He turned his gorgeous face to her. “Rachel, please have dinner with me. I’m sorry for acting like a dumbass this afternoon. Let me be upfront and honest with you. It won’t be the last time I make an idiot of myself. I’m good at it, and I can’t seem to help myself. But I promise, every time I do, I’ll come groveling and begging you to forgive me.”
“I thought you would yell at me for making you look like a fool,” she said. He looked anything but a fool to her.
A small smile tugged at his sensual lips. He’d shaved for the occasion, his usual scruff giving way to smooth skin. She liked him both ways. “Darlin’, I’m chasing after a woman. I’m only a fool if that woman isn’t worth it. You are more than worth every bit of laughter I get hurled my way.”
She should leave. She should demand her backpack and walk out. The whole scene before her was a romantic trap baited with a hunk of gorgeous man.
He seemed to sense her hesitation. He walked up to her and cupped her shoulders in his strong hands. His blue eyes were kind and vulnerable as he stared into hers. “I love you, Rachel Swift. I’ve never said that to a woman before. I love you. Whatever is going on in your life, do not doubt that.”
As he leaned down to kiss her, Rachel knew she couldn’t leave him. She wondered if she would ever be able to leave him.
He touched his lips softly to hers, and she was lost. She knew what she needed, and at that moment, it wasn’t pasta.
“Take off your shirt.” She wanted his skin against hers.
“Rach?” Max seemed awfully surprised at her commanding tone.
“I said take off your shirt,” Rachel repeated. A deliciously wicked thought crossed her mind. He had promised to grovel. “You owe me, mister. I want sexual servitude.”
He stared for a moment, and then his shirt hit the floor. Rachel admired his perfectly cut chest. Working with horses had been damn good for his physique. She let her hands roam over the glorious expanse of his chest and down to his abs. She loved the feeling of smooth skin over all that powerful muscle. Tonight he was hers to command.
His smile was a radiant thing. “I am more than willing to be your slave. Consider it my pleasure to do your bidding, baby. Do you want me to eat that sweet pussy of yours? I’ll eat until you scream for me to stop.”
“Maybe I want to make you scream.” She trailed her fingertips across his chest and found the sensitive nipples there. She leaned over to lick one. She was more than happy with his surprised gasp.
“You could definitely make me beg, baby.”
She looked up into his clear blue eyes and saw the desire there. A thrill went through her body. He seemed to want her as much as she wanted him. There was time. She could have this for a few more days.
She pushed herself up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. He stayed still, as though he sensed she needed to be in control for a while. Rachel took his face between her hands and enjoyed the sensual feel of his lips molding to hers. Even on her toes, he had to bend over to kiss her. He was so big. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed into his body. She licked along the seam of his lips, requesting entry. He immediately acquiesced, letting her tongue rub against his in a sleek dance.
“Let me touch you,” he whispered against her lips.
“All right.” She wanted to feel his hands on her, even through the fabric of her jeans and shirt. Max was having none of that. His big hands slid under the waistband of her jeans and cupped the cheeks of her ass. He hauled her up against his body. She could feel his raging erection. It was big and hard and rubbed against her tantalizingly. She knew exactly what he could do with that big, hungry dick, and her pussy started to get slick just thinking about it.
“Tell me what to do, baby,” he practically begged. His body was tense beneath her hands. “It’s hard for me to stay still when all I want is to rip these clothes off and sink my cock in.”
“You’re not particularly submissive for a love slave.” She was surprised he’d lasted this long. He was very much an alpha male. It didn’t scare her, though. He was tough, but tender when he made love to her. It was nothing at all like Tommy’s assault on her. He’d been ridiculously aggressive on their one date. It had put her off. She shivered in Max’s arms.
“Baby?” He pulled her closer, obviously sensing something was wrong.
She shook off the bad memories. She didn’t need them. This was Max, not Tommy. He wouldn’t hurt her. “Why don’t you take these pants off? They seem to be very confining.” She cupped his erection through his slacks, and Max groaned.
