Pierce reached for the nape of my neck. “Hey, Jess, look at me.”
I blew out a breath and hesitated.
He gave my neck a squeeze. “I know he has a daughter, but you have to be careful about certain types of people.”
“That’s it, asshole. Back the fuck away from her. You’ve done enough for one night,” Max called out, barreling over like a bull ready to charge right into a matador. He must have run over to where we were, but—as per usual—I hadn’t heard a thing because I was so caught up in my own head. He pushed Pierce back, making him stumble several feet. It was enough to snap my out of my stupor right quick.
“Max! Stop!”
He ignored me and got right into Pierce’s face.
“I don’t know what the hell you said to her, but whatever it is stops right now,” he threatened, every muscle in his frame tense and on alert. “You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as this woman.”
“She was defending you, you son of a bitch,” Pierce spat back, smoothing down his hair, his face contorted in a way that didn’t make him look so handsome anymore. Instead, he looked disgusted and he kept wiping off the spot on his jacket where Max had laid his hand on him.
“You know, Jessica—” he peered at me, “—it’s one thing to root for the underdog. It’s another thing to want to lie down with one.”
My eyes must have looked as if they were ready to pop out of my head. I turned to Max for some kind of reinforcement, for him to set Pierce straight about us not being a couple, but he said nothing. In fact, he had the nerve to sport a smirk.
“You’re not going to say anything?” I was incredulous, not believing Max was letting Pierce assume a relationship that didn’t exist.
“I’m not blind, you know,” Pierce retorted. “There’s obviously something going on between the two of you.”
“He’s my neighbor! His daughter is a student at my school!” I half yelled, totally lying, only to stop when I heard Max burst out laughing.
“Max! This isn’t funny!”
Pierce scoffed. “I can’t believe this is the kind of man you find worth your time.”
“Gingersnap—” Max ignored Pierce’s man-rant, those smile lines reappearing on the corners of his eyes, “—there’s no way a tool like this is ever going to be able to see, much less know, how to care for all the layers of woman that you are.”
Those pale green eyes of his were all lit up. For me. Right then I couldn’t imagine him looking at any other woman the way he was devouring me with his gaze. And then it hit me: I hadn’t seen another woman coming or going from Max’s house. Some of that time, he was away with Piper, but when they were home, Piper had some sleepovers with her grandparents, but the wave of biker groupies, strippers, and wannabe babysitters had dried up.
Was it because of me? I wanted to believe.
Staring into his gorgeous face, made rugged by years on the road, in combat, with that bisecting scar across the eyebrow, I was mesmerized by how the life he led was evident on his face and yet, he was only more beautiful for it.
He was also the one that kept moving two steps forward and three steps back. What did it matter if he changed his mind, I reminded myself. He’ll just pull away from you again.
“I don’t need this,” Pierce gritted out as he got into his car. He lowered his window, glaring as he did.
“I trust you will inform your sister and Kyle I will no longer be available to work on such a small-scale project as theirs.” He sniffed and a muscle in his cheek ticked.
“That’s a shame, Pierce.” I offered him a tight smile. “You’re one of the best, and I know that’s what they wanted for their dream home, especially after all they went through. I’d hate for my sister to have to pay the price just because it didn’t work out for us. I know you’re better than that.”
The hard lines of his face softened.
“Think about it.”
He nodded. “I’ll do that.” Then he sneered at Max and took off. Max gave a quick brush-off salute with two fingers off his forehead before shoving his hand deep into his front pocket. He was the epitome of smug satisfaction, of a man who had won the spoils of war.
“Why are you looking so pleased with yourself? And what are you doing anyway, getting into my business?”
“I did you a favor, Gingersnap. That guy was so far up his own ass he’s never going to see the sun shine again.”
“I’m not doing this with you.” I crossed my arms, taking a step back from him, needing my distance.
“What is it you think we’re ‘doing’?”
“This game…this, this cat and mouse.” I gestured back and forth with my forefinger, “Pierce may not have been the right guy for me, but living in this in between with you? It’s a waste of my time. I’m done.” I sliced the air with the edge of my hand.
I turned on my heel and marched straight for my house. I was proud of myself, for getting through my little speech without faltering, even if I was holding onto my metal house key so firmly its teeth were cutting into the inside of my palm. I got a few feet before I felt myself being lifted off the ground and tossed over Max’s shoulder in a fireman’s hold.
“Max! Put me down this minute! This isn’t funny!” I squirmed around; a completely futile exercise because, holy hell, he was freakishly strong. I shrieked and tried to kick, but his grip on my lower body was as snug as a vise.
“Should’ve put a muzzle on before I lifted you up, but there wasn’t any time,” he said. I swiveled my upper body, noticing he was walking in long strides away from my house, toward his.
“I’m not kidding, Max. You need to put me down!”
“I will. Almost there.”
He barreled through his house, to his bedroom. Then he tossed me on the bed, where I bounced a couple of times before he took it upon himself to settle right on top. He took my keys out of my hands, throwing them across the room, and then laced his fingers through mine, pinning them over my head before I even had a chance to register what was happening. When I did, I knew I was in trouble. Not because he’d hurt me. I knew that if I really wanted him gone, he’d be off. But that was the problem. He felt good; his weight, the pressure, it quieted my nervous energy.
