Awakening Anna

by Osburn, Terri

  Max shook his head. “Let me show you how beautiful you are, Anna.”

  He’d made her feel beautiful last night, but it was doubtful she’d ever look in the mirror and share his opinion.

  “How would I do that?”

  “Sit for me.”

  “Sit? You mean pose?”

  The idea did not appeal. The picture on the easel had likely been created from memory, and Max’s memory had been kind enough to ignore her every fault and flaw. The scar at the edge of her right brow. The extra five pounds she’d put on this year.

  “A sketch,” he said, opening the top button of her dress. “Wearing nothing but your pearls.”

  Anna’s hand flattened over his. “You can’t be serious. I couldn’t.”

  Max brushed her hand away and continued to undo the buttons. “You can. I’ll let you keep the dress on, but you have to open it for me. Let it hang off your shoulders.”

  “It isn’t even dark out,” she murmured as Max continued to undress her, dropping soft kisses on her skin where he drew the cotton apart. “There’s too much light.”

  The button over her naval opened, and Max slid his hands beneath the material, cupping her breasts as he placed a kiss in the crevice between them.

  “Let me do this for you, Anna. Let me show you.”

  His dark eyes held hers, and she acquiesced with a nod of her head.

  Max escorted her to the bed. “Climb up,” he said, helping her onto the mattress. “Now sit up on the headboard.”

  Anna hesitated before lowering her weight onto the thick mahogany. Thanks to Max, the rest of the buttons were undone in no time and the dress spread out around her. Feeling self-conscious, she kept her legs pressed tightly together.

  “Open for me, Anna.” Max kissed the top of her knee. Catching her eye, he said, “You’re perfect in every way. There’s no reason to be shy.”

  After their activities of the night before, there wasn’t a single inch of her body that Max didn’t intimately know. Hiding now really was pointless.

  Her knees separated as Anna braced her hands on the headboard and leaned against the wall. “For you, Max,” she said. “Only for you.”

  He showed his gratitude with a hot kiss that made the world fall away.

  As he stepped away from the bed and pulled a sketch pad and pencils off the dresser, Anna removed the clip from her hair and let the dark waves fall around her shoulders. His breath caught as he watched her arrange the curls.

  “Gorgeous,” he said, having a seat on the small loveseat across from the foot of the bed.

  The pencil flew across the page as Anna twirled the pearls between her fingertips. Instead of feeling vulnerable, she felt alive. Powerful even. She could tell what he was drawing by following his eyes, and when he focused between her legs, Anna opened wider.

  “It doesn’t seem fair that you get to look at me, but I don’t get to see you.” If she was going to be the obedient muse, Anna should at least have something pretty to look at.

  “I’ll make it up to you,” he said, pencil still moving. “A few more minutes.”

  Determined to get what she wanted, Anna trailed a hand along the inside of her thigh.

  “Maybe you should come closer,” she said. “I’m sure you could see better from over here.”

  Max shook his head as a wicked smile danced across his lips. “You’re trying to distract me.”

  “I wouldn’t dare,” Anna said, putting on an innocent face. “I just miss you all the way over there. We don’t have much time, Max. Wouldn’t you rather touch me than draw me?”

  The pencil stilled as his eyes locked with hers. He set the pad and pencil on the sofa beside him and reached for the buttons on his shirt.

  Kicking off his shoes, he said, “Show me, Anna. Show me how you want me to touch you.”

  She should have known not to challenge a master. Too far gone to back down now, she embraced her newfound confidence.

  “Like this,” she sighed, dragging the backs of her fingers up the inside of her thigh. “And this.” She tweaked a nipple as she sucked the tip of the index finger on her other hand. The moist digit traveled down her body. “And here,” she said, rubbing the finger against her clit.

  Watching Max watch her was intensely arousing. He peeled his shirt down muscular arms, letting it fall to the floor before moving on to his pants.

  “I’d like that,” he said, his voice heavy with need. “Does that feel good?”

