Our lips seemed to be melded together. Max moved me so that I was straddling him and could feel him between my legs. My skirt had been bunched up to my hips so my legs could spread around him. His warm hands caressed the back of my thighs. Each time we had been in this position before, something stopped us, but I didn’t think that was going to happen this time. My thighs felt cold as Max’s hands left them and went for the buttons on my shirt. He struggled to get it untucked. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“This isn’t funny,” he said between kisses.

“I always thought you were the confident one who could get any girl undressed.” I stopped our kiss and pressed our foreheads together. We were both panting, and the tension between us had changed from something sexual to sensual.

“Get up.”

I followed his command and straightened myself up. Max led me away from the living room towards his bedroom. If there was any time to stop this, it would be now, but the more I thought about it, the more my body responded to the fact that I hadn’t had sex in a few years. That stopped me in my tracks. We had only just stepped into the room when Max turned around with a confused look on his face. “Is this going too fast…?”

“I’m sorry, just overthinking things.” He pulled me to him. I put my hands on his chest, fisting his shirt.

“Tell me what’s going on in this head of yours. One second you attack me, then you stop everything altogether.” I didn’t want words, I wanted him, but I knew he wouldn’t stop until he got an answer.

“Just something that I hadn’t thought about in a long time that might affect this.” He picked me up and sat me on the edge of the bed, and soon he was down on his knees. He was eye level with me and seemed to be searching them, trying to figure out the secret behind my cryptic words.

“You said to be open, so be honest with me, was that something you really wanted back there, or was it just the heat of the moment?” I could hear the hurt in his voice as he asked me, but I needed to answer him.

“Of course not.” I pulled him in for a quick kiss, before I pulled away. This was going to be almost as painful as telling him everything in the living room. This part of me, no one else knew, except Adam. “It’s been a while for me.”

“Is that it?” A quick smile crept across his face. “A few months doesn’t change anything, Alexa; it’s like riding a bike.”

I tried to smile at his optimism, but I couldn’t lead him to believe that it was that simple. I had to tell him the whole truth.

“No, Max.” I put my hand on his chest to stop him from moving closer. I could feel myself readjusting to cover more of my body that I had let slip out. I pulled my shirt tighter around me, and pulled my skirt down to cover more of my legs. Max looked confused now. What would he think of me once I told him? If my own husband didn’t want to have sex with me, then why would he? “I haven’t had sex in years.”

The silence between us grew deeper as I could see the confused look that came across Max’s face. His brow started to furrow as the anger grew. I started to move away from him, but he didn’t let me. He pulled me off the bed so that I was standing in front of him. I could barely hear the words coming out of his mouth as he started to undress me quickly. His words were rushed and mumbled, but the look on his face was pure anger. He was gentle as he pulled my skirt and shirt off until I was standing in front of him in nothing but my underwear. He laid me back on the bed as he undressed himself until he was only in his boxers and then crawled into bed with me.

We lay there, facing each other with no words between us. I shivered as Max ran his hand down my side, softly dipping over my curves. He drew circles around my stomach and then down to my thigh. I could feel myself growing weaker with desire, and that’s when he drew me closer to him. My eyes instinctively closed, taking in the feeling of strong hands caressing my body.

“Alexa, look at me.” His voice wasn’t soft like I was expecting, no. The words came out as a demand, one that wasn’t meant for just me, but for my body. My eyes shot back open as I stared into Max’s eyes. His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my lips. I wanted to taste those next, but his words stopped me. “This. This is what desire feels like. This is how you should have been treated every day.”

My breath hitched as our bodies moved closer together than I thought possible. My leg came over his hip to drag him even closer. A moan escaped his lips before they came crashing down to mine. Our actions became fevered as he moved me onto my back and parted my legs with his knees. I broke away, looking down between us. I could see Max’s growing length right before he ground against me. It was just the right pressure and I couldn’t help but let out a small whimper between kisses. I hadn’t felt this kind of passion since college.

Max slowly moved his hands down my body to my ass. His fingers grazed the top of the lace of my thong and slipped underneath, moving towards my front. I felt ready to combust as he moved lower, then over my clit, causing me to gasp. I rocked my head back against the pillows, and Max took advantage, his lips attacking my neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin. His palm moved fast against me, and I quivered again. I didn’t know how a man could make someone feel all of this at once.

