Then he kissed me. After that, he fucked me slow.
And it was even better.
*
We were in Max’s hot sauna that Max had turned on after round one and Max took me to after round two.
It wasn’t big, just big enough for two. Max had a towel around his hips and he was sitting on the little, wooden bench. I had a towel wrapped around my body and I was on my back on the bench, my knees bent nearly to my chest with my feet against the wooden wall, my head on Max’s firm, towel-covered thigh. He was using his fingers to sift through my hair, arranging it across his lap.
Heaven.
I had my eyes closed and my mind was wandering to nowhere, nothing. It wasn’t filled with junk and garbage like it normally was. It was just drifting along peacefully. And my body was sated and relaxed, so deeply, I didn’t think relaxation could be that deep.
“What’s in your head, Duchess?”
“You have a strong tongue,” I blurted the first thing that entered my blank mind then my eyes popped open and I saw him looking down at me, his brows raised and his mouth twitching.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I whispered and turned my head to the side so my cheek was to his thigh and I hoped the hot sauna camouflaged the heat in my face.
His finger touched the hinge of my jaw and went down, along my neck to my collarbone.
“Nina –” he called and I started talking, scared to death of what he might say, I had to stop him saying anything at all.
“I’m not sure sweating with a man in a sauna is a good thing to do.”
“Why?”
“Sweat is unattractive,” I told the wall.
“It wasn’t when you broke one in my bed ten minutes ago.”
He would mention that.
“Well –”
“Baby, look at me,” he demanded gently as his fingers curled around my neck.
I closed my eyes then I turned my head on his thigh to look up at him. His face was as gentle as his voice and I tensed.
“You’re right, we’ve only known each other a week,” he said, his thumb stroking my jaw and my tense body went taut, all sated relaxation, garbage-free mind gone.
I knew it. I just knew it.
Wonder Max wasn’t Wonder Max at all.
He had me naked(ish) in his sauna after having sex with me twice and he was done with me.
I just knew it.
“Yes, only a week,” I agreed, pulling my face from his hand, lifting up and twisting so I was seated on the bench.
That was as far as I got before I was dragged across his lap. My eyes met his and I opened my mouth to speak but he got there before me.
“I wasn’t done,” he told me.
“What?” I asked briskly, his brows drew together over narrowed eyes and he examined my face.
“You pissed?”
“No,” I lied.
“Yeah, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
His eyes roamed my face and his arms tightened around me. “Jesus, Nina, how in God’s name can you be pissed?”
“I’m not,” I lied again.
“Babe, you are.”
“Let me go, it’s hot in here, hotter when we’re touching.”
“Nina –”
I pushed against his chest. “Max, let me go.”
His tight arms gave me a shake and he clipped, “Nina.”
I calmed and tried to look at him without glaring at him.
“Jesus,” he muttered.
“You had something to say?” I prompted.
“Yeah,” he bit off. “I was gonna say that I know we’ve only known each other a week and I know you’re scared outta your fuckin’ skull because I got you after all those assholes chewed you up but what happened today and what happened tonight even you can’t ignore.”
I managed to stare at him without glaring at him mainly because my mouth had dropped open and my mind had gone blank.
Then I whispered, “What?”
“We’re connected now.”
It was breathy this time when I repeated, “What?”
“Very connected.”
“Max –”
“You think you can walk outta Mindy’s life, Brody’s life, my life after what happened today, what happened between us tonight –”
I broke in, saying, “I thought you were going to send me away.”
His head jerked and it was his turn to ask, “What?”
“I thought you were done with me.”
Max stared at me a second and I watched in budding, yet weirdly rapt terror as a dark, ominous shadow drifted over his face.
“I’m not those fuckin’ guys,” he growled so low I barely heard him.
My stomach pitched and I whispered, “Max –”
“Don’t ever fuckin’ mistake me for one of those fuckin’ guys.”
“I –”
“I don’t know all they did, I just know what it did to you and, Nina, I’m not one of those fuckin’ guys.”
“Okay,” I said softly.
“And I cannot fuckin’ believe, after I took care of you when you were sick, after this week, after today, after tonight, you’d fuckin’ think that of me.”
Even in the face of his obvious anger, I felt steel sheath my spine and I told him, “You don’t understand.”
“Explain it to me.”
“It always starts good.”
“Yeah?”
“Then it goes bad.”
“And?”