Well, here I am again.

Max’s living room. I’m standing here, staring out his amazing windows at the incredible view of the city I grew up in but still can’t quite recognize from this angle. It’s a brand-new experience. Dreamlike, I’d say, if I weren’t so absolutely certain I’m awake right now…

“Would you like a drink?”

I see Max’s reflection in the window, standing at the other side of the room near the kitchen doorway.

“Sure,” I say. “Anything you have is fine.”

“Be right back.”

I wait until he’s gone completely before exhaling all the air from my lungs. It makes me dizzy and my vision sways while the entire city passes by in front of me. Not a single person down there has any idea what’s going on up here. Not that they’d care or anything, but I sure as hell do.

Go, me. Go.

I back away from the window and lower down onto his couch to steady myself.

“Well…” Max sighs with two glasses in his hands. “I hope water is okay.”

“Water is fine,” I say, looking at the clear liquid. “Probably smart, too. Still kinda floating on saké right now…”

“Good.” He sits beside me. “Because Thad cleaned me out of everything else last week and I haven’t gone shopping yet. Sorry.”

“It’s all right.” I chuckle as he hands me a glass. “Does he stay with you a lot?”

He nods as he takes a sip. “Every few weeks or so.”

“He doesn’t have his own place?”

“No.”

“Then, where does he live?”

He points out the window. “In the sky, mostly. Thad’s never been much of a permanent address kind of guy.”

“Sounds exciting,” I say.

“He seems to like it.”

“Would you?”

He shrugs. “I prefer a little more certainty and stability in my life, personally.”

I lean back. “Yeah, I figured.”

“How so?”

“I’ve always pictured you…” I pause to think, “like a guy with his eyes on the prize, I guess. No room for much else.”

He smiles at me. “Well, when I see something I want, I work for it. Don’t you?”

My tongue twists behind my lips. I sit up slightly to take another drink, banishing a little more of that nervous stiffness from my muscles. “Yeah, maybe. Within reason, I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” I force a laugh as he sets his glass down and shifts closer to me. “There’s only so much a girl like me can have, you know?”

“What else do you want?” he asks.

“Could always use a new car,” I say with a groan. Max slides my glass free from my hand and sets it down next to his. “Though, I’d rather just get a nicer place a little closer to work, then I don’t have to drive in at all. I could just walk. But, if I were really honest, I’d love to take a few months off and just travel around—”

“Phoebe,” he whispers.

“Yeah?”

He kisses me hard on the lips and I snap to my senses.

“Oh,” I say, my jaw dropping. “You weren’t asking about life, you were asking about right now…”

“That I was.” Max chuckles at my sagging chin. “This happens to you a lot, doesn’t it?” he asks, laying his hand beneath it and nudging it closed again.

I bite my lip. “Seems to be a thing lately. Why? Is it annoying? Do I look stupid? I can stop, I hope…”

“No.” His hand slides to push my hair back behind my shoulder. “It’s actually really cute.”

I freeze in place, feeling his fingers as they glide over the skin of my neck. “Cute?”

“Yeah,” he leans closer, “like these freckles.”

My breath catches in my throat as he lays his lips on my collarbone. He leaves soft pecks on my skin, one for each of my freckles. It tickles me but I have no voice left over to laugh.

“Phoebe, I want to make you come again.”

My jaw drops.

“Watching you tonight,” he says, his hand slides up my dress, “touching yourself for me.”

“Uh-huh,” I sigh.

He pulls back to look me in the eye and instantly grins at my stupid, wide-open mouth.

I snap it shut and swallow the saliva building on my tongue.

He kisses me once, pressing long and hard as his hand inches between my thighs. “Tell me how you like it. I want to know what makes you come.”

I quiver, opening my legs to him without thinking. “Oh, you seem to be doing just fine with that so far. You are experienced, that’s for sure.”

He smiles and hooks a finger around the crotch of my underwear. “All women are different,” he says, his lips grazing my cheek toward my earlobe. “I want to know exactly what makes you different, Phoebe Pink. When you touch yourself, where do you do it?”

His finger parts my folds and I exhale hard.

He tempts my entrances with his fingertips. “Here?” he asks.

I shake my head as he kisses my neck. His fingers move slowly upward, hugging the inside of my slit. It lights a fire in me. I almost moan out loud but I can barely even take a breath.

He halts his hand an inch away from my clitoris. “Here?” he asks, his eyes sly and warm.

