“No one ever wants to go to Maine. Seemed like a good place. When people go on the run in the movies, they always head for the border. I always thought a quiet state to hide in would be better.”
He shakes his head and doesn’t say anything else. It almost feels like we’re friends, and then he does something I’d like to slap him for. He puts the handcuffs back on me. I don’t argue, instead I find myself staring at the light in the lantern he must have lit before I woke up.
Therapy. I definitely need therapy.
It shouldn’t bother me that Tess seems so disappointed when I handcuff her back to the bed. It does, and that’s all kinds of bad. I have a soft spot for this little, brunette spitfire, and I need to tap that shit all the way out. I am even staying here for another night just so her feet can heal a little more. That in itself is pure idiocy. I should do like she suggested and drop her. Not here though, if the Hernandez twins managed to escape and find her, Tess would never survive—or if she did, she would wish she hadn’t. I could take her to the local town as she said though. I have to go there anyway to get a car off of Zeke. I ignore that train of thought, however, because the simple truth is I don’t want to separate from Tess just yet. I may die today and if I do, these moments with her have been the bright spot in my sorry life.
In the back of my mind, I curse the fact that I couldn’t have met her before Renee, before the child, before I made the decisions that brought me to the place I am now. What would have happened then? My dick jerks against the zipper of my jeans, because I know what would have happened. I would have owned her body and made damned sure she never even thought to look elsewhere for a man.
“Rest, Kitten. I need to go back up top and see if I can see signs of any company.”
She doesn’t answer, and it pisses me off that she’s making me feel guilty. She’s my prisoner damn it. Mine to do with what I want, and in any way I want. Excitement courses through my system at that thought.
I end up spending the entire day up top. I needed to clear my head. I was right; the woman is under my skin. I am starting to think I’ll never get free, like she will always be there, and today, I found I missed her. I wish I had never touched her. Maybe if I hadn’t touched her or tasted her…maybe then she wouldn’t weigh so heavily on my brain. Tomorrow, I will let her go, I decide again. I’m giving myself whiplash with the way I keep changing my own damn mind. The woman has me going in circles, and I’m starting to get dizzy. I have to let her go. It’s best for both of us. Decision made; I head back to the bunker and check on her.
I barely make it off the bottom rung before she pipes up.
“How nice of you to come back and check on me,” she snaps.
I have to bite the inside of my jaw to keep from smiling. She really doesn’t know how to guard her attitude, and I like everything about it. It all tempts me to show her exactly who is in charge.
“Miss me?”
“Like a toothache. To think I liked you before your hearing. Just goes to show you reality never lives up to the dream.”
“Did you dream of me, Kitten?”
That snaps her mouth shut or at least, I thought it would. I was apparently wrong.
“I think it’s only fair to warn you, Max, you are an asshole.”
“You’re tempting me, sweetheart.”
“Yeah well, you’re pissing me off so I’d say we were even.”
“You do get that you are my hostage, right?” I ask because apparently she needs reminding.
“I offered to help you! You dick! What happens? You chain me up and leave me alone again! I specifically asked you not to! I even said please!”
“I told you I’d be back! I had to make sure you didn’t escape! Remember? Hostage?”
“I told you I would help you!”
“And, I told you I’d be back,” I stress again.
“What would have happened to me if one of those men from the prison had found me while you were gone, Max? You left me helpless!” She growls.
She might have a point there, and I curse my stupidity. Still, she’s way too stubborn for her own good.
“You need to stop pushing me.”
“You need to stop leaving me alone!”
I grab her by the back of her neck and pull her face up to me so that our lips are just a breath away from each other. Even then, even knowing what I’ve done in my life, it is not fear in her eyes. It’s excitement.
“You’re playing with fire.” Her tongue slips from between her lips and rubs gently against the bottom one. Her beautiful hazel eyes are glowing and so fucking intense. “You should be praying that I leave you alone, woman.”