  “So good,” she moaned.

  “Show me more, Anna. Show me everything.”

  Dropping the dress off her shoulders, she arched her back in open invitation. Max was on the bed now, kneeling before her. She continued showing him what she wanted, setting herself on fire as she held his gaze.

  “I need you, Max. I need you to touch me.”

  “I’m right here, baby.” Instead of taking over, as she’d expected, he pressed his fingers against the back of hers, shifting the movement, increasing the pressure.

  His other hand covered the one fondling her breast, squeezing as his lips found her other nipple and sucked hard. Anna gasped, head falling back in complete abandon. As she arched against his mouth, Max guided her hand lower, down through her folds to her opening. They each slid a finger inside, causing Anna to buck forward.

  “Easy, baby,” Max said against her skin. “Ride it out.” Anna’s entire body shook, but she followed the rhythm of his hand, letting the pleasure build and ripple through her. “That’s my girl. Keep going.”

  He withdrew as Anna obeyed, continuing the motion, in and out, driving the pressure higher. Max cupped both breasts as he took her mouth in a kiss that demanded everything. She held nothing back. She couldn’t have if she’d wanted to.

  When Max leaned away, cool air took his place, shocking her into confusion. But he was back in seconds, pulling her off the headboard and taking her with him as he lay back. She braced herself on his shoulders as he positioned her on his cock, lowering her slowly, drawing a cry from her lips.

  His hands dug into her hips as he slammed up into her. With every thrust, he drove up harder, and still it wasn’t enough. Anna kissed the middle of Max’s chest, then bit his nipple, winning a hoarse moan from deep in his throat.

  When he lifted the hair out of her face, his eyes were nearly black.

  “You’re perfect, Anna. And you’re mine.”

  With the claim of possession, he drove up hard, sending her into the stratosphere. She clung to his shoulders as raw pleasure tore her apart, and she welcomed it, never wanting it to end.

  Chapter Eleven

  They came back to reality together, still joined and panting. Words seemed inadequate, so Anna placed a reverent kiss on Max’s mouth before lifting her hips and dropping to one side. If they didn’t say another word before morning, she wouldn’t complain.

  And you’re mine.

  Anna liked the sound of that entirely too much.

  Turning onto his side, Max tucked a curl behind her ear. “We could have been doing this for weeks.”

  She pressed a finger against his lips. “Two weeks or two days, you’ve given me the best sex of my life. I have no complaints. It’s as if I was sleeping through my life until you offered to make me dinner. And now I’m wide awake for the first time.”

  “Then I should do my best to keep you that way, don’t you think?”

  Rubbing her knee along his shaft, she said, “What do you think?”

  Max pressed her back onto the mattress and leaned over her. “I think I’m a damn lucky man. Though after last night, you’re putting my recovery time to the test.”

  She felt his cock press against her thigh, hard and pulsing. “From what I can tell, you’ve already made a full recovery.”

  “I have,” he said. “You make me harder than I’ve ever been. And you were doing it long before that steak dinner.”

  “Want to know a secret?” she whispered.

  “Does it involve me?” he murmured, nibbling
her ear.

  Anna shivered. “It does.”

  Lifting higher on his elbow, he said, “Spill.”

  “Well. . .” Anna couldn’t believe she was really going to admit this. “I’ve been dreaming about you, too. For weeks.”

  “I like this secret,” he said, his ego swelling along with the rest of him. “And what were we doing in these dreams?”

  “All sorts of things.”

  “I need details.”

  “They were very graphic,” she said. “Erotic even.”

  “Go on.” He twirled one finger in the dark curls between her thighs. “Which dream was your favorite?”

  They’d already fulfilled most of them, but there was one they hadn’t tried yet.

  “I don’t suppose you have anything sweet in your refrigerator?” she asked.

  Max froze. “You want to eat? Right now?”

  Kissing the side of his neck, she said, “Not eat. Lick.” And she demonstrated by running her tongue over his collarbone.

