Page 19 of Best Part of Me

He rears his head back, leaving my lips throbbing and swollen. “Cammie, you okay?”

My eyes fly open and dance over his, as confusion swims in my hazy brain, sex-driven for the past several minutes. Or has it only been seconds? All sense of time is lost on me.

“What? Why... ? I’m good,” I pant, my fingernails dragging up his back.

Truthfully, I’m not good. I’m so horny I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold off from jumping his bones this very second.

The annoying voice in the back of my mind reminds me that we only have tonight. Maverick is leaving for ten days. And not just that, we didn’t promise each other anything beyond tonight. We didn’t even promise tonight.

I want to savor this for as long as possible.

He smiles down at me. “You had me worried. You’re never this quiet.”

My gut pinches, and not with pleasure from Maverick’s expert hands. I recoil, ready to call it quits on this entire thing.What was I thinking?But he holds me tightly against him and gazes at me with hooded eyes.

“I love hearing you speak, it’s probably my favorite thing about you.”

I’ve been told I talk too much my entire life. Been told I’m too loud.I’mtoo much.

At Maverick’s praise, the last of my apprehension should slip away. But instead, the events from today, the whooshing in my head from the whiskey, the intensity of my feelings for him, cause exhaustion to hit. I’m not sure I can make another life-altering decision today. And sleeping with Maverick would definitely be life altering.

But this people-pleasing trait of mine doesn’t turn off that easily. And I want to please Maverick. Almost more than anything. I nudge him in the chest, forcing him backward into his bedroom.

He stuns me when his feet halt, and he wraps a hand around my wrist.

With his head tilted and a brow lifted in question, he says, “Camille?”

My gaze flutters up to meet his, and my skin hums. But I can’t answer. I’m enamored by his shining dark-brown eyes holding contact with mine.

His lips pull at one corner of his mouth, and he drags me into his bedroom. A lump slides into my throat. The light from the moon shines into the space, illuminating the giant king-sized bed. He pulls back the covers and guides me onto the soft mattress. My heart hammers against my ribs, and my head swims.

Is this really going to happen? We haven’t even discussed protection yet. Sure, I’m on the pill but he has a way more active sex life than I do. When was the last time he got tested?

But suddenly the whirlwind of thoughts in my mind come to a standstill when he crawls into the bed next to me, and he draws the covers over us. He guides me onto my side, facing me away from him. As he pulls me against him, I realize we’re spooning.

And my brain goes into overload once again, but for different reasons. This is Ladies’-Man-Mav. It’s doubtful he’s ever spooned any woman. Shock ripples through me, but also lust because this man has thrown me into complete bewilderment.

“Maverick?” I whisper into the night.

“Just go to sleep, Sunshine.”

It’s the nickname that nearly unravels me. Calling me Cammie for all these years used to turn me on enough. But when he calls me Sunshine? Put a fork in me, I’m fucking done.

He nuzzles into my neck, running his nose against my skin. “You’re exhausted.”

“I mean, I’m notthattired,” my voice squeaks out.

His chuckle against my skin is guttural. “And I think you drank half my bottle of whiskey. I don’t need to get a woman drunk to sleep with me.”

A bit of defiance stirs inside me. “I didn’t drinkthatmuch.”

“Just go to sleep,” he demands, but then he prods my ass with his persistent cock, and I inhale sharply.

Clearly, he’s still very much ready to go. The restraint must be torturous. My heart swells. If I wasn’t already in love with him, this would do it.

Maverick Mendes will always be it for me. The man I will forever measure all other men to. And it’s unfair. Because I will never have him.

CHAPTER6