Given (21 page)

“You’re beautiful,” he breathed.

She believed he thought she was. There was nothing but awe
and honesty in his voice. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“This matters to me. You matter. I appreciate what you’re
giving me. Can I leave the light on? I want to see you, all of you.”

She’d rather have it dark—even after all the sex, she was
still shy about her body—but it was a small thing to do for him. She nodded.

He was still dressed. Standing before him, she felt so
strange to be the only naked person in the room. He ran his fingers gently down
her arms. The sensation left her shivering.

“Are you cold?” he whispered.

“No,” she replied quietly.

The only sound in the room was their heavy breathing. His
fingers fell away from her arms when he reached her wrists and he lightly ran
them over her collarbone. They moved lower, just above her breasts, and finally
he touched the rise of them. His fingers were as soft as the merest whisper of
butterfly wings over her skin. She sighed. She saw him visibly relax.

“I won’t hurt you,” he assured her.

“I know. Thank you, Max,” she replied gently.

His eyes widened. She could see his surprise. His expression
was priceless and put the smallest ghost of a smile on her face.

“Thank you,” she said again.

“For what?”
He scowled. Those big
brown eyes went from saucers to narrow slits.

“I know it hasn’t been easy, this situation. I’ve noticed
how hard you’ve been trying to keep your temper in check. I was afraid of you
at first, but I’m not anymore.”

He lunged, pushing her roughly against the wall to her back.
His hands imprisoned her wrists above her head and his mouth plundered hers with
a passion that left her breathless. When he pulled back, just enough to speak,
she saw the darkness in him. It stirred something wild inside of her she hadn’t
known was there.

“Don’t decide you’ve tamed me just because I choose not to
bite.” He ground the words out, as if they hurt him.

“I didn’t ask you to be tamed. I know you won’t hurt me.”

Disbelief filled his face. “I’m fucking holding you to the
wall, woman.”

“I know.”

“You should be terrified.”

A wickedness deep inside that she hadn’t felt before gave
her the urge to speak. She didn’t let herself think about the words that
tumbled out. “I don’t want you to be gentle. I want to feel the real you, Max.”

He gently pressed his forehead to hers. “You don’t want
that,” he mumbled.

“I want to feel you, as you are. Don’t hide from me, Max.”

When he looked up at her, there was
a
tenderness
in his expression she hadn’t seen from him before. “Damn it,
do you have to be like this…damn you.”

She didn’t think his words were a compliment and frowned.

He kissed her down turned lips gently, and chuckled. “I’m an
animal.”

“I don’t care.”

The humor slipped from his face. “Be careful what you wish
for, Krista, I’m more than you can handle.”

The words were a challenge. Whether intentional or not, he’d
given her something she couldn’t back down from. “Try me.”

She found herself pulled from the wall and thrown to the
bed. Max ripped his clothing off, literally. Buttons flew everywhere. One
landed on her stomach and she looked at it, caught in a surreal disbelief. He
was on top of her. The predatory expression on his face made her stomach do a
summersault. He smiled, but the only thing she saw was the dark promise that he
was right, she wasn’t
ready
for the real him.

It was too late. His lips caught hers. He nipped her lower
lip, and when she cried out with the strange pain and pleasure combination, his
tongue thrust inside her mouth. Krista’s whole body lay helpless under him. To
her extreme self-loathing, she liked it. He stirred up something suppressed
inside of her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, moaning into his mouth.

He stilled, just for a moment, and then his fingers began
grasping desperately at her breasts, pulling and twisting her nipples until she
cried out, arching her back. He kissed her neck, sucking the skin with
punishing force.
Her pussy creamed, desperate for more.
All her own anger over the helplessness in her life seemed to mix with the hot
need he was causing in her, making her wild to have him inside her, and make
her forget everything except pleasure.

“Oh God, Max. Fuck me!”

He growled. “Not yet.” He panted.

