Great. Not what he wanted to see. The timing was wrong. He should have waited.
Then, a smile broke out on her face and she threw her arms around his neck, laughing and kissing him at the same time.
Max returned the kiss and then pulled away. “As much as I love kissing the most beautiful girl in the world, what does this mean?”
She bit her lip in a sexy way that made Max’s knees feel like liquid as his pulse increased.
“It means,” she said, “let’s go get your suitcase, honey. I want you to move in right now.”
“Are you sure?” He couldn’t help but be cautious. After all, things had been up and down between them since he got back, even once they had agreed they wanted to be together. “Do you want to be with me, or is this just to help your mom?”
“Helping Mom is great,” she said. “But that’s not why I want you here. If you’re ready to commit to me and give up this obsession about the killer, I am so ready to spend my life with you.” Rose grabbed his hand, leading him to the kitchen.
“It’s so bad that I feel happy right now.” Max leaned against the counter, watching Rose as she pulled out a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. “Julie is dead.” His breath hitched in his throat and he stared at the ground, fighting back the emotions. “I should have protected her.”
Rose’s soft arms encircled him and she pressed a whisper of a kiss against his cheek. “What would Julie think of us moving in together?”
Max buried his face into her neck, breathing in her sweet scent deeply. It felt as though a lump sat inside his throat, and his heart constricted when the image of Julie flashed through his mind again. “She’d be happy for us. I went to see Ginger on her advice, sort of.”
“She told you to visit my mom?” Rose stroked a hand soothingly across his back. “Why?”
“Well, first she told me to beg for your forgiveness and start making babies with you.”
Rose chuckled.
“But I told her I couldn’t do that because it would be hard on Ginger, so she told me to talk to Ginger.” A few tears leaked down his face, splashing against Rose’s neck. He should have made Julie go to California and abandon any thoughts of getting Jimmy to confess. “Damn it! Why did this happen?” His voice broke.
“Shhh...” Rose’s hands continued softly against his back and she turned to kiss away the tears on his cheek.
“I should have made her leave,” he whispered.
“Julie didn’t want to leave. Staying was her choice, just like you’ve made the choice to keep searching for the killer.”
Feeling as though he could control his emotions better, Max backed away slightly, meeting her eyes. “Why aren’t you more interested in finding the killer? I don’t understand how uninterested you are.”
She looked away, shrugging. “I’ve had to deal with so much for so long, I just want it to be over. I’m afraid if the real party isn’t caught, you’ll be so consumed with finding him that we won’t ever get any happiness. I do want the killer caught, but you don’t have to be the one to catch him.”
“But how can I be happy when everyone thinks I’m guilty?”
“Not everyone.” She looked back at him, reaching up to caress his cheek. “I believe you, and all I want is you. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking backward, when we could go forward together. I’m so sorry about Julie, and I still miss Sage every day, but does that mean we don’t get to have any good moments?”
He could sort of understand her point, but it wasn’t the same for her. Sure, she found her sister’s body and people liked to talk about her because of it, but it was always pity they felt for her. For him they felt anger and rage, and Max hated it.
“I want to be happy, Rose, but I feel like I need to solve the case in order to get my life back.”
She blinked slowly a couple times, dropping her hand away. “But I love you,” she said, so softly he almost didn’t catch it. “Isn’t that enough?”
“Of course it is.” Max framed her face in his hands and pulled her in for a long kiss. The sweet taste of her lip gloss filled his mouth, tingling his tongue as he deepened the connection.
Rose let out a soft moan and her hands slipped inside the front of his shirt, caressing his abs with hot palms. “Oh, Max. Please. I want you. Let’s forget all this sadness.”
The timing still seemed off, but he wanted her too. Hearing her pleading was too much. He’d resisted so many times since coming home, determined to prove his innocence first. Really, though, it didn’t matter. She believed in him and backed him one-hundred percent, and he knew she meant it. It was time to lose themselves in each other, at least for a while.
