Beautifully Brutal (Southern Boy Mafia #1)

by Nicole Edwards

  One of these days, she was going to get her hands on something that could ultimately hurt him, his family, his organization, and he didn’t doubt that Courtney would try to take him down if the opportunity ever presented itself.

  It would be the ultimate betrayal, as far as he was concerned. She wouldn’t be allowed to get away with it, but Max couldn’t bring himself to think about the consequences for her actions. She’d have to die, and that was something he couldn’t fathom.

  He needed her to come over to his side, but he wanted her to want him. To want to be with him. To fucking love him.

  Not that she would ever allow that to happen.

  And that was his biggest problem—one he had no idea how to fix.

  Chapter Thirty

  Inevitable. Yes, that’s the word she’d use to describe it.

  Present Day

  Saturday

  Courtney was prepared to argue with Max right there in the middle of Marissa and Trace’s wedding reception, to tell him to go to hell, but the next thing she knew, he was pulling her along behind him as he headed down the long, narrow hall of the lodge.

  “Where’re you goin’?” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down so that others didn’t hear her. She had no idea who was lingering in this part of the spacious resort that did everything from family reunions to weddings, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself if someone was.

  “Somewhere private,” Max said, his tone cool and calm.

  “Max! Damn it,” she huffed. Rather than continue to argue, because she knew it was futile, Courtney did her best to keep up with Max’s long stride.

  After they ascended a set of stairs to the second floor, he ignored several closed doors as they traversed the long hall. She figured he had a destination in mind, or else, knowing him, he would’ve been looking for any unlocked door. She knew he’d eventually get to where he was going, because that was the way her luck seemed to be going these days, but she remained silent.

  When he did stop in front of a door, he slid a key card through the electronic reader, disengaging the lock. “You first,” he instructed, turning the knob and pushing the door open.

  Glaring up at him, she stepped inside but didn’t move farther than the small entry of what appeared to be a room much like any hotel room. “What are you—?”

  Courtney didn’t get the question out before Max’s mouth was on hers, his hands sliding into her hair, holding her head as pleasure-pain ricocheted through her insides.

  The first thought was to pull away, but that quickly faded, so she threw her arms around him, desperate to get as close as she could. She couldn’t stay away from him, couldn’t keep a safe distance, no matter how many times she ridiculed herself for being stupid.

  Two and a half painfully long months had gone by since he’d fucked her against the wall of her kitchen, and she still ached for him. Hell, the other night, when he’d asked her to stay on the phone with him just so he could listen to her breathe, it’d taken everything in her not to go to his house, to throw herself into his arms, to beg him to take her back, to give in to this ache that was plaguing her.

  “Courtney.” Max said her name, the most sensual sound she’d ever heard as he crowded her against the wall.

  He continued to kiss her while his hands trailed down to her thighs, where he proceeded to bunch the long skirt of her dress into his hands until Courtney felt cool air caress her legs. The warmth that infused her when his palms met the bare skin of her thighs nearly stole her breath. He pushed her dress up, his hands sliding around to her ass as he jerked her closer.

  “Max,” she moaned when his lips left hers, leaving a trail of fire along her jaw, her neck.

  “I need to feel you, Courtney. All of you.”

  Despite her mental headshake, Courtney encouraged him, tilting her head to give him better access as she pulled him closer.

  Max reversed their positions, backing her over to the bed. After he managed to unzip her dress at the back, Courtney shoved his jacket off his broad shoulders. Long minutes of his mouth trailing fire over her skin, their hands groping one another like desperate teenagers, and then she was completely naked.

  It didn’t seem to matter how much time drifted by when they weren’t together, it always came back to this. A familiarity that wasn’t lost with time, a desire that didn’t diminish with the passing hours, days, months.

  “Lie down,” he instructed gruffly as he unhooked the cuff links on his shirt.

  Courtney did as he said, her eyes glued to him as she watched him undress before her. With every inch of golden skin he unveiled, her body temperature ratcheted up a notch or two until she was burning from the inside out.

  Just when she thought he would join her on the bed, Max surprised her by roughly gripping her hips and jerking her until her ass was on the edge of the mattress.

  The move was sexy, determined, and she felt her body flush with more heat, all thought fleeing.

  “I have to taste you,” he said hurriedly as he went to his knees on the floor, his eyes leaving a heated caress along her skin.

  Courtney’s back arched at the first feel of his tongue against her sensitive flesh, his fingers separating her labia as he licked her. Slowly.

  “Max!” It was so good. Too good.

  A flurry of anticipation rocked her, making her head spin. Everything up to that point had happened so fast she could hardly remember how they’d gotten there, but she didn’t want him to stop.

  She’d missed this, missed the way he could so easily play her body like a finely tuned instrument. For the entire year they’d been together, she’d known his touch so intimately. Hell, she knew more about the way he felt than she did anything else about him, yet she still wanted him, still craved what he could give her.

  “You want more?” he asked, pausing.

  “God, yes!” She wasn’t above begging, but thankfully, she didn’t have to.

