by D. A. Young
Chapter Sixteen
The steady rain falling against the window was calming. Georgina lay on her side, looking at it as she tried to catch her breath. She was naked and in Max’s bed, his chest pressed to her back with the covers tangled around their legs. The room smelled of sex and citrus-fig candles. He pressed a kiss to her damp cheek.
“Don’t go to sleep, baby. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” Max warned as his hands palmed her breasts from behind, slowly teasing the swollen buds as he kissed her neck and leaned over to watch the drowsy smile touch her lips.
“Yes, please,” she murmured, feeling relieved that Max hadn’t run after being exposed to typhoon Ingrid. She’d been so furious about his insistence that he accompany her, but he’d been adamant. The entire time she stood chatting with Detective Collins about Ingrid’s latest problem, she kept thinking, Oh God, he’s going to walk away. No, he’s going to RUN and never look back. Instead, Max had stayed and assisted her in getting Ingrid squared away. Georgina was surprised that for the remainder of their time together Ingrid had managed to behave herself until the end.
After saying goodbye, Georgina walked to the door; as she turned the door handle, Ingrid’s soft words reached her, “You’re just like me you know.”
She stiffened and turned around to face the woman that had done nothing but cause her angst her entire life. “Excuse me?”
Ingrid’s face was distorted with bitterness, jealousy, and anger. “The only difference between you and me is that you dress all fancy and live in a big fancy house. But you STILL chose a man over your family. Just remember that, Georgina. You are no better than me.”
“I’m not choosing Max over you, Ingrid. I’m choosing ME over you,” Georgina said sadly and quickly left.
Max took her home, and she took a long shower, attempting to wash the foul stench of Ingrid’s malice away. When she came out, she found he’d packed their bags and straightened up the house. They drove back to the airport, turned the car in and got on their flight back to Maryland. As Georgina watched the Las Vegas strip disappear from her window, she’d never felt more relieved in her life to be leaving it behind. Max pulled her close, allowing her to lean in and be supported by his strength. He kissed her cheek softly and ordered her to go to sleep.
She awoke when the plane landed, and at baggage claim, he grabbed a cart, loaded up their luggage, and pushed it with one arm. The other he kept wrapped around her while she slid her hand into his back pocket and squeezed his firm butt as they walked to his truck. The familiarity of their movements wasn’t lost on either of them. The gestures felt like they’d done them together forever.
They drove in the rain, each lost in their own thoughts, letting Chrisette Michelle’s singing fill the silence. It was only when they were about to drive by the farm, that Georgina spoke. “Stop here.”
Max glanced over at her, and she allowed him see the turmoil in her eyes. “Make me forget for a little while, okay?”
After that, it was a race to get to the house. They ran, laughing through the rain and were soaking wet in each other’s arms, exchanging kisses when Sherlock and Watson came to greet them on the porch, before wisely retreating to their doggy beds in the family room. Clothes came off, leaving a trail up the stairs and into Max’s bedroom. Georgina lit the candles she had brought back with her as Max’s hot lips and hands caressed her from behind. Together they fell back on the king sized bed, and Max rolled over her and started from the bottom, sucking and nibbling on her toes as she grabbed at her breasts and slid a hand between her thighs, eager to put on a show for him. Eyes dark with desire, Max watched her as he licked the backs of her knees and caressed her calves. Gently he nipped and licked the inside of her thighs. When he reached her soaking mound, Max put a leg over each shoulder and watched Georgina with pure sin in his eyes as he went to work, giving her two shattering orgasms with his mouth and fingers as she begged for more and mercy at the same time.
Georgina was rag doll limp when Max rolled her onto her stomach, but she eagerly raised up on her elbows and knees, slick with anticipation for what was coming next. Max surprised her by burying his face in her pussy as he slowly stroked with his tongue from clit to rosette, which he teased mercilessly as he dipped his fingers into her overflowing honey to stroke her g-spot. Georgina shook and wailed as she thrust back for more and more of his decadent loving. “Aaaggghhh, I can’t…oh my goodness!! Maaaaxxxx!!!”
Max smiled as he drove her to the brink and left her hanging, to rise up and quickly sheath himself in a condom before slowly filling her to the brink with his girth. He caressed Georgina’s ass and gave it a sharp smack, and she whined with pleasure-pain at the sting. “Close your legs, love.”
Readily she obeyed, and Max rolled his eyes with pleasure at the incredibly snug position she awarded him with. He flexed his hips once. Twice. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a fresh coat of her arousal drenching his cock. “Are you ready, G?”
“Gaaawwwd yeeess,” she panted, and Max proceeded to fuck her as if his life depended on hit. He tunneled in and out of her dripping pussy, hitting her sweet spot over and over again as he gripped her shoulder to keep her from falling face down under the force of his thrusts.
Georgina felt like she would come out of her skin as he fucked her oh so right; with every thrust, it felt like he was swelling even more when suddenly he yanked her back to press against him. Tilting her head back, his demanding lips found hers as he moved her up and down on his cock, knocking on her g-spot and his fingers finding her swollen clit.
