5. Carver
five
carver
I opened the door and for a moment hesitated at the doorway of her apartment. The moment I crossed that threshold, there was no going back. Who was I kidding? There was no going back the moment my eyes locked with hers in that spa room.
I glanced over my shoulder, scowling at how dark the apartment hall was. A muscle beneath my eye twitched as I came up with a couple of ideas of how to get them fixed. Shit, if it was up to me, I would have her move in with me immediately.
Where, dipshit? At the ski resort? How could I do that when she was clueless about who I was? Fuck, even if she did, I didn’t have a place in Moonlit Pines. She loved the small mountain town, and I genuinely couldn’t see her leaving. Or me, for that matter.
The fact had me stunned for a moment.
I wanted to stay in Moonlit Pines. I wanted to live there, not just fix up and add another property to the Storm portfolio. I had never wanted to stay anywhere before. Not when we were in Paris or Ibiza or any other corner of the world.
But then again, no other city had Max in it, either.
Just like that, I knew I had to add a meeting with a real estate agent the moment I walked back into my office. Harry would look at me like I was crazy, while Grant would tell me straight out I had lost my mind.
We had homes all over the world, but somewhere I wanted to call home? Never. Not since we were kids. I added just one more thing to my to-do list.
But first came figuring out who owned her building and buying them out so I could fix it up correctly. Her safety was my responsibility now. I gently shut the door behind me and looked around.
She had invited me earlier, but this was different.
I wasn’t distracted by her pretty eyes and gorgeous smile. The kitchen table was a little cluttered with what looked like boxes and books wrapped up in bright-colored tissue paper. I neared and looked at a coloring book. I picked it up and smiled, wondering what the hell kind of side hustle my sweet princess had going on.
It piqued my curiosity.
The studio apartment was maybe six, seven hundred square feet max. Yet she had a home and space for everything. From her personal things to what I was concluding as the things for her business. Coloring books. I had so many questions, I couldn’t wait to ask her.
Turning my attention to the rest of the room, I noted how little furniture she had for herself. The small couch looked like it had seen better days, and I doubted her bed was bigger than full size. Not that I had minded when we were on it. It only meant we had to cuddle closer.
Everything inside of me wanted to fix any kind of problems she might have. Make her life easier. More comfortable. To take any and all worries from her. I had an overwhelming drive to get online and order new everything. Shit, I’d rather have her move out and in with me.
I could see it all clearly, picturing the rest of our days together in my head. From starting out, getting to know one another, to growing old, enjoying every moment in between. Celebrating holidays and birthdays. Cherishing the simple moments of life while we lived in a cabin on the far end of the lake. Something custom made and spacious. She would have more than enough space for her and her business. I could see myself following her around like a happy little puppy. Two, maybe three, stories high with a wraparound porch all around the house. Dancing on the balcony under the moonlight and rocking on chairs in the front so we could look out at the lake at the end of the day.
Maybe even a dock where we could keep a little boat. Maybe even two kids, little mini-me versions of us who would run up and down the dock, jumping and splashing into the water in the summertime. Shit. I rubbed the spot over my heart. Kids. Was I really thinking about that? Yeah, I not only wanted this, I needed it.
Maxine Munoz was mine.
I just needed some time before she figured out who I was. I needed her to get to know me as a man, as her man. She had already heard way too many stories about what I was like.
The big mean jerk of a boss.
The asshole Storm brother.
Not that they were wrong. Hell, I used to thrive on the fact that’s how people saw me. I loved how intimidating people thought I was. But when it came to Max, I didn’t want her to think of me like that.
I wanted her to get to know me.
See the man I could be for her and only her.
Running my fingers through my hair, I set the coloring book back down on the kitchen table and moved to the bookcase she had behind it and smiled. My girl was talented and creative. I really needed to figure out a way for her to share what she did and how she got into it. I liked that she had this.
As I walked through the kitchen, I frowned at how bare her pantry was. My girl worked long hours and way too hard not to have food in her home. I added another thing to my to-do list.
Without noticing, I moved into the bedroom area of her small apartment and sat down on the edge of her bed. Without her next to me, I noticed just how small her bed was. The mattress cricked under my weight. My eyes fell on her dresser and skimmed down the six drawers. Drawers that held her clothes, and something in particular popped up in my head. I stood and took the three steps to get to the dresser. My hands skimmed the cool wooden top as I took in what sat there. Delicate earrings. A couple of hair ties. A bottle of lotion.
I picked up her perfume and brought the bottle up to my nose. My eyes shut as I breathed in my girl’s scent. It was beautiful and made my mouth water. I thought about what the sweetness between her legs tasted like, how I was now addicted to it, and I knew there would be no leaving her space without getting off.
