I hadn’t imagined it. There had been something between us from that first moment when we’d crashed into each other outside that bar.
Being with Max was the healing I needed—a knight in shining armor delivering me to a place where I could start again, I could build trust again.
“I’m a better person for knowing you,” I whispered.
“I wish I could be more to you, Daisy.”
Max was trying to let me down gently—a kind gesture for a girl who’d already had her heart torn in two. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek to show my gratitude.
“Let me drive you home,” he said.
“If I leave, I’ll break my dare.”
He looked conflicted.
“I’m going to see this through, Max. I have to stay until morning. I’ve already pushed myself beyond what I thought possible and I won’t stop until I can see myself in a new light.”
My gaze held his defiantly for a long moment.
Then he sighed and brought my wrist to his mouth, kissing it, his eyes closing as his lips brushed my skin.
“That rat is probably still in the building,” he said.
“Pretty sure I can run faster than a rat—even a big one.”
Smiling, he led me out of the room and down the hall, back to the place where I’d set myself up for the evening.
Max sat down on the blanket and leaned against the wall. I curled up beside him and rested my head on his lap. His fingers trailed through my hair, sending shivers of delight through my body.
I would let him do me this one last favor, guarding me. And I wouldn’t fall asleep. I didn’t want to waste one second of my last few hours with him.
I opened my eyes and looked out the car window. We’d arrived at my aunt’s home.
Max turned off the engine and unclipped his seatbelt before turning to face me.
I gave him a sleepy smile. “Thank you.”
“Hopefully, I made your night bearable.”
It was the best night of my life, Max.
Despite my best efforts, I had fallen asleep. But he’d been with me, in the solitude of that old house, and I’d known what it was like to feel safe.
Instead of saying this I went with, “It was totally different to how it could have gone.”
“It’s fun being your dare buddy.”
“Three down,” I said. “Three to go.”
“What’s your next dare?”
“They don’t tell us until a few hours before.”
“I wouldn’t like that.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t give me as much time to worry or back out.”
“Are you working today?”
“No, would you like to come in?” The words were out before I could stop them. Realizing how forward that sounded, I added, “I can make pancakes. My aunt’s out of town visiting my cousin—and she took Wilma.”
He grinned at that bit of news, reaching over to play with a strand of my hair, his fingers trailing through one of my brunette locks. It was easy to become lulled by the way he touched me, easy to yearn for his affection.
I saw that familiar look flit across his face—his confliction lingered.
This was goodbye.
“Last night…” he said softly.
I nodded, knowing what he meant to say. “It was lovely. The best goodbye a girl could ask for.”
Well, not the best goodbye, since nothing happened besides that kiss—but it was as dreamy as I’d imagined it would be. I could close my eyes and relive the feeling, the scrape of his five o’clock shadow marking my face, his lips hungrily devouring mine…
He let out a sigh. “Being more to each other would be complicated, Daisy.”
I just had to let that sink in and become my reality. A part of me was sensing a connection to Max that had my entire body aching for him, my soul longing for more.
Even though he’d stayed up for most of the night he still looked perfect, his hair ruffled, that stubble adding ruggedness to his chiseled jaw.
“I’ll see you inside.” He reached into the back of the car for my dry cleaning and shoes.
I took them from him, but I didn’t want to look at the outfit covered in plastic. I’d worn it and bared my soul to a man I no longer loved.
Then again, I’d been wearing it when Max had carried me away from the pool in his arms. What I felt for Max was very different. It was like my soul was linked to him in some inconceivable way.
These futile thoughts carried no resolution.
We made it to the doorstep and I eased the key in the lock, psyching myself up to look at him one last time. If I was going to tell Max that I’d developed feelings for him, now was the time. Though when I went to speak my throat tightened with uneasiness. I didn’t want my last interaction with him to be me embarrassing myself one more time.
He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Seria fácil te amar, Daisy.”
“What did you say?”
“Goodbye.” He pivoted and strolled down the pathway towards his car.
He was leaving and I was letting him. There was no other choice.
I nudged open the door and stepped inside.
I hung my dry cleaning on the hallway coat rack and set the shoebox down on the attached bench. Then I leaned against the wall to catch my breath, my mind reeling as I tried to decide what to do next. Letting him walk away felt wrong—it felt like a piece of me was already missing. He’d healed my heart a little. Made me forget the sadness that had brought me to my knees. I’d lost so much, and Max had appeared each time I’d needed him to as though he’d been heaven sent.
Go after him.
Tell him how you feel.
I flew out the front door and bolted into the street.
I stopped when I saw the Ford Escort parked in the same space where Max’s car had been. How could I have not told him the truth when I’d had the chance? I’d been so daring lately, right up until it mattered.
Head bowed, I went back inside.
Tracing my fingertips over my lips, I recalled once more the way he’d kissed me the night before. The desire and meaning it held for us could never be conveyed with mere words.