He grabbed her hips, lifting her easily off the floor.
Rose wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to his shoulders, breathing heavily against his ear as she slipped her tongue inside it. “Please,” she whispered again, blowing hot air against him.
A shimmy of desire coursed down his body, and Max headed for Rose’s bedroom—their bedroom. He kissed her neck, bumping into the hallway wall as he walked. “I love you, Rosemary.”
“Then make love to me.”
Chapter Sixteen
Rose gripped Max’s shoulders as he bumbled his way through the bedroom door. When he tossed her onto the bed, she kept hold, pulling him down on top of her. They both kissed everything they could reach, and Rose wanted to feel more and more of him. She’d missed this so much. Missed him so much. She hadn’t even realized it when she’d been with other people over the years, but they were all wrong for her. Max felt so right.
He bumped her head to the side with his nose and then attacked her neck with his teeth and lips.
An involuntary moan rushed from her. “That feels so good.”
Max kept sucking, and desire and pleasure pulsated with each powerful draw he took. Warmth flooded through her and she knew her panties were already wet. As much as she didn’t want him to stop, she couldn’t afford a hickey.
Rose turned her head, forcing him off her neck, and kissed his cheek. Running her fingers through his hair, she led him to her mouth.
Max complied, his hips grinding into hers as he shifted. He nibbled and kissed at her mouth, continuing to grind and rub against her. “I’ve dreamed about you for so long, Rose.”
She clawed her nails down his back, wild to be with him. She’d missed him so much. She didn’t want to be apart from him again. “I never stopped dreaming about you,” she admitted. “Even with everything that happened. You were always the man meant for me.”
He leaned on one elbow, stopping his grinding. His fingertips traced her cheekbone, and the tenderness in his blue eyes melted her heart. “Really?”
“Really,” she confirmed, turning her head to kiss his fingers. “Nothing in my life is right without you. I love you.”
Max sat up, twisting his legs toward the top of the bed and pulling Rose across his lap. She straddled him on either side, watching him warily. She couldn’t read the look in his eyes, but he stared at her as if he’d never seen her before.
“Max?” She caressed his face, concern causing her to falter in her pursuit of making love to him. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, then trapped her hand beneath his cheek and shoulder and closed his eyes as though savoring her touch. “Better than okay.” His strong hands rested on the small of her back, drawing her close to his body. “I’m in love.”
Max’s words broke loose the small reservation she had been feeling, and the need to have him overwhelmed her again when he caressed her back. In a near frenzy, she grabbed at the hem of his shirt, ripping it up over his shoulders and tearing it free. After tossing it off the bed, she grabbed her own blouse, stripping it in seconds.
Max chuckled. “This isn’t a race, love, we have all the time we need.”
When his hand touched the bare skin of her back and moved toward the clasp of her bra, Rose moaned again. The heat of him soaked into her skin, and she wanted more of
it. She wanted his heat all over. “It’s a race for me,” she whispered. “I need you, Max.”
Max stripped her bra away, smiling down at her rapidly hardening nipples. He bent and took one in his mouth, swirling his thumb and finger around the other.
Shivery pleasure trembled through her and her nipples went rock hard. She slid her hands between them, not disturbing Max’s ministrations, but going to work on his chest. His small nipples puckered and Rose rolled them, pinching and tugging.
“Yes,” Max said into her breasts, his voice deepening and his breath quickening.
Rose began undoing the button on his pants, holding herself away from him stiffly so she could reach, though not wanting him to stop sucking on her.
Max’s eyes flicked up to meet hers, and a wicked grin lit his face as he pulled away. “Time to lose the pants, huh?”
Before she could answer, Max plunged his arm downward, his hand delving between her legs to run along the seam of her jeans. His hand roamed all the way back as far as he could reach and then forward again in a quick rhythm.
Rose rocked up on her knees to give him better access to touch, momentarily forgetting she’d been planning to get his clothes off. Her body pulsated and clenched with need, wanting more of him.
