Beyond Eighteen (5 page)

I heard the car door slam and the snow
crunch under Max’s footsteps as he came around to me. I looked up
at him through my tear-filled eyes. I felt my heart speed and my
breathing increase as my breath rose in vapors which clouded and
broke up in front of me. It felt like the whole midsection of my
body could fold in half at any minute. A pressure built in the back
of my throat and I couldn’t speak. My larynx was hijacked by the
unrelenting waves of hiccups that diced through every word I tried
to say.

Max stood frozen a few steps away from me. I
think he was cautious to come closer until I raised my arms and
stretched my hands out to him. It was forever before I felt him
press his body against mine. He was the splint for my fractured
soul. His arms folded across my upper back as he pulled me away
from the car and I could feel the blistering cold assault every
part of my body that wasn’t wrapped in him. As I collapsed in his
embrace he lowered his head and buried his face in my neck. His
warm breath sent chills rippling down my spine. He held me so tight
I felt like I could barely breathe. I buried my face in his chest
and sobbed.

“Sshhhh, Wilson, it’s okay. I will never let
this happen again,” Max mumbled into my neck. His lips, so cold at
first, warmed to a temperature that made my life bearable.

“I…I…I wish—ed I knew a…a…about your dad’s
funer—” I choked and stuttered, trying to continue. “I…I
would…have…been there.”

Max pulled away. The chill poured between
us, his expression pained as he looked at me. He gently cleared my
hair away from my forehead and tucked it behind my ear before
cradling my face in his warm hands. His eyes danced with mine and
his lips held back all the words he needed to say before he pushed
his tongue across his bottom lip and swallowed hard.

“I should have known you would have come. I
should have followed my gut feeling and come for you,” he
whispered.

“You couldn’t,” I said back.

“I’ve missed you so bad. I didn’t think I
would ever reach that black space again until I experienced losing
you,” he groaned. His breath steamed across his beautiful lips
before evaporating in the air.

I grabbed his wrists and slid my hands up
across his knuckles. He winced and his eyes narrowed in pain. I
immediately pulled his hands from my face and looked at them.

“Don’t worry, he got the worst of it,” Max
murmured low as he shifted back and forth.

“I want to go back and kick his ass
myself.”

“He’s
never
coming near you again,”
he commanded in a growl.

“I’m sorry,” I said before I pressed my lips
to each gash on his knuckles. I looked up at him. His neck was
exposed and I saw the red, rashy blotches across his skin. I wanted
to kiss them too. I wanted to take away anything that reminded me
of the pain I’d caused. He watched my expression change as I
dropped my eyes to the snow-covered ground.

“Hey,” he whispered as he caught my chin in
his hand and raised my head to look at him.

My eyes filled with tears. I couldn’t
stop.

“I would fight every day for the rest of my
life if it meant I wouldn’t have to spend another day without you.”
He lowered his head and pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you
so much, Wilson,” he whispered as slipped his hand across my cheek
and pressed his fingers to the back of my neck.

Every hair on my body stood on end. His eyes
twinkled and danced across my expression before he closed them and
leaned in to kiss me. I wanted to push hard against him and feel
our kiss. I longed to taste every ounce of wanting that surged
through his body, but I couldn’t. I pulled away and lowered my chin
to toward the ground. I couldn’t let him kiss me.

“I’m sorry,” I choked.

“For what?” he panted in a breathy whisper
against my cheek. He swayed his stance back and forth, inching
closer and pushing his hips solid against me as he tried to catch a
glimpse of my eyes.

“I left. I walked out on you, remember? And
I don’t know…I don’t think I can handle losing you again,” I
whispered as I pulled away from him. I had to protect that part of
me. Something so delicate as the love I have for his family. I
didn’t know if I was ready to face the fact that I hurt his mother
too. It was so much bigger than just Max.

“Hey, you can’t lose something that was
never lost,” he said as he caught me by my forearms.

“Really?” I whispered as our eyes danced in
a stare that made my heart fall into my gut.

