Fearless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires, Book 3) (7 page)

Maybe she should let him brood. Maybe anyone else would leave him alone in his sorrow. But Ari just couldn’t.

“He’s safe, you know,” she said quietly. “Perfectly safe and sound with only a scratch that’s already healing.”

He stopped, his back stiff, his hand on the wall as if to brace himself. “It could have been so much worse.”

She took two steps closer. “Do you blame me?”

He turned sharply, his dark, bleak eyes meeting hers. “Of course not. He saw me and he ran. It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I shouldn’t have surprised you both. I should have taught him never to run by the pool. I should have done something,
anything
, to make sure he didn’t fall.”

One more step, close enough to breathe in his scent, to feel his heat, to touch his face. She wanted to surround him with her warmth, as if that could ease his tension. Cupping his jaw, she forced him to look at her. “Can’t you see that if I’m not to blame, then you aren’t either?”

His muscles rippled under her fingers as he clenched his teeth and gritted out, “Protecting him is my job. The most important thing I do. And I let him down.”

“No.” She couldn’t bear to watch him tear himself up any longer. “You were there for him. You caught him. And he knows you love him every single second.”

For a moment, hope flashed in Matt’s eyes. But just as quickly as it came, it was extinguished.

“
Matt
.” His name was the barest whisper on her lips. “Don’t do this. You’re a good man. A great father.”

“You barely know me.”

“I know enough.”

But when she looked up into his eyes, she could see that he wasn’t listening. He could hear only the harsh and critical voices inside his head. She’d had to fight those enough times herself to understand just how hard it was to do it on your own. So she did the only other thing she could think of to slice through those voices.

She closed her eyes, went up on her tippy toes.

And put her mouth on his.

* * *

Matt knew he should fight it, but everything in him needed Ari’s touch, her lips on his.

She reminded him of all the things he wanted…and all the things he wasn’t in control of. He couldn’t control what she did to him—how badly he wanted to taste her, touch her, lose himself in her, and forget everything else. He wasn’t able to stop Noah from reacting to everything with enthusiasm and excitement, and the truth was that he didn’t want to. Of course he wanted his kid to run to him and throw himself into his arms—Matt just wanted Noah to stay completely safe while he did all those things.

He’s safe, you know.

Ari was right. Noah was safe and sleeping. In the morning, he would be the same happy kid he’d been today before the fall by the pool.

And—
amazingly
—Ari was kissing him.

His self-control as an adult had always been strong as steel. First, to protect himself from his parents’ “lessons” on being tough, from his father’s angry ridicule and his mother’s total indifference, no matter how difficult or painful the situation. And then again, after Irene had flitted away and he’d learned to keep his walls up for everyone but the Mavericks. The women in his life had sent him a huge message, and he’d never allowed another woman close. He’d bedded them, but he’d never let them stay.

But with Ari in his arms, how could he help but give in to the dreams he’d had from the first moment he’d set eyes on her?

She tasted so damn sweet, smelled as fresh as wild flowers, felt as fragile as a new bloom. Then she moaned, a soft sound that twisted him up inside. When she opened her mouth, deepening their kiss, he was a goner. He turned with her, pushing her up against the wall, and kissed her with every ounce of need that had been building in him.

At long last, he could forget the accident, his guilt, his fear. In this moment, there was only Ari’s mouth under his, her body soft and yielding against him.

On her toes, she wound her arms around his neck, her curtain of hair falling over him. He went deep, playing with her tongue, drawing on her sweetness until he couldn’t breathe.

Until he couldn’t think of anything but her.

Sliding his hands down her torso, he splayed his fingers to cup the undersides of her breasts. Her body strained against him, almost begging. He slipped his thumbs over the peaks, stroking until they were tight and hard. There was no question that she wanted this as badly as he did, the moan in her throat ripe with desire and need.

If he wanted to stop, it had to be now. And yet the hard lessons he’d learned about women were suddenly like distant voices in a dense forest, just far enough away from him to ignore.

