by TC Matson
His laugh is laced with playful devilry. “Yep.”
“I’ve been craving this and it’s been this easy the entire time? I should’ve looked it up on the internet,” I grumble, teasingly. I know Google wouldn’t have been as good of a teacher as he is, nor as sexy either.
He hooks my waist and draws me into his body. Slowly he drifts his hand up my back and spreads it across my shoulder blades. I’m tiny under his hands.
Hunger darkens his eyes. “Had I told you how easy it was, you wouldn’t be here.” His whisper is sexy and low. He brushes his lips against mine, slowly, easily…teasingly. “Unless you don’t want to be here?”
He’d be senile to think I don’t want to be here… in his arms…with his mouth on me. “What if I don’t?” My coquettish tease rides out on an exhale.
A hum vibrates his throat as his eyes flit between mine. “Maybe I can change your mind? How do you imagine I should?” His voice is gravelly.
“Kiss me, Max,” I sigh, pressing to my tiptoes.
He slams his mouth to mine, a kiss so ardent it scatters heat throughout me immediately. Reality is lost as the fantasy under my palms comes to life. I dig my hands up his chest as he tugs me into his hips, pressing his hard-on into me. It’s my undoing. I become a hot and frantic mess. I claw at his shirt trying to tug it over his head. I need it off. I need his skin. Him. Naked. Us.
He breaks the kiss long enough to yank his shirt over his head before swiftly fusing his lips back to mine. It’s a heated chaos, driven by anticipation and desire, and I love it. He laces his fingers into my hair, tilting my head to the side, and drags his tongue from the bottom of my throat to my earlobe, sucking it between his teeth. Scalding lust careens through my entire body. The force is so intense, I drop my head, sucking in a breath.
“I want to fuck you,” he growls beside my ear.
“Please.” I whimper, rocking my hips against him.
He lifts me into his arms by my ass and I crash into his mouth, ravenous…so damn desperate for him. I scrape my fingers through his tousled hair, tugging at the end. He groans, slapping the knobs on the stove, and carries us down the hall.
Our breaths are erratic, both of us moaning and panting, kissing and licking while greed powers our bodies. He lowers my feet to the floor at the end of the bed, and in a hungry scramble, pulls my shirt over my head and unlatches my bra, releasing my aching breasts.
His stare is carnal, dark, and titillating as ever. He pushes me backward on the bed and moves me up by my hips. He’s aggressive, but gentle. Hungry, yet tamed. His moves are calculated, but frenzied. He wants me just as badly as I want him.
He sucks a nipple while kneading the other. I arch, pushing my breasts higher. My body is in shambles. It’s been so long. So, so very long. And I’ve wanted Max since the day I met him.
Leaning back, he releases the button on my jeans and begins lowering the zipper. Everything is heightened, anticipation so built up, every tooth of the zipper echoes and it feels like it’s taking an eternity. Slowly, he pulls my pants off my legs and sets his gaze on me, lying naked and vulnerable, waiting and ready for him.
Lust sets his eyes on fire. Desire rests on his smirk. He raises my leg, kisses my ankle, tortuously moves up my calf, to the side of my knee, and traces up my thigh. Nudging my legs apart, he lays a flat tongue at my entrance and ends with a gentle suck on my clit.
“Oh my god…” I whimper, jerking at the instant pleasure zinging to the tips of each limb.
He dances his tongue around my clit and slowly presses his fingers into me. I swear I’m about to explode. I’m not ashamed of my excitement. Not one damn bit. All the sexual tension… All the want… All the desire… It’s all for him.
My muscles begin to tense, promising an orgasm as he caresses my clit and pumps his fingers. My legs begin to tremble, and my breathing becomes faster. Suddenly, he stops and slides off the bed. One side of his lips quirk up into a fascinating smirk as he strips off his pants, grips his dick, and rolls on a condom.
Slowly he creeps up my legs and nestles between them, poised at my entrance. He pierces me with a gaze so full of lust and desire, it melts me.