“You’re going to kill me tonight.” He swore under his breath as his hands went to the zipper of his slacks. He was already sweating as he carefully lowered it. She practically drooled as he revealed his tapered waist and well-muscled hips. Finally, the full, glorious length of his cock sprung free. It was long and thick, and she could barely get her hand around it. Max gamely kicked off his shoes. He tossed his slacks and boxers to the side. He stood in front of her, naked and thoroughly aroused. Rachel took a seat in one of the dining room chairs and felt a little thrill at her power over this man.
“Rach?” Max’s voice was uncertain as she sat back and watched him with utter appreciation for his face and form. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
“Tonight is my night, Max,” she said with a confident grin. “Like you said, this isn’t the last time you’ll make an ass of yourself, so I think when you do, you have to cede the sexual power to me. When you make me crazy like you did today, I think I’ll take the reins, and we’ll see how you like me torturing you.”
“Torture?”
She sighed, sure of the fact that he wasn’t going to fight her. He looked slightly nervous, not like a man at the end of his patience. “Yes, Max. You tortured me by the pond. You kissed me until I begged you to fuck me. I cried for it. I think I’d like to return the favor.”
All the air seemed to leave his body. “Okay.”
“Good.” She noticed the heat in the room. It was getting hotter by the second. “Stroke yourself, Max.”
His hand cupped his erection. He started at the tip, where he already had pearly arousal dripping from the slit of his cock. He spread the opaque liquid on his palm and stroked from the head to the base. Rachel let out a long breath. His cock was gorgeous. It was big and now had a purple cast to it as his hand glided over and over. The bulbous head gave way to a long shaft, with one strong vein running the full length to his tight balls. She wanted to run her tongue along the straining ridge of that vein to feel it pulsing in her mouth. She wanted to cup his balls and feel them tighten, waiting to shoot off.
He continued to pump his cock in his fist, never taking his eyes off her. He was going to come and she would watch as he gave over. This man tore away all her defenses and inhibitions. Somehow, things that would feel dirty or perverse with another man seemed loving with Max. A forbidden image entered her mind. Rye could be standing beside Max, stroking himself for her pleasure. She would get down on her knees between them and lick those hard cocks in turn.
“Rachel, baby, if you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’m gonna come,” Max pleaded. He didn’t stop what he was doing. If anything, he picked up the pace.
Rachel pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Her bra, sneakers, and jeans came next. Max watched her with hooded eyes, and she realized he was getting close to blowing. When she was in nothing but a pair of white cotton undies, she sank to her knees in front of him.
“Max, I want to taste you, and then I want you to come all over my chest. Can you do that for me?” Her mouth was already leaning toward his purple, desperate dick.
“Fuck, yeah.” Max replied.
She didn’t touch him with anything except the tip of her tongue. She reached out and swiped that delicious salty drop off the slit of his cock, her tongue briefly pushing inside. It seemed to break something in Max.
“Lean back, baby,” he ordered, panting as he reached the critical stage
.
Rachel leaned back, giving him a perfect target. She watched his beautiful face contort as he started to come. His cheeks flushed and his mouth opened, emitting a long, harsh groan as he covered her breasts. Rachel felt a rush of satisfaction. He was hers. In that moment, she wasn’t thinking about running or hiding or the danger that was still out there. She was in awe of the sensuality she’d discovered and the man who’d shown her how hot she could be. Unselfconsciously, she put on a show for her lover. She rubbed his seed across the soft skin of her chest, making sure she coated her nipples with it.
Even though he’d blown his load all over her seconds before, his dick was getting hard again, swelling in his hand.
“God, Rachel, you’re so sexy,” he breathed, watching her with rapt attention.
Rachel laid back. The hard wood of the floor didn’t bother her. She had other things on her mind. Her underwear was soaking wet. “Then you should get down here, Max.” She played with her nipples, making sure they were pouty and ripe. “I want you to taste yourself on me.”
