Page 6 of Sparks Fly
So when she reached for his buttons, Max grabbed her hand, pulled it to his mouth, and pressed a kiss to her palm. She shivered at the contact, and he grinned.
“Not yet,” he said, lacing his fingers through hers. “Let’s find a room.”
Four
The room was small.
There was just a bed—full size if Stella had to guess—and a little bedside table with a lamp that provided the only source of light in the red-painted room.
Stella jumped when the door closed behind her with a loud bang. The guy, who she’d decided to call Winston because he looked like Winston Duke without the facial hair and with aPhantom of the Operamask, winced.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to slam it like that,” he said.
“It’s okay.” Her heart was still jackhammering in her chest, although she wasn’t entirely sure the door was to blame.
Stella had no idea what she was doing. One second she was watching live-action porn on mute, and the next she was asking some random man if he wanted to have sex—nay,fuckher. Was she seriously that horny?
In her defense, he was fine. And not justfinefine.Foine.
And when he kissed her? Stella could count on exactly onehand how many people she’d kissed in her life, so although she didn’t have much to compare him to, he was, without a doubt, the clear winner. That kiss had her wanting to climb him like a tree right there in the hallway, and when he’d lifted her up, it was instinct to wrap herself around him. She almost didn’t want to let go, but she was glad he suggested they get a room.
In the heat of the moment, she probably would’ve let him slide her panties to the side and fuck her, as she asked, right there. But Stella knew that once her hormones chilled out, she would’ve been embarrassed. Perhaps that’s what was happening to her right now.
“You alright?”
The guy—man—moved to stand behind Stella. Even with her heels, he was still a head taller than her. Outside this room, she’d found that attractive, but now she was freaking out.
She’d just let herself be locked in a room with a man who was the size of a boulder, and he didn’t even know her name. Shit, she didn’t even knowhisname.
“What’s your name?”
The question burst out of her as she turned in his arms, and he blinked back in surprise.
“Max,” he said. “You?”
Stella hesitated for a second before saying, “Cherry.”
There was no good reason not to tell Max her real name. What was he going to do? Tell the bouncer she lied about her name to get in here? But Stella liked the idea of being her bestie’s bad-ass persona tonight, instead of being herself.
Stella would tell someone she wanted to fuck them, but Cherry would not only say it, she would actually do it, and that was the kind of confidence she needed right now.
“Hey.” Max hooked a finger under her chin, tilting it up until she met his eyes. “Nice to meet you, Cherry. Wanna sit?”
Stella started to nod and then shook her head, changing her mind. If she was going to do this, she had to get on with it. The longer she let things build up, the less likely it was she was actually going to go through with it. And she really wanted to go through with it.
Or maybe she just really wanted him. Perhaps both.
“You sit,” she said, turning him so he was walking backward toward the bed. Max let himself be pushed back, sitting down when his legs hit the edge of the bed. He looked up at her, slightly amused.
“Okay,” he said. “What next?”
Stella hesitated for a second and then, before she could let herself overthink it, she stepped between his legs and reached for his shirt.
“I’m supposed to be taking this off, right?”
Max nodded, his eyes trained on her as she began to undo the buttons. The heat of his gaze was beginning to make her sweat, and she couldn’t meet his eyes, instead focusing on her task. When she got to the last button, he slipped out of his suit jacket and the shirt all in one go.
He was wearing a white undershirt, but even with it, Stella could see clearly now the definition of his arms and torso. He didn’t have a six-pack like a Marvel superhero, which was fine, she didn’t like that anyway. But he was toned, his chest broadand firm. Before she even realized what she was doing, Stella reached out and put her hands on his chest. She jerked back, startled by her own boldness, but he grabbed her wrists, holding her to him.