Two fingers dove deep inside of me, and Max’s thumb put pressure against my clit. As quick as it had started, though, it stopped. There was coldness where Max’s lips had been on my neck, but they didn’t stay away for long. He moved his hand to my back and lifted me up to unclasp my bra. My breasts sprang free of the contraption, and Max took a hold of one of my nipples immediately. That feeling alone almost sent me over the edge. His mouth never left my breast as his fingers scraped down my body and helped remove my thong. He only took a quick second to move away from me, to free himself of his boxers.

He never broke eye contact with me as he repositioned himself between my legs again. Max’s lips grazed down my stomach to my navel. His tongue whispered against my skin, just above my sex. I could feel the ever-growing anticipation of what he was going to do next. I couldn’t help but think that Adam had never done this to me. Any of this. Foreplay wasn’t his thing. He liked to get in and out as fast as possible. At least with me, he did. I was the first to break the hypnotized gaze between us as his lips met my sex. He didn’t start slow either.

He started lapping up the wetness, which I knew had been growing there since he had stripped me. I wrapped my legs around his head, letting my heels dig into his back. He nibbled little here and there as his tongue darted in and out of me, the scratching from his beard making my thighs shake with approval. My back arched off the bed in excitement as Max moved his fingers to my clit and started rubbing fast. My breathing grow hollow with each stroke and moved my hips against Max’s lips. I was officially humping his face, and I had no shame. This man brought out a sexual side of me that I hadn’t known was there. Max’s name escaped my lips as my climax rippled through my body. My thighs captured his head in between my legs, but it didn’t stop his lips from moving until I released him.

He moved slowly up my body, leaving bite marks as he reached his target, me. He laid his forehead against mine until our breaths synced. As I calmed down, Max moved to the side of the bed and opened up the nightstand drawer. I didn’t have to look his way to know what he was doing. I almost told him he didn’t have to worry about it, but I didn’t want to have that conversation. I didn’t want to tell him that I couldn’t have children, so he shouldn’t have to worry about it, and I didn’t want to break the mood. I knew I had said we needed to be open, but this was something I could wait on. I heard the tear of a wrapper and then his arms were around me again.

“I will never allow you to ever go that long again without feeling wanted. Because that is what this is, Alexa. I want all of you right now. Knowing that you are coming undone because of me will be the death of me, but I would be proud to welcome that death.” No words could match the swelling of my heart, but I could feel tears prick the sides of my eyes. This wasn’t the Max who had attacked me with kisses before tonight. This Max was hell-bent on making this all about me. This was something I had only ever read about in my books, or written about, and everything that was happening now was way better than anything that I had ever written. “I’m going to do this fast.”

He thrusted quickly and then I was filled, the pain gone in only a few seconds. I gasped as Max held me closer to him, slowly pumping in and out of me. Our rhythm matched perfectly as we both tried to reach climax. I tried to hold on to his back, digging my nails into him, but he pulled my hands away. He used one of his hands to hold them above my head, and the other hand to hold my waist up as he drove deeper into me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, which lifted my ass off the bed. I was half suspended in the air as Max continued to ram into me.

The moans escaping both our mouths couldn’t be muffled as they grew louder with each slap of our bodies. It only took a few more thrusts for Max to go over the edge, but I didn’t care because I chased his release with my own. His lips sank to my neck, teeth grazing the skin just enough to feel pleasure with the pain. The bite made me feel alive in his arms.

“Fuck.” His words sank into me. I brushed my fingers through his hair. “I wanted that to last longer.”

Max continued to move inside of me and I let out another moan, raking my fingers down his back. I would have answered him, but I couldn’t form words. My body was too weak to move, and I didn’t want Max to leave my arms. We lay like that for what seemed like minutes, but at some point my eyes closed and I was dressed in a T-shirt when I reopened them.

I had never had sex that put me to sleep, and I didn’t want this to be the last time either. I rolled over in the bed but felt it cold. Max hadn’t slept here and I didn’t even know what time it was. I looked over to see it was just before midnight. I slipped out of the bed, wincing as my feet hit the ground. My body felt awake again, remembering the feel of Max deep inside of me. My hand went to my neck, and as I pressed harder I could feel the start of a bruise and almost relished it. This man wanted to mark me, and I wanted him to claim me. I headed towards the kitchen with a huge smile on my face. Max was sitting on the counter feasting on some cereal when I walked in.