He fell on her like a starving man. His lips found her nipples, and he quickly sucked them, cleaning them with his tongue. He pulled one into his mouth and bit down gently, just to the point of pain. Rachel fought to stay in control because she could feel herself being pushed to the edge. It was like his mouth had found a path from her nipples to her womb. Her legs moved restlessly beneath him. He lavished attention on her breasts, sucking and biting. While he laved one with his tongue, he pinched the other between his fingers, never letting up on the stimulation.
“Max,” she said, unable to take another second. “Fuck me.”
Max looked up from her chest and smiled. It was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. “Yes, ma’am.”
She pushed her hips up to slide her undies off, but Max had a quicker solution. He reached down and ripped them off her hips, tossing them aside. He searched out his pants and pulled a condom out of his pocket. He slid it over his cock in one smooth move. Then, to her surprise, he laid back on the floor, offering himself up to her. His cock twitched, already hot and thick again.
“Max?” Now it was her turn to sound unsure.
“I’m here for your pleasure, baby,” Max said. “Take me any way you want me. If you want, I’ll take over and fuck you senseless, but I thought you might like to be in control.”
Rachel straddled his lean hips. She let her hands explore his chest while she settled against him. “You’re pretty much perfect, Maxwell Harper.”
He laughed ruefully. “You didn’t think that when you were giving me hell, Rach.” He reached up to cup her face, and his eyes got serious. “I love you, Rachel Swift. I’ll always give you what you need.”
Her heart seized as she realized she loved him, too. God, she was in love. She couldn’t say it, though. It was too new and too fragile. All she could do was lean over and kiss him with everything she had. After a moment, she drew herself back up and guided his rock-hard cock to her soaking slit and let gravity do its work.
“You feel so fucking good, baby.” He moaned as she lowered herself onto him.
“I love how big you are,” she replied, knowing he liked to talk during sex. When he’d made love to her the first time, he kept telling her how hot she was and how much she pleased him. “I love how you fill me up.”
She bit her lip as he did just that. He flexed his hips up and hit that spot deep inside she didn’t even realize existed before Max showed it to her.
His hands were gripping her hips, guiding her as she rode him. His eyes were on her. She was rapidly discovering Max wasn’t a man to close his eyes and enjoy. He wanted to watch.
“And I love the way your tits bounce, baby. It gets me fucking hot watching you ride me.”
Rachel ground her clit on his pelvic bone as his cock glided over her G-spot.
“Oh, god,” she moaned as heat and friction exploded from her pussy, coating her entire body with fiery pleasure. She gave herself over to Max’s guiding hands as she enjoyed the orgasm blooming across her senses. Max groaned and slammed his hips up one last time. He held her waist tightly as he came.
She fell forward, her head hitting Max’s chest. His arms wound protectively around her as their bodies slowly came down from the high of making love. Rachel loved this part, too. She loved the peace she felt as he hugged her to him. There was only one small thing missing, but she refused to think about Rye Harper.
Max chuckled as his hands rubbed across her back soothingly. He was warm, and he made her feel warm, too. “And to think I made you a nice dinner, and all you wanted was sex. I feel used.”
She laughed and snuggled down. “I think we’ll get to the food.” She kissed his chest and then put her ear over his heart, loving the strong beat. “Eventually.”
Chapter Seven
Rye sat back in the huge Adirondack chair and watched the sky. The stars were out in a brilliant display. He always missed the night sky when he was in the city. Too much pollution and too many lights blocked out what was a nightly show here in Bliss. He wondered if Rachel liked the stars. Had she lain out during the long evenings looking up at that sky and seeing wonder? Or had she huddled in the back of the Jeep, the beauty of nature utterly submissive to the fear of what could happen.
Fuck, he was in too deep and had no idea how to get out.
“Well, Callie’s off,” Stefan Talbot said as he closed the back door behind him and made his way to the chairs that decorated his massive wraparound porch.
When he’d realized Max was back in good with Rachel, he’d decided to give them the house for the evening. He’d headed back into town, picked up some cheap wine, and showed up on Stefan’s doorstep. It hadn’t been long before Callie had knocked and they’d been sitting down to a dinner that had probably been tasty if he’d been able to taste any of it.
