Angel Among Sinners (The Garden Book 1)

by Rachel Blake

  “That’s the thing, I’m not sure if I need it with you or not. I want to say I don’t, that I can do what I please with you, to an extent, but it’s been a long time.”

  “The sake has my lips loose, so if I regret telling you this in the morning, you better accept the excuse.” Eden held out her pinky. “Deal?”

  “Deal.” He wrapped his finger around hers. “Now, spill.”

  “I thought I’d gotten rid of all of those feelings I had for you back in high school, but it turns out, they just went dormant. As soon as I saw you, no, heard your voice in that conference room, my belly knotted, and the feelings came roaring back. The problem is, I don’t know if teenage love translates into adulthood love. Does that make sense?”

  “Yeah, it really does.”

  “Can I have another bite?”

  Maverick grabbed her another mouthful and brought it to her lips. As she chewed, it was his turn to talk. “I feel something, too. Like you said, I’m not sure if it’s love, but it’s definitely a need to protect you.”

  “Oh,” her eyes fell to her lap.

  “No. No, no, no, Angel. That isn’t a bad thing. It’s simply an unknown thing. I do, however, know with that need to protect you, comes a need to explore all of this, every aspect of it.”

  “I could explore.” She paused for a second, “What exactly does ‘exploring’ mean?”

  “Well, I think it means we explore it as any other couple would.”

  “Dating?”

  “Exactly.”

  Embry studied his face. “Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ hanging in the air?”

  “I think you already know why.”

  “Because you expect me to allow you to smack my butt whenever you feel it’s necessary?”

  “Bingo. How do you feel about that?”

  “I mean, it’s part of who you are, isn’t it?” At his confirmation, she continued, “I think it’s part of who I am, too, but I need to know you’ll always respect a safeword.”

  “Of course, I will.”

  “No, I mean always. Even when I piss you off. Even when I break the biggest rule of all and then tell you to fuck off, giving you all the reasons to light my ass on fire. I need to know if I use one of my safewords, everything stops.”

  “When you’re crying and begging me to stop, that safeword is what keeps me from doing to you what your father did,” Maverick said, cutting straight to the point.

  “You know I don’t think you’re anything like him, right?”

  “Of course, you don’t. There are a few big differences. The first is that you’ll consent to what we do, and your safeword is how you take the consent away. The second big difference is, I’m not setting out to harm you.”

  “I know you’d never harm me.”

  “But if it ever gets to be too much, you still need to use your safeword. I can only read your body language so well, and I don’t want to cross that line.”

  “I’ll use it if I need to, I promise.”

  “Good. Are you still hungry?”

  “No, I’m ready to go to bed.” Embry looked at the floor. “Will you sleep with me? With everything that’s going on, I’d sleep better if you were next to me.”

  “No funny business tonight, promise?”

  “I’ll keep my hands to myself. Scout’s honor.”

  “Okay.” Maverick nodded as he patted her hip. “Okay, you go get ready for bed. I’ll put the food away and be right in.”

  She was off his lap and in her bedroom in a heartbeat. As she was pulling the tee she slept in over her head, she thought back to the last time she slept with Maverick and smiled. They were just kids back then, but it was one of the best night’s sleep she’s ever had, before and since.

  She took a deep breath. This was what she needed, and she was not going to let it pass her by. The urge to feel him next to her was just too much to resist.

  ***

  This was a horrible idea.

  Maverick cursed his cock as he shifted the fucker in his briefs again. The fucking thing had been up and down since he walked into the bedroom and saw her standing there in a t-shirt, and he hadn’t gotten a fucking wink of sleep.

  She chose that moment to roll into his chest and snuggle, her warm breath warming his bare skin.

  Best decision ever.

  ***

  The sun streaming into the bedroom had Embry curling farther into the warm body at her side. She relaxed into the chest and was nearly asleep again when she realized there was a second body in her bed, and she stilled.

