Page 22

I gaze into his eyes, praying that my words are not falling on deaf ears even as I speak them.

But there is nothing left to say, nothing left for me to stir up.

I have told him everything. It’s on him whether or not he wants to do anything with the revelation of these feelings, especially with my father on our tail, more men likely being sent out to find us even as we speak.

He would be crazy to want me, just as much as I would be crazy to want him. ..

And yet, as he lifts his hands to my face, I can feel a stutter of excitement starting to pick up the pace inside of me. My emotions are raw, and I realize that nobody has ever seen me like this before in my life. No one has ever laid me open like he has, physically, emotionally.

But I am ready. As an act of lust, of want, as much as it is an act of defying my father and giving away the one thing he has been forcing me to hold onto.

Max draws me close to him, gliding his lips along the curve of my cheek, so close to my mouth that I can almost taste him—and God only knows how much I want to.

"You’re sure?”

"I’m sure," I reply, my voice almost hoarse as I wait for him to give me what I want.

I can hardly believe that he is willing to even consider this, given what he knows about my family, but when he holds me like this, I find it hard to care about anything but the way he is looking at me.

And finally, he sinks his mouth into mine in a slow, deep kiss that touches the deepest parts of my soul, his arms sliding around me and pulling me against him hard.

I can feel his heart thumping against mine, the stir of his hardness against my hip, and this rush of sensation courses through me.

For a moment, I have no idea how I will even begin to hold back, the desire seems so all-consuming.

But then, he backs me towards the bed, which he has repaired since my escape attempt the other week, and guides me down on top of it.

It’s not like when he caught me after I fled, all frantic hands and tongues and teeth.

He seems to recognize what a huge moment this is for me, and he is taking his time in exploring every inch of my body before he thinks of taking things a step further.

He continues kissing me, his mouth not breaking from mine for a moment as he lavishes me with attention.

His hands roam across me, pulling off my shirt and undoing the drawstring around my sweatpants, lifting my hips to ease them off of me.

His touch is easy and confident, and I can’t help but give myself over to it, allowing the sweet, consuming feeling to brush away whatever nervousness I was feeling.

Moonlight leaks through the window above us, casting the room in a blueish glow that feels almost otherworldly.

Soon, I am naked beneath him. I cross my hands over my body without thinking, having never been this exposed to someone before in my life. But before I can hide myself from him, he catches my hands and pushes them aside gently.

"You’re perfect," he breathes, and, as his eyes drink in the sight of me like this, I actually believe him. I sink into the sheets, staring up at him, watching as the want darkens his gaze and the passion between us swells even further.

I reach up to slide my fingers over the back of his neck, pulling him down to me for another kiss. I can’t get enough of him; I can’t even imagine getting enough.

"We’re going to take this slow," he promises me, as he grazes his lips over my ear.

I nod. I can hardly keep my thoughts straight as it is, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have it in me to argue with a single thing he says right now. His words cast a hypnotic glow over my body, my system responding to him in ways I am not sure I can control.

"Open your legs for me," he orders.

His voice is soft, almost tender, but his words are filthy enough to almost undercut the sweetness. I do as I am told, and he grins, his hand slipping down between my thighs where he cups his fingers around me.

I gasp at the sensation. Though he is not touching me yet, I can feel the warmth of his hands radiating through my body, the anticipation almost more than I can take. He reaches out two fingers to graze them over my untouched entrance, and my eyes widen, my breath stuttering.

"You okay?” he asks, pressing his forehead to mine, and I nod.

Nervousness is still stirring inside of me, but it’s not enough to make me want to stop, not by a long shot.

"Tell me what you want," he murmurs. "Tell me..."

I draw in a deep, shuddering breath. There’s something so intense about being guided in this way, but he wants me to take every step on my own terms, that much is clear. If this is about making sure my body is not owned by anyone other than me, he has to let me call all the shots.

"I want… I want to feel your fingers inside of me..."

As soon as those words escape my lips, he sinks two fingers into me. The sensation is new, shockingly so, and I tighten my grip on him as my breathing tautens.

"There you go," he murmurs, brushing his nose against mine with a soothing touch. "Fuck, you feel so perfect..."

He moves his fingers into me, slowly, opening me up like he is savoring every second of this. At first, the sensation is so new I can hardly make sense of it, but soon, it feels less like an invasion and more like an invitation for more.

"You’re so tight," he groans as he brushes his lips along my temple, the want written in every word. "I’m going to have to be careful with you..."

I moan again, turning my head to kiss his lips, as he slowly pushes another finger into me. His words are soothing, softening the edges of my nerves, and pleasure starts to pulse out from between my legs, getting the better of me, rising through me faster than I can make sense of it.

His tongue moves slowly against mine as he fingers me, coaxing me closer and closer towards my release.

The tension builds, the strange pressure of being opened up warming my body in a way I have never felt before.

And, as my thighs begin to tighten and twitch, I know that this will not be enough. I know I need more.

"That’s it," he continues, the words traced out against my lips as he speaks them. "I want you to come for me. Let me feel you go over the edge. Let me feel that perfect pussy..."

His words are all it takes to give me the last few vestiges of pleasure I need, and my body lifts from the bed, pressing into him, as a warm, deep orgasm courses through my system.

It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, the sensation as new as the experience.

I have never had anyone touch me like this, and I know it should be intimidating, but the way he talks me through it with such ease makes it impossible not to get swept along with the tide.

"Mmm," he groans against my mouth, as he slowly slides his hand back from me, resting his slick fingers on my hip for a moment. "And I just know you’re going to feel even better around my cock..."