“Really,” Max answered as he nudged his nose
against my face a couple of times, urging me to kiss him. He
smelled so good, his aroma sent shivers down my spine. I wanted to
taste his flavor against my tongue. I wanted to feel his every
intention push hard against me. The muscles in his jaw tightened
before he pressed his lips against my neck, baiting me to give in
and kiss him back.

Everything he did created a raging fire deep
in my core and I wasn’t cold any more. His breath quickened as he
exhaled in a low growl. Suddenly his hands were on the back of my
thighs and I felt my feet leave the snowy ground. He forced me up
against his car and every regret I had for leaving was squelched by
the pressure of his body against mine. I wrapped my legs around his
waist, locking my ankles behind him. With my hands nesting in his
hair, I guess I had to admit that I wanted everything he was
willing to give me.

In pitch black, in the middle of nowhere,
Max pressed his lips to every inch, every bend, and every curve of
my exposed skin. My breathing sped. Gasping, I watched the steam
rise from my mouth. Sparks ignited low in my groin and every breath
he lifted from my skin scorched passionately through my whole
body.

I couldn’t push him off me if I tried; any
strength I had was surrendered. My feet never anchored to the
ground. Max had total control of what was going to happen between
us. His teeth grazed against then pulled on my earlobe, his lips
just damp enough to create the perfect balance of heat and chill to
turn me on. The sound of him wanting me echoed viscerally across my
ear as his breath tickled me lightly.

I loosened my legs from around him and
managed to get my feet to touch the ground. I wanted to spin him
around, wanted to push him up against the car. I felt passion
again. Something clicked within me, something I hadn’t felt in
days. Max locked his hands around my waist. I swirled around and
burst free from his embrace. He let out a low groan and I felt his
fingers brush my thigh in his attempt to catch me. He tracked me
like I was his conquest and I was immensely turned on. Max was my
only, and I hungered for him to show me. I stood in front of the
car, electricity surging through my body, and I couldn’t stop
myself from squealing as he caught my thigh and waist. In one
perfect swoop, he dropped down, slipping under my body and draping
me across his shoulder. He shoved his arm between my legs, his hand
raged hot against the outside of my thigh, and I wondered where in
the hell is he was going to carry me off to.

“Where do you think you’re going? You can’t
turn me on like that and expect to just walk away,” Max
asserted.

I pushed my hands into the back pockets of
his jeans. Even though his shoulder was digging into my stomach I
couldn’t stop laughing. There was no way for me to catch my breath
and answer him. My hair dangled in wisps and tickled my face as I
tried to raise my head to see where he was going. I kicked my feet
just enough to appear like I was resistant. The only thing I knew
at that moment was that absolutely nothing was going to come
between Max and me…not even Nick.

He walked around the front of the car and
the headlights shone brightly in my eyes. Leaning forward, he let
me slide slowly down the front of him. Our breaths mingled in
clouds overhead, the need growing thick between us. When our eyes
met, the chill between us disappeared.

My calves hit the bumper of the car as he
pushed against me and the heat of the engine permeated the back of
my jeans. Losing my balance, I instinctively grabbed Max around the
waist and held on. Sturdily, he wrapped his arms around my back and
kept me from falling. I craved to be sandwiched between the hood
and Max’s body.

“You gonna be okay making out with me on top
of your car?” I breathed.

“I’m okay, making out with you anywhere,”
Max said as he leaned into me and kissed me. His lips were
scrumptious and his tongue so warm. I swung my arms up around his
neck. I couldn’t press hard enough into him while we were standing
up. I felt him lean over and lower me against the hood of the car.
That’s when I realized it was still running. I felt the engine
vibrate along my spine and down through my pelvis. Instantly I
dropped my hands down and stopped myself from sliding off. Max
drove his knee between my legs and used his shoulders to push me
down against the windshield, lowering his solid body against mine.
He was so hard, so ready to make love to me on the hood of his car.
If anyone drove by we didn’t notice.

Max lowered the zipper on my jacket and
kissed the skin just above my breast. Urges collected between my
legs as chills rippled across my body. He worked his mouth to my
ear, which was ready to hear the words he’d whispered to me just
several days earlier. I wanted him to make love to me. I didn’t
care if it was in the middle of a snow storm. I’d missed him—his
touch, his delicate caress. I missed the way he knew where to press
against my body. I wanted him so badly I ached for him.

