Chapter 46 Rosalie
ROSALIE
Max slammed the door shut behind him with a loud echo. I spun slowly around to face him. He took a measured step forward, his face only inches from mine, his eyes practically black with desire.
“Take off your damn clothes.”
My mind raced. I could hardly think straight with eagerness and apprehension running through my veins like oil and water. His closeness made it difficult to focus on anything other than the heat radiating from his body.
I’ll admit I’d thought about him. Like that. I couldn’t get him off my mind sometimes. His crimes should scare me away, and so should his obsession, but it excited me instead. What did that say about me?
“You’re quite the romantic,” I said with a hit of sarcasm—his favorite.
“The things I want to do to you are far from it.”
How charming. “Is this how you sweet-talk all the ladies into bed?”
“Just the one. Now strip.”
There was a long stretch of silence between us when I didn’t react to his command. I couldn’t. I was nervous. Finally, I held myself steady on the dresser while I stepped out of my heels, but I stayed in the thin gown I’d worn to the rehearsal dinner.
“If you want this dress off my body, you need to be the one to take it off.”
Max didn’t break eye contact once. My chest hurt. It burned. He moved in behind me, his hand meeting my back, and held me closer. Finally, he reached to unzip the dress, but he didn’t take it off. The feel of his large, calloused fingers against my skin made my rational thoughts worth nothing.
He leaned in closer to me, brushing the tips of his fingers against my hips.
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
BA-BUMP.
He turned me to face him. The warmth that surrounded me traveled to my lips as Max’s mouth hovered above mine. It was a push and pull that messed with my emotions. The tension was killing me, burning my heart slowly. I was stealing his breath, and he was stealing mine.
“How much strength do you have?” I asked, pulling on his white dress shirt.
His head fell to my shoulders as if admitting it caused him fatigue. “I’m holding onto the last of it.” He was never a nervous man, but his hollow breaths gave him away completely. I knew deep down he was affected by this.
I smiled against his neck. “Barely.”
“Because you’ve done nothing but test me. Constantly, relentlessly, for years. You wanted my attention so badly? Well, now you have it,” he whispered against my ear. “What will you do with it?”
Heat coursed through my veins at the simple touch of his skin on mine. It was a dangerous feeling that set my nerves on fire.
“Take it,” I murmured, the words slipping freely from my lips before I could shut them. Did I really just say that? Shit, I think I did. Panic erupted chaos in my mind. I knew this would happen. I knew I’d be weak, unable to say no.
He was awful. A monster by any rational measure. Yet here I was, practically asking him to take me to bed. What the hell was wrong with me? The very idea of him should repulse me, but instead it drew me in.
His breath was enticing against my ear. It brought me even closer. Despite every warning, every voice of reason, I couldn’t resist.
All my defenses had come crashing down with a simple whisper against my ear. I felt everything with him—everything, all at once. I was like a puppet in his arms, and he knew exactly what he was doing to me. He saw it all. Every fear, every desire. He reveled in it.
“Lie down on the bed,” he demanded.
Before I did, I pulled his lips down to mine. They were warm. Wet. Addicting. His hand held the back of my head, keeping my lips on his. He held my face as he deepened the hold he had on me, brushing his tongue against mine.
I wasn’t sure I had any dignity left. Kissing him was so wrong. He’d been the one to hurt anyone who kissed me. He was dangerous. Possessive. Arrogant. And also an incredible kisser.
Oh gosh.
Max’s kisses ignited a craving within me.
My stomach was in a tight twist. His warm breath brushed my skin, sending shivers down my spine.
I reached for his shirt, undoing each button until I could take it off.
He’d never let me undress him before, which was a shame, because I was definitely missing out.
He was everything you’d expect from a man like him. Strong and defined. His muscles rippled under his skin as he took his shirt off completely before throwing me down on the bed. His arms caged me against the mattress.
My legs opened further for him to move his body between them. I could feel how hard he was through his pants. I wasn’t sure why they were even still on.
Kissing Max was probably my favorite thing to do.
I wouldn’t admit that to him, but I could do it all day.
He’d never kissed me like this before. It was as if he was making up for years of missing me, and he couldn’t get enough.
Kissing someone had never felt this good.
My stomach twisted and turned into knots only he could untangle.
Just a simple touch from him had me wanting more. It was tragic how much my body needed his.
“I’m not wearing anything beneath this,” I told him with a whisper.
A low rumble passed through his chest as his hands brushed the straps off my shoulders. Then he grabbed onto the hem of my gown, bunching it up so it was wrapped around my waist. “You have no fucking idea how long I’ve waited for this,” he said in a deep, deep voice.
It sounded as if he were mad at me for making him wait so long.
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
Max left a trail of kisses from my neck to my breast. He sucked on my skin and bit down gently enough that it didn’t hurt, but rough enough that I couldn’t believe the sounds falling freely from my mouth.
“Do you want me, mia cara?”
I didn’t give him an answer, so he decided to find out on his own. His finger slowly pushed inside of me effortlessly. There was no hiding it now. His touch on mine did things to my body I couldn’t find the words for.
“You want me badly?”
Ugh, I did, but I really didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. There was something disarming about admitting it to him. I wanted the man I never should’ve wanted.
Was it wrong of me to be enjoying this? Probably, but that didn’t stop me.
His touch ignited a fire inside of me, making my heart thump beyond all control. His lips looked pained again, and I wanted to kiss them better.
His cologne, mixed with the warmth of his skin, made my head spin, forcing my pulse to race. He nuzzled my neck as his large arms grabbed a hold of me. I could feel him pressing against me. My body seemed to mold with his in the most perfect way.
I reached for his belt, but he stopped me. “I asked a question, Rosalie, and I won’t continue until I get an honest answer out of you.”
I wanted him inside of me. I could hardly tolerate the distance still between us. If that meant I had to be honest, then it was honesty he would finally have.
“Fine,” I admitted. “I want you.”
“Christ,” he murmured in my ear. “Why was that so difficult for you?” He whispered this in a voice that made it feel as if the world were crumbling beneath me.
“I told you I wasn’t easy.”
“No,” he said. “You’re certainly not.”
He let me reach for his belt and unbuckle it. I felt him line up, about to push into me. His hands held onto my hips tightly as he watched himself sink inside. His thumbs dug into my skin, holding me still.
“Oh,” I gasped, looking down at him.
Max was large. He hurt, and he was only halfway in.
“You said you’d take it. You’ll be taking the rest of me too,” he demanded.
I flexed my stomach from the pressure. Slamming my eyes shut, I let my head fall back, and my mouth dropped open. His hands held me still before they reached my sides. He leaned down, biting on my neck gently.
I usually refrained from swearing, but there was an endless stream of curse words running through my mind.
It was his voice—there was something undeniably sexy about how rugged it was.
He continued to kiss me with a need I couldn’t get enough of.
We’d spent so long craving each other that it felt euphoric to finally know what he felt like.
Max grabbed onto my neck, pulling my head closer to him. He gently pressed down on my clit, and my back arced as the nerves shot through me.
I clawed at his back, feeling my core begin to throb. He slowed down as he pushed my leg to the side, so I’d feel everything even more.
He said something in Italian. It was harsh, like a swear word. My fingers dug into his back as he pushed himself inside of me again.
“Fuck,” he said, knowing what he’d done to me. I was sure he felt it.
He held me in his arms tightly while I made him come undone. His head bowed between his shoulders, falling onto my chest as heavy pants fell from his lungs. He made everything in my body ache in a good way.
When he pulled out, I could feel something dripping on my skin. He’d come inside of me, and I hadn’t stopped him. I’d let him.
I figured the man knew how to pull out.