"What do you mean 'he got angry'?" Already Max's eyes had narrowed as he guessed what was coming.
She shrugged. "He was a big guy. I was an easy target. I know how to defend myself, but the reality is that when there's such a difference in size and strength there's not much you can do to fight someone off when they're angry."
"What did he do, Elise?" Instinctively, Max pulled her as close to him as he could, given their layers of thick clothing, and with one hand gently moved her face to his so she couldn't avoid his gaze.
"The usual. He thought it would be a good idea to use me as a punching bag to teach me a lesson, so that in future I'd remember to put his needs first."
Softly, Max swore, anger written over his face as he cuddled her to him.
"I was scared, Max. I tried, but I couldn't fight him off. I had trusted him without questioning whether he was a decent person and whether he should be trusted."
"How badly hurt were you?" he asked, and she saw his barely suppressed fury.
"I had bruises and some cuts," she admitted, "and my ribs weren't in a good way. I left that night. I had other friends out there who helped me and looked after me. I never saw David again, though I heard from others that he left Kenya pretty soon afterwards and got a transfer to another office."
"What was his name?"
"I told you... David." She was puzzled.
"No, his full name."
"What?" She was confused and then realisation dawned on her. "Max, no. It's over. It's been over for months and I've moved on. No way are you looking him up."
"You know I can find out? It'll be easy enough to investigate who this guy is, so you may as well tell me."
"No, Max. I thought you wanted me to be able to trust you?" Worried, she drew on the one line she knew could make him think twice about using the contacts she was pretty sure he had in abundance to chase down David. "I trusted you enough to tell you what happened, but I told you in confidence. Don't break that confidence, Max."
"Elise..." he warned, "I know it took a lot for you to tell me about David, and I'm glad you trusted me enough to do it; but don't think you can manipulate me by using the trust card each time."
She flushed, knowing he'd seen through her seemingly clever argument.
"Does Tom know about this?"
She shook her head. "I didn't tell anyone outside Kenya. I didn't want my sisters to worry."
"I should probably spank you for that alone!"
She jerked her head up, her eyes wide open.
"Elise!" He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "The people who love you in this world need to know when you're hurt, or scared, or in trouble. There may not be an easy fix to something, but imagine how upset they would be to find out you'd concealed something like that from them. What do you think Tom would say, or Luke or Alex for that matter?"
"Alex would probably want to spank me himself," she admitted. "He already threatened it once before."
"If he did, it would be with good reason! I'd put my money on Luke and Tom both having the same reaction. I won't spank you for it," he added, stroking her cheek, "but I want you to promise me that when you get home, you'll talk to your family properly, tell them what happened, and confide in them too."
"They'll just want to try to take care of me all the time," she grumbled.
He chuckled, even though his eyes were still dark with barely concealed fury at the man who had raised his fists to her. "Probably," he admitted, "though maybe they'll find some reassurance in knowing that I'll be looking after you from now on. If you'll let me."
Startled, her eyes flew up to meet his. She wasn't quite sure that she'd heard him right.
"Don't panic. I'm not going to rush you into anything you don't want or aren't ready for, I promise. But equally, I'm not some teenager who's scared to be upfront about how he feels. You know I'm a believer in honesty and I'd rather we started as I mean for us to go on. I like you a lot, Elise, and you probably guessed that I was attracted to you from the outset. I know it's early yet and we don't know each other that well, but that's going to fix itself naturally over the next two weeks. I don't know about you, but I've always thought that the beauty of the park would make the perfect setting for a first date."
Elise blinked back tears, taken aback at his obvious honesty and the ease with which he could talk about his emotions and feelings, unlike the majority of men she had met. She reached upwards with her hand to stroke his cheek.
His lips caught hers in a slow, lingering kiss. As he exerted tender but firm pressure, her mouth opened for him under his silent demand and he ran his tongue over her lips before closing in and trapping her mouth and tongue with his in an intimate exploration.
After long minutes he drew back, chuckling as she whimpered at the loss of contact.
"Come on, Elise. Let's get back to the cabin. We started early and it's been a long day already. We could probably both do with some rest..." his voice trailed off, but his long, heated look left her with little doubt as to how their day could end, provided it was what she wanted as well. He'd made it clear that their fledgling relationship was going to progress at her pace.
"I guess it is getting cold out now." She smiled up at him, still a little apprehensive, but more confident now, that, other than a handful of superficial similarities, Max and David were completely different in character. Although David had presented a cool facade of confidence and control, underneath that had lurked some deep insecurities and selfishness combined with an inherent anger at anything that couldn't easily be controlled. She couldn't imagine David talking so freely with her about his emotions and desires before he knew whether they would be reciprocated. He would have been too proud to risk any sort of rejection. Max, however, was imbued with an inner integrity and self-assurance that David had lacked. He'd immediately placed her needs and comfort first, giving her the assurance she needed that she was wanted and desired, and allowing her the option of rejecting him once she was armed with that knowledge. David wouldn't have risked his pride that way in a million years.
"Come on then." He grinned at her. "I can think of a few ways to warm you up once we get inside!"
