Caught by Emma Louise
Chapter Twenty-Two
I'm woken by the soft scrape of stubble along my spine, followed by open-mouthed kisses that send a shock of awareness to my core.
"Morning, beautiful," Max says softly when he kisses my ear. I'm laying belly down in his bed with my face buried in his pillow. The fresh-water scent of his cologne surrounds me. My limbs are still heavy from sleep and the magnificent workout they got last night. After our talk outside, Max lifted me up and carried me in here where he proceeded to spend all night worshipping me.
"Why are you not in this bed with me?" I mumble sleepily into the pillow.
"Cass will be home in an hour." Shifting my head, I look at the clock. It's eight-thirty in the morning. I don't remember the last time I slept this late. Turning back toward where he sits on the bed next to me, I let my eyes take him in greedily. He's shirtless, he's lost the jeans he usually wears, and is wearing loose running shorts instead. His damp hair curls around his face, so I'm guessing he's already been for his daily run, and he's showered.
"A whole hour?" I ask, rolling to my back and pulling him over with me. "I can think of a few things we could do in that amount of time."
"Yeah?" He grins at me, and I'm hit with a wave of something overwhelming. I don’t know if it’s happiness, contentment, or lust at this point. All I know is that being with Max has me feeling something other than the aching void I’ve been living with for so long now. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to get used to seeing him like this, relaxed and happy. Surly Max appears to be long gone. In his place is a man who laughs easily for the first time since I've known him. "What did you have in mind?"
"Tasting you." I'm shocked at my bold words. I'm not sure I've ever felt this way, safe enough to tell a man what I want. Max kisses me without hesitation.
"You sure we have time for this? I'm not sure I can be fast with you. I’m going to want to savour the first time you have my cock in your mouth."
"Just lay back and enjoy it," I tell him, pushing against his chest. I shift so I'm straddling him, sliding my hands into his hair. I let myself get lost in him. Kissing my way down his smooth skin, I revel in the feel of the hard planes of his sculpted chest and the way his defined abs bunch and flex at the touch of my hands.
"You sure you want to do this?" he asks when I reach the waistband of his shorts. I tried more than once to get my mouth on him last night, but each time he pulled me away. Instead, he worshipped me all night, and now my mouth waters with anticipation at the thought of finally getting a taste of all that is him.
"More than sure," I say, but my attention is fixated on his cock as it springs out of his shorts. Gripping him firmly, I take the time to look up at Max, needing to see his reaction. He's propped himself up with a stack of pillows resting against the headboard, his one leg is cocked up, and his foot is pressed into the mattress. The sight of him splayed out for me is enough to have my body clenching tight with want. My eyes roam greedily over the broad expanse of his shoulders, down the smattering of chest hair that covers his defined pecs, and as I marvel at the cut lines of his abs, I finally stroke him.
Slowly, from root to tip.
He feels phenomenal, like solid steel encased in smooth silk. My fingers can hardly grip all the way around, but I don't let that deter me. Up. Twist. Down.
"Fuck," he growls harshly. My eyes can’t decide which is the better sight. His cock sliding through my fist or his dark eyes burning into mine. Leaning down, I keep my eyes locked on his as I lick the small bead of pre-cum that has leaked out, and a heavy hiss leaves Max's mouth. Emboldened by his reaction, I open my mouth and take him in. My lips close around just the tip, sucking lightly. My eyes slide close as his taste hits me. It's been so long since I've done this, I'm suddenly terrified of getting it wrong. I'm about to freak out and pull away when I feel Max slide his hands into my hair. His touch is gentle, his fingers sifting into place to hold me tightly.
"Baby, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," he says so softly that tears sting the back of my eyes.
"I want to; I'm just afraid," I manage to reply.
"Afraid of what?"
"It's been a long time ... since I did this." The hardness that flashes across his face is instant. I guess talking about blowing other men is not a good idea. "I might not be any good at it."
"You, on your knees, with your hands around my dick is almost enough to have me blowing right now, Darcey. There's no way you could be bad at anything when it comes to what happens in this bed, okay?" he says, gently cupping my jaw, his thumb coming out to swipe at my lower lip. "Now, come here so I can fuck you instead."
"Nope. I'm still a little busy down here," I say before I dip my head and take him in once more. I keep going until he's at the back of my throat. His praise wipes away any self-conscious thoughts that are lingering in my head.
"Sweet fucking Jesus," Max groans when I swallow him down. Drawing back, I waste no time before sucking him down once again. It doesn't take me long to find the rhythm that works. Judging by the way his hands grip my hair, he likes what I'm doing. His reaction gives me the push I need to take him deeper, to work him harder. I can feel his body get tighter, his cock get harder, and it's then I slow down, stop sucking, and I switch to long licks instead. "Stop teasing me and suck it, baby," he demands, using my hair to pull me off his cock.
"Yes, sir." I can’t help but grin at the scorching look he sends my way. It doesn't take long once he’s back in my mouth for me to feel his hips thrust gently in time with my movements. My body aches for release too, and I'm about to reach down to relieve some of that tension for myself when Max softly pulls on my hair.
"Playtime is over for you."
"Max!" I yelp as he tosses me to my back. "I wasn't done yet."
"There's plenty of time for that later. I need to fuck you while we're still alone here."
"But I wanted to watch you come," I gasp the words out as he flicks his finger over my clit.
