Broken (23 page)

He smiled. “Not today. Zoe’s looking a little droopy. Maybe we can schedule something for the weekend,” he said as they headed for one of the Borough’s favorite family restaurants downtown for a wedding lunch.

They managed to beat the lunch crowd. The waitress seated them. Cassidy and Erika excused themselves to take the girl’s to the restroom to wash up. As soon as they were alone, Cassidy asked, “Can you take Zoe with you tonight? I would ask Nell, but I’m not ready to explain why I need her to keep Zoe on such short notice.”

“You know I’m always happy to have the munchkin, and Macey will be in heaven,” Erika said, smiling wickedly.

“Thanks. We’ll come to Philly tomorrow and pick her up. You didn’t have plans, did you?” she asked, suddenly concerned. Friday nights were family night in the Horne household.

“Nothing that can’t be easily expanded to include Zoe,” Erika assured her. “You enjoy your wedding night. Take all the time you need,” she added with a wink.

Relieved, Cassidy said, “Oh, I intend to.”

Max had given her a real wedding. Cassidy was determined to give him a wedding night to remember.

 By the time they filed the paperwork with the courthouse and made it home, Cassidy’s leg was protesting fiercely. She walked slowly into the house, trying not to limp and reveal how much pain she was in. She should have taken her cane with her or been sensible and worn different shoes. Stupid four-inch heels, and stupid her for wanting to look sexy and beautiful on her wedding day.

“What’s wrong? You’re limping,” Max said from behind her as they cleared the door.

Damn, he’d noticed. “Nothing,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. Right then her leg buckled and she would have collapsed onto the floor if Max hadn’t caught her.

“Nothing?” he asked archly, carrying her and laying her on the couch.

“My leg’s just a little sore,” she admitted before catching her breath as a vicious cramp knotted her calf muscle. “Oh! Muscle cramp,” she gasped.

“A little sore,” he muttered as she clutched her leg and curled protectively over it.

He sat and caught her right leg by the ankle.

“No, don’t touch it,” she wailed, recognizing she was being silly.

Ignoring her, he tugged her shoe off and dropped it to the floor. Nudging aside the death grip she had on her calf, he pressed two fingers into the knot and rubbed, gradually increasing depth and strength until the tension eased. 

Stupidly, Cassidy felt her eyes fill with tears. She tried blinking them away before Max could see and comment, but of course he noticed.

“Still hurt?” he asked.

“No.” She sniffed. “It’s much better.”

By now, both of her legs were draped over his lap. He tapped the heel of her remaining shoe. “These are nice and make your legs look incredible, but are you sure you should have worn them?”

Cassidy sighed. “I wanted to look nice. If I’d have known we’d be walking, I’d have chosen something with a lower heel.”

His gaze met hers, his blue eyes remorseful. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

“And ruined a truly wonderful surprise? Not on your life, Maximilian Desalvo. I wouldn’t change a minute of it.” Briefly, she reconsidered. “Except maybe the last five.” Glancing ruefully at her still-throbbing leg she admitted, “I’d planned to seduce you. Guess that’s out now.”

Max visibly perked up, his gaze sharpened and a slow sexy grin emerged. “Yeah? Is that why Zoe went with Dave and Erika?”

Belatedly realizing she should have consulted him before sending Zoe off, Cassidy placed her hand on top of his. “I’m sorry, Max. I should have checked with you first. I asked Erika to take Zoe so we could be alone tonight.”

“I understand. Let’s get back to the seduction part,” he said, blue eyes sparkling. “What did you have in mind? Walk me through it.”

Cassidy, very aware of Max’s hand still on her stocking-clad knee, decided it wouldn’t hurt to tell him. “Well, the minute we entered the door, I planned to strip off your coat and tie.”

“Like this?” he asked as he took off his suit jacket and tossed it carelessly aside before loosening his tie and sliding it from around his collar.

“Yes.” Her gaze was drawn to the strong column of his neck where his pulse thrummed. “And then, taking my time, I would have unbuttoned your shirt and pushed it off your shoulders.”

He leaned closer. “Show me.”

She went to work on his buttons, slowly easing each one through the hole until she reached his belt. “Tug your shirt out of your pants.”