  When his warm breath caressed her slick folds, she sucked oxygen deep into her lungs. And when his wicked tongue slid over her sensitive skin, the air rushed out of her. Her hands went to her breasts, fondling roughly to keep her from giving in too soon to the unprecedented pleasure that only Max knew how to deliver.

  “So sweet,” he breathed against her skin. “So soft, so wet. I’ve fucking missed you, Courtney.”

  Courtney pushed her hips upward, trying to increase the friction of his tongue against her clit, but Max gripped her thighs, holding her legs open wide, making it impossible for her to do anything more than endure the exquisite pleasure as he devoured her pussy, licking, sucking, fucking her with his ruthless tongue.

  “Max! I’m gonna come. I can’t hold on. Oh, God, Max. Please!” She had no idea what she was asking for, but whatever it was, Max delivered. Two fingers thrust inside her while his lips wrapped around her clit, sending her hurtling into a blissful orgasm that momentarily robbed her of her senses.

  Then he was above her, his mouth hovering over hers, his heavy cock resting between her thighs, the crisp hair on his chest scraping deliciously against her nipples. His knees settled between her legs as he guided himself into her. His forearm came to rest beside her face, one hand cradling her head as he pressed his lips to hers and thrust into her without preamble.

  Courtney moaned as he penetrated her, his cock filling her until breathing became difficult. She was only focused on him inside her, the way his hips retreated ever so slowly before thrusting forward again, lodging him deeper than before.

  There wasn’t a rush anymore, at least on his part, but Courtney needed more of him. She needed all of him.

  When he pulled back, his eyes locking with hers, she gave herself over to him. Her hands trailed to his face, her fingertips stroking his rugged, handsome features. Over his dark brow, down his smooth cheeks, over his lips until his eyes closed and he fucked her ever so slowly.

  It was different than the last time. Possibly different than any of the times before.

  There w
as something far deeper, far more intense than their previous encounters. This wasn’t just sex. And the worst part…

  Courtney had no idea what to do with that knowledge.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Will we? Yes. Now the question is how.

  Max’s eyes closed as Courtney’s fingers trailed over his skin. The way she grazed his face, his neck, down the tense muscles of his back, then back up, sliding along his jaw… It sent him soaring, flying higher than he ever had.

  When she stopped, he turned his head and kissed her palm as he impaled her slowly, sweetly. He never wanted this moment to end because he feared he would never have it again, and that was no longer acceptable. Being with her, having her in his arms was the only way he saw his life going forward. Spending another minute without her wasn’t an option, but he didn’t know how to tell her that.

  So he figured he’d show her.

  Lowering his mouth to hers, Max adjusted his body and managed to roll to his side, taking Courtney with him. When he was on his back, he pushed inside her again, gripping her hips.

  “Sit up,” he ordered. “I want you to ride my cock while I watch you.”

  Courtney pushed off him, her hands resting on his chest while she kept her eyes trained on his face, her hair falling over her shoulders, the ends teasing her nipples. She began to gently rock forward and back, the sweet grind against his cock sending shockwaves of pleasure through him.

  “So beautiful,” he told her, watching as she shifted forward, her eyes closing, her perky breasts with their rosy nipples swaying with her.

  He had missed this. Missed her.

  But this was different. This was more than he’d anticipated. There was no way he could return to life as normal after this. Not without her. He’d anticipated this moment, being skin to skin with Courtney while he filled her. Not just the rough fucks they’d had in the past. This was more. So fucking much more.

  “Damn, baby,” he groaned when her inner muscles clamped around his dick. “Fuck me.”

  Courtney’s eyes opened, meeting his as she continued to impale herself on his dick, riding him, using him for her own pleasure. He could see it in the heightened color in her cheeks, the way she bit her bottom lip when she moaned.

  She was killing him slowly, and he never wanted it to end.

  “I need more,” she said on a pleading breath.

  Once again, he flipped their positions, driving himself into her in one powerful thrust. Every sensation intensified as that telltale tingle at the base of his spine warned him that the pleasure would overwhelm him soon. He wanted to make her come, make her cry out his name before he filled her.

  Increasing the pace, Max shifted his knees, linked his fingers with hers, and lifted her arms above her head as he began fucking her harder, deeper.

  “More, Max. Please,” Courtney begged, her head tilting back as her hips thrust upward to meet his. “All of you.”

  Sweat dotted his forehead as he continued to watch the myriad of expressions play across her face. Desire, pleasure, need… It was all there for him to see, and he couldn’t look away as he fucked her harder, faster.

  Her legs came up, her knees locking around his hips, her ankles digging into his ass as he pumped his hips, buried himself deeper.

  “Courtney. Fuck, love.” The words came out on a tortured whisper, but he couldn’t stop them.

  Courtney’s hands tightened around his as her body tensed, the sweetest cries of pleasure escaping her as she came.

  Max didn’t slow, continuing to impale her, to fill her because he couldn’t bring himself to stop. And then, his release detonated, sending his head spiraling as his body tightened, his dick pulsing inside her. He slammed into her one final time as he came, harder than he’d ever come before in his entire life.

