Unsurpassed (10 page)

“I knew you would,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers.

* * * * *

It took Ryan fifteen minutes to decide what to do. He’d
exaggerated a bit when he explained Max’s hospital stay to Aubree, not about
the extent of his injuries, but Max had gone home the day before yesterday.

Turning the key in the ignition, Ryan pulled away from the
curb. His anger over the knowledge of what had really happened the night of Max’s
attack carried him all the way to front door of the apartment he shared with
the man filling his thoughts. The moment he stepped through the entryway, all
Ryan felt was disappointment. Wearing a white cotton t-shirt and a loose pair
of workout shorts, Max was sprawled out across the couch nursing his injuries,
as he’d been instructed to do for the next four weeks. Ryan realized in that
moment, exactly how much he’d done for their friendship. He’d lied, schemed,
hurt people he cared about and broken the law. After all those things, Max
couldn’t even be honest with him.

Kicking the door closed behind him, Ryan tossed his keys on
the table before moving to stand over the man he suddenly felt he knew nothing
about. The look of resignation on Max’s face said more than anything else could
have, as he waited silently for Ryan to explode. Instead, he sat down on the
edge of the coffee table near Max’s head, bracing his elbows on his knees while
trying to decide what to say. Unable to think of a single thing that would
define how he felt, Ryan settled on simply wanting to hear the truth.

“I just had an interesting chat with Drew.” Max looked away,
confirming his guilt. “Tell me,” Ryan demanded, hearing the bite in his own
words.

Max kept his eyes locked on the corner of the room as he
cleared his throat uncomfortably. He opened his mouth, but no sound emerged. He
lifted his hands in a helpless gesture before dropping them again. “I wanted my
dad to get the closure he needed, and it was important to me for you to have
the woman who means so much to you. I’ve spent so much fucking time trying to
give everyone everything while pretending like it means nothing to me.” Max
gestured helplessly again as if he didn’t know how to explain. “I begged Aubree
to talk to Drew. She told me she was in love with him and wouldn’t use his
feelings for her against him. I saw everything slipping away. I kind of
snapped, and it was like I wasn’t me any longer. I pushed her and she hit her
head.” Max’s eyes fell closed and Ryan could feel the man’s disgust in himself.
“The way she looked at me.” Falling silent, Max shook his head. After a moment,
he cleared his throat again. “Anyhow, when I agreed to meet Drew behind the
club, I took one look in his eyes, and I thought, thank God I don’t have to do
this anymore. Unfortunately, I woke up in the hospital and realized it is never
going to end.”

Ryan stared at the fading bruises on the left side of Max’s
face and contemplated making the right side match. “Really, Max? What the
fuck?” He exploded before he realized it was going to happen. “Is she that
important to you? Did losing Aubree mean so much? Does it mean everything to
you for your father to get the chance to assuage his guilt over his mistakes
that you would do this to yourself?”

A sad smile touched Max’s lips, taking Ryan by surprise.
“You’re so fucking blind. I mean seriously God damn stupid blind,” Max said
with a snort. “I don’t want Aubree at all.”

Ryan couldn’t do anything except stare at Max in disbelief.
A thousand arguments came to mind. As he tried to decide which one to use
first, he was blasted by the memory of the night they spent with Aubree. Her
tight heat surrounded his cock while her cries of pleasure filled his ears. Her
wet blonde hair clung to her chest as she rested her head against Max’s
shoulder. The closed expression Ryan was accustomed to seeing on Max’s face was
gone as he rocked against her from behind. A flush rode high on Max’s cheeks
and his lips parted on a gasp. He was the ultimate picture of aroused male,
moments away from release. His eyes— Ryan viciously cut off the memory. He
couldn’t shut out the man who was silently watching him now. Max was right. He
was so fucking blind.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Max looked away at the question. “What would you have had me
say?”

“Anything,” Ryan answered immediately before his anger
caught up with him and he added, “Anything at all would’ve been better than
this fucking silence. Did you really think you couldn’t say a single goddamn
thing to me?”

Showing some life for the first time since Ryan walked through
the door, Max met his gaze, and his eyes shined with fury. “And what, Ryan?
What damn difference would it have made?”