“I know,” she breathes.
“Then, why aren’t you?”
“Hell if I know, Max.”
“This can’t happen, Tess.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to take you into town tomorrow and drop you off. I have to.” Even telling her that hurts. It’s true though. If we react this strongly to each other after only two days, what the hell would it be like to be near her longer? I can’t chance it. When I clearly see the disappointment in her eyes, I hate myself. For the first time since I took that fucker’s life, I regret my decision. Tess offers a promise of a better life, of a life worth living. It’s too late.
“Okay, Max,” she whispers, and the remorse in her eyes cuts me wide open.
“Tess…”
“You could kiss me goodbye.”
“It might not stop at that,” I tell her in complete honesty.
“I’m not sure I care.”
“You should. You’re tempting fate, Kitten.”
“Are you going to talk all evening or kiss me?”
“You don’t like talking?”
“When you grab a lady like you just did, you kind of promise her something...”
My lips crash into hers, stopping her words and swallowing them. My tongue angrily takes over her mouth because I am angry. I’m angry at her for letting me do this, and I’m angry at the world for giving me everything I ever wanted; when it’s too late. Most of all, I’m angry at myself. If I had known Tess was waiting for me, things would have been different. When we pull away from each other, I watch as those emerald eyes of hers slowly open, shining at me and promising me things I can’t have.
“Damn, Max, you sure know how to kiss,” she breathes.
“Right back at you, Kitten,” I growl, before claiming her lips again.
Maybe I could keep her, one more day….
My body is on fire by the time our second kiss ends. I want more, and it’s on the tip of my tongue to demand it. Max does something surprising though. He reaches over, unchains me from the bed, and helps me to stand.
“Will you give yourself to me tonight?”
His gruff voice vibrates through me. I get the feeling he’s asking for more than just sex. I try to remind myself of all of the reasons I should say no. I can’t. It’s just not in me; I want this. It may never go past tonight, but I want tonight.
“Yes.”
My answer makes those dark eyes of his deepen. I’m expecting him to make love to me right then, right there. So, it surprises me when he leaves me on the bed and goes to the wash basin. He takes one of the hundreds of gallon jugs of water stacked neatly in the corner and pours it into the basin he emptied earlier. I watch as he strips off his shirt. The tattoos on his shoulder and chest grab my eyes first before he turns to give me his back.
“Tess, come and wash my hair,” he orders.
It doesn’t even occur to me to argue. The truth is; I want to wash his hair. I want the privilege of running my fingers through his hair. I want to touch him and mark him, as he’s marked me. My hand goes to my neck; rubbing the marks he left there the day before. I walk to him; he gives me that slight smile that I’ve seen escape him a few times and hands me a small travel bottle of shampoo. I put it down and grab an old plastic cup and go about washing his hair.
“Go back and sit down and
wait for me,” he orders when I finish.
“But…”
“If you touch me, this won’t go like I want it to. Your hands on my body are guaranteed to make me lose control, and that’s not what I want, not tonight. Now, go and wait for me.”
I want to pout, but his words have me too excited. I’m practically walking on air when I go back to the bed. He undresses, and I shamelessly watch him wash off. I’ve been halfway in love with Max since I first read his story. I may only get this one night with him, and I have to accept that. My night with him is a moment out of time. One that shouldn’t happen, but one I will cherish until I’m old and gray. I can’t pull my eyes away from him as he sponge bathes himself. When he washes his cock, and I watch him take himself into his hands, my body flushes hot. Moisture gathers between my legs and I’m dying to have him. I want to cry out in disappointment when he covers himself up with a pair of jogging pants he pulls out of the satchel he brought back from his uncle’s.
Once he empties the basin, he turns to me.
“Come here, Tess.”
Three words. Three words that are so simple, but they are words that I’ve imagined this man saying for months. It seems surreal. If I only get tonight, it will have been more than worth it. I go to him, willingly. I go to him, eager.
