by Abby Gordon
Al had known the truth. Mark hadn’t. When the group had split up, Al had been paired with Mark, the second junior member of the team, and Sam with George. She realized that ten years ago she hadn’t asked what had happened to the others. She didn’t even know who had found her and Max after the explosion. Or what condition he’d been in.
The explosion. She squeezed her eyes tightly. She didn’t like thinking about it. She had locked it away in her brain so deep that the force of it returning nearly had her crumpling to her knees.
The explosion. Max covering her body with his own. Telling her not to die. To live. She had to live.
Yet moments before he’d said such cruel words. Words that had ripped her heart out. Which was the true side of Max? Or were they two halves of the whole?
He’d said he’d been scared when he first woke up and the memories of what they’d done had hit him. Why had he been scared?
Ginny felt her heart skip a beat. Had he felt the same emotions she had during the night? Had the emotions overwhelmed him?
She focused now on that night, pulling in every memory her mind had stored.
Ginny surged up and got off several rounds before Max pulled her down.
“Bad idea,” he reminded her, covering her as bullets splintered the wood below the window.
They heard the hard pop, followed by a whistling before a large cylindrical object flew through the destroyed window and landed on the opposite side of the barn.
“That’s a worse one,” she breathed.
Max’s strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her underneath him.
But the explosion didn’t come from the concussion grenade inside the barn. It came from the other side of the barn wall, just inches from their heads. The blast lifted them off the floor.
Disoriented, Ginny coughed, unable to open her eyes from the dust. But Max’s arm never left her. Moaning, she put her hand to her head. She could feel the sticky wetness against her palm and more dripping along her scalp to her temple. Between that and the pounding inside her head, she guessed she had a concussion. And when she tried to move, she felt a stabbing pain in her shoulder near her neck.
She felt more blood cover her neck and seep into her shirt. She moaned as her body trembled from shock. Strong hands rolled her over.
“No! Ginny, stay with me!” Max yelled over the ringing in her ears. He was pressing his shirt against her neck. “You hear me? You have to live! Don’t die on me! Ginny!”
And then the second explosion brought the barn down on their heads.
Gasping, Ginny landed in the present. Stay with him. But she hadn’t. At the first hint of trouble, she had fled like a coward. And hurt him. She had to remind herself that she had also been tricked. With the lie extending to…with a moan, she let her head drop, her chin on her chest.
It nagged at her brain that someone had so cruelly kept them apart. Why keep her and Max apart? And now that they were together again, what would be the reaction of those who had been part of the deception?
Ginny had been taught at an early age to face what she feared most. For ten years, the thing she had feared most had been dealing with Charlie’s father. And yet she had avoided doing it. That had been made simpler by having an entire government agency keeping them apart, she thought bitterly.
Now, with her son taken, she couldn’t avoid it any longer. Taking a deep breath, she made herself look straight at the first thing in her mind. In her heart.
She wanted Max. She wanted one night in his arms. One night to have him. All of him. In his arms, she was safe. In his arms, the rest of the world disappeared. In his arms, for one night, there would be no pain. Only pleasure. Only fire that seared her body inside and out. No matter what they had to go through. No matter what they had to do when the night was over. No matter what happened when the dawn came. She wanted one night with Max.
But would he want her? Would he want Charlie?
The idea of his rejecting them broke her last hold on strength and she crumpled to the floor. The water beat down on her mercilessly.
“Ginny, you have more strength than that,” murmured a low husky voice.
Opening her eyes, she turned her head and saw Max standing inside the large stall. His clothes on the floor near hers, his broad shoulders were nearly the width of the door. Her gaze swept his nude body as he closed the door behind him.
“Not anymore,” she whispered.
Could he see how much she wanted him? Could he tell how desperate she was for his touch? Would he believe that no one had touched her since that one night? Would he want her?
Lifting her chin, she watched him move closer. He gripped her shoulders and pulled her upright.
