Fantasized by You Read online

  “Yeah,” I nodded.

  And then we exploded into a fit of laughter. We were naked, in my dining room, sticky from covering one another in chocolate and licking it off, and we’d just rolled off of the table like a couple of klutzy lovers, frantic for more.

  He caressed my face, smiling, and our laughter quieted. “I love you, Harper.”

  Feeling his arousal, I lifted my hips and lowered myself onto him, craving the familiar sensation of him uniting with me. I rolled my hips into him, and then grazed my hands over his stubble and kissed him. “I love you. Thank you for making this the best Valentine’s Day, ever.”

  “Until next year.” He sat up, lifting me so I could wrap my legs around him, and then he cradled his legs around me, so we were face-to-face in an intimate embrace, my chest brushing up against his with him buried deep inside me.

  “Until next year,” I repeated, breathing into his ear.

  He shuddered, hooking his elbows under my knees, and then rocked us in a way that caused a wildfire of sensations to burn down my spine. His expression turned tense and ravenous, and I was right there with him, getting lost in his dark eyes as he swayed again and I constricted around him, never wanting to let go of this connection with him. We were one in each other’s arms like this, so close that each breath he took was one I’d let go, just for him.

  Slowly, we found a perfect rhythm, feeding our sexual appetites by rocking our bodies back and forth. Kissing my way up his neck, I took his earlobe in between my teeth and began sucking, eliciting a throaty moan that made my muscles contract around his magnificent length. He picked up our pace, swaying more intensely now, and then he bit my shoulder, and his touch catapulted me into another universe. Tossing my head back, I felt my climax approaching with each of his movements as he nibbled his way up, sucking and biting the tender flesh of my throat.

  “Mav,” I breathed, grasping the back of his neck.

  Capturing my mouth with his, he swallowed my cries, and with one more powerful rock, we tensed together and breathlessly took off, soaring into our empire of love, where the rest of the world ceased to exist and it was just us, holding on to one another as pleasure shattered through our bodies orgasm after orgasm.

  By the time our intimate ride was over, we were sprawled out on the dining room floor, sweaty and limp, our limbs entangled, trying to catch our breath. He smiled at me weakly, brought our linked hands to his lips, and kissed my knuckles.

  “How are we going to top that next year?” I giggled, blissed out of my damn mind.

  He laughed and trailed his hand down my back soothingly. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Maverick

  Some guys were uncomfortable introducing the woman they loved to their parents—or, in my case, their mom—but I wasn’t one of them. Maybe it just felt right, or maybe it was because I knew Mom would love Harper, but I wasn’t the least bit worried about them meeting. It was the Friday before the girls were leaving for Elly’s shower in Dallas, and Imani had just dropped Harper and me off at my mom’s place. I could tell Harper was nervous, but she had no reason to be and I kept reassuring her of that on the way over. Harper had brought along the dress she’d made Mom for Elly’s wedding. I wanted to be there when she tried it on because Mom never thought she deserved nice things like designer dresses, but she did.

  “Do you think she’ll like the dress?” Harper asked, as we walked up the sidewalk. “I think I’m more nervous about her liking the dress than I am about actually meeting her.”

  For the hundredth time, I gave her a reassuring kiss. “Don’t worry. She’ll love it. Not as much as she’s going to love you, but she’s going to love the dress. I promise.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

  Before we even made it to the steps, Mom had the screen door open and was waving us in. “Hey, guys!”

  Harper smiled up at me, and I placed my hand on the small of her back and led her up the steps. “Hey, Mom. I’d like you to meet Harper Jennings. Harper, this is my mom, Charlotte.”

  “Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet you!” Mom cheered, pulling Harper into a hug. Harper reciprocated and looked at me over my mom’s shoulder with tears in her eyes.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” she said, blinking away her emotions. I knew Harper and her mom weren’t close, so I figured my mom’s endless affection for the people in my life would affect her.

