“Max, why is your apartment so—”

“Amazing, awesome, arousing?”

I chuckled. “Wait a minute. How can an apartment be arousing?”

“You’re in my bed and naked, right?” he asked, running his fingers down my bare back and further down.

“Yeah, so?”

“This ass…” Max murmured to himself and then gave my backside a light smack. “Fuck me, it’s perfect.” Then his hands dipped further in-between my legs, where he ghosted his fingers across my still sensitive flesh, drawing a heavenly sigh from me. He leaned his head down and whispered in my ear, “You’re still wet.” Playfully, with a cocky-ass smirk, he went back to resting his head onto his propped elbow next to me. “That means you’re aroused. See? I win.”

“You’re ridiculous, you know that? What I was trying to ask was why your apartment is so, I don’t know. It’s kind of plain?”

“Plain? It is so not plain,” he said jokingly disgusted by my observation.

“Oh my God, it’s so plain, Max, I’m almost sad for you.”

Because when I thought of Max, even before tonight, I pictured someone who was gregarious, full of salt and vinegar…someone who was larger than life. To me, that translated to décor that should be bright splashes of color, framed artwork on the walls, and maybe even some cool furniture.

But he had none of those things. He had less than that even.

Max’s apartment was a huge cavernous loft with one oversized beige couch in the living room that was situated in front of a TV that was bigger than anything I had ever seen before. And in his bedroom, which was where we had ended up within minutes of taking the three-penny tour of his place, was a giant mattress smack-dab in the middle of the room on the floor with gray blankets. Best part about that was that the gray on his sheets was the only splash of color in the entire place. And technically, he had been acting as my blanket since we ditched the sheets a while ago. White walls everywhere with not one picture hanging up in sight anywhere. It was more than kind of weird. It was borderline serial killer territory.

Max sat up a little, showcasing the ridiculously cut and perfectly toned chest of his that I had already spent some time kissing and licking and getting to know on a personal level. He turned his head around and searched his bedroom, for what, I had no idea, since there was nothing in here to find.

“I just haven’t gotten around to decorating,” he said, and then crossed his arms behind his head and laid flat on his back.

“Ohhh, so you just moved in. That explains it.”

“What? No. I’ve lived here for almost two years now.”

“Two years?” I asked while starting to laugh.

“Why is that so funny?”

“Max, that’s pathetic. You don’t even have one picture hanging up. Nothing. I thought you were close to your brothers.”

“What does that have to do with how my place is decorated?”

“Because, how hard would it be to get a picture of all of you in a nice little frame or something and hang it up.” I waved a hand around us. “This place feels cold and not like you at all.”

“And what exactly am I like?” he asked with a smirk. “And be honest.”

“Well, let’s see,” I said and scooted closer to him.

That cock-sure smile matched with his perfectly timed witty responses made me a little swoony for him. But, it also made me want to mess with him a little bit.

“You love being the star of the show and the center of attention. You always make every little thing all about you. You’re conceited and egotistical. You’re—”

“That’s all the same thing, Daph. I can’t be conceited and self-centered and egotistical and—”

I bit my lip while trying not to laugh in his face too much. Ducking my head down, sinking into the pillow that I had been using to prop myself up next to him, I told him while full on cracking up laughing, “Oh my God, Max, yes you can! Trust me, you’re all those things, all the time!”

When I didn’t stop laughing, he turned on his side and lightly smacked my ass again, catching me completely off guard. I yelped in surprise this time and rubbed my backside.

“That’s what you get for being a smartass,” he said with a chuckle.

He moved even closer to my side. Max’s perfectly sculpted body made me want to burrow further into his warmth and never leave his side or his bed. He was playful, funny, sexy, tender, and even sweet. Because that’s what Max was really like. In his own way, he was all those things and had been for some time. And maybe if we hadn’t been at each other’s throats for so long, we could have saved each other a hell of a lot of headaches and yelling matches too.

With a hand on my lower back, he started to rub small circles so lazily, as if we had all night long and then some. It felt so good, this tiny simple gesture from him. It was so effortless and lovely that I could have very easily fallen asleep. As if my eyes were in tune with my inner thoughts, they drifted closed then to enjoy and luxuriate on how completely relaxed he made me feel.

