by Anthology
“Max,” Treat said through gritted teeth. He grabbed her cheeks and stared into her eyes. She looked at him through a sexual haze, unfocused and unguarded.
Max shook her head free and grazed his pec muscles with her teeth, then found his nipple and did the same. Treat sucked in a loud, sharp breath as he grabbed her waist, forcing her to match the efforts of his frenetic rhythm. She arched back, her lips fell open, and her eyes fluttered closed as another orgasm shuddered through her, pulsating and tightening around him just as he climbed to the peak of his own glorious release. He rested his head between her breasts, feeling her heart beat against his cheek, and for a moment, he closed his eyes. He pulled Max to him and picked her up in his arms. Treat knew, as he carried her up the stairs for the second time in twenty-four hours, that loving Max completed him in ways that nothing else ever could, and he wondered, as he turned on the shower in the bathroom his mother had used so many years before, how a heart could feel so full.
Chapter Twenty-Five
TREAT WAS RIGHT. The streets of Wellfleet appeared deserted compared to the day before. After picking up her rental car and dropping it off at the bungalow, they headed back into town. They walked hand in hand through the shops, and Max picked out toys for Trevor and Lexi at Abiyoyo. It had been so long since she’d held a man’s hand that she found herself studying the way her hand fit snugly into his. His palm engulfed hers. When he found a scarf that he said set off her eyes, he squeezed her hand like it was the most natural reaction in the world, and Max relished in those little things between them that confirmed that somehow, overnight, they’d become a couple.
They walked around the corner and had lunch at a little restaurant called the Juice, where they shared a bowl of New England Clam Chowder and a sandwich. Max felt her heart opening to him even more than it already had. The simple act of sharing another meal together felt natural—like they’d been doing it forever—and new, all at the same time. Treat didn’t rush her through the meal, or make her feel hurried as they meandered through an entire street of art galleries. He showed her pieces he loved and took interest in the ones that she swooned over.
When they reached the end of the row of galleries, a little fear tiptoed through Max. They hadn’t had enough time together yet. Would there ever be enough time? She didn’t want to go back to real life. She didn’t even know where or what he called home.
“Sweetness, I have a great idea.” Treat took both of her hands in his. The excitement in his eyes made her smile. “If you’re not too tired, I’d love to go to Provincetown, grab some dinner, and maybe see a show? Or we could just go back to the bungalow and watch a movie and relax. Whatever you want.”
I have to know. “Treat.”
“Oh, no. What’s that look? Did I assume too much? Did you want to find a hotel and have some alone time?” He rubbed his hand along his forehead. “I’m an idiot. I didn’t even take into consideration when you might have to be back at work.”
She laughed at his dramatic flair. He was always so calm, and she’d clearly rattled him. “No. I’m just curious. Where do you live?”
He laughed, a deep, hearty laugh that turned her heart to mush.
“Live, live? Like, where do I keep all my stuff?”
“Yeah. You know. Where do you call home?”
He took her face in his hands and said, “It doesn’t matter, because the moment you tell me it’s okay, my home will be wherever you are.” He kissed her, and the sheer delight of it brought her to her toes. His silky lips on hers, the way he smelled musky and sweet all at once, everything about him made her crave his touch.
When they finally pulled apart, she said, “Wow.”
“Wow?”
“I just love to kiss you.”
He put his hands on her waist, and she could see in his eyes that he was thinking the same thing she was—that it would be so great to make out, right there on the street. Just to throw her arms around his neck and have him lift her up into his arms so she could wrap her legs around him and they could just kiss each other senseless. Oh, wait. Maybe he isn’t thinking that. Why was he covering his mouth and looking away?
“Did I say something wrong?” Max asked tentatively.
He shook his head. “No. You just had my mind racing in ways that it shouldn’t be.” He looked down, and the problem was evident by the tent in his pants.
She couldn’t hide her laugh.
“You’re laughing? You’re laughing at this? This is not good, Max. I’m not a twenty-something kid. I’m a grown man. I should be able to kiss you without the world knowing that I can barely think past wanting to”—he lowered his voice to a whisper— “be inside of you.”
Max grabbed her side and bent over in a fit of laughter.
“You are incorrigible!” He swept her into his arms and spun her around, so his back was to the road. “This is so unfair.” He took her hand and walked her behind two enormous hydrangea bushes, then kissed her until her legs turned to spaghetti and her laughter was forgotten. They sank to the ground, where he kissed her deeper, slipping his hand under her hoodie and caressing her breast through her lacy bra. She arched her hips into his, and he kissed her chin, her neck, and down the open V of her shirt to the crest of her breasts.
“Treat,” she moaned.
He rubbed her nipple with the pad of his thumb until they were taut and she was clutching his head, bringing his lips back to hers. Every molecule in her body ached for him. She shoved his hand down between her legs, and he rubbed her through her jeans, heightening her arousal.
“Max,” he whispered.
