As she fumbled the door closed behind her, she suddenly found herself pinned against the wall by Max’s tall, muscular body, impossibly warm, impossibly close. His thigh brushed up between her legs, and her breath caught in her throat.
“Two can play at this game,” he murmured, and there was a gleam in his eye that she hadn’t thought him capable of.
“Oh, yeah?” she breathed. “Prove it.”
He leaned in closer until his mouth brushed her neck, his voice low, teasing,dangerous. “Don’t say things you might regret later,” he whispered.
Poppy shuddered under his touch, deliriously happy. “I could never regret it,” she breathed. “Never.”
She pulled him down with her onto the rug, and then all other thoughts fled her mind.
Chapter 10
Max slowly awoke from the most incredibly restful sleep he’d ever had in his life.
Well, mostly restful, anyway. I’m not sure if I can count all those times we woke up and…
His mind helpfully supplied the images. Not that it was difficult to recall or anything – he had a feeling that the memory of Poppy in the throes of ecstasy would be making itself known at the most inopportune moments for some time to come.
But eventually the two of them had fallen into a deep, deep sleep, slotted neatly together, his arm pulling her close to him, her messy curls tickling at his nose.
He took in a breath now, simply enjoying the smell of her hair – which was something he’d never imagined himself doing with anyone. He’d never noticed the smell of anyone’s hair before. But when it was Poppy, he found that he wanted to know every single thing about her that he possibly could.
Max lay there for who knew how long, simply content to be in her presence, the messy blankets providing a warm haven from the outside world.
He could have stayed there until the end of time, if not for the slow, insistent hunger that started to gnaw at him.
I suppose we didn’t really eat last night. Well, notfood, anyway…
He was so comfortable and happy right where he was, and Poppy was sleeping so peacefully, her breaths slow and even, that he couldn’t stand the thought of disturbing her. But he reallywashungry.
He pulled her tighter against him, as if he could fend off the hunger pangs through the sheer closeness of her presence. And it did seem to work for a time, but after a while the rumbling of his stomach got the better of him.
With agonizing slowness he worked to extricate himself, sliding his arm back and holding up the blankets so that he could wriggle backward with minimal disturbance to Poppy. She shifted a little and snorted in her sleep –adorably, he couldn’t help but notice – before letting out a long, slow breath and settling back down again.
Relieved, he fumbled on the nightstand for his glasses, glad to see that they were still intact after last night’s…activities. Pulling them on, he had a look at the clock.
11:14.
Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the muted light drifting in through the windows, he could’ve easily believed that it was 11:14 p.m., and they’d slept the whole day through. He felt well-rested, alive with energy, like he could achieve anything he wanted. He’d never felt this good before.
Slipping into his clothes, he padded back out toward the kitchen, casting a somewhat guilty glance at the rug on the way. Even though they’d eventually made their way to the bed, he was going to have some very nice memories of that rug.
In the kitchen, he looked around. Loath as he was to wake Poppy at any point, he thought that she would probably want to wake up fairly soon so that she could enjoy her vacation. He wasn’t sure exactly how long she was going to be spending inGirdwood Springs, but from what she’d said, he got the feeling that it wasn’t going to be an extended stay.
Hopefully, at least, she wouldn’t mind getting woken up if it meant that she was also getting breakfast in bed. And he really wanted to do something for her, especially since she’d bought him such a thoughtful gift.
Opening the fridge, he surveyed its contents, before pulling out a packet of bacon and some eggs.
Humming a little tune, he got to work.
***
“What the hell is going on?!”
Poppy ran into the smoke-filled kitchen, eyes wide, forehead creased, body completely naked.
“Everything’s fine!” Max yelped as he waved a tea towel ineffectually at the shrieking smoke detector. “It’s all under control! Go back to bed!”
