Page 81 of On The Rocks

“Oh shit,” she cried. “Did I say that out loud? I was still half asleep.” She peered over her shoulder at me and quickly directed her gaze down, mumbling, “Of course you look likethatfirst thing in the morning while I’ve probably got last night’s mascara smeared across my face. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I’m such an idiot.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, your chest isawesome,” her eyebrows drew together, clearly puzzled, and she peered closer, “but where’s all your hair gone? I can see a little bit of stubble.”

I coughed out my laughter, making a loud choking sound.

“Oh Jesus, I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Still chuckling, I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes. “I shave my chest.”

Her nose scrunched up, and I wondered how anyone could be so damned cute. “Why?”

“Dunno,” I admitted. “A lotta men do, at least in all the guy’s fitness magazines and stuff. Donny and Tadhg shave theirs, too.”

“That’s a shame,” she murmured. “I like a nice hairy chest, though not where the hair grows all over the tummy part, except the happy trail bit. I don’t like it when it’s all tufty, either. Like you’ve got a patch over here and a patch over there.” Her eyes widened. “Yours isn’t tufty, is it?”

I snorted a laugh.

“Oh Jesus.” She blinked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I need to shut my mouth.”

Still chuckling, I leaned down and kissed the end of her nose. “It’s okay. I don’t have tummy hair, and I’m not tufty; well, not that I’ve noticed. I’ll grow my hair in for you if ya want me to, and you can decide if I fit your ideal chest aesthetic. Shaving it all the time’s a drag, anyway, and I don’t like the way it feels after a couple of days; it’s all scratchy.” I took her hand and ran it over my pecs. “Feel that?”

Maeve’s eyes turned to liquid. “Mmm.” Her palms left my skin, leaving her fingertips trailing over me instead. “It is scratchy, but it feels nice.”

My cock thickened. “Yeah, baby. That feelsfuckin’nice.” I dipped my chin to touch my mouth to hers.

She sighed and mewled quietly as my lips traveled across her cheek to her ear, and I murmured, “Let’s try this again. Morning, wifey.”

Her eyes met mine, and she smiled shyly. “Morning, husband.”

I reached for her at the same time as she reached for me. We came together as if there was an invisible force between us, and we had no choice but to touch. Maeve and I had been dancing around each other for weeks, and finally, our bodies connected like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Shifting her onto her back, my hand sifted through her beautiful hair, and I marveled at its softness and how fresh and glossy it felt between my fingers.

“Hmm,” she murmured again, and my dick jerked at how sexy she sounded.

Our eyes locked, and I watched her cosmic-blue irises liquify with the same pent-up desire that had been driving me crazy forweeks. “I’m fucking gone for you,” I croaked, my heart filling with emotion for my quirky girl.

Maeve’s fingers came to my face, and something behind her eyes shifted. It was like she could see deep inside my soul and the man I wanted to be for her. “I never thought...” she began.

I pecked the end of her freckled nose. “What?”

“I never knew it could be like this,” she whispered.

A ball of emotion heated the back of my throat. “Same, baby. This is new for me, too.”

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. “I’ve never been happier and more terrified at the same time.”

Gently, I pulled her lip free, bent my neck, and kissed it, sucking the bite mark to soothe away the sting. I never wanted my girl to hurt, never wanted her to feel pain, and she never would when she was with me.

Languidly, I stretched out on top of Maeve’s sexy, sweet body until I covered every inch of it with mine. She felt warm and soft, like every dip and curve was made for me. I caught her mouth again, but that time, instead of pulling back, I deepened the kiss, pressing my tongue against hers.

She tasted like fresh flowers, clean and subtle. Our lips moved together, perfectly synchronized, with every heartbeat and every thrum of our pulses. We were perfectly attuned, and in that moment, all my doubts melted away.

I knew Maeve was mine. Maybe I always had deep down, or why else would I be so against getting to know her? It was just like the saying went: he doth protest too much.

I released her mouth to trail soft kisses across her face and down her throat. “I want you.”

“I want you, too,” she said on an exhale.

I sucked gently on the spot where her neck met her shoulder. “Now? Or do we wait?”

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