The Billionaire's Salvation: (The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Max) (12 page)

His palm connected with her ass solidly, jolting her body and making her skin tingle with erotic pain and pleasure. It hurt, but the excitement of Max letting loose his dominant tendencies on her far outweighed the sting of his
palm.

She wanted
more…

And she got what she
wanted.

The second and third impacts of his hand on her ass went straight to her core, the muscles clenching, begging for release.

Moaning aloud at the forth smack, she begged, “Please, Max. Make me
come.”

Her ass was stinging and her clit was throbbing for attention.

“Never leave me again, Mia. Not for any reason,” Max warned, his hand caressing her stinging cheeks and delving between her thighs. “Promise
me.”

The masculine, commanding tone of his voice sent a shiver down her
spine.

“Touch me. Please,” she begged, desperate.

He teased her clit lightly, just enough to make her want to scream. Her entire body was one big mass of tangled heat and desire, ready to explode, and only Max held the power to make her detonate.

He smacked her ass again, followed by a caress to her cheeks and then a delicate teasing between her thighs. “Promise me,” he insisted, continuing the same pattern over and
over.

Unable to speak, she moaned aloud, clawing at the leather of the couch cushion. Max was ramping up her need to implosion level, and she wasn’t sure she wanted it to stop, but her tolerance was at an end. “Yes. I promise. I love
you.”

“I love you too,” he answered harshly.

His fingers slid between her saturated folds, finding her engorged, sensitive bud and gliding over it with persistent pressure. The pleasure was so heady, intensified by her stinging rear, so intoxicating that her legs trembled and a strangled cry left her lips as release rushed forward at a dizzying
speed.

“Come for me, sweetheart,” he coaxed. “You’re so hot, so wet. Let go. I’ll catch you when you
fall.”

Mia did let go, with an orgasm that shattered her whole body, pieces of herself scattering everywhere as she rode the climax, whimpering and moaning incoherently as Max buried two fingers inside her, keeping the pressure on her clit with his thumb as she came, challenging her to take every bit of pleasure she could handle, plus a little
more.

Max did catch her, just as he promised he would, wrapping a muscular arm around her waist to keep her steady, holding her while she came down gasping, her heart racing at insane gallop inside her
chest.

Mia had no idea how much time had passed as she floated back down to earth. Max was holding her with one arm, while the fingers of his other hand were lightly stroking the curve at the top of her left buttock.

“What’s this?” Max asked roughly, his fingers tracing over a pattern at the top of her butt
cheek.

He was fingering her
tattoo.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Max’s t-shirt hit the carpet. She regretted not seeing him remove it with what had to have been a sexy, one-handed removal that probably would have made her salivate.

“You,” she answered honestly. “A red rose for true love, and your name.” The tattoo was small and delicate, a red rose in full bloom, tiny and detailed with simply the word
Max
written underneath.

She’d desperately wanted to carry Max with her forever, and it was the only thing she could think of that would brand her as his for the rest of her
life.

“Holy fuck!” The curse sounded strangled and raw when it sprang from Max’s lips. He gripped her hips tightly, his thumb still stroking over the marking as he filled her with one smooth
stroke.

Yes. Yes. Yes.
Mia needed this joining more than she needed her next breath. His cock stretched her as the smooth walls of her channel clenched him tightly. Still, she pressed back against his body, desperate and greedy to have him and keep him inside
her.

“You marked yourself for me, to be mine,” Max
rasped.

“Had to,” she gasped. “Needed something. Anything.” She nearly sobbed as Max’s hips moved back, pulling his cock almost completely out of her and thrusting back in with a low
groan.

Leaning down, stretching his chest against her back, he nipped at her shoulder and then laved it with his tongue, working his way slowly up the side of her neck and finally whispered huskily into her ear. “That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. My name branded on you forever. Does that make me a sick bastard?” He flicked his tongue over her earlobe, making her shake with desire. “I want to stay just like this forever. My cock inside you, my body entwined with yours, surrounded by you. Nothing has ever felt this good.” His hands cupped her breasts, his fingers squeezing her nipples and then stroking over them in a soothing motion. The pleasure/pain of the erotic motions made her pant with need, her whole body quivering.

Mia turned her head and his lips ravished hers, the awkward angle making it difficult for her to return his embrace. But Max didn’t seem to mind. He ravished her lips with his tongue, tasting her like she was the most delicious thing on earth. His tongue entered and retreated, making her hips flex back, needing that same motion inside
her.

