Chapter 5
5
I ’m only slightly ashamed to say I eavesdropped on Max’s conversation with the visitor. Of course I did! Any self-respecting person would want to know more about whoever is visiting the most reclusive and enigmatic man on the planet.
It’s a man. One with an extremely polished and cultured voice. With a thread of laughter running through it. The kind of humor that isn’t exactly carefree. He clearly knows Max well and they go back some time. They’re comfortable with each other, which has me feeling slightly jealous. I wish Max would talk with me as easily. Their voices are too low to catch anything more than a word or two, unfortunately. When they move out of the hallway and towards the kitchen, I have to pause to contemplate my next move. I decide to give them fifteen minutes and then I’ll casually wander into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and force an introduction.
I attempt to focus on the new manuscript pages while I wait out my self-imposed time-out, but I can’t concentrate. When I finally end my exile and stroll towards my destination, I pause abruptly in the hallway when I hear a cat meow. Is that… it can’t be. But nobody meows quite like Kiki. All thoughts of spying before entering the room flee from my brain as I rush into the kitchen. Freeing my gorgeous girl from her cat carrier, I cradle her to my chest despite her loud protests.
Finally, I look up and into the amused green eyes of a man who stepped right off the cover of GQ — from the old days before they got street trendy. He scans me from head to toe and casts an inquiring glance toward Max. Who sighs. Heavily.
“Jenna, this is Javier. Ignore him. He brought your things and will be leaving again shortly.”
Javier rolls his eyes and shows no signs of an imminent departure. “Is that any way to treat family, Max?”
My eyes widen. These two look nothing alike. Javier is almost too pretty, particularly next to Max’s rugged and larger body. “You two are related?”
Max purses his lips thoughtfully. “Remember our arrangement regarding information, Jenna. The connection between myself and Javier definitely falls into that category and will require a down payment from you first.”
Remembering exactly what he said about telling me his past, I blush furiously. Javier straightens with a smirk. “What’s this, now?”
Max shuts him down with a glare. “You — out.” He points his finger past Javier towards the front door.
Javier shrugs and saunters in the direction indicated. “Don’t forget, you now owe me a favor. And I’ll be collecting in about six months.”
“In your dreams,” Max mutters.
“You aren’t the only one contending with some form of mating fever.” With a mocking salute, Javier turns and disappears through the front door. It’s only then that I see a small stack of boxes in the hallway.
“What’s that?”
“Your things,” Max replies dryly. “Check them over and make sure he didn’t forget anything. I’ve got no problems sending him back if he did.”
I stare at him, then at the boxes. “Kiki is more important to me.”
He sighs. “Well then, be careful about open doors and windows until she settles in. This isn’t the city and there are coyotes and eagles happy for an easy catch.”
I clutch Kiki tighter to my chest, but she’s had enough and wriggles free. Stopping only to glare at me, she takes off like a streak of lightning upstairs.
Retracing my steps, I decide coffee is definitely a requirement before getting back to work. If I stay up, I think I can finish today. Max is a very clean writer, so aside from some punctuation and small rewording, which I’m doing as I type, I don’t need to hand it back for revisions. Of course, I haven’t read the end yet.
When I do, I cry. It’s far too much of a thriller to have a genuine happy ending. It ends more on the hope for one. The main character does now have answers if not revenge. And also the chance for love, even though he doesn’t have the actual girl in his bed yet. As an editor, I can’t complain. Readers will eat this up. Seeing the comparison of the main character to Max and how he thinks of me, I’m not particularly happy.
It’s late when I finish and wander through the house to my room. I don’t bother turning on lights, instead keeping one hand on the wall like I’m in a Victorian dark Gothic romance. I pause near the staircase leading up to the main bedrooms. I can’t help testing the doorknob. It’s closed but not locked and suddenly I have the worst urge to snuggle against Max’s warmth. It’s almost like the story brought the feeling on. Dare I?
I force myself to continue to my own room and brush my teeth before deciding for sure. Although my mind is mostly made up. I swiftly change into my pajamas and slippers and then glide silently back to the stairwell.
“Max?” I call softly at the entrance to his room. He doesn’t stir, his softly glowing skin looks damp. I reach out a hand and find him burning up. What was it Javier said as he left? Something about mating fever?
I shake Max’s shoulder gently. “Max? Are you okay?”
His eyes open, but in the glow I can see that they’re unfocused. “Jenna!” He surges up and pulls me down. I’m sprawled across his lap while his hands roam frantically over me. I can feel something hard and pulsing against my hip.