He readily complied. Cassidy undid the rest of his shirt. When it was open all the way, she smoothed her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, taking the garment with her.

“My cuffs,” Max reminded her in a voice gone husky.

“Hold out your hands.”

Obediently he held out them out, rotating his wrists so the cufflinks faced up. She unfastened the diamond studs and leaning over, set them on the coffee table. “You’ll have to take the shirt the rest of the way off. I can’t reach.”

Seconds later the blue material drifted to the floor.

“The undershirt too,” she said, wanting bare skin.

Max whipped it over his head and tossed the white cotton to the side.

Cassidy stared, aware she might be drooling. She loved his chest. It wasn’t as broad or thick as Phillip’s had been, but in his own way, Max was just as muscular. There wasn’t an extra ounce of fat anywhere on his whipcord-lean body. The silky trail of black hair tempted her to follow it with her mouth to its destination.

“Cassidy?”

Lost in visions of Max stretched out on her bed and tied down for her lascivious pleasure, she barely heard him. He called her name again. This time she responded. “Hmm…?”

“What comes next?”

It was difficult, pulling her eyes away from that lickable expanse. She reluctantly raised eyes dazed with the haze of desire to meet his gaze. The heat in his seared her on the deepest level. “Your belt. Take it off.”

Max immediately reached for the buckle. The supple leather slid through the belt loops with a whisper of sound then clattered as the metal hit the wood of the table. Max had his hands on the fastening for his pants when Cassidy stopped him. “Let me,” she insisted.

Despite the growing excitement and impatience she could see in his eyes, he held his hands out in a gesture of surrender. She laid one hand on the cloth covered bulge of his crotch and it grew longer and thicker beneath her palm. He drew in an unsteady breath.

When she made no other move, content to simply sit there with the most sensitive portion of his body in her grasp, he asked in a low voice, “Need assistance?”

She squeezed, stroked, and petted him before rolling her gaze up to him. “What’s your hurry? We have the rest of the afternoon and all night.”

“She plans on killing me,” he muttered to the ceiling, his voice strained.

“Don’t be such a baby,” she teased. Cassidy suddenly realized she felt good. Free. For once she wasn’t worried about the past and her feelings weren’t conflicted. She was married to the man she loved and she just wanted to enjoy the intimacy of being with him.

“Babies don’t feel like this,” he grumbled, pressing his hand down on hers so she cupped his cock.

“No, they don’t,” she purred, giving him a tight squeeze.

He flexed his hips, jostling her leg. Cassidy hissed and shut her eyes at sharp pain that shot through the tender muscles. Involuntary her hand clenched on Max’s penis, and he yelped. Max snatched her hand off him even as alarmed, he asked, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I’m all right, I’m all right,” she said quickly.

Taking in the way she once more clutched her leg, he disagreed. “No, you’re not. You’re in pain.”

“No, really. See, it’s easing already. It just caught me by surprise,” she assured him as she released her leg and reached for him. “Where were we?”

Max eased himself from under her legs, stood, and reached down to scoop her up in his arms. “We were about to head into the bedroom where we have more room,” he said wryly.

“Sounds good to me,” Cassidy said. The brief jolt of pain had done nothing to temper her desire. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and nuzzle his neck, nibbled his earlobe.

Max shuddered and tightened his grip. “Behave. Don’t make me drop you.”

She licked his ear, delicately as a kitten lapping milk. “I trust you. You won’t let me fall.”

Another tremor shook his body and he groaned. “No, I won’t, but you keep doing that and we won’t make it to the bed.”

“We’ll make it,” she said, allowing herself another lingering swipe around his outer ear.

He didn’t argue, but he did pick up the pace. Seconds later he was placing her on her queen-sized bed. She kept her arms around him, dragging Max down for a toe-curling kiss. He moaned, deep in his throat and braced himself over her with his hands planted on either side of her head. Their tongues tangled and breathing grew short as it went on, and on, and on, until finally it was breathe or pass out.

Panting harshly, Max knelt beside her and flipped her onto her belly. “Hey!” she protested as his busy hands dragged the zipper down, exposing her spine.

“You’re overdressed,” he explained, rolling her over and sitting her up so he could snatch the dress down her shoulders.