“I can’t wait,” he groaned as he released her mouth, his sharp, heavy breaths bathing the tender skin of her neck with heat. “I
need
to fuck
you.”

The raw oath coming from Max made her clench around him. The fact that she made him so needy was empowering and humbling. She could bring this proud, strong, masculine, sexy man to his knees, but that was the last thing she wanted. Max had her—heart, body, and soul—and all she wanted to do was sink into him, let him be the dominant male that he needed to be with her. And the honest truth was…she craved it. “Then do it,” she told him softly. “Please. I need it,
too.”

Max straightened and gripped her hips tightly, and she moaned in relief as he started to move, his cock mastering her, thrusting in and out of her with powerful strokes.

Everything about the fierce coupling aroused her. Max’s bold thrusts, his groin slapping against her still-burning ass cheeks, the sounds of their groans mingling together all filled her with an incendiary heat that just spiraled upward until she was completely lost. She felt nothing except Max and their frenzied rush to meld together.

“I love you, Mia. I love you so goddamn much it hurts,” Max choked out with a tortured groan, gripping her hips and pumping into her with a desperation that was nearly palpable. Tension spiraled in the air, both of them panting, sweating. Mia’s entire body was perspiring, and she could see droplets of moisture from her face hitting the brown leather of the
couch.

And then…she saw nothing…as she closed her eyes, throwing her head back with a scream of pleasure as her climax hit her with an intensity that made her arms give way, her head dropping to the arm of the couch. She was rendered helpless as her channel convulsed wildly around Max’s hammering
cock.

“Christ,” Max cursed, his body tensing as his heated release flooded her with warmth. His sweaty body lowered to hers, and his arms encircled her protectively. He buried his face in her hair, murmuring incoherent, tender words as he recovered his breath. Mia went limp, knowing Max would keep her safe, unable to
move.

They stayed just like that, lost in a world that contained only the two of them and their out-of-control emotions. Finally, Max disconnected them and swung her into his arms. He kicked out of the jeans that he obviously hadn’t bothered to remove completely, and dropped onto the couch, taking her with him, holding her tightly on his
lap.

Mia finally got to drown in his beautiful hazel eyes as she looked up at him, his face still radiating a ferocious possessiveness that made her shiver with pleasure. Being loved like this by the man who was everything to her was all she’d ever wanted, all she’d ever needed. Finally, she felt free, and it was an incredible feeling. She could be exactly who she was and Max would love
her.

She put her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers, giving him a tender, emotional embrace that made her feel like after all these years, she’d finally come
home.

“I
guess we really should have talked before we did…um…that,” Mia remarked casually as she looked adoringly up at her husband. “We both have questions.”

Max grinned wickedly. “How we just communicated was incredible for me. I think talking is highly overrated.” He stroked over her tattoo before adding, “I can’t believe you marked yourself with my
name.”

Mia shrugged, not understanding why he’d be surprised. “I missed you so much that I had to do something or go crazy. I wanted something permanent to somehow keep you close to me. Maybe that sounds crazy, ’cause I never thought I’d tattoo your name on my ass, but I wanted
it.”

Max’s smile grew broader. “It looks good on you. I would have never asked you to do it because I know it hurts. But it’s sexy as hell. I’ll never look at it and not want to fuck you right that minute. So you better cover it up unless you want to be taken the second I see
it.”

“Then I guess I’m going to be walking away from you naked a lot,” she said, smiling as she started to wonder if there would ever be a time that she didn’t want Max all over
her.

“Funny thing, though…” he started and then trailed off, looking like he was contemplating something.

“What?” she asked curiously.

Max gently moved her from his lap to sit beside him. He turned his back to her and simply said, “This. I got it a few months after you disappeared.”

Mia saw it immediately and gasped. There, on his left upper shoulder, was a tattoo that shocked her into silence. She reached up a hand and let her fingers trace the marking, her mind flabbergasted. The marking wasn’t huge, but it was beautiful. It was a stylized heart with a treble clef symbol, entwined together beautifully. Attached to the heart were two rings, wedding bands. The design was totally inked in black and
Mia
was scrolled above it. Below the design were the words
Real Love Never
Dies.

It was beautiful, and she understood now what his music and his heart were communicating, how the emotions expressed in his playing were connected to
her.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she continued to stroke her finger lovingly over the mark. Max had marked himself with her name, too—a testament of his love for her. “But what if you had met someone else? What
if—”

Max turned back to her again, picked her up and placed her back on his lap. “There is no one else for me, sweetheart. Even Kade didn’t protest when I did it. I guess he got the fact that I needed to do it. He took me to someone he knew who had done a few tattoos for him in the past. He said he already wore a tribute to you every day, but I don’t know where he put the
tat.”

