His very soul expanded until it spilled out of him with every movement of his hips.
When Stella arched her back and bit his shoulder, trying to muffle her cries, it all became too much for him and with one final push he found his own release.
They lay like that, limbs entangled together, panting, catching their breaths, calming their bodies. Max stroked Stella’s hair and looked into her eyes, trying to see how she felt. His heart swelled in his chest as he thought of her, of how much he loved her. His soul was hers, whether she liked it or not.
Stella was his soul mate, his home, his everything, and he was never letting her slip away. All he wished for now was to be able to tell her how much he loved her, but how could he, when he’d promised they’d be together just for the remainder of her trip? Newly found determination flooded his veins and he silently vowed that he’d spend the next six weeks doing anything it took to make her fall for him so hard she’d never want to leave him.
His raging emotions must have registered with her, because a tear rolled down the side of Stella’s face.
“What?” he asked softly, brushing it away.
“Nothing. I’m just ... happy. I can’t remember the last time I felt so content. So whole.” She blushed, as if she didn’t want to admit that.
“Me too.”
Max kissed her and, bringing the covers over their bodies, enveloped her in his arms and held her as they slept.
Chapter Twenty Three
As Stella’s brain drifted into consciousness in the morning, she realised two things: first, she’d slept all through the night and felt incredibly refreshed and calm; and second, Max’s warm body was curled around her and he breathed softly on the back of her neck. She didn’t dare move. The moment was too perfect.
She must have fallen asleep again, because she woke up to the amazing sensation of Max’s lips on her neck. They slowly moved towards her shoulder and then the tip of his tongue traced her skin back to her earlobe. He sucked on it and Stella couldn’t pretend to be asleep any longer. She moaned at the back of her throat and felt Max smile, exhaling warm air over her neck.
“Mornin’,” he whispered.
The only response Stella could formulate right now was a weak ‘Mm-hm’. Max moved his hands along her thighs and over her stomach, squeezing her even closer to him, and buried his face in her hair.
“Can we stay here forever?” Stella asked, so wrapped up in the moment that she never wanted it to end. When it ended she would have to face reality again, including Lisa and her aunt. They’d probably seen Max’s car out at the front and would be waiting for an explanation. Niki had always been very understanding and down to earth, but still Stella wasn’t sure how she’d react to the news that Max had spent the night in her bed. She also had to tell her mother about him.
“Fine by me.”
Stella turned to face him and he looked just as perfect in the morning as he always did. Seeing his messy hair reminded her that her own hair must be a complete disaster right now. On any other occasion Stella would have felt incredibly self-conscious about how she looked in the morning, but not now. Max’s warm hazel eyes sparkled at her and he clearly liked what he saw, because his expression grew serious and that sparkle turned into full-blown fire.
He dipped down and kissed her, taking his time and making her remember every single moment of last night. Her heart must have stopped, because when he finally separated his lips from hers, she felt a pang in her chest and it started beating again. His hand traced the outline of her naked body and she shivered. Max hissed through his teeth and, circling her waist with his strong arm, rolled over and brought her on top of him. He cupped her face with his palms and pulled her mouth to his.
“I love waking up next to you, tesoro” he said as he nuzzled her neck. Her hair was falling over his face, but he didn’t seem to mind. “For the next six weeks I’m going to wake up next to you every day,” he murmured as he guided her hips and gently eased her on top of him. Stella closed her eyes as pleasure burst all over her body. She started moving slowly, rhythmically, gripping Max’s shoulders for support as he pushed up on his elbows and trailed kisses along her neck, her jaw, her breasts.
For the next six weeks.
His words made her heart skip a beat unexpectedly, as if it was unsure whether it would be worth it to even beat if Max wasn’t with her.
Sensing her sudden sadness, Max pushed himself up all the way until he was sitting on the bed, Stella straddling him.
“Hey, you OK?” he asked. Nodding because she couldn’t trust herself to speak right then, Stella brought her mouth to his and ravished it breathlessly. Hopelessly. Following her lead, Max dug his fingers into her hips and urged her to move faster until they were both spent.
As Stella lay wrapped in Max’s arms, her mind was completely empty. She didn’t want to think; all she wanted to do was feel.
And she did.
She felt every part of him as if it was hers.
“I think I need a shower,” Stella said, as she absent-mindedly traced her fingers along Max’s shoulder tattoo. He shook his head. “What?”
“I don’t think you need a shower.”
“No?”
“No. I think we need a shower,” he said with a playful smirk.
Stella leaned in towards the base of his neck and inhaled.
“Mmmm, I think you might be right,” she said and wrinkled her nose in mock disgust.
“Are you saying I smell?”
“No, I’m saying that I wouldn’t mind lathering soap all over you.”
Max’s eyes instantly lit up and in one swift movement he scooped Stella up and, giving her a toe-curling kiss, carried her to the bathroom.
*
She did lather him up with soap, and she did other things that made him feel as if he’d never experienced pleasure before. Being with Stella, having her so completely, was like waking up from a dream; all his senses were so heightened that he wasn’t sure if he was still dreaming or not.