  “I can find something.” Nudging her legs open, he teased her until she was wet and ready. “Do I get to lick, too?”

  “Uh huh,” she said, her eyes closing as her body focused on his talented fingers.

  “Do I get to lick you here?” His hand cupped her as one finger pressed inside.

  “Yes, please,” she said, writhing off the bed.

  Max gave her nipple a quick bite. “Do you want me to stop to make a trip to the kitchen?”

  Pressing into his hand, Anna panted. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

  “Then what do you want me to do now?” he asked, driving two fingers into her.

  Anna pressed up on her elbows as she cried out. “Oh God. Just keep going. Whatever you do, don’t stop.” The pressure was building, and she spread her legs wider. “Give me what I want, Max. I need it.”

  Scalding her body with hot kisses, he increased the pace between her legs. “Anything,” he said. “Anything for my Anna.”

  * * *

  By Sunday morning, all of Anna’s wildest dreams had been recreated in vivid detail. Around midnight, Max had opened a bottle of champagne, a gift from his publisher to celebrate once again hitting the list, and they’d made a late-night trip down to her place to retrieve the whipped cream.

  When they’d emptied the bottle, they’d both been sticky, satisfied, and in desperate need of a shower. By the time they were clean again, the hot water was gone, the bathroom floor was soaked, and Anna was in danger of turning into a prune.

  But with sunrise came stark reality. In a matter of hours, Max would walk out of her life. Without speaking of the inevitable, they parted with a kiss, Anna returning to her apartment to get ready. Without discussing it, they both knew she would drive him to the airport.

  At noon, she pulled her sensible beige Camry into the short-term parking lot outside the departure doors. They’d said little on the thirty-minute drive, though Max had held her hand the whole way. As he lifted his suitcase out of her trunk, Anna watched a plane take off and grow smaller in the distance.

  Max would be on one of those planes soon. And he’d be taking more than a fancy suitcase with him.

  “You ready?” he said.

  Anna nodded and walked beside him into the building. She stayed back as he checked the suitcase and received his boarding pass. With a black computer bag on his shoulder, he returned to her.

  “Gate A,” he said, taking her hand again. “We can sit at the coffee shop upstairs until I have to go through security.”

  A quick goodbye, like ripping off a Band-Aid, would have been the sensible thing to do. But Anna wasn’t feeling sensible.

  “We can do that,” she said with a weak smile.

  A minute later, they were seated at a table in the corner, but neither had ordered anything to drink. Max couldn’t take it through security anyway, and Anna simply wasn’t in the mood.

  Determined to break the silence looming between them, she said, “You never did tell me what your book is about.”

  Max stared out the window for several seconds before answering. “It’s about a girl whose parents are killed in a house fire, leaving her with no one but an eccentric aunt whom she’s never met. Her new guardian teaches her to read tarot cards and tea leaves, which makes her a bit of an outcast in her new school. Being new and different leaves her friendless and invisible.”

  Anna’s heart went out to the fictional girl. “That sounds like a lonely life.”

  “It is. But things get better.” Max entwined his fingers with Anna’s on the table. “To help her aunt with the bills, the girl takes a job at the local bookstore. It doesn't pay much, but she can borrow all the books she wants for free as long as she's careful with them. Since she loves books, it’s the perfect situation.”

  “Where does the boy come in?” Anna asked.

  “How do you know there's a boy?”

  She shrugged. “Isn’t that how the story goes? The sad, lonely girl gets saved by the one boy who sees something in her that no else does.”

  His grip tightened on her hand as he said, “That isn’t always how it goes, but in this case, you're right. The store owner has a son her age, and they spend hours together talking about books and dreams and staring at the stars. He teaches her about the planets, and she teaches him to dance.”

  “And they fall in love and live happily ever after,” Anna interrupted. “You’re writing a romance novel.”

