Max

by April Kelley

  “Yeah, right. Just let me handle it,” Max said against the side of his ear.

  “Your brand of handling things is getting me a job I don’t even want and getting me choked half to death by that asshole. No thanks, Max. Plus the cute little dude was gonna make me food, and I’m pretty sure that’s ruined now.” Sydney looked at Germ and pointed to him. “That last one I blame on you.”

  “Yeah, I’ll take that one.” Germ held Reggie while he freaked out.

  Max was impressed when Reggie wiped his eyes and then pulled out of Germ’s arms. “I’m fine. I can make the sandwiches.”

  Iain, Ash’s boyfriend, came out of the small crowd. “I’ll help. Sandwiches. Who wants one?” He yelled that last part and every man in the room said that they did. Max wasn’t surprised at all when Liam, Wolf’s boyfriend also came out of the crowd and began to help.

  Wolf patted Max on the shoulder. “Well, when you fall, you certainly go down hard, man.” Wolf held out a hand to Sydney. Sydney stared at it for a few seconds but finally took it. “I’m Wolf. Welcome to the team.”

  After that, all the other guys introduced themselves until Ash was the only one who was left. Sydney stiffened slightly and if Max wasn’t holding him, he wouldn’t have even felt it. Ash didn’t say anything to Sydney.

  Instead, Ash looked at Max. “You need to talk, you know where to find me.”

  Max nodded. Ash’s incredible ability to read people was great until he directed it at Max.

  Ash shook his head and patted Max on the shoulder.

  Sydney wiggled around in Max’s arms, silently telling Max to let him go. Max did, then sat down on the bar stool Sydney had been on, which happened to be the only stool not occupied.

  “You took my seat,” Sydney said but then shrugged, leaning against the counter. “I’ve been sitting all day anyway.” He forgot all about the stool when Reggie put a sandwich under his nose.

  Max watched as Sydney took a bite. Those full lips, which made Max just a little bit hard every time he focused on them, wrapped around the two pieces of bread. And then Sydney closed his eyes and moaned.

  “How’s your dad?” Someone asked him. He thought it might have been Justin but wasn’t sure.

  He never took his focus off Sydney and the way he practically made love to his food. “What?”

  “Your dad.”

  “What about him?”

  “How is he?” Justin asked.

  “In the mental ward. Going back tomorrow.”

  Sydney opened his eyes and looked at Max with a furrowed brow. A second later Sydney just rolled his eyes. “Don’t get any ideas, fuck boy.”

  Max grinned. “You have a sexy mouth.”

  “You really do, man.” Germ chose that moment to make friends. It was a step above punching Sydney, but for Germ that wasn’t always saying much.

  Reggie elbowed Germ in the ribs and Germ grunted. “What? It’s true.” Reggie looked at him and Germ held up his hands. “I’m not saying I want to do anything with them, I’m just stating the truth.”

  “Jeremy.”

  Germ grinned. “You have the best lips. And you look sexy when you—” Reggie put a hand over Germ’s mouth, effectively cutting off what he was going to say next.

  Max focused on Sydney after that. He pulled Sydney’s plate and sandwich across the small space that separated them.

  “Hey.” Sydney followed, as he’d predicted, and soon he was standing between Max’s legs. “Don’t think I don’t know what you did just now.”

  Max grinned.

  “I was serious before, ya know. I’m not falling for your charming crap, so don’t even think you’re getting in my pants later.”

  Max sighed. “That’s not what I’m doing.”

  Sydney looked at him pointedly. “Yes. You. Are.”

  How the hell had Sydney missed the declaration he had made earlier? “I’ve never threatened to quit this team before. I would have left, Syd. With you.”

  Sydney stood looking at him for long minutes. Everyone in the room seemed to be watching them. “And I’m supposed to just trust that you would have.”

  “Yes. How much more of a declaration do you need?”

  Sydney narrowed his eyes. “I never asked you for a declaration.”

  “Oh, right, because you’re not touching me, fuck boy isn’t asking for one.”

  “I don’t sound like that. That’s stating a fact, fuck boy. Not asking for a declaration.”

