Page 125 of In Your Wake

He paces the room, shaking his head. Tension rolls off his shoulders, the rage simmering below his surface. “It’s not that simple.”

“Yes, it is. I get it. Trust me, I do. But you need to let it go.”

“Let it go? This whole town, this house—” He looks at me, opening his mouth as if to speak, but then thinking better of it, he takes a deep breath instead. “It’s pushing me to run away again.”

Carefully, I step nearer like a skittish deer, but when I reach for his hand, he recoils from my touch.

“Maxine, not now,” he snaps, falling back against the wall, releasing a sharp exhale that sounds so painful it reaches into my chest and wrenches my heart.

I bite my lip, knowing he’ll fight me, but also knowing what needs to happen. I get close and reach behind me, tugging on the zipper of my dress.

“What are you doing?” he asks, frowning.

I let the dress fall to the floor in a heap of peachy satin. “You’re feeling like this complete fucked-up mess. Like everything around is unraveling and nothing makes sense. And I can’t do much to change that.” I reach for his hands, and lay them on my hips. “But if only for a short while, let me take your mind off of it.”

He shakes his head, but his eyes remain focused on mine, his thumbs skimming over the curve of my hips. “You don’t mean this.”

I step into him, straddling his thigh. “You need something good. A happy memory to replace the bad ones stuck in this house.”

“But I’m not in a good place.”

“Neither am I.”

“No, I don’t mean that way. You don’t know the things I want to do. To you.” His eyes drift to my chest, then he bites his lip, pulling his hands away. “You wouldn’t like it.” The heat in his voice, the utter danger coloring his words, sends all my blood to my core. I already feel my arousal wetting his thigh.

“Did you ever think that I need this too? That I would like it?”

I shimmy out of my underwear, his heady gaze following my movements. He releases a gravelly moan when I run my fingers through his hair, along his jaw, and down his chest. A sinister expression darkens his gaze as his lips twist into something close to a snarl.

He grabs my wrist so quickly that I startle. Holding it with one hand, he uses the other to reach out and bunch up my hair, tugging my head to the side. Then, he brings his lips to my throat, resting them there and takes a deep inhale.

“Max…” he whispers, his voice so laced with warning, my knees shake.

Still, he’s right there with me. On the cusp of something precarious, but oh, so necessary.

For both of us.

27

When Darkness Settles

Mitch

I’m holding her back by the wrist, by the hair, but she’s strong and moves in, pressing her supple naked body against me, cupping me with her determined free hand, and my eyes drift shut.

I let my head fall back against the wall and press my lips together. A welcome heat comes off her in waves, spreading through my clothes and into me. Her delicate, seductive scent invades me like a spell. Perfect in every way, her body waits, calling out to mine.

She grinds against my thigh, igniting my desire, erasing all doubts and second thoughts. Straining against my suit pants, my cock springs to life, urging me to take her, to do what she’s asking, what I’m desperate to do.

But how can I ignore how it’ll turn out?

I can’t release this anger onto her, even if it’s all I can think of.

I unclench my fist, freeing her hair. “This can’t happen.”

She grins, kisses my chin, then slides her warm lips along my jaw. I wish I’d kept up shaving so I could feel her mouth on my skin and not through my short beard.

“We need this. We need something good. Don’t you want something good, Mitch?”