Her brain couldn’t force her mouth to respond. She lay beside him panting, wanting, craving more of him than his tongue as he licked the dip above her collarbone. What’re you doing? Where are you going? She opened her eyes as he rose to his feet beside where she lay on the grass, with a big, cocky grin on his face.
“Get over here,” she managed, smacking the grass beside her.
Treat crossed his arms. “Two can play at this game.”
Max groaned. “You are so unfair!” She held a hand up for him to help her up.
He pulled so hard she fell against him, and he kissed her again, probing her mouth with such delicate care that it only made her crave him more. She moaned before she could quell the urge, and that was all he needed to pull away with a victorious smile.
“Provincetown?” he asked.
PROVINCETOWN WAS AN artsy community with eclectic shops and street performers along a beautiful coastline. They caught a comedy show, and Max doubled over with laughter in her chair, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. Watching her laugh had become one of Treat’s biggest delights, and as he watched the spark that had returned to her eyes, he swore he’d do everything he could to keep her just as happy as she was right then.
As they made their way out of the club, the evening was cool and the lights from the shops shone in the open doorways.
“Treat! Hey, buddy. How’s the hottest guy around?” A man in drag, complete with high heels and thick makeup kissed Treat on each cheek.
“Marcus!” Treat’s eyes lit up at the sight of his old friend.
“Maxine tonight,” the man said with a flirtatious wink.
“You look beautiful, Maxine.” He emphasized Maxine. “This is…” Treat didn’t know how to label Max—friend, girlfriend?
Max stepped forward and extended a hand. “I’m Max, Treat’s weekend plaything.” She laughed.
“Uh-uh, honey. My man Treat doesn’t do weekend playthings. You must be someone special if you’re up here with him.” He leaned closer and said, “And I can see why. You are gorgeous. I absolutely love your red frames…and your name!”
“Thank you,” she said, touching her glasses.
Weekend plaything? “Everything going well? How’s Howie?”
“Oh, sugar, he’s just as painful as ever. The man has more mood swings than a pack of PMSing women. But you know I adore him.”
Treat p
ut his arm around Maxine and lowered his voice. “And his cancer?”
Maxine’s excitement waned for a second, and then she righted the smile on her lips again. “He’s hanging in there. He really appreciated—we really appreciated—you pulling those strings with the hospital.” Her eyes welled with tears, and she wiped them away and fanned the air. “Whew. I can’t go there right now, sugar. I have to perform tonight.”
Treat pulled her into a long embrace. “I’m here, okay? If you need me, call me anytime. You know that. Give Howie my love, please.”
“Will do, Treat.” Maxine reached for Max and hugged her, whispering in her ear, “The man is a saint.”
Treat could feel a million unasked questions from Max as they passed a man who looked as though he’d been dunked in thick gold paint standing still as a statue while a few of the remaining tourists threw money into a hat at his feet and took pictures beside him. He waited for her to ask about Howie and Marcus, and when she didn’t, he fed her unspoken curiosity.
“Howie lost his insurance a while ago, so I paid cash for his treatments and made a deal with the hospital that when he needed to be there, they’d bill me directly.” He shrugged, and then it was his turn to get an answer to the question that was burning his tongue. “You’re my weekend plaything?” he asked as they walked into Shop Therapy, a small store that specialized in retro clothing.
“I could tell that you didn’t know what to call me.” She shrugged.
She fingered through a rack of retro clothes, and Treat turned her around to face her with a serious gaze. “You do know that you are anything but a plaything to me, right?”
She did know, but just hearing it made her smile. “Who is Marcus…Maxine?”
“He’s a friend. I’ve spent so much time up here that I’ve gotten to know many of the people who live here year-round.”
“So many people would have trouble with embracing a man in drag, and you had no hesitation.”
“Would you?” he asked Max.
“No, but some guys are really weird about that stuff. I don’t know. I guess I’m wrong.”
“I’m not most guys.”
“Yeah, I know. I actually fell for you a little more when I saw you hug him,” she admitted.
“I’ll have to remember that,” he teased. They walked toward the back of the shop, and Treat said, “You know, dressing in drag isn’t who he is. It’s what he does for a living.”
“Oh. No, I didn’t know. I guess I assumed that drag was a way of life.”
“No, at least not for him. He’s a fantastic performer. If you’d like, I’ll take you to a show sometime.” They picked through a rack of T-shirts.
She slipped into the space between the clothing rack and his body. “I would really like that. Life is too short not to let people love whomever they want to love. Love is beautiful, and it should be praised, not picked apart.” She touched his stomach and pressed her hips into his.
“See, the more I learn about you, the more I love you.” Love slipped so easily from his lips, and he liked the way it felt. He searched her eyes for a reaction, waiting for her to pull away. When she didn’t, he lowered his lips to hers, intending a sweet, loving kiss, but once he tasted her, he didn’t want to pull away. The way Max was pressing her body into his in all the right places made him want to lay her down right there on the floor of the store. He made himself pull away, and for a moment he just watched her lick her lips, and he knew if he didn’t move away from her hips and breasts, which were teasing every nerve in his body, he’d be walking around with a hard-on all day. He ran his hand through his hair and took a step back. Max laced her fingers into his and flashed a crooked smile.