“No,” I say, finding my voice.

His lips crawl into a knowing curl. “Tell me where to stop…”

I close my eyes, focusing on his touch as a single finger traces around my clit. There’s a spot, one that I always touch to get myself off, and the anticipation builds in me as he creeps closer and closer—

“There!” I gasp.

He stops and adds a little pressure. “Right here?” he asks, still whispering.

“Yes.”

Max kisses me on the mouth, absorbing the moan as it shakes my throat. His finger moves slowly, massaging me where I told him to, and my back stiffens with passion.

“Relax,” he says, breaking our kiss.

“Max…” I moan.

“Shhh.”

He crushes his mouth on mine again, rubbing my spot even harder as he guides me backward. I lie against the sofa’s edge and he towers over me, kissing even harder as my moans grow louder.

“Faster?” he asks. “Or slower?”

“No,” I whimper, clenching his arm. “Just like that.”

My nails dig into his skin through his shirt and he flexes, easily taking the pain as he maintains a constant, deep rub. I cling to him, hanging on the brink and moaning into his mouth.

He breaks me down so easily. I come against his hand, mewling and squirming beneath him but he doesn’t stop. He won’t let me rest. His tongue parts my lips and it twists around my own like an eager snake.

“Phoebe,” he groans my name, making my toes curl.

Just when I can’t take it anymore, his hand stops and he finally lets me exhale.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” he says.

I laugh. I’d say it was unbelievable but then again, he does have his tongue down my throat at the moment…

He hooks the crotch of my underwear again and grins. “And so wet…”

“Yeah, that’s kind of your fault,” I say.

“Sorry.” He chuckles and kisses me along the throat again, pecking away at the line of freckles. “Are you ready?”

I pause. “Ready for what?”

He looks up at me as he slides off the couch onto his knees. “Now that I know how to get you off with my hand… I want to know how to get you off with my tongue.”

Good god.

“Oh.”

Max pushes his hands beneath me and yanks my underwear down to my ankles. “That is… if you have no objections, obviously.”

“Oh, no.” I gulp. “No objections here. No.”

“Good.” He sits up and loosens his tie. “Spread your knees.”

I do as he says, hiking my skirt up to my waist. Everything throbs. Nerves and butterflies tumble around in my guts. I’m more exposed than ever but I can’t get enough. I don’t want to stop. I want to give it all over to him.

Max lays his hands on my thighs, slowing feeling down to my knees. He licks his lips as he moves in closer, staring up at me with those green eyes.

Oh, god. I’m going to come all over his face again.

He focuses on that same spot, pressing his strong tongue on the right side of my clit. I nearly come right here but I hold it back in order to last just a little bit longer.

He kisses my throbbing clit, teasing me as he watches me squirm. “Do you want me to use my hands, too?”

I bite down on my lip. “Yes,” I say without thinking.

He takes his right hand and places it beneath his chin at my entrance. “One finger or two?”

I hold back even more. “Two—”

Before I can even get the word out, he penetrates me with two thick fingers.

I gasp, gripping the couch and squeezing until my knuckles cramp. He fucks me slowly, matching the deep stroke with the firm laps of his tongue.

It’s all too much. I keep it together for a few intense seconds until my body submits to him again. I come harder than before, my cunt clamping around his digits so tightly, he lets out a laugh before sucking the rest of the life out of my pulsating clit.

“Max!” I moan, my body shaking.

He pulls his fingers out of me and kisses my inner thighs to relax me. “You taste so sweet,” he says.

I laugh. It’s the only thing I can do.

He travels closer and I feel his erection through his slacks, pressing hard against my hip as he towers over me.

“So, Phoebe…” he says, kissing me once. “I ask again. What do you want?”

My heart still pounds in my chest, an epic and passionate metronome. I cup his handsome face, letting it all truly sink in.

Max Monahan wants me.

And I want him, too.

My hands move on their own down his body and he smiles as I flick his shirt buttons open one-by-one. We kiss, breathing hard and attacking the clothing on each other’s bodies.

I push his shirt down, touching every inch of his toned arms all the way to his wrists. He reaches blind behind me and grips the zipper on my dress, sliding it downward as he nibbles at my neck. I push off the cushions as my dress loosens and Max slowly slides it over my hips and tosses it to the floor.