"Even in this climate?" she teased, feeling more confident, both with him and in her own sensuality, than she could ever remember feeling before.
"Hmm...." his eyes twinkled down at her and he lowered his head for another kiss, "is that a challenge, Miss Bentley?"
"Possibly!" She laughed once she'd caught her breath again. "If you think you're up to it, that is!"
"A challenge it is!" Growling at her, he nipped her bottom lip lightly with his teeth and effortlessly picked her up in his arms and twirled her around before he put her down. Hastily, they made their way back along the trail towards the cabin; all thoughts of photographing the view on the way disappeared from Elise's preoccupied mind.
* * *
Together, they lay on the soft, worn rug in front of the small fire he'd lit in the cabin's stove. "Too much?" he asked, lifting his head from where his tongue had been roughly laving her aureole, his mouth circling her nipple as he enjoyed seeing how, as he sucked and stroked, it had quickly reddened, engorged and needy.
Mutely, she shook her head, her hands pressing down on him, silently urging him to continue and arching her back in an attempt to push her breast further towards his lips.
Concern battled with need as her breast brushed against his mouth, but he forced himself to pause and give her time.
"Elise," he spoke softly, brushing his fingers across her face, "Shh..." he added as she began to protest. "It's okay, I'm not stopping, but I need to know that this is what you want, that it's not too much too soon?"
Although he maintained physical touch between them, stroking her face, he moved the rest of his body fractionally away from her, ensuring he didn't crowd her and giving her space to make her decision.
Vehemently she nodded and tried to pull him back towards her. "I do. I'm okay, Max, I promise."
With sligh
t hesitancy – the only hesitancy she'd ever seen in him in the short time she'd known him – he traced her lips again with his finger. "You know how much I want you, Elise." He groaned as her hand stroked over the hard arousal straining against his clothing and he quickly caught her roaming hand in his. "But you've had a bad experience. You need to heal from that and learn to trust again in your own time. If this is too fast for you, you have to tell me now and we'll slow down, take things at whatever pace you need."
"Max..." She struggled to find the right words. "It's good. Really. I know you're nothing like David. I know you wouldn't hurt me. This... well, it feels right between us, even though I haven't known you very long. I'm learning to trust my instincts again."
Tenderly, he pressed his lips to hers in a soft, loving kiss. "It feels right to me too, sweetheart. I promise you that I'll look after you and you don't need to fear me, ever. I'd never raise my fists to any woman, and I'd rather hurt myself before I hurt you."
Tears glimmered in her eyes. "I know. I trust you, Max. I know there may be times when I'm still a bit wary and may need some reassurance, even though that sounds silly, but this is what I want, truly it is."
"It doesn't sound silly, sweetheart." He frowned down at her. "There isn't anything about your emotions, your fears, your needs that could be 'silly', and I won't have you thinking like that, okay?"
Relieved, she nodded her head at him. "Okay..." she paused, "So will you kiss me now?"
Laughing, he rolled them over so she lay on top of him. He sat up until she straddled him, her arms braced on his shoulders as her breasts naturally aligned themselves against his mouth.
Nuzzling his mouth against her bare skin, he gently raked his teeth against her engorged breasts, raising a low moan of pleasure from Elise as she arched her back into his caress and, slowly, he traced his fingers down the smooth contours of her back, gently massaging the muscles under her shoulder blades and down to her waist.
As she gasped and ran her hands through his thick hair, pulling him closer to her, his roaming hands pressed under the waist band of her jeans, feeling the smooth silk of her panties beneath the rough denim.
Questioningly, he raised his eyes to hers. With need filling her gaze, she nodded, pressing herself against him in an attempt to ease the growing ache.
Slowly, he moved his hands between them, quickly finding the zip of her jeans and lowering it, allowing his hands to stray under the denim and his fingers to trace the intimate cut of her panties, following the line as it delved between each thigh and teased lovingly at her hips.
"Please, Max... don't tease... not now..." she gasped.
Chuckling, he moved from under her, so that she was face down on the rug, her head propped up easily on her hands.
"What?" She strained her head around, trying to look over her shoulder at him but unable to see as his firm hands pressed down on her lower back, keeping her in position.
"Shh... Its okay, Elise. Just relax..." he murmured, kissing the back of her neck so she let her neck and head rest back down on the rug.
Softly, she felt her jeans being drawn slowly down her legs, leaving her naked to his gaze except for her panties. Her legs parted, a reflex reaction to his touch, and she was rewarded with the feather light feel of his fingers drifting over her most intimate parts.
"I promised you a proper massage, remember?" he teased her, just as his hands settled at the base of her spine and slowly, in sensual circles, began to work their way along her back, his fingers splaying across the curve of her waist.
"Mmm...." Her body relaxed into his hands, letting him work out the knots in her muscles that had developed over the last couple of days.
Every so often his hands strayed down her sides, dipping under her body to the outer curves of her breasts, and over her bottom towards the tops of her thighs where he gently stroked upwards from the crevice of her bottom back towards the base of her spine.
