Chapter 58
Ten Years Ago
Max Bennett was kissing her. His tongue was in her mouth.
This was actually happening.
Lana had never imagined kissing could be such a full-body experience. His tongue licked against hers, and she felt it low in her belly. His teeth nipped at her lower lip, and tingles shot across the skin of her back.
Max’s kisses weren’t careful and precise, like scenes in movies. But he wasn’t sloppy either, thank god, like the few boys she’d made out with before. Max was aggressive. Fierce. Each pull of his mouth took something from her, and then gave it right back.
His hand cupped the back of her neck, controlling the angle of her head. She was happy to let him direct this scene. Lana was just trying to keep up.
Every few minutes he’d stop and ask things like, Does that make you feel good?
Or, Lana, do you want me? As if he couldn’t hear it enough.
She certainly didn’t mind saying yes, over and over again.
That was pretty much all her brain was capable of at the moment.
With every yes, he smiled and took her mouth again.
Max liked hearing yes, so she kept saying it. Moaning it.
“Max. Yes.”
Slowly, he inched her body across him so that she was straddling his lap.
The progress was so gradual she barely noticed at first. One moment, she was balanced across his thighs, and the next, her ass made contact with the bulge in his pants.
She inhaled and broke away from his kiss with a small, “Oh.”
His dark eyes looked into hers. He panted, catching his breath.
Lana lowered herself onto his lap again. Testing. She felt the hot length of him, straining through all their layers of clothing.
“How’s that? Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Which was absurd. Fireworks were okay. Birthdays and Christmas were okay. Straight As in all her freshman classes and a new Mustang convertible would be okay.
This? Max and that rocket in his pants, all just for her? This was fucking epic.
He tapped her hip lightly. “Move back a sec?”
Max reached into his waistband and adjusted himself inside his pants. His expression suggested it wasn’t very comfortable. But then he pulled her forward, and he groaned lustily when she seated herself onto him, their bodies tight together.
Now, his erection pressed directly between her legs and against her core. “Oh,” she said again, but this time it was a low sound. Breathy. “Hi.”
A grin. “Hi.”
She’d understood in somewhat clinical terms why it was called a “hard-on”—she wasn’t that clueless—but now she had a highly sensory familiarity with the concept.
His dick was like a rock. The ridge of his zipper pressed against her, too, right at her clit, which was both a little too intense and… also intriguing.
Lana tried rocking against him.
Oh.
Max held her hips, his grin growing wider as she moved. “Yes,” she said, before he even had to ask.
“Lana. You don’t know how sexy this is, watching you.”
He thrust up against her, and she had to close her mouth to stay quiet.
They couldn’t wake Aurora. But this felt so good.
It was nothing like touching herself in her bed or in the bathtub.
All those times, she’d imagined Max was the one making her cry out, yet she’d had no idea what the reality would be like.
Her body, igniting from the inside out. His size, his smell, his eyes eating her up.
And they were both still fully clothed.
The couch creaked as their bodies rocked against one another. Max’s mouth collided into hers again, his tongue battling hers with abandon. He was obviously turned on, maybe almost as much as she was.
Pleasure was building inside her, the pitch moving higher and higher. She gripped his shoulders.
“Are you getting close?” he asked.
“I think so.”
“I am, too. You feel amazing. We can stay just like this if you want.”
But his statement implied the alternative without saying it. We can stay like this. Or we can get naked, and you can ride my cock.
She’d thought she couldn’t get any more aroused. She was wrong.
Lana stopped moving. “I want to feel your skin. I want you inside of me.”
His eyes squeezed shut. “Fuck, Lana. You’re killing me.” Then he saw the uncertainty that must’ve been on her face because he kissed her. Softer this time, sweeter. “I want you, too. So fucking much. You have no idea.”
“I have a condom.” Lana had planned ahead. She’d stuck it in the bathroom, at the bottom of her box of tampons. Where nobody would find it, including Aurora, who only used pads.
“I have some, too. In my bag.”
She swung off his lap, stood, and unbuttoned her pants.
“Whoa, hold on.” Max’s hand closed over hers. He glanced at the hallway. “We can’t let Aurora find us. Fooling around with our clothes on, we can explain that. But if we’re getting naked? We need a door with a lock.”
Getting naked. She had to pause as a shiver of anticipation threaded through her.