I gasp, my eyes rolling shut as he sinks into me, anchoring deeply. My body pulses for him as if it’s begging for everything he has. He drags back out and shoves back in. I slap the mattress, gripping the sheets between my fingers as his pace picks up. His hips roll with fascinating strokes, testing my ability to take him all.
“Sonofabitch, you feel phenomenal,” he breathes rocking into me.
My hips meet his thrusts. My orgasm peaking. He slides his hand under my back and grips my shoulders…and hauls me into him.
The pain is blinding.
The pleasure is delirium.
My moans are loud.
My whimpers are urgent.
“Give it to me, Avery,” he growls pumping into me.
There’s a moment of calm—like the calm before the storm—where my body numbs for a fraction of a second and all I can hear is my breath with my heart beat in my ears. Then suddenly, just as quickly as the calm poured over me…
My body explodes from the inside out. I cry out, pushing my head into the mattress, arching my back, and tightening the grip on his sheets. He raises to his hands and drives with long tantalizing strokes, eliciting the best mind-shattering orgasm. I writhe and shudder as I come undone. Grasping my hips, he lifts me, burrowing and gyrating his pelvis.
His moans transform into a frenetic growl as he plunges. He roots and juts his throbbing dick, his body shaking as he comes. It’s a glorious sight—his jaw clenched, his nostrils flaring. Momentarily, he’s vulnerable and unguarded.
Dropping to his back, he rests his hand on my thigh. Sweat glistens our skin. Our breaths are ragged and uneven.
I don’t know how long we stay like this. I feel as if I’ve dosed into a sated coma, an ultimate stage of relaxation, when I feel him finally move off the bed. I wish I had the strength to open my eyes, but I don’t. My body is loose and free of tension, utterly inundated with satisfaction. All my stress and anxiety…gone.
When the bed dips again, Max kisses my forehead. “You’re so fucking phenomenal when you come.”
A lazy smile slips across my lips.
“I have something in the kitchen for you.” He winks and grins like a proud and freshly fucked fool before strutting out of the room.
On wobbly legs, I find all my clothes and dress in the most stunning bathroom. Dark gray slate floors meet light gray and white marble along the walls. The standup shower is enormous with multiple spray heads. The vanity is clean and bare of bathroom essentials. I’ve never seen a man’s bathroom so immaculate.
I find Max sitting at the counter looking at the stove in deep thought. “I’m not sure we should eat the chicken since it didn’t finish cooking. You up for some Chinese?” he says. “I know the best place.”
After looking over the menu, he places the order. As he talks, he moves fluidly around the kitchen, grabbing a tall glass, and pours a drink. He tosses in an orange slice and slides in a straw but decides to hold the yummy looking drink hostage until he finishes the call.
His eyes are a cocktail of hope and excitement. “Try this.”
An explosion of sweet and fruity wakes up my taste buds as I take a sip. “This is really good.”
Triumphantly, he smirks. “It’s sangria, made with the same wine we had the other night.”
My brows dip low as I look at the glass. “No way.”
“Being that’s my favorite wine and you said you only liked sweet ones, I knew I needed to coerce you somehow.” He chuckles. “I made a pitcher just for you. I can’t drink much of it.”
I cock my head to the side, pursing my lips mirthfully. “Are you trying to get me drunk, Max?”
He cups the back of my head and kisses me hard. His tongue plunges and sweeps across mine. My traitorous body ignites again, especially knowing how incredible sex is with him.
H
e leans back with a sexy smug smirk. “That seems to do the trick without any alcohol involved.”
I scrape my teeth along my bottom lip. “You have an unfair advantage. A secret weapon in that kiss,” I titter.
He taps my chin. “I plan on using it as much as possible.”
“Care to get your ass kicked by a girl in foosball while we wait on our food?”
He spreads his arm to the side. “By all means, I’d love to see you try.”
Max
Sunlight streams through my taupe curtains and forces me to pry my eyes open against my will. Beside me, sleeping peacefully, the covers have slid off Avery’s naked body revealing the smooth skin along the curve of her sexy ass hip. The sight elicits a grin. Last night, I kissed across that very spot and dug my fingers into the delicate and sultry skin.