He dropped his hands to her hips and hauled her up, spreading her legs around his waist, letting her feel what she did to him, her hot center riding him through the thin leggings she wore.

He rocked into her, wanting her innate beauty. Her hopefulness. Her kindness. Wanting more than the physical. It was how thoughtfully she spoke, how caring she was, how selfless and yet how strong. So unlike the examples of his past.

Most of all, he wanted to believe that he was a good man, and in this moment, with her body so close, her lips so sweet, he almost could. Because he already knew that Ari would accept only the most worthy.

Somehow he managed to pull back enough to murmur, “I shouldn’t do this.”

“You should.”

“You’re my na—”

Her kiss cut off the rest. “I want this, Matt. I want
you.
”

He should let her go. Apologize for taking advantage of her. But the only words that came out of his mouth were, “Come with me.”

“Anywhere,” she whispered.

“Hold on tight.” To him. To this moment.

He cupped her against him and walked with her to his bedroom, shoving the door closed behind them. Shutting out the world and guilt and duty. For tonight, there was only the two of them.

And the forbidden desire that consumed them both.

The moon cast a bright swath across the room, the thick carpet, the massive bed. Beside the mattress, Matt let Ari’s feet slide to the floor. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He rained kisses along her neck and collarbone before adding, “If this is the first time.”

Even now, he was such a gentleman. “You don’t need to worry.” There’d been two guys she’d cared about as a teenager, but with both relationships, in the end they hadn’t mattered enough to each other to stay together. Standing in the circle of Matt’s arms, she realized that was all they’d been: boys. Not men like strong, loyal, loving Matt.

“Ari…” he murmured into her hair, his hands trailing down her arms. “I want to make you feel so good.”

Just being here with him was more than she could have ever hoped for. Fantasized, yes, but never hoped it would be real. Moments earlier, he’d been conflicted about wanting her, but she couldn’t stand the thought of his walking away. Not now. Not when they’d both finally given in to what she’d felt between them from the start.

“I want you to feel good too,” she said softly, “but even though I’m not a virgin, I’m not… I haven’t had much…”

He pulled back to cup her face in his hands, and in the heat of his eyes she was glad to see that desire was still winning out over duty or worries that she was his nanny. “All you need to do tonight”—he kissed her again—“is let me take care of you.”

She’d already known he was a caretaker—but now he showed her that it applied to everything he did, even pleasure. Emotion bubbled up, wanting to burst out of her as he gave her what she craved, pulling up the soft cotton of her T-shirt, inch by mind-altering inch, his fingertips setting her skin on fire. Then he tossed the shirt aside and stared at her as if she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“Damn, you’re pretty.” He cupped her breasts through her bra. “I’ve dreamed of how you’d feel.” He swished a thumb over first one hard nipple, then the other, sending sparks racing down to her center.

Ari shivered with a need she’d never known before, her core clenching for his touch, his mouth. She swore he must be able to read her mind as his hand followed the trail of sparks, down, down, down, to cup her where she was hot and so very ready.

“I couldn’t stop dreaming of how you’d taste.”

She opened her mouth for breath, but he’d stolen all of it. He was a man, not a boy. He didn’t fumble, he didn’t beg. He seduced her with a man’s desires, with words that made her tremble.

Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her leggings, it seemed as though inner conflict held him in its grip again for a long moment. She held her breath to see which way he’d go.

Finally, he eased them down, looking at her as though she could say no at any moment. As though he would actually stop if she asked him to.

“
Please
,” she whispered, a million miles away from
no
.

When the pants slid to her bare feet, she held on to his arms and stepped out of them.

“Beautiful.” He ran his hands from her rib cage to her hips. “
Beyond
beautiful.”

She blushed all over, her skin turning as pink as her cotton panties and bra.

“Kiss me,” he urged. “Show me how much you want this. How much you want me.”

She leaped to kiss him the way he demanded, opening her mouth beneath his, diving in. She wanted to climb his body, wrap herself around him. She felt primal, as though she was devolving into her animal nature. And he devolved just as quickly, growling deep in his throat, his hips thrusting against hers, his hands holding her tightly to him, taking her mouth like he couldn’t get enough, like he’d lost all control.