~ Max ~

Wilson tasted so sweet,
like caramel. Her skin, so warm, so inviting. I just wanted to live
in that moment with her as long as possible. I’d missed her like
crazy. Her humor, her comfort, the magic she created when she made
love to me. I wanted her so much that I could actually feel my body
vibrate and my head swim.
God, I need to
make love to her, right here, right now.
I
wanted to feel her soft skin, scorching hot, drag and tug against
mine. I wanted to push hard inside her, to feel her warmth, and be
swallowed by her love. I pushed my hands down the sides of her
body. I didn’t care if anyone saw us. I couldn’t wait to make love
to her. To finally feel her again was unbelievable. I traced every
swell and curve from her breasts with my tongue and lips before I
settled on her mouth. I knew if I pressed as hard as I wanted to
I’d hurt her. I’d never wanted someone so badly in my life as I
wanted her right then.

Her lips were wet, warm, and inviting, our
kiss vigorous and intentional. I no longer felt the fear of losing
her. But then Wilson sat up from the windshield and pressed her
hands into my hair as she pushed back from kissing me. I looked at
her for a split second, fearful that she was going to stop me. I
pushed against her lips and kept kissing her as she managed to get
us to stand up in front of my car. I slid my hands up under her top
and felt her sublime skin. She was so familiar, so comforting, and
yet I felt like I was touching her for the first time.

She dropped her hands down
to the front of my jeans.
God, Wilson,
please reach into my pants and feel how much I want you.
She unbuttoned my pants and pushed down on the
waist just enough to slip her hand down between my boxers and skin.
She stroked downward, and I shivered. Her hand was freezing, but I
craved her touch. I felt her smile against my lips as she continued
to kiss me.

“
You like that?” she said
against my mouth before she bit my lip.

Hello, I’m getting into this sexy
Wilson.

“
Yes, Ma’am, I sure do,” I
sighed breathily as I thrust my hips up through her hand. She held
on to me firmly.

I slid my hands down to the front of her
pants and pulled on her button, loosening her waist so I could
tickle my fingers down between her legs. She was so wet. It drove
me crazy and made me want to consume her entirely.

“
Do you have a condom?”
She whispered as she kept caressing me.

“
No,” I panted.

“
Oh, well, that sucks
doesn’t it?” she teased me in a low, groany voice.

“
Yes, but it doesn’t mean
I don’t know where I can get one,” I asserted.

She widened her stance and swayed her pelvis
against my fingers, and I lost my train of thought. God I was done
with talking; done with worrying.

“
Get in the car,” I
demanded as I freed my hand from the front of her pants. Her breath
hitched. I led her to the passenger’s side and flung open the
door.

Wilson dropped into the
seat and I couldn’t hustle around to the driver’s side fast
enough.
Shit, the heater’s on full
blast
. It was stifling hot in the car. It
didn’t help that I was so turned on that if the wind blew I was
going to explode.

She had a way that no other woman ever had
with me before. It was like I found the meaning of what true love
is. I know, sounds sappy; but until Wilson, I really never could
understand how guys I knew would give up everything for a woman.
Fuck, if this girl asked me to stop breathing…I would.

Her aroma filled the car and immediately the
hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Her pheromones were
screaming loud and clear. She wanted me as much as I wanted her. I
shoved the car in gear and headed down the hill.

Where can I take her so we
can be alone? Truly alone. I can’t take her to the cabin, my family
is there. Maybe a hotel. But this being a holiday week, I doubt any
will have a room available.
When I glanced
over, she was smiling at me. I wanted to ask her what she was
thinking, but as I watched her slink out of her jacket my throat
tightened and every word would have just gotten in the way. Her
skin was damp and had a slight sheen to it.
Fuck me, I can’t stop touching her…
I reached over and slipped my hand down across her chest. She
pressed her hand over mine, holding me to her heart. It was
slamming frantically against my palm.