“Yes, you do.”
Those eyes reached into her soul and she felt as lost as she had ten years earlier.
“Max,” she breathed. “I can’t think anymore. I can’t feel…” She inhaled with a gulp. “My Charlie…Polaris…” Her eyes closed and she shuddered.
“Ginny, don’t. We don’t have time for shock or…”
“Or what?” His fingers flexed on her upper arms. Her eyes flew open and she looked at him, realizing what he intended. Ginny felt her nipples harden as if he already had them under his hands. Her pussy clenched as if his cock was inside. Her entire body burned as if he had already taken her. “Max?”
His fingers touched her shoulder and brushed over her breast. Ginny’s breath came in a gasp as he trailed them over her stomach and down to her pussy.
“Yes,” she managed. “Max, I haven’t…”
“Sh,” he murmured.
His palm cupped her and she felt a finger slid inside. His eyes held hers but she kept her look steady.
“No other man has touched you?” he whispered, one hand sliding around her neck to brace the back of her head. “Right?”
“No one.” Feminine instinct told her that Max was a man who would appreciate the idea of being the only man to touch her. It would most definitely appeal to him. And she could see the demand blazing in his eyes. Only the truth. No dissembling. No misleading. She’d wanted this for too damn long. Ached for it. “Except for breastfeeding Charlie.”
Ginny heard his quick, sharp inhale and watched the expression on his face. She nearly wept from relief. Max believed that she hadn’t been touch since that night.
His hand left her groin to cover her breast. His fingers flexed over her soft flesh. At the gentle kneading, she swallowed, glancing down. How could she have forgotten how large his hands were? How gentle he could touch despite the strength? His palm covered her completely. The back of his hand was dark against the pale skin that had never been exposed to the sun. A callused thumb teased her nipple to a peak. Ginny gasped softly at the heat that swept through her.
“You breastfed my son?” Max marveled softly. “How long?”
“Nine months.” She shyly lifted her eyes and met his seeking gaze. “When he had too many teeth…”
Max chuckled and captured her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
“Mm, I don’t think I would begrudge my son his nourishment.” His tongue circled the delicate curve of her ear. “But he’s had his. And now,” his fingers tugged on the nipple. “I want mine.”
“All I want,” she moaned. “Please, Max,” she whispered, her hands fluttering between them.
Ginny knew she sounded like a simpering maid from some historical romance novel, but around him, she couldn’t think. All she wanted was…Her hands went flat on his broad chest and her fingers spread out.
“What do you want, Ginny?” he asked. “Tell me what you need.”
Her hands slid over his skin, growing slick from the shower spray.
“I want you inside me,” came her husky voice. “I want your hands on me. I want your mouth on me. I want you over me, under me. Until I don’t know where I end and you start.” Her palms briefly cradled his jaw before moving over his cheeks until her fingers threaded through his thick black hair. Tugging him clo
ser, she rose up on her toes. “I need you. As much as I can have. Please. Just give me tonight if that’s all I can have of you, Max.”
“You’ve got all of me, honey,” he promised. “All of me.”
He met her mouth as his hands moved down the sides of her body. As he explored the sweet warmth, he gripped the outside of her thighs and lifted her body. Her arms roped around his neck so her breasts flattened against his chest. His mouth moved lower as her body rose. She let her head fall to the side as he nibbled on her neck. And when he caught a breast with his lips and swirled his tongue around the nipple, she cried out and arched her back. Her fingers laced tight on his head and held him to her.
“I’ve got to have you now,” he rasped. “Taste all of you. Touch every inch of you. I can’t wait, Ginny.”
He buried his face against her neck and she whimpered. Spreading her thighs, he lowered her, glanced down, and positioned himself as her hips grew level with his. Ginny felt the tip of his cock outside her pussy a heartbeat before he thrust inside. Her eyes closed as she cried out. In hunger. In lust. In satisfaction. In pain. What she’d been yearning for had finally happened, but her body had been invaded in a way it had forgotten. And she hadn’t been fully prepared.