Completely abandoning her attempts to tug down his zipper, she went to work on her own. As soon as there was clearance, Max tucked his hand into the waistband and pushed the pants down around her thighs. He continued stroking the length of her entire sex, now with only her thin panties as a barrier to his touch.
Rose grasped his shoulders, rocking herself up and down on her knees, feeling giddy with pleasure. She could feel herself on the edge of orgasm already and tipped her head back, moaning.
“You are so damn beautiful.” Max’s lips once again touched her neck and he sucked powerfully.
A single finger slipped beneath her panties and found its way inside her. Back and forth Max wiggled it, stretching her while spreading the wetness of her passion. Once more he slipped out of her, and then Max hooked upward, stroking her clit hard and fast.
No longer able to support herself with her shaking legs, Rose collapsed backward onto the mattress. It didn’t stop Max, who continued back and forth across the pulsating nub between her legs and kept his mouth latched to her neck, sucking it with stinging pleasure.
Her entire body stiffened and tremors overtook her, stronger than anything she could remember feeling before. “Yes, yes, yes,” she cried softly, grasping her own nipples and pulling down on them while she rode out the intense pleasure of her delicious climax.
Max stopped sucking, kissing the spot on her neck with tender care.
She grinned. “You must be part vampire, my love. Now I see what the vampire craze is all about. That felt so good.”
He laughed and backed away. “I’m just sorry I don’t have special powers to take away that mark on your neck, but I’m guessing it was worth it.”
She ran her hands through his hair and kissed the tip of his nose, no longer caring what anyone would say when she showed up to town with a hickey. “Totally worth it. Now, I want all of you.”
Max pushed her down onto the pillows and yanked at her pants and underwear, his hands sliding down her thighs as he removed them the rest of the way.
Rose shivered with anticipation, watching as he kicked his own pants off. His body was magnificent. Much more defined and toned than she remembered. His pecs and abs were chiseled into hardness, and the small sprinkling of hair was darker than before.
Max stood up and retrieved something from his wallet, before dropping it onto their pile of clothes.
As she spotted the foil packet, relief flooded through her. Max was prepared. She hadn’t even thought about that in her haste to be with him.
He slipped the condom onto his erection with a bit of trouble, which made Rose smile. He was out of practice, but she’d make sure he got plenty of it from now on.
“Get up here,” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am.” He winked and hoped onto the bed.
Without further prompting, Max climbed on top of her, kissing his way around her body.
Rose stroked his back and slid her hands to his ass, squeezing it firmly. “Nice,” she murmured. “I missed this ass.”
Max scoffed and laughed at the same time, huffing his breath against her ear. “Wait until you see what I have for you up front.”
“Oh, yes,” she said, drawing her hands down to grip his large cock. “I definitely want this.”
She moved her hand to her mouth, Max watching intently as she licked her palm to add some lubrication. Reaching for his shaft, she lightly stroked her hands up and down the length of it, and it was Max’s turn to groan with pleasure.
He took a hold of her ankles, pushing her legs to her chest and sliding his body between them. Rose rubbed the tip of his dick against her wetness, moving it up to touch her tight core, once again excited and ready for him.
“I need you,” she said, guiding him to her opening.
“You have me.” He thrust inside.
Max filled her completely, and the tightness was almost too much to bear.
He held himself rigid on his forearms, staring down at her without moving. “You okay?”
Nodding, Rose shifted her hips, wiggling as she tightened and loosened her muscles around his length. It felt so right, having him part of her. She clenched her thighs around his waist, drawing him inside her further, and Max began thrusting in time with her.
“Oh, yes, Rose. I missed you... so... damn... much,” he panted between thrusts.
He pounded into her, faster and harder, and Rose couldn’t stop her squeals of pleasure. “I missed you too,” she panted, nearing the finish line again.
