Maximus nodded but kept quiet, letting Selena continue her story. He wasn’t sure if knowing any of this was necessary for his mission, but he couldn’t help but want to learn more about the woman.
“She told me to think long and hard about what I wanted to do with my life,” Selena continued. “I realized I didn’t want to be a nurse. I’ve always been interested in show business, but I’ve never been a good actress. Becoming a production assistant with an eye on eventually becoming a producer seemed like a good path, and it’s been good, if slow progress. I got a decent job right out of college. It wasn’t in the exact area I wanted, but I always figured I could work my way up.” She held up her glass. “Be careful what you wish for.”
Maximus chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll be able to handle Bill and Chris.”
“I hope so.” Selena’s expression darkened. “Especially since…” She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s got baggage and annoying crap at work. I’m sure you do, too.”
“You could say that.”
She forced a smile, and the obvious effort prickled Maximus. The woman looked better with a smile.
“What about you?” Selena asked. “I don’t know a lot about security, but I’m guessing you were in the Army or something and then decided to make more money going private? You have a very military air about you.”
Maximus considered his words carefully. Lying about his background was second nature, but when he stared into Selena’s hazel eyes, he wanted to let the entire truth flow out. He decided on the emotional rather than literal truth. That would make it easier and only half a lie.
“I didn’t know my parents.” Maximus set his fork down. “I grew up in a kind of military-oriented group home where they wanted to make sure we had good skills.” He let out a bitter chuckle. “They were assholes, but we got some useful skills out of it, and they aren’t a part of my life anymore. Now I’m just with the men I grew up with. We might not be brothers in blood, but we’re brothers in every way that counts. We’re all physical sorts of guys, so going into this kind of work seemed natural.”
“That’s kind of messed up,” Selena murmured. “My dad might have split when I was young, but at least I had my mom.”
“I try not to worry about the past,” lied Maximus. “It is what it is. The only thing you can change is the future.”
Selena’s gaze dipped, uncertainty playing across her face. Maximus hadn’t picked up on any sort of falseness from her during any of their encounters. His keen nose might not be able to pick up lies, but the idea that Selena was some sort of agent of the Phoenix Corps seemed ridiculous.
Maximus slowed his breathing. She’d not prepared much for a date. She wore the same rumpled shirt she had on since morning, and it was obvious she’d not put much effort into makeup. Only she’d changed out of her jeans and was now wearing a flowing black skirt. He couldn’t help but think about the easy access that might allow. Everything about the woman called out to him, her personality, the slight coy crinkle of her mouth when she smiled.
He bit down a growl. If she invited him back to her hotel room, he couldn’t bring himself to say no. His Vestal was still out there, waiting for him, but he would never know. It wouldn’t be wrong to bed a woman who called to him so much.
“It might just be because I’ve got some wine in me,” Selena said, shifting Maximus’s attention away from his more amorous thoughts and his tightening pants. “But the more I think about this permit thing and the forest, the stranger it is.”
Maximus sat up and swallowed. That was right. He wasn’t there to screw the redhead. He was there to glean any useful intelligence that might link back to the Corps.
“You don’t think it’s just some bureaucracy crap?” he asked.
“Nope.” Selena snorted. “I might not be some big-shot producer, but I have been a production assistant for three years now, and I’ve done a lot of this kind of permit work. I know what it’s like to get jerked around by petty people, and this doesn’t feel like that. I can’t put my finger on it. But it feels like something different.”
“Like what?”
“Like someone’s purposefully trying to hide something.” Selena narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not a hot mobster, are you?”
“Huh?” Maximus shook his head lightly confused.
“I mean you are hot.” Selena shrugged. “It’s not like you don’t know that already being a statue come to life, but you’re not a mobster who’s been sent to keep an eye on me. That’s what I’m asking.”
Maximus didn’t know whether to be impressed at her instincts or amused.
“I’m not, but if I were, would I tell you that?” he asked.
“No, but I think I’d be able to tell.” Selena gave him a coy smile, her cheeks approaching the shade of her hair. “Just like my instincts tell me there is a lot more to you than security.”
Maximus didn’t avert his eyes despite how the woman’s gaze burrowed into him, making his heart pound faster and his loins stir. This was getting bad.
“My current client is probably not the only rich asshole looking at the land,” said Maximus. “Maybe there are some bribes flowing around to keep too many people from seeing how nice it is while someone gets their permits in place to begin building their next island home.”
Selena rubbed her chin, nodding as if Maximus had just revealed the secret behind every unsolved mystery on the planet. “It always comes down to some rich asshole, doesn’t it? Bill. Chris. Whoever is messing with that land.”
She trailed off as a waiter arrived. They waved him off quickly to continue their conversation.
Selena leaned over the table and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I think I’m going to go check it out.”
“You mentioned that before.”
“Tomorrow,” Selena said. “Part of this is to gather evidence that it’s not dangerous, and another is to see if my instincts are right. There’s a beautiful waterfall at the actual site we were supposed to be filming, which is why I suggested the place when I was doing location scouting on the net.” Suspicion colored her face. “I’m not an idiot. I did background work, and I saw nothing about Army stuff remotely near the site, but there were some blank spots on the satellite photos that just said, ‘Data being updated.’ I ignored all of them because they weren’t close to the waterfall. I didn’t figure it’d be important.”
