27
When Darkness Settles
Mitch
I’m holding her back by the wrist, by the hair, but she’s strong and moves in, pressing her supple naked body against me, cupping me with her determined free hand, and my eyes drift shut.
I let my head fall back against the wall and press my lips together. A welcome heat comes off her in waves, spreading through my clothes and into me. Her delicate, seductive scent invades me like a spell. Perfect in every way, her body waits, calling out to mine.
She grinds against my thigh, igniting my desire, erasing all doubts and second thoughts. Straining against my suit pants, my cock springs to life, urging me to take her, to do what she’s asking, what I’m desperate to do.
But how can I ignore how it’ll turn out?
I can’t release this anger onto her, even if it’s all I can think of.
I unclench my fist, freeing her hair. “This can’t happen.”
She grins, kisses my chin, then slides her warm lips along my jaw. I wish I’d kept up shaving so I could feel her mouth on my skin and not through my short beard.
“We need this. We need something good. Don’t you want something good, Mitch?”
Like a seductive song, her voice knocks at my restraints. My body’s torment, the war between what it craves and what is right, rages on.
“Look at me, Mitchell,” she orders.
I open my eyes, blinking back the emotions verging on escaping.
“After all the bad we’ve done to each other, let me give you something good.”
I think back to our last summer together before our fight.
To the weeks leading up to the end of us.
To that night in the tent and what almost happened.
We opened doors, seeing each other as physical, sexual beings instead of just friends.
We might not have followed through, but we didn’t exactly stop considering it either.
And here we are.
Even over the last few weeks, without realizing it, I’ve sensed what makes her tick, read her thoughts, her emotions.
She seems to understand my body and responds to it better than anyone else has.
I’m convinced that what’s been building between us was a precursor to what I need today.
What we both need. An escape from it all.
From Bill’s ghost, still wandering these halls.
From my mother’s aching pain. From the empty house that’s filled with regrets and unspoken words.
From my failure as a player, as a friend, and as a son.
Comfort, that’s what I need. A chance to lose myself in something separate from all of that. And who better to find that comfort with than the one person who sees me and accepts me for who I am?
The person who knew me before I became someone.
I search her blue eyes for any reason not to move forward, but come up empty. What I do see is the same dark urge for pleasure brought through pain. The openness and understanding without judgment.
“When we’re together, you make me forget all the bad,” she says, weaving her arms around me. “I’m safe when I’m with you. Like I’m falling out of a plane and you’re the parachute that saves me.”
“I’ve caused you pain, too.”
“But you’ve always been the one who made me feel better.”
It could be because she’s naked and vulnerable, but her words sink in deep.
She presses her lips to my neck, and licks up to my ear, sucking on my earlobe.
“This time, let me be the one to help you feel better,” she whispers.
Lightheaded, lulled by her sensual voice, with her naked body pressed to mine, caught and helpless under Maxine’s spell, it’s like I’m sinking.
My repressed feelings smolder, taking in power like an explosion about to go off.
This is dangerous, us avoiding the truths that are twisting around us like a tornado.
My father just died. His body isn’t even cold yet.
And somehow, all I want to do is hide within Maxine’s arms and lose myself deep inside her.
A long, accepting groan crawls up from my belly and out of my mouth as I grip her hips much harder than I need to, tugging her against me, but she doesn’t flinch. She keeps her pleading eyes locked on mine, burning with a darkness that reflects my own.
I grip the back of her thighs, hoisting her up and carry her the few feet to the bed, where I throw her down hard.
She lands on her back, letting her legs fall apart, opening herself.
She seems so tiny and fragile, her skin pale and creamy, her red hair fanned out behind her, but Maxine is anything but breakable.
Kneeling on the mattress between her legs, I grip her hair again and tug her head to the right, then devour her exposed neck like a starving vampire would.
She writhes beneath me, digging her nails into my back as I roughly knead her breasts, then move my mouth down to lash her nipple with my tongue.
I don’t hold back, biting down, sucking, twisting her beautiful pink buds with my mouth, and when she claws at my back, fisting my shirt as if she’s trying to rip it off, it’s like a cattle prod urging me to go harder.
Holding her left ankle, I bring her leg up, kissing and nipping the arch of her foot, her calf, then lay her foot on my shoulder.