There’s only one word to describe last night—in-fucking-credible.
Avery is the breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed until I inhaled her. She’s alluring, carefree, comfortable, and confident. She’s funny and witty, down to earth and easy going. She’s the complete opposite of anything I’ve ever experienced. Most women try too hard, some trying to be what they aren’t, and it makes the energy around us dull. But Avery? She doesn’t have to try. It all comes naturally to her.
Quietly, I slip out of the bed, slide into a pair of shorts and head into the kitchen to make coffee. Before we fell asleep last night, I made sure to ask if she liked coffee instead of assuming like I did with wine. Lesson learned.
I hit the button and grab two mugs from the cabinet before making my way to the curtains and opening them, letting the sun brighten the room.
I’m pouring the coffee when the elevator chimes and in struts Zach’s cocksure self. “What’s up, man?” His brow quirks high as he eyes me. “Thought you’d be ready to hit the gym by now.”
“Shit,” I exhale. “I forgot all about it.”
Narrowing his eyes, he studies me. “Have a good night?”
Zach already knows. He’s got an uncanny capability to sense when I’ve gotten laid and it’s annoying as fuck.
“Nothing much,” I reply, lifting a shoulder.
He glances to the second mug. “Must have been a pretty good night if you’re making tw—”
His words stop short as Avery rushes out of the bedroom, fully clothed with her hair pulled into a ponytail and makeup barely a remnant from last night. When she spots Zach, distress splatters her face, her eyes flash wide and she skids to a halt. She glances between us.
“Good morning,” I break the weirdness. “I made coffee.”
“I…” she looks back to Zach with worry.
A chuckle rumbles from his throat and he flashes an easy smile. I already know the bastard’s brain is piling on ammo to pester the hell out of me with an interrogation about her. “I’m Zach.” He tips his chin.
“Avery.”
Zach cocks his head to the side. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”
Her lips tighten as she shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Have you ever worked as a bartender around here? Stripper maybe?”
Avery snorts, adjusting her purse strap over her shoulder. “Never been a bartender. And most definitely not a stripper. I’d fall off the pole even if my hands were duct taped to it.”
I laugh.
“I’ve got to get going,” she says, taking a few unsure steps toward the exit.
My chest cramps, deflating with disappointment. I am definitely not ready to see her go just yet. “Would you like coffee to go?”
She scrunches her nose. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
After she says a quick goodbye to smugface Zach, I walk her to the elevator and hit the button.
I twist her to me and claim those perfect soft lips. “I wasn’t ready for you to leave,” I whisper, feeling like a schmuck.
“Thank you for last night. It was…” she beams, “wonderful.”
“Understatement of the year,” I say. “I’ll call you later.”
She stretches, placing a peck kiss to my jaw. “Please.”
I watch the doors shut her in before going back to the kitchen where Zach is helping himself to my coffee. His left brow twitches. “Oh, dude. I’ve seen that look before. How long have you been seeing her?”
I snatch my coffee and park my ass in the recliner. “A couple of weeks.”
“When’s the last time you brought someone here?”
“It’s been a while.”
He chuckles as he sits on the couch. “Alright, dude. Spill it.”
“I like her.”
“I see that. She’s different, huh?”
“Seems to be.”
“You two on the same page?”
My view shifts to him. “I’m rolling with it day by day. We seem to be though.”
“Just her?”
Code question for: I’m a nosy bastard and I want to know the level of seriousness you are.
“Just her, for now.”
He rests back on the couch and tosses his ankle over his knee. “It’s about damn time you find a single and settle down. You’re the last in the herd, man.”
“I didn’t say I was settling down. It’s too early.”
He hums. “That’s what your mouth says.”
“You’re beginning to sound like Jade,” I tell him.
His face falls. “She knows?”
I burn him with a grin. “She does.”