“You look like a cat ready to take a nap.”

I nestled closer into his chest. “Maybe just a teeny tiny catnap.”

He chuckled as his hand moved higher, making large swirls with his fingers barely brushing the skin on my back. And with my ear resting against his chest, when he spoke next, the words vibrated through me and made me forget about taking a nap altogether.

“I can’t have you falling asleep just yet, sweetheart.”

I tried peeking over my shoulder at him. “Is that a promise or a threat?”

Slowly, Max gathered up all my hair and gave it a teasing tug before sweeping it over and off of my back. “A little bit of both,” he said, and then leaned in to press a kiss to the back of my neck that I felt everywhere.

“Would you like me to tell you what I think you’re like, Daph?”

“This is going to be good,” I murmured sarcastically, before stretching my arms out above my head. “Let’s hear it…and be gentle.”

His laugh was devilish and wicked.

“It’s going to be anything but gentle, sweetheart.” Max pressed another kiss to the back of my neck. “And that’s a promise.”

My body reacted to his words it was a powder keg waiting to explode. And even though my limbs were deliciously sore from what we had already done together, I was ready and wanted so much more.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on,” his words were sweet and soft matching his movements. His hand was still caressing my skin gently, and then beginning at my neck Max pressed open mouth kisses down the length of my back. He took his sweet time about it, eliciting a soft moan from me and making my toes curl. When he reached the halfway point, he told me, “You’re the smartest woman I’ve ever met and, even though you drive me nuts sometimes, I love that you push my buttons.”

His admission brought a sly smile to my face that he couldn’t see and a low chuckle that I thought he couldn’t hear.

“You like that? You like that you drive me crazy, don’t you, sweetheart?”

I nodded, lost in the moment and in him. And it was true. I loved that he reacted so quickly and so suddenly to anything I said or did that went against him. It made me think he was as passionate about things as I was. It made me crazy, sure, but I secretly loved it too.

I felt his smile against my skin as he reached the end of the line. He hovered over me and said, “Your skin tastes so good. I want to kiss every fucking inch of you, Daphne.”

God, I wanted that too. Badly. I was more than willing to let Max to do whatever he wanted to me. I was so far gone already and it was only his lips on my back. It felt so innocent and yet so self-indulgently sinful to lie there and have him pamper me with kisses.

I felt the wisp of his lips on the base of my spine and then his hot tongue licked the entire length back up to my neck. My whole body felt like it would combust and burst into flames if he didn’t stop. Max then roughly gripped my hips and pulled me up to my knees and then further still, so that I was sitting up on my heels and almost right on his lap behind me. For a moment, I was simply lost to the sensation of his hands roaming up and down my sides. Closing my eyes, I dropped my head back onto his waiting shoulder just needing to feel the moment. His lips then barely brushed along the shell of my ear as my arm reached up and around his neck to pull him closer to me.

Max’s hands glided over to one of my breasts and started tweaking my nipple, while the other slid down my stomach and kept inching lower. My entire body felt like it was on the brink of falling over the edge and waiting for something. And that something finally came to be when his hand touched the sensitive flesh between my legs. He chose that moment to whisper into my ear. “You have no idea how many times I made myself come thinking about you spreading your legs for me in this very bed.”

“Oh my God,” I cried out, so close with just his hands touching me. And now, picturing Max pleasuring himself was like throwing gasoline onto an already roaring fire. “Please don’t stop, Max.”

He chuckled, his smug smile pressing against my skin and turning me inside out. I was putty in his hands; willing to do and say whatever it took to have him finish me off immediately. Max wrapped my long hair into a fist and pulled my head back to meet his waiting mouth. His tongue dove into my mine, licking and sucking, and kissing me with a hunger unlike anything I had ever felt before from him. It was passionate and potent, like a man possessed. All the while his other hand was touching me where I needed him most. And when Max broke off the kiss, he moaned and cursed under his breath before telling me in a gravelly voice, “Get on your back, gorgeous girl. I need to taste all of you right now.”