  Mom broke away, smiling, and held the door open for us. “Please, come in!”

  Harper walked in and I followed close behind, giving my mom a brief hug. We’d come over for dinner, and the smell of Mexican food drifted into the living room from the kitchen.

  “Dinner is ready, but I thought we’d just sit for a while, if that’s okay,” Mom said, looking at the two of us. She pointed to the couch. “Harper, can I take that bag for you?”

  Harper looked at me, silently asking me what she should say while holding the black garment bag with Mom’s dress in it, and I smiled. “Actually, Mom, Harper brought you something for Elly’s wedding.”

  “Oh,” Mom said, intrigued. “May I see it?”

  “Of course,” Harper said, unzipping the bag. She pulled the peach dress out and laid the bag on the back of the couch. Mom walked over and admired the dress closely. I didn’t know a lot about clothes, but I knew she loved it by the way she ran her hands over the material and smiled. “Maverick asked me to design a dress for you since I was already doing everyone else’s dresses for the wedding. If there’s something you don’t like, we can change it.”

  “Nonsense! I love it!” Mom exclaimed, looking between the two of us. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Harper.”

  “Aren’t you going to try it on?” I asked, taking a seat on the couch. “We didn’t bring it over for you to look at it all night. We need to make sure it fits and everything.”

  Mom laughed and shook her head at me. “Okay, okay, I’ll go put it on.”

  “The zipper is on the side,” Harper said, handing the dress over to my mom. “And, seriously, if you don’t like something, just tell me; I can always change it. You won’t hurt my feelings.”

  Mom gave her another quick hug and said, “Thank you, sweetie. I’ll be right back.”

  Harper smiled, then perched on the edge of the couch, anxiously. I rubbed her back and she took another deep breath.

  “I told you she’d love you,” I said, easing her worries.

  She slid back into the crook of my shoulder and linked her fingers with mine. “Your mom is so sweet. I can’t even remember the last time my mom gave me a genuine hug that wasn’t for show, and your mom has hugged me twice already. My mom would’ve already pointed out at least three things she didn’t like about her dress.”

  “Thank you for making her dress,” I said, lifting her hand to my lips. “I really appreciate it.”

  “You’re more than welcome.”

  When the door to my mom’s room opened, we both turned. Mom stepped into view wearing the dress, and she looked absolutely stunning. The dress seemed to fit her small figure perfectly, but I figured it would; Harper had said she was good at eyeballing sizes. Mom had her dark, black hair twisted up and out of her face, and she turned in a circle to show off the dress.

  Harper hopped up from the couch and examined her closer. “Does everything fit all right? It looks like it fits well to me, but I just want to make sure you’re comfortable in it. It’s a wedding, so you’ll be in it for a long time, and I want you to be comfy.”

  “It’s perfect!” Mom exclaimed, smiling. “I don’t know what shoes I’ll wear with it, and I probably need a new clutch to match, but besides that, I feel like a goddess in it, and I love the color, too. I can’t wait to wear it for their wedding.”

  “We can go shopping in Dallas next week for shoes and stuff,” Harper replied, looking over Mom one last time. “But if you think everything is good and don’t want anything changed, you can keep it or
I can bring it to Dallas with us and store it at my parents’ place until the wedding day. It’s whatever you want to do.”

  “How about you keep it,” Mom said, “I don’t want anything to happen to it before the wedding.”

  “Okay, that’s fine,” Harper nodded.

  Mom walked over to the couch and posed. “What do you think, Mav?”

  I stood up from the couch, and took her hand and twirled her around, and the skirt flowed freely around her slim body. “I think you look beautiful, Mom.”

  She patted my cheek. “You’re the best.” I gave her a hug and she rubbed my back and whispered, “I love her! Don’t let her get away.”

  “I won’t,” I laughed. She turned around and headed back into her room, admiring herself on the way. When I looked over at Harper, she was studying her phone with furrowed brows. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just got a text from Max,” she said hesitantly, glancing over at me. “It said we needed to talk. I told him we were here.”

