Chapter Five
T he ride to the cabin was…awkwardly silent, at best.
Max kept shooting glances my way, running his hands over his dark jeans, but he stared straight ahead whenever I turned to look at him.
If I hadn’t thought he was up to something already, that would’ve done it. What he did when we arrived sealed the deal.
Max swung the door open to the cabin and pointed inside. “Bedroom’s back there to the left. I’ll take the couch.”
As he set our bags down by the door, I narrowed my gaze on his back, and I didn’t budge. “I’m sorry, what? You’ll sleep on the couch?”
He ushered me into the cabin. “Unless you’re asking me to share the bed with you?”
“Nope.”
Huffing a laugh, he ran a hand through his black hair. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. So, like I said, I’ll take the couch.”
That did nothing to ease my suspicion.
“What are you playing at, Max Dread?” I propped my hands on my hips, refusing to step farther into the house. “If you think you can lower my defenses by playing a gentleman, you’ll be sorely disappointed.”
He expelled a breath and faced me with a frown and a dip in his brow. Striding back over, he stared down at me. His onyx eyes narrowed on mine, like he was trying to figure me out.
I didn’t like it.
Lifting my chin to account for the near eight inches he had on me, I stared back. I dug my heels in and refused to blink first.
The furrow in his brow deepened.
But then, he sighed and walked around me. Before I figured out what he was up to, he banded his arms around my body. Hugging me to his chest, he hoisted me into the air.
“Hey!” I shrieked as he walked me into the house and set me down like a piece of luggage. “What the fuck, Max!”
The surly brute didn’t respond to that.
He closed the front door, locking it and securing the chain. Running his gaze over my outraged pose, from my hands thrown in the air to my cocked hip, he shook his head. “I’ll take the bed. You can take the couch.”
“But—”
“It’s the first night, Princess. It doesn’t even count. So, I was going to let you get some beauty rest. Didn’t want you saying you were at a disadvantage when you inevitably cave.” He smirked. “But now, I don’t think I will.”
I huffed. Damn me for blocking out Kingston’s explanation. I’d missed that part.
Max caught that and flashed me a wolfish grin. “Tomorrow, though? All bets are off, baby girl. Should’ve taken the kindness when you had the chance.”
With that, he grabbed his travel bag and disappeared through the pair of French doors off to the right.
I followed him, in the mood for a fight.
But I froze outside the bedroom.
The privacy shades on the glass doors to the bedroom blocked out almost everything on the other side, but they did not hide the very distinct outline of Max removing his shirt.
Spinning back around, I marched over to my suitcase and lugged it to the plush leather sofa. I sat down with another huff.
This was fine.
I was totally fine.
My feet bounced on the ground, and I twisted my hands in my lap. Unsure of what to do with myself, I stared around the cabin. The living room had the couch, or my bed for the night, plus an oversized chair big enough to hold two people. They’d been set in front of a large fireplace, which had been lit before we arrived.
Preemptively setting the mood.
All the place needed was a shag rug laid out on the floor in front of it. For fuck’s sake.
The open floor plan exposed a massive kitchen behind a marble bar with two stools. Way larger than necessary for two people. One who didn’t cook and another who’d probably been fed from a silver spoon his entire life.
With sleek cabinets and stainless-steel appliances, it looked like it had been copied and pasted from the pages of a swanky home magazine. And I had no idea where the bathroom was, which posed a small problem for my full bladder.
I pushed myself up from the couch and headed to the only two doors in the main room that weren’t the bedroom, finding a closet behind one and the other locked.
I did not want to know what that held.
Begrudgingly, I went to the bedroom doors and knocked.
“Come in,” Max called out.
Flinging open the doors, I instantly regretted it.
Max Dread’s naked body smacked me right in the face. Thankfully, just the view of it. But the effect was the same.
My jaw dropped.
“What the fuck, Max!” I slapped a hand over my eyes.
As if that would erase the image burned inside my brain.
The perfectly sculpted expanse of golden-bronzed skin. His broad chest. The sharp definition on every single one of his abs.
And the V—the fucking glorious V—of muscle leading my eyes down to the bedsheet haphazardly thrown over his lap.
The guy looked like he’d been carved from stone. One of his legs was conveniently exposed, and he’d casually thrown one arm behind his head. Both had more ridges and valleys than a goddamn mountain range.
It wasn’t human.
He couldn’t be real.
Clearly, he’d been crafted in a lab where the goal of the experiment had been Destroy Quinn Everly.
Or make me lose my goddamn mind.
Max’s soft chuckle didn’t help. “You okay there, Princess?”
I whined, “Why are you naked?”
“I run hot.”
At that, I groaned. “Seriously, Max?”
“What?” he asked, his voice perfectly innocent. “I prefer sleeping in the nude.”
“Yes, but why are you telling me to come in when you’re in the nude ?”
“Didn’t think about it.”
I dropped my hand to glare at him. Definitely a mistake.
Growling, I covered my eyes again. “Where’s the bathroom in this hellhole?”