He grunts. “The hell? Bros before—” He stops, ponders his thought and shakes his head. “I’m like your brother, been through years of bragging rights, yet your sister knows first? Where’s the pact? You’ve got my wife keeping secrets from me.”
“Brotherly love overcomes the bullshit she feels for you. Blood’s thicker than water.”
“Dick defeats the brotherly love bullshit.”
Dammit. I laugh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Shut the hell up about that.”
He stands and stretches. “Get ready and let’s hit the gym. Unless you worked out too hard last night and are going to pussy out on me today.”
“Give me twenty. I need a shower.” I say, leaving him to stand in the living room with a nosy and creative mind.
Last night, I slept like a damn log. After incredible sex with Avery and then a few hours at the gym with Zach busting my balls for details, I was spent. I slept deeply and wonderfully.
I woke this morning the same way I fell asleep—her scent wrapped into my sheets and a raging hard-on. I rectified the situation in the shower with it feeling nothing remotely close to her pussy, regardless of the image of her hips bouncing off mine.
Once I arrived at work, I dived into work to keep from giving in to the urge to text her. She’s a light switch—on and then off. One minute she sends signals that she’s all in, the attraction sparking and the chemistry high, and then the next minute she seems to clam up and pull away, disappearing behind an invisible wall of guarded uncertainty. It’s not the typical hot and cold bullshit women normally play to lead you on. I don’t believe Avery’s purposefully trying to confuse or frustrate the hell out of me. I think I petrify her. The exact thing she does to me.
I’m looking over the monthly party schedule Jade brought me the moment my ass hit the chair this morning. It’s full and it has pride swelling inside me. Before I built the expansion, I was lucky to have ten parties a month. But after the winery was mentioned by a celebrity wine connoisseur, the business it brought was an onslaught. The room wasn’t adequate, only able to fit medium sized parties at best. The daily wait went from fifteen minutes to hours. The party room filled up forcing us to schedule several weeks out. I had no choice but to expand.
“Sir?” Isabella stands at the door with her hair in a slick bun sitting on top of her head. “You have a visitor.”
“Who is it?” I ask not expecting anyone.
Instead of telling me, she takes a step to the side and Avery strolls in carrying two cups of coffee and a smile that’
s infectious.
“Since I had to rush out yesterday, I thought I’d be nice and bring you coffee considering I couldn’t stick around for yours.”
“Thank you, Isabella.” I dismiss her and then rest back into my chair, lacing my fingers. “This is a pleasant surprise.”
Her nose wrinkles as she sets the cups down and reaches into her purse, pulling out a handful of sugar packets and creamer cups. “I have no clue how you like your coffee. There’s different flavors.” She lifts her shoulder.
“You’re enough to make any morning great.” That blesses me with a glimmer in her eyes.
As she sits, she crosses her legs, the rips and holes in her jeans showing off the smooth skin beneath them. “I don’t have long. I snuck out.”
I waste no time heeding the warning. I get up and shut my office door before pulling her back to her feet. “I’m glad you did,” I say and then claim the very lips I’ve been craving. Slow and easy, savoring the coffee flavor on her tongue.
She looks completely sated when her beautiful grays flutter open. “I really just wanted a kiss. I used the coffee as an excuse.”
I tilt her head and kiss her again, this time harder and more eagerly, showing her just how badly I wanted to taste her again. I breathe her in while pouring my infatuation into her.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door just seconds before Jade pushes through. “Why the hell would you shut…Oh.” She freezes.
Avery tenses under me, ripping her mouth from mine and snatching her hands to her sides, as she drops her head.
I crane my neck, irked, and removed my hands. “Jade. Give me a minute,” I grit.
Jade’s head bounces as she nods frantically. “Yeah. Sorry. So sorry,” she rushes as she retreats. Except I’m far from being that lucky. She pauses. “I’m the sister, by the way. Nothing else. No worries.”
I drop my head back, lifting my face toward the ceiling and looking for a miracle. “Seriously, Jade. Give me a damn minute.”
She squares her shoulders and glares at me. “We planned a meeting. How was I supposed to know?” Jade stands with spiteful curiosity.