Then he stops moving completely. His hands remain clamped on me, one on my hip and the other on my upper arm, but everything about him freezes. His eyes are still blown out. Cautiously, almost like he’s afraid of breaking me, he lies down and rolls me under him. And now we’re in a repeat of last night. I wouldn’t mind if only I had some answers. I wiggle a little to adjust my spine and then thread my fingers through Max’s hair. Whatever he’s struggling with, I need to show him it doesn’t scare me. Although I’d really like some answers as to what makes him glow. I’m positive he would send me out of the house if it was dangerous, so it must be something more innocuous — just weird. He still smells like Max, which reassures me on some baser level.
Which is a tiny white lie, of course. I’m scared shitless.
I wake to the steady thump of Max’s heart against my cheek. His skin is warm beneath my palm but the just right kind of heat, not burning up like last night.
Max groans, and then his eyes pop open to study me. He frowns.
“What?” I ask sullenly.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The statement is so prim I can’t help my grin. “You didn’t think that way last night. You need to tell me what’s going on, Max. Why are you getting these fevers every night but you’re fine in the day? Your cold seems to have disappeared on its own. This is something else. Why is holding me helping? And why don’t you want me to do that if it is helping?”
He rolls off of me and onto his back, raising one arm over his eyes. I pout at the loss of his warmth.
“I don’t know, okay? The only thing I’m sure about is that I don’t want to hurt you. The need to claim you completely and without waiting for your consent is overwhelming.”
His quiet words take a moment to sink in. I gulp. But deep down inside, I know Max would never hurt me. I can imagine him going too fast and maybe even (shiver of delight) a tiny bit rough, but not to the point of actually harming me.
“Then maybe you should stop fighting it?”
His arm lifts so he can stare at me in disbelief. I shrug. “As soon as you roll over me, you calm down. So maybe if you went a little farther while you are under control, the need at night wouldn’t be so overwhelming.”
Max appears to actually consider my suggestion. “But you still work for Rudnam. And I refuse to be that guy.”
I roll my eyes. Seriously?
“How are you exploiting me if I’m the one asking you to have your way with me?”
“It just is. Finish the manuscript and quit, then we’ll see if your theory has any merit.”
I glower at him. At this pace, he’s going to do himself an injury. I’ll have to come up with something to change his mind.
“Well, how about if when you come to bed, I come too? That way, we can see if you can get to sleep more easily and without thrashing about.”
Max considers that, his head tilted slightly while his gaze remains on me. “I guess we can try that…”
Kiki strolls in with a relaxed curl to the end of her tail. She jumps up on the bed and proceeds to slide against Max’s bare chest. He looks bemused and I feel jealousy curling in my stomach. Over my much adored cat. “If you’re letting Kiki do that, I should get to do it too,” I mutter.
Max laughs and rolls to his feet. “How much more do you have to do on the manuscript?”
I cast my eyes down to my lap demurely. “I finished last night.”
He stops in his tracks. Everything about him seems to go still. “You’re done?”
I nod, finally raising my head to look at him. “I just need to finalize the file and pack it up for Diana. Did you want to look it over first?”
He shakes his head mutely. “No,” he states hoarsely. “But I do want to see your resignation before you send it.”
I sigh and awkwardly scooch across the mattress so I can exit the bed. “You’re firm on that, huh? Even if I’m not working with you and staying here, so there’s no way she can send me off to some other man?”
“And when she asks you to manipulate me into signing another contract?” he asks softly, making my stomach sink. Because Diana would do that.
“Okay, you’re right on that one. I just don’t like…”
“What, little Jenna?”
“I don’t like not having my own income. My independence, such as it is, is important to me.” And then there are my dreams of being a world famous editor. Do I really have to give those up too? But then, Diana pretty much ended any hope of that with her demands that went far beyond commas. She really does have extensive influence in the publishing world — possibly driven by fear, but it probably doesn’t matter the reason.
If anything, Max relaxes at my words. “I’ll hire you.”
I laugh until I see that he’s serious, then I sober abruptly. “How is that okay, but me working for Rudnam isn’t?”
“Because I know I’ll adhere to our own rules. And you already know how to say no to me very effectively.”
I snort. I don’t think I’ve won an argument with him yet.
“Let’s tackle one thing at a time. Maybe you’re too ornery to live with.”
He nods in agreement. “Go take care of the paperwork, baby, while I fix breakfast. Then we can spend the rest of the day answering your questions.”
I sigh and head into the bathroom. I’m hungry now. But the look of intensity in his eyes tells me I don’t want to miss what he’s planning once I’m technically free.
“I’ll need coffee right away,” I call after him, his steps already echoing on the stairs. His laugh is probably the only acknowledgment I‘m going to get.
I hop into the shower and try to decide which question is the most important to get answered first while I shampoo my hair. Why he glows? Why he’s alone in the woods? What he sees in me? So many questions! I scrub quickly as my brain turns over all the possibilities. As I dry off, I decide to go with whichever one pops into my head at the time. Then a fleeting memory teases my brain. Max talking about questions and orgasms? That can’t be right.