Fearless Maverick (15 page)

 
          
On
reflex, she gripped his hand.

 
          
In
the misty light, his gaze snapped up and she saw his eyes round in surprise. He’d
forgotten. Heck, she’d almost forgotten too.

 
          
Now,
however, every muscle and tendon was gridlocked. Her heart was galloping but
with an anticipation that had nothing to do with desire. In good faith, Alex
might want to believe the state of her leg didn’t matter, but, truth was,
experience said that it did. And yet she hated herself for doubting his
sincerity, for feeling this … diminished.

 
          
With
a raw ache pressing on her chest and her stomach sinking fast, she closed her
eyes, turned her head and gently but firmly urged his hand away.

 
          
Alex
froze, as rigid and tense as Libby clearly was. He hadn’t planned any moves. He
was doing what felt good. What felt right. But as Libby had said, for her it had
been a while. Had she not made love since her accident?

 
          
He
wanted her to be comfortable with this. With him. At the same time, he wanted
this joining to be everything it could be. Everything she deserved. For that to
happen—to reassure her—he needed to persist. He wasn’t giving up.

 
          
Tenderly,
he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. ‘Did I hurt you?’

 
          
Keeping
her eyes closed, facing away, she inhaled and shook her head. ‘No.’

 
          
He
tipped her chin toward him and waited until her glistening eyes dragged open.
Then he willed her to feel, to understand. To find the kind of confidence in
deep affection that could be borrowed from and fostered by another. That was
here. She only needed to accept it.

 
          
In
the soft shadows, he searched her eyes. ‘Trust me, Libby. Trust yourself.’

 
          
Prepared
to wait all night if need be, he smiled into her eyes and bit by bit the worry
faded and her physical tension unlocked and eased. As he continued to stroke
her cheek, gradually she began to smile too. When he was certain she was ready,
when there was little chance she’d flinch again, he nuzzled against her neck
and as his touch trailed lower—down her thigh, past that knee—he murmured near
the shell of her ear.

 
          
‘It
makes no difference … it doesn’t matter….’

 
          
He
gave her more time, letting his fingers glide, pressing meaningful kisses over
her brow, at her temple. When her breathing had changed and he felt her
stirring in that way that said she was drifting again, he let his mouth trail
from her throat to the dip between her breasts. Finally his mouth closed over
that pert tip again. As he drew her deeply in, her hips gradually arced up and
his touch slid across.

 
          
He
groaned with unreserved want.

 
          
She
was so ready for him, wet and swollen.

 
          
He
drew a flowing line up and down her cleft, then slowly circled and pressed that
sensitive bud. When her hand wrapped around his and she trembled, he imagined
her fire building, leaping higher, almost ready to consume. He could barely
wait for the flames to take them both.

 
          
As
her free palm fanned over and kneaded one shoulder, he moved up and stole
another penetrating kiss while he brought her to the teetering brink. When she
was trembling beneath him, he wove down the length of her body until he was
kissing her again and hoping she could hold out longer even while feeling
compelled to do everything within his power to make sure she couldn’t.

 
          
Pleasure-filled
noises hummed in her throat as he scooped under her behind and the tip of his
tongue swirled and flicked. All too soon she was pressing down into the
mattress, clutching the sheet, convulsing and flowing while her thighs clamped
around his jaw.

 
          
He
let her float all the way down before he slid back up and, in the shifting
shadows, searched her eyes. They were happy, dreamy, more content than he had
hoped. As her arms curved around the pillow beneath her head, with her hair
splayed out, a silvery aura framing her glowing face, he knew he’d never know
another moment like this, where he felt as if he’d seen and felt everything and
yet still had so much to learn.

 
          
Libby
slowly opened her eyes and put out her arms as the length of Alex’s hard body
joined with hers. Her mind was still spinning with tingling stars when he
nudged inside. The pressure felt entirely natural and yet magical, like a king
tide growing beneath a full moon, swelling so quickly, those stars were already
building again. She arched up to meet him and, groaning against her lips, he
thrust in deeply and all at once.

 
          
He
hit a spot so high, so hot, she gripped his shoulders and gasped.

 
          
Pulling
away, he combed the hair from her cheek and, concerned, searched her eyes. ‘Libby,
are you all right?’

 
          
Recovering,
ready for more, she eased out a breath and nodded as her palms ran down his
slick sides. ‘Way better than all right.’

 
          
His
smile came slowly. Then he filled her again. She felt his lidded eyes on her as
the heat increased and the burn at her core condensed. When she didn’t think
the friction he’d built could spark any brighter, his movements came faster, he
drove in harder and a moan escaped her throat. She’d given herself over totally
to this delicious sizzling sensation … the intense force boiling through her
blood.

 
          
When
the pressure seemed too much, when she was on the scorching cusp again—

 
          
He
dropped his head into her hair and, inhaling the floral scent, let the tide
rise to an unprecedented high. He murmured her name, drove in to the hilt and
held himself there, deep inside, while she moved and clutched around him. He
didn’t want the feeling to end, never wanted to let her go. The force was so
great. The pleasure too extreme.