“What are we, twelve?” I laughed at him. I shouldn’t have said anything, but I loved the shocked look that played across Max’s face. He had the spoon halfway up to his mouth but stopped, looking like he had been caught.

“I didn’t think you would wake up for a while.” He set the bowl down after taking his bite, then jumped down and made his way over to me. His fingers grazed the bottom of the shirt I had on, and I shivered at his familiar touch. “You were pretty worn out, darling.”

I reveled in his words, thinking about how he had used the term many times, but I was just now realizing how it affected me. I grabbed his hands, bringing them to my lips, kissing them lightly.

“I wanted tea.” The words had barely come out of my mouth before I was hoisted up onto the countertop. Max left a small kiss on my forehead and then started rummaging around the room. He pulled out a large mug and filled it with water, then let it heat in the microwave. He brought over a large box from the cupboard.

“What kind would you like?” He was almost too excited to open the box that was filled with tons of different teas. I wouldn’t have pegged Max for a tea drinker, but the only thing that I didn’t see in the box was plain old black tea. Simple. Nothing fancy.

“Black tea.” The smile that crept across his face eased me.

“Do you like anything in this box?”

“Not really.” I let my legs swing in front of me. I didn’t want to offend him, but I also didn’t want to drink something I didn’t like.

“Thank god.” I was surprised when he snapped the box closed and tossed the box into the garbage. He went back to a different cupboard, this time pulling out a green box. Once I saw what it was, my heart swelled. Twining’s Irish Breakfast Tea, my favorite. I didn’t know if Max had asked Lilly or if he just knew, but whatever the reason for him having that tea was, it was one that made me like him that much more. “That was a gift from my stepmother and I just couldn’t help but keep it.”

“Why throw it out now?” Had he been saving it for a specific reason? Why not just throw it away? Max took the mug out of the microwave and popped in the tea bag. “Leave it in there for a while.”

“I hate anything but black tea, but I couldn’t fathom throwing it away and breaking her heart. I think she’ll forgive me, though, if my girlfriend doesn’t like it. So why keep it?” Girlfriend. That was what he had just said. My heart stopped and time moved in fast forward as Max continued to make my tea. This was what I had wanted, wasn’t it? We had literally just talked about it hours ago and I was already freaking out. I guess I hadn’t thought about it as a boyfriend/girlfriend situation.

“Max—”

He brought the sugar over. “I mean, Mom will be sad that I didn’t actually use it, but she will love you, so it won’t matter.”

“Max—”

He grabbed a spoon from the drawer. “How much sugar?” He was ignoring me now. It was like he could read my thoughts.

“Max, stop.” I grabbed his arm and made him turn towards me. He stood there with sugar in one hand and the spoon in the other. It all felt so domesticated, and I loved it. “Girlfriend?”

“You heard that. I was hoping you didn’t.” He looked nervous now. He put everything down and came back to me. His hands rubbed my thighs as he situated himself between my legs. “It just kind of slipped out. I know you said you would give us a chance, but maybe that was overstepping it.”

“Max.” I held his face in my hands. He looked so young right now, so vulnerable. “Say it again.”

“What?” I could hear the confusion in his voice as well as read it on his face.

“Call me your girlfriend again.” The spark that lit in his eyes made my heart melt. He bared his teeth to me in a shining smile. I bit my bottom lip, trying to fight the smile that was trying to mold my lips.

“Alexa Frelan, would you do the honor of being my girlfriend?”

“Yes.” I closed my eyes as my smile engulfed my whole face. My cheeks hurt as a laugh escaped me. Max was so happy, he picked me up in his arms and swung me around the room.

“Yes?”

I knew he had heard me, but I said it again, just for him. “Yes.” We stood in the middle of the kitchen, my feet dangling in the air and our foreheads pressed together. The laughter that he released was something that I had never heard before but wanted to every single day for the rest of our lives.

The rest of our lives. I had no idea where my mind was headed, but I knew this was the right thing. It all felt so perfect, and the reaction from Max just proved to me more that his feelings were real. I leaned in to kiss him as he swung me around one more time. I was excited to learn so much about this man who loved me, that I knew it wouldn’t take long for me to fall just as hard as he had for me.