He grabs the collar of my shirt and pulls. Buttons, pop and scatter through the room. My body jumps, but my eyes never leave his intense stare. He takes the shirt from my body and throws it on the floor. I look down at it and then back up to him.
“Umm…what am I supposed to wear tomorrow?”
“Let’s just worry about tonight right now, Kitten.”
I moisten my lips and nod my approval. That seems to be what he was looking for because he unlatches the clasp between my breasts and my bra releases. It soon joins my ruined shirt. Heat infuses my face, I can feel it, but I don’t look away.
“You’re beautiful, Tess. So fucking beautiful.”
It doesn’t matter that I don’t agree with him. Right now, standing in front of him I feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. He unbuttons my pants, and they drop to the ground, leaving me standing in front of him in nothing but my panties. He slides those off too, and now I’m naked, wondering what he’s going to do next. I don’t have long to wait.
“Bend over the basin, sweetheart. I want to wash that beautiful hair of yours.”
I’m twenty-seven years old, and I’ve never had anyone pamper me, and that’s a damn shame. When Max starts using his strong hands to tenderly wash my hair, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. Once he’s done, he wraps my hair in a towel and begins washing my body.
His hands move so slowly, so tenderly over me, touching me in a way that it feels like he’s worshipping me. When he cups my pussy, I moan. He’s already touched and caressed me to the point that my body feels like it is on pins and needles. I’m so close to the edge that when he holds my center like that, it’s almost enough to send me, hurling into an orgasm. I manage to keep that from happening, but it’s close. He takes the bar of soap; dropping it into the water and then lathering it in his hands. My eyes are glued to his movements. Even so, I’m not prepared when he slides the soap between my folds and lets it rub and tease against my opening and then my clit. He pushes it up so that I could almost ride it, before taking it away.
I cry in disappointment. As he uses a cloth and fresh water to rinse me clean.
“Max…”
“What’s wrong, sweetheart.”
“I need…”
“What do you need?”
“Make me….make me come, please.”
I think that might be what he is waiting for, from me, because he grabs my thighs and practically pulls my legs apart and then his tongue pushes into my pussy and slides straight to my clit, flicking against it before flattening out and rubbing against my sensitive skin so intently, my legs go weak. He tortures my clit over and over, and I want to scream because I need more. Then, his fingers push into me, just as he sucks my clit into this mouth, rubbing manipulating it roughly, back and forth between his lips. His fingers begin fucking me, at a measured pace at first and then faster, starting a steady rhythm that I lose myself inside of. When his fingers thrust farther, and I clamp down on them; we both groan out loud. On his next thrust, he angles them and begins hard fucking me while his tongue joins in. The dual sensations are so intense I scream out his name and he thrusts firmer, his fingers almost inflexible, and this time he hits that magic spot. The cream from my orgasm rushes forth. I cry as I come all over Max’s face and fingers. He’s still sucking my clit, and he growls as my liquid soaks him, and the vibration sends me higher and to the point where it feels as if I’m floating.
When it’s over, I can’t register anything. I feel boneless; like I’m floating. I vaguely realize that Max is cleaning me from my climax and then drying me off. He grabs a large, cotton, flannel, button-up shirt out of his pack, putting it on me.
“I want you in my shirt tonight, Tess,” he says buttoning it up.
Once he’s got that done, my legs are still weak but it doesn’t matter. He picks me up and carries me back to the bed. I sit there, wondering what’s next when Max sits down beside me and starts brushing my hair. I close my eyes and just enjoy. The combination of having him give me so much attention and the orgasm I just had, mix, and my eyes get heavy. I’m swaying against him by the time he finishes brushing my hair. He gets off the cot and lays me down. As tired as I am, I can’t wait to finally have him. There’s a loud noise that makes me open my eyes, and I smile as he pushes the other small bed next to mine. He lies down and then pulls my body, so my back is against his chest, and our legs intertwine.
