I’d called him a monster, and my apology wasn’t enough to take it back. My regret cut at my heart like a knife, the edge of pain driving me deeper into his strong arms. If he wouldn’t believe my words, I would show him how I felt about him. With each breathless kiss, I melted into him, giving him everything.
I trust you. You protected me. You’re not a monster.
His mouth firmed on mine, his teeth nipping at my lower lip as the hunger we shared began to overtake us both. My tongue tangled with his, a clash of lust and need. His big hands bracketed my waist, pushing me backward as his bulky body pressed my much smaller frame against the wall. He pinned me in place, but the apprehension I should’ve felt was a pleasurable buzz down my spine. His danger, his strength, was like an electric current dancing over my skin, making my nerves jump and dance. A hot tingle raced over my flesh, and I burned for him.
Heat pooled between my legs, and something needy pulsed at the apex of my thighs. I was coming to recognize the signs of sexual arousal he awoke within me; sensations I’d never experienced with another man. Not even Niko, who was beautiful and alluring enough to set my feminine responses into overdrive.
I shoved the brief thought of the handsome Russian from my mind and increased the ferocity of my kiss. I twined my fingers in Max’s dark curls, drawing him impossibly closer as his mouth molded to mine.
His low groan rolled down into my chest, reverberating through my body in a deep vibration that I felt all the way to my toes. The pulsing between my legs turned to an aching throb, and I mindlessly ground my hips against the hard bulge of his erection. He growled against my tongue, another delicious rumbling sensation that reached my core.
Desperate to ease the ache in my fluttering clit, I wrapped one leg around his hip to draw him closer, the wall at my back aiding my balance. I rubbed myself against his hard length, and he released a sharp hiss.
His big hands left my hair to cup my bottom, lifting me up so that my feet left the floor. I braced my legs around him and clutched at his shoulders, but he easily held me upright with his vastly superior strength. I leaned into him with a moan, allowing him to support me. Trusting him not to let me fall.
The longer he held me, the hotter I became, until the heat rippling beneath the surface of my skin was too much to bear. I hated the clothes that separated us; I needed more contact. I needed him.
But I couldn’t tear at his clothes while my arms were braced around his muscular shoulders.
I drew back just far enough so that I could pant against his mouth, “My bedroom.”
He didn’t need any further direction. His lips crashed back down on mine, and his grip shifted. Suddenly, I was cradled against his chest, but his mouth remained hungry on mine. He kissed me in a frenzy, carrying me to my room with long, sure strides.
I didn’t allow myself to think about why he knew the way to my bedroom: how he’d searched my home on the night he kidnapped and interrogated me.
None of that mattered anymore. If he hadn’t made that reckless choice, I never would’ve met him. And I wouldn’t trade this kiss for anything. I wouldn’t give Max up. I couldn’t. There was no going back.
When we reached my bedroom, he set me down on my feet, barely breaking our kiss. He plundered my mouth, exchanging each ragged breath. His thick fingers fumbled at the tiny buttons on my blouse, and I grasped the hem of his black cotton t-shirt. My fingernails raked over his rippling abs in my haste to strip him. He released a low, guttural sound, and his hands fisted in the silk material of my delicate top. With one powerful jerk of his arms, the tiny buttons ripped free. The sound of smooth faux-pearls popping as they bounced on the floor mirrored the desire crackling along my skin, every inch of my body coming alive for him.
He wrenched the blouse down my arms, and I gasped at the suddenly rough way he was handling me. He’d been so achingly careful with me before, but now desperate need overtook us both. I shoved his shirt up his torso, greedily exploring the hard planes of his muscles as I tried to strip him too. He was too tall for me to push it over his head, but he knew what I wanted. He craved the skin-to-skin contact as keenly as I did, which was made clear when he tossed his shirt aside and immediately wrapped his corded arms around me, holding me close.