“I’m supposed to be seducing you,” she complained, laughing in delight, as with two jerky moves, Max had the dress down her legs and on the floor. Her bra received similar treatment.

“Mission accomplished.”

When he reached for her panties, she slapped at his hands. “Un-uh. Pants first,” she ordered, reaching for the fastening. He brushed her fingers aside, undoing the button himself. When he reached for the zipper, she popped his hand. “Mine.”

“You’re too slow,” he griped and rolled away from her and off the bed. Standing, he shoved down his pants and briefs, and bent over with one hand braced on the mattress to deal with his shoes and socks.

“It’s not a race, you know,” she said, her greedy gaze on his beautiful cock.

“Says you. If I don’t get inside of you soon, I’m going to explode.” He straightened and placed his hands on his hips, gazing at her through narrowed eyes. “Take your panties off, but leave the stockings on.”

Shivering at the explicit command in his voice, instead she undulated her hips and said, “My leg hurts, remember? I need you to do it for me.” Which was a lie. She simply wanted him to touch her.

Max straddled her calves, which still hung off the edge of the bed. Gliding his hands up the outside of her thighs, he griped the waistband of her thong and tugged. Inch by slow inch her sex was revealed to his avid gaze.

“I thought you were in a rush.”

“Some things a man has to make time for,” he said.

Once the panties were out of the way, he nuzzled her navel, and slid lower. “Some things,” he murmured, “are meant to be savored.”

He put his mouth on her
there
, and Cassidy clenched the bedspread tightly between her fists as the pleasure washed over her. “
Max
!” Forgetting all about her sore leg, she trembled and shook as Max licked her up like a particularly runny ice cream cone in his favorite flavor. In the end, she who’d set out to seduce him came spectacularly undone as he shoved her over the edge into a sobbing climax.

Wasting no time, he shimmied up her body and surged inside her still fluttering vagina, groaning as he filled her. Then there was only the feel of Max surrounding her—on top of her, around her,
in
her—and the ecstasy of his body mating with hers. He withheld nothing. Cassidy realized he was chanting in her ear. “Mine, mine, finally
mine
.”

She reached up, gliding her fingers along his arms until he linked their fingers together. Gazes locked, Cassidy swore she could see into Max’s soul. Everything he felt for her was right there in his eyes. The last barrier in her heart shielding her from him broke into a thousand pieces. “I love you,” she cried out, unable to hold the words in any longer.

Those amazing blue eyes deepened until they were almost black, and Max went wild, plunging so deep, Cassidy knew she’d never be rid of the feel of him. The orgasm, when it came, took her by surprise. Lightning whipped down her spine and her mouth opened on a soundless scream. Her vision grayed as the climax took her out of her body. She came with a violence that should have terrified her, but because this was Max who held her, Max who pleasured her. She let herself go, trusting him to keep her safe.

When she came to awareness of her surroundings, Max was slumped on top of her, a deadweight. His breath sawed in and out like he’d just run a marathon, and the occasional fine tremor shook his body.  She was his, and he was hers. Cassidy let the peace of the moment settle into her bones.

Max collapsed on top of Cassidy, completely wrung out. His heart tried to beat itself out of his chest and his lungs begged for oxygen. He was as weak as a newborn kitten.

When strength returned to his limbs, he gently separated their bodies. Cassidy moaned and arched her hips, tightening her vaginal muscles around his semi-hard flesh. He hissed in response, his sex still ultra-sensitive despite, or perhaps because of, the ground shaking orgasm he’d just experienced.

He scooted to the side of the bed and cautiously tested his legs. When they held his weight, he padded naked into the kitchen, returning with two bottles of water. Placing one on the mattress beside his wife—
his wife
—he twisted open the other one and gulped down half the contents before coming up for air.

Sitting on the side of the bed, he poked Cassidy with a finger in her side. “Thirsty?”

She appeared asleep. He nudged her again. “Cassidy, I brought you a bottle of water.”

Those beautiful brown eyes of hers slowly opened. Slumberous and sated, they met his gaze. “What?” she asked drowsily.

“Water,” he repeated, knowing she had to be dehydrated.

Gradually she rolled up on one elbow. He opened the water and handed it to her. She took a few sips and gave it back, collapsing boneless onto the pillow. He placed it on the nightstand and lay down, curling his body around hers.