“What if they aren’t lying about the Army facility?” Maximus asked.
“The only reason I even know about the waterfall is because of pictures taken by someone who was already in the forest at the place at ground level.” She gave a firm nod. “Something’s not right about all of this, and when I tried to check on the net after leaving the office after my last visit, I didn’t find anything suggesting that part of the forest is off-limits. It’s off the beaten path, though, so most people don’t go.”
Maximus nodded slowly, the wheels turning in his mind. The Corps and their allies had plenty of experience manipulating governments and institutions. Reduced resources might have led them to become sloppier.
“Where exactly is this place?” Maximus asked.
Selena shook her finger and grinned. “Not so fast, Hot Mobster.”
“I’m not a mobster.”
“I noticed you didn’t say you weren’t hot.”
Maximus shrugged.
“Assuming you’re not a mobster, if I tell you where it is,” Selena continued, “maybe you run over there and confirm it’s good for your client, and then you head back to the office and get us locked out of filming.” She gave him a triumphant smile. “Okay, Hot Mobster, you can wait a few days until we’re done with the shoot to help out your asshole client. But, if you want, you can come along with me tomorrow. It might help to have a professional security contractor slash mobster with me in case there’s a hidden drug lab or something out there when I check out the waterfall. Maybe we’ll peek at some of those blank areas first to be sure.”
“I w
ouldn’t mind a follow-up date to satisfy our mutual curiosity and professional interests,” Maximus said.
“Sounds good.” Selena nodded at her mostly finished fish. “I’m pretty full, and I don’t think I should drink anymore. If you’re done with your steak, maybe we could…” Her lips parted, and she took a shuddering breath with a heavy-lidded stare. She licked her lips. “Maybe we could go back to my hotel for some coffee and chatting. Or Netflix and chilling. Whatever.”
Maximus needed to say no. He should have said no. He’d gotten what he needed for the mission and ensured Selena wouldn’t wander anywhere dangerous by herself. There was no reason to go back to her room. No reason except his desire to push her down and kiss her.
Screw it. He’d never felt this way about a woman before, and he’d lost his ability to scent Vestals. In this way, he was more like a human than a hybrid, but being with a woman was about more than having children.
“I’d like that,” Maximus said. “I’ll get the check the next time the waiter comes.”
Chapter Ten
By the time Selena was inside the room with Max some of the fuzziness from her drink had worn off allowing the occasional rational thought through her mind. Reason should have reasserted itself, but that didn’t convince her inviting Max back to her room was a mistake. If anything, she started adding to the list of reasons why it was a great idea.
Max closed the door behind him wearing a lazy smile that called to her. She wanted him. It was pointless to deny that, and it wasn’t illogical. Any sane woman would want the mountain of muscle standing in front of her door. He’d even had to duck to not knock his head.
But not only was he gorgeous to look at. He was intelligent and a good listener. He was almost too good to be true.
Selena licked her lips. She had never felt so viscerally drawn to a man. The idea of sleeping with a guy after knowing him for one day was completely foreign to her, but every minute she spent around the man it became harder to resist him.
She kept telling herself it was insurance. She’d clumsily admitted she was suspicious of him, but if they did something together, he’d be far less likely to kill her if he were a mobster. Killing his new squeeze would make him sad. That made sense. Or at least it did when she still had the alcohol clouding her mind.
“I-I’ll get the coffee going,” Selena said with a nervous smile. All her planning and low-level flirting seemed like ancient history now that Max was in her room.
She tried to think through their dinner discussion. Going out to the woods with him alone when she barely knew him was ridiculous. When she thought it through, she kept coming to that conclusion, but she couldn’t bring herself to fully distrust the man. Every time she tried, that went away when she looked at him, but it didn’t feel only like lust.
Selena shook her head. It was like they’d known each other months, or years, not hours. She’d never, ever felt this way about someone. If he asked her to cosign a mortgage right then and there, she would have, let alone sleep with him.
“Something wrong?” Max asked with a concerned look.
Selena let out a nervous laugh and sat down on the edge of the bed. She set her hands in her lap. “I want you to know something.”
“What?”
“I’m not normally this forward.”
Max grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Good. Good.” Selena bobbed her head, her mind snatching at other excuses. “And it sounds like we’re both only in Hawaii for not a lot of time, and we don’t…” She laughed. “I don’t even know where you live normally.”
“Maine, thereabouts,” Max said. “Or it’d be more accurate to say I’m moving there soon.”
“That’s a long way from California.” Selena rubbed her hands together. “Maine?”
Max blinked, discomfort filtering onto his face, like he’d said something he shouldn’t. “Yes, Maine. I don’t normally tell people that kind of thing unless I know them a lot better.”
“I’m trustworthy.” Selena managed a slight grin. “It seems like we’re both doing things we don’t normally do.”
