Chapter 9
Stealing You (Maxine Webster)
Too much money, perfume, and ego.
They smiled for cameras, toasted multimillion-dollar contracts, and pretended to be casual while competing for attention like well-dressed predators.
Normally I tolerated it just fine, but that night there was one specific problem: Adrien couldn’t stop looking at me.
While we crossed the ballroom chatting with sponsors, while some journalist asked questions about the championship, I pretended to focus on anything else.
His eyes kept finding me, hungry. I knew that look well.
“You’re doing this on purpose,” I murmured when he appeared behind me near the bar.
His large hands slid to my waist.
“Doing what?”
“Looking at me like that.”
Adrien leaned in close to my ear.
“I can’t help it.”
A shiver ran down the back of my neck.
“We’re at an event full of cameras,” I reminded him.
“And you’re still the most beautiful woman here.”
I rolled my eyes before picking up my champagne glass.
“You’ve turned into a dangerously sentimental boyfriend since the engagement.”
“Fiancé. The correct term is sentimental fiancé.”
“Even worse.”
He smiled.
That crooked smile that always cost me a few years of self-control.
“You like it.”
Unfortunately, I really did.
The music shifted to something slower while I was chatting with Charlotte near the dance floor.
“He’s falling apart just looking at you,” she commented casually, sipping her wine.
I followed her gaze.
Adrien was on the other side of the ballroom talking with Sebastian and Logan—or trying to. He clearly wasn’t paying attention to anything.
His eyes locked on me again.
I smiled without meaning to.
“Oh, you two are ridiculous.”
“We’re not ridiculous.”
“Maxine, he looks like a man going through withdrawal whenever you’re out of his sight.”
I laughed softly, and then Adrien started crossing the ballroom toward us with Seb at his side.
Charlotte didn’t even try to hide her satisfied expression.
“Here he comes.”
“Your husband’s right behind him.”
His hands wrapped around my waist seconds later.
“May I steal my fiancée?”
Charlotte pointed at me immediately.
“See? Unbearable.”
Adrien didn’t even defend himself, just pulled me onto the dance floor.
Golden light reflected across the ballroom as he led me slowly to the rhythm of the music.
I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“You hate dancing.”
“I hate dancing with other people.”
My chest warmed stupidly fast.
“That was dangerously romantic.”
“I’ve been romantic for years. You’re only just noticing.”
I smiled before resting my head on his shoulder for a few seconds. His scent wrapped around me instantly.
“What is it?” he asked softly.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
I sighed.
“I was just thinking that you still look at me the same way you did in the beginning.”
He pulled back enough to look at me. His expression shifted immediately—more serious, more intense.
“Max, I look at you worse now.”
I laughed, surprised.
“Worse?”
“Much worse. In the beginning, I was still trying to control myself.”
My heart skipped a beat.
Damn him.
Adrien slid his hand slowly down my back as we kept dancing.
“Now I think about you all the time.”
“That doesn’t sound healthy.”
“It’s not healthy.”
“Obsessive.”
“Completely.”
The laugh escaped before I could stop it, and he smiled that devastating smile again. As if my laughter was a personal reward.
Later, during an endless round of photos and interviews, a rookie driver from another team appeared near us.
Handsome, polite, way too confident, and obviously flirting with me. I caught the exact moment Adrien got irritated.
His jaw clenched and his shoulders went rigid. His arm wrapped around my waist—possessive, almost territorial.
“Maxine, right?” the driver asked, smiling. “Finally meeting the most famous woman in the paddock.”
I smiled politely.
“That's a bit of an exaggeration.”
“Not at all.”
Adrien let out a dry laugh beside me.
“She's leaving with me, so you can save the charm.”
The driver blinked, clearly unsure if that was a joke or a threat.
The answer was in Adrien's eyes. After the guy finally walked away, I turned to him.
“You were jealous.”
“I wasn't.”
“Adrien.”
“He was looking at you.”
“Lots of people look at me.”
“Exactly my problem.”