“Max,” I said, barely above a whisper. “I am sorry I let my sister get between us, but I’m still upset with you.”
The minute the words left my mouth, the sparkle in his eyes died, along with his shit-eating grin.
“Baby, I came home as soon as I got your message.”
“What? Where did you two go?”
“I had to deliver a bike out of town. Piper’s been staying at my folks’ place. They’ve been taking her to school.”
I blinked a couple of times, taking in what he said.
“Although I’ll admit,” he continued, “I stayed gone a couple days longer than necessary, ’cause I needed the time away. That changed as soon as I heard what you said.”
My brows knitted together. “But you ignored me this morning.”
A ghost of a smirk came up. “You were with your girl. I gave you a nod. Thought you understood that meant we’d talk later.”
“How was I supposed to know that!” I got all flustered, which only made him bust out laughing on top of me. “Don’t laugh! I was really upset!”
“Yeah, you were all broken up, going out with another guy.”
“I was trying to get over you.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “How’s that working out for you?”
“Terrible.” I pouted. “You’re not an easy man to forget.”
“I’m not an easy man, period—” he gave both my hands above my head a squeeze, “—and you’ve got a sweetness to you…it’s not being naïve, like your sister said.” He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. It seemed he was struggling to find the right words. He lifted his he
ad to meet my gaze. “I did absolutely nothing to deserve a woman like you, but I promise, from this moment on, I’m going to be the man to protect every fuckin’ perfect thing you are.”
He thrust his hands deep into my hair and I laid my hands on his chest, watching as it rose and fell like he was out of breath. And his eyes…I have never seen a gaze so intense, with a fierceness bordering on madness. It both thrilled and scared me.
“You have no idea the demons I’ve been wrestling with since the day I met you.” His voice was rough, on edge, and I knew he was barely holding on. “Not because I think I’m going to hurt you, but because it makes me physically sick to think the work I do with the Order could make you a target. So I tried to stay away. I tried losing myself in any woman who even hinted at something that reminded me of you, hoping I could get lost in her for a night to dull the pain.”
I closed my eyes because the idea of him with anyone but me was hard to take. “Did it work?” I asked.
“Open your eyes for me, baby,” he gently ordered. I caught a slight glint of humor in his gaze. “Not even a little bit.”
I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding onto. And he gifted me with a smile that warmed me all over.
“No one is you, Jessica. No one even comes close.”
“Really?”
“Definitely.”
Then his mouth came down, and I immediately opened for him, making him growl. His kisses started off hungry, insistent. It was as if he had been starved and needed feeding. He strengthened his grip on my hair, maneuvering to accommodate wherever his mouth wanted to explore: my lips, my long neck, the underside of my jaw.
“I can’t get enough of you.” His lips and tongue dragged across my skin, making their way down the deep V of my dress’s neckline as he rubbed the tip of his nose in my cleavage. “Jesus Christ, you smell like heaven.” He lifted his torso from mine to lower my dress straps. I lay there, topless, my small breasts heaving up and down under his penetrating gaze. I moved my hands to cover myself, thinking my body must look like a joke compared to the voluptuous women he’d had in his bed. But he read what I was doing and moved my hands away, pinning them under his.
“You’re beautiful. Don’t hide from me, baby.” He swallowed hard, his words sounding like they were getting stuck in his throat. And just like that, I let go of any lingering insecurities that haunted me.
He was like my own fallen angel, one who’d weathered a few storms along the way, with his perfectly mussed, dirty-blond hair and slightly scarred features. I shivered as his rough and calloused fingertips dragged across my skin, from the apple of my cheek on down to the hollow of my throat. He lingered at that spot for a beat, caressing the indentation, his gaze so intense I felt it burn.
“In this bed and from now on, we don’t hide. You got it?”
I nodded, hearing every word he said, but I was just trying to remember to breathe. No matter how much air I took into my lungs, it seemed the oxygen wasn’t getting to my brain because, even lying down, I felt like I was falling. He must have noticed because he placed his palm right in the center of my sternum, and gently pressed down. My heart was pounding like a jackhammer, so insistent and loud that I could see his hand pulsating from its rhythm. I let out a laugh at a higher pitch than I’d like, and he gave a beautiful smile in return.
“I guess I’m a little nervous,” I whispered, and he let out an easy laugh of his own..”
He leaned his weight, chest to chest, resting on his elbows. The pads of his thumbs naturally found their way to my temples, slowly stroking back and forth as he lovingly gazed into my eyes, still with a smile on his face.
“Nothing to be nervous about,” he answered. “It’s just me.”
“But you’re everything,” I blurted out.
He stilled and I immediately panicked. “What I mean is—”
“You meant it. Don’t take it back,” he said. Then, his mouth was on mine and if I had any resistance, his touch melted it away. The way he kissed, it was like he couldn’t get enough of the way I tasted and felt; the feeling made me even more lightheaded than before.
