Then he pulled my face even closer and he kissed me.
And then, apparently our conversation was over because he kissed me for a good long while, so long I totally forgot about our discussion. When he stopped kissing me, he turned out the light, settled in and told me to go to sleep. And his kisses were so good, his body so warm, he felt so good at my side, I was so exhausted, I just cuddled into him and did what I was told.
But I did it with that feeling of hope drifting back into my heart and this time, it drifted in with the clear intention of staying awhile.
Chapter Thirteen
Breakfast
I woke when Max’s heat moved away from my back, the weight of his arm gliding from around me. He did this carefully, with that exquisite gentleness unreal in such a powerfully-built man.
I didn’t open my eyes. I felt like I’d had around fifteen minutes of sleep and like I needed fifteen days to catch up.
And anyway, when Max was being gentle like that I thought it would be better to shut off the other senses and experience nothing but the feel of it.
I was sliding back into dreamland when I heard the distinct murmur of voices. The owners of the cabin complex might have taken pride in their facilities but the cabins themselves were a fair shade less well made than Max’s A-Frame. With the way I could hear the conversation, I knew the walls were paper thin.
“Nina had a rough night,” Max’s gravelly voice explained.
“Oh dear,” Gladys replied and my eyes flew open.
“And you are?” Norm asked.
“Max, Nina’s boyfriend,” Max answered.
“Nina’s boyfriend who left her alone all day yesterday to do nothing but stare at the river like her world had ended and then left her alone last night to have dinner with two old coots like us?” Norm asked, sounding somewhat surprisingly belligerent, and his tone, not to mention what he gave away about me spending the day pining for Max, made me throw the covers back and jump out of bed, ignoring the shot of pain that emanated through my ribs as I did so.
“Norm!” Gladys cried on a gasp.
“Yep,” Max replied, sounding not affronted but amused. “That’d be me.”
On Max’s remark I had made it to the door and I threw it open, rushing out into the living room.
“Is it eight thirty already?” I asked on a smile I hoped didn’t look fatigued.
Max, wearing jeans, his long-sleeved t-shirt but in bare feet, turned to look at me and when he did, his lips pressed together and weirdly, his ear tilted to his shoulder at the same time he was giving short shakes of his head.
Both Norm and Gladys were staring at me, for some reason openly gobsmacked.
Then Norm moved, luckily not quickly for I could see his intent and I was able to cry out “Max!” in time for Max to turn back to Norm and then duck clear of Norm’s flying cane.
“Norm!” Gladys screeched.
I ran forward as Max retreated, his torso swaying back to dodge the swipes of the cane Norm was wielding like a rapier as he advanced on Max.
I got in front of Max and threw my arms out, shouting at Norm, “What are you doing?”
“Missy, your face!” Norm shouted back, swirling his cane in the air before he planted it on the floor, leaned into it, turned to Gladys and ordered, “Go get our cellular whozeewhatsit and call the police!”
Oh dear, even feeling the pain in my body, I’d still forgotten about my face.
“Max didn’t do this,” I told Norm and Norm turned narrowed eyes back to me.
“I wasn’t born yesterday, missy.”
“Damon did it,” I explained quickly and when Norm didn’t look any less disbelieving, I continued, “He’s kind of my mountain man stalker. See, when he was little, Max lived next to Brody who was his best friend and still is. A long time ago, Brody’s Mom and Dad got divorced. Then she got remarried then she had Mindy so Mindy is like Max’s little sister. Then, a few weeks ago, something bad happened to Mindy and she’s not doing too well with it so, since Brody now lives in Seattle, Max was looking out for her then I was looking out for her and, well, Damon is her ex-boyfriend but he was her boyfriend-boyfriend then. And he came to a bar and was mean to Mindy so I pushed him then he backhanded me which Max saw because he was coming to pick us up because he was our designated driver. Max got kind of mad about Damon pushing me and taught him a lesson in the parking lot of the bar which, unfortunately, seeing as it was the parking lot of a bar most of the town saw the whole thing. Damon didn’t like that so he spray painted my car and did other stuff to it too. And then, yesterday, he tracked me down and overpowered me when I was coming into my cabin after dinner. Luckily Max showed up a little while later and took me to the hospital.” I took in a deep breath and finished, “Nothing to worry about, though. Max is here now and I’m okay.”
