To the Max (20 page)

Nevertheless, the last thing she wanted was to talk about work, so after clearing the sofa, she sat and patted the place near her. “Come on. I’m about to lose my Sopranos virginity.”

Max shook his head, a corner of his lips quirked up, and leaving the sushi platter on the sofa, humored her.

As he extended his arm to take a piece of sushi, she noticed his flinch. “Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing. A muscle cramp. I must have overdone it at the gym. My shoulder is a bit sore.”

Without thinking twice, she reached for him. “Let me.”

The instant she placed her hand on him, his whole body tensed. Hers too, her stomach clenching. She barely caught the gasp escaping her throat.

She tried to regain her composure. “Better?” she asked, rubbing from his shoulder to his neck.

He was extremely still. And looked in pain. “Ace…”

His muscles were bulging and strained. Her touching him didn’t seem to help. The TV show was rolling, but she couldn’t hear anything besides the roaring in her ears. And was it getting hot in there or what? Obviously, she hadn’t thought this through. He’d been massaging her for weeks. She reciprocated for the first time, and she was almost panting. She smiled nervously and hastily removed her hand.

“Don’t,” he pleaded, his voice rough, his shimmering gaze never leaving hers. “Please don’t stop touching me.”

She obeyed him, partly because he had her mesmerized, partly because she couldn’t deny him.

“You’re taking up exotic aerobics,” he said in a whisper.

She cringed, embarrassed. “You saw me?”

“I caught the last few minutes. You were great. Everyone was looking at you.”

Okay, it wasn’t only his shoulder busted. He must have gotten hit on the head too. “You’re exaggerating. And if they were watching, it was because I was the only one going in the wrong direction.”

“Nope. You…glow. That’s the best way I can explain it.”

“I think it’s the pregnancy,” she said with a laugh, trying to disperse some of the tension that had the air so heavy and her so unbelievably bothered. “Now all of a sudden my skin is glowing, my lips are puffier, my cheeks rosier, my eyes brighter. Lots of volume in my hair. Big…ladies. My pheromones are kicking in triple. My body knows we don’t have a father for the baby, and it’s pulling out all the stops to trap someone. It’s hormonal.”

“It’s not hormonal. It’s you. You’re fucking sexy.”

Head injury, definitely
. Annie laughed softly. “For an old broad, you mean, right?”

HE REACHED FOR Annie because it literally hurt not to. He’d managed to contain himself so far, but she was sitting so close, her smile wreaking havoc on his system, and she was touching him. Caressing him. He was a goner.

Slowly, so as not to scare her, he cupped her face, his thumb brushing her lower lip. It was red and puffy and so damn soft. “No old broad here.”

He felt her short little breaths against the pad of his finger. Man, it was going to be a miracle if he made it through this without coming in his fucking pants.

“You’re hallucinating. It must be the sushi. Or the head injury. Heck, both.”

“The sushi was fantastic. And no head injury. My shoulder is sore. Probably from the need to go punch that mofo.”

“What mofo?” she whispered, at a loss.

Her chest was raising and lowering fast, her nipples stiff, pressing against her shirt with every breath she drew in. He didn’t think she realized it, but she was killing him, his already rock-hard cock swelling even more.

“The one hitting on you at Haddican’s.”

Max was still on edge, even after several hours of exhausting himself at the gym. Thank God that once Annie had left, he’d heard the friends of that guy joke about how she’d flat-out rejected him. It certainly helped the dude’s overall well-being, seeing as it was because of that that he was still alive and kicking.

Her hand was on his shoulder, but he could feel her touch all over his body, which was not helping him relax. Neither was the way she was looking at him. Scared and turned on and confused. She was feeling it too, he could tell: that low hum, that static energy, ready to burst at any second.

He wasn’t sure how it happened, but suddenly he had his hand buried in her hair and was kissing her.

She froze, and taking advantage of her shock, he coaxed her to open up and accept him, sucking at her tongue. Soon she was melting in his arms. Her taste exploded on him, haywiring the little brain he had left.

“I knew it, baby,” he said against her lips. “I knew you would taste fucking sweet.”

He lifted her onto his lap, and before she could complain or say anything, he captured her mouth again, this time for a deep, hard kiss.

She placed her hands on his chest.

