by Jordan Bates
I stopped breathing. I had run, but I hadn’t run from him, but then again, I also never told him when I ran. I left, just like my mother used to do. And if there was anything in my life that I didn’t want, it was to be like my mother.
“I don’t know why she ran, sir. I want to know, but I don’t want to push her away. I’m not sure what I’ve done, but I know I need to fix whatever it is. This ring in my pocket is burning a deep hole, and has been for a few weeks now.”
At Max’s last words I shot up on the bench. Max stared at me, wide-eyed, clearly not expecting me to have been listening, and especially not me sitting up abruptly. We both sat apart, staring at each other, the tension growing between us.
“Why did you run?” The look on Max’s face turned to anger.
“Do you really have a ring in your pocket?” I wasn’t dodging Max’s question, but before I told him anything, I wanted to know how serious he was, because what I was about to tell him was something only Adam and I knew. He didn’t answer me verbally but instead took out a box from his front pocket. He opened it to me, revealing a simple Claddagh ring.
“Platinum,” he whispered. My eyes shot to his and away from the ring. “A precious metal for a precious woman.”
I was speechless. I stared at the ring again as Max took it out of the box and reached for my left hand. I didn’t pull back or stop him as he slipped the ring on my ring finger. The traditional hands on the Claddagh ring were tilted, with another piece of metal mimicking the tilt in the opposite direction. It was almost like an X encompassing the crowned heart.
“I can’t have children.” The words spat from my mouth faster than I wanted them to. I shot a hand to my mouth, covering it. I was trying to put back in the words that had the ability to change my world, but Max would have none of that. He took my hands in his, bringing me to the edge of the bench.
“So?” His kissed my hands like the words I had just said meant nothing to me. He looked up at me, but the excitement I had just seen slipped away, and I knew it was because of the tears coming from me.
“Didn’t you hear me?” My voice rose as I tried to explain it all to Max. He just didn’t understand what I said, that was it. “I can’t have children. Ever.”
“And didn’t you hear me?” Max was on his feet now. I felt so small with his shadow cast across me. He pulled me up to stand in front of him. We were facing my father’s grave, Max’s arms around me. He wasn’t just holding me to him, I felt like he was protecting me. “We don’t need children for me to love you as much as I do. Kids don’t make our relationship, Alexa, we do.”
Tears streamed down my face. If there was something I wasn’t expecting today, it was Max saying he didn’t need children. This was the one thing that Adam had held against me, even if he never verbalized it.
“By the way you’ve relaxed into me, I bet that wasn’t what you expected me to say.” He hugged me closer.
“It wasn’t. None of that was what Adam used to say about it.” Max turned me around, cupping my cheek.
“I’ve told you before.” The words came out gritty. He crushed his mouth to me, not letting me breathe until he was pleased with how heavily I was panting. He laid his head against mine. “I will never be like that scum of an ex-husband you had. You will always be my priority, Alexa, above anyone else.”
He kissed me again and lifted me up. My legs wrapped around his waist instinctively. He continued his rant. “So, I don’t need a child to bring into the family. No. I need you, and only you, for the rest of the time that I am living.”
“Max.” I knew what he was saying, but I still felt like he didn’t know exactly what he was agreeing to. “Adam is—”
“I know.” He cut me off immediately. “I saw the announcement. But what I don’t understand if why you ran. Why you didn’t come to me, Alexa.”
My answer was right there on my lips, but the words didn’t want to escape into the world.
“Please tell me.” Max’s words encouraged me, and I let him have it. Exactly what he was asking for.
“I didn’t think you would want me.” That was the truth, but not all of it, and he knew it. Max waited for more. I pushed at him to put me down. When I was on my feet, I took a step away, and could see the hurt on Max’s face. “I’ve been hiding this for years now. Not just from you Max, but from my whole family. The only people who know what happened are Adam and me.”
Max waited for me to continue. He tried to grab for my arm to pull me closer to him, but I only took a step back. I needed space.
“I had no idea what you would have thought of me.” I silenced him with a hand as he tried to answer my statement. It wasn’t a question. I needed to get this all out now or I had no idea if I ever would. “I was scared, so I ran to the one place where I knew I would be accepted. I’ve run here a lot over the years, and when I did, never once did Adam follow.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, because I was about to make a promise not just to me, but to Max as well.
“Oh, how wrong I have been about you, Max.” I wiped away a stray tear. “You came. You’re here right now, and I never thought you would be. I never thought a day would come that you would meet my father, but you did today, and I couldn’t be happier. You are in no way like Adam, and I promise to never compare the two of you again.”
I let him take a step towards me, diminishing the empty space between us.
“I promise to take you as you are, but only if you can take me as I am.” I put both of my hands on his chest, not to push him away, but to pull him closer. “I may not be able to have children, but I do want to have a family together, Max. I want to spend forever with you.”
I waited for him to say something as he searched my eyes.
“Forever and always.” His words rang in my ears, and I jumped into his arms, wrapping mine around his neck. My lips crashed to his in an answer of love. This man was someone I had never thought would come into my life, and if you had asked me when I moved to Georgia if I had been in love, I probably would have said yes, but now? Now I knew what true love was, because this feeling in my heart, in my soul, that I had for Max was one that I knew would last a lifetime.
