The Maverick Read online

  “Danny Levinson was killed in action during our last mission. We were ambushed.” He paused, swallowed as the memory threatened to smother him. “At that point my remaining unit partners and I decided to leave the military. We currently run a security and P.I. business in Atlanta. I’m here because Colonel Garrett has asked me to be here. I’m here to share my experience, the good, the bad and the ugly.” He smiled. “Welcome to the big leagues, gentleman. Let’s get started.”

  8

  “HOW’D YOU DO IT?” Julia asked the minute the men left the room. If she sounded impressed, it’s because she was.

  Guy had been…phenomenal.

  She’d realized, of course that becoming a Ranger was no easy task—that only the best of the best were accepted into Ranger school—and that it took a truly spectacular soldier to be selected for a elite special forces team.

  But for whatever reason, she hadn’t realized that this wounded, irreverent, sexy bad boy had been one of them.

  She’d known it…but she hadn’t appreciated it.

  Today she’d gotten a glimpse of the kind of soldier he’d been and the pain he was still dealing with as a result of the death of his friend. His description of the event had been short and to the point, but the pain, anguish and ultimate responsibility she’d heard in his voice had been utterly heart wrenching. It had penetrated her own chest and she’d had to forcibly resist laying her hand upon his sleeve in a gesture of comfort.

  He wouldn’t accept it, of course, because he didn’t feel like he deserved anyone’s comfort. Guy was clearly wallowing in the guilt as penance for an accident that he had no way of controlling, and yet experience told her that until he was ready to forgive himself, he wouldn’t be receptive to hearing her opinion.

  Or anyone else’s for that matter.

  As for how he’d handled this class, Julia fully understood why Garrett had bet his future career on Guy McCann. He hadn’t kept her participation in this class a secret because he hadn’t trusted Guy—he’d done it to ensure his participation. He’d needed him that desperately.

  Without the slightest discernible hesitation, Guy had walked right in and commanded the room, but more importantly, he’d waded into a bad situation and commanded the respect of this new up-and-coming team. The relief of having Richard Rutland walk out of this room had been practically palpable, then putting the decision of the replacement in their hands had been a pure stroke of genius.

  Talk about building instant trust, Julia thought, smiling at Guy.

  He paused and a crooked grin spread across that incredibly sexy mouth. Her nipples tingled, just looking at him. “What?” he asked.

  “What what?”

  “You’re staring at me.”

  Julia shrugged. “I asked you a question and am still waiting for a response.”

  He arched a brow.

  “How did you do it? How did you get rid of Rutland?”

  Guy shrugged. “I gave Garrett my professional opinion—”

  She’d just bet he did, Julia thought, wishing like hell she could have witnessed that.

  “—and he decided that he should listen to me.”

  She leaned a hip against the desk and regarded him with amusement. “You threatened to walk out, didn’t you?”

  Guy flashed a smile at her. “It’s possible.”

  “Probable, I’d say.”

  He sidled closer to her, purposely crowding into her personal space. A sigh leaked out of her lungs, making her quivering belly deflate like a spent party balloon. “You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?”

  Julia rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot wrapped in a moron. I would never presume to try and figure you out.”

  He jerked his head in one of those confident up-nods. “Maybe so…but you want me.”

  She flattened her lips to keep from smiling. Geez, Lord had she ever met a guy with any more confidence? “You’re awfully full of yourself.”

  His eyes twinkled with wicked humor. “You could be full of me, too, if you’d just say the word.”

  An image of Guy McCann, naked, hot, needy and hard, poised between her thighs, nudging deep leaped instantly to mind, making her womb clench and soaking her panties with wet, moist heat. “Wh-what word?” Julia asked a little breathlessly.

  He leaned forward and planted a lingering sweet kiss on her terrible nose, causing a rush of emotion to clog in her throat. He probably had no idea what he’d just done—how much that tender gesture had meant—and yet Julia knew it was the beginning of the end for her. A few more days in his company and she’d be head over heels in love, planning happily-ever-afters and ’til-death-do-us parts.

