by S. Poirier
She brings her hands up and lightly touches my chest. “It was only supposed to be a one night thing,” she whispers. Her fingers curl into my pecs as they harden under her hands.
I press my lips to the sensitive skin behind her ear. “That was a lie then and you know it. You’ve always known it.” I make a trail of kisses down her neck as a moan sounds in the back of her throat. I can smell a trace of that bastard on her neck, so I lick her to remove his scent and replace it with mine.
Slipping my finger under the neck of her dress I pull the shoulder down and kiss the exposed flesh. Then I do the same to the other side. Max drops her hands and allows the dress to fall away from her and pool down around her feet.
“Commando?” I ask remembering when she asked me the same question.
“I didn’t want panty lines,” she replies breathlessly.
“I’m really glad I didn’t know this back at the bar, or that motherfucker would have been dead.” The idea of his hand on her thigh and how close he was to what I’m about to make mine, almost makes me want to go back and break his fingers.
I take a step back. I needed to see her, all of her.
The light casting from the dim lamp on the nightstand is all I need to see the beauty that is only Max Brady. She’s all soft milky skin, freckles, curves, perfectly pink nipples, and that little patch of red hair between her legs. But something is different. She looks shy, almost unsure of herself. As if she can read my mind she brings her arms up to cross over her chest.
“No. No, no don’t do that,” I croak. She’s still hesitant. “You weren’t this shy last time.”
14
Max
“You’re right, but this time it feels different. Something’s different,” I say with my arms still wrapped around me. I feel ridiculous. I’ve never been modest. But right now with him I feel different. I want him to like what he sees. I want to please him. I’ve never had the desire to please anyone but myself. This is all very new to me, and it makes me feel venerable. I’ve been just as selfish as every man I had ever been in a one night stand with. Hell, I was even selfish that one night we were together. I was impatient and demanding.
I realize now that my behavior has always been a defense mechanism, a way to keep from getting emotionally attached.
I know this time is going to be different. The moment he touches me everything will be different. We’ll sleep in that bed together, and wake up tomorrow morning together. I’ve never done that before, yet I’m surprisingly okay, even excited about taking this plunge with Catch.
“Babe, you don’t need to hide from me,” Catch says as he reaches out and places his hands on my arms. He doesn’t make an attempt to move them, just rubs small circles over them with his thumbs.
I look up to gaze into his confident reassuring eyes. “You’re right. You’ve never given me any reason to doubt myself. It’s ridiculous that I would even consider doing that now,” I say as I drop my arms and reach for his shirt. He lifts his arms and dips his head as I pull it off. Running my hands down his chest I love the feel of his muscles contracting under my fingers, reacting to my touch. When I cup the bulge pressing against his pants he groans, but stops me.
“Catch, I…”
I had no idea what I was about to say when he cuts me off by pressing his lips to mine. It’s soft and sweet, but I want more. I bring my arms up to encircle his neck. Tangling my fingers through the back of his hair I pull him closer. I need him closer.
Catch digs his fingers into my hips and thrusts his arousal into my stomach. We’re bare skin to bare skin, chest to chest. He’s feverish and I can feel his heart pounding just as rapidly as mine. I part my lips and moan his name as his warm tongue slides over mine. He yanks his head back, surprising me by the sudden separation, and stares into my eyes. There’s so much going on behind those grey eyes that I can’t even imagine trying to put it into words.
His jaw tightens as he grinds his molars. “When we’re alone, just you and me, I’m not Catch. I’m Sage. When you moan my name, it’s Sage. When you whimper my name, it’s Sage. When you whisper and when you scream my name, it’s Sage,” he growls before claiming my mouth again.
I melt. My entire body just gives up upon hearing those words. My insides, nerves, muscles, bones, and even my heart all melt. His words destroy me, and I come completely undone. He’s holding me up as we fall back onto the bed.
I’m straddling his waist and his hands are everywhere, my face, neck, back, ribs, leaving trails of fire in their wake. And when he finally touches my breast the pleasure that’s building rapidly spreads down my torso straight to my throbbing core, and I rock my hips, rubbing myself against the rough fabric of his jeans. I’m so consumed I feel like I might explode. I want this man so badly.
His hands move to my ass and then there’s this stinging pain. A little shocked I realized that he just spanked me.
“Sage,” I gasp, and I don’t know if I say his name because I’m shocked or because I liked it.
“Say it again,” he demands as he slaps the other cheek, and then gently kneads the stinging pain. My arousal climbs higher.
“Oh, God…Sage,” I’m so breathless I’m amazed that I can even speak. But I know that I will never get tired of saying his name. Even if it’s the last breath I have to give I’ll say his name.
He flips me over and is staring down at me. I feel his wonderfully, rough fingers making their way down my torso. And when he slips his fingers between my wet folds and shows his appreciation of how wet I am for him by sucking in an audible gasp all I can do is arch my back and moan. He slides two fingers inside my wet channel. When he pulls them out and his hand away from my body I open my eyes to see those two fingers in his mouth.
I give him a crooked grin. “First my sweat,” I whisper.
