“What do you want, Allie?” he asked in a rough whisper.
I drew in a hitching breath and summoned my courage. I wasn’t ready to have sex tonight, but I didn’t want this to end.
“I want to touch you,” I repeated, firming my resolve.
His fingers threaded in my hair, and his thumb hooked beneath my jaw. “Look at me.” He applied gentle pressure, directing my eyes downward.
My cheeks flamed. He wasn’t commanding me to look at his beautiful face. He wanted me to see all of him. He’d noticed my hesitancy to look directly at his erection, and now he was daring me to change my mind. If I wanted to touch him, we would do this on his terms.
I released a shuddering sigh, sinking into his control. If I let him take the lead, I didn’t have to worry about my anxiety over this relationship or my inexperience. All I had to do was surrender, and we could both get what we so desperately needed.
As I ceded to his will, warmth bloomed in my core, and slick heat wet my lower lips. My sex pulsed in time with my heartbeat, slower than before. Everything turned languid and a little surreal, the earlier frenzy of our union deepening into something darker and more forbidden. My clit pulsed and ached along with every heavy thud of my heart, and the desire to touch Max made my fingers tingle with anticipation.
My eyes fell on the hard planes of his chest before slowly lowering to his rippling abs. The moonlight caressed his tanned skin, and shadows pooled around his defined muscles, making him appear more imposing than ever. I felt very small before him, but I found the sensation of my own fragility delicious in a purely feminine way.
His calloused fingertips traced lazy patterns around my breasts, exploring and teasing without directly stimulating my nipples. They throbbed with an echo of the painful lust that tormented my clit, and I found myself arching into his touch. His other hand firmed on my jaw, holding me at his mercy with a shadow of his full strength.
My eyes continued their downward path, my fingers trailing in their wake to relish the feel of his hard body. When I reached the dark trail of masculine hair below his navel, my progress faltered, and I swallowed a flutter of nervousness.
He pinched my nipple in a shocking rebuke. “Look at me.”
I gasped at the flare of pain and the utter dominance in his tone. Max had unleashed his lustful need on me before, but he’d never fully taken control like this. I realized he’d been holding himself back. He’d been trying to spare me from his darkest impulses.
But I wasn’t afraid of him. And the maddened pulsing sensation between my legs told me that I liked his darkness. I wanted it to envelop me, to lose myself in him completely. Nothing had ever felt more blissful than Max’s big hands on my body, his deep voice rumbling over my skin.
My lips parted on a soft gasp when my shy gaze finally landed on his cock. Even in the dim lighting, his size was intimidating. Could my untried body accommodate him? A small shiver raced through me at the thought, followed by a wash of heat.
Tentatively, I trailed my touch lower. At the first brush of my fingertips over his velvet length, he gritted out a low growl. Emboldened by his response, I traced the vein that ran down his shaft before circling the base of his thick head. I caught a bead of moisture on my thumb, and he hissed out a curse.
“Fuck, Bambi. You don’t know what you do to me. How many times I’ve thought about having you just like this.” His grip on my jaw shifted, directing my eyes to his. White hot flames flickered in their inky depths, and his features drew tight with something between hunger and awe. “You are so goddamn beautiful.”
His other hand left my breasts to close around my gentle fingers, directing me to grasp his cock. He applied firm pressure, showing me how he liked to be touched. His forehead dropped to mine, and he kept me pinned in his burning gaze as his breaths came fast and hot against my lips. He didn’t seem to notice the fact that his scar was making direct contact with my skin. I relished the feel of the strangely smooth flesh, knowing that he was just as lost in me as I was in him. He trusted me, just like I trusted him.
Satisfied with my more confident rhythm, he released my hand so that his touch could return to my sex. His fingers dipped beneath the band at the top of my panties, making direct contact with the most intimate part of me for the first time; he’d always touched me over my underwear before.