His lips slid along her neck to her ear before sucking the tender lobe into his mouth and nipping slightly. The stinging sensation only added to the sensual assault he waged on her body. Had sex ever been this all-consuming? Zeta never wanted this to end, never wanted to pull herself back to reality, which was far different from this wonderful fantasy. He’d been right before. The relationship she was trying to force on him was a fantasy. The one he’d laid out so patiently for her that first day in his office was the reality, and it made her heart weep.
With a cry, pleasure washed over her in a rush only to be mocked by the pain stabbing through her heart at the same moment. Tears burned her eyes, and she had to blink them back. Showing such a weakness in front of this man simply wasn’t an option. If he smelled blood in the water, he’d move in for the kill with expert efficiency and brutality. Max might feel something for her, but he’d never acknowledge it to himself. Or to her. Especially not to her.
As she lay there, breathing hard, Max feathered kisses over her face and neck. The gesture was almost tender, so unlike Max. As he had earlier, when he’d first taken her, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, as if afraid she’d slip away from him while he slept. His heavy thigh was draped over her legs, effectively pinning her against him and the bed. The funny thing was, Zeta wasn’t certain the sensation was unpleasant. In fact, she wasn’t certain how she was going to live without it in the future. She felt safe and warm. Wanted. Her last thought before drifting to sleep was to wonder how she was ever going to get on with her life and get over Max.
* * *
Max woke in a rush, his arms full of warm, curvy woman. As he inhaled deeply, a heavy knot he hadn’t even realized had been such a part of him loosened and unfurled. He frowned. Looking down at Zeta snuggled tightly against him, he tried to place the emotion welling up inside him but came up empty. His chest felt tight, but not from tension or anything unpleasant. He looked at her and it felt like…she belonged there. Not in this bed, per se, but with him. In his arms.
Immediately he stiffened. Oh, hell, no! He absolutely wasn’t letting Zeta get under his skin. That way would give her all the power in their relationship. That was something he absolutely could not give to her. Doing so would give her the leverage she needed to wiggle her way out of this arrangement and, no matter how much he needed to put distance between them, her leaving him just wasn’t acceptable on any level. She belonged with him whether she wanted to be or not. Max just had to keep his heart out of it.
Careful not to disturb her sleep, Max crept from the bed, padding naked from her bedroom to leave her suite. He didn’t bother to hide his nakedness as he climbed the stairs to the top floor. Everyone was likely asleep, and if he happened to run into a late-working maid… Well. He’d take his pleasure anywhere he pleased.
Except the thought of any other woman left him cold. Normally, he’d have welcomed the adventure. No matter how many women he’d been with, he’d never given any of them the expectation that he’d be faithful or that he’d let them stick around any length of time. He was normally a yank-and-bank kinda guy, liking it that way. Any woman who couldn’t deal didn’t need to be with him. Zeta, on the other hand, he refused to let out of his sight. He needed to make sure no other man came after what was his. That, more than anything else, disturbed him greatly. Was this what his father had planned all along? To force him into bonding with a woman? If that was the case, Max was man enough to admit it was working.
Which was why it would end. Now. Tomorrow he’d lay out new ground rules for her. He’d figure out a way to make sure she had no other lovers besides him. Hell, he didn’t even want to share her time with another man. Or anyone, for that matter. Which brought up the subject of the YMCA. And little Trevor and his family.
Max had hired Debra to work on the estate, careful to make sure his manager kept her away from the main house where Zeta might see her. For some reason, he was reluctant for Zeta to know what he’d done. Probably because she’d demand to know why, and Max wasn’t altogether sure he could explain that one to himself let alone to Zeta. All he knew was the woman had wept when she’d reported to work that first day. Renaldo, his manager, said he’d never had anyone work so hard or be so thorough in a job. He’d said Max should give her a raise in order to keep her, that he’d give half his own salary to have every person working for them be exactly like her. Max had doubled her pay and secretly set up trust funds for the kids so they’d have a chance at a decent college education. Again, it was something he didn’t want Zeta to know.
That ache was back in his chest, getting worse the more he thought about Zeta and all that she’d changed in his life without even trying to. The thought of her with another man or, worse, deciding Max wasn’t worth the effort to try to love, not only made him see red, but actually doubled him over with pain. No. He absolutely could not—would not—allow that to happen. Somehow, he had to get out of that particular paragraph in the pre-nup, because Zeta absolutely belonged to him. No one else. The sooner she accepted that reality, the better off they’d both be.
Chapter Sixteen
Zeta had not been surprised when Max hadn’t been in her room the next morning. It didn’t even surprise her that she didn’t see him the next day. Or the next. What did get to her was how much she missed his arrogant, dominating presence. There was no way she could continue down this road. That last night, he’d woken her several times to pleasure her. And it had been for her. More than once he hadn’t even come, but had taken her to the height of madness until she fell into bliss all around him on a cry as she breathed his name. When he had come, it had been deep inside her. Thankfully, Zeta had stayed on her birth control, because she didn’t think she had the strength of will to make him use a condom or, worse, come outside her body.