She was fumbling for his belt when he pulled back abruptly and held her hands still over his still-latched buckle. “Look at me, Ari.”

The command in his voice shot a thrill through her as she raised her eyes to his burning gaze. She’d never felt so desired. Sex had only ever been about the end game—get in, get off, get out—at least for the boys she’d known. Matt made it intimate and special, like in her dreams.

“Promise me you want this, or we’ll stop.”

She didn’t have to think, didn’t so much as hesitate. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”

His grin was slow…and utterly devastating. “In that case,” he said, “keep taking off my belt.”

She didn’t fumble, his eyes on her giving her bravery and grace. She pulled his buckle loose and had begun to unzip him when he laid his hand over hers again.

“Just the belt until I tell you I’m ready for more.”

Her fingers trembled with the need to hold him in her hand. And her whole
body
trembled with the sensuality of his erotic commands.

She ached to rip off his clothes and dive on him, but she loved that he made her wait. Then, finally, he said, “More,” his eyes lit by fire.

She left his jeans for the moment and slid her hands beneath his shirt, resting her palms on his stomach. “Like this?”

When he growled his assent, she skimmed her hands slowly over his abdomen, to the chest hair beneath the pads of her fingers, to his flat nipples. His skin jumped beneath her touch, and his hard body flexed against her belly.

Gathering his shirt, she pushed it over his head.
Oh God
, all that awesome flesh, all that power, was right before her eyes, his chest broad, his muscles taut.

“You make me crazy.
This
is crazy.” His voice rumbled against her ear. “But I want to savor it. I want to savor
you.
Don’t rush.” He slid his hands down her bare back, cupped her bottom, holding her long and hard against him, letting her feel what she did to him.

He was the definition of sensuality, enjoying every touch, every taste, every moment of her—making her feel like no other woman had ever mattered, only her.

He couldn’t know how badly she wanted to matter to someone. And in this moment, she truly felt like she mattered to
him
.

Her hands trembled as he put them on denim, helping her unzip and shove his jeans all the way down. Once they were gone, she stepped back,
dying
to see his erection, so hard, so big, outlined by only a thin layer of cotton.

“For you. Only for you, Ari.” When she shivered with the thought of him inside her, he soothed her. “Don’t be scared.”

“I’m not.” Not of whether they’d fit—he would be perfect—but of something else entirely. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

He lifted her high, and she wrapped her legs around him. The cotton between them barely a barrier, she felt the steel of him between her thighs.

“You could never disappoint me.” He knelt on the bed and laid her down in the middle. She sank into the thick comforter. “Don’t you know you’re special?”

She could barely think, certainly not well enough to answer a question like that.

He didn’t wait, simply ate her alive, kissing her until her lungs were starving for breath. He pressed her down into the bed, his weight like a blanket, like heat, like the stars above.

Slowly he kissed his way down her chin, her throat, her collarbone, until he reached the edge of her pink bra, flicking the clasp open with expert fingers. Inch by inch he eased the cups aside, caressing her with his tongue and the short whiskers along his jaw. His lips closed over her nipple and he sucked hard.

Ari cried out, arching deeper into his mouth, her hands fisting in the comforter. Her legs fell open, and his hips slipped between them, the hard pressure of his erection turning her insides to liquid and fire.

Now she knew that she’d only played at loving before. Because making love with Matt was beyond anything she’d ever experienced. His mouth on her, his hands all over her, his body between her legs—this was man owning woman, possessing her body, touching her soul.

He pulled the bra straps down her arms and blew a warm breath over the wet peak of her nipple. She shivered with need.

“
Ari
.”

She wanted to cry at the way he said her name, so tenderly, so gently, so reverently.

Working his way down her stomach, he layered every inch of bare skin with kisses. Her belly jumped in anticipation…and a little fear. She’d done this before, but with those two boys, it had felt clumsy and messy and wrong, and she’d just wanted it to be over.