Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Ahand tightened around my throat.
My eyes flew open.
I grasped wildly in the dark, flailing for purchase. But a heavy weight pressed down, lying on top of me. A wall of muscle pinned me to the bed. Pitch-black night obscuring my sight, I couldn’t see who’d come for me.
I tried to breathe.
Tried to catch their scent.
The grip on my neck squeezed.
Bucking my hips, I tried to throw the attacker off. I opened my mouth, hoping to fill my lungs and scream for Landon in the next room, before a low, deep growl rumbled in my ear.
A warning: “Don’t make a sound.”
The mattress dipped beside my head.
Weight shifted. My heart raced as they covered my mouth. And I breathed in as the pressure on my throat lessened.
A hint of citrus. Not lemon, but…
He came for me in the dark.
Sinking his body on top of mine. Covering me from my chest to my toes. Planes of muscle down his torso trembled, bulging under my palms where I’d grabbed onto his arms.
My eyes widened when he shifted again, growing hard against my thigh. My hips jerked in response.
It was him.
He didn’t let me go.
“It didn’t have to come to this.” He leaned closer, his hot breath fanning my skin, and whispered in my ear. “Are you ready to listen now? One sound and I’m gone.”
I nodded once. Blinking as my vision cleared, his face slowly came into view.
Max slid his hand from my mouth. “I shouldn’t be here, Quinn, but you left me no choice. They—”
Lips pressed together, I stayed silent. I took in his furious expression, waiting to see what he did next. Hope teetered on the edge of the emotion rising inside my chest.
“You aren’t supposed to be here, either. You should be long gone, hating me for what I—You wouldn’t stop. Now I don’t have a choice. Fuck!” He growled, his voice rising. “Why the hell did you come back?”
“I—”
“No.” Pressure returned to my throat. “No, you don’t make a sound. It doesn’t matter what you say. You had a choice before, and now…” His voice lowered. “You chose wrong.”
I pushed against his palm. My jaw set stubbornly in hopes he’d read the truth in my eyes.
He squeezed his eyes shut, cursing under his breath. “Do you know what Ben was supposed to do?”
I didn’t make a sound.
“They ordered him to bring you to them.”
His voice was icy, as if numb to the terrible things Ben could’ve done. Who he meant, I wasn’t sure.
I had a short list of people after my head.
“They told him to have fun with you first. Promised him the pretty Maiden as a prize if he removed you from the running.”
Heat emanated from him, pouring into me.
“He loved prizes. But he got greedy and messed up. Then he came after you, trying to make it right. You avoided him somehow, until you walked right into his plan the last day.”
My brow furrowed, but I didn’t want him to leave, so I let him say whatever he had to say. Whatever horrible things he had to release, I wanted to hear them all.
“He would’ve brought you there when he was done with you. As long as you’re still alive, that’s what they care about.” His voice ran cold. “As long as they can still use you. It doesn’t matter what anyone else does first.”
A tremor of fear raced down my spine.
“No, that’s not true. Not for her.” He dropped his voice, so low I barely heard him when he added, “Not with me.”
The need for answers, the desperation to understand what he meant, nearly broke me. But I wanted him to stay.
He wanted me to listen.
And I needed him more than the truth.
Clenching his fist beside my head, he hit the mattress. “Do you have any idea how stupid this was? Coming back here after that? Do you have any idea what they’ll do now?”
I didn’t care. Whatever they wanted to do, whatever they tried, I refused to run.
“She wants to tear your eyes out. Ruin every part of you that touched me.” He pressed his weight down harder. “We’d both pay for this. Do you have any idea—Go on, say something now. All you care about is getting answers, right?”
“No.”
“She’ll destroy you. You think it’s a game? Think she won’t?”
I lifted my chin. “I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?” He scoffed a harsh laugh. “You’re reckless, completely reckless, foolish—”
“I got away from him, Max! I survived. And I’m fine.” I growled, stubbornly fighting against him. As reckless, and as foolish, as he claimed. “Their plan failed. And guess what? He died for the trouble.”
“Jesus. You think you know the game you’re playing? Do you have any idea how lucky that was? I mean it, Quinn.” He shook me. “She won’t fail.”
“I don’t care what she—”
“But I do!” His shout echoed in the quiet room. He balked and dropped his voice. “Dammit, will you just listen to me?”
Anger bled into his words. Concern warred with his frustration. All of it fueled by one feeling.
“They’re going to kill you, Princess!”
