“You asked for this, Red.”
She clung to my ass.
“You had to push me, didn’t you?”
She pinched me, giggling in her throat.
“You want to be fucked?” I snarled. “You’re going to be fucked.”
“Thank god,” she breathed, tapping out a rhythm on my ass. “Hurry up, then, Grump.”
I smacked her again, listening to her little gasps, feeling the way she was squirming on my shoulder. I ran my hand up her thigh and groaned.
“Feel how wet you are,” I hissed. “You want this, baby?”
She grabbed my ass, squeezing.
“Can’t you move any faster, old man?”
Inside, I kicked the door shut and headed upstairs. I dropped her on the bed, and in ten seconds, tore the miniskirt from her body, and ripped the T-shirt off her torso.
“You are not wearing that again,” I growled, kicking out of my boots and yanking my jeans down. My cock jutted out, erect and angry, wanting inside her. I pulled off my shirt and looked at her. She was smiling, mischievousness dancing in her eyes. I hesitated one second, and she frowned.
“Don’t get all touchy feely again, Maxx. Take me.” She opened her legs. “Hard.”
I was on her in a second. Kissing, licking, biting—any and all doubts gone from my mind. She was here. With me. Wanting me as much as I wanted her. I needed to let go of my fear. To let myself go.
We were wild, moving across the bed, our tongues and mouths searching for all the spots we knew best, learning new ones. I lapped at her heat, and she stroked my length, teasing the crown and cupping my balls.
I pushed her back to the bed, sucking her breasts, scoring over the sensitive nipples with my teeth. She cried out and arched against me. I teased her with my fingers, stroking her wetness, pumping them into her until she gripped at my shoulders.
“Inside, Maxx. I want you inside.”
I buried myself with one hard snap of my hips.
We both cried out with pleasure. I didn’t wait for her to get used to me. I began to move in long, deep strokes, lifting myself up on my knees, dragging her ass up my thighs and holding her hips tight as I drove inside her. She wrapped her legs around my waist, her low moans and whimpered gasps of my name burning into my brain.
I ignored the marks that lingered on her skin. I concentrated on the pleasure on her face, the flush in her cheeks. Her impassioned cries. The sounds our bodies made as they moved together. The feel of her muscles clutching at me.
She stiffened and cried out, screaming her release, gripping at the sheets. Sweat covered my brow, beading down my back as I held her tighter, lifted her higher, sank deeper.
The small lamp beside the bed hit the floor. A pillow fell from the bed. The headboard creaked, the mattress shifted, and my orgasm hit me like a tsunami, washing over my body in a long, sucking wave that obliterated everything in its path, leaving a blank, weightless darkness before throwing me back to earth.
I collapsed on her chest, spent. She wrapped me in her arms as I nuzzled at her damp skin.
“I think I made my point,” she murmured.
“You did. Quite thoroughly.”
“No more, Maxx. I’m fine.” She hugged me harder. “Shake that day off. Stay with me.”
I covered her mouth with mine and kissed her. “I’m right here, Red. I always will be.”
She pulled me back down. “Good.”
“The garage,” I mumbled, feeling exhaustion bear down on me.
“The guys will handle it. Go to sleep.”
I tried to fight it, but I felt it pulling me under.
I had to tell her before I succumbed to sleep. I had to say the words.
“I love you, Red.”
She pressed a kiss to my head.
“I know.”
Epilogue
Three months later
Red came barreling out of the office, heading straight toward me. I stopped in the middle of a conversation with Brett, frowning at her.
“What?”
“I need the rest of the day off.” She took in a deep breath. “And your truck.”
“Oh boy,” Brett muttered and moved away.
I scratched my chin with a grimace. “Not happening, Red. The one time I let you drive it, you almost took out the oak tree beside the garage. It’s too big for you.”
“But I have to go!”
Her voice quavered, and I moved closer. “Go where?”
“Solemn Ridge.”
I gaped at her. “That’s three hours away. What the hell is in Solemn Ridge that you have to go today?”
“The storage place I have my boxes in. I forgot to pay the bill, and if it’s not paid today, I lose everything, Maxx! All my dad’s things, all my…” She trailed off, her voice cracking. “I have to go.”
I yanked her into my arms. “I’ll drive you, Red. It’s okay.”
I met Brett’s eyes, and he nodded. I knew he and Stefano would cover the garage for me.