The Woman with the Wallet (Costa Family #10)

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

Miko

I won’t lie; I was actually kind of relieved that by the time Chuck went to bed and Max and I cleaned up the epic fucking mess he made of my kitchen, Zeno still hadn’t gotten back to me about anything.

Even if that went against everything I thought I knew about myself. Namely, that work was just about the most important thing in the world, behind my parents and siblings.

Nothing else, not even a woman, got in the way of work.

Then again, none of the women in the past were Max.

Even as I thought that, I glanced over to find her already watching me. Her gaze quickly fell, but not before I saw the mix of confusion and warmth on her face.

It was strange to be in a position where I was the one more in touch with my feelings, more determined to explore what was between us.

That said, it made sense.

Sure, my work forced me to be able to compartmentalize, to tamp down anything personal for the better of the organization. But I had come from a happy, loving family. I knew how to love and be loved.

Max, on the other hand, had all of the hard shit in life and none of the soft. Yeah, she had Megs. And she definitely loved her and was loved in return, but there was a certain level of anxious attachment in that relationship for Max. She thought that if or when Megs was ready to move on with her life, she would be all alone in the world again. There was no part of her that seemed to realize someone else could ever love her.

“Max,” I called, watching her look over, features guarded.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something about your past?”

“Well, you can ask,” she said with a shrug.

“I know about your time on the streets alone and then meeting Megs. But… you’ve never talked about before then.”

“There’s not much to tell. I was raised by a single mom. My dad… is a big question mark.”

“What happened with your mom that had you on the streets, though?”

To that, she sucked in a deep breath through her nose before sighing it out.

“My fifth ‘step-dad’ happened,” Max admitted. “I was fourteen. He was a fucking pervert.”

“Jesus.”

“Nothing happened. Much,” she clarified. “But when I went to my mom about what did, she was fucking enraged.”

“As she should be.”

“At me,” Max clarified. “She went on and on about how I was ‘leading him on’ by walking around in shorts and tank tops. That I was always flirting with him. I was fourteen. I didn’t know how to flirt,” she said, jaw going tight. “Anyway, she kicked me out.”

“She kicked you out?”

“Yep. She said she couldn’t have me around competing for her guy’s attention. Like I wanted that scumbag’s attention. But, honestly, I was okay with leaving. Living with my mother was somehow more unstable than being on the streets. Different guy every week. Not one of them even halfway decent. Between them, we were practically homeless anyway.”

“Have you ever seen her since?”

“Sad thing is, I walked right past her in a bodega once. She didn’t even recognize me. But she was hanging on the arm of some other dirtbag by then.”

“Life hasn’t given you a lot of breaks, huh?” I asked, walking over toward her. But when I reached for her, she turned away, pretending she didn’t notice the offer of comfort.

“I’ve done alright,” she said with a shrug.

“You’ve done more than alright,” I told her, walking up behind her to wrap my arms around her waist before she could try to move away again. My head went down on her shoulder, leaning in to press a kiss to her neck.

It took a minute, but she slowly melted into me, turning her head to rest it against mine, letting her eyes slide closed.

Suddenly, I wanted to share all my shit with her.

Me, my house, my bed, my security, my protection.

But just as much: my family, their love, their support. All the shit she’d never had before.

“You about ready to go back to bed?” I asked, feeling the way a little shiver of anticipation moved through her.

“Okay,” she agreed, already getting all soft and sweet on me.

We passed Chuck’s room, hearing loud snoring.

“I wonder if he’s ever had an overnight guest to tell him that he should maybe get tested for sleep apnea,” Max said as Chuck made a choking sound before going back to snoring.

“Looks like you know what the breakfast conversation will be.”

“Are you going to let him cook that too?” she asked.

“The sauce was pretty good,” I said, closing and locking my bedroom door, not trusting Chuck not to wander in like a kid who had a nightmare. “He might do something good with an omelet. Or pancakes.”

“Maybe I should take some lessons from him,” Max said as she dug around in her duffle for her toothbrush and paste.

“I could teach you to cook,” I offered, following her in to brush my own teeth.

It was the first time the his-and-hers sinks had ever been used at the same time. And it was yet another situation where something just felt… right about it.

“I’m not a very good student,” she warned as she glanced over at my reflection.

“I got a lot of patience.”

“I might enjoy testing that,” she admitted.

I had a feeling I would too. Though I imagined every one of those lessons would end up with her served up on the island and me feasting on her instead of whatever we were making.