“Ginny?” he breathed. Max didn’t move. Tears slipped through her closed lids. “Dear God, Ginny, I’m sor…”
“No,” she gasped, resting her head back on the tile. Slowly she opened her eyes and met his stricken expression. “Don’t you dare apologize!” She shook her head when he opened his mouth. “I’ve waited ten years for this. The last thing I want to hear is that you’re sorry.”
“I hurt you,” whispered Max. “I’m not sorry for being inside you but sorry for not making sure you were ready for me. And now,” he pressed a kiss to her temple. “Call me a jackass if you want, but this was as much because I needed to have you as to keep you from crying. I can handle anything from you but tears.”
Nodding, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He was still and quiet as her body adjusted. She let her head fall against his shoulder as her breathing became slow and steady.
“Ginny. The first time I took you,” he started, uncertain of what to say. “Was that…” he took a breath. “Was that your first time?”
“Yes,” came the soft answer on an exhale. “As much by accident as my lack of interest in any other man.”
“Why?”
She opened her eyes and stared at him in astonishment. There was uncertainty in his eyes. The tightness in her heart eased. He needed her reassurance. Some part of her smiled.
“Why?” she repeated. “Before, because I hadn’t wanted a man to touch me. After, because none of the men I met was you.” Her breasts heaved as she drew in a deep breath. This was just for one night. No matter how caring he was, no matter what happened, this was just for tonight. He wasn’t hers. Not really. All she would have of him after they had rescued Charlie, was the memory of him. Pushing down the pain of the future without him she defiantly raised her chin. “Whether you like it or not, Maximilian Charles Shannon, you did something ten years ago that ruined me for any other man.”
His thumb brushed over her lips, silencing her. He’d just been given the world.
“How about if I show you just how much I like that?” he smiled. “And make sure they continue to fall short?”
“Put your money where your mouth is,” she whispered, smiling slightly.
“Not money, sweetheart,” he shook his head. “Tonight I am going to live the dreams I’ve had the past ten years. My cock, my hands and mouth. All over every inch of your body. Inside and out.”
Ginny’s fingers flexed their grip on his shoulders as he pulled slightly out of her.
“Max?”
Every emotion was in her voice.
“Trust me, Ginny. Trust me with all of you.”
He held his breath until she slowly nodded.
Tenderly, he brushed his lips over her brow and temple before gently claiming her mouth. Ginny’s lips were soft and yielded as his tongue teased for entry. As his tongue slipped in, he slowly thrust his cock further. She whimpered and he trembled as if trying to control himself. Her tongue engaged his and one small hand trailed down his chest to tease him.
“Oh, no, sweetheart,” he murmured against her mouth. “We’re taking this slow.”
“Want you now,” she demanded, dropping her head to his shoulder.
Her perfect memory let her remember all the spots that had driven him crazy. With unerring accuracy, her teeth raked over the pulse at the base of his throat as her fingers slid between them and brushed his balls.
Ginny felt the shudder through his body as he tried to contain his animal urges. She wanted that side of him and was relentless in her seduction. Reaching up, she caught his lower lip and nipped it before tugging it into her mouth.
“Witch,” he muttered. “I’m trying to be gentle.”
“Be gentle later,” she replied, now focused on exploring his chest. “Take me now.”
Her palm wrapped hot on the root his cock, her fingers flickering the surrounding sensitive nerves.
“Sweetheart, you do that and a saint couldn’t hold on long…” he gasped.
Her tongue licked the tip of his nipple. The growl was low and deep in his chest. Hearing it, Ginny turned her head to see his face. Her breath caught at the look on his face. She’d dreamt of that expression, that blaze in his blue eyes, for ten years. Now she was seeing it, and it wasn’t a memory.
“Max.”