“We are.” Max took a step forward, almost stalking forward, his nostrils flaring. “I can’t hold it back.”
“Hold what back?”
“You’re beautiful.”
Selena’s cheeks burned. “Uh, thanks.”
Max stopped. “There’s something else you should know.”
“W-what?” Selena’s heart thundered in her chest. Here came the Hot Mobster admission.
“My name. It’s actually Maximus, not Max. Nobody calls me Max normally.”
That wasn’t so bad. Not only that, it was like Selena had always known that. He didn’t feel like a Max. Now it seemed wrong to even call him Max, but he had to agree given how he’d introduced themselves when they first met.
Selena chuckled. “You shouldn’t go by Max then. Maximus sounds a lot more impressive. Like some old-timey general.” Her eyes widened. “Like in that movie, you know, ‘Are you not entertained?’”
“Oh, yeah, that movie. I’ve seen it, but I’m not a gladiator.”
Maximus seemed uncertain when he said it. Selena could easily imagine him a gladiator, or at least in a gladiator outfit, preferably one that showed off all those delicious muscles. She liked her sneak peek, but she wanted to see the full movie.
She should thank him for his time and send him away, but she didn’t want to do that. She wanted to do the complete opposite.
Selena stepped forward, almost a saunter, forcing every ounce of effort into a come-hither smile. “You might not be a gladiator, but I bet you’re a champion.” She cringed. “Sorry. That sounded so much better in my head.”
Maximus smiled at her, bright and easy. “I’ll take the compliment for what it is.”
Selena’s heart pounded harder as she continued toward Maximus. She kept expecting him to step out of the way. She didn’t lack experience with men, but she couldn’t claim to have ever been with someone like Maximus.
Why was she resisting? Her entire body thrummed with desire. It was like she was meant to be with Maximus her entire life, which felt weird. She’d always been a bit of a loner, especially after the loss of her mother, but she’d never felt like there was some big lack of a man in her life. Had he hypnotized her somehow? This went well beyond not having had sex for a while.
A low, deep sound escaped his chest. A growl. Maximus was growling at her. She couldn’t remember a man ever growling at her before. It was a turn-on.
Selena stopped in front of Maximus and traced her fingers along his arms, licking her lips. “I’m not the only one feeling this?”
“No,” said Maximus. “Definitely not the only one.”
“I usually don’t do this kind of thing,” Selena whispered. “I don’t think I’ve ever moved this fast with anyone.”
“Can’t say I’m any different.”
The statement gave her pause. She wasn’t sure if he was lying or if it was the truth. She pushed the debate out of her head. It was like he’d said earlier. The past didn’t matter for the moment, only the future in the form of the hunk standing in front of her.
Maximus lifted his hand, his fingers tracing across her cheek. She smiled at the gentle touch, something that fit the hands despite how large and callous they were.
His restraint sent a zip to her center. His nostrils flared, and she licked her lips. This man could have torn her clothes off and thrown her on the bed right then and there to take her, and she wouldn’t have minded. Instead, he stared at her, his pupils dilated, the occasional low growl escaping, his desire obvious. For a moment, she almost thought she saw a hint of light in his eyes. Must have been a reflection.
Selena’s breath caught at the latest growl. It was so primal, and her quivering insides betrayed any faint idea she didn’t like what was happening. The earlier restraint seemed pointless. She wanted more. She needed more.
Their mouths crashed together. Maximus’s t
ongue invaded, wrestling and twining with her own. Heat spread through her entire body. He cupped her face with his massive hands, but despite him sucking her face off and the passion between the two of them, his touch remained gentle, a caress in the throes of passion.
Before Selena knew what was going on, she was backing up toward the bed. Maximus continued to plunder her mouth, and she was eager to give him whatever he wanted because she knew she wanted the same thing.
The heat became a fire. Her nipples hardened, and her center pulsed with need. She’d never been this attracted to a man in her entire life. She wanted to call her boss up, quit her job, and spend the next month moaning underneath Maximus.
It was insane, but she’d wanted him this badly, on some level, since she’d first run into him. That wasn’t odd in of itself, given his ridiculous muscled body and size, but this went well beyond mild lust to aching desire.
Selena’s breath caught as Maximus scooped her up and then set her down gently on top of the bed. He stared down at her, his breathing ragged. She licked her lips, her gaze fixed on the huge bulge in his pants. She throbbed in anticipation.
Maximus parted her thighs with a knee before leaning over to attack her mouth again. She half-closed her eyes, moaning softly, ready to hike up her skirt and let him have her way.
He tortured her instead, pulling away from her mouth before planting soft kisses on her cheek and down her neck before heading down her chest to nuzzles between her breasts. He needed to rip off her top and bra and get to the good part already. She almost said as much before he shot back up to her head, nibbling her ear.
Another shuddering moan escaped Selena’s mouth. The rest of the world vanished. She didn’t care about Chris, Bill, or stupid bureaucrats. Beautiful tropical island? Unimportant. They could have been together in the middle of the desert, and she wouldn’t have cared. In that moment, they were ready to become one.
Maximus: #1 (Luna Lodge: Alpha Squad) Page 8