She thought about finding Max and insisting he join her for dinner as he’d agreed to do, but didn’t have the strength of will. If he came back to her rooms, the intimacy would only work to further ensnare her, and Zeta definitely didn’t want that.
Unfortunately, there was a knock at her door and, sure enough, Max entered a moment later. The man hadn’t even waited for her to let him in. He simply unlocked the door and entered as if he owned the place. It didn’t help Zeta’s mood any that he actually did.
“Fancy meeting you here,” she quipped before she could stop herself. “I thought you’d finally decided to give up on this foolishness and let me go home.” She had just finished preparing to leave for the Y, hoping Maximilian would leave her to it alone this time. While she enjoyed seeing him interact with the kids, she needed the break from him as much as she wanted him with her. The conflict within her made her exceedingly cross.
“I told you you weren’t to go alone. Were you just going to pack up your things and leave?” The double meaning wasn’t lost on Zeta, and she was in just a foul enough mood to rise to the bait.
“Yes. I just might.” Turning to face him, she put one hand on her hip, readying herself for a verbal altercation. Instead, Max merely smiled at her.
“I can see you’re going to be a handful to contain.” Crossing his arms over the shirt that stretched just a little too lovingly over his muscled chest, Max leaned one hip against the wall lazily. “But you’re still not leaving without me.”
Zeta wanted to pull her hair out. She hated games! “Why can’t you just say what you mean, dammit? I’m not like you. I can’t stand always being on my guard around you every second you’re with me! I’d rather not see you at all if—”
Her response was cut short as Maximilian was on her in a heartbeat. Zeta had no idea how it happened, but one moment she was standing there about to give him a piece of her mind, the next he had her pulled up against his sinfully hard body, his mouth pressed to his. His tongue invaded just as quickly and Zeta lost her breath. Why could he affect her like this? Why did she crave his touch even though he was a complete bastard?
As before, his arms came around her tightly, nearly crushing her smalle
r frame with his strength. As before, Zeta felt an excited thrill at the show of possession. Even after resolving not to get in any deeper with Max, here she was, clinging to him in a desperate attempt to make him feel something for her. Was she truly that needy, that she’d want a man who didn’t want her back?
“You will never leave without me, Zeta,” he growled next to her ear when he’d ended the kiss, hot lips burning a brand into her skin. “Not to go to the Y. Not anywhere unless you tell me first.”
“What about you?” she managed. “That courtesy has to run both ways.”
“I go to work, with you to the Y, and the occasional dinner party. Sometimes you will accompany me—others you’ll know where I am. Everything else we do together.”
“Until after the baby is born,” she managed, needing to get him riled. She could deal with the bastard better than she could the lover.
“We’ll talk about that when the time comes,” he replied at length, in between licks and nips to her neck, jaw, and ear. “We’ve still got a long way to go.”
Zeta shoved at him, not that it did any good. Max’s strength seemed insurmountable. Besides, she loved that part of him, how strong he was. She loved that his body was big and surrounded him with all that muscle. He was a man who knew how to handle himself, and it was a huge turn-on for Zeta. Unfortunately, he was also a bastard. The bastard she could handle. This possessive, aggressively dominant male, however, she was helpless against.
“Max, I—” Whatever feeble protest she was about to make was swallowed as Max kissed her again, taking her breath with her protest. The kiss was hard, demanding, but he took it no further.
“Come one. Your hoodlums await.” She almost missed the slight twitch of his lips. Was he trying to get her riled?
“They aren’t hoodlums,” she protested, her ire growing even though she knew she was rising to his bait. “Those kids could learn a lot from you. Just look at Trevor! You gave that child more self-esteem than he’s had in his entire life. Even Shani comes in with a smile instead of lines of stress over her face. Trevor passes what you tell him on to her, and even their mother comes for them with a smile on her face.” As she listed these things, people’s lives he’d touched in such a short time, Zeta was struck at how much she really admired what he’d done. How proud of him she was. There was no doubt in her mind that he had done it because he actually felt for the kid and no other reason. He hadn’t seen it as his responsibility to his community or even to Zeta. He’d done it because something about little Trevor touched something inside Max.
With a gentle caress down her face, Max stepped back, though not completely out of her personal space. “You’re making too much out of it. I’m a strong male presence. The boy responds to that.” He shrugged. “Nothing more.”
God, the man was a conundrum! There was no way to puzzle him out. In fact, Zeta was getting a headache even trying.
With a little huff, she blew a curl from her eyes and pushed past him to get her jacket. “Fine. Let’s go then. I have a lot to do today and don’t have time to argue with you.”
Chapter Seventeen
The Y was especially crowded as Max escorted Zeta inside, his hand possessively on her lower back. Being near her was as necessary to him as the blood running through his veins. He’d wanted to keep his distance, but it just wasn’t physically possible. Emotionally, it was getting harder and harder. He was so preoccupied with his turbulent emotions he didn’t pick up on the undercurrent sizzling through the place.