I whimper at the thought. If it felt that good with just his fingers, I can only imagine how intense it will be with his fullness inside of me. He slips his hands down to his jeans and unzips them, and I pull back for just long enough to watch his cock spring free from his pants.

I draw in a sharp breath, the sight of him a little intimidating, but as he wraps his hand around himself and brings his lips to mine again, he is quick to assure me that everything is alright.

"I know you can take me, baby," he tells me, his tongue drawing a line along my throat, as though he is listening to the pulsing of my blood right there beneath my skin.

My back arches from the bed, my hips lifting towards him. Even if my mind might still be a little trepidatious, my body knows precisely what it wants, and it will not settle for anything less.

He slides one hand to my leg, bringing it up to his waist so that I am exposed to him.

My belly rises and falls rapidly as I watch him draw himself to my entrance for the first time, my skin tingling with excitement as I wait for the feeling of him inside me for the first time.

His hand strokes my face again, drawing me up to look at him for a moment.

"You sure you want this?”

"Yes," I whisper back as I cup his face in my hand, telling him in all the ways I am able that I mean this and I am ready for this.

It’s more than just the physical act, it’s the knowledge that I am giving myself to a man who my father hates—a man who stands opposed to everything that I have lived my entire life thinking is normal, thinking is standard.

By offering my body to him in this way, I know that I am turning my back on my family.

And, after everything I’ve heard, there’s nothing in the world I want more than that. Or more than him.

He presses himself against my entrance, and I let out a slight moan as he enters me for the first time—just a few inches, slow, careful. He pauses, watching me intently, brushing the hair back from my face.

"How does it feel?”

"Different," I breathe, as I settle my hands against his shoulders. "Just... give me a second. I need to get used to it..."

"Anything you need," he breathes back, though his voice is heavy.

He holds himself there for a moment. Heat pools between my legs, just like it did when he was going down on me, only this time, more demanding, more needy. And then, I nod, breathing out slowly as my body adjusts to this new sensation. He begins to move his full length inside of me.

"How does that feel?” he asks, and I groan.

"It feels... so new... so different from your fingers..."

He brushes his lips against mine.

"Different in a good way," he corrects me, grinning slightly, and I giggle, looping my arms around him tightly.

I can tell that it is taking every bit of restraint he has not to just start fucking me fully, right then and there.

All the tension, all the want that has built between us—it’s not as though we can just ignore that because I’m new to this.

But soon enough, he is all the way inside of me, our bodies pressed together in the most intimate embrace I’ve ever shared with anyone in my life.

"Fuck, Cara," he growls, nose along the side of my neck, teeth catching on my ear.

I can tell from the strain in his voice that he is struggling to hold himself back, fighting to keep from giving in to the passion that is almost overwhelming him right now.

It could be frightening, knowing how close he is to the edge, but instead, I find something thrilling about it—thrilling about knowing that I can push him to this point, that I can make it so impossible for him to contain himself.

"You have no idea how much you turn me on," he continues, his voice laced with a tension that speaks to how serious he is. I tighten my grip on him slightly, pulling him closer to me.

"You want me to show you?" he asks, sensing the playfulness in my movement.

I nod and as he leans down to kiss me once more, he gives me everything that he has been holding back.

Finally, slowly, carefully, he begins to move inside of me.

He takes me in long, slow strokes that echo pleasure all the way through my body, the heat that has settled between my legs starting to spread out to consume every part of me.

I gingerly wrap my arms around him, drawing him even closer, as the two of us begin to fall into a pace together.

I can smell the scent of him surrounding me, enveloping me, his strength filling every corner of me until I am not sure there is room for anything else in the world.

"Fuck, you feel even better than I thought," he groans.

Without thinking, I slide my ankles to his legs, taking him in even deeper.

A sudden hunger rises up inside of me, and I know I am not going to be sated with just this one time.

Whatever he has opened up within me, it’s demanding, it’s hungry, it’s wanting in a way I have never wanted anyone before.

He presses his forehead to mine, his eyes burning into my own as we move together in perfect harmony, our bodies rising and rising to the point of no return, until. ..

"There it is, baby," he murmurs. "Come for me again. I want to feel you come undone around me..."

Those words push me to my release, a second wave of pleasure consuming me in a flash.

When my climax hits me, it spins my vision out of control, and whatever vague semblance I had of being connected to the real world is forgotten.

I cry out, and he covers my mouth with his, presumably to keep Veronica from hearing the two of us.

Or maybe more men who might have tracked us here from the forest. But if there is one thing I am certain of, it is that I don’t care what might be outside of this door.

As long as I have him, here, now, as I do, none of that matters.

The pleasure courses in waves from between my legs to consume every part of me, and my hands rake down his back, fruitlessly trying to pull him even closer.

He holds himself there for a long moment, as though savoring the feeling of me going over the edge like this, and then, once he is satisfied that I have gotten exactly what I need, I feel him reach his own release inside of me.

His manhood twitches slightly, and he lets out the most delicious growl against my neck, the vibrations of it coursing all the way through my system to make a mark on my mind for life.

He holds himself there for a long time, as though he is reluctant to draw back and admit this is over.

I am still pushing against him, hardly even able to pay attention to the way that I am clutching on to him for dear life.

He kisses over my neck and down my shoulders, his breathing heavy, as though he is doing everything in his power to bring himself back down to earth.

"You okay?" he asks me finally, as he swipes a strand of hair away from my face, cupping my chin in his hand with a tenderness I don’t know if I’ve ever seen before.

"Mmhmm," I breathe back, and I kiss him again.

Because, no matter how much I might try, I know I can’t communicate everything going on in my head right now with words, with something as banal as sentences I try to string together.

Sometimes, only a kiss will do.