“Anyway,” he cleared his throat, going back to looking at the ceiling. “We got there, spread out, and waited for the negotiator to give us the signal. The situation was beyond tense. The husband kept wailing that he didn't have the money, that it was his father that owed, and this was the first time he saw him in ten years. The wife went into labor from shock and the kid… Shit, Sky, there was a three-year-old kid with them in that living room. Can you imagine? A Sunday morning, you enjoy it with your family, and because of a fucked-up decision of a man you barely even know, everything turns to nothing.”
I tensed. I knew it ended badly, but from the way he was telling it, it was obvious it ended really badly.
“We got the signal and entered. We shouldn't. All six of us ended up in a standoff with the fucker. I could tell he was aware he wouldn't walk out of that room and was searching for the weakest link. Thank fuck, Liv shoved the kid out of the room the second she entered.”
He paused; clearly lost in the moment he was relieving in his mind.
“What happened next?”
“The man moved, and I stepped in front of the woman. You know that bulletproof vests don’t cover you all the way down to your hips?” I stayed silent. He wasn’t really asking me a question. He was talking. “They end just above your belly button. The fucker aimed low since the woman was lying on the floor. He got me in my lower abdomen.”
“Oh, my God,” I pressed a hand to my mouth. I was sure I was going to vomit.
The mere idea of someone shooting at Max made me nauseous.
“Liv took the guy out, but not before he fired one more shot,” he rubbed his eyes. “I passed out. I didn’t see it. But, the bullet hit the woman, tagging her in the arm. She passed out from shock. Stone thought she was killed and carried her out. Apparently, he fell on his knees once he hit the street.” He stopped, then went on. “Fuck, reliving his worst nightmare.”
He shifted and turned on his side, facing me.
“He came to the hospital, and the first thing I said to him was that I was done. The next day disappeared.”
I don’t know what troubled me more. The fact, Max walked in the situations he described, or that he deflected and reduced to nothing the fact he was shot and talked more about Stone. I told him what was on my mind.
“It’s not that, baby. I was with one foot out, even before that. That last time just sealed the deal. I can’t watch people destroy each other anymore. I don’t have the stomach. And the reason I’m telling you about Stone is, I don’t want to live through what he had. And if I stay on this job, it’s a possibility.”
“Okay,” I pushed my hand in his hair.
“And with Barone still on the loose, it messes with my mind, just the thought that it will happen.”
Once he said it out loud, the seed of fear was planted, and there was nothing we could do about it. After that last, both of us were silent. Both of us lost our heads. None of us slept.
Chapter Fourteen
Max
I watched as she sat at the table, the sun making her eyes squint. There were no signs she got scared or started to pull away after that shit flew out of my mouth. I knew I would have to share; I didn’t want any secrets between us, but I planned to tell her about it when all this shit was over, and we could have a real go. But last night, after I told her and she sweetly kissed the underside of my chin then and thanked me for telling her, I know I was going to marry her. I knew it the moment she sat in my car in that wedding dress, but last night cemented the fact in my brain.
I couldn’t look away from her. The wind blew her blonde hair into her face, and she reached up with delicate fingers to move it away. My eyes followed the movement of her hand and fell to her neck, then lower to her tits and lower. God, I wanted her. I needed to fuck her. After last night there was no going back, and this game of cat and mouse was getting really old. I started with good intentions. I wanted her to know she could ask anything from me and get it. No matter how far out of reach it was. I would bust my balls and break my legs. But she would get it. Then it turned to fun. She was cute as hell when she was flustered, and nothing got her more flustered than when I touched her for that first time, she saw me shirtless. I made sure she got the sight every day.
But then, I fucked up.
I caved and tasted her.
Fuck.
The taste of her.
I groaned, my dick getting hard with just the memory, and I shifted. It didn’t help. My dick pulsed with every heartbeat. I looked down at her body; my eyes devouring her bare legs as she stretched them in front of her and crossed her ankles. Damnit. How good would they feel wrapped around my back?
“You okay over there?” she teased.
I decided to tell her straight. No more playing games, no more delaying inevitable, no matter who was out there, trying to find a way to destroy us.
“I’m just imagining how it would feel having your legs wrapped around me while I was inside you.”
Her head whipped to me, her eyes bugged out, and her mouth fell open. But a second later, she sat up straight, put her cup down, leaned to me and her eyes turned to slits. That didn’t go as I planned.
“What's wrong?” I asked as if nothing happened.
“Nothing,” she muttered and continued to glare at me.
“Bean, would you stop trying to kill me with the powers of your look for one second and tell me what has gotten you so worked up.”
“You're doing it on purpose!” she exclaimed.
“I don't follow, honey,” I played dumb.
“Every day, you come in here all sweaty with your shirt practically pressed to you, reminding me of what you are keeping from me,” she was getting worked up. "Not that I need any reminding. Trust me. I got the vision of your body burned in my retinas. And then, you get me all hot and bothered with your Supreme sex abilities, and you just stop, say it's too soon, I'm too fragile and go on your merry way.”
“My Supreme sex abilities?” I laughed...
“Ugh,” she threw her hands up in the air.
God, I wanted her.
“Skylar,” I watched as a visible shiver overtook her body by just me saying my name. Oh yeah, it was time." Are you saying you want me to fuck you?”
Please say yes.
“Yes,” she said in what was almost a whisper.
In a flash, I was crouching in front of her. My palms at her ankles, and as I rose up to my feet, I dragged them along her skin. I watched fascinated as her pupils dilated, her breath hitched, then she started panting. She was trembling. She was giving herself to the powerful pull that lived between us. She was giving herself over to me. I picked her up from her chair and pulled her flushed to my body. Her legs hugging my waist, her pussy hot on my groin, she felt how desperately my dick wanted to get in her pussy, and she threw her head back with her moan.