Authors: Maya Banks
Her eyes widened in shock and then she frowned but remained silent.
His nostrils flared, and he planted his palms on either side of her head and rocked his hips against her.
“Answer me. Has there been anyone else?”
He set a ruthless pace, driving her so close to the edge that she twisted and begged him to let her come. But he’d stop, just at the edge, and he’d watch her with cool green eyes as she went nearly frantic, trying to get him to move again.
“Max, please!”
“Tell me what I want to know, damn it. Tell me, and I’ll let you come.”
“No,” she said brokenly. “There’s never been anyone after you. I couldn’t.”
He lowered his head and kissed her softly on the mouth. He swallowed her soft sob and then slowed his thrusts. He began making love to her, so gentle and sweet.
Slowly and tenderly, he slid into her until the bite was replaced by waves of warm pleasure, seeping into her body and spreading like sunshine.
“Come,
dolcezza
,” he whispered, and this time her release wasn’t a violent explosion but rather an exquisite flow of honey, sweet through her veins.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she tried valiantly to regain her composure. But he kissed each one away, sipping at the salt and then kissing her until she tasted the slight salt.
“I missed you so much,” she said brokenly.
“And I missed you. So very much. You’re mine, Callie. Mine. I’m not letting you go again.”
He’d made love to her the entire night. Raw and insatiable. He’d taken her to the very edge of her limits, and now she lay sated and exhausted but aware that for the first time in months she felt at peace.
He couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Even now, his touch was possessive, like he was laying claim all over again.
“Tired?” he murmured, breaking the silence.
She nodded against him as the warm fuzz of sleep settled over her.
“Then sleep.”
It wasn’t as simple as that. She was almost afraid to close her eyes, worried that this was all a dream. A figment of her most earnest wishes. How many nights had she lain awake, wanting him so badly that it was a physical ache?
She turned, curling into his warm body. She tucked her head underneath his chin and let out a sigh of contentment.
“Do you know how many nights I’ve lain awake remembering how you felt in my arms?” he asked. “Or how you used to sigh like a contented kitten after we made love?”
She smiled against his chest.
“If you won’t sleep, let’s go out for an early breakfast. You can show me your town.”
“I’d like that,” she said softly.
He threaded his fingers into her hair and gently pulled through the strands. “I love your hair. I’ve never been able to figure out what color it is. It’s a fascinating mix of black and chestnut with all these warm shades of brown mixed in. It reminds me of a sunset over the Greek isles.”
She kissed his chest and slid her hand between them to let her fingers glide through the hair in the hollow of his chest.
“You were my best vacation ever,” she joked lightly. “I’ve been so many places. But the trip where I met you was…magic.”
“I’m amazed your family lets you crawl all over the world like you do. If you were mine, I’d worry endlessly about what you were getting into. I’d want to be with you to share in the joy of discovery.”
She grimaced. “They worry. They’ve always worried. I don’t think they understand me. They love me. They support me, but I don’t think they’ve really ever understood what makes me tick or why I’m such a restless spirit.”
He stroked up and down her arm and rested his cheek against hers. “What does make you so restless, Callie?”
She went silent a moment. “I love chasing sunsets. They look different everywhere I go. There’s always something new to experience. My family is so…settled. Maybe I never felt like I really fit in.”
She could feel him frown against her cheek.
“How so?”
She sighed. “My family is different. I told you I have three fathers. What you don’t know is that after I came home, my three brothers fell in love with the same woman. It sounds so odd when I say it out loud, but it works for them. It works for my mom and my dads. Maybe in the back of my mind I figured, three sons ahead of me. It’s sort of like a family tradition,” she joked. “And then I come along, the only daughter in the mix. The only daughter in generations that I know of. Where was I going to fit in? Hell, everyone probably thinks I’m going to shack up with a few men too.”
“Over my dead body,” Max bit out.
She laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ve never really understood the appeal. I love my fathers and my brothers dearly, but I wouldn’t want to put up with that much testosterone in a relationship.”