“What are we doing?” she managed to get out when he allowed her to come up for breath.

Diving headfirst into a whole world of pain, that’s what he was doing. Not that he could stop himself. Or would want to.

“We’re kissing,” he explained, trailing his lips down her neck and lapping at the base, where her pulse beat madly. “I’ve been dying to kiss you since that day you destroyed our lobsters and made shit fly all over the place.”

“Max, we need to talk,” she mumbled, but she didn’t move away from him. In fact, she was holding him tight, fisting his shirt.

“If you want to talk, baby, talk. I’m all ears.” He took her mouth again, and seeing as she needed it for telling him how this was a bad idea, talking went out the window.

And that was just as well, because the last thing they needed now was to talk. Annie would freak and shut him out.

He rearranged her on his lap, getting her to straddle him. Those yoga pants were no barrier, and the intimate contact sent him into overdrive. Fuck, so hot. He swallowed her whimper and tried not to think about how amazing it felt to have her sitting on him. How good she tasted. How much he wanted her. But it wasn’t working. He was tense, his hard-on jerking like a motherfucker as it sank in between her open folds.

He stared into her glazed eyes. She wasn’t in better shape; her body was already quivering, her breath coming out in broken pants.

“You need release, baby. I can give it to you.”

“Max…”

He cupped her face and nipped at her mouth. “This is all about you, Ace. I know how to make all this tension go away. Let me take care of you.”

For an excruciatingly long second, he held his breath, fearing she was going to push him away, but she didn’t. She opened her hands and moved them from his chest to his neck, her gaze never leaving his.

She rocked against him. It was a barely there movement, but his cock registered it loud and clear. She did too, because she whimpered.

Slowly she started riding him.

He gritted his teeth. “Like this, baby. Take from me what you need.” Holding that sweet ass of hers, he lifted himself against her, making sure the crown of his poor, suffering cock nudged her clit as she rocked against him.

She was so primed, panting loud, her hard nipples rasping at his chest, and the second he increased the pressure, she went off. She came with her eyes shut. Her mouth too.

Keeping himself in check, Max waited for her to float back, caressing her face, until she opened her eyes. “Ace, that was, wow.”

She was regaining her mind. And trying to get off his lap. No fucking way. She wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot.

Gripping her hips, he leaned forward and took one of her nipples in his mouth. She cried out, throwing her head back and straining her chest against him.

“You’re not done yet, are you?”

He could feel it in the tightness of her body. Besides, if he kept making her come, she couldn’t talk or freak out.

Annie would have probably loved to say that she was done, but she couldn’t fake her reactions any more than he could his. She shook her head, blushing like mad.

He moved to the other nipple and sucked it.

“The words, baby.”

“I’m not done,” she whispered, trembling.

“Lean back,” he ordered, his voice hoarse. “Put your hands on my thighs. Offer your tits to me. Full access.”

She complied, her legs parting even farther at the movement. There were two wet spots in her shirt, in the middle of which were her nipples, standing at full attention.

Max groaned. “Fuck, you’re sexy, Ace.”

He played with her hard buds, grazing them with his teeth and nibbling at them while she whimpered and jerked and pressed herself against his cock. Yep, her breasts weren’t just bigger; they were hypersensitive, throbbing against his tongue, her pussy clenching around him every time he sucked one of her swollen nipples in his mouth.

“So fucking responsive,” he said as she bucked, her nails digging into his thighs. “Feel me, baby. How hard I am for you. How badly I want you.”

“Max, I need—”

“I got you.”

He knew what she needed. He reached for her clit and rubbed it in tight circles with his thumb, his lips never leaving her breast.

She stiffened immediately and, shaking all over, began coming, her pussy convulsing against his cock. This time too, her eyes were closed and he barely heard her moans. Never mind how turned on she was, she was still holding back. Hiding from him.

Not acceptable.

With her still sluggish from her release, he lifted her and took her to the bedroom. “Not done yet.”

She needed to let go, and he needed her under him when that happened, before he lost his ever-loving mind and embarrassed himself.

Max placed her on his bed and moved over her. He kissed her, pressing his hard-on against her pussy, licking her neck and stroking her glorious tits, until she was again panting and clutching his shoulders.