He lifted off me just enough to tear my dress down and away from my body and then strip off his own clothes. When his skin touched mine again…when I felt the weight of him settled on top of me, my anchored and lonely heart shed its barnacles and debris. And as he entered my body, some floating, wandering piece from deep inside finally clicked into place.
I was home. I was home. I was home.
Chapter Six
I swear, great sex has a distinctive scent: it’s heavy and thick, musky with hints of sugar and salt. I savored the way the smell lingered in the air, until something hit me like a Mack Truck: Max was spooning me in his bed. His whole body was enveloping mine, and I was in a cocoon of cozy, delicious warmth. And I knew it made me a sentimental goof but I didn’t care: I had the biggest smile on my face before I even had a chance to open my eyes.
“I see that,” he teased while giving a hug. “Someone’s waking up in a good mood.”
“Don’t get cocky. I’m rolling my eyes at you under my lids,” I replied, a smile in my voice. “But I do have to admit—” I wiggled my bottom against his morning wood and purred like a kitten, “—I’m digging waking up this warm. I usually kick off my covers in the middle of the night.”
He grabbed my hair, pulling it back. “Jesus baby, you keep moving like that, I’m going to have to fuck you again.”
Looking up at him, our mouths almost touching, I shimmied up and down his erection.
“You kept me up half the night already, but don’t let me stop you from doing something you have to do.” Then I reached for his hand and shoved it between my legs. “Feel how wet I am for you.”
He dipped his fingers in between my folds and lazily began stroking my clit. His other hand holding my hair tightened as he growled, “I don’t know what’s hotter—feeling how ready this pussy is or hearing you talk dirty for me.”
It was getting harder to focus on what he was saying because he was touching me exactly how I craved, moving his fingers in time with my gyrating hips. His free hand came around and rolled my nipple between his rough-skinned fingertips. God, I loved that.
“You like how I’m touching you, baby?” He gave my nipple a pinch, shooting pleasure and pain straight between my legs.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “It’s perfect.”
“Is this the exact spot?” he asked, now giving my clit a squeeze between his thumb and forefinger.
My head reared back. “Oh God, yeah.” He went right back to rubbing my clit but his other hand moved from my breast to surround my throat. His mouth came close, and he brushed his lips back and forth against mine, but when I tried to kiss him, his hand clutched my throat and I flashed my eyes open.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He smirked and kept stroking. “Just feel what I’m doing to your body.”
I searched his face, confused.
“Close your eyes.”
I did as I was told.
“Good girl,” he whispered. Then I felt his breath at my ear while his thumb rubbed my clit and his other fingers now plunged deep inside.
“Ohhhh…”
“Yeah,” he growled, the vibration running through me. He tightened his grip on my neck just enough to constrict my breathing some but not enough to really stop the flow. The effect was making his touch even more intense.
“This pussy belongs to me now,” he said. “This body is mine to do with what I please. You understand, Jess?”
It was hard to find the words because waves of pleasure were building. I just nodded and moaned.
“You want to come?”
“Yes.”
“You need to come?” He was more insistent this time.
“Yes…I need it. Please…” I was keening.
“Say it first,” he commanded.
“Say…what?”
“Who owns you?”
My body was on fire and now my brain ignited with his words. Who owns you? To be owned, to belong to someone completely…many of my friends would’ve balked at such an idea. They had all gone to see the movie Fifty Shades of Grey together and the Dominant/submissive dynamic along with the impact play horrified them. Based on what I learned from the kind of books I had been reading for years, the movie didn’t even begin to cover what a real D/s relationship entailed, the psychosexual interplay constantly evolving between two people.
“Baby…come back to me,” I heard Max coax. “Your man asked you a question.”
I licked my lips while staring at his mouth. “You want to own me?”
He stopped stroking and rolled on top. Not surprising, he had a devilish smirk. “I already do. Just want to hear you say it.”
“Oh really?” I half mocked. “So cocksure of yourself all the time, aren’t you?”
Instead of laughing along, his smirk fell. The pale of his eyes grew darker, like storm clouds rolling in. He moved his hands away, took his knee and prodded my legs open so he could more easily settle in between, at the same time grabbing my wrists and pinning them over my head.
“Yeah, I am,” he finally answered. Then he rubbed his cock up and down my core a couple of times before pausing. “Still want to hear you say it.”
My breath hitched in my chest as he worked my body with just his hips.
“What did you want me to say again?”
He growled and his clutch on my wrist got real tight. But he didn’t respond, and I knew immediately it was because he wasn’t going to dignify my remark with an answer. He was onto me.
“You own me, Max. You have ever since you took me in over the summer, to protect me. I’ve just been waiting for you to fully claim me.”
Without warning, he surged his pelvis forward, his cock finding its way straight inside my opening. “Ohmigod,” I said through a moan.
He didn’t take it slow either. Keeping hold of my wrists, Max rammed into me, all the while watching every nuance of my face and adjusting his positioning accordingly. It seemed he could read every flutter of my lids, the cadence of my sighs, even what the turn of my head a certain way meant, resulting in him rubbing the exact spots inside and out the way I needed.
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