He was a man, after all, and this was the mother of his children, the woman he’d pledged to love forever. She was straddling him, her legs open around his hips and it was all he could do to resist plunging into her.
But they had to take it slower. And talk. And understand. He couldn’t lose touch with her again, and if he hurt her, he might never get a chance to get her to come to Sapphire Falls ever again.
“Shampoo?” Honey squeezed a blob on her hand and worked it into his hair. “We really did get down and dirty, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, but this feels so good.” He took the shampoo bottle and returned the favor.
He loved the feel of her hair through his fingers and the way her body fit his perfectly. If only they could maintain this easy-going friendliness.
She giggled when soap got into his eyes and then splashed him with water. He got her back by painting a big blob of foamy bubbles over her mouth.
She pounced on him and dunked his head underwater and he emerged, sputtering and laughing. Their limbs tangled and their bodies slipped and slid around each other.
Taking a washcloth, he swirled it over her body, around her breasts and over her belly, washing the dirt and paint from her. She did the same, with a scrubbing mitt.
He cleaned her entire body, and she scrubbed the paint off his back. They drained the water, then pulled the shower curtain around the tub, turned on the shower and rinsed off.
“I wish we can always be this happy,” Honey said as she stood in front of him under the spray with his arms around her.
“So do I.” His voice was thick with both lust and fear. “I want this for more than a Halloween Fling, but also to get back together after we go home.”
“Home? As in San Francisco?” The tension returned to her shoulders, and she turned in his arms.
He shut off the water and kissed her forehead. “It’s where we live.”
“Where we’re divorced.” She seemed to have sobered up. “Where we live separate lives. Where we only talk about our finances and the children. Where I never see you.”
“I can make changes. Work less hours. I promise you I will never neglect you again.”
She shuddered and stepped from the tub, reaching for a towel. “I don’t want to talk about tomorrow or the next day or what you’ll do when we get home. You promised me this weekend in Sapphire Falls.”
“But we can’t ignore reality.”
She wrapped her body with the towel and headed for her bedroom. “You can’t ignore reality. I’m a writer—a romance writer. I prefer to live in my stories.”
“Where the heroine always gets her way? And the hero’s this multi-talented guy, makes tons of money, runs important businesses, builds empires and leads armies, but he still has time to make fondue and have candlelight dinners. Where bosses don’t make demands and markets never crash.” He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, following her into her room.
“Oh, the hero has problems in my stories, too.” Honey yanked the old, plaid flannel nightgown from the dresser and slipped it over her head. “But he always has a soft spot for the heroine.”
“And she always has a way of making him feel like a man.” He advanced on her. “Big. Strong. Sexy. Her hero.”
“Why, have you been reading my stories?” She took a smaller towel and dried her hair. “I thought you’re too busy to do anything but work.”
“I’ve got subordinates now to do some of my grunt work.” He pulled her into his arms. “And a personal trainer.”
“I’ve noticed.” A faint smile crinkled her eyes. “But you still don’t have time for me or the kids.”
“Whoa. That’s not fair about the kids. I have them every other weekend, and if we lived together, I’d be with them more often.”
“Right, but if we lived together, I wouldn’t even get those every other weekends to write and catch up with friends.”
And there was the crux of their problems.
“Look at me, Honey.” He touched her forehead with his. “Give us another chance. We can work something out.”
“No.” She pushed away from him. “I don’t believe anything will change. It’s idiocy to do the same things over again and believe the results will be different. Why can’t we have this weekend together and not talk about San Francisco?”
“Is that what you want? A weekend of lies?” Rage and frustration fought in his heart, but it was what he deserved.
“You were the one who lied to your parents. I was only playing along.” She pulled the quilt and blanket back and slid into bed. “Now you had to ruin our so-called second honeymoon by talking about what happens when we go home.”
“I’m talking about it because we both feel something, and you told everyone at the bonfire we’re divorced. Tomorrow morning, if not sooner, my family’s going to be asking me a lot of questions. We can’t just hide here and pretend everything’s okay.”
“It would have been, if that damn landlord had minded his own business.” She laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. “I want to go to sleep.”
“That’s the problem. You’re always shutting me out. You don’t want to talk. You want to pretend.”
“Until I can’t pretend any longer.” She sat up and glared at him. “Look, we both screwed up the marriage. We both did stupid things and we both overreacted. But the truth is, I can’t picture us together back in San Francisco.”
“Then we can be together here. In Sapphire Falls.”
She blew out a breath and laid back down, her hands over her belly. “We could, but where would you work? What would you do? My job is to take care of our kids and write on the side. I can do that anywhere.”
A heaviness settled over Max’s shoulders and his chest tightened. She was right, of course. Nothing would change if he went back to his job and his life in San Francisco. He’d get caught up in all the bullshit and she would be forever resenting him. It really wasn’t that difficult—if he were willing to walk away from everything he’d accomplished.
Structuring deals and getting financing and capital for businesses and startup companies was his specialty. A place like San Francisco was crawling with opportunities: new ideas, new businesses, new technology.