Callie and Stef had tried to entertain with stories of their days and pulling him into talking about mundane things. Anything to take his mind off what Max and Rachel were likely doing. Hot stuff. Sex stuff. Hot sex stuff.
Would Max hold her afterward? She looked like a woman who needed to be held, who needed to know that her lover was still thinking about her after the sex was done.
Even though it was summer, it was cool at night. The brisk air felt good, reminding him that there was absolutely nothing to be hot about.
“You are a hard nut to crack tonight.” Stef settled into the seat next to him, a glass of Scotch in his hand. Stef had put on a light jacket, but Rye was enjoying the cold.
“I’m just thinking.” He wished he wasn’t. He couldn’t quite make his brain stop working tonight.
“About Rachel and Max?”
Damn Callie. He loved that girl like a sister, but he wished sometimes she could keep her mouth shut. He was silent because anything that came out of his mouth Stef would know was complete bullshit. This was the downside of growing up with people. Stef had been his friend since they were kids. He tended to know what Rye was thinking.
“You know it might not work out,” Stef said quietly. Almost sympathetically.
“I hope for Max’s sake that it does.” At least Rye wanted to hope that. Damn, he loved his brother. Max was the other half of himself. He should be thrilled that Max had found what he wanted. His fists clenched. A normal brother would feel that way, even if he was attracted to her, too. Of course, a normal brother couldn’t sense what his brother was feeling. Max’s passion for Rachel was seeping into Rye’s blood like a poison. It would ruin him for other women if he let it.
He would end up alone because no other woman would do it for him. He would be the third wheel, the one who didn’t fit.
Stef shook his dark head. “It won’t, not if it continues this way. Do you think you’re the only one who feels the connection between you and Max? I assure you, Max feels it, too. Do you remember how he was when you were in that car accident when we were…how old were we?”
“Seventeen.” Rye remembered it like it was yeste
rday. When he closed his eyes, he could still see the oncoming car, still hear the tires squealing in a desperate attempt to gain traction, to halt the inevitable. He still felt the way his heart clenched when he knew nothing would stop the impact. Sometimes his leg still ached from where he’d broken it.
“I was with him when it happened,” Stef continued. “No one called us to go to the hospital. We were walking to Callie’s to get some notes she took in chemistry, and he stopped and fell to the ground. I’ll never forget that. I thought he was dead. He seemed that way for a good ten minutes. Then he came to, and he couldn’t stop crying. He felt you, Rye. He felt you die, and he felt the paramedics shock the life back into you. I don’t know or even claim to understand it, but you two are more connected than the rest of us. I know I envy the hell out of the both of you. The older I get the more I feel my solitariness.”
He knew Stef was being kind, but he was aching in a way he never had. “Yeah, well the grass is always greener, buddy. It can be hard knowing how someone feels almost all the time. And I can always tell when he wants someone. Usually that’s fine because he’s willing to share. Now that he isn’t, I have to wonder how much of what I feel is really me and how much of it is Max.”
Stef leaned over. The gravity in his eyes matched the feeling hanging over Rye. “Does it matter?”
That was the million-dollar question. Did it matter why a person loved another person? He was pretty damn sure it was love. He’d felt it in little doses before. He’d certainly cared for women before, even enough to think he wanted to marry them. What if what he’d felt before had been small because he’d felt it alone? Max hadn’t loved any of the women they had been with before Rachel. He’d liked some of them, wanted most of them, but love hadn’t been in Max’s vocabulary until Rachel walked into town. What if Rachel was the one?
Rye ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Damn, he was jealous of his brother. And fucking pissed off, too. Max had two weeks with her while Rye had been out of town. Two weeks to get to know her and let her feel comfortable with him. Where was his equal time? If he’d been the one to meet Rachel first, would he be fucking her right now? He damn straight wouldn’t be doing it alone. He would have convinced her that they could be good for her, both of them. “He’s such a selfish bastard.”
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