Page 29 of The Storm
“Lisitsa,” he said with a grim smile. “Don’t you know I like your teeth?”
“Shut up.”
“No.” He took her mouth again, biting her lower lip as he rode her. He ground into her body, searching for the telltale signs she was near her climax. The hitched breath. The cry. The tightening of her body around him and the way her fingers dug into the small of his back.
He had been her lover for eighteen years. He knew every sign. Every tell.
“Don’t look away from me,” he said when she closed her eyes. “Don’t try to hide.”
She was the first and only woman he had ever dreamed about, the only one he obsessed over. Again and again, he returned to her, even when she pushed him away. Since the return of the Irina, there were others who had approached him, but none had been her equal.
He felt her climax approaching and he slowed his thrusts, smiling when she beat his shoulders.
“Don’t you dare!” she commanded him. “Faster.”
Max bent down and bit her shoulder as he picked up the pace, twisting his hips when he heard her cry out. She was so close.
“Maxim.” She panted his name. “Please.”
He could feel histalesmrising. Feel the magic thick in the air around them. If she were his mate, her marks would be glowing too. Their power would intertwine in this moment, and he would see his vow written over her heart, see his marks glow on her body. But the only mark she bore was that of her intended mate—a simple, spare circle on her forehead.
Max braced himself over Renata and let instinct take control of his body. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the pleasure. There was no thought. No calculation. He felt his release gathering. It was a wave, rising and cresting.
Her back arched when she came, and she cried out his name. He opened his eyes to watch her. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Relief? Pleasure?
Max didn’t know, but he gave in to it, capturing her mouth as his climax crested and crashed. Renata captured his guttural cry and swallowed it, her hand grasping the back of his neck to keep their mouths fused together.
Needing air, he pulled away. Max pressed his forehead against hers, to the mark another man had drawn. A mark that still glowed when he made love to her.
“Maxim,” she whispered, panting. “Max, I—”
“How long did he love you?” Max closed his eyes. “Two years? The blink of an eye. I’ve loved you so much longer.”
She froze beneath him, their bodies still linked.
“How many times did you cry out his name when he brought you pleasure? Not as many times as you’ve shouted mine.”
“Stop it.” Her voice was cold.
Max opened his eyes and saw the tears coursing down her cheeks, but his heart was raw. “Am I good enough yet? Have I loved you enough? Or am I only good for this?” He bucked his hips against hers. “Because nothing will ever compare to areshonyou loved and lost.”
He knew he’d hurt her, but the look in her eyes was only a shadow of the pain he’d felt when she rejected him in Vienna. When she’d told him his love wasn’t real, it had gutted him.
Max couldn’t take any more. He lifted off her body and wrapped a sheet around his waist as Renata scrambled to cover herself. The pleasure was hollow. He’d lost his temper and been too honest. Too rough. She’d probably never let him touch her again.
Maybe that was all right.
“I’m going outside for a smoke,” he said. “Don’t worry; I’ll sleep on the couch.”
* * *
Max saton the covered porch that wrapped around the house. Heavy boards were nailed along the railings, creating a buffer from the wind and harsh snow. The storm that had picked up earlier in the evening had cleared, though Max could see more dark clouds over the far ridge. For the moment, the air was crisp and clear and the moon was full, glittering over the fresh snow in the meadow.
He sat on a log bench and blew out a stream of smoke from the cigarettes he’d bought in Milan. They were a fancy variety and an indulgence. He didn’t smoke often, but the scent reminded him of his grandfather’s pipe tobacco, and it was welcome on the cold night.
If the weather was clear, he’d hike down the mountain in the morning.
He was a fool.