Here? It was a bunch of farmers and agricultural concerns. He’d talked to a few of them about energy independence, but the obstacle was always money—not enough of it.
“Max?” Honey interrupted his thoughts. “I don’t mean to be so bitchy, and I’m sorry if I was too demanding.”
“If you’re demanding, it’s because I didn’t meet your needs. Or I met the wrong ones.” He turned off the light and crawled into bed with her, ditching the wet towel.
“I’ve a few needs you can meet right now.” Her tone turned seductive.
“Yeah, I know. But those are short term needs.” He put his arms around her and spooned her. His cock came to life, and yeah, short term needs were definitely worthwhile. He kissed her behind her ear and spoke softly. “I want to structure a deal where I can meet all your needs.”
“I’m all ears.” She turned and cuddled against his chest.
“Would you be upset if I didn’t make as much money? I can sell our homes and invest the money in a small financial institution, maybe a credit union, or something to help the farmers around here invest in new technology, wind farms or solar projects. Maybe work a deal where they can sell energy to the power companies.” He was thinking off the top of his head, but it was doable. A big risk, because without adequate capital, things could go south fast.
“It was never about the money, Max. That was your dreams and goals.”
“You can’t argue that money didn’t make things better.” He stroked her back, rubbing circles between her shoulder blades. “You write billionaire bad boy romances. I figure that’s the type of guy you’re attracted to.”
“Actually, I’m switching to small town romances. I don’t think I’m into those billionaires anymore. I haven’t finished a single book, and today, whil
e I was at the diner, I realized why. I don’t want a billionaire bad boy in my own life, so how could I foist one on my heroine?”
“You don’t want a billionaire? Seriously? Even one with pecs and abs?” His ego deflated as everything he’d tried to be to please her and to be the man she wanted had been debunked just like that.
“Not if he never has time to hang out with me and the kids. Not if he’s always stressed and tied to his Blackberry. Not if business is always more important than pleasure.”
He couldn’t see her face in the dark room, but he could feel her smiling at him and looking expectantly as if he were the hero in her new story.
“You write me the way you want, and I’ll be that man. Promise.”
“I’ll write you into a story I can believe in.” She dragged her fingers through his hair and caressed his neck. “I do love you, Max. I think you tried too hard to be the man you thought I wanted, but I only did billionaire romances because a writing friend told me the trend was hot after Fifty Shades of Grey.”
He could have sputtered and choked, and he almost did. She’d patterned her books after that asshole? Oh, yeah, he’d seen the movie because he thought that was what she wanted. He’d even thought of creating a red room of pain, buying whips, chains, and spanking her butt raw.
“Honey, I think I screwed up badly.” He sighed against her mouth. “I tried to be like the jerk in Fifty Shades of Grey and all I’ve done was lose you.”
“You didn’t lose me.” She licked the seam of his lips and he opened up to her.
They’d always been good in bed together, but in the past, he’d needed something extra: talking dirty, playing games, props and toys, and out of the ordinary places to keep it exciting. He’d played the role of the billionaire bad boy.
Tonight, he didn’t need anything but Honey’s sweet body and a plain mattress—and love, of course.
They kissed like they had all the time in the world, and then he buried his face between her breasts, worshipping every square inch of her body. He suckled on her and fondled her, tasting and sampling her sweet flesh.
She was completely relaxed under his touch and she moaned and sighed, but she didn’t push for her orgasm, didn’t try to speed up the pace—didn’t need to.
They had all night, and there was a lot of ground to make up, a lot of places to touch and make alive. A lot of exploring and a lot of loving left to do.
He dragged his lips down from her breasts, over her belly, kissing her hip bones and making her squirm, before settling between her legs.
The skin on her inner thighs was as soft as he remembered, and she tasted so damn clean. Slippery and wet and so, so sweet. He’d thought about frosting her, or dribbling honey over her, or pouring champagne over her. It was the Sapphire Falls way, combining sweets and treats with lovemaking, but that would have been another unnecessary prop.
He and Honey didn’t need any artificial sweetener. Because damn it, she was sweet enough as she was.
He licked and tickled her and she squirmed, moaning softly as he circled her clit, then gave it a soft, sucking kiss. She wiggled and moved her hips, panting and excited, and he knew he still had it in him. Maybe he always had, and he just didn’t know it.
* * *
Honey was in bliss, so excited but also relaxed. Max loved her. He was going to find a way for them to be together, and he was between her legs, tonguing and sucking on her clit.
This was heaven, or close to it. Every lap of his tongue sent dizzying sensations through her body, and the sweet way he touched her, caressing her as if she were a treasure made her ache with regret. He thought by making money he would be the perfect man for her.
In his way, he’d made her feel adored. She’d given him hell.
Why hadn’t she given him another chance? Why had she been so bitter? So resentful? Blaming him for her own unhappiness?
He slid a finger into her sex, tearing a moan from her throat as he stroked the bundle of nerves inside her, building up her pleasure. She was already on cloud nine, but he was bringing her up higher and higher. Too fast.
She wanted him inside her when she came. She wanted him to feel the same identical pleasure when she screamed his name, yet her fingers were threaded in his hair and she was moving her hips while his slick tongue twirled and laved.