She clenched her muscles tightly around him and moved to his smooth rhythm as her orgasm built inside of her with every powerful drill he gave her. Max whispered into her ear, “I could stay inside of you forever, baby. I don’t even think you know what you do to me when I see your beautiful smile or your frown when you’re giving me shit. But the best is when you come for me, and I can see you flying…like this.”
Max pinched her clit, and Georgina fractured apart, her orgasm consuming her with the force of a hurricane as Max brought them back down on the bed and drove deeper and harder into her; his hoarse shout of satisfaction echoed through the house as he came also.
“What are you thinking about?” Max asked quietly. Georgina was silent as she decided on how to answer. She had been thinking about her responses to him, how in such a short time, she craved his touch. Some of the girls at work talked about their sex lives, and sometimes she had been envious of the fun they seemed to have in bed, but when it came to anal anything, she had balked at the idea of anything being pleasurable. Max only had to touch, her and she was down for whatever. When she was little, the sounds she had heard coming from her mother’s bed had sounded just awful to her, like an animal was attacking her or something. Now here she was years later making similar noises in the throes of passion. Without her men, Ingrid had been weak and lost. What if she was the same without Max? It was going to be damn hard to quit him when the time came.
“I was thinking about how hungry I am,” she lied, and he mock-growled and kissed the back of her neck.
“For food?” he teased, rolling away from her and off of the bed. Max handed her a t-shirt, and she slipped on her socks and panties. He only wore his bottoms, and she found herself distracted by all that muscle in her face. They decided to make omelets. Max opened a bottle of white wine while Georgina brought the candles down, and they sat at the kitchen table in candlelight eating and listening to the rain come down around them.
“Are you going to tell Nate what happened?” Max asked as he took in her glowing skin, soft eyes and swollen lips with satisfaction. She looked like a woman that had been well loved.
Georgina sighed, “Yeah, I’ll tell them when they return from Paris. I don’t want to drop this shit in their laps before they go off on a romantic getaway. They worry enough about me as it is.”
“She’s the reason you stay in Las Vegas, isn’t it?” Max asked, and Georgina became still. His hand cov
ered hers when he saw her index finger and thumb touch. “Aren’t you tired of facing everything alone, Georgie? Let me in…I’ve got you, baby.”
The candlelight flickering across Max’s face and the compassion blazing in his dark eyes was Georgina’s undoing. Swallowing past the huge lump of shame in her throat, she spoke, “We have an agreement of sorts…If I stay in Las Vegas, she won’t come here and disrupt the lives of everyone I love.
Max stared at her in shock. “She’s blackmailing you?”
Georgina looked away and at the rain hitting the windows. “Ingrid came here once before. I was nine, and she caused a big scandal. She showed up at the school drunk and high as a freaking kite, demanding to see her baby. She was asked to leave, and she assaulted the principal and secretary before the cops came and dragged her to jail. While in jail, she was coming off of her high and offering promiscuous favors to the sheriff and his deputies. Aunt Val was so upset, and I withdrew back into my shell. By the time Uncle Nate put her in a rehabilitation center, everyone in town knew about Ingrid, and that I was the daughter of a whore and…kids can be cruel…you know?”
Max tried to stop the rage pumping through his body, but it was like a locomotive on full speed. Ingrid Carlton was lucky he hadn’t been privy to this information before meeting her. “Yeah, they can be little bastards. So then what happened?”
Georgina gave a harsh laugh, “As a teenager I had grand illusions about finding my mother and she wouldn’t be as bad as my siblings said. So that’s why I picked UNLV. I had such high hopes of accomplishing this goal. I was going to find her and make her well. I searched for a couple of years before she eventually found me.” With a shake of her head, Georgina turned away from the window, and Max saw the unshed tears in her eyes. “She warned me, Max. But I was too stupid to listen, too fucking bleeding heart to take that warning for what it was. I gave her money and my phone number, and she disappeared, only calling if she needed to be bailed out and then demanding money. Once I tried to say no, and she showed up at my job and sat outside of Victoria’s Secret until I came out to talk to her. Ingrid said it was fine if I didn’t want to give her money, she would just hitchhike across the country and ask her brother and his wife or her other kids. So I stayed in Las Vegas, and every now and then, she pops up and I get her situated and we’re all good until the next time.”
“Come here,” Max gently tugged on Georgina’s hand, and she went willingly into his strong arms, to curl up in his lap and inhale his special scent. They sat like that for a long time just listening to the softly falling rain before Georgina finally spoke again.
“I couldn’t do that to Eliza or Graham. Staying to protect them was a small price to pay after all they’d sacrificed for me,” she whispered softly into Max’s neck. “You know what I mean?”
Max looked down into her eyes. Instead of her usual guarded veil, there was an exposed vulnerability that made him realize that he too would do anything to protect the one he loved. “I know exactly what you mean, Georgie.”
***
The rain stopped before they finally stirred.
“This is really nice,” she said shyly and caressed his bearded jaw.