Norm and Gladys both stared at me but Max’s arm hooked around my chest from behind and he pulled me back into his body. His body, by the way, which was shaking slightly so I knew, even though it wasn’t audible, he was laughing.
I ignored this when Norm noted, “Either that’s the best story ever made up or what you say is true.”
“I wish it was a story but, unfortunately, it’s true,” I confirmed.
“Though, Norm, good to know, I didn’t show last night, you and your cane would have Nina’s back,” Max added and I elbowed him in the ribs, his body twitched but that was mostly it.
“So, you’re her boyfriend, where were you yesterday when Nina was tied up in knots?” Norm asked cantankerously.
“Norm!” Gladys gasped again then looked at me. “Nina, I’m so sorry.”
Norm’s eyes stayed glued on Max. “Got two daughters, four granddaughters and one great granddaughter, son. I’ve had my fair share of experience with pretty boys like you so you best be answering my question.”
Gladys sighed. I pressed my lips together in order not to laugh at Norm calling Max a “pretty boy”.
Max, however, spoke. “We had a fallin’ out, Nina’s prone to gettin’ wild hairs and she took off. I found her a coupla hours too late. So, yeah, Norm, that’s on me.”
I stopped pressing my lips together, suddenly completely unamused, and I turned in his arm.
“What Damon did to me isn’t on you,” I declared.
“I wasn’t talkin’ about Damon, Duchess, I was talkin’ about you bein’ tied up in knots but, now that you mention it, he’s Damon. He spray painted your car. I knew he wasn’t done with you and yesterday, from the minute you left home to the minute I walked in this cabin, you were unprotected so, yeah, that’s on me too.”
“It is not.”
“Babe, it is.”
“It isn’t!”
Max’s hassled eyes went over my head and I knew he was looking at Norm when he stated, “She’s up five minutes and we’re fightin’. Our first date, she fought about how Germans invented beer.”
“I did not!” I cried.
Max’s eyes came to me. “Babe, you did.”
I turned again in his arm, looked at Gladys and announced, “He has the memory of an elephant which you would think is good for, say, anniversaries and birthdays and such, but day-to-day?” I shook my head and concluded, “It’s very, very bad.”
Max’s arm at my chest gave me a squeeze and my neck twisted so I could look at him when he spoke.
“You didn’t think that when I gave you that ring, incidentally a ring you haven’t taken off. You said it was thoughtful and the best gift anyone’s ever given you.”
My gaze swung back to Gladys and, harassed, I declared, “See? He remembers everything.”
I realized then that both Gladys and Norm were smiling at about the time I realized that Max and I were acting like lunatics.
“I don’t think she’s tied up in knots anymore, Gladie,” Norm observed.
“She is, dear, just not ones she wants to untie,” Gladys remarked.
“I should make breakfast,” I mumbled, mortified and to my further mortificat
ion when I tried to break free of Max’s hold it just got tighter and then I felt his lips kiss my neck.
“Why don’t we make it lunch?” Gladys suggested, her eyes sparkling, she’d caught the neck kiss but then again, it would be hard to miss.
“No, I can make breakfast,” I told her quickly.
“Lunch,” Norm said firmly, reaching a hand out to Gladys and making a move to the door.
“We can’t do lunch, Nina has to go to the Police Station to press charges against Damon,” Max shared.
“Brunch then, we’ll be back at ten,” Norm put in.
“Works for me,” Max stated.
“Max!” I hissed on another twist of my neck to look up at him.
“Ten,” Gladys affirmed. “See you then, dear.”