“Max,” she uttered his name with a guttural cry. “Come into me. I’m so close. So close, and I want you with me.”
He gave her clit one last lingering lick, and then he was over her, his body hot and his thick cock pressed over her belly. He rubbed it against her as he claimed her lips, plundered her mouth, and swallowed her breath.
Grabbing his hips she positioned him, all without breaking contact with his mouth. He was overwhelming her with love, raining attention over her, giving her the only gift he could give—his raw, naked self. Unadorned. Not playing a role. Just Max. Penniless and without a stitch of pretending.
This was Max Wolff, she thought as he sank into her, gloriously filling every empty spot of her heart.
She was already close, too close to the edge, so she held him still, not moving, just being inside her, connected, and yet she wanted him even closer, under her skin, always a part of her.
“Maxwell Beauregard Wolff,” she whispered into his mouth. “Love me, Max.”
“I always have and always will.” He kissed her softly and she felt a tear drop onto her cheek.
They moved in perfect rhythm and coordination. Every stroke of his slid over every delicious nerve inside her, shooting waves of ecstasy throughout her body.
She could no longer hold back. She uttered his name and met his thrusts, arching her hips as everything broke loose. The bed shook like a boat in a raging storm, and she was covered with everything Max—from his manly scent to the taste of his lips, the burn of his scruff against her cheeks and the rubbing and friction of his big, hot body moving against her, inside her, and around her.
Each hammering ram of his cock rang bells of passion, bringing her up and up to meet his powerful thrusts. She clutched his biceps, clawed at his back, pinched his tight ass and felt every muscle, unable to get enough.
Her head tilted back and her mouth opened wide, sucking in air, his scent, his essence. And then, he bit her. Sank his teeth into her neck and thrust hard.
“Max!” she screamed as a fireball of an orgasm punched the lights out of her, and all she saw were stars and all she felt was the whoosh of an enormous rush so intense that she could have blacked out.
Before she knew what was happening, he turned her so she was on top, straddling him, riding him, and even as she was still shaking from the first orgasm, she felt his cock expand inside her as he pushed her up and down like a rag doll. Then he lifted the nightgown over her head and tossed it so she was gloriously naked over him.
“Ride me, babe. Bite me. Love me, Honey.” He gripped her hips and moved her until she took over.
And then she lost all control. She rubbed and rocked and rode his long thick cock while he raised himself up against the headboard and sucked on her tits.
Incredibly, the second orgasm burned through her faster than the first, and as she hit the jackpot, she latched her teeth onto the side of his neck and clamped down on him.
“Honey,” he howled as he thrust hard over and over, shuddering and grunting his own exquisite release deep inside of her.
She collapsed over his chest, sweating and rubbing her face, her hands, her breasts, all over him. Their heartbeats pounding together, they wrapped each other under the sheets and stayed joined.
His hand ran up and down her back, comforting her and keeping her close, and as their breathing slowed, Honey wondered what she’d do if Max was unable to swing a deal and move them to Sapphire Falls.
The real world would hit. There would be bills to pay, and people to worry about. The magic would disappear, and life would be as messy and dirty and boring as before.
Her happiness couldn’t depend on what Max did or didn�
��t do. She had to claim it herself, and she had to know she’d be happy with him even if they did move back to San Francisco—to the job he loved and the associates he teamed up with.
Exhaustion overtook her, and she decided she’d worry about that another day. Or another night.
Chapter Fifteen
The door knocking was urgent and too loud.
Max groaned and snapped himself awake. Honey was still curled around him, and he hadn’t meant to sleep in.
“Max, are you in there?”
Holy crap. It was his father.
“Who’s there?” Honey mumbled. “Landlord wants us down for breakfast?”
“It’s my dad. Word probably got around about our divorce.”
Honey put her palm over his chest, comforting him. “I’m sorry I blurted it out. I’ll explain.”
“No, it’s my lie. I’ll have to face up to disappointing them.” He caressed her hand and kissed her. “Once we tell them we’re working it out and moving here, they’ll be overjoyed. Don’t worry.”
“Just a second, Dad,” Max called out. “I’ll meet you at the door of my room. The Johnny room.”
“I’m so sorry. I should have given you a chance to warn them.” Honey’s eyes grew wide and she swallowed.
“Not your fault, darling. We probably should go see the kids anyway, and if we go together and explain, everything will be okay.”
“I hope so.” She gave him a tight hug. “We’ll work it out, won’t we?”
“We will.” He reluctantly dragged himself out of the warm bed and went through the connecting bathroom to his suite. The fact that he was naked meant he couldn’t have answered the door, dad or no dad.
He quickly pulled on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, then opened the door.
His father was angry, and his two brothers, Mike and Marsh, flanked him.
“What the hell’s going on?” his dad stepped in. “You’re sleeping with her and not married to her.”
Max glared at his two brothers. “And you two just couldn’t wait to go home and tell all?”
“Actually, they didn’t say anything.” Dad glowered at him. “But your mom found out anyway. Grapevine.”
Sapphire Falls: Going Haywire (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 9