The Forever Girl (Wildstone, #6)(60)

“It’s a good thing you’re sexy as hell,” she muttered, her mouth busy on his throat. “Now stop teasing me and—” She broke off when he slid the lace aside and out of his way.

“And?” he murmured, not stopping anything he was doing. In fact, he lifted a knee onto the hood between her legs, adding a delicious pressure.

“And do me,” she demanded breathlessly.

He laughed huskily, and she might have killed him there and then, but their eyes met, and the need and desire she felt for him, everything was matched in his eyes.

“Be sure, Maze.”

“This is the one thing I am sure of.”

At that, he gave her the sweetest, most loving kiss. Then he took that mouth on a tour south, stopping when he got to the small tattoo of Harry Potter’s glasses and lightning bolt on her hip, along with the tiny script that said, HAPPINESS CAN BE FOUND EVEN IN THE DARKEST OF TIMES, IF ONE ONLY REMEMBERS TO TURN ON THE LIGHT.

He smiled and then licked it.

“Oh my God,” she moaned.

“I was hoping for ‘Yes, oh yes, please, more, ruler of my universe.”

She’d never laughed during sex before, but then he switched things up on her, adding his fingers into the mix, keeping her on the very edge until she tightened her fingers in his hair, holding him where she wanted him the most.

He laughed softly against her, but she didn’t have the bandwidth for anything other than what he was doing to her. Well, she did finally manage to get his pants open and her hands inside, which was a whole lot like opening a birthday gift that you already knew you were getting but wanted more than anything. “I’m going to cry if you don’t have a condom.”

“No crying necessary,” he said. “But if you want to scream out my name . . . I’m up for that.”

“You’re up for anything,” she said, the evidence in her hands.

He laughed and did something diabolical with his fingers and then she was flying, still gasping for breath as he protected them both and entered her.

They froze in shocked wonder at the incredible sensations.

Gathering her wits the best she could, she wrapped herself around him as the sensations took them both.

After, she had no idea how much time had passed before Walker lifted his head and looked at her with both tenderness and good humor. “I’m never going to go off-roading again without thinking about this.” He helped her right her clothing before reaching for his. And then they stood there on the cliff, beneath the moon, staring at each other.

Reaching out, Walker took one of her hands in his, using the other to push her damp hair from her forehead. “That was even better than all the fantasies I had about you.”

Yeah. Her too. But the anxiety he’d beat back with his magic body was slowly returning and she shook her head. “What are we doing?”

He held her gaze for a moment. “Whatever you want to be doing.”

“I don’t want to go back to the past.” The thought of losing him again, now, as adults, had panic swirling inside her. “I can’t—”

“I know.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay, Maze. If you want this to be nothing, it’s nothing. You’re in the driver’s seat. You’ve got all the control here.”

She huffed out a sigh. “Well, that’s just great.”

He looked amused. “You can’t control yourself around me?”

She groaned.

“You can’t.” He was out-and-out grinning now. “Cute.”

“Look, not all of us can be Mr. Control,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Don’t mistake my restraint for lack of emotion, Maze. I do what I think is right, not what’s easy.” He held the car door open for her as she got in. Then, instead of closing the door, he crouched down on the balls of his feet so they were eye to eye. “To be clear,” he said, “I didn’t see tonight coming, but I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t have any regrets. Not then, not now. I’m sorry if you do.”

She held his gaze. “You’ve never been a regret to me, Walk.”

He didn’t move, didn’t so much as blink, for a long few seconds. “Good to know. But . . . ? Because I sense there’s a big but.”

“But what we did tonight?” She shook her head. “It stops here. It has to.” She felt herself getting emotional and felt silly for it, but she couldn’t contain her feelings, they were spilling out all over the place. “I can’t handle more, not with you. It nearly destroyed me the first time.” She gulped in some air. “Please don’t ask me to go back to that place.”

His eyes were dark and intense as he gently squeezed her hand. “I’ve never asked you for a single thing, Maze. I’m not going to start now.”

They rode back in silence.





Chapter 17


Caitlin’s to-do list:

—Buy more wine.

Later that night, Caitlin was at the kitchen table flipping through recipes. It was either that or take a Xanax. Dillon was already asleep. They’d fought about what he’d blurted out to Maze in the kitchen earlier, and Maze still wasn’t back. She felt sick with worry.

Roly and Poly were curled up at her feet as she thumbed through her iPad, specifically Pinterest and her wedding board, where she’d pinned everything from dresses to flowers to lighting to table decorations—all of it simple, designed for a small wedding with a warm and cozy feel, just as she’d been dreaming about since she was a little girl.