Fire and Ice (an extended epilogue) (5 page)

His eyes met hers. There was tenderness mixed
with passion. Gone was the pure feral gleam that flared in his eyes
earlier.

“
I’ll make love to you now.” Jack
stretched out above her, propping himself on his forearms as he
ducked his head to kiss her forehead, her nose, and her lips. He
dropped feathery light sensual kisses all over her face, her neck,
and her breasts. His tongue lazily circled the skin around her
nipple as he sucked and alternately tongued it to a hard peak. He
repeated the same on the other breast. Finally, he trailed kisses
down her belly, slowly sliding down her body and pushing her knees
up. His hands held her thighs apart and always when he did this,
Maia whimpered in anticipation.

Nothing happened.

“
Jack?” Maia propped up on her
elbows to see what he was doing.

He was just staring at her sex.

His eyes flicked to hers for a second, and she
saw him lick his lips.

“All mine,” he whispered before
his mouth descended between her legs. Her toes curled, and she
could feel the back of her legs cramping.
Oh shit
. She was still too
sensitive, but Jack continued to lick her to another orgasm. His
tongue tunneled her entrance before pulling her clit gently between
his lips. She dissolved in his mouth. Again.

Her sex was still spasming when Jack gently
pushed inside her. Just rocking into her slowly, his hard
length—her man certainly had stamina—sliding into her slickness.
When he withdrew, her body screamed from the void that was left,
and when he thrust back inside her she felt satiated. With this
man, it would always be an endless cycle of sate and
need.

Her orgasm built slowly, but was no less
explosive. She came twice more before Jack let himself go, shoving
his face in her hair as he recovered from his climax. He lay down
beside her, drew her into his arms, and spooned her as they both
drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER
FIVE

3:30
a.m. Sunday morning

Jack collapsed beside Maia. He had no idea how
they got from the bed to the floor. OK, he did. His woman woke him
up by sucking his cock, and when he couldn’t take it anymore he
dragged her up and impaled her on his erection. She rode him hard
and wild, and when he was about to come, he rolled her on her back
and continued to pump into her. But Maia wasn’t having any of that
and hooked one leg around his waist, while the other anchored one
of his leg—he hated when she did that—and flipped him over and
resumed to ride him. Well, he was determined to have the upper
hand, so he rolled her on her back again. After two more flips,
they landed on the floor. Jack cushioned their fall, but quickly
hooked the back of her knees under his elbows, grasped her wrists
on either side of her, pressed her thighs in, and continued
thrusting furiously inside her.

“
Jack, you’re playing dirty,” Maia
gasped.

“No other way with you,
sweetheart,” Jack grunted. He could feel her inner muscles
clenching around him. She was about to come and through his fog of
lust, an opportunity came to mind. They used sex to deflect issues
before, why not use mind-blowing sex as a reward for resolving
them? “Speaking of playing dirty.” He slowed the pace and started
teasing her inch by inch.
Fuck, it killed
him
. “Are we in accord about the AGS
negotiations?” He pulled out and rested the tip of his cock at her
entrance.

Maia’s eyes flew to his in disbelief. “We’re
having this conversation now?”

Jack pushed the head of his cock inside her.
“Uh-hm.” He leaned in to nip her lower lip that had set in a mulish
line. He loved this position; he had her locked and at his
mercy.

“
I intend to spend the next
48-hours fucking and not talking about matters we could have
settled a day ago,” he informed her.

“
You were the one who went behind
my back!”

“
And you walked out on me,” Jack
shot back. Maia shifted her hip so his erection would go deeper. He
smirked and flexed his hip away from her.

Her eyes flared with a mixture of challenge
and need.

Don’t give in, don’t give
in,
Jack chanted in his brain.

“
I needed some space!”

“
Well, see. Here’s the thing. My
wife—” Jack paused. “—Will not be sneaking off for space. If she
needs to process her issues with me, she talks to me.”

“
I’m not your wife,” Maia hissed.
“Yet. And you continue this, I won’t be—Oh god!”

Time to play dirtier. Jack released her
wrists, slid down her body, and pushed her thighs further apart. He
dipped his head and nuzzled her clitoris with his nose while using
his tongue to spread her sensitive lips. His tongue circled and
swirled, thrust and licked as her body writhed frantically. Her
moans were getting choppy. He stopped—crawled up her body and
kissed her thoroughly, giving her a taste of her own musky scent
and devouring her lips the same way he did her swollen
pussy.

She nipped him. Jack tore his lips away and
grinned down at her.

“
You were saying?”

“
Fuck you, baby,” Maia got out and
moaned when Jack teased her clit with the tip of his
cock.

“
Soon, babe,” Jack muttered. Fuck,
he was about to blow. His plan was backfiring. They stared at each
other. Maia’s eyes were needy, and how Jack wanted to give her that
release. He was about to slip inside her when she spoke.

“
Don’t do things behind my back
again.”

“
Will you promise to do the same?”
Jack asked softly. “I hate what you did when you took off for
Mexico.”

“
Your retaliation was out of
proportion.”

“
It wasn’t a retaliation, Maia. I
was telling you the truth when I said the investment made for a
strategic business deal. I knew you would react negatively, which
is why I kept it under wraps. I expected us to discuss it
afterward, not have you run off. I hope it’s not a sign of a bigger
problem.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
You’re not having second thoughts
about marrying me, are you?” Jack asked, his voice
hoarse.

“
Of course not!” Maia’s swift
response erased all doubts in his mind.

Jack ducked his head and leaned his forehead
on hers. “I’m really sorry about the AGS deal, Maia. But it’s done.
It mitigates some of the unknowns that plague me whenever you go on
missions.” He raised his head and scowled at her. “Although it
doesn’t do shit whenever you go off playbook, which I’m beginning
to realize happens more often than not.”