“Through there.”
I huffed, refusing to look. “Where is there?”
He did not expand further. “Right there.”
Stifling another growl, since it would only encourage him, I peeked through my fingers. He pointed off to my right with his stupid, huge arm.
I left the room, dug around in my suitcase for a sleep shirt and my toiletry bag, and marched back into the bathroom with my eyes fixed resolutely on the path forward.
Max’s answering laugh only made me angrier.
I closed the bathroom door and squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my head back against the wood. I needed to get it together. But fuck me , I was only human.
After a few cleansing breaths to exorcise the horny demon his naked body had brought to life inside me, I opened my eyes to go about my nightly routine.
And I gasped.
In the center of the bathroom, a large tub filled with steaming water and bubbles waited. And even though this move had to be straight out of the Knights’ Seduction Handbook, I stepped closer. Approaching it like it might explode at any minute.
When I reached the tub’s edge, I dipped my hand inside the water. It was hot but not scalding.
The perfect temperature.
“God dammit.”
Music clicked on.
And Max’s voice came from the room behind me. “There’s a latch on top of the door. You can flip it and not worry about me coming in. Not that I would, but…given your very obvious trust issues, it’s there if it makes you feel better.”
A beat of silence passed as I warred over how to respond.
“Take the bath, Princess. You’ve had a shit couple of days, and you looked like you could use it.”
I shook my head, emotion rising in my throat at the gesture. But weirdly, this kindness from Max didn’t scare me. Maybe because of his vaguely insulting delivery.
“Why does it not surprise me that you could do something that’s actually sweet and still sound like a total asshole while explaining it?”
His gruff laugh sparked unexpected warmth through my chest. “It’s part of my charm.”
Something thumped softly against the door, and a few seconds later, his footsteps retreated.
I stared at the clawfoot tub for a full minute before flipping the latch. No use wasting perfectly good warm water and bubbles. That was what I always said.
Starting that day. Right then.
Oh, what-the-fuck-ever, he was right.
* * *
Knock her out.
I couldn’t move my arms.
Hold her.
My lungs burned. Pressure on my chest pinned me down. I inhaled and choked on a rush of water.
Do it again.
I screamed for help, but all it did was send water rushing down my throat.
Get rid of her.
And no one would hear me.
Tell me.
A sharp and familiar scent filled my nose, lingering with a hint of spice.
We need to get rid of her.
Kicking my legs. Swinging my arms. I fought hard against my attacker.
And I’m yours.
* * *
A loud crash echoed in my ears. A bang tugged my senses.
“Quinn!”
Something crashed to the floor.
“Fucking hell! Quinn, wake up!”
I shot upright with a gasp.
Everything was dark. I fumbled, reaching for the table. “My inhaler,” I croaked. “I need my?—”
Awareness returned quickly. What I said hit me. Or rather, who I said it to, as Max knelt beside the couch, pressing the tiny canister into my hands.
I put it to my lips and breathed in, not giving a single fuck if this was asthma or trauma.
My lungs opened and my heart raced. What happened that night by the lake came rushing back. The sensation of water clogging my throat, I couldn’t shake it.
“You’re shaking.”
My teeth chattered. My whole body quaked with tremors. “I’m f-fine. J-just a n-night—” I wrapped my arms around my stomach, steadying myself. “Nightmare.”
But as soon as the word was out, my arms vibrated with everything I struggled to keep in. The water clogging my throat shifted, pricking my eyes. And the only reason I didn’t completely freak out was because Max couldn’t see my face.
But then, tears rolled down my cheeks.
Max wiped his arm.
And suddenly, his hands were on my face, feeling in the dark until he found proof I was crying. I stifled a sob, and a low growl tore from his throat.
“Fuck this.” He stood up, and before I fully realized what was happening, he scooped his arm under my legs as the other came around my back. “You’re not staying out here alone. Not after?—”
I choked back a sob.
He picked me up. Just like he’d done the first night I met him, and he cradled me against his chest.
But this time, he didn’t sit with me on the edge of the bed or set me down in the middle.
He climbed in with me, finagling his way under the covers and bringing me with him. Curling onto his side, he rested our upper bodies back on the pillows. The arm under my knees slipped out, coming over my side as he grabbed hold of my hip.
Once he was satisfied that I was secured against him, he pulled the covers over us and rested his chin above my head.
“Get some sleep, Princess. I won’t let anything hurt you.”
My whole chest squeezed, and I clenched my hands into fists. I rested one over his racing heart.
His fully clothed racing heart.
“Hey. Why aren’t you naked?”
“Hm?”
“I thought you slept in the nude .”
His soft laugh jostled me. “You lucked out. I made an exception tonight.”
Shaking my head at his response, I sniffled. The remnants of my nightmare dissipated, and I yawned when they disappeared completely. And even though I had a long list of reasons not to, I let Max Dread chase away the monsters in the dark, and I didn’t let myself overthink it or be afraid.
I couldn’t, because I fell asleep too quickly.
Feeling safe for the first time in days.