Max chuckled quietly, “Yeah it is. Normally it’s just me and the dogs. I’m glad you’re here with me, Georgie.”
She was a little embarrassed about opening up to him on the level she had, but she was glad he still wasn’t running. “I should go. It’s getting late, and tomorrow is my first day at the café.”
“Let’s get you showered first,” he said slyly and stood up with her in his arms and carried her upstairs for more than a shower.
Two hours later they reached her house. Nate and Val were standing on the front porch. They quickly hugged Georgina, and Nate shook Max’s hand while Val hugged him. He set her luggage down in the hallway. Georgina turned to him with a fixed smile.
“Thank you for traveling with me, Max. I really appreciate it,” she said brightly with a fixed smile. All three of them stared at her with raised eyebrows. Was she really going to act like they just came from the airport with her too bright eyes, flushed face, and disheveled hair?
Amused Max snatched her around the waist to drop a quick kiss on her lips, relishing the surprised look on her face. “You’re so nutty, baby. Good night.”
Nate walked him to his truck, and Max sensed the older man had something to get off of his chest.
“I don’t have to worry about you right, son?” Nate asked sternly.
“No, sir, you don’t,” Max said assuredly. “I would never do anything to hurt Georgie”.
“That’s good to know because she doesn’t ask for anything. EVER. She would rather die than show someone her pain. It’s her self-preservation mechanism. The ones who don’t ask for ANYTHING deserve EVERYTHING. You feel me?” Nate asked as he put a hand on Max’s shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Just give her some time. Those siblings guard their emotions heavily. Growing up, they were exposed to things no kids should ever have to see. It took Georgie a long time to open up to me and Val.”
Unfortunately, Max didn’t have a lot of time. He had less than four weeks.
Chapter Seventeen
Georgina’s first day at the Comfort Table ran fairly smoothly. Nate and Val had stayed home at her insistence to relax and finish packing before leaving tonight. She had three team members working the floor with her in the morning. After briefing them on today’s specials, she audited payroll hours and met with Raymond to discuss Easter treats that would accompany children’s meals for the week of the upcoming Holiday. Breakfast was really busy, and she became reacquainted with old classmates during the rush. There was Tessa Jackson, now a nurse, who had married David Wells, a contractor, and the parents of twin girls. In elementary school, Tessa used to sneak up behind David and give him wedgies. Georgina could only hope that she now showed her affection in other ways to her husband.
Chelsea Reyes, her best friend from third grade until the end of high school, and Georgina’s shrieks of joy could be heard down the block as they hugged each other. They had agreed to meet to up after tomorrow’s spring football game. Although it was forever since they’d last seen each other, Georgina was surprised by Chelsea’s appearance. She had cut her long, silky black hair into a shaggy layered cut that framed her face. The fresh-faced cheerleader was gone, and in her place was a Kat von D doppelganger with tattoos on her neck and full sleeves down both of her arms.
Then there was Davis Farlow. Georgina was bending by the register, doing a cash drop, when he stepped up to the counter. He gave his order in a deep voice, and she felt his eyes on her. When she stood up, she had met his gaze and smiled politely. His eyes had widened in recognition, and he seemed genuinely pleased to see her again. He’d been forced to step aside as the line behind him grew, but every now and then, she could feel his gaze on her. Even though he was very handsome, she was not interested. He had none of Max’s swag.
“Georgina?” she turned to see Davis standing behind her. Watching her. She smiled pleasantly at him. “I just wanted to say that it was great seeing you again, and perhaps, we could maybe hang out and catch up on old times? I realize you’re busy at the moment, but I would really love to get together and soon.” He left his card with her. Georgina was confused as to what old times they should be catching up on. Her spying on him in the library? Or drawing his name with hers on the back of her notebook? She took the card and slipped it into her skirt pocket.
Lunch time was even busier than breakfast when the next shift came on. The five-member shift would stay until they closed at 6 p.m. It seemed every person in town lined up for Raymond’s chicken parmesan and chocolate bourbon pie. Her aunt and uncle called to check on her and they were happy to hear that everything was going great. Georgina was excited to report the day’s business and catching up with old friends. The rest of the day flew by, and closing operations went smoothly. She had just finished writing tomorrow's specials on the menu boards when her phone
buzzed, and she grabbed it out of her apron pocket to read it.
G, I’m sure your first day was a great success. Will I see you tonight? M
Georgina realized that she had been subconsciously waiting for him to call or stop by all day.
M, I feel really good about today. I hope you had a good day as well. Not tonight. I have to drive Aunt Val and Uncle Nate to the airport and then be back here at 8 a.m. G
It was another ten minutes before he replied.
G, I understand. Sweet dreams. M
***
It had been a long day on the farm. Max had a meeting with his accountant, Donna, Clarissa Pembrooke, and Tavish to discuss business contracts, weather forecasts, consumer demands, financial aspects, and workloads to decide which crops to grow. They’d also started planting needed crops for feeding the cows in late summer and separating the young calves that needed to be taught how to milk in a smaller space.
After receiving her response to his text, Max decided to make the call.