Page 16 of Invisible String (The Underground #1)

“I agree. I love Frank, and I feel deeply for him. He’s so sweet to his sister.” Rainey scrolls through her phone, searching for the app where she has the book downloaded. “Max, can I ask you something? And be honest?”

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, I answer, “Of course…I’ll try to be honest.” And that’s the truth—I’ll try. If she asks about my personal life, I can only say so much.

“Did you ever think of me throughout the years?” She looks up from her phone. “If you didn’t, that’s fine.” She laughs wryly.

I rub my thumb between her legs. “I did.” All the fucking time.

During the darkest moments, she brought me peace and light.

My sunshine. She was my source of strength and hope during the chaotic times.

I can’t tell her that. It’s difficult for me to open up and express my true feelings.

Words always stay at the tip of my tongue and in my head.

“Really?” Her brown eyes widen.

I nod.

“Yeah, I did.”

“So did I, Max. I always wondered how you were doing and if I’d ever run into you.

You were my first crush. Lana would say I was crazy.

Maybe I was.” She plays with the hem of her shirt.

“From that moment you walked into my school. There was something about you. I don’t understand it. God, I sound cheesy, huh? So cliche.”

“You don’t.” I insert two fingers, and she gasps. “Read, Rain.”

She does. She reads while I listen and play with her body.

My fingers plunge into her soaking-wet lips.

She arches her back against my chest. I listen to each word that comes out of her perfectly shaped mouth and watch it move.

She stops, bites her lip, and resumes reading.

When I feel she’s ready, I insert another finger.

My hands are big, and my fingers are thick, just like my dick.

She took all of me earlier, just like she is now.

“Max,” she moans.

Damn, moaning my name makes me go savage. I thrust faster.

“Read, Rain,” I instruct.

“I can’t…. it feels too good.”

I pull out my fingers, and she huffs and starts reading. I chuckle and go back to thrusting into her. The scent of her arousal has me desperate to have her in any way. I lift her, and I lie on the wide sofa. “What are you doing?” she yelps.

“Tasting you while you read. Sit on my face, Rainey. Ride my face.”

“Oh, but…what if you stop breathing?” She slides to my face from my chest. “And the cause of death would be my vagina killed you.”

I snort and smack her ass. “I promise you I can breathe just fine.” She moves as my tongue lavishes her folds.

I nip, suck, and repeat. She shivers at the stubble of my beard, rubbing between her legs.

She groans at each word as she rocks back and forth.

Adding more friction, I grab her by her tight ass and rock her faster.

She cries out in pleasure, coming all over.

“Wow, Max, my whole body is tingling.” She laughs, her face flushed.

I’ll admit I enjoy knowing I caused it. “Did you even hear anything I said? Because I don’t remember a damn thing I said.

” Her voice drips like honey, sweet and breathless.

She slides down to my hard erection. A groan leaves my lips when she drops with a bounce.

“Every word I heard, Rain.”

Her head tilts, and her gaze is on me. She grins. “Are you hungry? I can warm leftovers or bake something sweet.”

“Nah, I already ate, and it was sweet as fuck.”

She grinds on me, getting a groan from me. “Then how about we move on to this?” That’s the one thing about Rainey that I like: she’s not afraid to tell you what she wants.

I smirk. “Take me to your room.”

I know I’m playing with fire, but I don’t know how to stay away from her.

I’ve already made it clear to her I’m not looking for a relationship, and she looked disappointed in response.

As I struggle to pull myself off the couch, my shirt rides up and exposes the scars on my back.

Rainey’s gaze lingers on them, her eyes widening with shock and softening with sympathy.

I close my eyes for a split second. I knew she would have to see since we are sleeping together.

As it is, I hated having my shirt on when I was having sex with her.

I wanted to caress her bare skin. I don’t want sympathy, especially not from her, and I don’t want to be questioned.

I’m not sure I’m ready to, especially with Rainey.

As much as I don’t want to remember the horrible memories, they come flooding in like a current.

It’s been a month since my mom passed. Her scent lingers in the air like a stolen lullaby.

I miss her so much. I miss her hugs, kisses, and the sound of her voice.

My arm healed, and I didn’t break anything.

The doctors claim that Mom saved me, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be saved if it meant losing her.

Dad hasn’t spoken much to me since her death.

I heard him crying in the room multiple times.

Yesterday was the first day people stopped coming to pay their respects.

Neighbors, Mom’s friends, Dad’s friends, and distant family have been coming with food packed in containers.

Every time they leave, Dad drinks until he can’t walk.

Mom’s and Dad’s families had never been close, so they didn’t know of the abuse, especially when we moved.

“Maximilian, get your ass out here , pendejo ,” my dad yells, slurring.

I walk over beer cans and splattered beer on the floor. The living room reeks of alcohol and old food.

“Yes, Dad.” I stand in front of him, hands in my pockets. His eyes are dark and full of pain, but the way he’s looking at me, it’s as if he hates me.

He snarls, getting out of his seat. He unbuckles his belt. I swallow hard. “Turn around, you little shit.”

I gasp. My dad had never spoken to me like that or looked at me with hate. He was always a loving father to me. I must have done something terrible. Slowly, I turn, shaking with fear.

My body shakes with each blow. Slap, slap, slap.

“You did this. You took her from me. It was all your fault, Max. You forced her to take you to football practice. It was all you.”

My body crumbles into a ball as I take the hits. Tears slide down my face. He stops, and I finally take a long breath. He walks away, and when I think he won’t return, he does.

“Here,” he shouts.

I look over from the hunched position I’m in. He’s holding a gun.

“Take it. End me just how you ended your mother.”

I shake my head at him, sniffling.

His eyes are as dark as night. “Take it now,” he roars.

I stand up with my back in throbbing pain. I take the rifle from his hold. My hands shake.

He gets on his knees. “Shoot. You killed my wife. Now kill me. Finish ending us.”

“No, Dad, no. Perdóname , I’m sorry.” I drop the rifle and run to my room.

“You coward!” he bellows.

He hit me for three years until a teacher saw my bruises and called social services.

They took me out of his home. And put me into a hell much darker than I was in.

The scars on my back are not just from him.

They are from the multiple foster homes I was in.

The system failed me, but most of all, my father.

He only whipped my back once, but the fists, kicks, and verbal abuse came nonstop, right until the day they took me.

The scars on my heart are from him. It took me years to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t at fault for my mother’s death.

“Hey, honey, where’d you go?” Rainey’s soft voice brings me back to her. She caresses my cheek with a gentleness that makes me want to combust in her touch. “How about we go cuddle on the bed? Yeah?”

“I’m good. We can go upstairs and continue what we planned.” I’m used to numbing the pain I’ve gone through. I’ve brushed it off for years and learned to live with it.

She screams when I lift her in my arms and run up the stairs. I am holding sunshine in my arms, trying to dispel the darkness that has enveloped me.