 
          
At
the instant his orgasm imploded, Alex arced his neck back and gave into the
shuddering release that rocked every cell in his body. The climax throbbed
again and again, and all the while a chorus hummed through his head and his
heart.

 
          
I’m one very lucky man …

 
          
Gazing
through her bedroom window, Libby watched the glittering stars, listened to the
rolling surf and cuddled up against her scrumptious man. After making love again
she felt both exhausted and raised up. Her every surface buzzed from his
attentions. Her mouth and breasts burned from the graze of his stubble. She’d
never been more sated. Never wanted to know anything again so much.

 
          
Alex
Wolfe was more than she could ever have imagined.

 
          
His
deep voice rumbled out from the shadows.

 
          
‘You
sleepy?’

 
          
‘No.’
She snuggled in closer. ‘You?’

 
          
Rolling
to face her, he drew a tender line around her cheek. ‘Wide awake.’

 
          
Libby
blew out a quiet contented breath. Was it imagination or did he feel as
blissful lying here as she did? Amazing, given she’d had little to no
confidence these past few years as far as intimacy with a man was concerned.
This was the first time she’d made love since before her accident but, with his
help, she’d overcome her nerves. In fact, she felt more whole and desirable
than she ever had.

 
          
For
long peaceful moments, she lay there, absorbing the way he watched his fingers
toy with her hair, sweeping back strands, curling a section behind her ear.

 
          
‘I
bet you looked unbelievable on a board,’ he said.

 
          
She
held her breath but the regret she sometimes felt when she recalled that lost
part of her life didn’t surface. Rather, this time when she thought back, she
was filled with nothing but a sense of happy nostalgia.

 
          
‘It
came naturally,’ she said. ‘My gran said I could swim before I could walk.’

 
          
‘Guess
our talents come out early. I rode a push-bike at a little over two. Was doing
stunts and mad stuff when I was six.’ He touched his nose. ‘Almost lost this
when I came off shooting down a hill at warp speed.’

 
          
Imagining
the blood, she flinched. ‘Your mother must’ve been beside herself.’

 
          
A
muscle in his jaw flexed. ‘My mother died before my second birthday. Drug
overdose.’

 
          
Libby’s
heart sunk. She couldn’t imagine it. She’d known his childhood had been tough
but to have lost a mother as well, and in such circumstances …’You wouldn’t
remember anything about her, then.’

 
          
From
the wooden look on his face, she thought he might simply close the subject. He often
looked so troubled when talk turned to his past. But then he tugged his ear and
even found a lopsided smile.

 
          
‘Apparently
Amber, my mother, was a bit of a party girl but not much good at bath times or
changing nappies. Still, from what I was told she loved her children. There are
snaps of her dressing us up for games, taking us to the beach to build massive
sandcastles. William even came along a couple of times. In their own unhealthy
way, I think my parents might have been happy. Amber seemed to bring out the
best, as well as the worst, in him. A lot of people did.’

 
          
He
dropped his gaze but not before she glimpsed the pain and regret lurking in the
shadows of his eyes. Clearly he hadn’t meant to go that deeply into it. Given
just how dark his past was, she more than respected that. She wished she could
go back in time and protect the innocent little boy Alex once had been. Since
she couldn’t, perhaps shedding a bit more light on her own yesterdays might
help.

 
          
‘I
was surfing up in North Queensland on holiday with a friend when my accident
happened,’ she began. ‘It was my fault. I should have been more careful.’

 
          
Focused
again, he pushed up on one elbow. ‘In what way?’

 
          
‘Firstly,
I should’ve waited for my friend before I plunged in. There was nobody else
around. Number one rule broken.’

 
          
‘If
you get in trouble there’s no one to help.’

 
          
She
nodded. ‘An onshore breeze was forecast. They turn a good swell to mush. But
that morning when I first ran in, the waves were pumping.’

 
          
A
shiver chased over her skin and she shrugged. ‘I didn’t realise there was coral
nearby. After twenty minutes or so, I did see the fin, however. That’s when I
decided to double time it back in.’

 
          
He
held her hand and squeezed. ‘A shark.’

 
          
‘I
found out later it’d been cruising the bay for weeks. Should have done my
homework. I caught a last wave in but it closed down.’ She explained, ‘The wave
broke along its entire length all at once. When I wiped out, I felt a stab on
my calf—the coral—and came up disorientated. I’m grateful I didn’t see the fin
a second time. Just felt the tug.’

 
          
His
face pinched, Alex swore under his breath and squeezed her hand again.

 
          
‘My
buddy had arrived in time to see my spill.’ She smiled, remembering how brave
Barb had been. ‘I’ve never been able to thank her enough for swimming out and
saving me. She did what she could using regular first aid know-how, but we were
miles from civilisation, surrounded by sand and palm trees. She sent out an SOS
on her phone. A rescue boat patrolling close by picked us up. At first the
doctors thought they could save my lower limb but an infection set in and, well
… that was that.’