Max Marquis’ kisses were a love letter to the soul…my soul.
When the doorbell rang, I spun round and pulled open the door.
Max was standing there. “Is the offer still on? For pancakes, I mean?”
“Sorry, kitchen’s closed.”
His lips quirked up and he rolled his eyes.
Grabbing his hand, I pulled him inside and we stumbled back into the house, laughing.
He shoved the door closed behind him. Cupping my face with his hands, he leaned down and kissed me hard, crushing his lips to mine with a fierce passion that suddenly turned tender and loving.
He eased back a little. “This is what you want?”
I took a deep breath. “Yes…oh, yes.”
Stay forever.
We moved together, me tugging his coat off and him working on mine. We reached the staircase and he sank onto the lower step and pulled me onto his lap. Straddling him, I crushed my lips to his again, wrapped in his warm embrace.
“Daisy,” he whispered. “If I stay, we’re going to do more. We’re going to have sex, the mind-blowing kind. The kind that will change everything between us. Do you want that?”
“Yes, I want that. I want you.”
In response to his words and his touch, I felt my breasts swell, my sex was wet and ready, my clit throbbing as I rubbed against the bulge of his cock. This felt natural, inevitable, a coming together that we could no longer fight.
He buried his fingers in my hair and nipped my ear. “Bedroom?”
“Yes.”
I climbed off him and we raced up the stairs. I took his hand and led him down the hall to my room. We burst through the doorway and were back in each other’s arms again, stripping each other’s clothes off and flinging our shoes, not caring where they landed.
“Do you have a condom
?” he asked.
“I’m on the pill,” I said breathlessly.
Max fell to his knees before me and tugged at my panties, pulling them down and then glancing up as though to read my expression.
With my hands on the back of his head, I pulled him forward between my thighs to answer his unspoken question. He let out a lust-filled moan as his tongue darted between my folds.
I inhaled sharply at the pleasure, moving my legs farther apart.
His hands reached around to hold my butt, pulling me closer to his face. This felt forbidden, and at the same time it was as though we’d always been destined to be together like this.
My head fell back, fingers scrunching in his hair, as he continued to masterfully lash me with his tongue as I pleaded for him not to stop. He reached up and cupped my breasts, catching my nipples between his fingers, squeezing rhythmically.
He eased my left thigh over his right shoulder, exposing more of me, and I shuddered through the shock of an even more intense arousal, my hips rocking against him.
I’d had a crush on this man since I’d first met him. He had transitioned me away from heartache—and now we moved together with the ease of two people who’d always been destined to meet and become more.
“You’re beautiful.” He eased my leg down and stood up. Covering my mouth with his, he kissed me forcefully, sharing my own taste with me, his tongue tangling with mine, his teeth catching my lower lip in his and biting it playfully.
My fingers curled around the rim of his boxer shorts and I tugged them down, allowing his erection to spring free. I wrapped my palm around him and stroked his length, swooning as his cock hardened even more, becoming firmer.
Max was speaking in Portuguese again; his words timed perfectly with gentle pecks and laps of his tongue along my shoulder and collarbone, then up my neck to my earlobe.
He suddenly pulled back, lowering his gaze. “We have to slow down.”
“Why?” My breathing was ragged.
“Because I care about you.” He squeezed his eyes shut.
“I want it all, Max. Give me all of it.”
He walked over to the chair his jeans had landed on and pulled out his phone, setting it on the bedside table. “Let’s have some music.”
I was too nervous to offer any requests, too excited with what was happening.
Harry Styles’ voice rose into the air, singing the romantic lyrics to “Falling.”
Somehow, Max knew this was what I needed, a dreamy backdrop to ease us into making love.
Max nudged me back onto the bed and quickly climbed on top of me, lifting my wrists above my head and pinning them there.
“You like this?” he asked, his voice husky.
“I’ve never…” Been taken like this before.
“But you like it?”
“God, yes.”
“I want to know everything you like.” He dipped his head and dragged his lips along my breast, biting my nipple and sending a shockwave of pleasure down between my thighs.
Max moved down to my feet. “Our first time needs to be special, Daisy.”
“It’s already special.”
His lips curled at the edges and then he drew my big toe into his mouth and sucked, watching me, working along my other toes slowly. He kissed my ankle and worked his way up my leg, sending an erotic shiver through me. Again, his mouth found my sex, ravishing it as though addicted.
My body responded to his every touch, alight with each sensation.
He lay on top of me and eased my thighs apart, maneuvering himself between my legs. He raised my left arm to trace kisses along it, and then planted another kiss beneath my armpit, his tenderness sensual and carnal as he worked his way back up to my face. He kissed me passionately, his teeth nipping my lower lip, his tongue warring with mine, driving me wild with its fury.
Using his thumb, he traced circles on my clit, causing me to shudder beneath his touch, rising closer to that moment of bliss.
“Not yet,” he teased. “I want to feel you around me when I come.”