“You’re coming with me.” I grinned, not at his words but at the fact that he always loved getting the last word.
Chapter 21
Max had carried me to the car he had rented, not letting me escape his touch except to move into the driver’s seat. Even then, his hands were back on me as he started to drive. I didn’t question where we were going and I didn’t care. I trusted anywhere Max would take us. We pulled up to the Tropicana. I almost objected, but Max silenced me as he helped me from the car so that valet could take it. I waited in the lobby as he checked us in. As many times as I had been to Vegas, I had never gone exploring along the Strip. I hadn’t planned on what I would do after going to my father’s grave. I was kind of just winging it.
A hand grazed my back, and Max lead me over to the elevator. We were alone when we got on and all the way up to the eighth floor. When the elevator dinged for our departure, Max stopped me, looked around outside of the elevator, and without notice, picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder. I squealed as I beat across his back.
“Put me down, you brute!” I couldn’t help but laugh, but then a moan escaped me as I stared at his ass and one of his hands whispered across my inner thigh. He stopped in front of a door, letting us in. Luckily it wasn’t too far to the bed, where he tossed me. I bounced a few times before spreading out amongst the sheets, looking up at a man who clearly had an appetite. I seemed to be the only thing on the menu.
“Max.”
He pulled his shirt over his head. “You will never run from me again.” Next went his pants. He stripped bare for me, exposing himself fully. I licked my lips in anticipation. “Ever.”
He didn’t make a move towards me, but stood there, staring down at my body. I tried to open my mouth to ask him what he was going to do, but he silenced me with
a hand.
“You don’t talk unless I tell you to.” I pursed my lips, biting to keep them closed. The dark look in Max’s eyes intrigued me, and I wanted to play with what he was offering. “You keep your eyes open the whole time.”
He slid across the bed, hovering over me. He slid his hand up my dress, gripping my panties, and tore them down my legs with a vice grip. He didn’t hesitate when he ripped open the I felt exposed in the best way. I said a silent prayer to myself for not wearing a bra today. He held himself up with one arm as he snaked the other around my back to unclip my bra. Max dangled it in front of me, like it was his trophy, and then tossed it to the other side of the room.
“Lastly.” He scraped his nose along my neck and a shiver coursed through my body. I could already feel myself dripping wet and completely ready for him. “You scream my name when you come.”
Max melded his lips to mine, not giving me room to breathe. I pushed my body against his, wanting to feel the heat that was emanating off his body. I tried to wrap my legs around him, but he pushed on my thighs, causing me to spread my legs further and away from him. He broke the kiss quickly, looking down to where his cock was pointed straight at my core. I tried to push myself closer to him, but he only held me down again.
“Not yet.” The words came out as a growl, and I couldn’t tell if he was telling me or himself. He flipped me over, pinning me to the bed as his kissed down my back. I could feel his length poking my ass as he descended on his journey. The bites along each cheek came quickly, and they soon multiplied. I was going to have bruises all over my ass, but I soon realized that the thought made me even wetter. I wanted Max to mark me, even if no one else would see it.
I pushed my head into the pillow, stifling a moan, but Max would have none of that. His left mine and my head was pulled back by the roots of my hair. My face was smushed down to the side so that I was looking at the wall.
“You don’t hide your pleasure from me. You understand?” A smack lashed across my ass, as Max’s lips brushed against my ear. His words rang through my head, causing my ass to move in the direction of his cock. I was more turned on than I had ever been. “Answer me.”
I closed my eyes to moan, but another smack came across me.
“Open your eyes and answer me.” My eyes shot open and Max bit at the lobe of my ear. I knew he was losing patience.
“Yes.” He pressed me further into the bed, waiting for more. “Yes, I understand.”
He let go of me, petting my hair, moving back over my body with kisses. This was it. This had been the caged monster I had been wanting to release. Max skimmed his fingers along my back, tracing every curve he could find. His hands went to my ass again, kneading it with his rough fingers. He bent his head to kiss where he had smacked it. I bit my lips, and with the moan coming from him, I knew he saw it. I shoved my ass further into the air towards him. I wanted him, and I wanted him now.
He wrapped his hands around my waist and hoisted my ass up. I made sure to keep my head turned towards the side as I propped myself up on my elbows. I could see Max staring appreciatively at my ass, and I wiggled it for him. His eyes went straight to mine, and the bright gray eyes I had been looking at almost every day were now black. I opened my mouth to moan, but nothing came out.
Max took his cock in his hand, stroking it a few times, his eyes never leaving mine. He pushed it against my opening, only teasing me as he slipped up and down my slit. I pushed back, taking in only a small portion of his tip. Max bit his lip, grabbed my hips, and plunged into me, all in one move. I didn’t lose eye contact with him as I gasped for air. I was filled to the brink and I loved it.
Max pulled out all the way, teasing me again, until he plunged in one more time. He did this over and over again, interchanging between teasing my clit and smacking my ass. The sting drove me insane, but the kisses along my back afterwards brought me back down.