  Crazy, when she knew he was a player. That’s why she’d picked him, right? Because he was so damned good at catch and release.

  “Now,” Guy told her meaningfully. “The word is now. And the instant you say it, baby, I’ll prove to you that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. Eeyore and those other bastards have got it all wrong,” he said, sliding a finger down the side of her face. “You are…” He paused, seemingly searching for the right words. “You are so damned sexy I’ve kept a perpetual hard-on since the minute I saw you. I look at you and the first thing I want to do it pull that hair down, strip you naked, then back your delectable ass up against the wall and take you until we both scream. I want to taste every part of you—white parts, pink parts and all parts in between.” He leaned in and kissed her hard, leaving no room for any error in her mind. It was thrilling and wonderful and she so desperately wanted to believe him. “One word,” he repeated softly. “And I’m yours.”

  Julia blinked drunkenly, trying to reassemble her thoughts. I’m yours… Now there was a heady, almost irresistible thought. Guy McCann—Lieutenant Wicked—hers.

  Seemingly recognizing that coherent thought had completely abandoned her, Guy grinned at her. “What was that word again?”

  “Now.”

  His gaze darkened. “Excellent. I thought you’d never ask.”

  Before she fully realized what he was about, he shut the classroom door and locked it with a purposeful click.

  “Wait, Guy. I—”

  “You said now,” he said, sidling swiftly back to her. “Don’t you remember?” Those clear green eyes tangled with hers, effectively snatching the breath from her lungs, and the next second he was on her.

  His kiss was hot and frantic, thrilling and impatient, all those things she felt herself, hammering away inside her veins, making her utterly insane with need.

  With every skilled thrust of his tongue into her mouth, Julia felt a resulting tug in her womb and she no longer gave a damn that they were in a deserted classroom with annoyingly bright fluorescent bulbs overhead. All that mattered was this moment—the time—with Guy.

  An impressive bulge nudged her belly, branded her, and her lips slid into a grateful smile. Perpetual hard-on, indeed Julia thought dimly, no longer concerned that she’d been tricked into saying his one word.

  Now, now, now.

  He did want her.

  And he could fix her.

  She felt his fingers push into her hair, removing pins, until the heavy weight of it fell down over her shoulders.

  A masculine hum of pleasure resonated in their joined mouths as he twined a lock around his finger. Julia’s feminine muscles clenched and a rush of warmth coated her folds, making her press her sex more firmly against his. Need and instinct took over and she squirmed against him, desperate for that guaranteed orgasm he’d promised her.

  Guy tore his mouth from hers, then trailed thorough but speedy kisses down the side of her neck, along her jaw. Julia untangled her fingers from the close-cropped hair at his nape, eagerly jerked his shirt from the waist-band of his slacks, then sighed with pleasure when her hands found his bare skin.

  Warm, supple and smooth.

  Sweet Jesus.

  A low masculine hum of pleasure hissed out of him, and his belly shuddered gratifyingly beneath her questing gr
eedy fingers. Getting beneath the shirt wasn’t enough—she wanted it off. She wanted to feel those muscles, map the intriguing terrain with her hands until she’d learned every inch of him. She tugged the garment over his head, then tossed it carelessly to the floor.

  With a soft wicked chuckle, Guy slowly unbuttoned her shirt, carefully baring her to his gaze. His hot gaze fastened on her chest and she had the pleasure of watching his eyes darken further, a beautiful mossy green. An unsteady breath puffed past his lips as he traced the lacy edge of her bra with slightly shaking fingers.

  “It clasps in the front,” Julia told him, just in case he hadn’t noticed.

  “Convenient,” he murmured thickly. He slipped his fingers beneath the fastener and gave it a gentle pop. The cups parted and dropped away, baring her taut nipples to his hungry gaze.