Max rose over me and used an elbow to support himself as his right hand directed his cock toward my sex. I arched up as he pushed in deep, dragging my fingernails along his back, the pulsing pleasure building inside me as he slowly eased in and out.
My muscles clenched tightly around his cock as he increased the pace. I was so aroused I couldn’t stop moaning.
“I imagined seeing you like this,” he said. “Seeing how you’d respond to me…”
“Max…”
“Harder?”
“Yes, fuck me hard.”
Our movements became more frenzied, me with my legs wrapped around him as he thrust into me deeper and faster, taking me higher.
The pleasure turned blinding as my orgasm captured me, causing my hips to pump against him furiously as I screamed his name. Max stilled as he came inside me… his groan silenced as he pressed his mouth to mine.
We clung to each other, our hearts pounding, our gasps and sighs filling the room.
We fit perfectly together. All that had happened in my past no longer mattered—the only moment I wanted to stay in was now.
I wiped condensation off the mirror and stared at my reflection.
What’s happening to me?
Daisy was merely in the next room and I missed her.
Craved her.
A glance at my watch showed that we’d slept until noon.
Before that, we’d made love and it had been romantic and tender and passionate and everything in between. We’d rolled around on the sheets on that impossibly small bed, not caring about the world outside her room.
I’d become obsessed with pleasing her, hearing her moan, seeing her come again and again. Afterward, we’d cuddled and she had fallen asleep in my arms with me loving every second of our time together.
When I searched my feelings, I found no regret. Just a deep longing to climb back into bed with her.
She could be awake now. I hated the thought of her mind spinning with uncertainty about our future. Our chemistry was undeniable. Pressing a fingertip to my temple, I tried to think past the doubt that rose up out of the muddle of responsibilities.
I’d rather die a slow death than hurt her.
I’d wrapped one of her towels around my waist. I looked ridiculous in it, really, and it barely covered my generous assets. I couldn’t help the devilish smile that crossed my face as I ruminated over the way she’d responded to my lovemaking. The way she’d moved, reacting to my touch, the way she’d shuddered when she’d come with me buried deep inside her. We fit together spectacularly. Fucking her was like finding Nirvana. The taste of her was addictive; she was addictive.
Rubbing my face with my hands, I tried to get my thoughts under control…thinking carefully about how my life might be if Daisy was no longer a part of it. A slither of regret slid down my spine in a visceral response to the thought of losing her.
She was never mine to lose.
This bathroom was small. Too small, really. I didn’t like the idea of this being Daisy ’s permanent home. Her aunt adored her, but still… This space carved out for Daisy was too damn claustrophobic.
My brother had made a colossal mistake in leaving her—I knew this deep down in my soul. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to push these thoughts of her out of my mind—the girl in the other room, waiting for me to step up and be a gentleman.
I was worse than Nick.
Here I was preparing to walk out of her life forever after I was meant to be the one saving her. If I stayed, things would get way too complicated. This thing between us was never meant to happen. Yet I didn’t want to say goodbye.
The choice isn’t mine to make.
I headed out of the bathroom and paused in the doorway. If I looked at her, I’d find myself wanting her again. Some of my clothes were flung over an armchair and some were strewn across the carpet next to her bra and panties. It was a mocking reminder of what it looks like to lose control.
It was easy to walk toward her, like I was doing now. To kneel on the side of the bed, feeling it dip as I pressed my lips to her forehead, my smile moving against her soft skin, grazing her cheek and then moving over her soft, pliant mouth. The kiss deepened, our tongues dancing playfully.
I managed to pull back a little. “Good morning.”
She raised her hand to cup my face. “I thought I’d dreamt you.”
“Not this time,” I said, grinning. “I’m the real thing.”
“And you’re still here.”
“Daisy…”
“I know.” She let out a sharp breath. “This is how a Brazilian says goodbye.”
She made me smile again.
“I kind of like it,” Daisy said, giving me a wink. “I might move there.”
I leaned back in surprise. “Would you?”
“I’d have to go by boat.”
I shook my head and laughed at her. “Boat it is.”
“You’re leaving me very happy.”
Her words caused my chest to tighten, and I got off the bed to stand beside it. “I only want what’s best for you, Daisy.”
“What’s best for me is for you to climb back in bed.”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. I sank down next to her on the mattress and my lips met her cheek again, sliding across to her mouth where my moan was silenced. Her scent filled my senses, her perfume so alluring that all I could do was press my mouth to her neck, her temple.
I settled into a peaceful stillness, enjoying the feel of her, drawing her closer, hating even that small distance between us, as though I were fighting against time and its insistence that we were over before we began.
This was our slow and painful goodbye.
And we both knew it.
The way we’d met had made things impossible for us from the start…all those complications crowding us, those unspoken rules of my family, tearing us apart from the beginning.
There was too much history between us and none of it was ours to cherish. It was destined to be hidden away in the confines of our hearts.
Maximum Dare Page 12