My breath caught, and my heart pounded like a war drum in my chest. His eyes jumped wildly between mine as he scanned my face for any sign his words had reached me.
“Don’t you get that? I fucking care!”
Fear coursed through his body, pulsing into me as he shook. Vibrating through his palm, palpable and strong, it poured into my hand as I released his wrist.
When I wrapped my arms around him, he tried to shake out of my hold, but I refused to let go.
Squeezing as tightly as I could, I clutched his body to mine, rubbed my hands up and down his sides, and waited until his body settled.
My nickname on his lips prompted one question.
“Why?” I pressed in, looping one arm around his neck. Trembling, I pulled him down. “Why do you care, Max Dread?”
I brought our lips as close as possible without crossing the last line between us. Only a breath away, I waited.
He shook his head, eyes wild as he pulled back. “I can’t fucking do this.”
“Max—”
He snapped. Slamming his lips into mine. Seizing my face in his shaking hands.
And gripping so tightly, he left no room for escape.
But I wasn’t going anywhere.
As he plunged his tongue into my mouth, I met each desperate stroke with mine. I moaned beneath him, locking my arms around his neck and grappling to pull him closer.
With one kiss, he consumed me. Confirmed my faith. And carved our path forward.
He pulled back suddenly, but he didn’t run.
Weaving his fingers through my hair, he grabbed my ponytail. Forcing my head back. Tugging hard as I groaned his name. “You drive me so fucking crazy,” he growled against my throat. “Fucking brat. You just couldn’t let it go.”
“No, Max!” I cried as he sank his teeth into my neck. “No, I can’t let you go.”
A choked sound came from his throat, muffled by the stroke of fire he trailed down to my chest. He kissed over my heart, lips seeking my breasts, with more between us than he could take.
He rolled onto his back, taking me with him. He gripped my ass and then palmed my thighs, dragging them apart. Groaning with every touch. And spreading my legs until I straddled his waist.
He dug his fingers into my legs, scraped down my thighs, and found the hem of my sleep shirt. Fisting the fabric at my hip, he reclaimed my lips. His other hand flexed over my ass, kneading the muscle. Grinding my aching core against him.
I touched him everywhere I could. Running my hands through his hair, over his chest, and down every sculpted place of muscle. And it wasn’t enough.
Our bodies bucked toward each other, and his cock jutted against my thigh, reaching for me, too, right as I slipped my fingers past his waistband.
His breath caught.
My hand stilled.
“Fuck,” he groaned and pressed his forehead to mine.
In one swift pull, he yanked my shirt up and over my head. His fingers fumbled at my hips as I panted above him. He searched for my panties, and finding none, he froze.
Chest heaving, he drank in the sight of my naked body.
He sat up with a growl, rocking us backward, and giving me space to lock my legs around him.
Half lifted off the bed, he grabbed for his shirt. Tugging the collar over his head, he tore it off and threw it aside.
Then he reached for me. One large hand palmed the curve of my ass as he drove the other into my hair. He grabbed my ponytail and wrapped it in his fist, wrenching my head back until I groaned and pressed my hips against his.
I dragged my nails over his back, clawing at his skin.
His lips found mine.
And he flipped us again.
Pinning me to the bed, he shoved his pants down.
I used my feet to help him, heels skimming his thighs until he kicked free.
When he settled between my legs, nothing separated us.
“Max,” I gasped, voice pleading and filled with need. “Max, please, don’t stop.”
His grip on my hair, his lips on my neck, his cock brushing my entrance—everywhere he touched left a mark. It burned with an intensity I’d never seen coming.
I writhed against him, grappling to get my legs higher. To remove the space left between us.
He seared my lips with his kiss, teeth biting down with a growl as he grazed my core. Feeling how ready I was.
How much I wanted him.
His eyes widened. He surged forward, crushing my body with his and his lips to mine.
Our tongues battled for dominance.
He swallowed every moan and sigh as if he needed them to survive. He reared back, bringing me with him.
As he sank back on his heels and seated me on his lap, he never stopped kissing me. Even as his hands ran over my hair, down my body to the desire pooling between my thighs, he refused to break our kiss.
I touched every part of him I could, traced every plane of his chest, trailing my fingers over every ridge in his abs as I made my way lower. I rolled my hips, rocking against him.
Our movements grew frantic, our grinding urgent, and my quiet cries pleading as the need for him intensified. My body begged to ease the ache before the words left my mouth. The one that had been building since our first kiss in the woods. Since our first night in the cabin.
Since the minute we’d met.
Because we were inevitable. Undeniable.