Page 84 of Crack the Ice

“Fuck, baby. You’re my every dream come to life,” he whispers against my stomach. The stubble of his beard scraping against me has goosebumps covering my skin as he drags himself up my body.

“I want to devour you, right here.” His breath brushes across my ear before he bites down softly on the top of it. “I want you spread out for me, begging me to put you out of your misery, pleading for me to make you come the way I used to.”

The warmth of his breath against my neck has my chest heaving, need coursing through me at the image he’s painting. God, I want that too.

“You remember how well I know your body, Cecy baby. How I make it sing for me.” He chuckles when I arch into the hand now wrapped around my tit.

“Does it need a reminder of who it belongs to?”

I shake my head, my eyes screwing shut. It’s never needed a reminder. It only ever belonged to one person, and that person is currently biting my nipple through my shirt.

I cry out, only for his hand to cover my mouth. “Shhh, Cecy baby. Those sounds are only for me, and there are children in the house.”

A whimper falls from my lips. This man doesn’t play fair, yet he’s giving me exactly what I asked him for. His filthy mouth has always been my undoing.

“Mav, please,” I say, my voice muffled against his hand.

He pulls the top of my shirt down, taking my bra with it. “One day,” he says, tongue running across my collarbone. “I’m going to decorate you with frosting, and lick it off every inch. Drive you to the point of insanity, and I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. Your cries, the frustrated little noises you make when you’re right there and I deny you what you want most. Me between these luscious thighs, driving you wild with whatever piece of me I choose. My fingers, my tongue, maybe my dick.”

My breath is nothing but choppy puffs of air at this point, and when he blows over the hardened peaks of my nipples, I about explode.

His chuckle is devious, but the silence that follows has every hair on my body standing on end in anticipation of whatever comes next.

His lips meet mine as he pulls up my top, and I jut my lip out against him in protest.

“You’re mean,” I say between kisses.

He stands to full height, holding his hand out for me to take. The green in his eyes that I love so much has been swallowed almost completely by his dilated pupils. His lips are swollen, hair disheveled, and my God, he’s never looked more devourable than he does right now.

It’s not fair in the slightest. I’m going to have to work all day with a throb between my legs and no time to do a damn thing about it.

“I’m not in a rush, Cess.” He pulls the strap of my tank top back up my arm, flattening the strap against my shoulder. “I want to take my time with you. I want to do this right. I want you to feel how much I love you.”

“You love me?” I ask quietly.

His hand comes into view as he gently tucks a fallen strand of hair behind my ear before bringing his fingers under my chin, tilting my head up until I can look nowhere but at him. “There hasn’t been a time in the last seven years when I haven’t loved you. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that, but today, that starts with me dealing with the shit inside me.”

“You’re only doing this for me?” I eye him warily.

He shakes his head, a quick smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “No, I’m doing it for me, for you, and for them. We all deserve the best version of me, and if I’m focused on what needs to be fixed out there, I’m not focused on being present here. And what we’re building here is what matters most. I know that. I need a little help figuring out why I can’t just be without looking for the next task.”

“Because you’re a good man, Maverick Reed. You’ve been everything for everyone for a long time. You deserve to rest too, though. I’m glad you’re doing this. I’ll go with you if you ever want me to.”

“I think it’d be great if all four of us went together a few times a month. Just to help us get to some kind of understanding. We all grieve differently. I don’t want them to clam up and bury it. I don’t want to force it out of them either.”

My chin trembles as I look at him. This big, loving man who protects and provides for everyone around him is hurting, too. I think we all are.

“You’re the best man I know,” I whisper, bringing my hand to his cheek one more time. I place a chaste kiss on his lips before my eyes snag on the clock on the oven.

Shit, I’m going to be late.

I slide off the counter, almost groaning when he doesn’t move and his hardness digs into my stomach. “You’ll be back in time for book club, right?” I ask, but it comes out way more breathy than I meant it to.

Luckily, he cuts me some slack and steps back half a step. “Yeah.” He pushes a hand through his hair. “Here, take these.” He hands me two to-go containers and a water bottle with a straw and my name on it.

He did what he said he would. Make sure I eat and get me a water bottle with my name on it. The cheeky little shit knows it too. I could get used to this. Mornings with him before anyone else wakes up. Stolen kisses in a dark house, dirty words whispered in my ear.

Ugh, my vibrator and I might have to have a little meeting before book club later, or I’m going to be flustered all damn night.