Page 76 of The Perils of Pretending
Each brush of our lips is slow, languid. I acquaint myself with the flow and feel of his mouth. The way our heads know where to go and when. Max’s hand moves from my hip to my back. I glide my hand down his cheek, to the side of his neck, until it’s resting over his heart.
The pounding of his chest thuds against my palm.
Not a robot, indeed.
This kiss is making him feel things too.
“Princess,” Max breathes out, picking up the intensity of the kiss. His lips move feverishly against mine.
He says my nickname with reverence and awe. For the first time, I adore and treasure the name instead of feeling like it’s an insult. Heat glides through every vein in my body like I drank a magic elixir. I’m alive, wanted, and, best of all, not worrying about anything except the man in front of me.
I match his pace, letting the heat and tingles drown out every other thought and feeling.
Gliding my hand from his face, I tangle my fingers in his hair. The strands are soft. He must shower at night, because there’s no stickiness in his hair like there was when I got a mouthful of it on our flight. My nails lightly scratch his scalp. Max lets out a moan against my lips. Hearing his reaction causes a pulse of electricity to shoot down my spine. In this moment, there isn’t one thing about Max I find annoying.
“Crrroooooaaaak!”
I pull back from Max, my heart thundering for a different reason. “What was that?”
Max looks around my torso, peering into the trees to our right. It’s too dark to see into the forest. “I don’t know.”
The sound comes again.
I whip my head in the direction I heard the noise. A hulking form emerges where the trees meet the shore. “Is that Captain Big Rack?” I point to where I think I see something.
Max laughs. “Yeah, it is.”
The way the midnight sun dimly casts its glow on the horizon, shining on Captain Big Rack, he almost looks like a Patronus. I’m taking it as Dad watching over me. What I can’t figure out is if he’s trying to protect me like he does when Dorian is around or if this is something different. “That’s not his usual grunt. What do you think he wants?”
The moose lets out another high croak. I have no idea what it means. I stare at him, a little annoyed he interrupted my phenomenal make-out session with Max, but mostly I’m confused why he’s here. Captain BR settles on his side on the shore. It’s rocky. I can’t believe he’s comfortable. My moose—yes, I’m claiming him—lets out a sigh like the day has exhausted him. We keep watching, but he doesn’t move. Is he sleeping?
“Maybe that’s his sign of approval? He’s clearly not worried about me since he isn’t making the same noise as when Dorian’s around.”
Is Max right? Is Captain Big Rack showing me he likes Max? That Max and I are good together? “My bodyguard moose is spying on me?” I chuckle. “That’s freaky and sweet.”
“Should we continue? See what he does?”
“For verification. I feel it’s only best if we do our due diligence on the matter.”
Max picks up my arm, trailing kisses from my wrist to my neck. I shiver despite not being cold at all.
Captain Big Rack makes the noise again.
I throw my head back, laughing. “He’s totally rooting for us.”
“He knows a good thing when he sees it.”
“His instincts are spot on.”
Max grins. “So are mine.”
Chapter 28
Sadie
Slippingmysneakersoff,I take the banana nut muffin I snagged from the breakfast buffet and the flame lighter a waitress let me borrow, and rush up the stairs to my room. Thank goodness for local shipping services from a general store. I managed to get a book, wrapping supplies, and gold birthday candles sent to the lodge for Max’s big day today. The chef is making a small strawberry shortcake for me tonight as well.
I unpackage the two golden candles, a three and a two, pushing them into the top of the muffin. Putting the wrapped present under my arm, I quickly light the candles and walk gingerly to the boys’ room, one hand holding the muffin, the other cupping the flames.
