Page 878 of One More Kiss

He stood, and in a few strides his long legs carried him to where she leaned against the exposed brick wall. He braced his arms on either side of her. “Here you are. But you wanted, want, more. The job with the big office and a whole department reporting to you.”

She ducked under his arm. His nearness confused her, made her vision for her future unclear, made her almost not care.

He followed her around the corner, to the small dressing area, split in to two rooms—male and female. She slipped into the women’s room, and flipped a switch, illuminating the mirrors and costume rack and a threadbare, royal blue settee in the corner

“Lu. Stop.”

His hand circled her wrist and pulled her close to him. His fingers twined into her hair as he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You didn’t pick you. I should be mad at Dean Clark and never should have taken my anger out on you.”

“Why? Why is this so important to you?”

“To show them. To show all the people in my family who never thought I would be anything after…”

“After what, Lu. Tell me. Please. Trust me.”

Lu shook her head, fighting back the tears threatening to spill over. “No. No more talking. Kiss me.”

But before he could kiss her, Lu wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head to hers.

Desperate to forget her past once more, she thrust her tongue into his mouth. It wasn’t lost on her how ten years ago, she created her own mess much in the same way she sought to escape from it tonight.

But with Max, it was different. He wasn’t a bumbling boy, and she wasn’t a curious yet naïve girl. She understood what might happen, how this could ruin the reputation she’d so carefully crafted over the last decade.

Still, she didn’t care. She moved her hands to his shirt, fumbling with the buttons. Yanked on his tie, loosening it so she would have access to his throat, to bury her head there and inhale and never have to return to reality.

His deep moan echoed off the brick walls as his hands tightened on her shoulders.

She wanted no more than to live in his touch, his scent, his sounds, forever.

His hands clasped her bottom, lifting her up, pressing her against him. His erection pushed against her core, and she moved against him, straining to feel all of him.

Max carried her to the settee, where he sat, and dropped her to stand before him.

“Lu?” His gaze seemed to search her face for consent, or for any sign of reticence.

He would find no reluctance in her expression; still, she wanted him to recognize she wanted this, all of this.

All of him.

“Yes. Please.”

And with those two words, Max was on his knees, his hands sliding up her calves, to her thighs, his thumbs tracing the lacy edges of her stockings, his fingers deftly releasing the garters holding up the sheer nylon. The stockings pooled at her ankles, and he slid them off gently before his lips traced the path his hands had taken.

He nipped at the soft flesh inside her knee, licked it to sooth the slight sting. One hand reached up to cup the underside of her bottom, and a lone finger teased the edge of her panties, slipping inside to find the evidence of her desire.

Her skirt billowed out, covering his head, but through the layers of fabric she heard his sharp intake of breath, the exhale a blaze against her skin.

Though the air in the theater was cool, Lu was sure she would burst into flames at any moment.

Both hands now squeezed at her rear as his face pressed against her panties, his whispers muffled against her flesh. He kissed the embroidered trim along the legs of the garment, pulled the fabric down, inching the soft material along her sensitive skin. If Max hadn’t been holding her up with the other hand, she would have collapsed onto him. She kicked the garment away, and Max shifted her around, eased her back on to the settee. He did not get up, however, settling his head between her thighs.

“So sweet,” he murmured.

Lu’s fingers snaked into his dark hair, the soft tendrils a contrast to the slight roughness of his whiskers against her thigh. She tugged, urging him forward, and he obliged. His hand pushed at her skirts, moving away all impediments to his goal.

He closed his mouth over her, his tongue, his lips, his teeth, all working together to invoke the best sort of black magic. He lapped at her, not missing a single bit of her flesh in his exploration. His tongue stopped at the nub at the apex of her lips, rubbing, sucking, kissing and rubbing more.

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