Zeta had gone to her kids, going on with the lessons she’d done the other two times he’d been with her. At first, he didn’t see anything amiss and chalked it to his mind being pulled in too many directions. Then he noticed Trevor and Shani shrinking into the corner, Shani keeping Trevor behind her. Zeta seemed oblivious to the shift in the atmosphere around her. She was absorbed in her work and the children and didn’t notice how several of them were shrinking into their work, the normal hustle and bustle conspicuously absent. His gaze roaming the large room, Maximilian went on the alert. True, violence wasn’t his normal environment, but if violence was needed to combat violence, Max had no doubt he was up for the challenge.
Taking out his phone, he tapped out a quick message to Samson in case he needed backup. Given the numbers of young men eyeing the children—and Zeta—Max thought it likely backup would be essential. Though Max certainly knew how to use a gun, carrying one just wasn’t necessary in his world. That was what Samson was for. However, this was one time he would have felt more comfortable knowing he had the means to protect himself, Zeta, and the children.
As he tried to make his way to the area where Zeta had set up her work tables, it seemed like more and more of the rough-looking teenagers got between him and his target. If he didn’t know better, Max would have thought they were deliberately trying to stay between him and Zeta, as if knowing Max was there to protect one person and one person only. It was in that moment Max realized that, while Zeta was the most important person in that room to him, he could have taken care of her by himself. He’d felt the need to call in Samson to help him protect everyone else because, God help him, these kids—all of them, not just Trevor and Shani—had found a place in his heart simply because they looked at his Zeta with such affection. They offered him nothing, but they meant everything to Zeta.
Damn her! This was all Zeta’s fault! Max didn’t care about anyone or anything beyond himself. Never had. In a desperate bid to deny his feelings, he justified his emotions by telling himself Zeta cared about these kids and that not protecting them would adversely affect his relationship with her. That was all. He absolutely did not feel a protective streak inside for these kids. None. Whatsoever.
There were several older boys in Trevor ad Shani’s area, all of them part of a group working on a project. None of them seemed to notice the gang stalking toward them. And it was obvious the outside group was headed toward that table. The whole scene was just…wrong. Too many undercurrents swirled around the room. Too many fearful glances from the kids who did notice them.
Then he saw it. A glint of metal from the jacket pocket of one of the teens before he took out the gun. Holding it sideways, gangster style, he pointed the weapon straight at little Trevor’s group. Max couldn’t tell which child was the target, but he had no doubt blood was about to be spilled. Oblivious to the chaos about to rain down on them, Zeta unknowingly stepped between the gunman and his intended target.
Instantly, Max charged for the boy—and he truly was a boy of no more than fifteen or sixteen. Before the kid could take his shot, Max tackled him with a full-body smash that sent the gun flying from the kid’s hands. How he’d managed to get through the crowd, Max had no idea. He was sure he’d knocked down more than one or two but Max only had eyes for Zeta. Fear such as he’d never known assailed him, leaving a bitter taste. Hell, he wanted to throw up, but the guy he’d knocked the wind out of was beginning to fight him.
The next thing Max knew, Samson was there. The big man lifted the kid to his feet with one hand, death in his eyes. All the fight went out of the boy, his friends having scattered at some point—Max had no idea when. Honestly, Max couldn’t blame the kid for not fighting Samson. The man was damned scary on the best of days. This…wasn’t the best of days.
Max glanced at Zeta, and their gazes met. Fear and gratitude colored her deep brown eyes. While the fear made him want to double over with pain like a knife had sliced through his gut, the gratitude made him want to thump his chest in pride. Protecting Zeta had felt right, like he’d been born to do just that. In a dog-eat-dog world, Max knew he was meant to protect Zeta…
From men like him.
“The police are on the way,” Samson said, still holding the gunman by the scruff of the neck, not restraining him, but not letting him go either. “I’ll tell them your woman was hurt and you’re getting her medical attention. I’ll be vague but promise them you’ll both give a statement later today.” That was Samson. The man thought
on his feet better than anyone Max knew, looking at every angle, manipulating the situation until he got the desired action. In a way, Samson and Max were very much alike. The only difference was Max dealt in money, Samson in violence.
“Thanks. Have them stop by the estate later tonight. Tell them I’ll be there to give a full account even if Zeta isn’t. Was anyone hurt?”
“No. You tackled the guy before he got off a shot. You knocked a few people down and a few got jostled when everyone scattered, but nothing serious.”
“Good. Take Trevor and Shani somewhere safe until their mother gets off work. She’s working in the east wing today. Maybe take them to the gym at the estate. Cade can watch them. He’s always doing sports stuff with kids. Tell him I’ll pay double if he comes in today.”
“Yes, sir.” Samson gave him a small salute before going to the children. He watched as Trevor stood in front of his sister, his shoulders back, head up, but Max noticed the subtle quiver of his lower lip. Shani was visibly cringing, hugging herself while Zeta tried her best to soothe both children, as well as the others huddled around her. After a questioning look at Max, Zeta urged Trevor and Shani to go with Samson. Several adults from the Y conversed with Zeta briefly before they took the rest of the children back to the gym to wait the police.
Loving the Bastard Page 7