  Max stood up and ran his hand through his hair. “Do you want to try at this relationship thing or not?”

  Sydney sat down on the bar stool and grinned. “Sure, fuck boy. We’ll talk about the rules later.”

  Max swallowed the lump in his throat. “Rules?”

  Sydney grinned at him. “Just kidding.”

  Reggie slid a plate in front of Max and suddenly Max’s stomach turned from just looking at it.

  “Relax. It’s just spending time together, which is what we’ve been doing anyway.” Sydney slid up next to him, putting an arm around his waist. “Come here,” Sydney whispered, and Max leaned down. Sydney pressed his cheek against Max’s. Sydney’s lips were against Max’s ear, making him shiver at the pleasure it caused him. “You’re making it more complicated than it is, Max. If the word relationship scares you, then let’s not say that. Let’s just call it friends with benefits for now. We’ll talk, fuck, and then talk some more. See how that goes and if we both still like each other.”

  That sounded great, and Max would have readily agreed if he felt like Sydney’s friend. Max looked around the room, at everyone staring at them, no one talking. Max put an arm around Sydney’s waist and started pulling him out of the room. He could hear the chatter pick up again through the closed kitchen door.

  They stood in the hallway, Max leaning against the wall. Sydney fit in between his open legs nicely. He seemed to make a home there even as he played with the collar of Max’s shirt.

  “I want so much to just agree with that. It would be easier for me if I did. I’d also be lying to you, and since I haven’t done that up to this point, I’d like to keep my streak going.”

  “So you don’t see me as a friend?” Sydney asked without looking at him. His shoulders came up and he sort of folded in on himself a little bit.

  “My chest hurts just looking at you. I want to fuck you until you can’t stand up anymore and hold you in my arms all at the same time. I turn into a jealous prick around you. I was a little jealous of that sandwich just now. A sandwich, Syd.” Max lifted Sydney’s face with a finger under his chin so their gazes met. “So no, I don’t feel just friendship toward you.”

  As Max was talking, all the tension in Sydney’s shoulders relaxed and a small smile touched his lips. “Why do relationships scare you?”

  “They don’t. Not really.”

  Sydney looked at him as if he didn’t believe Max.

  “I’ve never felt like this before. Not once in my entire life. I mean, I know how to go into a bar and charm the pants off someone, and I know how to leave afterward. This.” Max made a hand gesture between them. “I don’t know how to do this. Or where to put all the things I feel for you, other than to just lay it on you.”

  “Okay, Max. Let’s give this relationship thing a try. We can try not to fuck it up together. That way if it fails, we’ll both go down with the ship.”

  Max chuckled. “So the first order of business. You still up for a cuddle and a movie?”

  Sydney leaned in and pressed his lips against Max’s. It was the first time Sydney had initiated a kiss between them. Max palmed the nape of Sydney’s neck and angled his head to take the kiss deeper. He sucked on Sydney’s bottom lip for a second before releasing it, placing open-mouthed kisses on every centimeter of Sydney’s sexy lips. When Max added his tongue, Sydney moaned and nearly pulled him off the wall, trying to get closer. Sydney’s tongue rubbed against Max’s, taking a taste.

  One
of the things that drew Max to Sydney was the way he smelled. It wasn’t anything distinctive necessarily, but rather whatever made up Sydney in his entirety. Whatever that was, it drew Max in, making it impossible for him to ignore. If Max liked Sydney’s smell, then he was in love with the way he tasted.

  Max was so hard it was almost painful. He knew Sydney was the same way because he could feel the man’s length against his own.

  Max trailed his hand down Sydney’s back until he gripped his ass cheek, pressing him closer, wanting even just a small measure of relief from the ache.

  Sydney broke the kiss, panting as he looked at Max. Max studied Sydney’s gaze, trying to find something in there that would make taking him upstairs to his room a mistake, but he couldn’t find anything. When Sydney leaned forward, starting to kiss and lick a trail around his neck, Max figured the smaller man had no objections.

