Chapter Four
Four
The room was small.
There was just a bed—full size if Stella had to guess—and a little bedside table with a lamp that provided the only source of light in the red-painted room.
Stella jumped when the door closed behind her with a loud bang. The guy, who she’d decided to call Winston because he looked like Winston Duke without the facial hair and with a Phantom of the Opera mask, winced.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to slam it like that,” he said.
“It’s okay.” Her heart was still jackhammering in her chest, although she wasn’t entirely sure the door was to blame.
Stella had no idea what she was doing. One second she was watching live-action porn on mute, and the next she was asking some random man if he wanted to have sex—nay, fuck her. Was she seriously that horny?
In her defense, he was fine. And not just fine fine. Foine.
And when he kissed her? Stella could count on exactly one hand how many people she’d kissed in her life, so although she didn’t have much to compare him to, he was, without a doubt, the clear winner.
That kiss had her wanting to climb him like a tree right there in the hallway, and when he’d lifted her up, it was instinct to wrap herself around him.
She almost didn’t want to let go, but she was glad he suggested they get a room.
In the heat of the moment, she probably would’ve let him slide her panties to the side and fuck her, as she asked, right there. But Stella knew that once her hormones chilled out, she would’ve been embarrassed. Perhaps that’s what was happening to her right now.
“You alright?”
The guy—man—moved to stand behind Stella. Even with her heels, he was still a head taller than her. Outside this room, she’d found that attractive, but now she was freaking out.
She’d just let herself be locked in a room with a man who was the size of a boulder, and he didn’t even know her name. Shit, she didn’t even know his name.
“What’s your name?”
The question burst out of her as she turned in his arms, and he blinked back in surprise.
“Max,” he said. “You?”
Stella hesitated for a second before saying, “Cherry.”
There was no good reason not to tell Max her real name. What was he going to do? Tell the bouncer she lied about her name to get in here? But Stella liked the idea of being her bestie’s bad-ass persona tonight, instead of being herself.
Stella would tell someone she wanted to fuck them, but Cherry would not only say it, she would actually do it, and that was the kind of confidence she needed right now.
“Hey.” Max hooked a finger under her chin, tilting it up until she met his eyes. “Nice to meet you, Cherry. Wanna sit?”
Stella started to nod and then shook her head, changing her mind. If she was going to do this, she had to get on with it. The longer she let things build up, the less likely it was she was actually going to go through with it. And she really wanted to go through with it.
Or maybe she just really wanted him. Perhaps both.
“You sit,” she said, turning him so he was walking backward toward the bed. Max let himself be pushed back, sitting down when his legs hit the edge of the bed. He looked up at her, slightly amused.
“Okay,” he said. “What next?”
Stella hesitated for a second and then, before she could let herself overthink it, she stepped between his legs and reached for his shirt.
“I’m supposed to be taking this off, right?”
Max nodded, his eyes trained on her as she began to undo the buttons. The heat of his gaze was beginning to make her sweat, and she couldn’t meet his eyes, instead focusing on her task. When she got to the last button, he slipped out of his suit jacket and the shirt all in one go.
He was wearing a white undershirt, but even with it, Stella could see clearly now the definition of his arms and torso.
He didn’t have a six-pack like a Marvel superhero, which was fine, she didn’t like that anyway.
But he was toned, his chest broad and firm.
Before she even realized what she was doing, Stella reached out and put her hands on his chest. She jerked back, startled by her own boldness, but he grabbed her wrists, holding her to him.
“I want you to touch me,” he said, his voice low. “Preferably everywhere. But we can start here”—he used his index finger to point at one of his pecs—“and then work our way down.”
Stella swallowed, finally forcing herself to meet his gaze again.
His eyes were dark and focused, and foolishly she wondered if this was what authors meant when they said a guy smoldered.
Whatever it was, the look made her ache, and she reached for his mask, taking it off so she could see him more fully.
The mask didn’t reveal too much she hadn’t already seen. The only detail that made the two halves of his face asymmetrical was the small mole by his nose. Still, the full picture of him, with his hazel eyes, full lips, and dimples, was a sight to see.
“Now your turn,” he said. He reached behind her hair to untie the mask, setting it down beside him on the bed.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, a hand trailing down her face.
There was a part of Stella that wondered if he was just saying that because he was trying to get laid or if he actually meant it.
But then his hand was in her hair and he was bringing her down for a kiss, and she let herself stop thinking.
For once, she stopped worrying about what this could mean or where this was going or what would happen next.
She just let herself feel, and it felt really good.
Max tasted like the whiskey or scotch (she was never sure of the difference) he’d been drinking.
He had one hand on her neck, holding her to him, and the other was on her thigh, teasing the hem of her dress.
She wanted him to keep going, up to the apex of her thighs, where she was sure she was already wet or at the very least getting there.
She wasn’t sure how to say that without breaking their kiss, and she really didn’t want to break their kiss. Not when his tongue was slipping into her mouth, making her moan.
Still, she needed more. It was like he’d unlocked something inside her and she couldn’t get enough of him. So she hiked up her leg and got on the bed, straddling him.
He groaned as she began to move against him, his dick now hard and pressed right where she needed it.
“Cherry,” he murmured, gripping her hips to stop her movements.
Stella pulled back, confused. “What? What’s wrong?”
“If you keep moving like that, I’m going to come in my pants,” he said with a laugh against her lips.