An indescribable expression crosses her face—need combined with curiosity.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask.
“About what?” She arches an eyebrow and nonchalantly laces her hands behind her head.
“Me. Fucking you.” I loosen my buckle with my free hand. “I won’t take it easy on you.”
She tucks her lower lip into her mouth, but then a slow, seductive smile spreads across her face. “Promise?”
Astonished by this new side of her I’ve never seen, I shake my head, but not wanting to waste a single second overthinking it, I unzip my pants, reach in and pull out my cock.
Hard as steel, I swipe the tip along her core, prodding at her entrance, waiting for her to stop me. Waiting for this all to prove too much and for reality to bring her back to her senses.
Only that doesn’t happen.
She pushes up onto her elbows, staring at me, then at my cock. She smirks. “Don’t worry. I won’t break.”
I wrap my fingers around her ankle, my short nails sinking into her skin, and bury myself deep with one hard thrust. She lets out an earth-shattering moan that rattles my insides, then she reaches out and runs her fingers along my lower stomach beneath my shirt.
I lean in, bringing one hand to her throat, holding her tight, but not too tight, and press my weight down over her, forcing her to bend her leg all the way back.
Fuck, she handles it so well. At this angle, she’s opened up to me and as promised, I fuck her, rough and senseless, letting go of everything that’s been buzzing in my head.
Soon—too soon—her muscles tense around me, gripping me tight, and all I hear is her screaming my name. The only thing on my mind is how unbelievable this is and how I never want it to end. I’ve never felt more accepted and seen than I do at this moment.
Not even when I’ve been on the ice.
But then my eyes drift to the rain-streaked window. Dark clouds have slipped in, hiding all signs of the sun. I’m torn from my bliss, shoved back into the reality of what happened today and of what’s still to come.
Max brings one of her hands to my throat, gripping it lightly, but with enough pressure to get my attention. “Come back to me.”
I blink the invading thoughts away and focus on her eyes, her skin, her tits, her pretty pussy, and that cute little tuft of apricot hair.
She’s here with me. She wants to be with me.
Looking down at where we’re joined, seeing how well she takes me, how I fit into her perfectly, my lust reignites and I slam into her, releasing a grunt with every forceful thrust. I spot a tear run down her cheek, and my heart aches with guilt.
This is too rough. I may have fantasized about this, but it shouldn’t be happening this way.
Not now, when we’re both so damn vulnerable.
I slow down and pull out, but her eyes burst open. “What are you doing?”
I swipe the tear from her cheek. “I’m hurting you.”
“No, you’re not,” she says with a soft smile, swatting my hand away. Then she grips the waistband of my pants like reins and pulls me against her. She reaches down, grabs my cock and lines me up. “I’m a big girl. I want this. And you promised you wouldn’t take it easy on me.”
The heat in her voice sends a shiver down my spine, and my shaft pulsates in her hand.
Slowly, I ease back into her, my feet digging into the mattress beneath me.
“Harder.” She runs her hands behind me and grips my ass, drawing me closer.
And I do what she says because goddammit she’s right, I need something good. We both do.
The bed whines in protest beneath us. The wooden headboard slams into the wall, leaving dents in the plaster. Every thrust turns the creamy white skin of her thighs pink, but I keep going. Every one of her whimpers, every movement, chips away at the age-old barriers between us.
This isn’t true healing. It’ll take much more than a good fuck to tear down our walls.
What we need is a goddamn wrecking ball.
Tiny shudders and spasms make her shake beneath me and she locks her eyes on mine. The depth in her gaze reaches into me and makes me see the truth. She’s not only what I want, she’s what I need.
What I’ve always needed.
I keep fucking her until I’m blinded by the pressure in my balls. Until she comes, her muscles so tight, I barely pull out on time. Warm spurts of cum shoot from my tight grip, landing onto her belly, marking her in a way I never thought I wanted.
Disappointment that I couldn’t come inside her and that I won’t ever be able to make her truly mine, fills my tense body. I’m suddenly overcome with wanting so much more from her. I want everything. Not just a temporary fix.
This longing permeates my muscles and swims through my veins.
But I’ve been here before, I remind myself. Inundated by foolish wishes that won’t ever come true.
Max