I didn’t hesitate, moving so fucking fast onto my back and spreading my legs as far as they could go for him that I almost felt dizzy. Because I had been dying to feel his mouth on me since the moment he brought it up in that elevator a few nights ago. It was like Christmas morning as far as I was concerned and my present was going to be feeling Max’s tongue lick me until I came.

It was beyond erotic to lie there, and I could feel myself growing more aroused by the second while Max was calmly sitting on his haunches in between my legs watching, studying my reaction as his hands ran up and down my thighs. Without prolonging it another moment, as if he couldn’t hold off any longer, he leaned in and licked me, his hot breath fanning across my flesh and making my eyes roll into the back of my head. I knew right then and there that I wasn’t going to last long at all. It should be embarrassing but I couldn’t find it in me to care. And when he pushed two fingers inside of me while he sucked with the perfect amount of pressure on the tiny bundle of nerves, I felt myself floating further and further away until there was nothing left of me in the room.

Honestly, I might have forgotten my own name at that point were it not for Max’s voice breaking through my desire-fueled haze. He must have sensed I was close, because his pumping fingers stilled and his head lifted from in between my legs. “My sweet, Daphne,” he purred and pressed a kiss to my inner thigh. “You taste so good, I’m losing my fucking mind.”

“Max,” I said, barely recognizing my own voice. I lifted up to rest on my elbows so I could see him better in the lowlight of the bedroom. “Please don’t stop.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

There was urgency in his movements. Because without a second to spare, he latched onto me, sucking with a pressure so precise while his fingers began moving again. I wasn’t expecting it and was caught so off guard that it took whatever little stamina I had left out of me. My head fell back into the mattress as my body started climbing, reaching that peak. And as my legs began to tense, Max’s hand pushed my pelvis down to the mattress and kept me pinned in place until he wrung every ounce of pleasure out of me. I fisted the sheets as I cried his name over and over, my back bowing off the bed while Max, still latched onto me, hummed against my flesh, prolonging my pleasure and making me see stars in the darkness of his bedroom.

Max broke away from me and immediately started reaching for the train of condoms he had taken out earlier. I wasn’t going to think too much on how many times he’s used those things on different women. Also, I didn’t want to think too much on how the physical act was probably just that for him…a physical act. For me, the shift in my feelings for him had already happened a while ago, as much as I hated to admit it. And I knew that once I accepted those feelings as being more than friends—or enemies, depending on what day of the week it was— that I was giving him the power to hurt me. It scared me a little.

Max climbed back onto his mattress and over me slowly, stopping along the way the press a kiss on my hip, my chest, and then finally finding my mouth for a brief passionate kiss. He settled in-between my legs and I could feel how hard he his was for me. And regardless of that fear of the unknown between us that had settled into my head and my heart, my body reacted instantly to his. But he must have sensed something wasn’t right, because he pulled his hips away from my body, scanning my face for traces of something that I tried to hide under his penetrating gaze. Those already almost midnight eyes of his darkened even more as he attempted to read my thoughts.

“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” he asked suddenly.

I went with the all-time worst answer ever, knowing how childish it sounded. “Nothing, I’m fine.”

His hand came up to frame my face, grasping it tenderly while he held himself up over me. “Tell me.”

I was usually a straight shooter. Always had been. I wasn’t one to hide behind lies and regret. As much as I wanted to be like Max and just enjoy the physical part of us without letting the emotional ruin the fun for me…and for him too, I couldn’t let this moment go by. So, for the second time with him, I chose honesty.

“I know you said you liked me and it was cute and everything and yeah, obviously, you like me a whole lot because we’ve been doing all of this for the past few hours.”

Max chuckled and then said, “You think?”

“It’s just that I’m a woman and—,”

“I’m very aware and very thankful for that fact, but thanks for the reminder.”

“Yes, good. So what I’m trying to say is that I know this is fun for you and sure, it’s fun for me too, but I like you, Max.”

“Good,” he said and then bent to kiss my collarbone. “I like you too.”

My hands weaved into his hair and tugged slightly. His face came back into view with that sexy smirk of his that ought to be illegal. “No, Max, I don’t think you understand. I really like you. I like you like a fat kid likes cake. I like you like a Starbucks junkie likes pumpkin spice lattes. I like you like Kanye likes Kanye. I like you like—,”

His smirk widened with each sentence until he was full on smiling at me and then laughing so much that he ducked his head again, resting it on my shoulder.