  “Not exactly,” Max said. “They do fall in love, but they never get the chance to find that happy ending. The boy has cancer, something he keeps from her for a long time. He takes a turn for the worse during their senior year of high school and dies before graduation.”

  Releasing Max's hand, Anna sat back and crossed her arms. “That's horrible. And after losing both of her parents already? How could you kill him like that? She deserves some happiness.”

  “I didn't kill anyone,” Max said, laughing at her reaction. “And there's still a happy ending. The boy’s parents use their son's college money to send the girl to school. She blossoms, meets a great guy, and they live happily ever after.”

  Slightly mollified, Anna leaned forward again. “Still, I don't see why the first boy has to die. If you're writing it, you can let him live.”

  “In this case, I don’t have that power. The book is based on a true story, and the boy did die.”

  “That’s seriously depressing.” This was why Anna preferred her romance novels—the guaranteed happy ending. “Did you know him well?”

  “I didn’t know him at all. The girl is my mother,” he admitted. “She met my father in college, and they’ve been happily married for nearly thirty years, but she never forgot the boy from the bookstore. She told me the story about five years ago, and I’ve wanted to write it ever since.”

  “How does your mother feel about you putting her personal life on paper for all the world to read?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t asked her.”

  “She doesn’t know that you’re writing this story?”

  Tapping the table, Max said, “Writers have a thing about sharing their work before it’s done. As if talking about it will piss off the muse or something.”

  Anna could understand that. “But I thought you said the book wasn’t finished yet. So why are you sharing it with me?”

  Holding her gaze, he said, “You’re an exception for me. In a lot of ways.”

  Silence fell between them. There was no way Anna could respond to that. Not if she wanted to keep her dignity intact until he was through security.

  “You have a flight to catch,” she said, rising from her chair. “If we don’t get moving, you might miss it. We can’t have that.”

  “Anna,” he said, standing with her. His thumb trailed along her jaw, but he didn’t say more.

  There was nothing to say. He was leaving. And life would go on.

  “I’m okay, Max. Really.”

  They walked hand in hand as far as Anna could
go, and then turned to say their final goodbyes. Twirling a curl between his fingers, Max took in her face as if memorizing her features.

  “No regrets?”

  Anna sighed. “No regrets.”

  With his hand on the back of her neck, Max kissed her one last time before pressing his forehead against hers. Seconds later, he disappeared through security without looking back.

  As she turned toward the exit, the world became a watery blur.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I never would have guessed it, but that sex scene in the dugout was seriously hot.”

  The Happy Hearts Book Club nodded as one, in total agreement with Gina’s opinion.

  “Jimmy played baseball in high school,” Deloris said, pounding a burp out of her two-month-old. “This book reminded me of when we first started dating. We tested the hell out of the shocks on that old Dodge. And last night, we tested the legs on the kitchen table.”

  Gina gave Deloris a high five as Anna said, “I preferred the shower scene myself.”

  Silence loomed until Verna purred, “Is there something you want to share with the group, Madame Librarian?”

  “Nope.” The timer went off on Anna’s phone, signaling the end of the meeting. “That’s all for today, ladies. Next month we’ll travel back to Georgian England with Eloisa James. You might want to brush up on your chess for this one.”

  The group chatted as they gathered their things, and Anna said goodbye to each as they left the room. As usual, Verna lagged behind.

  “You’re holding out on us, missy. The new sass in your step is a dead giveaway.”

  Anna leaned in to whisper, “Page two hundred twenty-seven was rather . . . enlightening.”

  “That’s my girl,” said Verna with a swat on Anna’s shoulder.

  Anna picked up several abandoned books on her trip to the main desk, humming a tune as she went. She hadn’t felt much like humming after Max flew out of her life. She hadn’t felt like doing much of anything.

  But after three nights of sleeping on her couch, Anna ripped the sheets off the bed and got on with her life. Her weekend with Max had been amazing, and she was grateful for the gift, but a full life rolled out before her, and Anna looked forward to the future.