“Oh,” she said. Her face heated, both from the desire coursing through her veins and the embarrassment of not considering that. Should she have known that was a possibility? Was she already doing this wrong?
“Hey.” Max tugged her chin down with his thumb until she met his eyes. “It’s fine. I won’t come in my pants if I take them off.”
“Oh,” she said again, because apparently she no longer knew any other words.
Max chuckled, unbothered, and helped her stand. Stella’s dress had ridden up as she straddled him, so she tugged it back down and then froze in her tracks as Max removed his undershirt and then took off his pants and boxers in one fell swoop.
Stella knew it wasn’t polite to stare, but really, how could she not?
Max’s very hard and quite large dick was out, and she was mentally calculating if it was actually going to fit.
She’d never been good at math, though, and truly nothing was going to stop her from at least making the attempt.
Besides, she was pretty sure he could do a lot with just the tip.
“Hey, my eyes are up here,” Max said with the cockiest grin on his face.
“I was just admiring your…” She waved a hand in the general direction of his penis. “Features.”
“My features?” Max asked, his lips slightly upturned. “Really?”
“Yes,” Stella said, primly. “That is what I said.”
“And what about your features?” he asked, stepping closer to her. Stella willed herself not to move. She was not going to be intimidated by a naked man and his big dick.
“Do I get to see those?” he asked, stopping in front of her.
She truly didn’t understand how he was just walking around with that thing swinging between his legs, all nonchalant. Although she figured he had nothing at all to be self-conscious about.
“Cherry?”
Stella blinked, realizing he was waiting for her to say something.
“Sorry, what?”
He smiled, clearly unbothered that she had been completely entranced by his dick.
“Can I take off your clothes?”
“Oh yes, sure, of course.”
Stella had never been undressed before, but she’d assumed he’d start by reaching for the hem of her dress and had mentally been preparing for him to see her rolls and stretch marks in all their glory. Instead, he surprised her by lowering himself to his knees in front of her.
“What are you—”
Stella’s breath caught as Max began to kiss his way up her legs. (She was so glad she had shaved.) She had to put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself as he made his way up her thighs, his head disappearing underneath her dress.
And then his hands were on her hips, pulling her underwear down.
“Step,” he said, and Stella mindlessly did what she was told, stepping out of her underwear. She felt a cool breeze as he lifted her dress, holding it up against her stomach, and then the heat of his mouth was covering her center and she gasped.
Max pulled back and looked up at her.
“Okay?”
Stella nodded rapidly. “Keep going, please.”
He smiled wickedly and continued, his tongue licking her clit and making her shake.
Max held her steady, with one hand on her stomach and the other on her thigh.
He started to suck on her clit, and Stella shut her eyes, biting her lip as the orgasm that’d been building when she straddled him earlier came back with full force.
“Come for me, baby,” Max said, pulling back only for a second before getting back to his task.
Stella had never come before without one of her toys or her own hands, but Max’s mouth and tongue were coaxing sounds out of her she wasn’t sure she’d ever made before. And then she was seeing stars.
Her hips moved against his face, riding out the orgasm as she came all over him. If Max minded, he didn’t show it, holding on to her as best he could as she moved against him. When it finally felt like she could breathe normally again, he let her go and stood.
Her come was all over his mouth and somehow the sight of that made him even hotter. So she pressed herself up into him, kissing him. The taste of herself on his lips was intoxicating, and she lost herself in it.
When he finally reached to pull her dress over her head, she wasn’t thinking about how she looked or what he would think. All she was thinking was that she wanted him inside her, immediately. He dropped her dress on the floor, and turned her around, unhooking her bra and letting it fall, too.
He laid a trail of kisses down her back before working his way up again, lingering on her neck, sucking so hard she was sure she would bruise, but she didn’t care. Perhaps, if nothing else, she’d have that to remember him by.
Max pulled them back over to the bed and laid her down, kissing her on the lips before pulling back. Stella must’ve made a face because he smiled.
“Just grabbing a condom,” he said.
“Right, duh,” she said, laughing at herself a little. Her sex ed teachers would be mortified to know she’d forgotten that key detail in the midst of her horny haze.
Max picked up his pants from the floor and pulled out his wallet. He then proceeded to open every little compartment in it before dropping it back on the floor and reaching for his pants.
“What’s wrong?” Stella asked, but deep down she already knew.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, I swore I had a condom in here,” he said.
Stella sat up, which felt a bit weird because she was completely naked, but having this conversation laid out didn’t seem right either.
“You don’t happen to have one, do you?” he asked her.
“No, sorry.”
In hindsight, Stella knew she should’ve been more prepared. Seriously, did she really think she was going to have sex and didn’t think to bring a condom?
Disappointment started to wash over Stella, but there was a feeling of unsurprise, too.
Of course she wasn’t going to have sex tonight.
Although she did have oral sex, so technically maybe she did have sex tonight?
But she still hadn’t gone all the way, so to speak.
Just another baby step in the right direction, she supposed.
“Don’t worry,” Max said. He was now slipping his pants back on and reaching for his suit jacket. “They have to have condoms around here somewhere. I’ll just go grab some.”
“Max, you don’t have to do that,” Stella said, pushing herself up off the bed. “It’s fine.”
“No, really, just give me five minutes.” He ran over to her, kissing her quickly on the lips. “Don’t get dressed. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
“Max—”
“I promise,” he said, kissing her again. “Right back.”
Before she could say anything else, he shoved his feet into his shoes and ran out the door, leaving her there butt naked and still a virgin.