Page 73 of Wilds of Wonder
Maverick tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry you had to endure so many years with him. I’m sorry you were stuck in a marriage with that monster. All that time I was a professor at the academy. Do you know how many times we were in the same room and I never knew it was you... I don’t know what I would have done if I had known. What I could have done. Not when you were a married woman and I had a job at the academy.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said. “That’s in the past. Now we can make our own future.” I realized how much I wanted that. It was like this light-bulb moment. Of course I did, and I could have it. I didn’t have to run from him anymore. “If I’m not in prison, that is.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he said fiercely, pulling me tighter and letting me feel every honed edge of his body.
Heat gathered between my legs again. Blood and frost, I already wanted more of him.
“Does this mean our games are officially over?” I trailed a finger down his chest.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to that sensitive spot behind my ear. “I think it means we’re just going to be playing a different kind of game.”
I reached under the water and ran my hand down his shaft as he shuddered. “Now that I can get on board with.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
MAVERICK
Emory and I lay on a smooth flat rock in the middle of the hot spring. We’d haphazardly thrown clothes over our bodies in case anyone came across us, but it would be too easy to reach over and lift the tunic draping her midsection, to roll my body on top of hers and bury my cock inside of her.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’d dreamt of this over the years. The amount of times I’d imagined lifting that cloak of hers, bending her over and thrusting into her again and again and again. Now she’d been the one touching me, making me come apart in that hot spring as she stroked my cock. This time, when I came it was with her name on my lips, her mouth pressed to mine.
She stroked my chest in slow, even motions. “What are you thinking about?” she asked.
I snorted, then rolled over and pressed my semi-hard length against her thigh. “Does that answer your question?”
She playfully shoved me off of her. “Did you ever think this would happen between us? When you were the bone collector and I was the white rabbit?”
I stayed silent. I wanted to tell her yes. I wanted to admit that I’d dreamt of this for six fucking years. That she’d captivated me from the first moment I saw her in that snowy field behind the academy. But something held me back. I remembered her words in that cave. About her husband, about feeling trapped with him, about never wanting to be trapped like that again.
In all the years I’d known her, Emory had always been skittish. She’d always been the one to retreat, to hold back. I didn’t want to scare her or give her any reason to run from me again. So I’d take it slow. I would let her come to me, let her realize that I wasn’t going anywhere. And when she was ready, I’d give her my all. Every piece of me that she wanted. I only hoped I was worthy in the end.
“We had our rules,” I said finally, avoiding the question. “I figured there was a reason you were hiding yourself from me, and I knew why I was hiding from you. I didn’t want to ruin what we had.”
“What we had was good,” she agreed, then let out a laugh. “We had a lot of fun over the years.”
“We did.” She rolled to her side, snuggling into my bare chest, and I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We can still have a lot of fun. As partners.”
As more. When she was ready.
“Partners instead of adversaries. Are you sure that’ll be enough of a challenge for you?”
I laughed. “I think you are my challenge. Seeing you in action, seeing your passion, your knowledge. That’s what I crave.”
She propped herself up on an elbow, the tunic draped across her shifting so that I could see the swell of her breasts, pale skin gleaming in the twilight sky. My cock twitched.
She pointed a finger into my chest. “I can’t believe you got to attend the Academy of Scholars & Historians while I spent four horrid years at the Academy of Ladies.”
I snorted. “What, exactly, does that entail?”
She grimaced. “Learning how to be a lady, of course. We lived in the dormitories and spent our days learning how to sew, how to plan a meal for a family, how to throw a ball, how to plan an intimate dinner party, a feast if any of us were lucky enough to marry someone who had enoughmoney to host something so grand. We had an entire semester dedicated to learning important topics of conversation so our husbands didn’t grow bored of us.” She trailed a finger from my chest down my stomach, making my cock pulse with heat. “And don’t forget the art of pleasing a man.”
I turned onto my side to face her. “Now that I’m quite interested in hearing about.”
“Well you got a little taste of it in the hot spring.” She smiled mischievously.
“Thank the spirits for the Academy of Ladies,” I said, and she swatted at me.
“I had so many dreams,” she said wistfully. “And that academy squashed every one.”