“You and me, soon as we have Chuck outta our hair, we will do lessons. Start easy. Do you know how to boil water?”

“Ha ha,” she said, scrunching up her eyes at me. “And I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you’re getting Chuck out of your guest room now that you invited him into it.”

“Christ. You might be right about that,” I agreed as we both moved out of the bathroom and toward the bed. “Wait a sec,” I called when she pulled back the covers.

“What?”

“You won’t be needing this,” I said, moving in front of her to reach down and pull up her shirt. “Or this.” My hands went to her pants next, pushing them down her legs. “And you definitely won’t need these,” I told her as I hooked my fingers into her panties, lowering down to the floor in front of her as I went.

“Miko,” she murmured.

“Yeah?” I asked, angling my head up to look at her, finding her eyes heated, her breathing going fast.

Her hand lifted, slipping across my jaw, then behind my head.

“You need something from me, sugar?” I asked, loving the way everything seemed to make her whimper.

“Yes.”

“Yeah?” I asked, head tilting to the side as her fingers sifted into my hair. “Tell me what you want,” I demanded, leaning in to tease my nose up her thigh. “Can’t give you it if you don’t tell me,” I warned as I pressed a kiss to the triangle above her sex. “You need me to taste your sweet pussy again?”

“Yes,” she whimpered, fingers tightening in my hair.

Her thighs parted for me, and I wasted no time leaning in, running my tongue up her pussy, then teasing little circles around her clit.

Her hips immediately started to rock, riding my face as I worked her.

My fingers slipped inside her, and a groan escaped me, finding her already dripping for me.

“Don’t stop,” Max whimpered, her fingers pulling my hair, her pussy squeezing my fingers.

My cock was aching at the sounds of her begging, enough that I had to reach down with my free hand, grabbing my length and stroking as her moans filled the room. Then, as her whole body trembled and her pussy milked my fingers as she came.

She fell back on the edge of the bed, panting for breath.

Getting to my feet, I kept stroking my cock until her hands rose, slipping behind to sink into my ass, pulling me closer.

“You gonna suck my cock?” I asked, voice rough, as she brushed my hand away to grab me herself.

Then she was leaning closer to tease her tongue over the head, down the bottom of the shaft, over my balls, then back up again before finally—fucking finally—sucking me deep into her mouth.

“Fuck, baby,” I groaned, my hand grabbing the back of her head as she started to suck me hard and fast, nearly making me come down her throat before I grabbed her hair and pulled her back, my cock popping out from between her lips as her hungry eyes held my gaze.

“You gonna be a good girl and ride my cock?” I asked, my thumb teasing across her lower lip. “Yeah?” I asked when her head nodded.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

She crawled up the bed as I grabbed and slipped on the condom before joining her.

She didn’t even wait for me to reach for her, just climbed over to straddle me, lifting up, then reaching between us to guide my cock before sliding down.

Her head fell back with a throaty moan as she took me to the base, her pussy tightening automatically, dragging a groan out of me as my hips jerked up instinctively. A gasp escaped Max at that, making me wonder for a split second if I’d hurt her until her hips wiggled, wanting more of it.

“Ride me, sugar,” I demanded, my fingers sinking into her hips.

She didn’t need more encouragement than that.

She didn’t even start slow.

No, she rode me hard and fast, sweat beading up on her skin, her tits bouncing, her moans loud and frequent.

“Love watching you fuck me,” I told her, my hips starting to rock up into her as her own movements began to get more erratic and her pussy tightened around me, getting close. “That’s it, baby, squeeze my cock,” I said as the orgasm moved through her, making her fall forward into me, crying out her release into my neck as my hips kept rocking, dragging it out until she was just dead, trembling weight on top of me.

But I wasn’t done.

Not just yet.

I rolled her onto her back and claimed her lips. Hard. Hungry.

As much as some part of me wanted to give her more slow and sweet, to show her an intimacy that I imagined she’d never felt before. But my own need for release had too much of a grip on me.

So I fucked her how I needed, how I already knew she liked it. Hard and fast. Whispering dirty things in her ear, telling her how good she was taking me.

Until she was tensing again, until her pussy was a vice grip before she started to clutch around me as she came.

Afterward, when I came back from the bathroom, I found she’d already rolled over to the far end of the bed, back to me, ready to slowly erect those damn walls again.

But we were beyond that.

We were working on building something new for both of us.

So I scooted right over there with her, curling my legs up behind hers, my arm over her waist, and my face in her hair.

And that was how we slept.

Until Chuck’s racket woke us up early the next morning.