It was perfect.
She was perfect.
Max washed her hair and combed it with conditioner, then squeezed shower gel on the sponge and washed her body. After she had done the same for him, they rinsed and got out. He wrapped her in a towel, grabbed one for himself and towel-dried her hair.
It felt so intimate to be able to do this with her.
Walking back to the bedroom, he sat on the edge of the bed and she came to him, standing between his legs as she locked her hands behind his neck and kissed him.
“At some point we need to leave this room, you know. Face the world,” she said when she had separated her lips from his. He groaned and pulled her back to him, biting her lower lip.
“By ‘the world’ you mean Lisa, right?”
“And Aunt Niki. They know you’re here; they’ll have seen your car.”
“So? I meant what I said the other day. We are adults and we don’t need anybody’s permission to have hot, sweaty, breath-stopping sex.” He grinned mischievously and slid his hands along her thighs, still wet from the shower.
“Was that an exact quote? ‘Cos I don’t remember the hot, sweaty, breath-stopping part.”
“You don’t, eh? I might just have to remind you.” He flipped her onto the bed as she giggled, and unwrapped her towel.
“Again?”
“We have three weeks to make up for, baby. And it’s all your fault, so now you’ll have to take your punishment.” Stella giggled again when Max unwrapped his own towel and left no doubt that he was ready for her. Again.
*
It was afternoon when they finally managed to get dressed and leave the room. The house was completely quiet; there was nobody home. Niki was at work, that was obvious – but where was Lisa?
Max offered to make some pasta and Stella sat at the table, watching him. His movements were so graceful, it was hypnotising.
“I need to speak to Aunt Niki. It’s her house. It doesn’t matter if we’re adults or no
t – if she’s not comfortable with you spending the night here, then you won’t.”
Max raised an eyebrow.
“Fair enough. But if that’s the case, which I doubt, then I’ll have to kidnap you and lock you in my room to use as I please,” he smirked and deliberately licked some sauce off his finger.
“I bet that’s going to go down well with Gia,” Stella said, the irony in her voice not lost on him.
“What do you mean?”
“Did she tell you ... about ... about how she found me on Friday?” Stella was staring at the table top intently, unable to meet Max’s eyes. He left the sauce on the stove and moved to sit next to her.
“Yeah,” he replied, concerned. “What was that all about?”
Did she imagine, it or did he sound guilty?
“On Friday Lisa and I were hanging out around the house when she ran out on me again, because she ‘had to do something’,” Stella began, making air quotes with her fingers. “I decided to follow her. She went to the street and hailed a taxi. The only choice I had was to hop in another taxi myself and it took a lot to even consider it.” Max gave her hand a little squeeze to let her know he understood. “Well, I did hail a cab of my own but when he pulled over ...” Stella closed her eyes, trying not to cry. “He looked so much like the piece of shit who had killed Eric and Dad. I just froze; I couldn’t move. He shouted at me to either get in or get out, and so I slammed the door and ran. I had no idea where I was when Gia found me.”
“Stella ...” Max said, his voice hoarse as he pulled her to him and hugged her. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. Gia called me after she left you at home and I knew you were safe. I just ... I couldn’t. I was cross with you and it took everything I had to stay away from you ...”
“You were cross with me? Why?”
Max looked at her for a long time before he spoke, as if deliberating whether he should tell her. In the end he sighed and said,
“I saw you with Rico. Kissing on the street.”
“That was why you stayed away? Because of a stupid kiss?”
“Stupid kiss? I thought we had something, Stella. I thought we were making progress, that you were coming round and would want to be with me – and then I leave you for one night and you go out with Rico ...”
“You went out with Beppe! To be his wing man! You were going to flirt with girls all night, or worse. I didn’t feel I had any right to stop you.” Stella stood up from the chair, because she was so angry she needed space to move. “I thought you had met someone that night and that was why you suddenly disappeared.”
“And I thought you were dating Rico! Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you even try to reach me?”
“Because I’m stubborn and proud! The more time passed, the more I thought you’d found someone else that night and moved on. I thought I’d finally managed to push you away for good.” Stella was shouting, and her tears threatened to spill over. Max stood up and went to her, his eyes full of concern and regret. He hugged her tightly until she calmed down.
“Why did you go out with him, Stella?”
“Because I was mad at you for going out with Beppe and picking up girls all night. He called and I took the chance to get out of the house before I went crazy thinking of you with some woman all over you.”
“I wasn’t interested in any of the women that night. I only thought about you and how I’d much rather be with you. When I saw you with Rico I lost it. Thank God Beppe was there to drag me away, otherwise I don’t know what I would have done.” He kissed the top of her head as she relaxed against his chest. He voice came out muffled when she spoke,
“He kissed me completely out of the blue. It was all him, Max. I pushed him away. Then when he drove me home I told him I had feelings for you and we wouldn’t be going out again.”
Max exhaled loudly, his whole body relaxing. Stella raised her head to look at him and he stroked her cheek with his knuckles.
