He flexed again and a shudder of pleasure shook through his body until he sucked air violently through his nose in an effort to control himself.
He began pumping with quick, short motions, closing his eyes as his balls drew up into hard knots. He kept his hands on her cheeks until he was sure she’d wear his fingerprints on her flesh. He squeezed, kneaded and then spread her wider, wanting her completely open to him when he shot se**n over and inside her ass.
Her fingers curled into tight little balls at the small of her back. He gripped her harder as he slowly began to unravel.
Threads of silk surrounding his heart popped and frayed as his chest swelled with emotion. She undid him. Always had. No one could make him lose control like she did. He alternately loved and hated her for that.
He was barely rimming her entrance now as he continued to thrust fast and furious. Still holding her cheek in one hand, he reached frantically for his c**k with the other and began jerking as he aimed at her opening.
The first rope of se**n splashed inside her and then a second until the thick, white cream filled the opening and trailed down the inside of her leg.
He groaned with each pull and more liquid splashed onto her ass and into the wide-open entrance. He loved filling her, opening her to him, marking her in the most primitive way a man could mark a woman.
He guided more onto her behind and over her fists secured to her back. Her ass glistened with shiny fluid that trailed down the backs of her thighs.
Then he guided his erection back into her opening, sliding all the way in with one push. He closed his eyes as the last of his release spilled inside her. For a long moment he held himself still, simply enjoying the sensation of being seated so deep inside her body. Then slowly he withdrew.
He backed away, staring down at her with satisfaction.
Quietly he walked back to the bathroom where he spent a few moments cleaning up, and then he wet a washcloth with warm water and returned to Callie where she still lay awaiting his next command.
Gently, he cleaned her, wiping the trails of se**n from her skin. Then he reached up to unfasten her hands and let them fall limply at her sides.
Then he helped her sit up and pulled her into his arms. Lifting her effortlessly, he carried her over to the couch where he sat and cuddled her against his chest.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
She shook her head against his shoulder.
“You have a sweet ass, Callie. I love f**king it. There isn’t a part of your delectable body that I don’t love f**king.”
She yawned tiredly but when she looked up, her eyes shone and sparkled like they hadn’t since he’d returned. He touched her cheek and then leaned forward to kiss each eyelid.
“Do you need the bathroom?”
She nodded and he carefully rose, still holding her tight against him. He carried her into the bathroom and set her down, holding onto her until he was sure her legs were sturdy enough that she wouldn’t fall.
“Okay?”
She smiled and turned away. While he waited, he turned on the shower to warm the water.
A few moments later, she returned, and he pulled her into the stall and under the spray with him.
With gentle hands, he washed her body, paying special attention to the areas he was hardest on. She was warm and sleek in his hands. And so very willing.
He scraped his mouth across the mark on her neck, and then he lapped it with his tongue. “You’ll wear many reminders of my possession tomorrow.”
She smiled and arched her back, the spray bouncing off her br**sts and belly as she reached to curl her arms around him.
“I can still feel your marks,” she murmured. “Your fingers on my skin. Your mouth on my neck. I’ll go to sleep tonight remembering what you felt like.”
His body tightened at the sultry, seductive words.
“You’ll go to sleep tonight feeling me, not remembering me,” he corrected.
Her smile grew broader, and she rolled up on the balls of her feet so she could kiss the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to walk by the time we go back home.”
He slid his hand over the curve of her behind and squeezed lightly. “If I had my way, dolcezza, you’d never walk again.”
Chapter Seventeen
Max was awake at dawn. He’d never owned an alarm clock in his life. His internal clock had never let him down. Even with the many time zones he crossed in his travels, he had an uncanny knack for knowing what time it was and he rarely slept past sunrise.Except for those magical days with Callie in Europe. He’d allowed himself latitude he rarely gave. He became lazy and unmotivated. Or rather his motivation changed from the moment he met her.
She was draped across him like a warm blanket, her legs tangled with his. It was a very possessive gesture. One he delighted in. He might be the more dominant one in their relationship, but she was mighty possessive of him in her own right.
He fingered a strand of her dark brown hair and listened to her inhale and exhale. Her breath blew over his neck, a sensation that pleased him.
Yes, his motivation had changed when he’d come face to face with the woman he’d tracked across three countries. A seduction and courtship that was supposed to have lasted a week had turned into three weeks he’d never forget.
Before he met Callie, his family was the single most important thing in his life. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to take care of them, protect them, make them happy. Damn the cost or consequences.
Callie had changed all of that.
How could he keep his promise to his family and his promise to Callie that he’d never hurt her? The simple answer was that he couldn’t, and he’d known it from the beginning. He’d chosen Callie. His promise would go unfulfilled, and he was making his peace with that choice.
His gut twisted and some of his satisfaction melted away. He couldn’t change the past or what his primary motivation had been when he’d made sure his and Callie’s paths crossed, but he could make sure she never found out. What mattered was what his motivation was going forward.
She stirred against him, and he tightened his hold on her, simply wanting the reassurance of her warmth. She raised her head and stared at him with sleepy, contented eyes.
“Good morning,” she said on a sigh.
He kissed her. More savagely than the moment called for, but some of the darkness still hadn’t receded.
She went soft against him, accepting the carnal heat of his mouth. He rolled her underneath him, his knee between her thighs. With a quick nudge, she was open and accessible. He was inside her before he took his next breath.
He was instantly at peace. She did this to him—for him. For a long moment he remained lodged within her, staring down into her eyes, absorbing her acceptance. Soaking in her love.
She raised her hands and cupped his face then stroked lightly over his cheekbones as if to tell him everything would be all right. As if she knew the dark turn of his thoughts.
