Chapter Nineteen
TREAT CARRIED MAX into his bungalow and laid her on the couch, despite her protests. He slipped off her shoes and covered her with the softest blanket Max had ever felt, and then he went to work making a fire.
“I am not an invalid, you know,” she said, though she was tired. Treat had retrieved her bags from her car, and refused to let her worry about anything—including her car, which he promised would be fine in the parking lot at the beach.
“You’ve had a long day and a little wine, and I have been starved for you since I left you last night.” He blew her a kiss and said, “Rest up so I can wear you out later.”
She liked the idea of that. As she watched him make the fire, she wondered how hearts were so resilient. Her love for him was so big she felt like she was drowning in it. But she knew that wasn’t what was suffocating her. It was the ghosts of her past creeping into the future she wanted. Putting unnecessary cracks in the foundation she and Treat were creating. How could she ever completely trust again without understanding what she’d done, or hadn’t done, to cause the pain of her past?
She looked around the cozy room, which was not much bigger than her apartment but much nicer, with a stone fireplace that went up two stories and a cathedral ceiling. Besides the couch, the room boasted only a coffee table and bookshelves to match, both intricately carved from wood and painted white. She was glad to see the bookshelves not only full of books, but also decorated with knickknacks and candles, much like her own. There were family pictures, too, and that made her ache a little for thinking for even a second that a man who was so loyal and had been so honest would have intentionally hurt her. That wasn’t in Treat’s nature. She believed that all the way to her core, and for the first time ever, she thought about tracking down Ryan and trying to gain closure.
But she didn’t want to think about that ugliness now. She didn’t want Ryan to have the power to ruin anything else with Treat, or anything in her life in general, so she focused on her surroundings again. There was a staircase between the kitchen and the living room, and she assumed it led to the bedroom. She closed her eyes, and her mind traveled to that bedroom and the closeness she knew would come. She felt the couch dip beside her and opened her eyes, finding Treat gazing lovingly down at her.
“Are you warm enough?”
“Mm-hm.”
He caressed her cheek and said, “I’m going to run a bath for you.”
Just the thought of being submerged beneath warm water eased her tension, but hearing the love in Treat’s voice comforted her even more.
“Thank you,” she said. “But you don’t have to spoil me so much. I should be spoiling you.”
He pressed his lips to hers in a long, scintillating kiss. “Don’t ever worry that I’d choose someone else over you. I promised I’d never hurt you, and you can count on that promise.”
“It wasn’t really you I doubted. I knew in my heart you would never hurt me, but there was this instant fear that trampled through me. I realized pretty quickly that it was my inability to trust my own instincts, and I know that comes from my past. But I’m trying to figure out how to get those ghosts to stay in the past.”
His expression grew serious. “We’ll figure this out, babe. There’s nothing we can’t figure out together.”
He went upstairs, returning a few minutes later. He scooped her into his arms again, and although it went against every fiber of her being to be carried, she cuddled against him, allowing herself to enjoy his pampering.
The smell of warm vanilla filled the spacious candle-lit bathroom. Treat set her down on the ceramic floor, and she longed to be back in his arms. The idea of taking a warm bath seemed wonderfully decadent. When she looked in the mirror, Treat’s intimate gaze sent a sobering dose of reality through her, and she vowed that come hell or high water, she would find a way to put her past behind them.
She took a step toward him, and he slipped her sweatshirt from her shoulders and laid it neatly on the counter next to a basket of soaps and lotions. She lifted her arms as he took off her shirt and bra.
“You’re even more beautiful in the candlelight,” he said.
She unbuttoned his shirt and said, “So are you.”
They stripped off the rest of their clothes, and Max had to close her eyes against the primal urges spreading through her like wildfire. When he took off her glasses, she opened her eyes, meeting his steady gaze.
“Sweetness,” he whispered in a voice full of lust as he drew her naked body against his and kissed her deeply.
He guided her to the tub and helped her in before he stepped in behind her and settled her back against his chest. She closed her eyes as he washed her arms with a warm, soapy cloth and gathered her hair, placing it over one shoulder. He bathed her shoulder and neck so tenderly, she melted against him. He washed each of her fingers, her palms, her wrists.
“Relax,” he whispered as she leaned forward, hoping to turn and wash him, but he gently brought her back to his chest again. “Let me love you.”
He washed along the bend of her hip and slowly down to the crest of both knees, and then he bathed her lower belly, caressing her rib cage, hips, and inner thighs. Max closed her eyes. His body held her as a willing captive, creating a loving cocoon that made her feel small and feminine—and very desirous.
He wrapped his arms around her middle, touching his cheek to hers. His breath warmed her damp shoulders, and Max wanted to stay right there, with his heart beating against her back, forever.
NOTHING IN HIS life had ever given Treat the ceaseless feeling of happiness as taking care of Max had for the last hour. He felt her tension releasing in every breath she took, in the weight of her against him. Everything about her was sublime, and as much as his body cried out for more, sex wasn’t what he craved. Knowing she trusted him and felt safe was paramount. If they did nothing else tonight, he would be sated.
The bubbles dissipated and the water cooled. Max snuggled closer, borrowing his warmth.
“Let me dry you off, sweetness.”
She moved as if she were half asleep, her slender arms reaching for him as she stood. Treat helped her step from the tub and wrapped her in a thick towel, then used another to gently dry her off, wiping water from her neck and shoulders, remembering the way his heart ached the first time he’d set eyes on her and how the unfamiliar emotion had rattled him. Now he understood the emotion and had no fears, but he knew Max did, and he had to find a way to help ease them.
As he was wiping the water from her body, he knew just what to do. He would protect Max’s heart with simple acts of kindness and love, until that was all she knew. He was surprised when Max reached for his neck, wanting him to carry her to the bedroom. He knew the first time he’d carried her from the car that she might fight him. She was strong and self-sufficient, and she was proud of that. The woman he was carrying to his bed never failed to astonish him—even the way she’d gone from intensely sexual to full-on fear on the hill in Colorado had showed her strength. Most women would have continued making out and rationalized it in their minds just to complete the act. In his experience, most women feared losing the men in their lives. As Max had told him, it was clear that she didn’t fear that as much as not being able to trust her own instincts.
He drew back the covers with one hand and laid her on the clean sheets, then grabbed one of his T-shirts from his dresser. He carefully helped her put on the shirt. It fell almost to her knees. She looked adorable and sexy.
Treat pulled on a pair of boxer briefs, then retrieved the candles from the bathroom and placed them on the slate in front of the fireplace. He lay beside Max, leaning on one elbow. “Feel better?”
“Much. I didn’t think I’d had that much wine, but I am definitely still a little tipsy.” She wiggled closer and pressed her lips to his.
“That’s okay. I’m not. I won’t let you take advantage of me.” He rubbed his fingers lightly down her back, and she closed her eyes.
“Mmm. That feels good. I want to stay right here. Forever.”
Forever was just what he wanted. She was so sleepy and relaxed, he kissed her softly and said, “Sounds perfect to me. Why don’t you get some rest, babe.”
“Resting isn’t what I had in mind.”
She yawned, and he knew she was exhausted.
“Part of loving someone means letting their body do whatever it needs to do, and your body obviously needs to rest.”
She kissed his chest and gazed up at him. “But my heart needs you.”
“Then you shall have me, baby.” He pressed his lips to hers, shifting and aligning their bodies, cradling her beneath him, and said, “All of me.”