  Making it to his room with Sydney attached to him like a vampire wasn’t easy. It took them twenty minutes because Max had to stop more than once, the pleasure proving to be too much. As it was, Sydney had Max pressed against the wall right outside his door. Max’s jeans were open, and Sydney had his hand on his cock, trying, but not quite succeeding, to jack him off. His clothing proved to be too much of a restriction for both of them.

  Max ran his hand up under Sydney’s shirt, wanting to feel all that delicious bare skin. Max remembered how Sydney had looked in the strip club, mostly naked and gleaming with sweat. God, and he’d be seeing that again soon.

  Max felt around for the doorknob and turned it when he finally got a hold of it. He lifted Sydney off his feet for just a second, long enough to get the man inside the room and close the door.

  Sydney managed to get his fist around Max’s cock and seemed to just be holding the hard length even as he drove Max crazy with that mouth on his neck. Max was sure he’d have marks when it was all over, not that he cared. Sydney could mark him all he wanted.

  Max moved them across the small sitting area to the bedroom. “We should slow down. Make love slowly.”

  Sydney detached from Max’s neck long enough to say, “We’ll go slow next time.”

  “I don’t want you to think it’s just a fuck.”

  “I know. I don’t think that. But I’ve wanted you from that first moment you spoke on the phone. God, your voice... anyway, please. I just need to feel you.”

  Max nodded.

  Sydney let go of Max’s cock long enough to push Max’s pants and underwear down. Sydney’s hand came back around him.

  “Sydney... shit. Okay, just let me... Ungh.” Max fumbled at the button on Sydney’s pants but eventually opened them. The zipper wasn’t as hard, and then he felt Sydney’s hand help him as he pushed them down. Sydney let him go and lay down on the bed, lifting his hips as he took his pants and underwear all the way off.

  Sydney immediately held out his hand for Max, wanting him to lay on top of him. He didn’t give in to Sydney right away. He pulled his shirt over his head and took off his pants the rest of the way. He pulled open the nightstand drawer and took out the lube and a condom.

  Sydney immediately took the condom from him, sat up, and rolled it down Max’s cock. Max moaned at the touch. Sydney lay back down and spread his legs wide, which just made Max moan again. His man was just about the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

  “Get down here.” This time, when Sydney held out his hand, he went. Max knelt between Sydney’s legs, squirting lube on his fingers. He rubbed it around for a couple seconds, trying to warm it so it wasn’t such a shock to Sydney’s system. Max entered him with two fingers, and the other man was so tight, for a second, he thought Sydney might be a virgin, but then Sydney groaned. He closed his eyes at the same time he whispered, “Yeah. Just like that.”

  Max moved his fingers out just a bit, then plunged them back in again. The second time he did it, he curled his fingers up, rubbing over Sydney’s prostate. Sydney cried out, opening his eyes wide and looking at Max as if he thought he was a god. Max added another finger at the same time as he leaned down and took Sydney’s lips in a searing kiss, pouring all of the passion he felt into it.

  Sydney tried to pull him closer, his fingers digging into Max’s back.

  Max pulled his fingers out. Sydney let out a little whimper when he did. He lined up his cock and watched Sydney for any signs of discomfort. He didn’t see any. If anything, Sydney looked as if he had never felt anything better. Still, he told himself to be gentle as he pushed in slowly, but then Sydney wrapped his legs around Max’s waist, using them to push Max’s cock further in, and Max lost his sanity. His head filled with lust until all he saw was Sydney. The tight heat that surrounded his cock felt amazing, and he needed friction, so he pulled out part way and slid home again.

  With each thrust, he never looked away from Sydney. He needed to see the pleasure in his slack jaw and that small smile that hadn’t left his face once since Max had been inside him. God, he was so fucking sexy. Max had never seen anything better. And then those full lips said his name. “Max.”

  Max pumped harder, unable to hold back any longer.

  “Oh god. Exactly like that.” Sydney gripped the nape of Max’s neck, pulling him down. “Don’t stop.”

  “Won’t. Ever.” Max panted. He could feel his release build up and hoped Sydney was close.

  When Sydney cried out a second later and his ass clamped tight around Max’s cock, that sent them both over the edge. Max’s movements grew erratic and he shuddered with the aftershocks.

