Read Online Pushing Her Boundaries by Julia Rachel Barrett - Free Book Online Page A

hung, suspended between his legs, his cock, at half-mast, still inside her.
    I think, oh my god, I think this is the very first time I’ve ever been with a man, a real man . Compared to Mason Williams, my college boyfriend, Drunken Motorcycle Dude, was nothing more than an infant. My post-college love, Misogynist Chef, who insisted I needed acacia honey dumped on every part of me to taste appropriate, was a mere Boy Scout, and despite his Frenchy-French-French accent, my former fiancé, two-timing bigamist Dr. Jean Luc, was a budding adolescent. What on earth am I going to do?
    Nothing. Nothing more than you’ve already decided. When that sun rises, this night is history. Mace may be, um, Hercules, or Adonis, or some immortal Highlander in bed, but he’s still a man and that means he’s one more man you can’t count on. He’s one more man who’ll get what he wants and break your heart. You’ll be back to kicking your own ass in another month, or three months or six months.
    Her movements slow, Maggie rose to her feet. She started toward the bathroom, but Mace grabbed her arm.
    “Where are you going?”
    “The bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
    “What’s changed, Maggie? Something’s changed.”
    She refused to look at him. “Nothing’s changed, Mace. I offered you one night.” She heard him sigh.
    “I know,” he said, “but…”
    “There are no buts,” Maggie interrupted him. She searched in vain for a clock. “What time is it?”
    “Three a.m.” Mace dropped her arm and Maggie cringed. I’m a heartless bitch .
    “Mace, listen, I’m…”
    “Forget it. I’m just a piece of meat. It’s all about the sex, right? Go use the bathroom.” His voice was cold.
    Maggie turned to look at him. He lay back on the bed, the blanket drawn up to his waist, his arms beneath his head. He stared at the ceiling, his mouth a grim line. She wanted to say something reassuring, but nothing came to mind. Her words had slammed a door shut. It was as if a wall of ice had formed between them.
    Maggie walked to the bathroom, feeling a growing ache in her chest. She didn’t want ice from Mace. She wanted the hot, confident, dominating, hard-assed, arrogant son of a bitch who had just rocked her world. She wanted him to fill her up again.
    You made your choice, so suck it up . You’ll be lucky if he speaks to you, let alone touches you.
    When she exited the bathroom, Mace passed her in the hallway without a word. He shut the door behind him and she heard the sound of running water. He was taking a shower, washing her off his body. Tears welled up in her eyes and she wanted to slap the back of her own head for being so stupid. Mace might be an arrogant SOB, but he wasn’t cruel. Still naked, Maggie walked back down the hall and stood in front of the bathroom door.
    Should I knock or walk right in? What if he’s sitting on the pot? She heard water splash off his body and she knew he’d gotten into the shower. She walked in and looked at that magnificent, wet, steaming body of his through the glass shower door—the body she couldn’t seem to get enough of.
    “Mace.”
    He didn’t respond. Either he was ignoring her or he didn’t hear her because of the water running over his head.
    “Mace.”
    He opened his eyes and blinked at her, and he turned his back.
    “Damn it, Mace.” Maggie thrust the glass door aside and stepped into the shower with him. “Stop sulking like this. You knew it was for one night.”
    He ignored her.
    “Mace.” Maggie grabbed his arm. “I didn’t lead you on. You agreed to this. Quit making me feel like such a shit.”
    With a movement that was much too quick for someone standing in a shower, Mace turned to face her. “What are you blathering on about?”
    “I…I…” Maggie stared at him, dumbfounded. “I thought you…?”
    “What? That I cared? You give yourself too much credit.”
    For a second, Maggie was transfixed by the water sluicing down his hard chest, over his taut