“Go to sleep, Kitten,” he whispers against my hair as he holds me tight.
“When you asked me to give myself to you, I pictured this evening differently, Max,” I tell him, even though I can already feel myself drifting off to sleep.
“Tonight was the single, most exciting night I’ve ever shared with a woman, Tess. Never doubt that, ever.”
Something about the way he says the words makes me believe them, and I fall asleep with a smile.
Falling asleep with a woman in your arms for the first time in over five years is a surreal experience. Doing it with a woman that you actually care about is something I have never experienced before, and I do care about Tess. It doesn’t even matter that it’s only been a few days. I care, more than is probably healthy for either one of us.
Last night I was pretty sure nothing could match the sensation of holding her while I fell asleep. I was so damn wrong. The best fucking feeling in the world is waking up with Tess between my legs, her tongue gliding under my hardened cock, and her fingernails digging into my ass.
Her tongue bathes my cock and shivers of need and awareness slither up my spine. I groan as she teases the head, sucking just the tip in her mouth.
“Max,” She whispers my name, slipping her tongue along every crevice and tasting my pre-cum.
“Kitten…”
She kisses down my shaft, her tongue lightly flicking and teasing me. Her hand starts at the base of my cock, grips me tightly and pumps me torturously slowly.
“I thought you’d never wake up, Max.”
“Take that shirt off. If you’re going to suck me, you’re going to do it without hiding your body from me.”
She sits back on her heels and pulls my shirt over her head, throwing it on the floor. Beautiful.
“Now, let me see you play with those tits.”
She gets a look on her face, almost as if she’s daring me to reprimand her. The challenge on her face attracts me like nothing else. I want to watch it slowly change into a look of need so intense that she’s begging me for release. I can’t allow myself to go that far. Tess deserves more than a quick roll in the hay with a marked man. Still, I am not strong enough to turn what she’s offering away. It may be all I get, and I want to savor it.
Her hands cup under her breasts
, pushing them together as if she is serving them to me and while that’s something I’d love for her to do, it is not what I want right now. I reach down to pull my jogging pants back up. She knows what I want. If she’s not going to do it, then this game needs to end right here. I don’t tell her what I need; that would defeat the purpose. She lets out a small hum, and then her fingers move to her mouth. I watch as she sucks two fingers into her mouth, making them moist. I shake my head no, and she freezes.
“I want your pussy on those fucking nipples when I suck them,” I order, pulling my cock back out to stroke and enjoy the show.
I wasn’t sure of what to expect. Tess surprises me though, and I watch as her fingers disappear into her pussy. It’s so fucking hot to watch as her breath becomes ragged as she rubs her fingers over her clit.
“That’s my good girl,” I praise as her fingers brush over her hard nipples making them glow all shiny and wet. “Pull on them.” She follows my command immediately. Her head falls back as she moans. Beautiful. The word comes again, but then that word is Tess. She’s the single most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. “Now feed me your nipples. Let me taste you.” It wasn’t what I had planned, but I find watching her, I can’t stop myself.
Tess cups her hands under her breasts again, goes up on her knees, and leans into me, bringing her breast to my mouth. I latch onto it greedily, groaning as her essence explodes on my tongue. I make sure I suck every trace of her juice off and leave a love bite behind. The small pain makes her hips thrust into the air. She’s so fucking responsive. I switch my attention to the other breast, repeating myself, but by the time I finish hands have wrapped around my head. Her nails are clawing into my skin and she holds me tight against her breast, begging for more.
“Show me how you make yourself come, Tess,” I order her, my voice laden with need.
She pulls away carefully, her eyes are dilated and almost glowing. She uses one hand on her nipple, pulling it hard, then pinching it and repeating. At the same time, her other hand caresses her clit, over and over in small, half circles. It doesn’t take her long, mere minutes, and she’s thrusting against her hand and calling out my name as she gives herself over to the orgasm.