Then the door closed behind them. Max let me go to walk to it, he locked it and then he turned back to me.
When he did, I asked, “How bad is my face?”
“Worse than when he backhanded you, better than expected since he connected three times.”
Max said this while stalking toward me. Yes, stalking. Therefore, I didn’t hear his words because instinctively I was retreating.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he kept coming at me.
“Veer right, baby,” he directed and I looked over my right shoulder to see the door to the bedroom.
Then I looked back, noting my mistake immediately for he’d gained significantly and was right on top of me. His hands came to my hips and he veered us right.
“Max,” I whispered.
“I know you’re banged up, honey, so this mornin’ all you gotta do is lay back and I’ll eat you for breakfast before we have brunch.”
My stomach dipped and my hands fluttered to his chest.
“Max,” I repeated but it was breathy this time. “I’m really tired, I was thinking of getting in an hour of sleep before they come back.”
We were well into the bedroom and I knew this because my legs hit bed, I went down and Max came down on top of me on my healthy side. Then his hand slid into my hair at the side of my head and his mouth came to mine.
“You sleep while I go down on you, Duchess, it’s gonna piss me off.”
I felt a quiver between my legs that radiated outward and I felt my lips quiver too.
“I’ll try to stay awake,” I promised him.
His mouth left mine but not before I felt it smile. It slid down my jaw then to my neck.
At my ear, he ordered, “Shimmy out of your pants, baby.”
“Okay,” I whispered and pulled the drawstring of my pajamas as his tongue touched my earlobe then the back of my ear then it slid down and out to the strap of my camisole on my shoulder.
I shimmied out of my pajamas and undies and I barely tossed them aside before his hand was between my legs.
“Wet,” he muttered into my neck then his head came up as his fingers slid around, I saw his eyes had grown hungry and the sight made me wetter. He felt it and his mouth came to mine before he growled, “Fuck. I missed this, baby.”
It had only been two days. It felt like two hundred years.
“Me too.”
His finger slid inside and a moan slid out of my throat.
“Kiss me, Duchess,” he demanded and I gave him what he wanted as he finger fucked me, his thumb pressing at my sweet spot as his tongue invaded my mouth.
He broke the kiss and muttered against my lips, “You’re ready.” Max used his hands at my waist to yank me further up the bed. “Now I want you to open your legs for me, honey.”
I opened my legs for him then he slid down and rolled between them.
Then his mouth hit me and he had me for breakfast and, at least for me, it was unbelievably delicious.
* * * * *
“Duchess,” I heard Max call and I blinked then blinked again then dazedly looked around to see we were parked in front of the Gnaw Bone Police Station.
I lifted a hand to pull my hair out of my face then dropped it and turned to the door to see Max standing in it.
“Did I fall asleep?” I asked stupidly.
Max leaned his torso into the cab and undid my seatbelt, muttering, “Out like a light.”
“Mm,” I mumbled.
“This’ll be all over town next, Jeff gets Nina Zombie swearing out her statement against Damon,” Max was still muttering but also grinning as he straightened and then slid an arm along my back and helped me hop down from the Cherokee.
After Max had “breakfast” we had a shower and I got ready. Then we had brunch with Norm and Gladys and after, exchanged contact information and fond farewells. Then Max and I packed up the groceries, loaded the Jeep, checked out of the cabin and Max followed me as we went back to the rental car agency.
The rental car agency, I found out when Max explained as we were packing up, was the downfall of my heartbroken getaway considering, when Max got home, found my note and saw all my stuff gone, he wasn’t too happy and decided he was going to do something about it pretty much at once. Then again, he didn’t get home until well after lunch, it took him that long to cool down so I had a head start.
