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She nodded again but said nothing more.
He couldn’t be sure what that meant, but in that moment he swore to himself that he’d prove to her they could be, they should be, a proper family. In every sense of the word.
* * *
Evie quelled the flitting butterflies in her abdomen as she stood in the doorway to Imogen’s nursery and watched Max lower their sleeping daughter into the ornate cot. Quietly, she backed away down the hall and into the master bedroom, into which she’d pretty much decamped after that first night of sexual intimacy.
But since their venture into Old Town together five days ago, something had changed. It wasn’t just about their sexual intimacy, but about their emotional intimacy.
And that was on a whole new level.
Max loved her. She could feel it. She knew it. And from the moment he’d seen that sketch entitled Family she’d known Max knew it, too.
She just didn’t know whether he was ready to acknowledge it to her, yet. And so she bit her tongue and reined herself in, wanting him to tell her when he was ready. In his own time.
Which, she had to admit, was having its perks.
Every day that Max tried to tell her he loved her but couldn’t, he resorted instead to trying to show her how he felt. Ways which were growing more and more intensely passionate as though to compensate for the words that were eluding him. And Evie had never felt so desired, or needed, or wanton.
But as exquisite as it was, tonight she intended to take matters into her own hands. She’d tried a few nights ago, with her sexual assessment of his anatomy, which had been even more fun than she’d hoped. But in the end, when Max had taken charge again, she’d bottled it and let him. But this time, she was going to run things if only to prove to him that she was the same woman he’d known a year ago, not this vulnerable, ill Evie, as he’d begun to think of her. And if he couldn’t tell her he loved her after that...well, she was just determined that wouldn’t be the case.
She heard Max creeping out of the nursery and heading down the hallway and ducked into the shower room, shedding her clothes quickly and efficiently. It was another boost to her self-esteem that she was now able to do this for herself, a far cry from when she’d needed Max to help her to wash her hair.
This shower experience was going to end up very differently from back then, Evie determined. Just as long as Max adequately interpreted the trail of clothes leading from the bedroom door. Her heart lodged somewhere in her throat; it would be just her luck for the door to have closed on her artfully placed heeled shoe and for Max to walk straight downstairs.
With relief Evie saw his shadow entering the room and heading towards the bathroom door, only hesitating slightly as he heard the sound of running water.
‘Everything okay, Evie? Do you need any help?’
She was touched by his consideration. Just because they’d been intimate every night he didn’t take it as his right to simply walk in. She licked her lips despite the shower water running over her from head to toe.
‘No help.’ Good job her voice didn’t betray her racing heart. ‘But company would be nice.’
Through the steamed glass she watched him round the corner, entering the doorway and approaching the shower. Standing as proudly as she could, she indicated the spacious shower area with a confident jerk of her head.
Her skin heated as his eyes swept slowly over her, taking in the head-to-toe view, darkening appreciatively as the pupils dilated, turning them almost black.
She held out the soaped-up body puff.
‘Well, are you going to join me, then?’
He didn’t need a third invitation.
Within seconds he’d stripped down and stepped around the expanse of glass. Tall, proud and wickedly masculine, his desire for her was unmistakeable and Evie didn’t bother to suppress her grin of delight.
He took the proffered body puff but before he could make use of it, he was pulling her against his hard, already gleaming wet body, and bringing his mouth down on hers. Hot and demanding, more so than any nights before.
She slid her hands around to his back, moving them over strong shoulder muscles, down to his athletic waist, and lower to cup his backside and draw herself closer to him, right against the heat between her legs. Carefully, Evie rocked her hips against him before bringing her hand around to stroke him, gripping him more firmly as he flexed against her. She remembered only too well just how Max had liked it when she’d taken the lead a few times during their fling, and tonight she intended to replicate that. Banish the idea of her as weak and vulnerable, once and for all.
Tightening her grip slightly, she moved harder, faster, all the while nibbling at the hollow of his neck and up to his jawline.
His husky groan sent a shiver rippling down her spine. It felt good to wield sexual power over a man like Max, but she had to be careful; she was barely hanging onto her own sense of control by her fingernails.
She rocked against him again, feeling his whole length flexing, solid against her skin. The sigh escaped her lips before she could stop it, only for Max to react to the sound in the most primitive way. Desire flooded straight down to her core. Parting her legs slightly, she nestled him even deeper against herself, not doubting that he could feel how hot and slick she was. How ready for him.
‘Stop,’ he managed hoarsely, breaking the contact with what was clearly supreme effort. ‘We need to slow it down.’
‘No,’ whispered Evie cheekily, ‘we don’t.’