  He wanted to collapse on Sydney, and probably would have if it were anyone else, but Max couldn’t resist kissing him. He moaned when Sydney licked across his lips. Max did the same to him before he ended the kiss, pressing his cheek against Sydney’s instead.

  Chapter Eight

  Sydney wasn’t sure what had just happened, but that was not anything he had ever experienced before. Maybe that was what sex was supposed to feel like. If so, then he had been doing it wrong. “Wow.”

  Max kissed him on his cheek. “It was okay?”

  “It was so much better than okay.”

  Max rolled off him, and Sydney mourned the loss for about a second before Max pulled him close. Sydney threw his leg up over Max’s, half his body lying over him. Sydney laid his cheek against Max’s chest and closed his eyes. He could totally fall asleep.

  Max kissed the top of his head. “It’s never been like that for me before.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “Very good.”

  Sydney smiled. A second later, he yawned.

  “Let me clean you up before you fall asleep.”

  “I’ll get up.”

  “Just rest, baby. I’ll take care of you.” Max rolled him over again and got out of bed.

  He closed his eyes and was half asleep when he felt a warm cloth on his abdomen, wiping his cum off. He felt it between his legs a second later.

  When Max came back, he immediately took Sydney into his arms again. “Are you gonna run away, fuck boy?” Sydney mumbled out the question. He needed to know their time together wasn’t just a one and done. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Max but... okay, he still didn’t trust him, and he need the reassurance.

  “I’ll be here, baby.” Max kissed the top of his head again.

  “You better be, or I’m gonna kick your ass.”

  “I’ll be here,” he repeated in that same tone of voice.

  He wasn’t sure why, but Max’s tone even more than his words reassured him.

  “Next time we’ll do it the way you want, I promise,” Sydney mumbled, remembering that Max had wanted to go slow. He wasn’t even sure why he was talking. He wasn’t entirely awake, but something inside Sydney didn’t want the moment to end.

  Max chuckled. “I doubt you’ll ever let me do anything the way I want.”

  Sydney tweaked one of Max’s nipples, making him squirm.

  Max put a hand over it, trying
to keep Sydney away. “Are you calling me unbending?’

  “I would never say that directly to your face, baby.”

  “I’ll show you exactly how bendy I can be.” Sydney lifted up and straddled Max’s lap.

  “I thought you were tired.” Max grabbed his hips, holding him loosely.

  Sydney yawned again. “Yeah, but you wanted to watch the movie.”

  “Just sleep, Syd. We’ll catch the movie next time.”

  Sydney nodded and lay down, his skin against Max’s. He wiggled around trying to get comfortable, but Max gripped his hips and let out a hiss. Sydney stilled and lifted his head, watching Max for a full minute before he wiggled around again. Max’s fingers dug into his flesh again.

  “My cock is sensitive,” Max explained.

  Sydney moved again, then chuckled when Max growled at him. The next thing Sydney knew, he was on his back. Max held his hands over his head. Sydney could have gotten loose, but he let Max have his little victory.

  Max studied his face in that way he always did. Sydney was getting used to it and even liked it. A second later Max kissed him, pressing their lips together in a gentle way that Sydney hadn’t experienced before.

  Sydney was just getting ready to deepen the kiss when his phone rang. The sound was muffled because it was in the pocket of his jeans, and they were currently lying on the floor somewhere.

  Sydney ended the kiss and sighed. He recognized the ringtone as the one he gave Twiggy. “That’s my informant. I have to take his call.”

  Max kissed him one last time and let go of his hands. Sydney immediately touched Max, running his hands up his back. Max moved off him just enough to grab Sydney’s pants, pulling his phone out of the pocket. He handed it to Sydney and then settled on top of him again. Sydney regretted it immediately when he removed his hand from Max’s back to take the phone.

  Sydney pressed the green button on his phone and then put it on speaker. “This better be good, Twiggy.”

  Someone on the other end whimpered, and Max stiffened on top of him. Their gazes met and something passed between them. It was as if they had a silent conversation in the span of a few seconds.