Beautifully Brutal (Southern Boy Mafia #1) (21 page)

Hell, he didn’t know what he wanted to do.

He was supposed to be pushing her away, keeping her at a distance. Protecting her. For her sake.

She wasn’t safe. Not with Angelica stirring up shit, or his father making threats—idle or not. Now that Max had officially called off the wedding, he figured they’d both be hell-bent on taking him out, which made Courtney all the more vulnerable. Max needed to keep her safe, not dangle her in front of the others, only making her that much more of a target, but he feared, until he worked this out with her, he’d never be able to move forward completely.

He couldn’t stay away from her. And he no longer intended to.

“There’s your chance,” his sister whispered close to his ear.

Max released Ashlynn’s arm, allowing her to step away from him as he approached Courtney. Ashlynn had already given him a hard time, informing him that this was not a good idea—at least not here—but Max hadn’t listened to her.

Not that she hadn’t been speaking the truth. Even he knew that showing up at this wedding, with the sole intention of speaking to one woman in particular, wasn’t the smartest move he’d ever made. But that hadn’t stopped him from accepting the invite when he’d received it, surprising as it had been.

“Courtney,” he said softly as he approached the dark-haired beauty.

He fought the urge to smile when she slowly turned on her heel and glared at him.

“Why did you come?” she asked softly, reaching for his arm and grabbing his jacket, pulling him away from the group she’d been speaking with.

Max offered them a polite smile as he allowed Courtney to drag him away.

“I was invited,” he told her when she finally stopped in a dark hallway.

Damn, the things he wanted to do to her right there in that alcove, hidden away from the rest of the people celebrating Trace and Marissa’s nuptials. It would be so easy, too.

“I know that,” she snapped, her voice low. “That didn’t mean you had to accept.”

“Of course I did. It would’ve been rude not to,” he countered.

“I’m not doing this with you,” Courtney stated bitterly. “You and me… That ain’t happenin’.”

Max grinned. He knew the flash of teeth was probably predatory, but he couldn’t help himself.

“See,” he said softly, leaning closer, trapping her between his body and the wall behind her, “that’s where you’re wrong.”

“Damn it, Max.”

Courtney’s eyes widened as she looked up at him. She might not like him, and Max could accept that, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want him. She did. It was written plain as day on her beautiful face.

“Tell me you miss me,” he ordered, keeping his voice low, his mouth hovering close to her ear.

“I don’t miss you,” she argued.

Max pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “Liar.”

Neither of them moved; neither of them said a word. Max continued to breathe her in, to study her face, waiting for that sign, the one he’d seen before. The one that told him just how hard it was for her to resist him, no matter what she wanted to tell herself.

“We can’t do this, Max,” she finally said in a harsh whisper.

“Wrong again,” he informed her.

“Why, Max? Tell me why.”

Trailing his finger down her smooth cheek, he kept his gaze locked with hers. “Because you and me … we’ve got some unfinished business.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Unable to resist, that’s all there is to it.

Fifteen months ago

Courtney balked at the well-dressed limo driver/bodyguard who’d arrived at the Sniper 1 Security office, waltzed right into the reception area, and requested to speak to her. Luckily, RT had been heading out or she might have never known he was there.

“Dane? What are you doing here?” she questioned.

“Mr. Adorite asked that I bring you to the restaurant,” he said simply, as though that made any sense at all.

Glancing around, grateful that Jayden had left for the day, she searched for the clock on the wall. It was…

“Shit,” she muttered. “I’ll call him. I have to cancel, but…” Courtney trailed off at the look of unwavering fortitude in Dane’s dark brown, nearly black, eyes. “What?”

“Mr. Adorite is on the way to the restaurant now. If I don’t arrive with you, he’ll—”

Courtney lifted her hand, stopping him. “Fine. Give me two minutes.”

As much as she wanted to argue, Dane was not the man she needed to have the conversation with. He was merely the messenger, and she had no doubt that if he went back and informed Max that she had decided to blow him off, Dane could very well take a bullet.

She liked Dane. He was a good man, despite his dark side. He’d been friends with Max for a long time, and his loyalty was unwavering. Had he been anyone else, sure, she would’ve sent him on his way, not caring what happened to him, but she happened to like him. So, today was his lucky day.

Although it didn’t seem to be hers.