I smiled slowly.
“You're completely insane.”
“About you? Absolutely.”
God.
I was really going to marry this man.
Hours later, the ballroom finally started to empty. The music faded gradually, guests headed to their cars, and the cameras had grown less aggressive.
That's when Adrien quietly took my hand.
“Come with me.”
“Where to?”
“I need to steal you for five minutes.”
I let him lead me through the silent hotel corridors to a secluded area near the side balconies.
Barcelona looked liquid under the early morning lights.
Adrien closed the door behind him before pulling me straight into his arms.
“Finally,” he murmured.
I laughed softly.
“You were with me all night.”
“Not the way I wanted.”
His hands slid slowly along my waist as he pressed me against the wall.
The black dress dragged softly against his legs.
“Do you have any idea what hell it was watching that guy flirt with you?”
“Hell?”
“Violent.”
I smiled before touching his face.
“Jealous.”
“Very.”
“Dramatic.”
“Also.”
And then he kissed me. Slowly at first, as if he had time. But Adrien never stayed calm for long with me.
The kiss deepened quickly.
My hands slid into his hair as he pulled me even closer.
My heart was beating too fast.
My breathing faltered, and when we finally pulled apart, we were both breathless.
Adrien rested his forehead against mine. His eyes still locked on mine.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
My chest squeezed so tight it almost hurt.
I brought my hand to his face slowly.
“I do.”
He smiled softly, then kissed me again as if we were still at the beginning.
Maybe because, for us, that's exactly what it was.
The beginning of everything.
His hands didn't stop there—he held me, squeezed and caressed every inch of skin the dress didn't cover as I pulled him closer, pressing our bodies even tighter together.
A second later my panties were already ruined. Adie lifted the hem of my dress, finding me soaked and ready for him. In one quick motion, his fingers hooked the side and he tore them away with a single pull, ripping them from my body and letting them fall to the floor.
With one knee he spread my legs wider as his fingers worked against me, finding my entrance.
He plunged his fingers into me all at once. The moan that escaped me was quickly muffled by his lips on mine. He kissed me with even more hunger, pounding his fingers hard into me without pause. His teeth sank into my lower lip before he pulled back slightly and said:
“You need to stay quiet, beautiful. No one out there should hear your delicious moans. They're all mine, understand?”
I didn't answer. I simply couldn't form words with him fucking me like that, so I just nodded—but he wasn't satisfied.
“I want words, Max. Can't talk to me with my fingers inside you?”
With some difficulty, I murmured:
“Yes, love, I won't make noise. But Adie?”
“Yes, beautiful?”
“I need you to fuck me for real now.”
“With pleasure, my fiancée.”
And he did. Adrien finished hiking up my dress, leaving it bunched at my waist, and in one swift movement turned me around so my back was to him.
My face met the cold wood at the same time his hand landed a hard smack on my ass while the other held me in place.
Then without delay, he positioned himself at my entrance, teasing his cock along my slit, and I ground back against him in response.
He thrust into me, hard and fast, making my body arch.
Adrien took me like it was the first time—relentless, without pause—sliding in and out while his hands explored me, squeezed and pulled me back against his body.
The only sounds around us were his hips slapping against mine and our ragged breaths.
It didn’t take long before I felt the orgasm building, and he noticed too.
Adie brought his hand between my legs where our bodies joined, rubbing my clit in slow circles while never stopping his forceful thrusts.
I couldn’t take it anymore—I shattered in his arms, feeling the orgasm crash over me like a wave in the ocean, violent and uncontrollable.
I moaned and writhed while he kept fucking me without pause.
Shortly after, I felt Adrien come hard inside me too, biting my shoulder to muffle the sounds escaping his throat.
A few minutes later, we tried to compose ourselves. He knelt in front of me, cleaning me with what remained of the ruined panties, then tucked them into his pocket. I adjusted my dress and he straightened his suit, and we left together, satisfied.
Adrien made me feel things I never imagined were possible—things only he could draw from me. And I loved him with everything I had.