It was a cramped fit with five people. I offered to stay behind and get picked up later. However, Max was adamant we all leave together. With the mother still half-unconscious, we secured her in the backseat. Ed sat in my lap while Officer Brown rode shotgun.
I made small talk with Edward to keep him calm. I learned that his mother’s name was Claudia. Ironically enough, she was a doctor who specialized in head injuries.
She was a woman in her late thirties with greying hair. Nonetheless, there was a big bruise on her forehead. Thankfully, it hadn’t bled very much.
I didn’t know how long the three of them would be staying with us. We had enough food to share with the others. Claudia could use some of my womanly hygienic items. With the weather clearing up, it wouldn’t be a death wish to venture out for more food and other supplies.
Eventually, we reached Max’s house. We carefully placed Claudia on the bed in the guestroom before patching her up. Max and Officer Brown went to talk about how to contact the police. I got busy making some hot soup for everyone.
Where nowhere to go, Ed assisted me in preparing the soup. “Is mom going to be okay?”
“I’m not a doctor like your mother,” I said, sucking in my lower hip. “She hit her head but it looks like we came just in time. Don’t you worry, Max and I will give her the best of care.”
That seemed to put him as ease. Ed helped me setup the table as I made four bowls of soup. Claudia had awoken but was in no condition to get up and eat. We decided to let her rest for now since she was just too tired to get out of bed.
Over dinner, Officer Brown said he contacted the police through Max’s landline.
They would arrive in a few days to pick us up. Officer Brown sighed at the delay. “We were short staffed as it is. They barely managed to let me pick these two up. They just don’t have the manpower to spare. I’m sorry for imposing on you-”
“Don’t worry about, Officer,” Max chuckled. “Besides, I used to be a hell raiser when I was younger. Think of this as making up for it.”
Officer Brown smiled. “Thanks, I’ll try to get you a tax write-off for your help. And please call me Ben.”
Although I missed being alone with Max, the house seemed livelier with more people in it. Max happily shared war stories with Ben. The policeman seemed enraptured by Max’s exploits as an outlaw biker. The former criminal hit it off easily with the lawman.
Later into the night, Claudia awoke again. This time, she had regained full consciousness. We told her what had happened and that Ed was safe. I heated up a bowl for her.
Our three new guests were exhausted and eager to get to bed. The house was big enough for all of us. Ed would sleep beside Claudia. Ben got his own bed in a spare guestroom. Max and I would share a bed. This was an arrangement neither of us minded.
Our guests went to sleep as Max and I took turns bathing. Rescuing families was dirty work. We were also tired but awake enough for some pillow talk.
Now, I never felt so in love with Max.
I jumped into bed with my lover and snuggled next to him. “What we did today was fucking amazing! We kicked ass!”
“Tell, me about it,” he said, looking as though he had undergone a cathartic experience. I knew this experience had helped him exorcise some demons. “It feels like I’m in a dream…”
“I never thought I’d ever save someone’s life,” I murmured. “Especially a cop and a kid.”
Max placed an arm around my back. “And I’m making friends with a cop. The boys back at the Steel Eagles would roast me alive for this.”
“You’re a hero, Max. You saved their lives.”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t do it without you.”
“Don’t be modest. You pulled it off like you save people for a living.”
“No, you’ve changed me, Emily,” he said in a soft voice. As a soft a voice he could muster. “After I lost Maria and Michael, I shut myself off from other people. I just didn’t want to get hurt again… and to let someone down again. After I met you, I opened up again…”
I leaned over and kissed him. “Thank you.”
We would’ve made love that night but we were damn tired from being someone’s saviors.
Like clockwork, I woke up in an empty bed. Max must have woken up early to check up on everyone else. I didn’t know how he kept managing to wake up before me.
As usual, I headed to the kitchen and found Max and Ed making pancakes. “Smells good, boys. Is it strawberries?”
“Blueberries,” Max corrected, flipping a large pancake. “Maria used to make pancakes with blueberries. I started to develop a taste for them myself.”
I went to check on their progress. Ed judiciously followed Max’s cooking instructions. He practically worshipped the man who had saved him. That made two of us.
I softly ruffled Ed’s hair to his chagrin and asked. “How’s Claudia?”
“Ben is checking up on her,” Max answered. “She’s up and moving but we’re trying to get her to eat.”
I sat at the table. “That’s good to hear.”
