A malignant current washes over me, originating from him. It paralyzes me, and I stand there helpless when he slams his mouth to mine. His lips are warm and soft, yet his kisses are anything but. He battles with me, conquering with every slant of his mouth and nip of his teeth. Then he claims me as soon as my lips part, his tongue sweeping into the cavern of my mouth. I grab handfuls of his shirt, thinking to shove Maximus, and instead I pull him to me. The anger rolling off us both only serves to careen us into passion, leaving everything else behind.
My panties are torn from my body in his frenzy to have me bared to him. I’m lost in him, drinking in his domineering kisses and relishing the rough touches. At the feel of the head of his cock near my sex, I about weep, so desperate for connection, both physical and emotional.
Maximus is what I want, what I need, and what I should run from.
He grabs my hips and slides me along the door, looking up at me with such hunger it almost frightens me.Almost. I grip his shoulders and dig my nails into the solid muscle there, loving the feel of his strength and knowing it could be my downfall. Then I wrap my legs around his waist to bring him close.
“I’m never letting you go,” he says. His hands tremble against my skin, and I know it’s not due to him straining under my weight. It’s because he’s holding something back. “You’re my wife, Emilia, until death.”
I moan when he joins us, burying his cock fully within me. My eyes flutter closed as he pistons into me with a brutal pace, and instinct tells me it’s not to hurt me. He’s driving out demons in his soul and using my body as a sanctuary, propelling me into a state of nirvana from the ecstasy he’s giving me. Like a benediction, Maximus whispers my name and worships me with everything he has. His lips, teeth, tongue, hands, and cock—there’s not a part of him that he doesn’t offer in sacrifice with the need to please me. And he does.
“I’m coming,” I say on a whimper.
“Yes, you’re coming back to me.”
I spiral into a void where there’s nothing but Maximus and the bliss he gives. My cries are accompanied by his groans and unintelligible words that hold so much intensity and conviction. His cock swells in me, and my cries morph into screams as he joins me in the surrender of his body. Tremors course through him, and I experience every single one, knowing they’re born from release but also emotion. Maximus can’t express what he feels, and he doesn’t have to. I can sense it as if his body is my own. And right now he’s telling me so many things that I pray to God are true.
He lays his head on my chest, and I weave my fingers through his hair, wanting to maintain the intimacy with him for however long it lasts. I’m not ready to face reality just yet. Instead, I enjoy having him inside me, his heart beating rapidly against mine and his hands gripping me tight.
“My mother left when I was too young to remember anything except the smell of her hair and the sound of her laughter,” he says quietly. “The Wolf Pack hunted her because of what Caruso accused her of, and to this day, I’m not sure if she’s alive or not, but I’ve never stopped looking and hoping, despite getting this tattoo in her memory and having attended her funeral. And I’ve never forgotten how her absence destroyed my father. He was a formidable man, strong and certain of himself, but when she disappeared, he withered over time to become a ghost.”
Maximus nuzzles my breast, and I stroke the nape of his neck, offering comfort however he’ll let me. Eventually he continues. “That is what’d happen to me if you were to leave, which is why I’ll kill those who threaten you, and protect you from those who’d harm you. But I can’t do that if you’re gone.”
He lifts his head and pierces me with his gaze. “This is why you can never leave. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Maximus cares for me. Whether he knows it or not,thatis what he’s saying.
I cradle his face and nod once. The tension lining his body, and the creases in his face vanish. He takes a deep breath and releases it slowly, and I believe some of the darkness exits his soul in that moment. I doubt all of it will ever go away, and I’ve made my peace with that.
He can’t move in the underworld without blending in with the shadows around him.
An hourlater I prop myself up and look down at Maximus, taking in his bare chest and slightly damp hair, courtesy of our shower earlier. But mostly, I stare at his onyx eyes. They are shining as though newly polished, and I’m drawn to them, to the tenderness in them.
“What is it?” he asks. His brows snap together, and his lips thin. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He starts to rise, and I place my hand on his sternum to lightly stay him. “I want you to know I’m sorry for whatever my father did to you and your family. If…”
I feel like an idiot, but I’m desperate for him to know how much I care for him. Maximus told me in his way, so I need to find mine. Besides, I want to move past what’s been done and be rid of my father’s presence in my marriage, starting with the removal of that damn tracking device, which my husband swore he’d get out as soon as possible.
“If what?” Maximus prompts.
I swallow my nerves. “If there’s anything I can do to help or to…I don’t know, but whatever it is, I want you to know I’ll be there.”
He slowly nods, and the thoughts flickering over his face are too difficult for me to decipher. “What about what he did to you?”
“Me?” I blink at him. “I had to let go of that or it would’ve killed me. I’m still furious over my mother’s murder, but there’s nothing I can do.” I bite my lip and give in to my impulse by cupping Maximus’s jaw. “However, I have a husband who will get justice for me, and that’s more than good enough.”
He peels my hand away from his face, and I still, saddened that he seems put off by me touching him. Then he kisses my palm and laces his fingers with mine. His mouth tips up on one side, and my heart squeezes in my chest. “I guess I’ll have to follow through so I don’t disappoint,” he says. “I didn’t realize wives preferred revenge over flowers.”
I press my lips together to keep from grinning like a fool. “Fact: Flowers are thought to elicit positive human emotion due to their sensory properties. However, I don’t see the practicality in flowers because they die rather quickly.”
“I can understand that,” he says with a serious nod. “What gift would an extremely logical and practical woman want? A Glock?” The smile on Maximus’s face widens, and his eyes shine.
A giggle escapes me, and then I clear my throat, resuming a stern expression. “Perhaps, but I think I’ll take his vow instead.” When he raises a dark brow, I continue. “Loyalty ‘til death. My husband will always have mine.”
My confession has been made: I love Maximus.
Before he rescued me from my abductor, I was certain Maximus was going to let me die. And after that I believed my husband was going to lock me away, but now I know differently. My husband explained how he had to say something my father would not only accept but believe as truth. It didn’t take me long to forgive him.