“I’m so glad you think it’s funny, Max.”

“Oh man, it is funny,” he said muffled against my skin, still laughing a little. And then it died down as he lifted his head again. His eyes were light with amusement as he pressed a kiss to one corner of my mouth and then the other. “Daphne, I like you more than a fat kid like cake too. I like you more than a Starbucks junkie likes that garbage pumpkin shit. And I don’t know about liking you more than Kanye likes himself, but fuck sweetheart, I’m willing to give him a run for his money.”

“But…but, you’re…you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Max looked genuinely taken aback by my not-at-all-fancy way of explaining myself. What I had meant to say was the Max Allen that was well known as the man-whore du jour since I could remember, wasn’t supposed to feel those types of things. Hell, even he would tell you that right to your face. He never hid who he was. And you had to respect that about him. So hearing Max tell me that he feeling all the same things I was feeling…well, it was almost impossible to wrap my head around.

“You know what?” he asked, his expression softening a little. “I take it all back. I don’t like you at all, Daph.”

“You don’t?”

“No, I don’t.’ He smiled and then bent his head down to within a breath of my ear. “In fact, I need to tell you something.” After a few beats, he whispered, “I hate you.”

I barked out a laugh, but he went on.

“I hate you so much. I hate everything about you, Daphne.” He lifted his head and I caught a glimpse of a grin playing on the corners of his mouth. But he quickly ducked his head down and started to kiss a trail from my collarbone to my right breast. “I hate your skin. It tastes like…like…”

“Watch it,” I warned with a playful tone.

“It tastes like shit. There I said it and I feel so much better now that that’s in the open.”

My body shook with laughter as Max went back to kissing a trail from my breast to my stomach. He sighed as he ran his hands along the sides of my wide hips thanks to years of Cuban food and then kissed the taut skin of my little pooch belly, that no matter how many crunches I did or how many miles I ran, would never go away. Secretly, I had to admit I kind of loved it. “And these curves, I fucking hate them so much even though they make my dick hard as a fucking rock. But, whatever, I hate them anyway, dammit! Curse you curves!”

I bit my lip as my smile widened to epic proportions. Knowing what he was trying to do and the way he said it, not only was it adorable and sweet of him, but also it was so unlike the Max Allen that everyone expected.

And maybe that was the problem. My problem.

I shouldn’t be expecting him to act like everyone expected him to act. He was here with me now and whatever standard I was holding him to in my head needed to just fucking stop. “I’m sorry, Max.”

He was busying himself by kissing a trail back up my stomach, between my breasts, and was currently pressing open mouthed, wet kisses along my collarbone and neck. “Sorry for what? Sorry that I hate you so much? You can’t blame yourself that you suck so much, Daph.”

“No, I’m sorry that I—,”

Max pressed his index finger to my lips. “Shh, I know and it’s okay.”

His expression turned slightly serious. And then, so achingly slow, he moved his body back over mine completely. He warmed me with his skin that underneath my fingertips that had been running up and down his back was hot to the touch.

Pulling his finger away, he brought his mouth to mine while lining up his hardness against my flesh. My legs spread a little more to make room for his narrow hips. And with his dark, lustful eyes on mine, he pushed into me inch by glorious inch until he was fully seated.

“Fuuuuck,” he growled, tearing his mouth away from mine.

“Max,” I moaned into his shoulder. Digging my nails into his back, I pleaded with him for my own sanity. “Please, move. Now.”

But he stayed right where he was, not moving one bit.

“I’ll start moving, but I need to tell you something first, sweetheart.”

His voice was so serious, so sultry, and so full of emotion that my breath got lodged in my throat in anticipation of whatever he was going to tell me. As he dragged his cock deliciously out of me and deliberately back inside, Max whispered against my lips, “I hate you, Daphne.”

He lowered down onto his forearms, resting them on either side of my head and creating a little cocoon between us that made me feel safe and cared for by him. My fingers wove into his hair and pulled his head down so that his forehead rested against mine. Max was moving his hips with such unhurried movements; going deep every so often and then shallow thrusts that felt so good I never wanted it to end.