Her legs were jerked open violently, and she glanced down to
see his dark head dip between her thighs. The first lick made her
jump,
the second tore a long, low moan from her. Her body
was hypersensitive with her raging desire. He lapped at her in long hard
stokes, and then stuck his tongue deep inside her pussy. She screamed, bucking
her hips against his mouth.

A moment of disloyalty filled her. She knew
Brax
would hate to see how much she was enjoying Max. The
devil on her shoulder shouted
fuck it
in her ear and she thrashed her
head from side to side, whimpering.

“Please,” she sobbed, tears filling her eyes. The sensation
and emotions battered her, and the demon he’d awoken demanded satisfaction. He
gathered her in his arms, straddling her hips, and his dick was inside of her
with one powerful thrust. She moaned as the sensation of fullness gave way to
the first stirrings of release. He moved inside of her, while simultaneously
cradling her against his chest. She felt a deep sigh, almost a sob, shake his
torso.

“Damn it, don’t fucking cry. I… son-of-a-bitch, you feel
good. Fuck yes!” He thrust harder and faster.

She tumbled blindly into the abyss of pleasure as sparks
exploded behind her eyelids. His cock rubbed against her clit with each thrust
at the awkward, but absolutely perfect, angle. Her pleasure was greater than
anything she’d ever experienced, and somehow she knew this was a onetime only
deal between them.
Two broken souls clawing for something
beautiful in their dark world.
Krista screamed, clutching him
desperately, bucking against his hips. She sobbed, pressing her wet face
against his shoulder as she came hard and well.

He stilled, then released inside of her. Max groaned,
shuddering. He threw his head back and roared with his release. The intensity
made her jump. Startled, she hung limply in his arms, and watched his face. Max
had the most erotic sex-face she’d seen so far. There was absolute, artistic
beauty in his orgasm and she relished the idea she’d put that expression there.

He collapsed beside her on the bed, but still cradled her
tightly against him. His breathing slowly returned to normal and the smell of
sex permeated the room. For a moment she let her muscles relax, floating in the
afterglow of the best orgasm she’d ever enjoyed.

“Did I hurt you?” He sounded worried.

“No.”

“You cried,” he interrogated.

“Yes.”

“Damn it,
Krista,
tell me what the
fuck I did wrong.”

“Nothing.
It was—awesome,” she
muttered, feeling lame at her pathetic description of a life-altering moment.

“You cried, don’t lie to me. I don’t want you to spare my
feelings. Do you want a doctor? Should I at least have Jared come look at you?”

“Good Lord no, I’m fine.” She took his face between her
hands, forcing him to look at her, and felt guilty because she knew he didn’t
want this kind of connection. “Max. It was beautiful, perfect. Don’t tell the
others. This was frankly the best. It was something we’d never be able to
duplicate. Everything just built up in me, like a volcanic eruption or
something. I feel wonderful.”

He grunted. She let go of his face and scooted back, knowing
he’d said he didn’t want to be touched. His hand reached for her, stopping her
from going too far away. He lay his head down across from her on the mattress
and began rubbing delightful lazy circles on her back. She sighed and they just
looked at each other for a long time.

She reached out to move hair away from his eyes. He flinched
and she pulled her hand back, averting her eyes.

“I’ve never felt so good,” he muttered.

“Me either, I think we both just needed to let something
out, and it choose sex to escape us. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. No wonder men used to kill for their women.
Christ, I’d face an army for you right now.” He made an unhappy noise before
rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. His arm flopped across his
chest. “Damn. No wonder so many of the old guys went nuts.” He moved to his
side, looking at her seriously. “You have to get pregnant. We can’t lose you.”

“I don’t want to go either.”

“If it’s mine, would that bother you?” She sensed he was
afraid of her answer.

“I’d be happy if you’re the one who does the deed and knocks
me up.
My turn.
If I have a son, will you protest me
keeping him?”

“Christ no, as long as we all get our night, I don’t see any
problem with it,
mine
or someone else’s, don’t matter.
I won’t try and stop you.”

She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth. He
didn’t stop her.