  The heavy arm of her bed partner wrapped around her back, pulling her farther into him and the smattering of chest hair.

  “Go back to sleep, Angel. It’s too early to be awake.”

  George. The memories of him trying to teach her how to use chopsticks filled her head and had her trying to stifle her giggle.

  “Laughing is the opposite of sleeping.”

  “No, awake is the opposite of sleep.”

  She knew it was coming. Hell, he had to move his arm from her middle to do it, but she still jumped when his hand landed sharply against her ass.

  “That was supposed to make you stop giggling, not make you laugh harder.”

  Embry nodded her head against him as she held her breath in an attempt to get it under control. She succeeded, for all of two minutes, before it came back with a vengeance.

  His sigh was long and heavy before he cracked an eye open and searched her face.

  “Do you wake up giggling every morning?”

  “No.” She only managed the single word through her laughter.

  “Today’s special?” When she shrugged, he allowed his eyes to close again before relaxing into the pillow once more. “One.”

  She bit her lip at the mumbled number. “I’m trying.”

  “Two.”

  “Not fair.”

  Maverick looked up at her, his brow quirked. When it only served to have her laughing harder, he shook his head. “Three.”

  In an instant, he had her rolled to her back and was settled on top of her with his hands pinning her arms above her head. Her squeal was still bouncing around the room when she met his eyes. “This was why you were counting?”

  “Is that disappointment I hear in your voice?”

  “No, just shock.”

  “This wasn’t what you were expecting?”

  “To be pinned under you?” Embry shook her head, “I have to say, when I woke up to a hard body in my bed, I didn’t expect to be pinned under said hardbody because I couldn’t control my hysterics.”

  “Oh, that was just my excuse to pin you down. The real reason I did it was so I could do this.” His lips met hers in a searing kiss. “See?”

  “So, you could kiss me like most people kiss their grandmother?” Shit, she had to fight hard to keep the smile from showing on her face.

  “That was not a grandma kiss!”

  “You just pecked at my lips. It totally was.”

  “I’ll show you a grandma kiss.” This time he slanted his head before taking her lips with his. When she didn’t open to the tongue running along her lower lip, he nipped at her, forcing her mouth to fall open in a gasp, so he could slip his tongue into her mouth.

  Turning to the side, she pulled her lips from his and bit at his stubbled jaw.

  “No biting,” Maverick lightly scolded as he moved her wrists to one of his hands, so he could catch her chin to hold her in place. His eyes caught hers.

  “You bit me.”

  “I tried being nice to get what I wanted, but you wouldn’t open for me.” He turned her head to the side, placing kisses along her jawline to her ear, where he nipped at her lobe. “So, now I’m done being nice.” His tongue traced the outer shell of her ear before he pulled back to look her in the eye once more. “Tell me to stop.”

  “No.” The single word was out of her mouth before she thought about it. “I don’t want you to stop.”

  His forehead rested against her
s. “Then tell me this is what you want. That you want me to fuck you senseless right here.”

  “I want you to fuck me senseless right here, George. I need it.” Embry stared into his eyes, willing him to see the truth, silently begging him not to make her beg.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Maverick Grandgeorge, if you don’t fuck me, I’ll have to take my battery-operated boyfriend into the bathroom and do it myself, and that would be a fucking shame because,”—she lifted her hips the short distance to bump his cock with her core—“I would hate to waste that.”

  “You play dirty.”

  “And you talk far too much, George.” Her bluntness must have caught him off guard because she was able to pull one of her hands from his grasp and fist the hair at the back of his head, bringing him down for a kiss.

  He allowed her the control for a few minutes, but he was soon pulling back and untangling her fingers from his hair. “You think you get to control this?”

  “Well, I was.”

  It was Maverick’s turn to laugh as he once again pinned both arms over her head. “You think so, huh?”

  “Yeah, I pulled you down to kiss me, didn’t I?”