“I find I’m very possessive where you’re concerned,” he murmured.
She snorted. “You’re possessive of everything you consider yours.”
He seemed to consider that for a moment before he agreed. He nuzzled at her ear and then whispered, “Come on. Let’s shower and then we’ll go eat.”
Half an hour later, they stepped into the crisp morning mountain air and a shiver shot up Callie’s spine. Max frowned and then stripped off his jacket and settled it over her shoulders.
“You should have worn a coat.”
She smiled up at him as he put an arm around her shoulders and drew her into his side. “I wasn’t thinking much beyond getting to you. Besides, it’ll warm up in a couple of hours and there’ll be no need for a jacket.”
He kissed her forehead and then they crossed the street to the busy café that had been a fixture of Clyde for longer than Callie had been alive.
As soon as they stepped inside, Callie could feel the gazes boring holes through her and Max. By noon, it would be all over town, and her mama would be the recipient of no less than a dozen calls all wondering who Callie’s man was.
It didn’t help that Max couldn’t keep his hands off her. He had her snugly tucked against his body and his palm was splayed out over her hip. Anyone with eyes could see that Max had all but pissed on her and marked her.
The bell tinkled over the door as another customer came in.
“Crap,” Callie murmured when she realized who it was.
“What’s wrong?” Max asked.
“My brother.”
“Which one?”
“Seth. The sheriff.”
Max made no move to let her go as Seth approached. Callie recognized the look on Seth’s face as the badass, intimidating freeze-out look he gave people he arrested. Not that he arrested many people in Clyde.
“Callie,” Seth said in acknowledgement.
“Morning, Seth,” she said cheerfully. “Where’s Lily?”
“At home.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Callie asked pointedly.
“I was at the office to pick up some paperwork when I saw you cross the street.”
The accusing note in his voice told her very plainly he saw where she came from. At this hour of the morning and the fact she’d come from Max’s hotel room, it was obvious where she’d spent the night.
“Going to introduce me, Callie?” Max smoothly interrupted.
Callie flashed a smile in Max’s direction. “Max, this is my brother, Seth. Seth, this is Max Wilder.”
Seth extended his hand but his expression was anything but welcoming. Callie wanted to kick him in the shin and would have if everyone in the café weren’t glued to the unfolding scene.
“Would you care to join us?” Max asked as he shook Seth’s hand.
Callie shot Seth a glare.
“No, maybe another time. Lily’s expecting me home. She’s cooking breakfast. Of course you could both join us for breakfast there,” Seth said pointedly.
“Ah no, thanks though,” Callie said quickly. “We already have plans.”
Seth swept his gaze over Max once more, his stare sending a clear warning. It was that whole male thing that said
I’m watching you
.
Don’t fuck up
. Callie rolled her eyes and tugged Max closer to the counter so they could order.
“Give Lily my love,” Callie said and then stared pointedly at the door.
Seth shot her a disgruntled look. “Nice meeting you, Wilder.” Though his tone suggested it was anything but.
He turned and walked back out the front door. Max and Callie waited in silence until it was their turn to order and then they took a seat in one of the booths facing the street.
Callie picked at her food and glanced periodically up at Max to gauge his reaction to Seth’s obvious hostility.
“I have an apartment in Denver,” Max said after he took a long drink of his coffee. “As much as I want to meet your family and allay their fears, I think it would be best if you and I spent some time alone so that when we do meet your family, you’re happy again and you don’t have those wounded shadows in your eyes.”
Callie almost raised a hand to her eyes and she dropped her gaze guiltily.
“Callie, look at me.”
She glanced back up to see Max staring intently at her.
“I hurt you. Your family knows I hurt you. I need to make you happy again before I meet them or they’ll never believe in our relationship. You’re still uncertain. I want you to be sure before we face them.”
She slowly nodded her agreement.