  “Simply gorgeous,” he murmured to her unending delight, then he let go a shaky breath, and lifted her from the waist, gently depositing her onto the desktop. Then he bent his gorgeous head and fastened his greedy mouth onto her aching peak, expertly palmed the other, lest it feel neglected.

  Julia gasped with pleasure and sagged beneath the weight of the exquisite torment. He suckled, kissed, licked and ravished. His tongue blazed a trail from peak to peak, alternately around each globe, then pulled each in turn deep into his hot mouth.

  God help her.

  A steady throb built between her legs, then an unfamiliar itchy sensation intensified deep in her womb and she hooked her legs around his thighs, trying desperately to find some sort of relief. She wanted that weighty pressure, desperately needed to feel that hard part of him between her legs. Shameless? Yes. But she was past caring.

  It had been too damn long. Too long. And he was…amazing.

  Julia reached out and scored his muscled chest—his nipples—with her nails, leaned forward and nipped his powerful shoulder, then licked the place where she’d bitten, savoring the salty tang of his skin. His scent invaded her nostrils, dark and seductive, all musk and man.

  She squirmed closer to him, let her hand drift over his belly, then boldly stroked his groin. A hot thrill snaked through her at the intimate contact. He was gloriously hard, electrifyingly huge. She slipped the button of his pants from its closure, then felt his warm breath blow over her aching nipple as she lowered his zipper. Less than a second later she had him in hand, tenderly working the hot, slippery flesh over his rigid length. She ran the pad of her thumb over his wet tip, then painted his engorged head with the evidence of his desire. Guy jerked, shuddered, beneath her ministrations, and a low growl of warning issued from his throat.

  She felt his warm fingers against her belly, felt her pants give way beneath his questing hands. She wiggled as his hot mouth found hers once more.

  A wicked, probing kiss, the dizzying rasp of his tongue against hers. He suckled and stroked, feeding at her until her head suddenly felt too heavy for her neck.

  Guy tugged at her pants and she lifted her hips to accommodate him, then impatiently kicked the garments aside. He withdrew a condom from his wallet, swiftly tore into the package with his teeth, then rolled the protection into place.

  Julia blinked slowly, astonished at his sheer size, and another thick warm rush of heat seeped into her weeping folds. Her nipples tingled once more and the air in her lungs virtually evaporated, causing her breathing to go shallow. Anticipation made her belly tremble violently.

  Guy’s warm hands grasped her hips, scooted her forward. The first nudge of him between her nether lips made Julia inhale sharply—then he smoothly slid inside her, buried every glorious inch of himself as far into her as he could—and she exhaled in sublime wonderment. The storm which had been brewing inside her briefly abated, seemingly in awe of the flawless perfection of this moment. It didn’t matter that they were locked in a classroom, that her panties had disappeared beneath the desk or that Guy’s slacks were sagging around his ankles.

  Nothing matter but him being inside her—finally.

  Guy expelled a harsh breath and he rested his forehead against hers, locking himself inside her as though he never wanted to leave. His hands came up and gently framed her face, then with a tender heart-wrenchingly sweet look, he lowered his mouth to hers once more.

  One moment of tenderness in a hurricane of mindlessness was all it took for her silly heart to melt like a drop of water on a hot griddle.

  A curiously relieved laugh stuttered out of her mouth and he caught it in his. She looped her arms around his neck, threw every ounce of passion she possessed into the kiss and simultaneously clamped her greedy muscles around him.

  Pleasure barbed through her, and the single wanton act was all it took to make Guy forget about being tender. His palms slid down her sides, grazed the margins of her breasts, then wound around until her bottom rested in his big warm hands. He kneaded her rump as he slid in and out of her, a hot thrilling game of seek and retreat that quickly stoked the fire raging through her blood.

  A coil of tingly heat tightened in her womb and her breathing came in sharp little puffs as he upped the tempo.

  This was it, Julia realized. She was going to come. Really, truly, while Guy was inside of her…come.

  He pumped harder, faster, then harder still.