Just when I thought him tasting my sweat was hot he proves me wrong. Oh, so very wrong.
He arches a brow. “You saw that, huh?” I nod. “Well, I’m about to show you which one I like more.”
I don’t hesitate to spread my legs for him. Starting at my nipples he kisses, licks, and nips at them until they’re hard and swollen. Then he kisses and licks his way down my body covering almost every inch on my flesh, spending extra time on the places that cause me to whimper.
He kisses his way up and down my thighs, dragging his rough chin stubble against my tender skin. And by the time he reaches the neediest spot on my body I’m trembling with so much anticipation I almost can’t stand it.
A blast of cool air hits my mound. “Oh…oh…”
“Max, open your eyes. I need you to look at me,” he says, his voice gruff. My eyes open and I look down the landscape of my body to see his swollen lips hovering over me, his hands on my hips holding me still. “Just so we’re clear. This,” his tongue flicks out over my mound, warm and soft “is mine. Only mine.” His voice is firm, and his eyes never leave mine. “Say it, Max. I need to hear you say it.”
I’m panting, trembling, and my raw emotions are clawing at my chest trying desperately to find a way out. He’s looking at me with hooded eyes, waiting patiently for me to speak the words he wants to hear.
“Yes, it’s yours. Only yours. I’m yours, Sage, all of me. I belong to you.” I’m completely breathless, and unbelievably vulnerable.
He’s licking, nipping, sucking, and humming against my clit. Two fingers are slipping in and out. I’m gripping the covers, squirming and fighting against the scream trying to rip its way out of my throat. Because I know if I start screaming I will wake everyone in this house.
The tight pressure is almost unbearable, yet it feels so good I don’t want to let go. Then Sage crooks his fingers and hits the magic spot. Finally I can’t hold it back any longer. I plant my feet on his shoulders and try to push away but he holds firm, and other guests be damned, my orgasmic scream sounds through the room bouncing off the walls.
My muscles are taut, my toes curl, and my hips come off the bed as I moan his name over and over
again. My head is spinning and before I know it he has shed his pants is standing in front of me in all his beautiful, naked glory.
I rise up on my elbows. Now it’s my turn to stare. Broad shoulders, cut muscles, six pack, that V, and by far the most beautiful cock I’ve ever seen.
“Like what you see?” He asks sounding a little arrogant.
“Like, would be an understatement.” He rolls the condom on. “Sage, how the hell did I get so lucky?”
Without a word he lowers himself over me and presses his erection against my wet sex. Immediately I’m ready for more as he slowly slides himself into me. I’m full, completely. In more ways than one. This time there isn’t any hesitation and he sets a quick rhythm. We’re sweating, moaning, and moving together. Working our way to the peak of what’s going to be my second mind blowing orgasm.
We never stop moving as he rolls us over so I’m on top. His fingers are biting into my hips as he sets the rhythm, raising his hips to meet me thrust for thrust. I feel my pussy clenching around him, begging him for more.
“Come with me, Max,” he groans out as he buries himself deeper. His abs tighten as his pace quickens and we’re both panting, mumbling each other names, and moaning our way through our simultaneous orgasm.
****
Catch
I wake to the feel of Max’s fingertips lightly tracing the tattoo over my left ribs. I take a moment before letting her know that I’m awake to just feel the way she fits against me. Her head is on my shoulder, bare breast pressed against my side, and a leg resting over mine. My hand is resting on the curve of her hip. She’s warm, soft, and her body curves against mine like she was made for me, a perfect design to fill the empty spaces.
After last night we collapsed into a heap of satisfied exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep. She draped her beautiful body over mine and almost immediately fell into her soft snores that I’ve come to enjoy falling asleep to.
My muscles contract against her touch as a moan passes through my lips, giving away that I’m now awake. Her fingers fan lightly over the angle’s wing that starts at the top of my ribs and goes all the way down my torso to the top of my hip bone.
“What’s the angel wing for?” she whispers against my ear.
When I got the tattoo it was only for me, for my comfort. I’ve never shared the meaning behind it with anyone, and only a few people have ever seen it. But with Max things are different, she’s different. She makes me feel comfortable, safe. But because she is just as guarded as I am, I want to see if she’ll tell me about hers first.
“What’s the flock of birds for?” I ask as I bring my other hand over and drag the tips of my fingers across her back from one shoulder blade to the other. She shivers under the gentle touch and I feel the gooseflesh rise on her skin. She turns her body enough to rest her chin on my chest.
“I got them the day I turned eighteen. The day I was freed from the system, and from my past,” she replies in a whisper. “Being under their thumb left me to their will. They said ‘jump’ and I had no other option than to say, ‘how high’. Kids in the system get passed around a lot. I was nothing more than a burden that was living off tax payers’ dollars. It was rare that they ever treated me like a human being. I was a job to them.” She releases a shaky exhale. The memory wasn’t a happy one and in this moment with me she’s vulnerable, so I tighten my arm around her anchoring her to me.