  “Well, we won’t be here all night,” I said, wrapping my hands around her waist. “Tell him you’ll text him when we leave, and he can meet us at your place.”

  “Okay,” she replied, smiling. She tapped out a message and then tucked her phone into her purse. Taking my hand in hers, she kissed my palm and sighed. “I really like your mom. I think we’ll have fun in Dallas.”

  “I think so, too.”

  *

  After we finished dinner, Mom proceeded to show Harper all of my baby pictures, which didn’t really bother me too much, since I was a cute little fucker back then and that was just her mom thing to do. Now, we were lounging in Harper’s living room with Axel asleep on the rug, waiting for Max to arrive, and my mind raced at the thought of seeing him for the first time since we’d been introduced. I knew I had to keep myself in check for Harper’s sake. He was her best friend; I didn’t want to be the asshole boyfriend who hated her friend.

  “I can’t get over how adorable you were as a baby,” Harper said, cuddling up next to me. She tucked her legs underneath her, and kissed me on the cheek. “I had fun tonight. Your mom’s really great.”

  Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her closer to me. “I had a good time, too.”

  She searched my eyes, and I felt like she could sense I was somewhere else, thinking of all the ways to kill Waters if he did something stupid tonight, like confessing his undying love for my woman. I swore I’d break every fucking bone in his body.

  “What’s wrong?” Harper asked worriedly, caressing my face.

  I heard the elevator open, and shook my head. “Nothing. He’s here.”

  “We’re in here!” Harper shouted toward the foyer. Max casually walked into the living room, appearing a bit more anxious than the last time I saw him, and that made my jaw clench. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and I knew something was up. He was nervous about talking to us.

  He took a seat on the leather armchair and smiled at both of us. “Hey.”

  “Hey, what’s up?” Harper asked, her voice upbeat.

  “We need to talk about Paris,” he said, glancing over at me carefully.

  I nodded, and then kissed Harper’s temple. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

  “No,” Max said quickly, shaking his head. “You need to hear this, too.”

  Harper looked at him and then back at me, and her smile quickly turned into a concerned grimace. “What’s going on, Max?”

  Max took a deep breath, gazing at the floor. Harper’s fingers linked with mine, and her grip tightened the longer he took to answer. “It’s Diana. She’s the one who leaked the photos in the article.”

  Harper tensed. “I figured. I actually got a note from her the night the article was released, telling me to stay away from you or else.”

  Diana must be one of his batshit crazy fans.

  “When I got home, I had a letter from her in my fan-mail,” he said, shaking his head. “In it, she said how she leaked the story of you cheating so I’d see who you really were. She wrote about how she wanted to be with me, and how you weren’t good enough for me. Then she said …” He paused and shifted uneasily to the edge of his seat. With his elbows on his knees, he wiped his hands over his face and then looked up at Harper and swallowed hard. “She said if I didn’t get rid of you, she would. I don’t know what that means, H, but I thought you should know. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you or anyone else. Diana’s infuckingsane, and I don’t know what she’s capable of doing, but I filed a restraining order against her after I read the letter. She sent me a bunch of pictures of you and me, but your face was cut out and replaced with hers. It was creepy.”

  “Who is this bitch?” I asked, eying both Harper and Max. I wanted to know everyfuckingthing about this chick making threats against Harper. “And why the hell didn’t you tell me you received a threatening note when you were in Paris?”

  Harper sighed. “Her name is Diana O’Bannion, and I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry about her. Years ago, she was an assistant to a photographer who shot Max when he modeled for me, and she’s been obsessed with him ever since. Now, she makes a living as a paparazzi, stalking Max and other celebrities and selling the pictures.”

  “She sends me something almost every month, saying how she wants to be with me,” Max said, rubbing his forehead. “She likes to think of herself as my personal photographer. I wasn’t even sure she took pictures of anyone else until the pictures of you two surfaced. She’s always focused all her attention on me.”