  Guy’s breathing grew labored, as well, and a fine dew of sweat glistened on his shoulders. He pumped in and out of her, a rhythmic, erotic bump and grind that made her nipples quiver and dance as a result of his frantic, manic thrusts.

  Julia couldn’t get enough of him. Her hands mapped his body. His shoulders, his belly, the small of his back and, when the first sparker of beginning release detonated in her sex, she attached her hands to his perfect ass and writhed wildly against him.

  Guy growled low in his throat, a masculine sound of pleasure that sang in her veins.

  “Guy,” Julia hissed brokenly. “I need— I’m almost—”

  With a determined cocky smile, Guy increased his rhythm, pounded even harder into her. One hand left her bottom, came around and massaged her tingling clit. The shock of sensation rent a soundless wail from the back of her throat, and few clever strokes later she came so hard she honestly feared she might lose consciousness. Her vision blackened around the edges, colors faded, bathing the bright room in black and white, and if he hadn’t held her tightly against him, she would have undoubtedly slid off the desk and puddled into the floor.

  Wave after wave of glorious release eddied through her, tugging her under, pushing her up. Heightened sensation bolted through her with every eager spasm of the orgasm.

  She heard Guy’s breath catch in his throat, felt him tense, then a low keening growl sounded next to her ear as three hard thrusts later, he joined her in paradise. A shock of warmth pooled against the back of her womb, sending another tingle of joy through her.

  To her unreasonable delight, Guy didn’t immediately withdraw from her, but rather lingered between her legs.

  He braced one hand on the desk, then tipped her chin up. His eyes sparkled with latent humor and lingering lust, and just a hint of something else. Affection, maybe? “I told you we’d have back-bending wild gorilla sex,” Guy told her. “You were fantastic.” A shaky laugh rumbled up from his chest. “There is nothing wrong with you and if you’re still not convinced, then I’ll simply have to have sex with you again.”

  Julia smiled, still vibrating from her first major orgasm in years. “Just say the word,” she told him.

  9

  “SO WHAT’S YOUR FIRST impression of Anderson?” Julia asked. She took a long roundabout lick around the base of her ice cream cone and strolled beside him, completely unaware of the fact that she was absolutely tearing him up. Probably because her tongue had been giving his dick a similar treatment just last night.

  Silky hair sliding over his thighs, warm hand massaging his balls and her hot, hungry mouth sucking at him.

  Dull in the sack, my ass, Guy thought. She was phenomenal.

  His dick leaped in his jeans, strained tow
ard her like a damned divining rod.

  He wanted to track down Warren and every other miserable shit who’d ever made her feel inadequate and pummel the hell out them. Julia was perfect—an amazing lover—and the fact that she’d ever doubted herself made Guy want to constantly reassure her.

  Their second day of class had passed without incident and, though he’d spent entirely too much time thinking about the amazing ball-shrinking sex they’d had on the desk, Guy had to admit he thought things were going pretty well.

  They’d done an orienteering trust-building exercise this morning which this new team had completed in a very impressive time. Not as good as theirs had been, of course, he thought with a smile, but within fifteen seconds. Pretty damned good, he had to admit.

  As for Anderson…

  The man instantly put him in mind of Danny, even had the auburn hair and quirky sense of humor. Guy’s chest ached, just thinking about his friend. Anderson exhibited the best qualities of all the men and he was clearly a devoted member of their crew. After a moment, Guy managed to say as much. “He’s going to do well.”

  “I wonder why Garrett went with Rutland instead of Anderson to start with,” Julia mused. “Honestly, it’s obvious that he’s a much better guy.”

  Payne’d had a theory on that and after further reflection, Guy was fully inclined to agree with him. “I think Garrett put Rutland in that classroom to get me fired up and invested in making this team work,” Guy told her.

  Julia paused, turned to face him. “Surely not,” she breathed softly. A frown wrinkled her otherwise smooth brow. “You think he’d be that damned sneaky?”

  Guy pulled an offhand shrug, took a pull from his milk shake. “He didn’t get where he’s at without being able to shake some things up.”