Rather than waste precious time, Courtney steeled herself for the inevitable while she retrieved her purse, slipped into the restroom to powder her nose and pull her hair up into an unruly—although quite sexy—knot on top of her head.

When she returned, Dane shot her a grateful smile. “Thank you, Ms. Kogan.”

Courtney nodded and then followed him to the elevator.

Less than twenty minutes later, she was weaving her way through the tables to the one Max occupied at the very back of the lovely little Italian restaurant that he favored. It was the same place he’d taken her on their first official date.

Max got to his feet to greet her, taking both her hands and pulling her into him so that he could place a kiss on her lips.

“I’m glad you could make it,” he said as they both sat, a hint of annoyance ringing in his tone.

“I’m sorry. I’ve got this thing … it’s called a job. I was busy workin’ on a case.”

Max lifted his wineglass to his mouth as he watched her. “What case is that?”

Courtney knew better than to tell him the details of her work. She was having a difficult enough time trying to find the blurred line she’d been straddling for the last ten months, ever since she’d found herself giving in to the dark side and her lust for this man.

“It doesn’t matter,” she told him.

The waiter approached, delivering their salads and quietly slipping away.

Great. He’d already ordered for her.

As was the case whenever they went out, unless she requested otherwise, Max would generally order even though he knew she despised being treated like a trophy. Tonight, she suspected he’d done it because he was upset that she’d so blatantly forgotten their dinner date.

Truth was, she hadn’t forgotten at all, She’d merely been planning to ignore him entirely.

Not the most mature reaction she’d ever had, but Courtney couldn’t seem to disassociate with her logical self, making stupid, reckless decisions in the name of … love. Spending time with him was only making things worse. She was getting in over her head, and she couldn’t seem to stop the domino effect that would ultimately lead to his demise, or hers.

Max’s silence drew her attention to him, and she glanced up, noticing he was staring at her, his fork held halfway between his food and his mouth. The next thing she knew, the fork had clattered to the plate, her hand was in his, and he’d pulled her from her chair. She stumbled along behind him as he led her through the crowded dining room toward a hall. His palm smacked on the ladies’ restroom door before he shoved it open, peering inside.

Luckily, the room was empty. Before he yanked her inside, she noticed Leyton, Max’s right-hand man, standing sentry in the hallway.

Without a fraction of a second to think, Courtney found herself pressed against the ornately wall-papered wall, Max’s fingers linking with hers as he lifted her arms above her head, his mouth crashing over hers. Whimpering because the need to touch him was too great, Courtney instantly gave in to the kiss, something she found herself doing even when she should’ve known better.

Whether she was happy, angry, lonely, or pissed, she always wanted him. Sometimes more than she wanted to.

“Why do you push me, Courtney?” Max mumbled against her lips. “Why do you try to fight me every step of the way?”

When he pulled back enough that she could look into his eyes, she told him the truth. “Because I hate you.”

Okay, so it was only partial truth. She also loved him, but she damn sure wasn’t going to tell him as much. She hated him more. She hated who he was, what he did, what he made her feel. She was supposed to be one of the good guys, and ten months ago, before she’d met Max, she would’ve sworn that would never change, but now… She’d seen too much, witnessed a side of Max that should’ve made her sick, but it hadn’t.

Max growled. “You don’t hate me, Courtney.”

“I do,” she declared, wishing he’d put his mouth back on hers.

His gaze dropped to her lips, and as she’d hoped he would, Max slammed his mouth back on hers. Courtney sucked his tongue into her mouth. She bit his lip, kissing him hard and trying to physically hurt him the way he’d emotionally hurt her. But he didn’t seem to mind the pain because the kiss only got hotter, her body igniting as he crushed himself against her. The friction was brutal and beautiful, and she hated herself as much as she hated him for wanting him despite everything.

“I need to be inside you,” he growled against her ear when he pulled his mouth from hers. “Let me, Courtney. Let me fuck you right here, right now.”

A broken cry came from her throat, and she knew she was giving in because she knew no other way when it came to Max. She wanted him with a passion that defied logic and reason. An inferno of need flared inside her, scorching her from the inside out as her pussy clenched in anticipation of feeling him inside her.

Max held her wrists with one big hand while he undid his slacks, shoving them down and freeing his cock. He lifted her skirt, yanked her panties down her thighs until she could wriggle out of them, allowing them to drop to her ankles before she kicked them away completely.