My eyes dropped to the handle of the drawer on top and opened it. I licked my bottom lip when I saw the soft-looking fabrics of skimpy, little underthings staring up at me. Her underwear drawer. It was what I had wanted to find, and even as wrong as it was, I knew I wasn’t going to stop. My nose flared. My fingers hovered over the cool materials. Lace. Cotton. Silk and satin.
“Shit,” I rasped. I would have to see her wearing each and every pair one day, and I had a feeling choosing a favorite would be close to impossible. I picked up a pair of baby pink cotton panties and brought it straight up to my face.
I was a sick fuck.
There was something fucking tantalizing of feeling the soft material against my face. I could see us back on her bed with me between her thighs. My dick throbbed. I needed my girl so fucking badly, I could come just from thinking about her.
With my free hand, I pulled my hoodie off and let it fall on the ground. I tugged my joggers low enough so my dick could escape. It sprung forward, almost painfully, bouncing off my abdomen.
I felt like a feral animal.
One that had been caged up and fighting to get out. I spit on my hand, wrapped it around the base of my cock, and held it for a split second. My eyes shut as I thought about Max. Max. My beautiful princess and the sweet way she had easily called me daddy. Because that’s what I would be for her. I’d be her man. One thousand percent. The one person on Earth responsible for her. To watch and cherish her. Protect her. And she fucking got off on it, too. My mind spiraled down all the ways daddy would take his naughty little princess.
She had been so eager on my lap just an hour ago, it made me wonder if that’s how she would be when she got on her knees for me. The scene quickly came together behind my eyes. Max on her knees, those innocent eyes looking up at me, wanting to please daddy.
I stroked my length. Once, twice, and third time with a tighter grip. A droplet of fluid dripped from the slit of my dick.
She would lean in closer and wrap her delicate hand around the base of my dick, stroking the length with the soft pads of her fingers, pulling the droplet with the pad of her thumb, using it as lube to glide down my shaft. That soft warmth would make my toes curl and threaten to embarrass me. I’d never been a one-pump chump, but something about Max and the way she looked at me, the way she touched me, and the way she felt when I held her in my arms had me thinking my control would be hard to keep a hold of.
Max would know it, too. She’d love knowing that she tempted her daddy the ways she did. All the while it made her blush. My sweet, innocent princess.
Her plump lips would touch the crown of my cock. Just the thought turned my breathing jagged. One of my hands would unintentionally wrap around the back of her head and pull her closer.
“Suck on me,” I’d whisper. “Make daddy feel good.”
In reality, I breathed in the scent of the material one more time before I brought her soft innocent panties to wrap around my dick. The softness was nothing like her mouth or her tight little snatch would be, but in that moment, it was more than enough. My balls drew up at that first touch, filling with my seed. I had never been this turned on.
In my mind’s eye, Max would ask me to teach her. She would need daddy to guide her, show her how to pleasure her man, and I would be more than happy to show her what got me off. She’d open those rosy lips and stick out that little pink tongue of hers and lick me. From root to base, she wouldn’t stop. Laving my length with her saliva, making it nice and messy.
“Just like that,” I would encourage. “Wrap those lips around daddy.”
“I don’t think I can take all of you, Daddy. It’s too big.” I groaned, getting lost in the fantasy.
“Just the tip, baby girl, take the tip for me and keep stroking me with your little hand.”
Like the good girl she was, she would do as I asked. Wrapping her pouty lips around me. her warm mouth enveloping the mushroom tip of my dick while her little hand stroked me. My hand shuttled up and down, pulling the material of her panties along with it. In my mind, I got lost in that moment. The way she would push and try to take more of me, gagging slightly, looking up at me through glassy dark eyes.
“Stick out your tongue, princess,” I’d rasp. “Take my load, baby girl. Daddy’s going to give you a nice creamy surprise.” An all-too-familiar tingle started at the base of my spine, and my balls drew up tightly and hot a millisecond before I spilled my load onto her panties. I came so hard my knees went weak and black spots danced around my eyes. “Shit!” I exhaled, dropping my head back. My hand never stopped moving. I had just come. Hard. All to a dirty fantasy. And I wasn’t getting soft. Shit. I had a feeling it was going to be a long night. I glanced at the watch on my wrist. Bright side, I had a couple hours before I’d have to sneak out, leaving her key on her welcome mat.
I lay down on her bed and smelled her pillows. Just like that, my semi-soft cock started to harden back up. Using the same soiled panties, I started to jerk my dick off all over again.