Wantedhim.
That pointed comment about the closet gave me pause. It should’ve had me pulling back, but arousal clouded my judgment. Overpowering my senses, it halted rational thought to a grinding halt.
A needy, desperate sound came from the back of my throat, but before he called me on it, I shot back. “I’m not scared of you, Max.”
His lips curled wickedly. “You should be. So, maybe I’m not getting the point across.MaybeI should flip you over, fuck your throat, and then, take your ass like it’s fuckingmine.”
I gulped. Dizzy with conflicting desires, I forced out. “I don’t want to do that. Not yet.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why should I care,Quinn Everly?”
My body froze as my mind raced. Ever since my big libido reawakening, I’d opened up to the idea of going thereeventually. But that wasnoton my sexual bingo card for The Quest.
And right now? Like this?
His cock grazed my core, still acting as if he didn’t care one way or the other, and his first stroke against my clit had me wondering whyIcared.
Unraveling beneath him, there was nothing—no one—I wanted right now more than him.
But I wouldn’t give him that.
Not like this.
He pulled back, his eyes fixed on where our bodies aligned before trailing lower. When his hips rocked forward, I trusted he wouldn’t do what he wanted me to believe he would do, but when his cock brushed against my ass, I panicked.
My ability to speak returned, and I blurted, “I yield!”
Max jolted back as if I’d slapped him.
His hands came up, his touch disappearing from my skin like it had never been there.
As he stepped away from the table, he yanked up his sweatpants. Grabbing his T-shirt off the floor, he didn’t pause to put it on.
He just bolted from the room.
Panting, aroused, and confused as hell, I collapsed backward. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to control my breathing.
I needed to get up, but I couldn’t.
Lying there, for however long I did, I replayed everything he said. I hunted for hidden meaning in his actions and words, but I couldn’t make sense of it. If he’d been trying to tell me something, I couldn’t see it.
My thoughts entangled, my mind stuck with no answers.
When I finally collected myself enough to climb off the table, I redressed on shaking limbs.
I spent the whole night hunting for answers in his words.
They didn’t come.
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning, on day three of training, everyone gathered on the covered back patio for breakfast.
Miss Alice and the rest of the staff had prepared every dish imaginable, setting them out in covered trays for us to serve ourselves.
If it weren’t for the threat of Kingston’s father, Max’s pending engagement, and the Final Trial hanging over our heads, it would’ve been like staying at a beautiful resort and waking up to continental breakfast.
I’d only done that once with my parents when they took me to the secondHappiest Place on Earthfor my tenth birthday.
