HAVEN

Max was the last person on earth I’d ever expected to tell my dark and dirty secrets to. I’d assumed the worst about him, that he was spoiled and entitled, all because he came from a rich family. I’d made him my enemy before I realized just how much I needed him as a friend. He’d proven me wrong, and it felt so fucking right to be wrong. It was all out there on the table, well, most of it, so where did we go from here? He never really answered me when I asked about the possibility of us being friends. My confession had surely blown that shit all to hell. Our time together was quickly coming to an end. He’d return to his family at the junkyard, and I’d move on to the next assignment, far away from the Lancasters and their mansion of sin. I had enough in my savings to pack up and move without having to worry about finding new employment right away. Given enough time, I could put this all behind me and forget about everything associated with this nightmare and begin anew.

Max and I might never be friends, but I’d never forget the short time we’d spent together or the many things I’d come to realize since the day we met. Forgiveness was for the deserving, those who accepted their wrongs and took steps to change them. It wasn’t up to me to forgive Richard for what he did to me; he deserved much worse than my ire, and God willing, one day he’d get his just due. Karma is a meal best served cold, and if there’s any truth to it, he’ll rot in hell knowing that he never broke me. I wasn’t the whore he forced me to be. I deserved to feel love and passion, everything that made life worth living. I had the choice to finally feel freedom for the first time, the type of freedom it took to drop to your knees in a public restroom and suck a man’s cock purely for the joy of it. I was through punishing myself with solitude and overwork. It was time I chose something for myself, starting with the man in front of me.

“Would you do something for me, Max, if I asked you to?” Please say yes, I begged silently.

“Anything and everything, Heaven.”

“Would you kiss me for the very first time in my life? Show me how…I don’t know what…”

“Fuck yeah, with pleasure.”

He didn’t wait for me to make a complete fool of myself before he sprang forward and grabbed my face in both his hands. His movements were sure and confident, while mine were shy and hesitant. I didn’t want to mess things up too badly, so I followed his lead. Max controlled our movements with his strong hands, tilting my head slightly toward the side he wanted it, and slowly leaned in and pressed our lips together. My eyes closed on their own accord, and my senses heightened by his soft lips and warm breath. Two soft pecks later, and the tip of his tongue was introduced to mine in a dance made more powerful from the feel of the bulge against my stomach as he held me closer. My body instinctively took over as I melted deeper into his mouth, stroking his arms and chest, desperate to get as close to him as I could. The kiss was amazing, and I never wanted it to stop, not now, not ever. Max slowly moved his mouth to the side of my neck, where he placed two more delicate kisses as light as a feather before backing away on a heavy breath. The look in his eyes said it all. Together, we made magic.

“That was fucking amazing, Heaven. Are you sure you’ve never been kissed? Another minute of those sweet lips, and I’d call bullshit.” His little joke made me laugh, but I wanted more.

“Like you said, Max, I’m like candy; you could never stop at just one piece.”

“You’re fucking right about that. The best goddamn candy in the world.”

He dove back in for another go, but this time, I didn’t need his help. I tugged and pulled at his unruly hair, held on to his neck so I could hook my leg around his waist, and climbed him like a monkey. I never knew you could get so hot and bothered from just kissing, but my pussy was on fire. If I could just move a little more to the right, his cock would…fuck this shit.

“Max, I want…feels so good…please touch me,” I panted, unable to form a complete sentence.

“Where, baby? Right here? Is this where you want me to touch you?” Motherfucker. His fingers grazed my swollen clit, and I nearly came right there on the spot.

“Oh, my God, so good. Don’t stop.” I clawed at his back until I broke the skin.

“Hmm, that’s it, ride my fingers, baby, make yourself come.”

Max lowered his head to the front of the T-shirt I was wearing and took one of my nipples in his mouth right through the cotton fabric. I moaned shamelessly and rode his fingers faster and harder, the release just out of reach, but I continued to chase after it. I couldn’t take a deep breath; the lack of oxygen to my brain only added to the frenzied pace I headed down. Max bit down softly on my nipple at the very same time he squeezed my clit between two of his fingers, and that was all it took to send me over the edge. I screamed out his name as I came in a headed rush that left me boneless and sated. Max and I held each other steady and tried to catch our collective breaths. My face was plastered against his chest, while he rested his chin on top of my head and softly stroked my hair.

“Jesus, baby, that was fucking incredible. Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you, did I? Please tell me you wanted that as much as I did.” He sounded worried, but he needn’t be. I was better than okay. I was…free.

“Max, that was…just like heaven.”