“I’m sorry, babe. Foreverything. But we can’t change what’s already happened. Let’s just leave all that behind and enjoy what we have now.”
Stella nodded in agreement and, brushing his lips against hers, Max went to check on his sauce. He stirred it, tasted it, added some herbs and, reducing the heat, left it on the stove. Pouring water into another pan, he put the lid on and left it to boil. Stella was fascinated as she watched him move so efficiently around the kitchen.
“Gia must think I’m crazy now,” she said, as he sat down next to her again.
“No, she doesn’t. She doesn’t really think about other people at all.” Was it her imagination, or did she just feel some bitterness in Max’s tone? “Besides, who cares? It’s my house as much as hers. If I want you to stay with me, you stay with me, period.”
Stella nodded, because she didn’t know what else to say. She needed to talk to Niki first and then decide what to do.
“We need to find out where Lisa goes, Max. I feel that’s the key to everything that’s going on with her. If she won’t tell us, we’ll find out on our own.”
“I agree. But how do we do that? Does she have a pattern when she goes?”
“I think so. The last three times were twice Wednesday and once Friday, in the afternoons. So I think we should be ready on Wednesday. Are you working?”
“Not during the day. I have a shift at the bar in the evening.”
“OK, so that’s the plan then.”
Stella smiled, satisfied that she had a confidante and an accomplice again. The pasta was ready and they tucked in, not realising until then how very hungry they were.
By the time they’d finished their meal and cleaned up the kitchen, it was almost time for Max to go. There was still no sign of Lisa, so Stella decided to send her a text.
Stella: Hey Lis, are you at work? When are you coming home?
Lisa: Yes, I’m in the middle of class. Should be back in a couple of hours. Wait for me; we need to talk.
Sighing Stella typed,
Stella: I know. I’ll be here.
That was a conversation she wasn’t looking forward to. Frowning, she left her phone on the table and saw Max looking at her.
“So?” he asked.
“She’s at work. She wants to talk when she comes back.”
Max took her hand and led her to the sofa, where he positioned her on his lap before he spoke,
“I can cancel my shift and stay. We can talk with her together.”
“No, it’s fine. I have to do this on my own.”
Lisa knew why Stella shouldn’t be with Max; he didn’t. She’d much rather address those issues without him present. Guilt washed over her as she became acutely aware how she’d have to hide so many things from him, when in fact all she wanted to do was tell him everything. That wasn’t an option, however. What they had was too perfect to spoil it with the ugly truth. Besides, they both knew it wasn’t going to last forever. They had six weeks and Stella intended to make them as amazing as she could, without thinking beyond that anymore.
“I have to go, baby,” he said, as Stella looped her arms around his neck and teased his lips with hers. Placing both his hands between her shoulder blades, Max pulled her to him and deepened the kiss, finding her tongue with his. “I’ll come over after work,” he said breathlessly against her mouth. “I’ll text you to come to the door. If Niki doesn’t want me here, I’ll take you home.”
“The lengths you’ll go to, to have sex with me,” teased Stella, her lips curling into a smile. Max remained serious as he pulled away to look into her eyes when he spoke.
“Never even think that it’s just about the sex. It’s amazing, true, but it’s amazing because it means something ... to me. Because it’s with you.”
He held her eyes with his, until her expression changed and she nodded. Max pulled her in for another kiss and Stella realised that she had needed to hear that from him. Not because she didn’t feel it when they were together, but because she was a girl and she wanted to have things spelled
out for her – especially from someone like Max, who’d never been deprived of female attention.
After Max had left, Stella didn’t know what to do with herself. She felt restless and off balance. Watching TV didn’t help, because nothing could hold her attention for longer than five minutes, so she decided to grab her Kindle and read. The best way to forget about your own drama was to immerse yourself in someone else’s, even if it was fictional.
The front door opening startled her out of her book and Stella saw her aunt coming in.
Here we go: reality check number one.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she said with a smile.
Good sign?
“Hi, Aunt Niki. How was your day?” Stella flinched at her own words, but really, what was she supposed to say? The whole situation was awkward, to put it mildly.
“It was busy, as usual. Have you had dinner?”
“No, not yet.”
“Come on then, I’ve got some groceries, let’s go make something and talk.”
Niki grilled some steaks and put Stella in charge of cutting the vegetables and steaming them. Lisa would be home soon, so they made sure they had enough food for all three of them.
When the vegetables were in the steamer and the steaks were resting, Niki poured herself a glass of Prosecco and sat at the table across from Stella, who was peeling a cucumber for the salad.
“So, I saw Max’s car out at the front this morning. You want to share something?” Her voice was playful, teasing even.
“He spent the night here,” Stella said, blushing. “With me.”
“I see.” Niki drank from her wine and Stella’s heart was hammering inside her chest as she waited for her aunt’s reaction. She didn’t need her permission, that was true, but she’d feel so much better if Niki was OK with Max being here, and with their relationship. “Have you told Helen?” she finally asked.
In a heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) Page 22