He stops for a moment, his eyes staring at my nearly naked body and my cheeks ignite again. Bra, panties, and boots. That’s all I’ve got. A voice screams from the back of my mind, telling me how ugly I must look but the lust never leaves Max’s eyes. He leans over and buries his face in my cleavage, sinking his teeth into my breast as he groans with need.

I reach for his belt, my fingertips barely touching his swollen hardness inside and my tongue erupts. Max pulls away and watches as I unzip him, his hand resting on the side of my face. His thumb swipes my bottom lip and I gaze up at him as I open my mouth to taste his fingertip.

But I want more of him.

We shift and trade places on the couch. Max sits down on the cushion’s edge while I drop to my knees in front of him. I scratch gently down his abs and he winces playfully as I grip his pants. His cock springs out for me, hard and ready.

He lays a hand behind my head, burying his fingers in my hair, as I take his cock into my mouth. I watch him closely, moving and changing as his body responds. Just like him, I want to know exactly how to get him off. I want to know what Max Monahan craves. I always have.

His smiling eyes make contact with mine and he laughs, gripping my hair a little tighter. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, Phoebe,” he says, reading my mind.

I take him deeper, letting his tip press into the back of my throat. He groans loudly. His hips buck on their own. I feel the blood rush through his shaft. He’s close to the edge but I don’t want him to come just yet. I give him a few more strong sucks before pulling back and letting him fall from my lips.

“Phoebe…” He smiles wide as I kiss up his abs. “You drive me crazy.”

I laugh as he grips my body and pulls me to sit beside him on the couch. His strong movements ease me down onto my back and he settles between my wide-open legs. He kisses me, harder and faster than before, with one hand wrapped around his cock. I look between our bodies as he guides his tip between my wet pussy lips.

“Max…” I say.

He pauses, his eyes focused on mine. “Yeah?”

“Is this really happening?”

“What?” He laughs.

“Sorry.” I cover my burning face with both hands. “I know it’s a stupid question. I’ve just wanted this for so long and I really just kinda need to know if it’s real or that I’m awake and oh, god, I’m totally blowing this right now, aren’t I?”

He takes hold of my hands and lowers them off my cheeks. “You’re really here, Phoebe,” he says, laying a kiss on the tip of my nose. “I’m really here. This is really happening. You haven’t blown anything… except the obvious, of course.”

“Oh.” I exhale, laughter shaking my gut. “Okay, if you could forget all about that little freak-out, that’d be great.”

He kisses me again. I feel his tip enter me an inch but he doesn’t thrust. We linger there together, kissing and breathing as I draw my knees upward to hug his waist. I lock my boots behind his back and his lips curl.

Max slowly thrusts. He fills me until his length ends, pausing deep inside of me to kiss me again before pulling out halfway. I feel him, all of him, as he slowly grinds me against the couch. It’s a slow, purposeful fuck but more pleasurable than I imagined it’d be.

My hands roam his body as he takes me, gliding over his flexing muscles and around his taut back. I flash back to that first vodka-buzzed night with him and, for a moment, I think I see Thad standing over us waiting for his turn. I almost reach out to him but the shadow fades as quickly as it appeared.

It’s just me and Max here tonight. Just the Prom King and I.

He moans and I clench from the tension begging to break me inside.

“Phoebe,” he exhales. “I should have taken you like this before...”

I laugh, barely breathing.

“If I had known,” he continues, “how good you felt…”

“Max.”

“How sweet you taste…”

“Max…”

“I would have fucked you in high school.”

I whimper. “You’re gonna make me come.”

“Good.” He crushes his mouth on mine. “I want you to. I want you to come all night for me.”

He takes hold of my wrists and pins them above my head. I feel so exposed beneath him but I love it. I love every second of it. His eyes fall over my breasts and curves, all the way down to watch his cock moving in and out of me. They fill with even more lust before he starts pounding even harder.

“Is this how you like it?” he asks.

“Yes.”

I gasp as he leans in to kiss my neck. The mix of rough fucking and tender bites sends me over the edge. My back arches and my toes curl. He feels it all as I do and he laughs in my ear as he forces an orgasm out of me.

“That’s my girl…” he whispers, nibbling on my earlobe.

“Oh, fuck…” I moan.

Everything throbs. My muscles turn to jelly. I can’t move. I can’t think. I can barely feel it as he pulls out of me and takes my hand.

“Bedroom. Now,” he says.

I laugh. It’s the only thing I can do.