Mia started to laugh. “It’s not a tattoo,” she informed him cheerfully.

Max looked perplexed. “Then how does he wear a tribute to
you?”

“His shirts. He wears those awful shirts,” she answered happily. “When I was a kid, he used to always wear black. I told him it was depressing and he should wear something happy. He started picking up outrageous shirts, ones that I’m sure he probably got teased about at school. But he wore them because I liked them, and I told him they were happy shirts. When we grew up, he never stopped. So he does wear something for me. And he never quit wearing them, even when he grew up and I started teasing him about
them.”

Max frowned. “I always thought he did that to irritate Travis.”

Mia laughed. “That’s only a side benefit and it might be the reason he does it now. But he started it because of me. I loved them when I was a kid. They were always happy shirts with the most outrageous characters or colors. Honestly, even though I joke around with him, I still love them.” She swung around and straddled Max, laying her head on his shoulder. “Tell me why you used to run away. Was it really because of something I did? The way I was acting?”

“No,” Max answered quickly, stroking her hair as he responded. “From the time I understood what it meant to be adopted, I was grateful to my mother and father. I knew I’d been thrown away by my real parents, and I was appreciative every day that I had parents who wanted me, who provided all of the things I needed and other things that I didn’t need. I was luckier than most of the kids at school, and it wasn’t because I was born to them. They chose me. I guess I never wanted them to have a reason to regret it. So I became the perfect child. Or I tried to anyway. I didn’t want them to ever have a reason to regret adopting me. When I was really young, I think I was afraid they would give me back or reject me like my natural parents had
done.”

Mia stroked his neck and back lovingly, imagining the perfect little boy Max had been. Really, it wasn’t that hard. The sweet boy had grown into the perfect man. “Didn’t you ever want to rebel?” she questioned curiously, wanting to know the real Max instead of the
façade.

Max shrugged. “Not really. Even after my parents died, I still wanted to please them. I graduated from college at the top of my class, did everything that was expected of me when I took over my father’s business. I even thought of getting into politics because I knew it would make them proud. The only time I wanted to rebel from my normal behavior was when I met
you.”

“So I was a bad influence?” she asked in a teasing
tone.

“Never,” he denied, running his hand down her back and wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her closer. “But it made me realize that I wasn’t happy before I met you. I was living my life for two people I loved, but I wasn’t them. I’d tried to replicate their behavior because I thought being any other way would be a betrayal. I thought I needed to be like them because they were the parents who had wanted me. I was lifted out of a life of poverty because they adopted me. I wanted to be in the same class as my parents, even if I wasn’t born into
it.”

His admission made Mia’s heart break. “Just because you’re different doesn’t mean you aren’t still good.” Max was the most wonderful man she’d ever known, and she hated that he’d believed he couldn’t be perfect if he wasn’t exactly like his parents. “I don’t think they even expected
that.”

“I don’t think they did either. They would have loved me regardless, because they were good parents,” Max answered, his words muffled against her neck. “I expected it of myself.”

“And when you met me? I know you had relationships before we
met.”

“Not like you and me. Before we met, I did the expected things. I dated. I fucked. But I didn’t feel the same way. You made me crazy from day one. It knocked me on my ass. I lost my control with you. I’d conditioned myself for years to be a calm, controlled, reasonable businessman like my father, but you blew that persona all to hell, and I was worried about losing you if I wasn’t the man you wanted. I knew about your parents, and I knew you needed stability, someone rational and sane,” Max admitted gruffly.

“Oh, Max,” Mia whispered softly, loving him all the more for being able to talk to her now. “I’ve never met a saner man, and I kind of like the man you are now.” Okay…that was the understatement of the year. His dominant, protective love made her feel safe and adored. “What changed?”

“You died,” he answered, his voice tormented. “When I had to start admitting that I’d probably never see you again, hold you again, talk to you again…I hated myself for never letting you know how much you meant to me, that you were my entire world. I fucking regretted every moment I had spent running away when I could have spent that time with you.” He released a masculine sigh before continuing, “Now I hate myself for never seeing you, never noticing that you really needed me. I was a selfish prick. Had I stopped worrying about my image, I might have really known you—you might have told me about Danny.” He took her head between his hands, his expression tortured. “Believe me, the last thing I wanted was for you to tie yourself in knots trying to please me. Hell, you please me just by breathing. You didn’t need to try to be anyone other than who you
are.”

