Chapter 5 Max #2
“I’m glad you found me and not one of my coworkers.”
“I think you mean you’re glad you’re the one who harassed me and not someone else.”
“That’s right.” He laughs, easy and light, but he stops abruptly. “I’m sorry. Consent is important to me. I shouldn’t have touched you like that.”
“Oh.” I shift on my feet. The seriousness in his tone is stark, and I shiver. “That’s–it’s okay. I forgive you. I don’t… I’m not mad.”
“Why did you come back to see me, Maxine?”
“Max. You can call me Max.”
“Max,” Hunter repeats, stepping toward me. I walk backward until my shoulders hit a solid wall. His eyes bounce to my mouth when I let out a startled noise. “You don’t know anything about me. I could be dangerous, and you look like a girl who doesn’t bend the rules.”
“What if I want to bend the rules?” I lift my chin, distracted by the knife he’s holding. He runs his finger along the blade, down then up, and I imagine what it would feel like against my body. “What if I want to be bad?”
“That’s the wrong thing to say to a guy like me.” He leans forward, a hand on the wall next to my head. He’s caging me in, body almost flush against mine. “I have a habit of getting attached to things. If you keep talking to me like that, I might fall in love with you.”
“I don’t want love. I just…” I trail off, not sure what I want.
To let loose for once in my life?
Sex?
Someone to help me live out the desires I’ve kept hidden away.
I’ve never had a one-night stand. I’m a relationship woman, the person who needs an emotional connection before I can be intimate with a man.
Not with him, apparently.
He makes me want to step outside my comfort zone. To try the things I’ve been so afraid to admit I might enjoy, and the notion is intoxicating.
“Just?” Hunter traces the knife along the line of my throat. My breathing jolts. My brain recognizes it’s still rubber, still not a threat, but the explicitness of being here, of finding him and letting him touch me like this sends a wave of pleasure through me. “Just what, Maxine?”
“Fun,” I whisper, my mind making the decision for me. “I want to have fun.”
“Do you want me to touch you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to touch you right now? Or would you rather we wait until I’m finished with my shift so I can take you to my bed?”
“I’m not sure.” My pulse races, and my nipples are hard. “Could you—is it even possible to touch me here? There’s only a—”
Hunter lowers his head and blows a hot puff of air against the crook of my neck. I gasp and reach out to grip his shoulder, confused when he laughs.
“You think I need a bed to make you come, Maxine?” He kisses my collarbone, one hand still planted firmly on the wall, and my eyes flutter closed.
“Three fingers in your cunt and a few minutes are all it would take for you to scream my name. And since I’m a gentleman, I’d leave your underwear on.
There wouldn’t be a hair out of place. You’d walk out of here without anyone knowing you just had the best orgasm of your life, because you’re a good girl, aren’t you?
” He rocks his hips forward, and I feel the brush of his hard cock against the inside of my thigh.
“But maybe tonight you’d like to be my little slut. ”
Holy hell.
My brain is going to short circuit.
I’ve never had a man talk to me during sex. I’m used to silence, a quiet thrust and the occasional moan. I’ve been afraid to be too loud, too enthusiastic, but a soft groan slips out of me at the hot swipe of his tongue on my neck.
“Yes.” My voice shakes. “I want that.”
“Where do you want me to touch you? Here?”
His fingers dance along the curve of my jaw, a slow tease down to my throat. He gives it a light squeeze, the hint of pressure. It’s nowhere near the point of causing pain, just enough for me to know he’s there.
And hell do I want him there.
I nod, and Hunter smiles.
“How about–” His touch moves. He brushes his fingers over my chest, a low hum rattling out of him when he feels my hard nipples through my shirt. “I bet there too, huh?”
“Yeah,” I say, managing to find my voice. My eyes open, and I catch him staring at me. “That’s–I–”
“Doing okay so far?” he asks, twisting my nipple. A cry escapes me, and I hold his arm to keep myself from losing my balance. “Shh, baby. You can’t let anyone hear you. I don’t want to get in trouble. Can you be good for me?”
“I’ll try. I’m sorry.” I might be panting, but I can’t help it. I’m worked up from the way he’s cupping my breast. From the way he’s lowering his neck and closing his mouth around my nipple, wetting my thin tank top until it’s suctioned to my chest. “God.”
“You learned my favorite pet name so quickly. We’re a match made in heaven.” Another twist, and I have to bite my tongue to keep from moaning. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
“W-what question?’
“Are you doing okay?”
“Is it not obvious?”
“I need to hear it, angel. You have to tell me. Use your words.”
“Okay,” I almost cry out, reduced to one word answers.
I know I’ve been horny lately, getting myself off to the books I’m reading while I daydream that I’m the one in a dark romance and being chased, but this kind of contact shouldn’t send me spiraling.
I’m close to begging Hunter to drag me somewhere else and have his way with me. To spin me around and fuck me against the wall, not caring who could see.
Who am I?
“We can do better than okay.” In the most painstaking glide of his fingers, Hunter moves away from my chest. His touch teases down my body to my stomach, a thumb running along the waistband of my skirt. “Did you wear this on purpose, Maxine? Hoping you’d run into me?”
“No,” I say, but it’s a lie and he knows it. “I like it because it makes me feel good.”
“Can you do a spin so I can see how sexy you look?” Hunter drops his hand and takes a step back. His eyes roam down my body, heat behind his gaze. “Please?”
I blush. The instructions are sexier than what he was doing to me a few seconds ago, a secret show only for him. I move away from the wall and stand up straight, fixing my shirt and my hair. I turn, shuffling my feet in a circle until my back is to him.
Part of me wants to be self-conscious. I wonder if I look stupid, if I’m doing this right, but I hear the hitch in his breathing.
I can hear him fighting off a low groan that tells me he’s enjoying this as much as I am.
A jolt of electricity races through me, and I make my movements more purposeful.
My hips sway. I drop my head back, hair brushing against my shoulders. I lift my arms above me, relishing in the moment. I’m not Maxine Walters, first grade teacher who drinks a cup of tea before bed.
No.
Tonight I’m Maxine Walters, the bad bitch who’s going to have a long overdue orgasm.
“Stop right there.” Hunter’s voice is hoarser than before. “And put your hands on the wall.”
Nothing about it is controlling. There’s a choice buried in there, an out if I want it, but I don’t. I want to do whatever he says, so I push my hips back.
“Like this?” I ask.
“Spread your legs.”
My body moves on his command. I lean forward and step my feet apart. Bending from my waist, I prop my arms on the wall, the cool air of the house licking up the back of my thighs as my skirt rides up. The curve of my ass is showing, and I wonder how much of me he can see.
“Wow.” Hunter’s boots thump across the floor. He crowds my space, a hand in my hair as he wraps the strands around his wrist and gives a tug. “Such a beautiful slut for me.”
I can’t help the moan that escapes me. It’s so filthy, and I want him in a way I’ve never wanted anyone else.
“What else should I do?” I ask.
“What else do you want to do?” he asks, and the consideration is not lost on me.
“You’re in charge.” I look at him over my shoulder, his pupils wide and jaw slightly unhinged. Restraint etched on his face. “You tell me.”
“I’m not sure you want me to be in charge, angel.
” He positions himself until he’s directly behind me, chest pressed against my back.
I can smell his cologne: cedar, the hint of spice.
I can see another tattoo hidden under the rolled sleeve of his jumpsuit.
“When I play with things I like, I make sure to have my way with them.”
“Does that mean you like me?”
“Oh, Maxine.” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, mouth right at the pulse point on my neck. “That’s one way to put it.”