“CAN I HUG you?”
My head snapped up at his words.
Dale never asked for permission when it came to touching me.
“I … I want to but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
He nodded, cursing under his breath. “I’ll leave and let you get back to whatever you were doing.” He rose from the bed.
“Dale” I placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.
“What?” he asked, his voice rough.
“I …” I chewed my bottom lip, pulling away from him.
“Yeah.” He brushed past me. “That’s what I thought.”
“What do you want from me?” I yelled after him, clenching my hands into fists at my side.
“What do I want from you?” he repeated, spinning on me. “I want you to fucking love me and not look at me with hate in your eyes. I want you to admit that you’re not fine. That you can’t do this shit on your own. That you need me.”
“I can’t do this on my own,” I said, repeating his words.
“Don’t fucking patronize me, Max.” He turned for the door. “It’s been a couple of months. Both of us wanted time but I don’t think it’s done shit.”
“I love you,” I breathed, swallowing past the hard lump in my throat.
“Yeah.” His gaze turned dark. “And look where the fuck that’s gotten us.”
“I never asked you to throw me out. I never asked you to leave me. I never asked for our baby to fucking die. I never asked for any of this. I only wanted you. Excuse me for telling you how I felt and for getting pregnant. Because that’s clearly all my fault.” I scoffed, stomping past him when I was grabbed from behind.
Dale spun me around, slamming me up against the wall. “Don’t you dare fucking walk away from me.”
“Or else what, Dale?” I pushed him. “What are you going to do? You keep threatening to leave. Do it. Leave. Leave already,” I screamed, beating my fists against his chest.
But he didn’t. He only stood there, taking the punches from my hands. He didn’t touch me, he didn’t move, he didn’t do anything, and it only made me hit him harder.
“Leave,” I repeated on a sob. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m done.” I went to step around him when he slapped a hand against the wall beside my head, stopping me.
Dale stood right in front of me but he was so far away at the same time. I could feel him pulling away from me. He was shutting himself in between the walls of his mind.
“Tell me you’re okay,” he demanded, his voice gruff. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’re fine.”
I swallowed hard, looking away.
He pinched my chin, his fingers digging into my skin. “Tell me.”
“I’m fine,” I bit out, keeping my gaze locked with his.
“Fuck you, Max.” He wrapped a hand around my throat. “With what we’ve been through, you should have enough respect for me to not stand there and lie to my face.”
“I’m not lying.” He was leaving, what was the point in telling him the truth? It wasn’t like he was going to stay.
“Max,” he shouted, punching his fist against the door beside my head. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.” I lifted my chin, shoving past him when I was tackled from behind.
***
(Dale)
I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want any of this. But her defiance and the fact she was lying to my face, drove this darkness inside of me to come to light. Every inch of me wanted to cover every inch of her. With my fist in her hair, I held her head down. My breathing came out ragged, the muscles beneath my skin vibrating with a need I had never felt before.
Max’s eyes were dark, dilated to the point of black. She licked her bottom lip, the flush in her cheeks becoming more pronounced the more time went on.
It took everything in me not to force myself inside of her. Her sass mixed with her innocence drove me fucking crazy. This back and forth shit we were doing was going to kill us both. A part of me couldn’t help but crave it and it was time I took advantage of it.
I kissed her cheek, letting my lips linger against her skin. It was a contradiction. The sweet gentle touch mixed with the hardness of my lower body. The fact I had her pinned down against her bed, trying everything in my power not to fuck her, proved just how much of an asshole I really was.
She squirmed beneath me, the flesh of her ass rubbing against my crotch.
A growl left my throat. “I’m not sure you want to keep doing that.” My dick grew, pressing against the fabric of my sweatpants.
She groaned, pushing into me.
“Max,” I snarled, tugging her head back. Grabbing hold of her wrists, I pulled her arms above her head and held them in one hand.
A low moan rumbled from the back of her throat.
My cock twitched, pushing into the heat of her center. Fuck.
Max spread her legs, chewing her bottom lip.
My body trembled above her, my heart hammering against my rib cage. Inching a hand beneath her knee, I pushed her leg to her chest and ground into her.