Maia laughed. “I like to keep you on your
toes.”

Jack sighed. “We’ve had this conversation
before.”

“
We did,” Maia
admitted.

“
Babe, we’re going to get
there.”

“
Get where?”

“
A point where we’ll trust each
other and not freak out when something out of the ordinary
happens.”

“
I’m not the one freaking
out.”

“
I’m trying to adjust to your
level of ordinary,” Jack replied dryly.

Maia smiled up at him. “Jack, nothing about
what we have is ordinary. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have chosen you.”
She wiggled her hips, effectively getting his cock in her
entrance.

Jack hissed.

“
Wow. You. Are. Still. Hard,” Maia
purred. “See what I mean. Not ordinary.”

“
Maia,” Jack ground out as he
thrust inside her to the hilt. “Prepare for some extraordinary,
babe.” He begun moving inside her, loving the friction of her moist
heat around the girth of his cock as her orgasm hit her. She felt
like home. Every time he slid inside her, he felt bound to her more
than ever. Their relationship was not perfect, but in its flaws it
was also extraordinary. They clashed, they loved and made love with
a passion unfettered by normal rules. And as he powered deeper
inside her, he exploded, baring his soul to vulnerability. But she
was there, enveloping him in her warmth and drawing him in.
Home.

*****

6:30 a.m.
Sunday morning

Every muscle in her body was screaming for
relief. Maia glanced over to where Jack was sprawled on the
bathroom floor. In their attempt to enjoy the suite’s gigantic
marble tub to soothe their overworked muscles, they ended up with
more sex, sloshed water all over the tiles, and more achy
muscles.

They were hopeless. The rift between them that
had festered these past two days triggered a primal instinct of
survival, which included mating until they were incapable of
moving.

She groaned as she gripped the side of the tub
to help her sit up. Muscles she didn’t know existed felt sore— Jack
had creative ways of twisting her like a pretzel.

“
Babe?” Jack’s eyes were
half-open. “Can you order me a big breakfast. Lots of eggs. I think
I’ve been sucked out of my protein reserves.”

*****

9:00 a.m.
Monday morning

“
Jack, no more!” Maia grumbled as
she burrowed her face further into the pillow. Jack was impossible.
She received temporary reprieve Sunday morning because amazingly,
her man was as battered as she was. But oh, the fucking resumed in
the afternoon, into the evening and into the damned following
morning. Jack smugly informed her that wisely spacing out his
protein and carb intake was the key to fucking her brains out. To
which she retorted that he probably should start a “stud” farm with
as much research he had put into it.

“
Babe, Laurie will be here any
minute. We might have time for another round.”

Maia sat up and vigorously puffed her hair out
of her face. “Have you taken a look down there, Jack? My pussy is
as red as a tomato. You’ve sucked the ever-living hell out of it
and rammed it into the ground with that damned insatiable cock of
yours. I—Am—Ruined. You hear me?”

Jack grinned devilishly at her. “You said the
same thing earlier.” And his hand dipped between her thighs and of
course her damned sex responded. “But I think, I can coax her to
come and play again. She’s already wet.”

“
She’s stupid is what she is,”
Maia mumbled and flopped back on the bed. “I’m serious, Jack. Leave
me alone.”

“
Babe, we have another day,” Jack
whispered into her ear.

The doorbell buzzed.

Saved
!
Maia thought thankfully.

Jack muttered a string of profanities and
grabbed one of the hotel robes to make himself halfway descent.
Maia reluctantly got up and headed to the bathroom until she
realized she didn’t have a brush to tame her wild mane of hair.
Splashing water on her face, she donned a robe and walked out to
meet Jack’s personal assistant.

“
Good morning, Maia!” Laurie
chirped as she pulled out some vitamin water and eggs from a paper
bag. “Your change of clothes and some toiletries including a
brush...” She paused and stared at Maia’s hair. “...are in the
suitcase.”

“
What are the eggs for?” Maia
asked warily. It’s not as if ordering eggs from the hotel menu was
going to dent Jack’s wallet.

“
Fertilized duck eggs,” Laurie
explained, “are an aphrodisiac and are rumored to enhance sexual
stamina.”

“
Laurie, Jack doesn’t need
them.”

“
They’re for you, babe,” Jack said
affectionately.

Laurie slapped a hand on her mouth; her eyes
were crinkling.

Maia felt her temper flare. Was she a brood
mare for his stud farm? Her hands flew to her hips.

“
Jack McCord, I do not need an
aphrodisiac,” Maia said. “And my stamina is just fine. I believe
you need to have your head examined or maybe join a sex-addict help
group.”

“
I’ll leave you two lovebirds to
settle it,” Laurie said with a big smile on her face. “Call me if
you need anything else, Jack. I’ll inform Derek to hold the fort
and handle all your meetings.”

“
Shit,” Maia cursed. “I need to
call AGS. I have a debrief with Viktor and Manning this
morning.”

“
Already took care of
it.”

“
What?”

“
I informed them you were not
coming in.”

Laurie quickly exited their hotel
room.

“
What?” Maia wasn’t sure she heard
Jack right. Did he just say he called work for her and told them
she was not coming in without consulting her?

Yes, he did.

Count to ten
, Maia told herself. They just made headway working on their
communication, surely a well-meaning phone call made by her fiancé
was reasonable.

“
I need to understand why you did
not simply remind me to call AGS instead of calling in without my
knowledge,” Maia said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“
I wanted you to rest.” Jack
frowned. “Since I was awake anyway and taking care of MDI business,
might as well get that out of the way. I’m part of AGS now, Maia
and you’re going to be my wife. It’s perfectly OK for me to call in
for you. Were you planning on going in?”