“I’m done teasing, babe.” Max mounted me, one knee between my legs and the other bent so that his foot was planted next to my knee. He was able to lean down and kiss my lips in this position, but I also felt so much more of him. He was pushing into my walls and I cried out in pleasure. “I’m going to fuck you so good.”
“Please.” I knew Max had said not to talk unless spoken to, but I needed him to know how much I wanted this.
“Anything for you, babe.” He pounded into me hard. One hand held my waist steady and the other went for my neck. Max’s hand wrapped around it, bringing me up. I put my palms into the bed as I bent back to look at the ceiling. With each move of his cock, his fingers wound tighter around my throat. I could still breathe, but just the thought of Max choking me made me come. I shouted his name into the empty hotel room, contracting around his cock as my orgasm took over.
Max shoved my head back into the bed, fully mounting me this time, with both legs bent on each of my sides. One arm was wrapped around my middle, holding me up, while the other hand pressed the side of my face into the bed as he ground into me. I strained to look back as he grunted his release, holding all of it inside of me. He didn’t pull out immediately, but he did release my head and moved us so that he was spooning me. I could still feel his cock twitching inside of me.
I was game to go a second round, but all too soon the sleep that I knew would come over me took me. It wasn’t until I was almost asleep that I realized we hadn’t used a condom, and I didn’t care. We trusted each other wholeheartedly, and now that it was out in the open I could not have children, there was no worrying about pregnancy. What once would have made me upset or heartbroken made me feel at peace. I was completely open to Max, and him to me. I let the deep sleep take us over into the night, not wanting to go back to reality just yet.
Sunlight was streaming into the room when I finally woke. I looked at the clock to see I had slept for over twelve hours. When I rolled over, the bed was cold. I looked around the room to see Max sitting in the corner, with a computer in his lap.
“Working already?” Max didn’t move to shut the laptop as he looked up at me. I looked closely at the case the computer was in. The stickers on there were too familiar. It was my computer. “Why do you have my laptop?”
He didn’t answer me but instead moved back to the bed to sit beside me. He kissed my forehead as he showed me the screen. I could feel the panic start to rise as I looked at the document he had open. It wasn’t just any book he was reading. He was reading my book.
“How?” I looked up at him. Max’s face lit up with laughter as he leaned down to kiss me again.
“Lilly texted me where I needed to go to find you.” He readjusted himself and placed the laptop on the nightstand, then rolled over to pull me into him. Max kissed the top of my head as he continued to talk. “Once I booked my flight over the phone, I realized I had a little time, so I stopped by the office to tell Chase I wouldn’t be back for a while, and neither would you. When I went to your office, I saw your laptop was still there. I didn’t want to leave it in my car, so I brought it with me.”
He reached over and brought the computer back towards us, setting it into my lap. Max was only three chapters into it, and there were little notes in the margins. I sucked in a breath. What if he hated it?
“It’s so good, babe.” I looked up at him, and the spark in his eye wasn’t one of love or adoration, it almost seemed like he was proud of me.
“We don’t publish romance novels, but this,” He pointed towards the computer. “This could totally change my mind. I’m excited to see how it ends.”
I had only written the first ten chapters so far. It was something so different when I started it two years ago, but now I had changed everything about this book, with Max being my muse. I think that was what terrified me the most. Once he read it and all of the things happening in it, he would know that it was him. That I had written a book about him and that people would know the most intimate details about our life together.
“No one’s read it yet, not even Lilly.” I stared back at the comp
uter, reading a few of his notes. Little bits on expanding or trimming, rewording, parts that he loved. The worker bee in me took over as I moved my fingers over the keyboard. I started reworking parts with Max’s arms wrapped around me. I heard a gasp behind me as I deleted a whole paragraph he said to rework, but before he could complain, I was already retyping it out, making it sound better.
“I love watching you work.” He kissed me on my head, and that was how we spent our day. Him reading a few chapters and me reworking them. In fact, that was how we spent the next two days, holed up in a hotel room, ordering room service and me writing. We were going to be leaving Friday afternoon and I almost hated the thought of going back to Georgia, but I knew there I would have my friends, and Max and I would be able to start our new lives together.
I stared down at my ring as we waited at the airport. Max was checking if there were any first class seats to upgrade to so that I could have room to work. I had been in a mood since I first started typing in front of him. Every single word that came to mind needed to be written down, and even now, standing here, I was itching to bring my words to life.
By the time we touched down to Georgia that evening, I had written at least five thousand words from the comfort of our first class seats. I had to say, the whiskey helped when it got time to write the sex scenes, the worst part for any writer if you asked me. Max had tried to hide his laughter as I got angry at my keyboard, almost giving up a few times.
I was lucky that Max had left his car parked at the airport so we wouldn’t have to wait to leave, but this also meant I had no idea where we were going. We weren’t headed in the direction of his house, nor towards downtown. My knee jittered up and down with anticipation until we pulled into Little Five Points. The Vortex came into view, and I didn’t think the smile on my face could have been any bigger than when I saw Lilly and Erica standing by the front door.