Something inside Ryan snapped in the face of Max’s anger.
“This,” he growled, pushing away from the table and snagging Max by the neck.
Ryan caught a flash of surprise passing over Max’s features, as he yanked him
forward, and opened his mouth over his. It wasn't the first time they’d kissed.
Just as Aubree wasn’t the first woman they’d shared, but it had always been
more of a heat of the moment, everyone in this bed right now is turned on sort
of thing. This was different. This was Ryan accepting all the things he’d
refused to see over the years. The desperation he’d felt to have Aubree was his
need to have her as an excuse for what he really wanted. A sound vibrated from
the back of Max’s throat causing Ryan to go hard. He’d forgotten, or purposely
blocked out, the memory of Max’s taste. Now he couldn’t get enough. Tightening
his hold on the base of Max’s neck, Ryan swore he felt his jaw crack as he ate
at Max’s mouth.

Max gave back as good as he got until he attempted to drag
Ryan even closer, and he gasped in pain. Ryan jerked away. “Fuck. I forgot.”

“Don’t care,” Max said between deep breaths as if he were
attempting to push past his injuries.

“I care. I don’t ever want to hurt you.” Ryan held Max’s
stare trying to make him understand exactly how much he meant the words. In
spite of the deep incision down the center of his abdomen and the cracked collarbone,
Max’s eyes were completely focused. “Damn. I forgot what it was like to have
your full attention,” Ryan breathed. Gripping the back of the couch to keep
from leaning too much weight on Max’s wounds, he dipped his head again,
capturing Max’s lips once more. He needed to leave the man alone and let him
recover from his injuries. Ryan realized he simply wasn’t capable of it as he
sank his teeth into Max’s bottom lip.

Max buried his hand in Ryan’s hair, growling against his
mouth. “To hell with this babying me shit. I’m not dead yet.”

“Fuck you, you bastard. You don’t get to leave me,” Ryan
argued, giving into his anger over Max wanting Drew to kill him.

Max snorted. “Well, you’re doing a pretty good job of trying
to kill me now. At least take this fucking shirt off.” Ryan leaned away, pulling
the shirt over his head. Amber irises moved over his body, pausing at each of
Ryan’s tattoos, and his dick throbbed at the way Max was looking at him. “I
changed my mind. Put it back on.”

A husky laugh fell from Ryan’s lips as he recognized exactly
how turned on Max was. “No.”

Max’s nostrils flared as he took a steadying breath. The
muscle in his jaw began ticking. Unable to resist tormenting him further, Ryan
swooped in again before he could argue. Max met him halfway. He sucked on
Ryan’s tongue in such a way that Ryan’s balls drew up tight and he wondered if
he would come from their kiss alone. Without giving Max any warning, Ryan
reached down, and shoved his hand inside the workout shorts. As he slid his
fingers down the silky skin of Max’s erection, he groaned and Ryan stroked his
shaft swearing the pleasure was his own. Tearing his mouth away, Max gulped for
air. “Damn you. I have four more weeks of this torture.”

Even as Ryan felt the evil grin stretch across his face, he
couldn’t stop it from forming, and he set a steady pace. Squeezing lightly each
time he neared the tip of Max’s cock, he savored the tiny drops of moisture
escaping there. “Do you doubt my inventiveness?”

Max covered Ryan’s hand halting his progress, and the
intense look on his face somehow managed to become even more so. “I’m not
trying to play games with you, Ryan.”

Ryan brushed his thumb along his shaft, making sure he
didn’t forget where they left off as he seized Max’s attention. Holding nothing
back, Ryan let it all show in his eyes. “Tell me I’m playing,” he dared him.
Max’s grip loosened on his hand but he didn’t pull away. “Let me have this,” he
begged, and Max’s eyes fell closed as Ryan dropped his head, nipping at his
bottom lip again. “Let me watch you come unglued and know this one time it’s
for me alone.”

Max’s hand slipped away giving Ryan free rein over his body.
“It’s always been you and no one else.”

The End

Charity Parkerson lives in Tennessee and is an award
winning, multi-published author of several different genres. Born with no
filter from her brain to her mouth, she decided to transfer this quirk to her
book characters. She loves hearing from readers.

Charity welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
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Unsurpassed

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Unsurpassed Copyright © 2014 Charity Parkerson

Edited by Victoria Reese

Cover design by Dar Albert

Cover photography by pawelsierakowski/fotolia.com

Electronic book publication April 2014

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