  Several minutes passed, but he refused to move, even as his cock softened inside her. He never wanted to leave the haven of her body, didn’t want her to get the idea to run away from him again. When he had no choice but to pull out, he got to his feet and headed for the bathroom. He wet a washcloth, cleaned himself, then, when the water was warmer, he retrieved another.

  Returning to the room, he used the cloth to clean Courtney as she lay on the bed, her eyes open, watching him intently.

  Relieved that she hadn’t tried to get up and get dressed, Max climbed onto the bed beside her, pulling her against him, her head resting on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

  “We shouldn’t have done that,” Courtney finally said after a lengthy silence filled the room.

  “That’s not what I was thinkin’,” he responded sharply. He knew she was about to push him away, and he wasn’t going to have any of it. Not this time.

  It was time for the games to end. Once and for all.

  Courtney lifted her head, propping herself up and meeting his gaze. “You’re engaged to be married, Max. This was stupid. Reckless. And it can’t go any further. You know that as well as I do.”

  Giving in to the frustration, Max flipped her onto her back, holding himself above her, his nose nearly touching hers as he stared into her eyes. “First, I’m not engaged—”

  “Yes, you—”

  “Let me finish, goddammit,” he growled. “I ended it, Courtney. And if I hadn’t, it would’ve ended the instant I stepped foot in this room. This … you … are what I’ve wanted, Courtney. Accept that.” Max swallowed hard. “So, the question is no longer will we? The answer to that is yes. The new question, the one that we’ll work together to find the answer to, is how? We will make this work. That’s no longer an option.”

  Courtney shook her head, her eyes drifting closed.

  “Open your eyes, Courtney,” he commanded. When she did, he turned her chin so that she was looking at him once more, and for the first time, he said the words that he’d felt for so long. “I love you. Only you. And I refuse to spend another fucking minute without you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Was that…? Yes, it was. That strange feeling … definitely hope. A lot of it.

  As much as Courtney wanted to argue with Max, to tell him that this couldn’t work, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She’d become so used to pushing him away, even when she didn’t want to, that the reaction was instant.

  But she fought it.

  She was back to that point … back to weighing right versus wrong, and wrong was winning, hands down.

  He loved her.

  Max loved her.

  Did she think it would work out? No, she didn’t. But that was only because they were from two entirely different worlds. But that didn’t mean she didn’t love him, because she did. And as she’d learned, staying away from him wasn’t working, anyway. They always ended up together, like this.

  Touching his face, Courtney blinked past the tears in her eyes, swallowed past the emotion clogging her throat. Max’s head lifted, allowing her to see his beautiful face better.

  “We’ll figure this out, Court. I promise you that.”

  “But you are engaged,” she repeated.

  “No, I’m not,” he said with a huff, dropping onto his back beside her once more.

  “What does that mean?” Well, she kind of understood the words, but as of the last time she’d spoken to him, he had been engaged.

  “I came here for a reason,” he told her, peering over at her. “And because I had an ulterior motive—getting you back—I ended things with Angelica.”

  “What did she say?” God, could she dig herself any deeper? Did she really care what the other woman had said?

  “It wasn’t pretty.” Max sighed. “It’s not so much Angelica that I’m worried about, though.”

  “Who then?”

  “My father.”

  Oh, shit. Courtney knew that she was doomed if Max’s father was against the idea of him being with anyone else. She knew that Max had been planning to marry Angelica for a business arrangement. He’d said so himself. Granted, she still wanted t
o know what the two of them had been scheming because that was her nature.

  On top of that, she didn’t see Angelica giving up quite so easily. In fact, Courtney was pretty sure that Angelica was still stalking her and harassing her, more so than just the annoying phone calls. Not that she intended to share that with Max. If the other woman had gone that far while she’d been engaged to Max, there was no telling what she was capable of now.

  Which meant Courtney would need to be vigilant.

  Resting her cheek on his chest once more, she listened to the soothing thump of his heart. She was tired of running from him, from this, tired of kidding herself about what she did and didn’t want, but this was a big step, right off of a very steep cliff lined with jagged rocks. There was no way she was going to survive this if things went south, which no doubt they would.

  Max’s hand slipped through her hair, gently rubbing her head. “Quit thinkin’ so hard.”

  “Easier said than done,” she told him.

  Max kissed her forehead and sat up, forcing her back to the bed. “I need to get you back to the reception.”

  Shit. Her best friend and her brother had just gotten married, and here she was, naked, in bed with Max.

  Launching up from the mattress now that the ideal-world bubble was officially popped, Courtney proceeded to get dressed, scrounging for her shoes and her panties once she got back into her dress.

  “Be still,” Max commanded, coming to stand behind her.

  The warmth of his hand trailed up her back as he zipped her dress. Courtney shimmied into her panties and located her other shoe. By the time she was dressed—not necessarily presentable—Max looked as cool and collected as always. Certainly not like he’d just fucked her brains out.

  “Give me a minute,” she told him, rushing into the bathroom and closing the door. She took a deep breath and looked in the mirror.