“I’d like to take you to Denver for a week. There won’t be any distractions there. Just you and me and whatever we want to do.”
“I’d like that.”
“Good. Then we’ll leave after breakfast.”
She blinked in surprise. “But I’ll need to tell my mom. My dads. And I need to pack. All my things are at my parents’.”
He reached over and slid his fingers over her hand. “All you need is you. I’ll take care of the rest. You can call your parents on the way to Denver. I’ll buy whatever it is you need.”
Callie sighed. How Max did love to spoil her. And if she were completely honest, she’d admit she loved being pampered by him. He thought of everything and a few things she wouldn’t.
He’d seen to her every need while they were in Europe. Her only task was pleasing him. Everything else, he took care of.
“All right,” she agreed. “I’ll call them on the way and let them know I’ll be gone a week. They’re used to me taking off on a whim, so it won’t surprise them.”
He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to her palm. “For the next week I’m going to love you, Callie. When we return, there won’t be any doubt in your mind that I’d ever leave you again.”
She looked fragile and vulnerable in sleep. Underneath her eyes, shadows bruised the soft skin. He would take care of her this week. She’d sleep and rest, and she’d regain the sparkle in her eyes and the wide smile that lit up his world.
He’d spend every moment pampering her and loving her until she forgot what it was like to be without him. Until he could forget the long months he’d spent without her.
He pulled under the awning of the upscale high-rise apartment building and his door was quickly opened by the valet. Max held up a finger so that Callie wasn’t awakened and the valet stepped back for Max to get out.
He walked around to the passenger side, opened Callie’s door and then crouched beside her. He rubbed his fingers over her cheek and she stirred sleepily.
“Wake up,
dolcezza
. We’re here.”
Her eyelids fluttered open and his gaze was met by cloudy blue eyes. Then she looked beyond him and the fog fell away. She fumbled with her seat belt, but he stayed her hands and unbuckled her himself.
He helped her out of the car, gestured for the valet to take the wheel, and then he tucked her against him so she wouldn’t get cold and walked past the doorman and into the building.
She was quiet as they got into the elevator. She stifled a yawn and then leaned into him after he inserted his card for the top floor. The action was so natural, as if they hadn’t ever parted. She’d always been openly affectionate with him. So spontaneous. At first he hadn’t known how to react. He was unused to such exuberance, but he’d quickly grown addicted to her displays of affection, and he lived for the times she snuggled into his arms or simply leaned into his touch as she was doing now.
He gathered her tight against him and kissed her brow as the elevator rose to the top floor. “Still tired?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she murmured.
“Then we’ll go to bed and you’ll sleep some more.”
She smiled. “So bossy. I’m fine. If I sleep more, I’ll never go to bed tonight.”
The elevator door opened into the foyer of his apartment and he urged Callie forward. Her eyes were wide as their feet tapped on the Italian marble.
“It’s gorgeous, Max. So huge!”
It amused him how easily impressed she was. He knew her family was wealthy and yet somehow Callie was completely unaffected by it. It irritated him that with as much money as he knew her parents to have, she still backpacked over Europe, lived and ate like a poor student, and the vehicle she drove was ancient.
“I thought we’d take it easy today, and then tomorrow we’ll go shopping for everything you need.”
She wiped her hands down her jeans and then turned them palms up. “This is it, Max. You wouldn’t let me pack a bag. I don’t have anything else to wear.”
He smiled. “While you’re here, I’d prefer you wear nothing. I’ll make a call and have something delivered this evening for you to wear shopping tomorrow.”
“Nothing?” She arched a brow and glanced at him as if gauging whether or not he was serious.
“Nothing at all,” he murmured. “In fact, I’d like it a lot if you undressed now.”
Her nose wrinkled. “I need a shower. Traveling makes me feel grimy.”
“I’ll draw you a bath or you can use the shower. Your choice.”
“Or you could shower with me,” she suggested impishly.
“Or I could take a shower with you,” he agreed. “Afterward, we’ll sit in front of the fire and I’ll comb your hair for you.”