  “I allowed it, giving you the illusion of control.”

  “That was one hell of an illusion.” She lifted her hips again, “Is that a figment of my imagination, too?”

  “God, I hope not.” He lowered his lips to her throat, pressing kiss after kiss to the delicate area. When he got to the collar of her shirt, he sat back and still straddling her hips, issued his first order, “Lose the tee, Angel.”

  She didn’t hesitate, gathering as much of the fabric in her hands as she could before whisking it over her head.

  “Angel, this would be a lot more satisfying for both of us if you were to open your eyes. I prefer to see the look on your face when I slip inside you or make you come.”

  “Sorry.” She opened her eyes but refused to meet his eyes.

  Caressing the side of her face, Maverick waited for her eyes to meet his before he spoke, “We don’t have to do this.”

  “No, I want to.”

  “You can’t even look at me without me demanding it, Angel.”

  “I’m nervous.”

  “Then let’s wait. We can get to know each other better, have time to build trust, and grow our relationship.”

  “I want to do this, really. I’m just nervous. And before you say it, nerves don’t always equate to not wanting to do something. These nerves are from inexperience, not fear.” Realizing what she said, Embry rushed on, “Not that I haven’t done this before because I have, just not a lot. I’m going to stop talking now.”

  “I love it when you blush.” He ran a knuckle down her cheek.

  “I’m glad you do because right now, it’s a tell I could really do without.”

  “Oh, it’s not your only tell.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a second.” Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she hesitated.

  “I can’t read your mind, so you have to tell me what’s running through your head.”

  “Are you going to touch me?” Embry asked. “I mean, I know you're touching me, but are you going to touch me?”

  With a smirk firmly in place, he lowered his mouth to just above her puckered nipple before finding her eyes with his, his breath warming her flesh. “Is this what you want me to touch?”

  “It would be a start.”

  “Oh.” He pulled back, pinching the brown puckered flesh between his fingers. “Do you think sass is going to get you what you want here?”

  Arching her back off the bed to relieve the pain, she let her mouth fall open but didn’t know how to answer him.

  “Cat got your tongue, Angel?”

  “No, I’m just trying to decide if it hurts or feels good.”

  Maverick chuckled. “If you can’t tell, I’m not doing it right.” His warm mouth closed around her neglected nipple, his teeth holding the nub with just enough pressure to force her to arch into him again.

  “I take it back.”

  Releasing the flesh, he laved it with his tongue a few times before he spoke, “What do you take back?”

  “I know how it feels now, and it feels good. God, it feels good.” She watched as his head moved from one breast to the other, causing her to squirm against him, the stubble on his jaw just enough of a contrast to his soft lips.

  He let her nipple go with a pop before moving from over top of her. “Don’t move.”

  It was an order, an unneeded one, but an order, nonetheless. Embry couldn’t have moved away from him at that moment if she’d wanted to.

  His thumbs were hooked in the elastic of his boxer briefs, the only article of clothing he wore.

  “Take off your panties, Angel. I want to see all of you.”

  Eyes locked with his, she lifted her hips and pulled the scrap of fabric down her legs and over her feet before throwing them in the general direction of the hamper. “Your turn?”

  “With pleasure, baby.” He shoved the underwear to his feet, and his cock sprang free.

  “Shit, I’m glad we didn’t do this last night.”

  Maverick crawled up the bed and settled at her side, his hand supporting his head, so he could look down at her. “And why is that?”

  “It was dark, and I wouldn’t be able to see everything.” She watched a smirk curl the side of his mouth a second before his fingers went to her belly and started swirling lightly over her flesh.

  He moved up between her breast, circling one, then the other before moving down her belly and repeating the process. On the third pass, a whimper fell from her mouth. “Is there something you need, want, maybe?”

  “You’re torturing me, and you know it.”

  “Then maybe you should use your words.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, she let the words fall from her lips. “Fuck me, please.”