Mia didn’t want him to have regrets. “I know that now. But those were my insecurities, baggage from my past. It wasn’t you, Max. We’re both responsible for not communicating. We were actually both hiding; in love, but so afraid of losing that love instead of trusting ourselves and each other.” God, she must have been blind, deaf, and dumb. The love radiating from his gorgeous eyes was unmistakable. Had she really looked, she would have seen him, really known him. “Growing up in my family was hell. My father’s madness and abuse was hard on all of
us.”

“Your mother never thought about leaving him?” Max asked huskily, putting his forehead against hers in a gesture of comfort.

“No. Never. I think she’d withstood his abuse for so long that she had closed down just to survive. We begged her to leave, even after we were grown, but she wouldn’t. She made excuses for his behavior,” Mia answered sadly. “I think she loved us, but she couldn’t stand up to my father. I’m sure she lived in her own private
hell.”

Max lowered his hands, running them up and down her upper arms, frowning. “You’re cold. You have goose
bumps.”

Mia suspected it wasn’t the cold, but the thrill of sitting here with Max, sharing things they’d never shared before. “Then warm me,” she instructed, smiling at his scowl. “We
are
sitting here completely
naked.”

Stretching out, Max yanked a thick blanket that was draped over the back of the sofa and pulled her over his body, covering her, sandwiching her with warmth as she lay between him and the fleecy covering. “Better?” he asked anxiously.

Mia sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder. “Yes.” How could it not be anything other than sublime to be skin to skin with him like
this?

“Are you ready to tell me about the asshole who made you run away from me?” It was a question, but Max made it sound more like a demand. “Travis told me the facts. What I want to know is how you felt about
him.”

Mia wasn’t even sure how to explain, but for Max, she’d try. “He didn’t start out the way he turned out to be. He was charming, paid attention to me. The controlling behavior started later, a few months after we started dating. The sad part was, it really wasn’t all that surprising. It was what I grew up with. He was a lot like my father. I wasn’t very strong, Max. I fell into the cycle of abuse. He would apologize and promise never to do it again. But he did. I wanted out, but I guess I wasn’t strong enough to fight my way free of
him.”

“Friends?” Max queried quietly.

“No. Looking back, he managed to slowly, methodically isolate me. I had made friends at school, but he didn’t let me hang out with them anymore,” she replied regretfully. “I was so relieved when he went to prison. I thought it was over. I left Virginia after school and came back to Florida, hoping to start over again, be smarter.”

“Sweetheart, you’re brilliant and creative. You were shaped by your past and you were just a kid. Don’t blame yourself,” Max insisted, running a soothing hand up and down her back. “He came back after he was released from prison, threatened me and your brothers, was ready to blow my brains out? How did you keep him from picking me off? From what I understand, he could have easily made the shot and was crazy enough to do
it.”

“He was much worse than before,” Mia admitted. “He blamed me for everything and was completely delusional. He thought I really wanted to be with him, and he was willing to do anything to get what he wanted. I knew he’d do it.”
No more secrets. No more secrets.
“I was unfaithful to you, Max. I’m so sorry.” It was the most painful statement she’d ever made, but Max wanted honesty and she needed to tell him the
truth.

Max released her, standing up to walk to the fireplace. Bracing his arms against the stone mantel, his head turned away from her, every muscle in his body appeared to tense. Mia held her breath as she watched his profile. He was almost motionless, the only visible movement the rise and fall of his chest as the breath sawed in and out of his lungs unevenly.

Mia’s future hung in the balance as she watched him, waiting to see if he would look at her with revulsion, scorn her love for him now. But they needed complete honesty between them, and it was something he deserved to know. She wasn’t the same, frightened woman anymore. However, it hadn’t made telling him any easier. The changes she’d made in herself just made it possible for her to tell
him.

“The bastard raped you, didn’t he? He should have gone back to jail.” Max turned back to her, his arms dropping to his side, his face filled with rage, his fists clenching and releasing. “Death is too good for a bastard like
him.”

Mia could feel Max’s entire body vibrating with anger, but she realized that he wasn’t angry with her. She held out her arms to him, and Max strode toward her, scooping her off the sofa and settling down with her on his lap, his arms tight around her. He hated Danny. And he trusted her, knew she hadn’t betrayed him willingly.