“Oh, you do spoil me, Max,” she said with a sigh. “No one has ever taken care of me like you.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her nose. “That’s a good thing. I’d prefer I do all the taking care of you.”
Just the image of her in the shower all slicked down with water had him so hard he hurt. What he really wanted to do was to fuck her against the shower wall and then push her to her knees and have her suck him off while water beat down on them.
Only the fact that she looked tired and she hadn’t slept the night before—not to mention he’d made love to her tirelessly and she was likely sore—kept him from stripping her down right then and there and hauling her into the shower to have her.
A little TLC wouldn’t be remiss. Even if it killed him.
She leaned into him and hugged him as she snuggled her face into his chest. He loved that. Loved how warm and soft she felt in his arms and how she melted against him.
He circled her body with his arms and squeezed, content to just hold her.
Finally he pulled away and laced his fingers through hers. He tugged her toward the master bedroom and the huge bathroom with the Jacuzzi tub and the separate shower.
He left her long enough to turn on the water and then he returned. When she would have begun undressing, he gently captured her wrist.
“Let me.”
She lowered her hand and curled her fingers into a fist at her side. Her blue eyes darkened to storm clouds and hunger flared.
Sometimes it was painful to be around her. They never seemed to get enough. The passion between them was a living, breathing thing. He’d never experienced such a raw desperation for a woman and certainly hadn’t had a woman respond to him as Callie did.
They were matching halves. Their chemistry was perfect. She was perfect.
Beautiful, submissive, so hungry to please and to be pleased.
He could be himself with her. He didn’t have to pretend. He didn’t have to hold back. She took everything he gave her and wanted—no demanded—more.
She wasn’t offended by his need to control—to dominate. She offered herself so sweetly that it made his gut ache. No one had ever given themselves so freely. And he had tried his best to fuck it up.
All because of a promise.
He shook away the unwelcome intrusion of his darker thoughts and unsnapped Callie’s jeans. Steam began rising from the shower and he eased the pants down her legs.
Leaving them bunched around her ankles, he pulled at her shirt until she was clad in just her bra and panties.
Unable to resist, he knelt in front of her and pressed a kiss to the silky V of her underwear. Her mound was soft beneath and teased his lips. Frustrated with the barrier, he thumbed the band and worked the lace over her hips until the soft triangle of hair was exposed to his gaze.
“You’re so soft and feminine.”
He rose up and tongued her navel and then nibbled a path around it. She thrust her fingers into his hair and held his head against her body as he kissed her lovingly.
“Step away,” he directed as he rose to his feet.
She kicked out of her jeans and underwear, and then he pulled her against his chest until her breasts pushed over the cups of her bra.
“Perfect. Just perfect.”
He cupped one and lifted until her nipple peeked over the peach-colored lace of her bra. The delicate coral peak beckoned him, and he lowered his head. He flicked out his tongue and traced the top of her areola until her nipple puckered and poked rigidly outward.
Another little push and her breast was free from the cup. He rubbed his tongue over the bud and then sucked it between his teeth.
She gasped and stumbled. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her tightly as he licked and teased the delicious treat.
“Shower’s ready.”
“Tease,” she grumbled.
He grinned and all but carried her backward through the open shower door and into the hot spray. She immediately let out a groan of pleasure as the heat sluiced over them both.
He prodded until her head fell back, baring her neck to his seeking mouth. Despite his determination not to start anything, he found he couldn’t stop himself. She was an addiction. A fire in his blood he hadn’t a hope of quenching.
Breathing hard, he tore himself from the taste of her skin and stood back for a moment to collect himself.
She reached for the shampoo, but he wrested it from her grip and dumped some of the liquid into his hand. He began at the top of her head and worked the shampoo into her hair. After he rinsed, he grabbed a washcloth and tormented them both by soaping every inch of her delectable body from head to toe, paying extra attention to the parts in between.
