Thirty-Five
Annalise
I held my breath, waiting for his response.
"Are you joking? Absolutely I do. I would think it's pretty obvious."
"But why?" I couldn't let it go. "I'm totally unlovable."
"What?" he scoffed. "Who the fuck told you that?"
"Myself. I'm a bitch, and I know it."
He stroked my cheek with his thumb. "You're not a bitch. I won't let you speak about yourself like that."
God, he was so perfect it was unbelievable. Hopefully, my doubts hadn't ruined the moment, the earth-shattering sex we'd just had.
His hand still cradling my cheek, I turned my head and kissed his palm. "You're incredible, you know that?" I asked. " That was incredible."
He shot me a cocky grin, one that personified both Jared and Max, the two people I'd known and crushed on beginning to meld together, something I'd had a difficult time with in my head.
"Yeah, it was," he agreed. "The best experience of my life."
My heart melted at the sincerity in his voice. I swallowed back my emotions, not wanting to burst into tears. But the release I felt, also the relief, well, it was like I'd left the mess of my past behind, and now, I was starting fresh. All because of this man still inside me.
He was the reason I'd been able to move forward, and I could hardly wait to begin this new journey. Together.
Slowly, he pulled out, and I suddenly worried about the mess we'd leave on the dress my sister had made for me. I giggled, and Max raised a brow.
"My sister is going to kill me for ruining her dress."
His eyes widened. "This is her dress? Oh, shit."
I cracked up laughing, Max's eyes practically devouring my bare pussy with his cum dribbling out of me.
"Sorry, not sorry," he said, his voice deep and husky. "It's fucking worth it."
Forgetting about the dress, I spread my legs a bit more, reveling in the look on his face. "You like seeing that?"
He groaned. "Hell yes. It's so fucking hot. I'm getting hard again."
"Already? Can we go to my place for the next round? This table is kind of killing my back."
He tore his eyes away from between my legs and glanced around, leaving my side and returning a split second later. "There's nothing to clean up with, so you'll just have to wear your panties. I hope they don't get ruined."
I shrugged. "I don't mind anymore. You can always buy me more, Mr. CEO."
"I will. But you can also buy them yourself, boss babe."
This . The way he made me laugh. I'd missed it so much. He made me so light and happy, something I didn't think was possible in my life, something I'd never even known I could hope for.
Sitting up, Max helped me get dressed, his eyes roaming everywhere like he couldn't wait to devour me again. I felt wanted, desired, and best of all, loved.
With his every touch, he was so incredibly respectful, even when he helped me stuff my boobs back into my dress. His heavy breathing gave him away, though.
"Jesus," he muttered. "I guess I'm just gonna have to get used to walking around with a perpetual hard-on."
I looked down to see the bulge in his pants. "Poor baby. At least you don't have to ride home wearing wet undies."
"Oh, God, don't remind me, babe. I say first order of business when we get to your place is a shower."
I nodded in agreement, glad that I'd recently cleaned up my disgusting mess at home and put everything back in order.
Taking my hands, he helped me down, and we left the conference room behind, walking back down the hallway we'd come through earlier. Hand in hand, we headed toward the exit as different people than when we came in.
At least I was.
I didn't just feel loved. I felt thoroughly loved. Inside and out. And equally important, Max made me feel lovable.
He squeezed my hand and glanced down at me, something about his smile reminding me of a different gala not too long ago.
"Hey, how did you know I'd be here tonight, anyway?" I asked. "Or was it all just a coincidence?"
His grin grew and his broad shoulders lifted up in a carefree shrug. "Love works in mysterious ways."
"Don't even tell me you manifested it."
His laughter rang out around us, enveloping me like a warm hug. "No comment."
"So that manifesting conversation we had was complete bullshit then."
"No. I really do believe in manifesting."
"But obviously, we didn't use it to get, ahem, Max Sterling to send that painting."
"No. But I did use it to get something I really, really wanted."
"What's that?"
He pulled me in to a dark coat closet then backed me up against a wall, caging me in with his arms.
The light from the open door spilled inside, illuminating his features, the sharp line of his jaw and the piercing intensity of his eyes. My breath caught as he stared at me, so serious and so incredibly sexy.
Was this man really mine now?
He took a step forward, his gaze never leaving my face. "I used it," he said softly, "to get closer to you."
His body collided with mine as he bent his head to capture my lips, his heat, strength, and love surrounding me. My heart was about to burst.
"I love you," I whispered against his mouth.
"I love you too," he answered, angling a hand into my hair. "So fucking beautiful. My Annalise."
Hearing my real name from his lips, said with such reverence, was the stuff dreams were made of. He kissed me again, making my toes curl, and suddenly it turned into a hands-all-over-each-other moment, one where we couldn't stop touching each other, couldn't stop kissing, couldn't stop our hips from grinding.
Breathless, he finally pulled away, resting his forehead on mine. "Come on, darlin'. I don't want our second time to be in a coat closet. We've got to get the hell out of here."
Grabbing his arm and pulling, I led him back to the corridor as we both laughed then rushed down the steps and outside into the summer night.
He made a gesture to the valet, then twirled me into his body as we waited, my back to his front, his arms wrapped around me.
I turned my head to the side, resting against his hard chest. "I love it when you say my name."
"Annalise," he said, kissing the top of my head. "Is there anything shorter, though?"
He held me in place when I tried to wiggle out of his arms in an attempt to look at him to see if he was joking or not.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Not this again," I grumbled. "Just call me Annalise."
"Nah, it's too long. How about Lise?"
"No. God, no. Not that."
"Okay. Anna then."
"Nope. No way."
"Ann?"
"No, absolutely not."
"Nal."
This was getting beyond ridiculous. "Nal? Excuse me? What?"
"On second thought, Nal's too long. I'm just gonna call you Na."
It belatedly occurred to me that he was joking. This time, I put all my strength into it and twisted around to stare up into his face, the corners of his lips slightly upturned as he tried to hold back a smile.
"You know what then, darlin '?" I began. "I'm thinking Max is too long to say and kind of a pain in the ass. So I'm just going to call you Ax."
"You can call me whatever the fuck you want, babe. As long as you say you're mine."
There was that weird, gushy feeling again in my chest. "I'm all yours. And you better be all mine."
"There's no place I'd rather be than with you."
Our driver pulled up and Max opened the door for me. "Thank you, Ax."
"But of course, Na."
His laughter rang out as he walked to the other side of the car to get in, quickly settling in beside me. Not wasting even a second, Max pulled my body into his, one arm going around me, the other finding my free hand.
Fingers intertwined in the back seat, the car took off into the night toward my place, and I was glad to see we had a fast driver because I couldn't wait to get started on this new life with this man beside me.