“Let me make this better,” he said, reaching down to the waistband of her pants.

She grabbed his hand, stopping him. “Max, we shouldn’t—”

“Shh. As much as I’m dying to, I won’t make love to you. I told you this is just for you.”

“But you—” she whispered.

“Don’t worry about me. I want you to feel good. This time, though, I’m going to look into your eyes as you scream out your orgasm. Do you understand? Don’t shut me out. Can you give me that?”

A bit hesitant, she let his hand go and nodded, nervously licking her lower lip, accidentally sweeping her tongue over his thumb.

Fuck, he was dying here. He delved under her panties. She was soft and bare. And so fucking wet.

She jerked at the contact, a needy whimper escaping her.

“You’re drenched, baby,” he growled, running his finger along her slit, caressing her swollen folds. “So fucking hot. I can’t wait to feel this gorgeous pussy clenching around me.”

He petted her pulsing clit, watching as she tensed and spread her legs wider, granting him more access.

Her body was surrendering. Her mind had been overridden. She was just feeling. And not shutting him out.

“Please…”

“You want my fingers inside of you?” he whispered against her lips, rubbing her clit harder.

Her breath was coming in choppy little pants. “Yes.”

“You going to come for me, baby?” He played with her entrance, massaging it but never breaching it.

Annie nodded. “Max, please. I need you—”

He slid two fingers inside her extremely tight pussy, pressing his thumb against her clit.

She screamed.

“Give it to me. Now.”

And she did.

As he’d asked her, she stared into his eyes and cried out her orgasm, her body tightening around him, trying to suck his fingers in. Seeing and hearing her coming so explosively had him grinding his cock against her thigh, almost spilling in his pants.

He remained inside her until her spasms were reduced to erratic tremors.

She could barely keep her eyes open afterward, but when Max tried to move, her legs clamped around him, not wanting to let him go. In spite of how badly he was hurting, he smiled.

Annie tried to stir, but she didn’t seem able to muster enough energy to say anything, let alone talk. Or freak out. She turned to him, pleading.

“I know. Sleep, baby,” he mumbled, covering them both with a blanket and cradling her in his arms. He stared at her for a long time, listening to her soft breaths.

Fuck, she’d blown his mind. And she hadn’t even needed to get naked for it.

He was in so much trouble.

Chapter Twelve

Annie woke up totally soft and limp. It had been ages since she’d had a night’s sleep like that. Then the fogginess in her head cleared, and it came to her. Her blissful relaxation had nothing to do with REM time or the exotic aerobics but with the earth-shattering orgasms Max had given her yesterday. While dressed, without even fucking her. Holy mother of God. She could still feel him whispering in her ear, sucking her nipples. Making her come like she never had before. Just the mere recollection sent her heart into overdrive and her insides quivering. No one, not even Annie, had ever been able to pleasure herself so many times in a row and so explosively. She hadn’t fallen asleep after it; she’d probably passed out. Still, she remembered Max cradling her to sleep. Now, she was alone in the bed.

She had no clue how to act, but she couldn’t hide up there forever, so she decided to get dressed and face the music. Maybe she’d be lucky and Max would have left already. It wouldn’t solve the problem, but she’d take it.

When she made it downstairs, she saw Max in jeans and a white T-shirt, fresh from the shower by the looks of it. Man, she couldn’t catch a break, could she? She couldn’t recall ever needing to get drunk as badly as she did now.

Then she sniffed the air. Bacon. Okay. Good enough.

“Good morning, Ace,” he greeted her, smiling. “You got up just in time for some eggs and bacon.”

She lifted her gaze to meet his, red like a frigging tomato if the heat coming off her face was anything to go by. He looked…normal. Business as usual, which, given the circumstances, was a huge relief. She was feeling awkward enough for the both of them.

She remembered his sexy beard scratching her skin and how it felt to sink her hands in his hair when he was kissing her and pressing his cock against her.

She should have tried harder to stop him, but by the second orgasm, her mind was totally gone, her body calling the shots. And her body had wanted Max. Badly. She didn’t think she would have blinked an eye if he’d undressed her and fucked her on the spot. Because the truth of the matter was, when push came to shove, Max was a temptation she couldn’t afford yet couldn’t resist either. He was just too good-looking. Too charming. Too sexy.