He closed his eyes and took in deep breaths as her fingers stroked over his face. Then he turned so her hand slid over his mouth and he kissed the inside of her palm.
She pulsed around him, her heat surrounding him, inviting him deeper—into the very heart of her soul. He withdrew slowly, opening his eyes to watch the play of emotions dance across her face.
Her eyes darkened, and she sucked in a quick breath as he pushed forward again.
He’d fully intended it to be a quick, rough f**k. He’d wanted to take. To be selfish. But now as he watched her, he tempered his movements, going slow and more gently than he imagined he could.
He wanted to wrap her in silk, protect her from every bad thing in the world—including himself.
Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with all the tenderness he was capable of.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured even as he pushed inside her again. “I was rough with you last night. I should have been more careful this morning. You must be sore.”
She smiled and curled her arms around his neck. She kissed him sweetly, covering each tiny part of his mouth before sliding to his jaw and then to his ear.
He shivered as she nipped delicately at his lobe and then sucked it between her teeth.
“I’m okay,” she whispered into his ear. “I love waking to you inside me. It’s a beautiful way of reminding me I belong to you.”
Dear God. Her words slid over his skin and soaked deep into his heart. His chest ached and became so heavy he could barely breathe.
“I love…you,” he said in a voice he didn’t recognize. “Just you.”
Her eyes widened in shock and then filled with tears. The sight nearly undid him. How could she be so surprised? Had he held back so much? Had she doubted… Stupid question. Of course she had. He hadn’t given her any reason to believe she was anything but a holiday fling.
How he hated what he’d done to her confidence. And he’d done nothing to allay those fears when he’d returned. He hadn’t come back and said, “I love you.” He’d come back and said, “I want you.”
He kissed away the tear that slid over her cheek. “I do love you, dolcezza. I’m sorry this is the first time you’ve heard the words. I’m sorry that this is the first time I’ve given them to you.”
She squeezed him and lifted her hips to take more of him. So characteristic of her. Always giving. Always willing to take more from him.
“I only care that you’ve said them,” she said in an aching voice. “I love you too, Max. So much. I’ve missed you…”
She broke off as another silver trail slid over her cheek. He hushed her with another kiss. “I missed you too, Callie. Never doubt it. Say it again. Let me have the words again.”
“I love you.”
He’d never considered himself an overly emotional man. He was always in complete control of himself and his actions—his reactions. But Callie… That she loved him, that she was willing to forgive, willing to give of herself so freely after the way he’d hurt her.
The knot grew more uncomfortable in his throat. He kissed her again, not knowing what else to do. He couldn’t speak. He didn’t trust himself not to give way to the building tide of emotion in his chest.
Thank God. Thank God she still loved him. That she wasn’t holding back after all he’d done. He couldn’t—wouldn’t allow her to know just how far he’d been willing to go to keep a promise to his family. It would destroy her.
“Are you with me, dolcezza? Are you close? Tell me what you need.”
She sighed again and her smile was so dazzling that it spilled sunshine all over him.
“You, Max. Just you. Love me. I’m always with you.”
Her words unleashed his tightly held control. He thrust deep and started coming before he was even at full depth. She arched into his arms and wrapped her legs tightly around his, their bodies woven together in a beautiful tapestry.
Max and Callie. Callie and Max.
She buried her face in his neck and then sank her teeth into the column of his throat as she came apart. Her body tugged relentlessly at him, pulling him deeper, and then went liquid around him, bathing him in intense, sweet heat.
For the longest time he lay atop her, their legs and bodies meshed together as he pulsed inside her. It was hard not to imagine his seed taking root. For a moment he fantasized about her big and round with his child.
He wanted these things. He wanted her unreservedly. Her submission, her love. He wanted all of her. He wanted children. Lots of girls with her indomitable spirit, her sassy smile and those gorgeous blue eyes. He wanted boys who were as strong and as resilient as she was.
“Are you still on birth control?” he asked a moment later.
“Yes.”
He couldn’t help the stark disappointment that surged through his body.
She pulled away, a frown curving her mouth downward. “Why?”
He smiled then, wanting to ease her worry and not put a damper on what was otherwise an incredible moment for him.
“I just had this image of you. Pregnant with my child. Of feeling your belly, big and round. I liked it. I liked it a lot.”
She relaxed and then grinned. “You’re going to have to wait a while for that, I’m afraid. I have way too much I want to do and see before I start popping out a brood of children.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “A brood?” He was teasing her, because suddenly the idea of being surrounded by a pile of kids was completely pleasing to him.
“I always imagined that I’d have a lot of children,” she said wistfully. “Eventually. Not right away. But when I was ready. I love having a large family. I loved growing up with three older brothers.”
He pushed himself up and off of her, carefully withdrawing from the delicious heat of her body. He settled beside her and pulled her into his arms until their noses nearly touched.
“Tell me of all these things you want to do before you settle down and have babies.”
She snuggled against him until their legs were once more entwined.
“I love to travel. I like to just…go. Whenever I get the urge. My mom has always said I was born with my head in the clouds and my eyes always looking toward a place I’d never been. She’s probably right. I have wanderlust. There’s nothing quite like just packing up and going. Seeing new places, meeting new people, seeing the sun rise and set in a different place each day.”
“I want to show you those places. I want to see them with you. I’ll show you the world, Callie.”
Her eyes shone and glistened again, but he was determined not to make her cry. No more. He wanted to make her happy.
“I love you, Max. So much.”
Would he ever grow tired of hearing those words? He couldn’t imagine such a thing. If anything, he worried she’d grow tired of his need to hear them.