Max’s body jerked and convulsed a few times. He gasped out his pleasure before falling against her in a shuddering heap.
***
Max lay in the bed next to Rose, watching the ceiling fan whirl above them. The cat sat on the end of the bed, staring at Max with an unblinking gaze.
For his part, Max was embarrassed and glad only the cat was around to watch. It was a good thing he’d brought Rose to a climax first. He sure hadn’t lasted long.
She circled a pattern on his chest with her fingernail, while cuddling against his body. “What are you thinking?”
The dreaded question, but he’d be honest with her. “I’m sorry it wasn’t better.”
She sat up and looked at him, a crease forming between her eyebrows. “What do you mean? That was the best ever. Everything I could have hoped for, because it was with you.”
She meant it. He couldn’t doubt that. He stroked his thumb between her brows, smoothing her distress away. “I’m glad to hear that. I was just disappointed that I lasted less time today than I did our first time.”
She giggled. “I didn’t even know what to do the first time. And in the back of your car at the drive in, no less. We were such rebels.”
Max nodded. “You realize this is the first time we’ve done it in a bed?”
“Uh oh.” She lay back down and wrapped her arm around him. “Does that mean we’re getting old and boring?”
“Did it feel boring to you?” He tried to keep his voice serious, though he was only partially joking. She’d already proclaimed her satisfaction, and practice would make it even more perfect. “It didn’t feel boring to me. So, I don’t really think we’re in any danger of that.”
“Besides,” she said, “we can always buy some of those sex toys to spice things up if we need to.”
Max laughed so hard his belly shook. His beautiful Rose had certainly become bolder while he was gone. “Let’s stick to just us for now.”
She shrugged, moving her breast against him. “Suit yourself.”
They lapsed into silence, and Max listened to the sound of Rose’s even breathing, wondering if she had fallen asleep. As much as he would like to, he couldn’t shut his mind down enough for sleep.
It shou
ld be one of the happiest moments of his life, being here with Rose, but the image of Julie kept popping into his mind. He failed her, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about that. In fact, if Calvin was the one who killed her, it was probably Max’s fault the cop decided to go after her in the first place.
The killer must have given up the idea of harassing Rose, at least for now. But that made sense, actually. Rose had little interest in searching for the true culprit. She just wanted to be with Max and live their life as happy as they could.
Julie was a woman with a mission, and that would have scared the shit out of the killer. She wouldn’t stop searching for the truth. Worse, Julie knew without a doubt that Max was innocent, so would never consider him like the other people in Clarkston. That couldn’t have made the killer happy.
“You’re thinking about Julie,” Rose said, startling him. “Are you okay?”
“Not a very romantic thing to do, huh?” he asked. “I should be thinking of us.”
She rubbed the hair at his temples and shook her head against his shoulder. “It’s okay. I understand. You never get over finding a body like that. Especially when it was someone you care about.”
Crap. He was too wrapped up in himself, and hadn’t been thinking about the fact that Rose found Sage. Of course she understood. And everything that happened today must have brought those memories right to the front of her mind. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve had a long time to get over the shock. The pain and fear and anguish do fade slightly over time, but the memories of what I saw are crystal clear. And I’ll never stop missing Sage.” She kissed his cheek. “It’s okay for you to be upset about Julie. In fact, if you weren’t, I’d think something was wrong with you.”
“I promise not to get obsessed or push you to the side,” he said, “but the killer really does need to be stopped. What if he comes after you next?”
She blew out a loud sigh, but nodded again. “I know why you want to find him. I’ll do my best to help you, but no crazy stuff, okay?”
“Crazy stuff?”
“Stake outs, stalking people, trying to bug phones.” He felt her cheek tighten against his shoulder, but couldn’t tell if she was grimacing or smiling. “I don’t know what all is going on in that head of yours, but obviously Julie’s plan of the camera got her killed. Let’s not draw any more attention to ourselves than we already have just by the fact that we are who we are.”
Murderous Lies Page 12