  The hitching of the corner of his lip was the only indication he heard her. He didn’t change anything else. His finger still followed the same path, causing her nipples to tighten further.

  “Please. Please, please, please.”

  “You’re forgetting one word in there.”

  “Please, Sir. Please.”

  “You’re a fast learner, Angel.”

  Embry only got to enjoy the look of pride on his face at the use of the title for a few seconds before he was bent to her breast and sucking a nipple into his mouth. The pull of his mouth had her arching off the bed as her own mouth fell open, and her breathing picked up. “Ow.”

  Releasing the nipple from between his teeth, he pulled away and smiled as he blew a lungful of cold air on her damp skin. The gasp that escaped her lips had a smile playing on his lips. “Stay where I put you.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Are you ready, Angel?”

  “Yes, Sir. Please.” Embry rasped out a second before she sat up on her elbows as he jumped up from the bed. “Um, that wasn’t what I was ready for. Where are you going?”

  “We need a condom.” He snagged his pants from the floor, dug into his pocket, and held the foil packet up like a trophy.

  “You’re really lucky you’re cute. It makes it worth dealing with all your corniness.” Her laughter died on her lips as he rolled the condom onto his shaft, his eyes never leaving hers, his steps never faltering.

  When he was once again settled between her legs, he allowed his lopsided grin to take over her face. “What was that about being cocky?”

  “I take it back. All of it.”

  “I thought you would.” Running his hands down the inside of her thighs, he let his thumb brush her sex. “Now, where were we?”

  “You were just about to fuck me, Sir,” Embry reminded him with ease.

  “Fuck you, already? Oh, I’m pretty sure I was about to taste you first.”

  He didn’t wait for a response, simply moved his thumbs to the lips of her sex, and pulled them apart, exposing her clit. The cool air of the room had her fig
hting to hold herself still.

  All thought of holding still went out the window, the second his tongue made contact with her core. He started at her entrance and ran the flat of his tongue up and over her bundle of nerves.

  “I already warned you about staying still, Embry.” He didn’t give her time to respond, instead, he pulled his mouth from her sex and landed a single swat to her pussy. “Going to sit still now?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  When his tongue returned to her sex, she fought the urge to push into him, the desire to force him to apply more pressure to just the right spot.

  “George, please.”

  “Try that again. Who am I?” he scraped his teeth against her clit.

  “Sir. Sir. I meant Sir, please.”

  Feeling his body shake against her thighs with the force of his chuckle, she managed to keep from moving, but the roll of her eyes was another story.

  “Are you sure you’re ready, Angel?”

  “God, yes.”

  He didn’t need any further encouragement. Sitting up, he aligned his cock with her core.

  Maverick, her Maverick, was about to fuck her. After fifteen years, she was finally going to live out the fantasies of the past. The memory of that night in his bedroom flashed into her mind's eye and had her biting her lips in embarrassment. She would never admit it, but she gave some extra wiggles of her ass when he was holding her.

  Mav rubbed his cock up and down her sex, spreading her wetness before he slowly slid in, inch by inch.

  “Shit!” It shouldn’t have been that hard to be still, but the need was overwhelming her. “Quit being gentle with me and fuck me!” Embry panted.

  “Patience, little one,” Mav said as he started thrusting.

  “Do you like driving me crazy? Because that’s what you’re doing. You’re driving me mad, pushing to see how good I can be before I move and earn myself another reprimand.”

  “No.” He slapped the outside of her thigh, his thrusts never changing in his movements. “I’m going slow to stave off my own orgasm. Trust me, I would love to pound into you without a care in the world, but I have standards, and you, Angel, have expectations.”

  The moans were all but pulled out of her as he started to pick up the pace and moved her legs closer to her chest. Fuck! The angle was nearly perfect. Embry tried to wiggle into just the right position, but he had all the control, and damn if that didn’t send her hurling closer to the edge.