"You can watch me come while I'm inside of you," he taunts, kissing first one then the other of my aching nipples.
"Max! It isn't the same." Lifting his head, he spears me with another scorching look.
"Jesus, you want that?" he asks, a note of what I think might be restrained excitement in his voice. "You want to watch me come for you?"
"I really do," I say softly, hoping like heck that he doesn’t think I’m strange.
"Fuck me," he mutters. "I'll pull out and come anywhere you want me to; that works for you?" Oh, hell yes it does.
He doesn't wait for an answer as he pushes my thighs apart and guides his hard length to press against my clit. Sparks fly inside me at the feel of him there. He teases me with a few more swipes before he’s sliding inside me, inch by glorious inch. We both groan at how good it feels, and it doesn't take long for me to feel my orgasm building. Max adds a few strokes of his thumb over my clit, and my entire body shakes with anticipation as sparks fly behind my eyes.
"Get there, baby. I'm not going to last long," he growls against my lips, but he doesn't need to ask. I'm already falling over the precipice, free falling into yet another life-altering release. I'm hardly down from my high when I feel the shift. Max leans back and pulls my arm with him.
Dragging my eyes open, I watch as he pulls out of me—I hate the empty feeling that's left behind—but I'm not mad when I see the glorious sight in front of me. He takes his slick length into his hand and pulls sharply. The sight is so harshly beautiful that I feel it hit me square in my chest. "Fuck," he groans as he takes my hand and wraps it around his shaft, covering it with his own before continuing to jack himself off.
"Max." The word comes out low, keening as he uses more force than I'd ever think of using. The tight squeezes and fierce jerks reverberate through me too.
And then he comes.
Magnificently.
His powerful body strung tight, the cords of his neck standing in stark relief as hot jets of come land on my belly, my chest, my collarbone.
"Fuck," he breathes out harshly when he falls forward, landing on me and pushing me into the mattress. He doesn't seem to care that I'm covered in his come, or that we’re both now wet from it.
"That was..." I trail off, still breathless from what’s just happened here.
"Fucking hot," he growls against my neck, and I can't help it, I burst out laughing. Shifting back, Max looks down at me, his eyes still shimmering with that post-orgasm haze, the harshness gone from his face. "You good?" he asks, moving his hands to stroke the stray hairs away from my face.
Am I good? For the first time in too many years, I think I may finally be alright. I've spent so much time keeping myself locked away from life. I kept my focus on Cassidy, using the fact that I'm a single parent to her as an excuse to shut the rest of the world out. Outside of the few passing friendships I formed with work colleagues and more recently, Lee, I've been alone. I've lost myself. As for any kind of relationship with men, that hasn't just been low on my list of priorities; it hasn't even been on the piece of paper.
Learning to open up to a man, to trust one not just with me but with Cass, is something that I was sure was impossible. Yet, here I am. Trusting Max with not just me, but my daughter too.
I hardly know him, and things haven't always been easy with us, but here in Max's bed, I finally feel like me. Darcey Walker. The woman who is finally ready to be free of the past. Free of the bonds that have held me in place for way too long now. I feel free to be anyone I want to be. I just hope that I'm not making a huge mistake.
* * *
"Can I pour it in now?"
"Go for it, kid."
I'm carrying a basket of clean laundry through to the bedrooms when I hear Max and Cassidy in the kitchen. When she arrived home earlier this morning, Max left us alone, claiming he had some work to catch up on. He waited until she was dropping her stuff in our room before pulling me in for a long, hard kiss, and then he retreated to the office he keeps here at the house. We spent the rest of the afternoon making sure all of Cassidy's school work was done and doing chores. I left her napping on the couch ten minutes ago while I went to empty the drier.
"Good job," he praises her easily. "Now don't over mix it. The secret to good pancakes is not going too hard on the mix."
"O'tay, Max." My heart falls over itself as I take in the scene before me. Max is standing at the island, Cass sitting up there next to him. They have a huge mixing bowl out, and they're both covered in a dusting of flour.
"What are you two trouble-makers doing?"
"Look! I'm making pancates!" Cass yells when she sees me approaching. Whipping the spatula out of the bowl, she showers herself and Max with batter. "Oops!" she adds, covering her mouth as a sweet tinkle of laughter comes from her lips. "Sowwy."
"It's all good, kid," Max says, reaching for a rag to clean his shirt.
"Pancakes for dinner?" I ask, grabbing a cloth of my own to start clearing some of the mess they've made.
"I told Max that my favorite dinner was pancates and that we used to haves them all da time," Cass adds, making my insides curl up with embarrassment. I'd make a big fuss about treating ourselves to breakfast for dinner when the reality was that there were so many times I just couldn't afford real food for us, and pancakes were a cheap meal. "Did you hab them for your special dinners too, Max?" she asks innocently.
"All the time. My dad wasn’t so good at cooking, but he made the best breakfast you ever tasted."
"Really?" she breathes wondrously.
"Really. I'll get him over here to show you one day."
They get lost in conversation again, leaving me searching for something to say to Max's easy offer to introduce us to his family, a family he really hasn’t ever talked about. It's a reminder of how little we know about each other. I feel Max's fingers under my chin as he tilts my head back so he can see my face. Concerned eyes search mine.
"You good?" he asks.
"I'm good," I offer a smile, and that seems to be enough for him because he lets me go, turns back to Cass, and sets about showing her how to make pancakes.