She gazes up into my eyes and says, “Your turn.”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “I got it after my dad, Joseph, died,” I say as I take another deep shuddering breath. Losing him had been the worst thing I have ever had to go through. “He took his horse out for a ride. Her name was Sam. She was this amazingly gentle quarter horse that he would use to teach local children riding lessons with.
“He was out past the pasture and he was thrown from her. We don’t know exactly how it happened, but when Sam returned home without him, mom knew something bad had happened.” I can’t look at Max while I tell her the story of how my dad died. I don’t want to see the sympathy in her eyes, it might break the stronghold I have on my emotions. The sudden loss of that man wasn’t something I’ve ever fully come to terms with. Time helped with the pain, but the dull ache of constantly missing him was always there.
“Mom took Dakota out and found him in the field. He was still breathing, but unresponsive. When the first responders got to him it was already too late. His neck was broken in three places. Mom had him taken off of life support four days later. Of course I wasn’t home when it happened. She kept him on life support until I got there. We were close. He was a great man that loved his family, and life.”
Max’s finger never stilled while I told her the sad story of losing my father. The man I felt I had let down, because of what I had become, the man that was my best friend. She continued to trace every line of that wing until she reached the tip of the very last feather. That is when she finally spoke.
“I’m sorry, Sage.” Those simple words were more than I could have asked from her, and they left me speechless. I’ve had many people say those same words to me, but none of them held the same depth and truth as when Max said it. They said it because it’s what you’re supposed to say. But somehow it feels like she truly means it. She pulled those two words from somewhere deep down inside of her soul because she truly does care.
As many times in the past that I’ve responded with ‘thank you’ saying it now just doesn’t seem like enough, so instead of saying anything I place a lingering kiss on the top of her head hoping that she can feel my appreciation through my actions.
Max takes my lack of voice in stride and feathers her fingers over my abs to trace the tattoo along my other ribcage. “And what about this? I know it’s Hebrew, but what does it mean?”
I look down to watch her pretty little finger tracing the black lines that lie over my heart. “It means ‘forgiveness’. I got it after my first kill, the first life I took. He was a notorious drug cartel that helped smuggle black tar heroin into the states. Even though he was a very bad person taking his life didn’t leave me feeling the least bit accomplished. Instead I was left with a horrible feeling of regret and disgust. In fact I even threw up after. I was always taught that harming other people whether it be physically or mentally was bad. And it is bad. Taking someone else’s life is a bad thing to do. I’ve never had the right to play God.
“Although I did the greater good a favor I couldn’t help but think of the people who loved that man. They didn’t know me, and never would, but I always hoped that maybe they could forgive me for taking him from them. I also needed to forgive myself.”
Max tilted her head back to look at me. “Did you ever forgive yourself?”
I smiled. “No, but I’m still trying.” And for the first time I feel like it could happen. She wraps her naked body around me in a tight hug, and I feel a sudden twitch in my dick. I know if I don’t end this soon we’ll be spending the entire day in this bed.
“What happened with your parents, Max?” I ask. The only thing she ever told me about being in foster care was that she was almost raped and then taught to fight.
I feel her body tense slightly, so I tuck her closer to my side, and place a kiss on her forehead. She takes a deep breath and upon her exhale she relaxes against me again.
“I was born addicted to drugs. My parents were addicts. After my birth they straightened out for a few weeks, but then decided that being parents just wasn’t what they wanted. I wasn’t what they wanted.” I can hear the pain in her voice as she goes on to tell me about never being adopted. And the fear that everyone had that she may have some lingering effects from the drugs, and the story about one set of foster parents treating her like she was possessed. That particular one paired with the bullying stories had my jaw working. She then shares with me her journey to find the people who are on her birth certificate only to find out that they had died of a drug overdose.
Tightness grows throughout the inside of
my chest at the thought of what she had to go through growing up. I want to track down anyone who ever made her cry and beat them until they are bloody and apologizing while they spit out their teeth. She’s never been truly loved by anyone, expect for maybe June, and she doesn’t count when it comes to being loved by parents.
“What about your foster parents? The ones who gave you the gun? They obviously cared about you enough to teach you how to protect yourself,” I say.
“Meg and Jim. I love them very much. We keep in touch, but they have biological children and have recently become new grandparents. They invite me to all of their family affairs, but I never feel comfortable enough to attend.” I can feel her shoulders shrug against me. “I guess I just feel like I would be intruding. Kind of like the whole third wheel thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with them, it has always been me.” There’s a hint of sadness in her voice that bothers me. I want to make it go away, but I don’t know what to say.
So instead of saying anything to what she has just told me I do the same thing she did to me. I wrap my naked body around her in the same manner she did with me and I squeeze, which in return makes her start laughing.
I watch as the frown lines in her forehead smooth out and the light return to her eyes. I kiss her soft lips before I bury my face in her neck. Taking a deep breath I can smell the lingering lavender mixed with a smell that’s all me. When a sudden sated feeling washes over me I growl into her neck while nibbling and licking at her sensitive skin.
Max moans and tangles her fingers in my hair as I start licking, kissing, and biting my way down her beautiful body. It’s not enough for just her neck to smell like me. I want all of her to reek of my scent.