Always Loving You (Danvers #6)(42)

Something was happening to her, and she was almost afraid to see it through. Her entire body seemed to be tingling. She vaguely wondered if Mac was giving her a heart attack. As she tried to pull back, scared by the intensity of the feelings racing through her, Mac seated himself deeply one more time while reaching a hand to pinch her clit. Her world froze in that moment, everything seeming to happen in slow motion. Her ears roared, her breath stuttered, and then it all came back into focus in one big explosion. Her body clasped around his as an endless contraction seemed to start deep inside her. She vaguely heard him yell her name before she collapsed weightless against his heaving chest. His hands were on her back now, stroking her, as they remained joined together.

The room was still slightly out of focus when she felt Mac separate from her, despite her protests. He came back to the bed and cleaned her with a cloth before disappearing into the bathroom. She heard water running for a short time and then he was back, picking her up and sliding her under the covers and into his arms. Ava felt completely and deliciously spent as she traced lazy circles on Mac’s chest. “I . . . just—wow,” she said with a goofy smile. “I love your penis,” she added before clapping a hand across her mouth in horror. Shit, she hadn’t meant to say that aloud!

Mac’s chest shook beneath her as he let out a booming laugh. “Is this the part of the night where I admit to loving your vagina as well?”

Ava buried her hot face into Mac’s chest. Was she completely twisted that his praise of her vagina actually turned her on again? “Sleep, baby,” he said against the top of her head. When one of his hands cupped her butt, pulling her even closer, she was amazed to find that she actually could relax enough with a man—her man—to drift away.

*   *   *

Mac lay awake long after Ava had fallen asleep. He couldn’t believe the moment that he had dreamed of for most of his adult life had finally happened. Ava was tucked tightly against him after rocking him to his very foundation. He’d always expected sex with Ava would be good, but he hadn’t expected it to eclipse even his wildest dreams.

He had felt her tense up while he was on top of her, and he’d known she was starting to panic. It would have killed him, but he would have stopped right then if necessary. Switching her to the power position had been his one attempt to see if she would be able to overcome her fear if she felt she was in control. He had continued to watch her for any sign that she was scared. After a few minutes, she had relaxed and taken charge. She was so incredibly sexy and responsive—he had been forced to grit his teeth and quote every useless bit of sports statistics that he could think of to keep from blowing his load early. Just the feel of her tight passage milking him as he buried himself in her inch by slow inch had damn near driven him to madness.

His cock was still hard where it nestled against her thigh. He’d love nothing better than to slip back inside her. But the last thing he wanted to do was overwhelm her after she had taken such a big step. No doubt, she was probably sore as well after their intense bout of lovemaking.

As the light of early morning started to slip into the room, he looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. He wanted to shout his love for her at the top of his lungs, but years of loving Ava had taught him a hard and painful lesson—she would run in the blink of an eye if she felt threatened. Where his instinct was to put a ring on her finger, what he needed to do now was to take things slow. She was here, in his bed. Now he needed to give her the space to accept that they belonged together.

He’d fix Ava a nice breakfast when she woke and then take his cues from her. If she mentioned something about leaving, he would let her without making a big deal of it. He wouldn’t make the first move even if it meant a constant case of blue balls. He needed to let her stay in control, because he couldn’t stomach the thought of scaring her away now that things had finally progressed. “Whatever you need, baby,” he whispered against the crown of her head, and he meant it. If having her meant taking a step back, he could do that. If it meant that she would be with him for good in the end, he could do whatever it took.

Chapter Fifteen

Ava had surprised Suzy by dragging her to lunch on Monday. Emma had a standing lunch date with Brant most Mondays, and Ava hadn’t wanted to take her brother’s fiancée away. Of course, if Emma had had any clue as to what Ava wanted to talk about, she would have kicked Brant to the curb in the blink of an eye. Truthfully, she couldn’t believe that Emma hadn’t picked up on what had happened to her over the weekend. She felt as if she had the words I’ve had amazing sex written across her face for all to see.

Suzy and Ava had never spent any time alone before they had been Ella’s whipping board at the hospital on Saturday. After being called all sorts of creative forms of whore with her coworker, Ava felt that their relationship had moved well past acquaintance to friends. “Hey, slut.” Suzy smiled, seeming genuinely happy to see her.

“Hey, tramp,” Ava teased in return. Just a week ago, she couldn’t have imagined calling anyone something like that so easily, but Ella had certainly changed that for them. Ava was secretly afraid that now she would start using the word “whore” as if it were a common, household word.

After studying her menu, Suzy glanced up long enough to say, “You look like you got lucky sometime recently. Care to elaborate?”

Ava’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the other woman’s head in shock. “Wh-what?”