Raging Heart On (Lucas Brothers #2)(105)

“I know,” she breathes.

“Then, why aren’t you?”

“Hell if I know, Max.”

“This can’t happen, Tess.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to take you into town tomorrow and drop you off. I have to.” Even telling her that hurts. It’s true though. If we react this strongly to each other after only two days, what the hell would it be like to be near her longer? I can’t chance it. When I clearly see the disappointment in her eyes, I hate myself. For the first time since I pulled the trigger, I regret my decision. Tess offers a promise of a better life, of a life worth living. It’s too late.

“Okay, Max,” she whispers, and the remorse in her eyes cuts me wide open.

“Tess…”

“You could kiss me goodbye.”

“It might not stop at that,” I tell her in complete honesty.

“I’m not sure I care.”

“You should. You’re tempting fate, Kitten.”

“Are you going to talk all evening or kiss me?”

“You don’t like talking?”

“When you grab a lady like you just did, you kind of promise her something...”

My lips crash into hers, stopping her words and swallowing them. My tongue angrily takes over her mouth because I am angry. I’m angry at her for letting me do this, and I’m angry at the world for giving me everything I ever wanted; when it’s too late. Most of all, I’m angry at myself. If I had known Tess was waiting for me, things would have been different. When we pull away from each other, I watch as those emerald eyes of hers slowly open, shining at me and promising me things I can’t have.

“Damn, Max, you sure know how to kiss,” she breathes.

“Right back at you, Kitten,” I growl, before claiming her lips again.

Maybe I could keep her, one more day….





11


Tess


My body is on fire by the time our second kiss ends. I want more, and it’s on the tip of my tongue to demand it. Max does something surprising though. He reaches over, unchains me from the bed, and helps me to stand.

“Will you give yourself to me tonight?”

His gruff voice vibrates through me. I get the feeling he’s asking for more than just sex. I try to remind myself of all of the reasons I should say no. I can’t. It’s just not in me; I want this. It may never go past tonight, but I want tonight.

“Yes.”

My answer somehow makes those dark eyes of his deepen. I’m expecting him to make love to me right then, right there. So, it surprises me when he leaves me on the bed and goes to the wash basin. He takes one of the hundreds of gallon jugs of water stacked neatly in the corner and pours it into the basin he emptied earlier. I watch as he strips off his shirt. The tattoos on his shoulder and chest grab my eyes first before he turns to give me his back.

“Tess, come and wash my hair,” he orders.

It doesn’t even occur to me to argue. The truth is; I want to wash his hair. I want the privilege of running my fingers through his hair. I want to touch him and mark him, as he’s marked me. My hand goes to my neck; rubbing the marks he left there the day before. I walk to him; he gives me that slight smile that I’ve seen escape him a few times and hands me a small travel bottle of shampoo. I put it down and grab an old plastic cup and go about washing his hair.

“Go back and sit down and wait for me,” he orders when I finish.

“But…”

“If you touch me, this won’t go like I want it to. Your hands on my body are guaranteed to make me lose control, and that’s not what I want, not tonight. Now, go and wait for me.”

I want to pout, but his words have me too excited. I’m practically walking on air when I go back to the bed. He undresses, and I shamelessly watch him wash off. I’ve been halfway in love with Max since I first read his story. I may only get this one night with him, and I have to accept that. My night with him is a moment out of time. One that shouldn’t happen, but one I will cherish until I’m old and gray. I can’t pull my eyes away from him as he sponge bathes himself. When he washes his cock, and I watch him take himself into his hands, my body flushes hot. Moisture gathers between my legs and I’m dying to have him. I want to cry out in disappointment when he covers himself up with a pair of jogging pants he pulls out of the satchel he brought back from his uncle’s.

Once he empties the basin the turns to me.

“Come here, Tess.”

Three words. Three words that are so simple, but they are words that I’ve imagined this man saying for months. It seems surreal. If I only get tonight, it will have been more than worth it. I go to him, willingly. I go to him, eager.

He grabs the collar of my shirt and pulls. Buttons, pop and scatter through the room. My body jumps, but my eyes never leave his intense stare. He takes the shirt from my body and throws it on the floor. I look down at it and then back up to him.

“Umm…what am I supposed to wear tomorrow?”

“Let’s just worry about tonight right now, Kitten.”

I moisten my lips and nod my approval. That seems to be what he was looking for because he unlatches the clasp between my breasts and my bra releases. It soon joins my ruined shirt. Heat infuses my face, I can feel it, but I don’t look away.