Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
No one else has ever made me dream of forever.
BAILEY
“This was delicious,” Max said, licking his lips in a way that made my body light up.
I set my cutlery on my plate and looked around. The restaurant was almost empty now. We were tucked in a dim corner, and the combination of soft music and good wine had melted away my inhibitions.
“It was,” I agreed, leaning closer and smiling mischievously. “But I’m more than ready for dessert.”
We were finally on our date.
It had taken so long to get here that I’d completely recovered physically from everything Corie’s cousins had done to me. Max still got headaches every other day and couldn’t stare at a screen for too long, but I was having a wonderful time distracting him from his work so his brain could heal.
We hadn’t gone all the way in bed yet, but I had high hopes that tonight might be the night that changed.
“What do you want?” he asked, straightening his tie, completely oblivious to the innuendo.
I grinned to myself happily. He was so freaking adorable.
“You.” There was no way he could possibly misinterpret that.
His gaze snapped up to mine, darkening by the second until there was only a thin band of blue-green around his dilated pupils.
“Yeah?” he rasped, his voice husky.
“If you’re all right with that.” I was still amazed that he felt the same way about me as I did about him. I wanted to be with him every second that I could, but I’d never push for more than he was willing to give.
Fortunately, it seemed there was very little he wouldn’t willingly give.
Lucky me.
“More than all right,” he said, staring at me as if he couldn’t believe this was happening.
The insecure part of me that had always worried I might not be enough for him shrank, just like it did every time he looked at me like I was his whole entire world. One day, it would be completely gone, and maybe by then, I’d have convinced Max of how incredible he was too.
“I’ll go and pay.” He rose, unfolding his lean, gorgeous body from the chair. “Wait here.”
As he hurried to the counter to pay, I pulled a small mirror from my handbag to check that my makeup was in order and I didn’t have food smeared on my face, then popped a mint into my mouth. I was standing and ready to go when Max returned.
He took my hand and pulled. Giggling, I let him rush me out to the van and guide me into the passenger seat.
The drive back to Destiny Falls seemed to take forever, but I entertained myself by smoothing my hands up his thighs and leaning over to kiss the side of his neck. He white-knuckled the steering wheel and groaned.
We parked outside my place. We’d been spending most of our time here rather than at his house because we both had memories from there that we’d rather put behind us.
Max locked his van, and I wrapped my arms around him, breathing in his fresh, foresty scent. I loved that I was the only one who got to know what he smelled like naturally, when antiseptic from the medical center wasn’t overpowering everything.
I was a bit possessive when it came to Max.
I backed him against the door and kissed him. He gripped my ass, and I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist, erasing the height difference between us. He caught me and smiled against my mouth.
“We’re not even inside yet,” he murmured.
I pushed my fingers into his hair, careful not to touch the spot at the back that was still a bit sensitive. “So?”
“So, most people don’t want to see their doctor getting frisky.”
I smirked and passed him the keys so he could unlock the door.
I suspected that most of Max’s patients would love to see him “getting frisky.” He was the stuff that hot doctor fantasies were made of.
But he seemed to prefer to think otherwise, and I wasn’t going to be the one to make him self-conscious when he was with his patients.
He juggled me as he unlocked the door, then pushed it shut with his foot and carried me through the cottage to the bedroom, where he laid me gently down on the neatly made bed.
I’d been a lot messier before Max started spending so many nights here, but he liked things to be just so, and I loved to indulge him.
I reached underneath myself and undid the zipper of my dress, then scooted so I wasn’t sitting on the skirt and pulled it off over my head.
Max unbuttoned his shirt as he watched me, revealing inch after inch of flawless, pale skin.
He wasn’t as bulky as Connor or Nate, but he had lean, tight muscles that were perfect for licking.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed, shucking the shirt and undoing his fly so he could kick off his pants.
I ran my hands over myself, my cheeks heating. I’d never been shy about my sexuality before Max, but everything with him felt so raw and intense. It was real in a way my previous experiences hadn’t been.
Perhaps because I loved him.
He climbed over me and claimed my mouth in a scorching kiss. My lips parted, and I gasped as our tongues touched.
Max curved his hand around my face, and tears prickled my eyes. He always made me feel so cherished.
But then his hand ventured farther down, undoing the front clasp on my bra and exposing my breasts. He brushed my nipple with the pad of his thumb, and desire pooled between my thighs.
The kiss dragged on and on until we were both breathless, and all the while, his clever fingers kept moving. They journeyed over my abdomen and into my panties, then discarded them before delving into my wet heat and finding my clit with unerring accuracy.
I was boneless, a creature of want as I writhed beneath his touch, my mouth fused to his, sharing breath. I pushed his underwear down, and he obliged me by taking them off and tossing them away.
His erection settled over me, and I rocked against him, more than ready to feel him inside me, but I wanted to tease him a little first, so I wrapped my hand around his cock.
I pumped him slowly, using my thumb to draw slippery circles in the precum at the head of his dick, reveling in the silken slide and kissing him each time his breath caught.
I sped up my movements, adding a twist, and he groaned into my mouth.
So hot.
“I want you inside me now,” I whispered.
He pulled away from me and squeezed the base of his cock. “In a moment.”
I lay back against the pillows and parted my thighs, loving the way his gaze heated and he stared at me like a starving man in front of a buffet.
He grabbed a foil wrapper from the nightstand, tore it open, and rolled it on, then lowered himself over me and notched his head at my entrance. I breathed out, relaxing my muscles and opening myself to him as he pushed inside. He was hot and thick and filled me perfectly.
Max drew back achingly slowly, then thrust forward. My head lolled to the side, and I closed my eyes, basking in the pleasure that was building within me. He kissed me, and it was all I could do to clutch his shoulders and fuse my lips with his as he moved inside me.
A tingling warmth grew low in my core and swept through me, sensitizing my skin to every touch. His strong, hair-roughened limbs created the sweetest friction against mine, and I buried my face in the crook of his neck to muffle my cries.
“You’re so… everything,” Max panted, tilting my chin back so he could look me in the eyes. The connection seared me to my soul, and the pressure within me exploded in the most wonderful way.
I clenched around him and keened. His cock pulsed as my inner muscles milked it, and a groan tore from him.
“God, I love you,” he said, then his cock jerked, and he squeezed his eyes shut, the cords of his throat tensing as he came.
He continued to rock into me with aborted thrusts through the aftershocks, and then he affectionately nuzzled the spot where my neck joined my shoulder. “You’re amazing, and I love you,” he said again.
“I love you too,” I told him, running my hands down the smooth expanse of his back. “More than anything.”
I floated in a sea of bliss, enjoying his weight on me and the rhythmic thud of his heart against mine.
I never thought I’d get this.
I’d yearned for Max for longer than could possibly be healthy, always believing I’d have to be content to love him from a distance. There had never been anyone for me other than him. And now, I got to have him.
I planned to keep him forever.