Page 58 of Born into Darkness

“I thought so,” I say with a smile. Closing my eyes, I rest my forehead against his and let out a contented sigh. “Thank you, Max.”

“For?”

His hand traces soothing circles along my back before lowering to run along the curve of my ass, and I’m suddenly so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. All the worry and fear come crashing down on me. I lean my head against his shoulder and say, “For so many things.”

“You don’t need to thank me for any of them, especially not the orgasm.” He gives a soft laugh. “That was as much for me as it was for you.”

“I don’t see how that’s true. You must be miserable.” Forcing my head up, I look down at the rock-hard bulge that’s still nestled against his inner thigh. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Stop worrying about me,” he says. “I’m fine, and you’re exhausted.”

“But maybe I can help,” I say, reaching my hand out to grip him.

“Fuck,” he groans, clenching his jaw tightly when I start to explore. His eyes close when my fingers trace along the ridge of skin I can feel through his joggers and then start to massage his head. “If you keep touching me like that, I’m going to have a very embarrassing accident,” he says with a soft laugh.

I lean closer and kiss his neck, whispering against his skin, “Maybe I want you to, and it wouldn’t be embarrassing with me.”

“Oh yes it would be,” he says, but he makes no move to stop me.

“Does this feel good?” I ask, giving the head of his cock a soft pinch before using my thumb to massage small circles all the way up his length. “I really have no idea what I’m doing,” I admit, giving his neck another kiss.

“You’re a fucking natural then, and hell yes it feels good.”

I run my tongue up his neck, hearing his breathing pick up as his hips rock, every part of him vibrating with need. I keep working him, wanting this to feel good, determined and eager to see this through to the end, but the sound of my dad calling my name has my hands stilling as I suck in a quick breath of air.

“Oh my god,” I whisper. “I completely forgot everyone is still sitting out there.” Trying to sound normal, I raise my voice and yell, “Just a sec, Dad!”

Max groans in frustration, but I can tell he’s not pissed. Frustrated, yes, but not angry, and it makes me love him a little bit more. We’ve spent so much time together, but it was under extreme conditions, and I still feel like there’s so much I don’t know about him, so much left to discover.

But there is one thing I do know, and when I look at him and say, “You’re such a sweetheart, Max,” the deep laugh he gives makes it impossible to not join in. We share a laugh before he gives me another kiss and then pats my ass.

“I’m glad you think so,” he says, giving my ass another squeeze before resigning himself to the fact that what we just started is going to need to be put on hold.

Reluctantly, I start to get off him, but he moves his left hand to my hip, gripping it firmly and holding me in place. Before he lets me go, he gives me one last slow kiss, and then drops his hand with a sigh. I move to get up, but before I stand, I cup his face and lift up enough so I can kiss his scarred eyebrow. When I’d first met him, it was clear it needed stitches, but that of course never happened, and now he’s left with a deep scar cutting through his dark brow.

“Souvenir from Miguel,” he says.

I kiss it again and shake my head. “Think of it as a memory of when we first met. I refuse to let that bastard taint our first memories. He doesn’t get to take that from us.”

“You’re right,” he says, tapping the tip of my nose before I stand so he can do the same. “Fuck him. We remember the good and forget the bad, but, Talia, when you’re ready, I want to hear about what happened while I was passed out.”

I think about that night and grimace, not having the slightest desire to relive it, but I know he’s right. I need to talk about it with someone, at least once just so I can get it off my chest, and Max is the perfect person to listen. He’s the only one who will really understand.

He lets out a soft laugh as he readjusts himself. “I need a few minutes before we walk out there. I don’t think your dad will kill me, but your brothers might.”

“They like you,” I tell him.

“For now. If I walk out there with you and a raging hard-on, they might change their minds about that.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Yeah, let’s wait a few minutes.” Wanting to get his mind off things, I say, “I met your cousin Sasha, by the way. He scared the hell out of me and I kind of freaked out. Not my finest moment.”

“What happened?”

“He came walking into the basement with a bloody skull mask and a wicked-looking knife. Your uncle told him to take off his mask, but that just made it worse because his eyes were completely dead.”

Max nods and kisses the top of my head. “That sounds like Sasha. He would never hurt you, though. He has a few demons, and he usually keeps them in check, but you caught him on a killing spree. He can’t fake normal when he’s that far gone, but he knows the rules, and he’d never break them.”

I can’t help but be intrigued. “Rules?”

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