He was right. Aurora and Lana shared a room, and Aurora was sound asleep in there right now. The bathroom was tiny and old and so not sexy.
“My parents’ room.” She was already so far outside of good-girl territory. Why not be a little badder?
She turned around, but again he stopped her. In fact, he looked nervous.
“Lana. Wait. Before we do this, I need you to understand something. I can’t be your boyfriend. You deserve a guy who’ll be around for you in every way. That’s not me.”
“I know,” she said automatically. “It’s fine.” She’d never expected Max to be her boyfriend. She didn’t expect to win the lottery, either.
“But you have to be sure. When this is finished, I go back to being just Aurora’s brother. Nothing more to you than that. No regrets. No… feelings. Okay?”
“Yeah.”
Did she truly consider his words? Did she honestly think she could be objective with him there in front of her, their mouths chapped from kissing, her body wound up like a spring and desperate for release?
Later, she’d realize that she already had feelings for him by then.
None of his warnings made the slightest impact.
She’d say whatever he liked. It didn’t matter.
She wanted him. Not just to take her virginity, but to take her.
One night with Max Bennett was such a monumental idea, she figured it would be enough for her, even if she never got a single night more. Right?
“You’re fine with that?” he asked again. Insistent.
“Yes. Of course.”
Max grabbed his duffle bag. Lana found a blanket and spread it on her parents’ floor. Because using their bed would ick her out. She locked the door, excitement doing funny things to her stomach.
When she turned around, Max had set a gold-wrapper on the dresser. He pulled his shirt over his head in one smooth movement.
Her mouth fell open.
He was flawless. Six-pack abs, golden skin. His dog tags lay in the deep channel between his pecs. Not an ounce of fat.
He smiled, seeing her looking. “Your turn.”
Suddenly, she felt self-conscious. Did he expect a sexy striptease?
That was so not her. So she decided to be herself.
She pretended she was at the front of the class doing a presentation.
It was the opposite of the way most people got through public speaking—by imagining everyone else naked.
She was going to imagine herself explaining the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
Nerdy, but at least it gave her confidence.
Lana unbuttoned her top and pushed down her jeans, maintaining eye contact with Max the entire time. His eyes took her in, his focus going soft. But the rest of him was so, so hard.
“You’re gorgeous. You’re going to ruin me, Lana.”
He crossed to her, and finally, his hands were on her skin.
Running along her back, squeezing her rear.
His mouth followed, kissing her shoulders and her neck.
He knelt in front of her and pressed his lips to her stomach.
Then between her legs, where her underwear still covered her.
Her knees felt weak, and she put her hands on his head to keep from falling over.
The short bristles of his hair poked into her palms.
He remained on his knees, looking up at her. “Take off your bra.”
She undid the clasp and slid the straps away. Max made a guttural, lust-filled sound. Her breasts were small, and she’d always wished that she was a bit more filled out. But he was looking at her like she was the best thing he’d ever seen. Her nipples stood at attention under his gaze.
Max ran his hands up her legs. When he reached the juncture of her thighs, he pushed the crotch of her panties aside and stroked her with one finger. She cried out.
“Can I take them off?” he rasped.
Lana did it herself, kicking off the scrap of fabric. She widened her stance to give him better access.
He grinned up at her. “Eager. I like that.”
With agonizing slowness, his face a mask of rapt concentration, he worked his expert fingers against her clit. He slid one of them inside of her. He removed it and sucked the digit, moaning at what he tasted.
Then his fingers were back, stroking her again. She didn’t even know how she was still standing. She felt unformed, like a pliable piece of clay in his hands. She’d never known pleasure could be unbearable, the opposite of pain and yet, its twin.
Her orgasm took her over completely, forcing her to lean against him, gripping his shoulders for purchase.
When she was about to collapse into a puddle on the floor, he stood, shucking off his cargo pants and briefs. She wanted to stare at him, not to miss a single second of this incredible experience. But honestly, it was all just too much.
Lana was in a bliss-drunk daze as Max scooped her up, lowered her onto the blanket, and put on the condom. He covered her body with his, plying her with even more deep, intoxicating kisses.
“Lana,” he whispered. “You know what I need to hear.”
“Want you, Max. Yes. Please.”
When he pushed himself inside, the sting of pain and the sudden, unfamiliar pressure forced her back awake. The sight of Max on top of her, naked, thrusting. She tried to imprint the memory onto her brain. So she’d never forget this single, perfect night.