Preparing another batch, Max turned to Ed. “Do you want a handful of blueberries or a lot?”
Ed’s answer was obvious. “Lots!”
My lover laughed and poured two dozen blueberries into the pancake better. Then, he ruffled Ed’s hair. “You got it.”
Ed sat down next to me. “Max do you have a family?”
He stopped cooking momentarily. “Family?”
“I see photos of you and someone else on the wall,” the boy said, his voice tinged with curiosity. “Is she your wife?”
“She was,” Max answered, going back to flipping pancakes. “Maria died some time ago.”
Ed looked horrified. “Oh! I’m so sorry, Max!”
The man turned to flash a smile at me. “Relax, I’ve gotten through the pain.”
“I lost my daddy,” Ed replied, staring off into the distance. “He died after someone shot him at a grocery store. He tried to stop a robber. And I almost lost mom...”
I reached out to comfort him. “Ed, your mom is safe with us. Don’t you worry about it.”
Ed whispered back. “Daddy was supposed to get candy for me…”
“I lost my dad when I was a kid as well,” Max said, a look of softness on his face. He placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “He even got shot, too. Don’t let the past weigh you down like an anchor. You have a long life ahead of you, Ed.”
Ed smiled. “I won’t, Max.”
“Max, any update about the weather?” I asked. “It looks to be clearing up.”
“It is,” he said, sighing in relief. “It looked like it couldn’t get any worse. Then, it got better in a flash. The snow isn’t even up to our knees.”
“So we’re in the clear?”
“We are,” he replied, placing pancakes in plates. “The winters here tends to thaw out as quickly as it comes in. In a few days, it should be safe to drive without chaining up your tires.”
“So… I guess I can drive in a couple of days.”
The tension lingered in the air. Max and I had gotten so close to each other over the past few days. I was a guest who had become his lover. The cold may have kept me inside but my heart kept me from leaving.
Yet, the life outside these walls rushed back in. I had a life before I met the man of my dreams. However, I had fallen hard for Max.
Tapping the table in impatience, Ed groaned. “Come on guys, let’s eat!”
“Alright, alight,” Max laughed. “Tell Ben and your mother that breakfast is ready.”
Soon, the five of us indulged ourselves on pancakes. It felt like we were all part of an extended family. Ben scarfed down three plates of pancakes. Claudia chastised her son for his lack of table manners.
Max looked happier than ever before. This was the type of morning he must have woken up to when Maria and Michael were still alive. It would be good for him to experience it again, even if it was for a little while.
&n
bsp; The following few days were just as blissful. Stubborn as a mule, Claudia offered to help me with chores to earn her keep. She and I bonded over laundry and vacuuming. She hated not being able to help people.
Ed helped Max with little odd jobs. He made sure not to let the boy do anything dangerous. However, the kid was a bundle of energy. Max let Ed help him out with maintaining the jeep and checking up on the generator.
Hell, he even let Ed ride around on his bike in the garage. I would drop by and see Max coaching him on the proper way to grip the handlebar. It was bittersweet to see him bond with a child who could’ve been his son.
Soon, Ben was strong enough to leave and get back to work. He made sure to arrange transportation and support for Claudia and Ed when the roads cleared. However, we had the two of them stay with us until then.
Eventually, it came time to part ways with Ed and Claudia as well. The police offered to escort them to a community center that had recently opened up. They had created it for people displaced by the blizzard.
The boy cried but Max told him to be brave for his mother. He also promised to visit them once the weather got better. We waved them off as a police car drove them away.
“I’m going to miss them too,” I said with a half-smile. We walked back in and went to his bedroom. “At the same time, I enjoy being alone with you. It’s too bad I’ll have to leave as well one day...”
Max gazed upon me as if I were the most important thing in his life. We had only known each other a scant few days. Yet, each day felt like a lifetime onto itself. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”
I blushed and everted my eyes. It didn’t help that my nipples were still hard in spite of the warmer weather. “I’ve had a life before I met you. I was some boring girl folding laundry and-”
“And I know that you’re stunningly lovely woman,” he replied, turning on the charm. He reached out to cup my cheek with his weather-beaten hand. “Who I can’t live without.”
I tossed my head and let my hair fall on his arm. “You know how to say the right words at the right time.”
His fingers brushed aside my hair as he looked at me. God, I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world with the way he stared at me. We had so much pent up passion after the last few days.
