Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(63)

“What?” he asked, lifting his head and raising an eyebrow. His fingers didn’t stop their movement, and Everly shivered.

“I should look at your wound.”

“I’m fine.”

“But—”

“Everly, I’m fine. My side is fine. Elise is fine. This is the first time I’ve had you in my bed, and it’s been four days since I last saw you. Touched you. If you don’t want this . . . now’s the time to say something. If you’re just nervous, I can work with that. But if you truly don’t want to make love, tell me. I’m not an asshole. I won’t shrivel up and die if you want to wait.”

She was nervous, but Everly still wanted him. She appreciated that he wasn’t pressuring her.

Deciding to go for it, she reached down and grabbed hold of the hem of her shirt. Arching her back, she pulled it up and off, throwing it over the side of the mattress.

Leaving her arms above her head, she stared at Ball with an almost defiant look.

He didn’t say a word, merely stared back, taking in every inch.

Shifting uncomfortably the longer he stayed silent, and regretting her impulsive action, Everly moved to pull the sheet over her naked chest.

But before she could even lower her arms, her wrists were caught in Ball’s hands. His hold was firm, though it didn’t hurt in the least. Everly felt her nipples harden, but didn’t take her eyes from Ball’s face. He let go of her wrists, and she kept still as he devoured her with his gaze.

His eyes were wide, as if he couldn’t bear to even blink because he might miss something, and he licked his lips several times.

Then he slowly, ever so slowly, leaned forward.

An involuntary moan escaped her throat before he even touched her, but the second his lips closed around one of her nipples, it grew in intensity. She reached down and palmed the back of his head with one hand, and the other gripped his thick biceps. Her back arched as she pressed herself harder against him.

“Ball!” she exclaimed.

He didn’t answer her, merely continued to suck and tease her nipple. His mouth was warm, and when he used his teeth to gently nip, she nearly came out of her skin. She felt him smile against her, then he moved his head to tease her other nipple.

If Everly hadn’t opened her eyes at just the right moment, she would’ve missed the way he winced as he moved.

The last thing she wanted was him being in pain the first time they made love.

Knowing if she said something about it, he’d deny anything was wrong, she pushed against him gently until he was on his back, then Everly straddled him.

He didn’t miss a beat at the change of position. He reached up and grabbed behind her neck, tugging her down to him. He lifted his head and took one of her tits in his mouth, even as his hand lightly pinched the other nipple.

Everly wasn’t a newbie to sex. She was thirty-four, and she’d had her share of partners, but somehow, hovering over a man on all fours while he suckled her breasts was something she’d never experienced before. It was somewhat raunchy, and sexy as hell. She felt every suck on her nipple as a spark of desire shooting straight to her pussy.

Without thought, she began to rock back and forth slightly, the movement making her boobs sway and adding another dimension to the sensations.

Ball let his head plop back down on the pillow. He stared up at her, watching as she continued to sway above him.

“Fuck, you’re sexy,” he said, his eyes glued to her tits.

She sat up, forcing him to let go of her neck or risk hurting her. Both of his hands now rested on her thighs, caressing her. She waited until his eyes came up to meet hers.

“Here’s how this is gonna go,” she said as sternly as possible. Inside, she felt like a submissive puppy, wanting nothing more than to roll over on her back and let Ball have his way with her. But she summoned the take-no-shit cop from deep within and said, “You’re hurt. You’re gonna lie there and let me do this. The last thing I want is your wound to open and for you to bleed all over me.

Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ball said seriously. His hands smoothed higher up her thighs, until his thumbs brushed against the creases of her legs.

She seriously wished she hadn’t worn a pair of leggings to bed now.

“You’re so beautiful,” Ball said in an awed tone.

A denial was on the tip of her tongue, but Everly pushed it back. She’d never thought of herself that way before, but she couldn’t deny that the look in Ball’s eyes made her rethink her image of herself. Why shouldn’t she be beautiful? Just because she didn’t like the small pooch she couldn’t seem to get rid of, or thought her boobs were a little too saggy, didn’t mean she wasn’t beautiful.

Women were way too quick to put themselves down, and if the look on Ball’s face was anything to go by, he wasn’t seeing anything he didn’t like.

She sat up straighter and arched her back a little bit more.

“Fuck,” Ball muttered, his eyes immediately zeroing in on her chest again. Wanting to see him too, Everly pushed her hands under the hem of his own T-shirt, and he immediately did what he could to help her remove it. The material sailed behind her when she threw it, her attention centered on the perfection beneath her.

Ball had very broad shoulders, which wasn’t a surprise. His biceps flexed as he replaced his hands on her thighs. He had a very prominent happy trail leading under his boxers. His abs looked as if they were chiseled out of granite, and Everly couldn’t stop her hands from exploring.