She gasped, arching beneath me.
A tingle hit me square in the balls. I didn’t want to do this. But then I did. My body reacted to hers before my brain could comprehend what we were doing.
With Max, I had been in denial for long enough. I didn’t know how we could ever get out of this hell we had fallen into.
She writhed beneath me, pushing her ass into my pelvis, rubbing her center against me.
Tightening my hold on her wrists, I inched a finger beneath her panties and pulled them down her legs. Her pussy glistened, swollen and begging for my touch.
A drop of pre-cum fell from my dick at the beautiful sight before me but all I could think about was getting my body balls deep inside of hers.
Her ass held hints of the beating she had endured from Tyler and I found it only made me want to fuck her even more. That darkness inside of me burst forth, until a hard growl left my throat.
Max whimpered, digging her nails into my hands.
Before I knew what I was doing, my hand landed against the flesh of her ass.
She yelped.
I did it again.
She cried out, pushing back into the swings of my palm.
Digging my fingers into the flesh of her rear, I lowered myself down her body and sunk my teeth into the full cheek of her ass.
Max threw her head back, a hard cry escaping her lips.
Massaging and kneading the flesh, I bit and sucked, taking the flesh into my mouth until her skin became red from my touch.
I met her gaze, my mouth turning up into a grin when I bit her again.
She gasped, licking her lips, her eyes bright with lust.
This wasn’t about our love for each other. This wasn’t about our feelings. We turned into a possession. It was to see who had the true power over the other. Her. It had always been her. Max controlled me. Every waking thought. My dreams. My actions. My damn soul. She was the reason I woke up from the coma. And she was the reason I would leave her.
***
(Max)
Every inch of my body tingled from Dale’s mouth and hands.
He was replacing Tyler’s touch with his own.
As soon as Dale had tackled me to the bed, I knew it would turn into sex. It was a given. But even more, it was needed.
Both of us were wound up tight and we needed that release before we snapped.
Dale’s mouth moved over my skin. He lifted my shirt, tracing his nose along my spine and inhaled.
I shivered, arching under him.
When his lips found my neck, he thrust into me.
I cried out, scratching my nails into his hand holding my wrists.
He grunted, his hips moving painfully slow. Gripping the sheets tight, he trailed kisses down the side of my neck. “Tell me,” he demanded, sinking his teeth into the soft spot beneath my ear.
“Fuck me,” I breathed. “Please.”
“No.” Dale nipped my shoulder. “Tell me who you belong to. Tell me who you will always belong to.”
“You,” I whimpered. “Always you.”
“That’s right.” Dale’s fingers gripped my ass, spreading me open. He released me and pulled my top up and over my head before taking his own off.
I licked my lips.
“Are you ready for me?” he asked, towering back over me and linked our fingers.
“Yes,” I whimpered.
His hips reared into my ass.
I gasped, the fullness of him stretching me.
Dale tightened his hold on my hands, keeping his mouth against my throat. “I’m not leaving until all you think about is me. Every inch of you will smell like me. Your skin will taste. Like. Me. Everything about you will scream that you were fucked by the man you love. And that’s me, isn’t it, Max?”
I swallowed hard, nodding.
“Tell me.” He closed his teeth around my ear. “Say it. Say the fucking words.”
“Yes,” I screamed. “I love you.”
“Only me.” His hips sped up, thrusting hard and deep, pulling a release right from my body. “That’s right, kitten. Come for me. Come so fucking hard.”
My body shook, the electric wave of pleasure shooting right up my back.
“That’s it, Max.” He kissed my throat, thrusting hard before he growled out a release of his own. He kissed my shoulder, falling free from my body before wrapping his arms around my middle. “No man will be able to give you what I can.”
Tears burned my eyes, a lump lodging its way in my throat. His words whispered over my skin, stabbing me right in the heart because they were the truth. No man could ever give me what I needed.
“Tell me you’re okay,” he muttered, kissing me softly on the cheek.
A sob crashed into me, squeezing my lungs.
“Tell me,” he brushed a hand down my side. “Max.”
“I’m not.” Agony whipped around me, piercing me in the stomach. “I’m not okay.”