His mouth came down on hers as his body surged forward. His cock filled her as she was pinned to the wall. Feeling the triumph, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and held on as he took her. Hers. Finally. He was hers.
Max plunged into her depths before pulling nearly all the way out and diving back in. In and out. Harder, faster, deeper. Her muscles were slick now, and tightened around him as he surged into her.
Ginny could feel the pressure building and knew she couldn’t hold on much longer. She’d been wanting him since the first words he’d spoken to her a few hours earlier. Everything in her had been insisting on just this. This possession of her body. The roughness of his lust. The demands of her body. And she reveled in the moment. All that was in her gloried in the urgency of Max to have her.
She couldn’t wait any longer.
“Max, Max, now. Oh, oh,” she panted. Electricity zinged through her body then turned and rushed to collide as he thrust inside her again. “God, more, please…Max!”
She felt her muscles clench around his cock even as she shouted his name. And with a roar of dominion, he loosed himself in her.
Struggling to breathe, Ginny rested her head on his shoulder and savored the moment. She could feel Max taking deep breaths and smiled. Except for their panting, the only sound she could hear was the water hitting their bodies.
“One of these days,” Max said after a long moment. “We might manage to make love in a bed. Instead of in a shower, against the wall of a shed, or on a dirt floor.”
“Why would we want to do that?” she wondered, turning her head and meeting his gaze with a smile.
“Isn’t that what normal folks do?”
She chuckled. “And I would know that how in my vast experience?”
He grinned and pulled her tight against him. “Mmm, I think I’ll have to work on that. Any problems?”
“Nope,” she whispered as his hand covered her breast. “Max?”
“I’m taking my time now,” he told her, smiling. “No seducing me into losing control.”
“Even if I tell you that I love it when you lose control? Or take control,” came her coy reply as a teasing glint appeared in her eyes. “I do, you know.”
“I know,” he nodded, teasing her nipple. “But there’s more than hard and fast.”
“You did that ten years ago as well.”
“And I will do it again now, if you will promise to be a good girl and behave.”
“A
nd if I’m a bad girl?” she whispered, nibbling on his ear lobe.
With a groan, he felt his cock twitch back to life.
“God, woman, I want to show you some tenderness and you’re gonna make me lose control all over again.”
Ginny met his eyes and the day’s events hit her again. “Max,” she whispered, collapsing.
“Sh, honey,” he murmured, catching her to him. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Turning the water off, he grabbed a towel from the rack on the door. Patting her body dry and using the towel to squeeze most of the water from her hair, he dropped the towel. Cradling her exhausted body to his chest with one arm, Max left the bathroom and tugged the covers down. Gently laying her on the crisp white sheets, he covered her carefully. After again checking the door and windows, he moved the stands with their bags closer to the bed. Turning the bathroom light off, he finally slid in next to her.
“Secure?” she murmured, eyelids opened to slits.
“Secure,” he breathed, pulling her to him.
With a sigh, she closed her eyes and snuggled against his long body. Tugging the blanket over them, he held her close. Feeling her soft exhales against his bare skin, Max kissed the top of her head. Slowly, her body completely relaxed as she slipped into slumber. He wanted this every night. He closed his eyes, remembering the last time she’d done that. He remembered another night when he had lost himself in her. A night she clearly remembered with as much heat as he did. A night of such passion and hunger that neither had been able to forget. The night she’d conceived Charlie.
Their son.
The image of her breastfeeding Charlie appeared before his eyes. He could practically picture the look on her face as she gazed at their son. Maternal adoration much as she had looked at Charlie when he’d come home that afternoon. Something else he had missed, but he had no intent of missing any others. He was going to do everything he could to make her want him there.
His Ginny. Only his. No other man had touched her. It boggled his mind, but he absolutely believed her. Even before he’d driven into her tight sheath. Maybe some part of him had not wanted to, because then he could keep everything purely physical. He put that aside. Ginny was in his heart. He wanted her in his life. Permanently. He just had to convince her that he had changed.