  “She’s never liked me, though,” Harper continued, shaking her head. “She used to stalk me and send me notes about how Max was hers, so I got a restraining order against her.”

  “I should’ve gotten one a long time ago,” Max mumbled.

  “So, what now?” I asked.

  “Now, I’m going to call Imani and tell her about this,” Harper said, grimly. “Max, she’s going to need copies of the letter and the pictures.”

  “I know.” Max replied, pulling out his phone. “I took pictures of everything. I’ll send them to you.”

  “Okay,” she said, standing up from the couch. She shot me a weak smile. “I’m gonna go call her.”

  I nodded and kissed her hand before letting her go.

  “Harper,” Max said as she started to walk away. “I’m really sorry about all of this. I just don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

  Nodding, she smiled back at him sincerely. “I know.”

  She left the room and Max relaxed back into his chair, seeming more relieved now. I wasn’t relieved. There was some crazy bitch out there who wanted to get rid of Harper, and that was absolutely terrifying. I’d heard about crazy fans before, but nothing this extreme. This was like something straight out of Misery.

  Silence stretched between Max and me as we waited for Harper to return, and I kept imagining Diana looking like Kathy Bates and wielding a sledgehammer.

  And then Max broke the silence. He cleared his throat and nervously tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. “I—uh … I actually had a question for you.”

  “Shoot,” I said, glancing over at him, thankful for the distraction.

  “I was wondering if you’d be my personal trainer,” he said.

  You gotta be fucking kidding me.

  “I know you probably hate me for kissing Harper and everything, but I want you to know, I’m sorry. It was a really shitty thing to do, and if I could take it back, I would. She’s in love with you, and as long as you make her happy, I’m happy for you guys. But asking you to be my trainer has nothing to do with her. I need someone who’s going to push me, and your gym is one of the best in New York.”

  “How do you not have a trainer already?”

  “I had one, but he’s moving out of state. I need someone who’s in New York. The studio wants me more ripped for the sequel.”

  Before I could reply, Harper walked back into the room and Max stood up. “Just think abou
t it,” he said, shrugging.

  “Think about what?” Harper asked.

  “Nothing,” Max said, nonchalantly. “I should get going.”

  Harper gave him a brief hug, smiling. “Okay, well, thanks for coming over, and letting me know about Diana.”

  “No problem,” he said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Bye.” She waited until the elevator doors closed, and then turned to me. “What was that all about? What does he want you to think about?”

  I took a deep breath and shook my head. “He asked me to be his trainer.”

  “And you don’t want to?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Mav,” she said, plopping down next to me. She ran her fingers through my hair and turned on that charming smile of hers. “I think you should. I bet it took a lot for him to come over here and ask, and I’d like to see the two of you become friends.”

  “Harper, he just told us some crazy fan of his threatened to hurt you and you’re more worried about us becoming friends?” I dropped my head on the back of the couch.

  “Look, there’s nothing we can do about Diana. She’s nuts, but until she does something, there’s really nothing the police can do. I have Imani for a reason; there’s no need to worry.” She crawled into my lap, straddling me, and I gripped her hips tight. She leaned down and began sucking on my bottom lip, and all thoughts of crazy bitches and Mr. Hollywood left my mind. Harper’s tongue slid out to tease mine, and my cock stiffened inside my jeans as the need for her climbed with every flick of her tongue. She gave me a hard, eager kiss and then pulled away, brushing her hands over my stubble. With her warm, dark eyes gazing into mine, she smiled gracefully. “Please train Max, babe. Do it for me.”

  Whenever she looked at me like that, silently begging with those beautiful eyes of hers, I always folded. She could seduce me into just about anything, and we both knew it. I’d never deny her, so if she wanted me to help Max, I’d help him. Even if I felt like strangling the life out of him for kissing her. I’d get over it eventually.

  “Fine,” I sighed. “I’ll do it.”