It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway.
God, the thought of it hurt. A giant fist squeezed her heart until she felt lightheaded. That this beautiful man once thought his life was no longer worth living made her physically ill. If anyone was needed on this earth, it was Maverick, who brought so much life and vitality to everyone he encountered. “Will you please tell me about it?”
Eyes locked with hers, he leaned forward and reached for the bottle that rested on the floor. He didn’t speak as he filled the shot glass and raised it. Between his legs, his cock was now flaccid, the letters in the word warrior scrunched together.
Without thinking of the many repercussions, Stephanie rose to a tall kneel and encircled his wrist with her hand just as the shot glass reached his lips. “Please,” she whispered. “You’ve seen me at my worst. Lying on that table, nearly naked, about to be raped. No more games. Your story is safe with me. Please give me this piece of you.”
“It’s not a pretty bedtime story, sweetheart.” He seemed a little lost in thought. Probably reliving horrific memories. “And it’s not something I talk about…ever.”
Still on her knees between his spread legs, she ran her palms up the insides of his thighs then back down again. His softened cock twitched and began to fill once again. “What have you told all the other women you’ve been with?”
Oh, shit. Had she really asked him about other women when she was keeling between his naked legs? Like they both didn’t know where this night was going to eventually lead. And now he’d be thinking of other women he’d banged.
“I’ve never told a soul beyond Copper and Zach. No woman has ever seen it up close enough to read it.”
Wait…no woman had seen it? Last she heard, women threw themselves at Mav like he was some kind of Rockstar. And it hadn’t been mentioned that he turned them down often. “But…”
“Look, you asked, so I’m going to shoot straight with you.” Mav’s voice changed. A bit of bite entered it. Even though he’d agreed to answer the question, he tossed back the shot of whiskey. “It’s no damn secret that I’ve fucked a lot of women. Fucked them. As in bent them over the couch, or a pool table, kept every damn light off, and never let ’em linger. I don’t let them go exploring either. So aside from you, no one has seen that fuckin’ tat since I got it.” He rolled his gaze to the ceiling then back down. “Ten years ago.”
No woman had seen it in ten years. It was mind-boggling. It meant that in ten years—
“You think too loud, woman. Yes, I haven’t had a blow job in ten years.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she was afraid she’d never be able to scoop her jaw off the floor. That was going to change tonight. A huge surge of warmth and power flowed through her bloodstream. He trusted her enough to share that part of him, and she fully planned to reward him for it.
No matter the consequences to her heart.
“Tell me,” she whispered.
He shook his head.
“Tell me.” This time she demanded it.
He expelled a huff of air so full of pain and heaviness she felt guilty for making him recall the painful parts of his past. But Stephanie needed to know. Not Stephanie the FBI agent, Stephanie the woman who was over-the-top attracted to this man for so much more than his physical appeal.
She continued to knead his thighs while he worked through whatever shit was in his head.
After a few seconds, he tucked her hair behind her ear. “Wildcat,” he whispered, “I’ll tell you, but I want you to answer one question for me first.”
She tilted her head and waited.
“Are you wet right now? Is that tight pussy all wet and needy for me?”
She swallowed around a giant golf ball in her throat. She’d been wet five minutes ago; now, she was embarrassingly soaked. Tell him? Not tell him? It was a crossroads that seemed so much more significant than just the state of her arousal. But how could she deny him this one question when he was about to reveal his darkest secret?
“Soaked.” The word sounded like it’d been dragged from a desert-parched throat.
His eyes darkened, and he ran a thumb over one of her pebbled nipples, sending a jolt of desire straight to her core. “You do realize you aren’t leaving here until you’ve been fucked like you’ve never been fucked before?”
And there it was. The crossroads between right and wrong. Good and evil. Criminal and law enforcement agent. But it wasn’t that simple at all, and for the first time in her life, she truly understood what it meant to be lost in the gray zone. Her body needed the release only he could provide. It craved him. But what was brewing between her and this complicated man was so much more than a physical ache. She was forming a connection with him that she’d never had with another man. And he felt it, too. It was written all over his face.