MAVERICK
Maverick squeezed her arms, giving her a … hopefully … soft smile.
He hated seeing her so upset but knew that the cry had most likely been long overdue.
Pilar struck him as the type of person to hold back her feelings, even if it meant she bottled everything up to the point where something small would end up breaking the seal and letting everything pour out like it was for her right now.
He couldn’t say he blamed her. He’d been there too. Especially after Tessa had died.
“Are you sure?” Pilar wiped at her eyes quickly.
“I’m very sure.”
She shook her head at him, a small smile playing on her lips. “You’re crazy.”
Maverick couldn’t help but laugh at that. Without realizing it, he took his hands away from her arms and brought them up to cup her face. He watched her eyes dart from his eyes to his lips, an unconscious action that made the hunger in him burn.
Bringing her face up to his, Maverick pulled her into a kiss.
The second that their lips touched, he felt his body respond. The kiss quickly turned heated … both of them like wild animals that had been starved for far too long.
A set of hands found their way onto his chest, backing him until he hit one of the nearby walls. A hungry groan left his lips, Pilar’s tongue working its way into his mouth as she pressed her body into his.
He could feel every curve of her incredible body, his hands dancing away from her face to roam down to her hips and squeeze.
She let out a rather animalistic growl. Something he could only describe as passionate and possessive all rolled into one. Maverick felt a sharp pain race down his chest, like a set of claws had dug into his skin and ripped downward.
He gasped, pulling away at the rudeness of it to look down. That’s when he saw both of Pilar’s fingers … her claws, rather … dug right down into his chest, slicing the fabric of his shirt apart in the process.
He blinked in surprise.
“Oh …shit…!” She immediately pulled her hands back, her claws retracting immediately.
Blood pooled down his chest in small rivulets. It wasn’t especially painful. Felt more like a dull sting than anything. It’d just surprised him in the moment when it’d happened.
Before he could tell her that, though, Pilar raced off to his private bathroom. He could hear the sounds of her rummaging through the cabinet underneath the sink and smiled a little. He didn’t mean to worry her, but it was rather endearing that she seemed to be so stressed about the situation.
Is that a little messed up for me to think?
“Pilar, there’s a first aid kit in the back left-hand corner.”
She came out only a moment later with it clutched in her hands and a tight expression on her face.
Wordlessly, she guided him to his desk for him to sit on the edge of. Her fingers worked carefully, peeling the soaked fabric away from his chest and discarding the ruined shirt on his office floor.
Maverick took the kit from her hands, rested it on his thigh, and popped it open for her.
“I feel honored you’re going to stitch me up,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.
She didn’t take the bait, though. Instead, she remained painfully silent as he pulled a few antiseptic wipes out and dabbed the cuts gently. He winced a little at the sharp sting of pain but tried his best not to make it so obvious.
He didn’t want to seem like a complete wimp in front of her.
Once she had the areas all cleaned, she taped a few bandages over them and stepped back with the soiled pieces.
Maverick nodded behind her. “Trash is behind you.”
When she turned to toss everything away, he slid off the edge of his desk and clipped the first aid kit shut again.