“Max,” I sighed.

“Yeah.”

He was moving steadily now, stoking the fire between us, bringing me so close to the brink with the friction he created and we had only just started. I wasn’t complaining though. It felt so goddamn good there was no way I could tell him to stop, slow down, to change positions, nothing. I would have sold my soul to get to wherever he was taking me to with his body immediately.

“Max, I hate you, too,” I told him, wrapping my legs around his waist as tight as I could. My voice was growing desperate. “I hate you so much.”

His mouth sought mine then, kissing me with passion and need that was overwhelming. His tongue swept in and hungrily licked and nipped at mine while he picked up and maintained a steady rhythm with his hips pushing his hardness in and out of me. It was the sweetest torture and my body reacted immediately, not being able to hold off the impending orgasm that was going to be off the charts amazing. Max must have sensed my body was at the edge of falling over because his mouth broke off of mine roughly but he stayed close, hovering his lips over mine. Which felt so much more intimate than the actual act of kissing. His hands dug into my hips hard, holding me right where he wanted me. He cursed under his breath a few times while I simply closed my eyes and let the pleasure he was building in me reach its peak.

“Yes, right…there…don’t stop,” I managed to say in-between my panting breaths.

He had hit the sweet spot, creating the perfect amount of friction which each stroke, as he pulled out and then pushed back inside of me.

“Yeah?” he asked, building up his movements and I barely nodded. “I’m going with you, sweetheart.”

The idea of Max coming at the same time as me was too much for me to handle apparently. My legs that were locked behind his backside gripped even tighter as I felt myself coming apart. My hands dug into his back, scoring my nails into his skin roughly eliciting a low groan from him that made my insides clench like a vise around him.

That was all it took…for both of us.

I might have said something while I rode the crest of the most glorious orgasm he was giving me, but I couldn’t be sure. Hell, I barely recognized my own voice as I moaned in pure ecstasy during those perfect few blissful seconds. Max, on the other hand, kept on grunting and cursing under his breath. And when he pushed into me one final time then stayed still, his panting breaths fell against my waiting lips as he came hard and fast.

In that moment, there was closeness beyond the naked skin, the actual physical act, and the bed we were sharing. It was more than all of those things put together and then some. And I also knew that I couldn’t give it a name yet…it was too early for all of that.

There was a soft sheen of sweat on both of us, our breathing was coming back to normal and Max looked sexier than ever. I smiled at the fact that his usually styled-to-perfection hair was falling forward and pointing in all directions thanks to my grabby hands. His lips started to turn up at the corners then, smiling a full-on smile to match mine that made my heart do that pitter-patter thing I had only read about in books.

He leaned on one elbow as he brought a hand up to cup my cheek. Tracing a finger ever so lightly across my forehead, my cheeks, my jaw, my nose, and then finally, across the seam of my still upturned lips, his eyes following the movement the whole time. Once he was done, he looked me straight in the eye with the world’s biggest grin, “I hope you hated that as much as I did.”

I chuckled and lightly smacked his arm. He pretended to be in pain. “No, seriously, I hated doing that so much that as soon as I get my energy back, we’re going to be doing that,” he looked down the length of our bodies before pressing a soft, barely there kiss to my lips, “all over again. At least twice, maybe three times. I need to make sure I hate you as much as I think I do.”

After Max got up to use his bathroom, which was as undecorated and plain as plain could be like the rest of his apartment, we both got comfortable in his big bed. He arranged me so that my head fit perfectly in the crook of his arm. I snuggled into him and felt the pull of sleep come for me not long after, helped along by the steady strum of Max’s fingers playing lightly across my back.

The only light that filtered into his bedroom was from the large dome shaped floor to ceiling window that was directly across where his mattress was situated in the middle of his bedroom floor. And with New York City as our backdrop, the twinkling lights and the flickering shadows it cast upon both of our naked bodies, was more than entrancing.

It was magical.

The entire night had felt magical.

And I hoped more than anything that once we woke up, this feeling of magic would still be there between us.