And the next thing she knew, he was inside her, filling her, stretching her.

“Yes,” Courtney moaned, loving the way it felt when he pushed deep. “God, yes, Max.”

When Courtney looked into his golden eyes, she didn’t see the frustration or anger that she’d sensed in him earlier, although she knew it was there. It was always there, but she saw what she always saw when their bodies became one—adoration and intense desire. There was no doubt about it, Maximillian Adorite was ruthless and cruel, but when it came to her … there was something intrinsically good in his eyes, something that made her want to be as close as she could to him.

Max’s hips thrust forward, his cock jamming into her as her body acclimated to his girth. He was so big, filling her completely, and she wanted more of him.

“Fuck me,” she growled. “Fuck me, Max.”

Before she could catch her breath, Max pulled out of her, whirling her around so that her palms were on the wall, and that was when she realized there was a mirror in the corner. She watched, fascinated as his big hands gripped her hips before he filled her yet again, eliciting a cry from her. It felt so good.

Max didn’t coddle her, and he didn’t treat her like she was made of sand and would blow away in the wind at any moment. No, right there in that restroom, Max treated her the way she wanted to be treated. Although he claimed her body, used her for his own pleasure, he gave more than he took, and she found herself craving him. At the same time, she despised him for who he was, for what he did.

“Look at us, Courtney,” Max commanded as he fucked her from behind.

Courtney’s eyes lifted, raking over their reflections in the mirror. She saw her flushed cheeks, her kiss-swollen mouth as he rammed into her again and again. The tingle in her core was beginning to radiate outward. She didn’t want it to ever end, but she knew she couldn’t stop it.

“What do you see, Courtney? What do you see in that mirror?”

“You. Me. Fucking,” she said, her words punctuated by his powerful thrusts. She knew he hated when she called it that. Max didn’t mind her encouraging him to fuck her, to take her harder, faster. But he didn’t appreciate her lessening what transpired between them.

She did it to keep her distance from him, because Courtney knew that if she gave in to him completely, she’d lose a part of herself that she would never get back.

Cutting her gaze up to meet his, she begged him to make her come. His lips thinned as he focused on sending her over the edge. She returned her attention to their forms, to the way he so easily controlled her pleasure. It’d been that way since day one, since her first taste of him, and it hadn’t lessened in its intensity.

“Come for me, Courtney.”

And as though she were waiting for that moment, her mind separated from the intense sensations flooding her body, giving in to the glorious warmth that coiled tightly inside her and radiated outward, overwhelming her until she couldn’t hold back any longer.

Courtney screamed as her orgasm ripped through her. Max’s hands gripped her hips tighter, and he slammed into her once, twice, and on the third time, he stilled, his cock pulsing deep inside her as he came.

It was in that moment that Courtney felt another piece of herself break off, another piece of herself that she’d given to this man. She knew it wouldn’t take long before he’d control her, and she knew there was no way she could ever allow that to happen.

□»«□»«□»«□

After they both got cleaned up, Max returned to the table with Courtney. They finished their meal mostly in silence. He didn’t attempt conversation, nor did she. And he was okay with that. Words wouldn’t make it any better.

Although she’d willingly given in to the need that plagued them both, he could tell she was pissed at him. Part of him knew he should give a shit; the other part wasn’t in the mood. He had too much shit on his mind, too many things going on that he couldn’t bring himself to care whether or not she wanted to come to him when he needed her.

She’d started retreating more and more over the last couple of months. He wasn’t stupid. She was trying to put distance between them, and he was attempting to keep that from happening. This thing between them was fucked up, even he recognized that.

The majority of the time they spent together, they spent with him buried inside her body. He fucking loved being balls deep inside her. On the sofa when they watched television, in the backseat of the limo before and after they went to dinner, in the shower, the bath, even in the swimming pool. But mostly, he loved having her in his bed, waking up with her in his arms. He had an unhealthy obsession with her that would likely get one or both of them killed if things continued to progress the way they were.

Yet he couldn’t stop it.

He’d let down his guard in recent months, allowing her to get closer than he should have. He’d learned his lesson with Weston, having to kill one of his own men because he’d betrayed him. No, Max hadn’t lost any sleep over it, but he knew that it’d been his fault. She was getting too close, and he was overlooking her actions, letting her get by with things he knew he shouldn’t.

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.