A strange sensation of cold overwhelmed me. I shivered as goosebumps covered me from head to toe. I pressed my body against Max’s torso for comfort.
He comforted me with a kiss to my forehead. His hand went under the back of my shirt and traced my spine. His finger traveled over every soft bump until the base of my spine.
I moved away to take off my shirt. Max wordlessly followed suit by undressing. By now, it was almost like a ritual.
It didn’t take long before Max cupped the swell of my ass. I rested my head against his muscular chest as he kneaded the soft flesh. I felt the slow, steady beat of his heart as my own thundered. He was so calm and composed in most circumstances. However, I knew how to get his blood racing.
I ground my groin against his rock hard abs. His erection rubbed up against my belly. I hugged his body and brought him and his hard cock closer to me. Max lifted me up by the hips and impaled me on his cock with one swift thrust. “Ah!”
Max’s hands helped me ride his throbbing prick. He just jack hammered into my wet, tight body. I cried out in both passion and liberation.
“Make love to me, Max,” I chanted. “I want your tool in me! Fuck me! Please, do it!”
He pumped me with all of his power and desire. I bounced up and down like a rag doll. My tossed hair blocked my vision but I could make out the look of unquestionable desire on his face.
That made both of us.
Approaching my climax, I dug my heels into his back and whimpered into his shoulder. My cries were feverish as if a sickness claimed me. Max stroked my back and continued to pump into me. Soon, he came with a loud groan.
With his cock still throbbing inside of me, we fell onto the bed in a cold sweat. I traced a circle on his chest as if peering into his heart. “That was the best one, Max.”
“I love you, Emily,” he said breathlessly, caressing my arm. “You can count the days we’ve known each other on one hand but it feels like we’ve known each other for years.”
I didn’t want to cry like a teenage girl but I couldn’t help but get a little misty eyed. “I don’t want to leave you, Max. Leaving you and this place is like leaving paradise.”
“You don’t have to Emily,” he consoled. “You’re welcome to stay with me.”
I sighed. “It’s a lot to ask of you, Max… and I’m scared.”
“You’re the bravest woman I’ve met since Maria,” he said, kissing me. “What are you scared of? That I’ll hurt you like Todd.”
“It’s nothing to do with him,” I said. “You’re about as different from Todd a man can be. Most of the guys I’ve known just cared about sex. They saw me as some masturbatory tool. Yet, I couldn’t help but be drawn to them. But you’re different, Max. It’s just that this feeling is new to me.”
“I can give you space, Emily,” he said. “And believe me, I can be bad when I want to be.”
I playfully slapped him on the arm. “You’re a bad boy who can’t help but be a good man. No wonder women like you.”
“And no wonder I find you to be so attractive,” he said. “I always needed someone who knew how to actually cook.”
“You always had a silver tongue,” I said, kissing him hard on the lips. “I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Or the week after. Or the year. I just know you’ll always be a part of my life.”
He smiled. “Likewise.”
I snuggled closer to him. “I’m getting cold…”
“Then let’s eat and make a fire.”
With the roads clearing up, we could afford to be less stingy about food. Max had gone out the other day to get deer venison from a local supplier. I didn’t know the first thing about cooking deer. However, Max was skilled enough to prepare a pair of medium rare venison steaks.
After popping open a bottle of wine, we ate and talked over the delicious meal. It was the romantic dinner I had always dreamed about since I was a little girl. Sure, we were eating food out of paper plates and doing it in our underwear. Nonetheless, I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself.
I was a part of a family.
Every now and then, Max would walk over to the fireplace and add wood. Each time, the flames grew higher. The love I held for him rose as well. The logs crackled as a fire bellowed over it.
The snow had stopped but it was still cold outside. Through a window, I saw that snow still lingered in large piles. At least the streets weren’t a death trap. Max and I had outlived the blizzard.
After we finished eating, I basked in the warmth of the fireplace. Max sat down next to me. He brought a thick woolen blanket as well. He wrapped both of us in it and held me in his arms.
For almost half an hour, we sat together in silence. We just enjoyed each other’s warmth and company. We had beaten the cold together. The only enemy left was the hesitation in our hearts.
Taking the initiative, I reach out to take off his shirt. My fingertips felt cool as icicles as I explored the contours of his toned chest. I teased his nipples with my fingers by suckling them with my lips.
SAVIOR: A Motorcycle Club Romance Page 7