Deciding I had to get a taxi, Max called Arlene. Then Arlene called Bill, who was the person at Thrifty’s who sent the taxi, and told him to tell her who my taxi driver was. Then Arlene called Alan, my taxi driver. Alan told Arlene, who told Max that Alan took me to the rental car agency so Max called the agency. Since by then the rental car agency employees had changed shifts, Max made more calls and he found out that George knew the man who owned the rental car agency. George called him, that guy called his employee at home and his employee told him where I was staying, the crux of my downfall. He told George, George told Max, thus Max found me.
The joys of small town living.
When Max arrived at the cabin, he’d been pounding at the door because, as he put it, “Babe, seriously, you sleep like the dead,” and eventually thinking he wasn’t going to wake me with his pounding, he had to open the door with a credit card.
Yes, a credit card.
Those cabins were very pretty and they’d done a good job renovating but they definitely needed new locks. And, perhaps, better outdoor lighting.
After we packed up the Jeep, we turned in my rental. Then I climbed into the Cherokee and evidently fell fast asleep.
I had not been in favor of the turning in the rental car business. I thought it might be good for me to have a car so Max didn’t have to drive me around everywhere. Max thought, since he wasn’t working, there was pretty much no reason he couldn’t take me where I wanted to go and, incidentally, be with me while I was there. Therefore Max talked me into returning the car. Or, I should say, Max ordered me to do it and after we argued for ten minutes, I was too tired to keep arguing so I gave in.
Luckily, he did. It wouldn’t do for me to fall asleep at the wheel. Though, I was not going to share that with Max.
Max still had his arm around me and he shuffled me to the side then he slammed the door to the Jeep then he shuffled me back, stepped in until my back was at the Cherokee and Max was pressed up against my front.
I tipped my head back to look at him, still partly asleep.
“Lucky you turned in that car, babe, or it’d be another call to triple A to pull it out of the ditch, you fell asleep at the wheel.”
God, Max was so annoying.
“You know, I think you’re onto something,” I told him. “A good way to get rid of Nina Zombie is to be annoying. And, seeing as you’re that way a lot, it’s too bad you like Nina Zombie because in future her appearances will likely be very rare.”
He grinned. “You only think I’m annoying when I’m right.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Take, for instance, now.”
He burst out laughing but as he did this his hand hooked around the back of my neck, he pulled me up to my toes and his mouth came down on mine.
I’d never had someone kiss me while they laughed. It was an experience.
A good one.
>
I’d also never had anyone kiss me (or do other things to me for that matter) when I had a black eye and a bruised cheekbone not that I had them very often, just both the times my ex Brent hurt me. When I saw my face in the mirror that morning I found Max was right. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been but it was definitely worse than before. And not exactly attractive. Though that didn’t faze Max, not in the slightest.
After I’d melted into him, my forearms under his coat resting parallel along his spine, my hands flat on his muscled back, his lips released mine but he didn’t move away.
He dropped his forehead so it was resting on mine and I saw his eyes were serious when he said quietly, “When you were sick, saw your plane tickets, honey.”
“Yes?”
“You leave Saturday.”
I felt my body lock as I pulled in a soft breath to fight the sharp, twisting pain in my stomach.
He was right, so much had been going on I hadn’t even thought of that. Unless I was telling myself I had to leave, I hadn’t thought of actually leaving. In fact, in a weird way it felt strange thinking I had to leave. Not only did it feel like I’d been in Gnaw Bone a lifetime, England felt a million miles away.
And leaving meant leaving everything, everyone, the A-Frame, The Mark, The Dog, Mindy, Becca, Bitsy, Arlene, Cotton and, most of all, Max.
My flight left in, essentially, two days. And even though it felt like I’d been in Gnaw Bone a lifetime, I knew those two days would feel like two seconds.
And after that, what? The idea of a move and all that involved pressed down on me, especially since I had to do it without Max and I had no idea when I’d see him again.
What if, in my absence, he figured out I wasn’t so cute?
My arms tightened against his back and feeling the pressure of all this weighing down on me like an anvil, I whispered. “Max.”
“Any chance your work’ll give you another week?”
Another week? Could it be that easy?
The Gamble Page 56
