
himself in her. Until there was nothing but sensation, her taste on his lips, her soft skin, her scent dragging him deeper. Until there was no real world outside, no thought, just the silkiness of her limbs around him and the pulse of her body—liquid heat, molten desire in his arms.

Even now, he was so crazy with need for her that tension coiled through his body, heated him, hardened him again, making his blood crackle in his veins and his skin hum with electricity. She’d hit every pleasure point, and yet he still had to squeeze his eyes shut in an effort to try to regain his control.

But he’d never had any control with Ari. Not when his need for her had always won out over what he believed to be right.

He’d wasted so much time thinking about right and wrong. Yet he was wrong about one
huge
thing he hadn’t considered. While he’d told himself how young she was, how innocent, he’d discovered that not only was she strong and resilient, but she’d also managed to hold on to her hope and joy against all odds.

He’d never known a woman like her. She was utterly
fearless
.

The one night they’d shared—he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge how special it had been. But there was no denying it now.

“Stay,” he murmured.

He wanted her in his arms all night. Wanted to wake up in the morning with her. Wanted her to be the first one he saw when he opened his eyes, the first one he touched. Wanted to make her smile. Wanted to give her pleasure.

He wanted
her
.

* * *

Ari’s dream was pure pleasure, her body cresting a great wave. A wall of heat at her back turned her insides red-hot, and then Matt was filling her, their bodies moving together as though they were floating on the ocean, its waves rocking them.

She wasn’t exactly aware of when the dream ended and reality began—only that the pleasure climbed higher and higher, tingling in her belly, spreading out to her limbs.

His chest was plastered to her back, her leg pulled high on his hip, opening her to his possession as he stroked her intimately. Instinctively, she braced her hand on the bed and pushed back on him. She wanted to wake every day just this way, to his hands on her, his breath flirting with her hair, his body buried deep.

He groaned and flexed inside her, his erection a throb that made her ache for more. Her breath came faster, matching the rhythm of his body inside her and the swirl of his fingers between her thighs.

How could her body keep burning hotter? How could these sensations keep intensifying?

There was no one like Matt. No one who’d ever made her feel the things he did. No one who’d made her matter with his words, his body, his kiss, his touch.

“Please, baby,” he begged her. “Take me with you.”

In the darkness, his hands and his kisses taking her higher, it was his words that released her—knowing that, just like her, he needed to beg, to plead to be taken in and held tight.

And when she plummeted over the edge, crying out her pleasure, the ultimate pleasure was taking him into that crazy, wild plunge right along with her.

The next morning, the touch of Matt’s hands over hers made Ari feel that everything would be all right—even as they turned onto Mrs. Sanchez’s street and faced the unknown.

She hadn’t expected this neighborhood. She’d always thought of Bakersfield as a cow town, with farms and stockyards and fields. But the houses in this neighborhood were mansions. Not in Matt’s class, but certainly way above Ari’s or Zach Smith’s. The lawns were green even after a thirsty summer, and tall, stately trees flanked long driveways.

Mrs. Sanchez lived in a two-story home with dormer windows and a circular drive. Matt parked beneath the portico and took Ari’s hand as they climbed the steps to the double-wide front door. The knocker was as shiny as gold.

“I wonder how Gideon felt walking up these stairs.” Probably as out of place as she felt the first time she’d set foot inside Matt’s mansion.

She wouldn’t have been surprised if a butler had opened the door, but they were greeted by an elegant woman, her gray hair piled stylishly and her olive complexion made up tastefully. Her blue pantsuit fit her graceful curves as though it had been hand designed.

“Miss Jones?”

“Yes.” Ari stuck out her hand. “And this is my friend, Matt Tremont.”

They shook, then Mrs. Sanchez flourished her hand, stepping aside for them to enter. “Please,” she said with a smile. “Come in. I’m so glad you called.”

In the spacious tiled foyer, fresh flowers adorned a table, potted plants stood in the corners, and a wide, carpeted stairway led to the second floor. She ushered them through double doors into a large, sunny lounge already set with a coffee service. The atmosphere was completely different from Zach Smith’s home, and yet, it was just as welcoming. Matt sat beside Ari on the couch while Mrs. Sanchez poured.

“Gideon was such a nice man. It was so thoughtful of him to come see us. My husband was still alive at the time, and I can’t tell you how much your brother’s visit meant.”

“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Ari said, her throat tight. She knew the trauma of losing someone you loved. Especially family. And this woman had lost both husband and daughter.

“Thank you, dear. Now, why don’t you tell me how I can help?”

Ari held her coffee cup but didn’t drink from it. “I’ve been looking for Gideon since he got out of the Army.”

“Goodness, you haven’t seen him since then?”

Mrs. Sanchez put a hand to the pearls at her throat. Ari guessed her to be in her mid-sixties, with the same Latina coloring as Rosie. Her voice was cultured, and she wore a gold band of diamonds on her left hand.

“No, ma’am. In fact, I haven’t seen him since he joined up when I was eight.”

“That’s far too long,” she said sympathetically. “I wish I could lead you to him, but though he used to call me every year or so, I haven’t heard from him in…oh, at least two years.” Her eyes deepened with sadness.

Matt took Ari’s hand as if he knew exactly how hard it was not to let the disappointment creep over her. As she’d told him last night, she was thrilled to have learned so much about Gideon. And she wasn’t about to give up.

“Did he ever say where he was when he called?”

“He didn’t, I’m afraid. I collected these pictures for you, though.” Mrs. Sanchez leaned forward, pulling a manila envelope from beneath the coffee tray. “Your brother was such a good man. He brought some photos of Karmen that he thought we’d like to have.” She held the envelope on her lap a moment. “We were so proud of her. After 9/11 she wanted to do something for her country. We lost a nephew when the towers went down. She was in high school then, and she’d always wanted to be a nurse. We got her to agree to go to college first.” She fingered her pearls again. “Perhaps I was hoping she would change her mind along the way, but she signed up before she graduated.” Her sigh was deep and filled with sorrow. “I was afraid from the moment she was deployed. But you have to let your children follow their path, no matter how much you fear for them.”