“Wanna go upstairs?” he asked.
“What’s upstairs?”
He looked around, then whispered, “Adult toys.” He watched Max’s smile change to a worried frown, and she shrank away from him. He quickly said, “We don’t have to.”
“Um…”
Treat watched her eyes dart around the store, like she was looking for an escape. “Come on.” He took her hand and walked straight out of the store, down the street, and through an alley.
“Where are we going?” Max hurried to keep up.
A minute later they were staring at a sandy beach and a long pier. Treat walked off the edge of the street onto the sand and held his hand up for Max as she jumped down to the beach.
“Treat? Where are you taking me?”
“Right here.” He dragged her under the pier. Without the lights and noise from the shops, it was dark and quiet. Only the swishing of the water against the shore cut through the night. He brushed an area of sand. “Sit,” he said.
She sank to the sand. He sat next to her and took her hand in his.
“Why are we here?” Max asked. “Are we making out under the boardwalk?” Her eyes weren’t dancing with the thought, and the unease in her voice pulled at Treat’s heart.
“It’s safe and dark, and I figured that since we can’t see each other very well, when we’re here, you can tell me anything at all, and I promise I won’t say anything about it outside of this safe, dark place. Ever.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “You’re too much.”
“I saw your face in there, Max. You looked appalled and frightened.” He pulled her close. Whatever he saw, he needed to understand. He didn’t need sex toys, and he hadn’t been intent on buying any, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have if she were into that sort of thing. He’d do damn near anything if it would please Max. But he wanted to understand what triggered her reaction so that he could be sure he’d tread carefully around it in the future.
“I don’t have a lot of experience with men, Treat.”
Besides the relief of the statement, he knew there was a but coming.
She fiddled with the pocket of her hoodie. “Remember the guy I told you about?”
“Yes.” The one I’d like to beat the shit out of?
“Are you sure you want to hear this? I mean, it’s gonna piss you off even more.”
“Look at me, Max.” He took her face in his hands and drew her close, until he was sure he had her full attention. “I want to understand whatever it was that flashed through your mind in there. You don’t have to tell me, but it might help me to understand how to make you feel safe and secure in our relationship.”
She took a deep breath. “It’s not easy to say...”
“It might not be, but most things that are meaningful are not easy.” Treat also took a deep breath, preparing himself for her confession. Putting together the idea of adult toys and the fear in her eyes, he drew all sorts of maddening conclusions, and he promised himself not to overreact. He clenched his jaw as she began to explain.
“While we were together, he asked me to try…one of those.” She blushed and looked away.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to judge you, Max,” he assured her.
She swallowed hard, then continued. “I was young, and I had the guy everyone wanted, so I thought…” She shrugged. “It can’t be that bad. Okay.”
He didn’t want to hear what that asshole had done to her, but he wanted Max to heal from whatever hurt she was carrying around her neck like a noose. Just talking with his father had helped him so much that he was sure it would help Max to unload her worries, too.
She closed her eyes and spoke in a flat, even tone. “It was the night he grabbed me. We were in the bedroom, and he had undressed me, but he still had his pants on.”
He felt her body shaking in his arms. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to, Max.”
“I want to.” She opened her eyes and looked into his. “He used…it, and at first it wasn’t bad, you know? He was just kind of being gentle.” She shrugged. “And then I don’t know what happened. His eyes changed, almost like a different person took over inside of him, you know?”
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Treat wiped i
t away with his thumb, trying to keep his own twitching nerves in check, for the pain and anguish he saw in her eyes and what she was likely to have endured.
Max continued with an icy tone. “He was suddenly shoving it into me so hard and saying horrible, nasty things. Cursing at me and calling me names, and somehow…somehow I was able to crawl away from him and grab my clothes. I ran for the door, and that’s when he grabbed my arm.” She shook her head. Tears were streaming endlessly down her cheeks.
Treat pulled her against his chest. “Shh.” He rubbed her back, stifling his mounting rage and his desire to get every detail on the asshole and rip him to shreds.
She pushed away angrily. “There’s more. When I looked down, there was blood dripping down my legs. Bright red blood. I don’t remember much after that except that my arm hurt like hell and he drank a lot of beer and then passed out in the bedroom. That’s when my mom called. That’s when I left.”
“Max, he had no right to touch you like that.” Treat’s entire body pulsed with rage, but more important than the desire to hammer the hell out of that asshole was the desire—the visceral need—to help Max heal. “Baby, come here.” He held her trembling body against him while she cried. “Let it out. Let all of it out until there’s nothing left to tear you up. None of that was your fault, sweetness, and I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again.”