***

Schoolgirl giddiness kept me from falling asleep wrapped tightly in Max’s strong arms. We didn’t actually have sex, but in my book, it was the next best thing. I felt like a bird who’d been kept in a cage for far too long and was finally given the chance to soar amongst the clouds towards freedom. With Max, I felt beautiful and feminine, the complete opposite of those years spent with Richard. My pleasure hadn’t been part of the deal. Not that I ever wanted it to be; Richard got off on making me feel dirty and used. I’d never known what real ecstasy could feel like until tonight. I was “that” woman, the one who gave head on a dirty restroom floor, the one who sought out her pleasure and begged for it, the one who was bold enough to shout from the rooftops “I am a real woman!” and believed it. Now wasn’t the time for sleeping; it was the time for rejoicing, and I owed it all to Maxwell O’Neill. I watched him sleeping soundly and listened to his light snore that filled the quiet of the room. He was so fucking beautiful to look at, chiseled jaw with days of scruff, bold lips that were the perfect size for my first kiss, and a body that most athletes would kill for. How I wish we had more time.

“Heaven, I haven’t slept in three days. Take your eyes off me, woman, and get some rest.” Shit, I thought he was asleep. Busted

“Sorry, I thought you were asleep. How’d you know I was watching you anyway?”

“Grew up with Buck Calhoun. He taught us to always sleep with one eye open in case some asshole got the drop on you in the middle of the night.” Max had sexy sleep voice, deep and gravely. He would have made one hell of a phone sex operator.

“Wait, I thought he owned a junkyard. How’d he know about something like that?”

“He didn’t always own the yard. Before that, he was a biker in a motorcycle gang.” Holy shit. Max was raised by a biker? No wonder he wasn’t like the rest of the Lancasters. What the hell?

“So, let me get this straight. Your father was an outlaw biker who raised you in a junkyard with three brothers all from different mothers?” I was digging too deep into his personal life, but Max was unlike any man I’d ever known. The more the conversation went on, the more questions I wanted to ask.

“Almost, but not quite.” He took a deep breath and sat up to face me.

“My brothers had their own families, but Buck was a father figure to each of us. Range’s father was a broken-down drunk, a worthless sack of shit. Mem and Sebastian didn’t have fathers, so Buck was around to teach them everything they needed to become good men.” He kissed me fast and hard on the lips then flopped back down on his pillow, ready to go back to sleep, but I wasn’t done yet.

“What does your tattoo mean?” I touched the spot on the inside of his arm, where the beautiful artwork was drawn in swirls of red and black. Too bad you could only see it if his shirt was off.

“No idea. Buck took me to the shop to have it done on my eighteenth birthday. He never told me what it meant, just that it was important that I had it.” Strange but interesting.

“Why’d you come back here, Max, after all this time. Why now?” He didn’t answer right away, and I felt like shit for pushing him too far. Leave it up to me to come out of my shell fast and hard instead of slow and easy. He didn’t owe me a look into his past as quid pro quo for sharing mine; it had been my choice to let him in, and I had no regrets.

“Are you sure you really want to know? Once that door is opened, it can never be closed, so you better be damn sure it’s a chance you’re willing to take.” I didn’t need to think about it. I wanted to know all of him, the good and the not so good. We all had skeletons in our closet, some more than others, but Max was worth taking a leap of faith for.

“I’ve never been surer about anything in my life. I’m ready to know you, Max.”

“Buck was killed in a robbery attempt last year, shot dead when some motherfucker tried to kill Range. He was everything to me, and I should have been there, but I was busy getting my cock blown and didn’t bother to show up. He was the only one who ever gave a damn about me, and I betrayed him by fucking around with some no-named bitch. I hurt a lot of people, Heaven, not just once but often, enough to finally make them give up and do what they should have done all along, which was tell me to fuck off. I came back because I lost everything and my only chance of ever getting it back is here, where it all started.”

I knew whatever drove him back here had something to do with his mother and the dying senator. I’d overheard his denouncement of his father the day he’d arrived, which was clue number one; the parking lot meltdown over his mother was enough to give Oprah’s talk show material for a three-day segment. The life he described at the junkyard was one of love and brotherhood; he was happy there and thought of it as his home. Something major must have happened that forced him to leave, definitely more than he was letting on. I was tempted to keep pushing, but if he wanted me to know more, he would have told me. For now, the little he shared would have to be enough. He said I needed to be sure I wanted to know. When the time came, I’d be ready and waiting, the same way he was for me.

“I get that. Sometimes in order to move forward you have to take a few steps backwards, like dancing the Cha Cha.” He smiled sleepily and turned over to his side.

“Right. Now dance your little ass to sleep, woman. I’m fucking tired.” I spooned in behind him and held on with both hands. One deep breath, and it was lights out. Guess I was tired after all.