When he was done, she took the cloth, squeezed soap into it and then started at his chest. By the time she reached his belly, he was hard as a rock and so swollen it felt like he was going to split at the seams.
Her sweet hands worked around his cock and down to his balls, where she cupped and rolled, driving him more insane by the minute.
When she stepped away to rinse the soap, he groaned. She sent him a pouty, sultry look that only made him want to press her against the wall of the shower and fuck her senseless.
As water rained down over her, she came back to him and lowered to her knees in front of him. He guessed her intention and reached down to grasp his cock and pull it away from her grasp.
“No, baby. You don’t have to. You’re tired.”
She gently tugged his hand away from his cock and curled her fingers around the base. “I want to,” she said in a husky voice.
His breath hissed explosively from his throat as she slowly slid her tongue over his length. The warm water had nothing on the heat of her mouth. She sucked him deep, licked over his rigid flesh and then slowly pulled away until the tip of his cock hung precariously from her lips.
She lapped at the slit and made a purring sound deep in her throat, thready with contentment.
“Jesus, Callie.”
“Help me,” she murmured. “Show me how you like it, Max.”
“You know damn well how I like it,” he growled.
But even as he spoke, his hands were on the sides of her face, gripping and holding her in place as he guided his cock inside and then deep. He held himself there for a long moment and then withdrew, sliding across her tongue.
She was the most erotic sight he’d ever witnessed in his life. On her knees, slicked down, water running in rivulets over her breasts, her face turned up and her gaze fastened on him. Awaiting his command.
He stroked her cheekbones with his thumbs and spread his fingers gently over her ears to the slick hair behind them. Her mouth was the sweetest fire he’d ever immersed himself in.
Hot. Tight. Wet.
So damn good he was going to lose his mind, his control, his very soul.
She surrounded him like liquid velvet. Sweet. Fiery beyond his wildest imaginings.
Each stroke to the back of her throat brought him that much closer to absolute abandon. She swallowed around his cock, her throat working around his flesh with wicked skill that left him shuddering uncontrollably.
“Let me taste you, Max. I want everything.”
Her soft plea unhinged him. He stroked deep as his release coiled tight in his balls and surged up his cock. The head of his penis rubbed over the top of her mouth and to the soft tissues at the back of her throat. She swallowed the first spurt of his semen, and the motion shattered the last of his control.
He gripped her head and thrust. Hard. His orgasm was painful. Ripped from him like he was shedding his skin. Intense bursts of ecstasy splintered through his groin and his knees nearly buckled as he exploded in her mouth.
He threw back his head, slammed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth so tightly that pain shot through his jaw.
She continued to stroke and caress him, coaxing the last of his release from his still-hard dick. Each little pet sent another shudder rocketing through his body. Little electric impulses that had him groaning as wave after wave of endless pleasure silvered through his veins.
He slipped from her mouth, but she continued to glide her fingers over his hypersensitive flesh, her hands working their delicious magic.
Suddenly aware of the water still streaming down over Callie, he reached quickly to turn off the shower. He felt like a drunk trying to stagger out of a bar as he took a step through the shower door.
His legs were rubbery and aftershocks still sparked through his body, but his first duty was to Callie.
He grabbed a towel off the rack and reached back for Callie’s hand to help her out of the shower. When she stood, dripping on the floor, he engulfed her in the towel and gently rubbed her from head to toe.
She sighed a little wistfully as he moved to her hair and began wiping the moisture from the long strands.
“I should be drying you,” she murmured.
He leaned in to kiss the corner of her mouth. “Huh-uh,
dolcezza
. You know how much I love taking care of you. And you already took such good care of me in the shower. For the next little while, I’m going to pamper and spoil you ridiculously.”
She smiled. “I like ridiculously. You do ridiculously really well.”
“I should hope so.”
He wrapped her hair in a towel, and then he retrieved the plush robe from the hook on the back of the door and pulled it around her body until she was engulfed by the thick terrycloth.