Page 33 of Elliot

“We?”

Elliot blinked. “I. I’m used to talking about my team. My ex-team.”

“Do you miss working with a team?” She was done with the food, so she leaned back.

“Yes and no. But we talked about them and not wanting relationships the other night.” He shrugged.

Maya stood up. “I think I was wrong when we were talking the other night. As a matter of fact, I’m positive about it. A relationship with the right person, one I respected and whoexceeded my high standards, would be a calculated risk I’d be willing to take.” She turned and walked out of the kitchen before her bravado failed her. Was it the alcohol? She walked back to her room. No, definitely not. It was the realization that Elliot was a very special man. One she respected and one who wanted nothing from her.

Maya shut the door and peeled herself out of her dress, leaving it in the middle of the floor. She floated into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As she leaned under the warm water, she admitted to herself that her attraction to Elliot couldn’t be put in a box that she could keep away from the rest of her life. He was bigger, bolder, more intense, and gentler than any man she’d ever known. She’d love to feel his lips on hers and so much more.

She toweled off and slipped into an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts she’d purchased in college before slipping into bed. The night's events spun through her mind on repeat and meshed with her newly admitted desire for her personal security officer. She rolled over and glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. Tossing off the blankets, she tiptoed to the door and opened it as quietly as she could. She went to the bank of windows and looked out at the city's lights that never slept. She loved it. She loved the energy and the almost frantic pace that made New York seem brighter and more vibrant than any other place she’d been.

She sensed Elliot before his hands fell on her hips. “You should be sleeping.” His voice rumbled behind her.

“I can’t. My mind won’t turn off.” She sighed and leaned back against him.

“This shouldn’t be happening,” he said but didn’t move away.

“Probably not,” she agreed. “But I’m not going to stop. Are you?”

There was silence for several long moments before he turned her toward him and dropped his lips to hers. My. God. The thrill and the sensation of his tongue brushing her lips made her knees go weak. She ran her fingers up his bare chest as he kissed her. His chest hair covered a chest that was nothing but plates of muscles. The smell of the man went straight to her brain like a pure hit of cocaine. Intoxicating in ways alcohol could never touch. Heat pooled deep inside her, and she rubbed her hips against him. The ridge of his very hard desire was pinned between them. She moaned as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Breaking the kiss, he looked down at her. “Tell me to stop now.”

She glanced down to his lips, then back to his eyes. “Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

He dropped his lips to hers and picked her up, making her gasp as she grabbed his neck and wrapped her legs around him. She had no idea how he found a bed, and she didn’t care. Her mind was gone, her body was in control, and she needed the man in a way she’d never experienced. It wasn’t a conscious decision. It was physical, base, and almost feral.

After they landed on the bed, his hands lifted her t-shirt. She wiggled out of it as he pushed it over her head. Elliot sat up on his knees and stared at her. Sitting up, she grabbed his neck, pulling him down on top of her. She didn’t want him to think too much about it. There was no way he was going to stop. She’d make sure of it. She scraped her nails down his ribs and found the waistband of his sweatpants, pushing them down over his ass. She couldn’t get enough of him and growled in frustration when the front of his waistband wouldn’t budge because it was pinned between them.

Elliot jumped up and pushed down his pants as Maya squirmed out of her shorts. He was back and covering her asecond later. Oh, sweet heavens, the man was nothing but hard muscle and sexual desire.

He broke their kiss. “Condom.”

“Covered,” she panted. “Don’t you dare stop.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” She pulled him back down, and he entered her. The feel of him inside her was nothing short of explosive. Sparks ignited the molten heat that had built inside her since the moment his lips touched hers.

He broke the kiss and groaned, “I’m not going to last.”

“Next time,” she panted and once again pulled him down to her.

She lifted her hips to meet his, ratcheting up the wild need clawing inside her. She shattered, and her body clenched in a rhythmic pulse that detonated the coiled fusion inside her body. She felt him hilt inside her, imploding as her body disintegrated around him. He propped himself on his elbows but kept his head on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

She put her hands on either side of his face and lifted his head. “About what?”

“I couldn’t stop. I should have waited for you to finish.”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around him. “I did. Right before you. God, that was the best sex of my life.”

He lifted his head and stared at her. “It was amazing.” He dropped his lips and kissed her before his hands started to explore her body. Not the furious grappling they’d been doing before. That time, they slowed down. Her hands found the dips in the valleys of his muscles. She noticed when her touch caused him to shiver or his muscles to ripple. She found out his ear was an erogenous zone for him, and he damn near purred when she sucked the lobe into her mouth. When they joined together the second time, he put her on top. His hands held her breasts as she lifted up and down on his cock. They stared at each other theentire time. There was no awkward embarrassment, no regret about what she was doing. This man, this experience, at this time, was pure. Nothing she’d ever felt could compare to what she was feeling tonight. Soaring. She was soaring, and nothing could take the feeling away from her.

As she lay in his arms, his fingers moved up and down her back. She sighed and turned to him. “Please tell me you don’t regret it.”

He chuckled. “I could never regret being with you.”

She lifted up on an elbow. “Do you mean that?”

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