As desire faded, reality crept in. Once again things had gotten out of control between them.
He should have stopped her. Should have been strong enough to resist temptation. But it was hard to feel sincere regret when he was still inside her and his hands still on her warm skin.
She opened her eyes and stared at him. She surprised him for the second time that night by pressing a kiss to his chin.
“No regrets. Not yet,” she said firmly.
He wasn’t sure if she was issuing an order or giving him an emotional weather report.
His gaze swept over her body, taking in the rosy color across her breasts, her still-aroused nipples, the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Her skirt was bunched around her thighs and he badly want to lift it to see where they were joined.
Before he could act on the impulse, Maddy shifted, rising off him. Sliding free of her tight heat felt like too great a loss and he grabbed her hips before she could move farther.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
She frowned, confused.
“I’m not done with you yet,” he said.
He’d surprised her. About time.
He watched as her pupils expanded to fill her irises.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked. He could see a pulse beating in her neck.
“Stuff,” he said with a slow smile.
She blinked. Then her gaze dropped to his groin where he was already growing hard again.
“Oh.”
“You wanted to forget,” he reminded her.
She licked her lips. “Yes.”
He stood on a surge of strength, taking her with him. In two strides he was at the stairs to the sleeping platform. She wrapped an arm around his neck as he ascended to the bedroom.
“Take your dress off,” he said as he set her on her feet.
She hesitated for a moment, then her hands reached for her zipper. He watched as her dress fell to the ground in a rustle of silk, leaving her standing in nothing but a pair of lacy white panties.
“Get rid of these,” he said, sliding his thumb inside the side elastic and letting it snap back against her skin.
She swallowed. The look she flashed him was full of anticipation and desire. She pushed her panties down her legs and stepped out of them.
“Why aren’t you undressing?” she asked.
“Lie down, and lift your hips,” he said, ignoring her question.
Again she hesitated for a few seconds before doing as he’d said. He slid a pillow beneath her hips.
“Now spread your legs for me, Maddy,” he said, his voice low with need.
She sucked in a breath, her gaze meeting his across her prone body. Slowly, she let her thighs drop open. He let his gaze trail over her body—the straining peaks of her breasts, the taut plane of her flat, muscled belly, then finally to where she was wet with need for him.
She was pretty and pink and plump and so much more desirable than he’d ever imagined.
“Get comfortable,” he said.
And then he went down.
MADDY CLOSED HER EYES as Max’s dark head neared the heart of her. Suddenly she realized that she wanted to see him do this, wanted to watch him savor her.
It should have been a shocking thought: Max, her friend, about to go down on her. Instead, a deep, primitive thrill rippled through her and she grew even wetter and hotter with need.
Her eyes snapped open as she felt his breath warm on her inner thighs, then she felt the first wet, rough rasp of his tongue against her. Her whole body shuddered and her hips jerked involuntarily. He gave a murmur of approval and used his hands to explore her intimate folds while he teased her with his tongue.
Her head fell to the pillow. She was liquid with desire, her blood as thick and sticky as toffee. She groaned deep in the back of her throat as Max opened his mouth over her and kissed her passionately, his tongue firm and fast.
His hands caressed the tender skin of her inner thighs, soothing, kneading. She slid her hands into his hair and hung on for dear life.
He began to circle her inner lips with one deft finger, gliding through her slick desire, driving her crazy. She had to grab at the sheets then, her hands fisting in the fabric, desperate for something to anchor her in a sea of sensation.
He slid a finger inside her at last and she clenched around him hungrily.
“Yes,” she murmured. “Please.”
He used his free hand to spread her wide, exposing her utterly as he feasted on her. Her body bowed with desire as he slid his finger in and out of her, his tongue teasing her all the while.
It was too much. He was too much. Her climax hit her, vibrating through her body in shuddering waves. The last tremor had barely left her body before Max slid inside her, his thick heat stretching her in the best possible way.
She sighed as he began to pump into her.
He supported his weight on one arm as his free hand roamed her body, caressing her neck and her shoulders before finally claiming her breasts. His eyes were dilated with desire, his face hard with tension as he drove himself into her. She stared at him, amazed at his beauty, amazed that she had spent so many years not wanting him. How was that possible when her whole body was on fire for him?
He squeezed her nipples, then soothed them in the palm of his hand. She felt the tension growing in his body as he slid both hands beneath her, cupping her backside as he thrust into her again and again.
He felt so good, so hard, so right inside her. For the third time that night, desire coiled in her belly. She gripped his hips with one hand and slid the other onto his hard butt, glorying in the flexing of his muscles as he rode her.
“Maddy,” he groaned.
She tilted her hips and gave him everything she had. He shifted higher, his hard shaft pressing where she needed him most.
She lost it, hands clutching at him, gasping for air, her world reduced to the warm, throbbing place where their two bodies became one.
He shuddered, his body hard with tension, his hands clenching her backside almost painfully. He pumped into her one last time, then pressed his face into her neck as he came in a hot rush.
He collapsed on top of her, his breathing harsh. She stared at the ceiling, stunned by the intensity of what had just taken place.
After a while he withdrew and rolled onto his back. They lay side by side, sweat cooling on their bodies, the smell of sex surrounding them as their heart rates gradually slowed.
She hadn’t meant to kiss him. She’d meant to thank him, to somehow express the enormous gratitude she felt for his comfort, patience and understanding. Then she’d pressed her lips to his and smelled his skin, tasted him and instantly wanted more. And, like always, he hadn’t denied her.
She turned her head so she could look at him. God, he was so beautiful. She’d seen plenty of naked men in her time, but Max’s body was something special. Those big, strong thighs. That hard ass. His powerful shoulders and ripped belly.
She closed her eyes, unsure what to say or do. Unsure where this left them now that they’d once again crossed the line.
A warm knee nudged her.
“Hey. Wake up, sleepyhead.”
She