As he settled above her, Elise could feel his hard length pressed against her thighs and instinctively shifted her hips so that he settled naturally over her bottom, along the line of her buttocks. She groaned as the movement pressed her against him intimately, alternately followed by the press of her clitoris against the tangled weave of the rug, the warmth of the small fire further relaxing her.
He chuckled softly as he saw, and felt, what she was doing, and with one hand gently moved her thighs slightly further apart so he could sink between them with only her panties to separate them. One hand strayed under her chest so that he could gently pull on her nipples while he felt her moving her lower body more and more insistently against his.
He could feel the urgency and need build in her, from her engorged nipples to her quickening pulse and the jerky intensity of her hips as they ground against his thick penis and took pleasure from the pressure of the floor below.
"Please, Max... please... I can't last much longer... it's too much..." she gasped, craning her head around again to try to look at him over her shoulder.
"Shh... You don't have to..."
Feeling how close she was, he deftly moved one hand beneath her so that his skilled fingers could find that sensitive nub hidden in her panties, engorged and swollen with desire that the rasp of the rug couldn't quench.
Exploring, his fingers roamed through her wet folds, gathering her moisture and expertly spreading it over her clitoris and her outer lips, coating his fingers as he went.
Gently, tenderly, one long finger dipped into her tight channel, pushing his way in, letting her wetness ease his way.
"Oh..." she moaned with pleasure that was tinged with relief at the sensation of finally being filled, "More, Max... more." He slowly eased a second finger to join the first, feeling her clench around him with fiery heat.
Slowly his fingers moved back and forth within her, setting up a steady rhythm as he grazed her inner walls with his movements, eliciting whimpers of pleasure from her as his thumb simultaneously returned to her clitoris, circling it and teasing it, attuned to the needs of her body.
"Oh..." she cried out as the intensity of the pleasure became too much and she felt her inner muscles quiver and contract in an attempt to find release. "Max... I'm too close..." she pleaded as her hips took on a mind of their own and began to rock back and forth on his hand, taking the pleasure he offered, wanting him to thrust harder and faster inside her to send her over the edge into dark oblivion.
"I know, sweetheart, I know." He pressed a kiss to her neck as his fingers continued their torture. "Come for me..." and, ever so slightly, he increased the pressure of his fingers, splaying them fractionally wider to fill her tightening wetness.
With a groan, her hips bucked and slammed upwards, impaling herself even deeper onto his fingers, thrusting back again and again as she felt him slip and slide within her, her natural wetness running down her thighs. Her nipples grazed on the rug and frantically she moved more, needing and wanting the hard friction. And then, just as her body despaired of finding the satisfaction it craved, he moved his thumb so that it no longer teasingly circled her clitoris, but instead pushed back hard against the tight nub and rubbed the engorged, throbbing mass of nerve endings until her body spasmed and she felt the waves of release consume her. Her hips bucked one last time and her channel contracted, milking his fingers and drawing from her long, guttural groans of pleasure.
Chapter Four
It was hard to believe that over a week had gone by since they first made love. Elise gingerly eased herself down to perch on the smooth flat surface of what had rapidly become her favourite rock by the waterfalls. Even though Max spent hours massaging her aching muscles every night, the trip had been so much more physically demanding than she had imagined and her body was still sore each day.
Although, she grinned to herself, their evening and night time antics probably didn't help. Although Max coaxed the tight knots out of her shoulders, it was usually a prelude to more lovemaking, which involved different sorts of physical exertions. Alt
hough Max was a tender and gentle lover, he was also demanding, determined to wring every ounce of pleasure from her body as, each night, she inevitably ended up begging and screaming for release.
That first night, when she'd thought her body was exhausted, he'd carefully turned her over and, whilst she was enjoying the aftermath of the tremors engulfing her lower body, he'd slowly entered her, sheathing himself in her wet heat. Although, given his size, she'd naturally been tight, he'd moved gently, making sure she was ready for him before he quickened his pace. She'd protested that she couldn't come a second time; she knew her body and it just didn't work that way. Max, however, had just laughed softly at her and told her that there was no rush and they had all night, but he had no intention of coming until she found her pleasure once again.
"But that's not fair," she'd pleaded with him, knowing that the pleasure he'd already brought her had consumed her to the point of no return; her body wouldn't be able to replicate it again without first retreating into a deep sleep.
"What's not fair?" He'd nipped her neck with his teeth and looked down at her with a wicked grin just as, impossibly, she'd felt the trickle of more tell tale moisture and he'd naturally slipped even deeper inside her.
"Max, I can't..." she'd protested again, this time decidedly weakly, though even as she'd spoken, her knees had raised themselves upwards and her hips had shifted forward to welcome his thrusts.
"Really?" This time he'd brushed against her nipple with his teeth, enjoying watching the deep pink bud darken at his touch, amazed that she genuinely didn't seem to know the extent of the pleasure of which her body was capable. "Seems to me that your body thinks differently." He'd circled his hips, withdrawing from her slowly, only to thrust back deeper, watching as her back arched with pleasure, her head thrown backwards with her eyes shut, her fingers pressing into his back.
Elise's Story: A Bentley Sisters Novel Page 6