“Thank you. Goodnight, Max, that was wonderful.” She stood
and picked up her dress, slipping it over her head. He didn’t stop her, or ask
her to come back, but when she glanced back to give him a friendly, small
smile, he looked sad. “Did you want me to stay?”

“No. Goodnight, Krista.”

She nodded and shut his door quietly.

Lee came into the house with his grand flourish. Krista
smiled. “Welcome. Thank you for accepting the job.”

“Girl, I was shocked when I got the call. Never thought you
folks would be calling. I thought that dreamboat didn’t like me.”

“He was just being
Brax
. No
worries,
come in and sit down. Steve made coffee.”

“Oh, it’s been too long since I’ve had a cup of that wonder
brew. Coffee is really getting scarce.” He took a long drink of coffee. His
eyes fluttered closed.
“
Mmm
—delicious.
I like coming to your house.”

“Steve’s is wonderful. I’m not supposed to drink it, but
after I fell in love with my first cup, he promised to sneak it to me and keep
it off my food list. It’s my dirty little secret.”

Lee chuckled. “Steve is yummy. Is he gay?” She heard the
hope in her companion’s voice.

“Nope, sorry.
It’s been awkward,
but I think he’s decided he likes me well enough to accept my presence without
freaking out anymore. It feels like I’ve been here weeks instead of days. These
boys are keeping me busy.”

“I bet,” Lee said, winking.

“I like it here, it could be worse.”

A shadow passed over the man’s face. “It could,” he said
quietly and carefully.

She sensed he had some interesting stories about his first
companion, and a few words of caution.
Don’t pry. Don’t pry…
“What
happened to your first companion to make her commit suicide?” Krista couldn’t
resist querying.
Damn it!
She knew pushing her new “friend” was a bad
idea, but she was so curious.

Lee sighed. “She had a baby. They didn’t keep it. Things
weren’t as they seem to be here. Now tell me about Krista. I want to know
everything. What do you do for fun?” Lee brightened, the darkness left his
face. She knew that was all he had to say on the subject of his tragic first
companion. Krista wondered just how bad the poor woman’s placement had been.

She told Lee what little there was of her story. He visibly
teared
up when she explained her goodbye at the protection
facility and how much she’d meant to her teachers there without ever knowing.
She told him about
Cina
, but omitted the fact she’d
run away. This man was her “friend”, but her six employed him. She knew she’d
have to be very careful with what she told him. For all she knew, the coffee
had doomed her; he might be reporting everything to her rat-faced social
worker. She was learning not to trust anyone. There was just too much danger of
losing what little security she had there.

“Well, let’s go check out that kitchen you were telling me
about,” Lee said after she finished her life story.

“Great,” she replied, standing. Lee followed her down to the
lower level of the house. Everything looked new, unused. Lee took a pad of
paper and started making a list.

“Here’s everything we’ll need to teach you to make
strawberry shortcake. You said it’s your favorite, right?”

“Right.”
She nodded happily. “Wait,
could we make pecan pie?”

Lee smiled knowingly.
“So which one of
them likes pecan?
The tall, dark, and broody one or
the young doctor?”

“
Brax
, the writer you had
your
eye on,” she whispered shyly.

Lee winked. “
Mmm
, dreamy, we can
make lover-boy pecan.”

Krista clapped her hands and chuckled. “I’m glad you’re
here, Lee. This has been fun. I feel like we might become genuine friends.”

“What the hell is this
might
about, girl? We are
already on the way to genuine friends. You’re a trip, sweet and spicy. You’ll
have these boys wrapped around your finger in no time.”

“I don’t want anyone wrapped around my finger. I just want
us to be a
family,
do you know what I mean?”

Lee’s face softened into a wistful expression. “I know
exactly what you mean. If anyone can do it, I bet you can.” Lee crossed out
some items on the list and wrote more. “Before I leave, we’ll give this to
Steve. He can pick them up so you can surprise your men—or should I say man?”

She looked away and bit her lip.