it was a losing battle. So she smiled, watching him. Damn, she was in so much trouble. But what a relief it would be to stop resisting all that charm, to stop thinking about all the ways it could go wrong and just enjoy Max for a few days. By the end of those few days, perennial playboy Max would be ready to move on, and she would be sexed up enough to get back to real life.
Max’s gaze had shifted from amused toward hot.
“I’ll be working during the travel portions of the trip, but on the island I’m just there to make sure Alya’s not walking around alone. The magazine has its own security measures in place, so I’m mostly just backup support for your sister,” he said. “A couple days on an isolated island, and we’ll have time alone while Alya is working,” said Max in his deep, obscenely sexy voice. Then he waggled his eyebrows. “Plenty of time to look for your favorite kinds of fish sex.”
Natasha groaned. “I really think you have the wrong impression about—”
“Sex?” He cut her off, making the word sound obscenely hot with his deep voice. “I doubt it.”
His smile faded and his lips parted, the way they had when he was about to kiss her. Damn, she wanted to kiss him again. The kitchen was silent again, the air thick and electric. She played with the half-empty glass on the table in front of her. She could totally do this. A couple days wasn’t enough to turn her into a needy, crazy mess, à la her mother, no matter how potent his charm was...right?
She glanced over at Max, who was covering an amused smile with his hand. Like he was already three steps ahead of her, thinking about much dirtier ideas. Like he was planning.
Natasha stood up, and Max’s eyes moved slowly up her body like a long, hot lick. The effect echoed in warm rushes of pleasure. And the man wasn’t even touching her yet. Somewhere her brain was making its last-ditch warning efforts, but she buried those thoughts. Just a few days. Nothing more.
Max stood up right in front of her, the heat radiating from his body. She had never just stared at him like this. His nose was a little crooked, no doubt from his rugby days, and his eyes had flecks of gray in all that blue. His dark blond hair was tousled and his smile was dark and hungry.
“Hmm... It’s worth considering...” she conceded with a little smile.
“No one has to know,” he whispered, his words rasping in her ears. “Just you and me and all the dirty things you’re dying to try. Is that what you want?”
She bit her lip. He wanted her in a way Wayne never had. And if she were completely honest with herself, which tended not to be a good idea when it came to the topic of men, she was hot for Max in a way she never had been about Wayne.
“There are definitely things I’d want to try with you,” she said, her voice coming out husky.
His lips brushed against her neck. “I can think of all kinds of things you might like.”
God, so could she. Natasha had actively resisted thoughts about naked Max, but once she let her guard down, the images were right there in X-rated detail. She flashed to the image of him over her, his eyes hungry, his biceps flexing, his thick, hard cock nudging her.
Natasha let out a soft moan and pressed herself flush against him.
“Damn, sweetheart,” he groaned, his teeth grazing over her skin. “Tell me what you’re thinking about.”
She shook her head slowly. No way in hell was she going to describe that scene aloud. It was so...average, so typical. She needed to go for something a little more creative than that. Or maybe she needed a new approach to making out with Max.
Natasha smiled a little. “Actually, I’m ready to stop thinking.”
She took off her glasses and set them on the table. Then she reached around his neck and coaxed his mouth down to hers. A soft brush of her lips, then another. Oh, my, she was kissing him again, and he tasted good. She dragged her tongue over his bottom lip and bit down. Max froze, and she pulled back. Was that too much?
Then he swore under his breath, and they went from zero to overdrive in an instant. Their mouths collided, his tongue found hers, matching her need, her hunger, stroke by stroke. Natasha gasped in breaths, giving in to the surge of pleasure coursing through her. His mouth teased hers with hungry promises, tempting suggestions of what would come next, if she just let go. So she did it. She let go, losing herself in the warmth of his big, hard body, taking everything she wanted. He backed her up until she was pressed against the heavy kitchen table. She wove her hands into his hair, tugging him closer, searching for that same bliss of their kiss moments before. Oh, yes. She couldn’t get enough of him. His hands explored her waist, her hips, as his lips pressed against hers, so hungry.
But now she wanted more than a kiss. She squirmed closer, moving against his hard body, his erection growing and pulsing against her. His fingers flexed on her rear, and she ground her hips into his.
“Goddamn,” he muttered. One hand moved lower, slipping under the hem of her dress, a hot, rough caress. His mouth traveled down her jaw, onto the tender skin of her neck, the scrape of his stubble sending erotic jolts through her. His fingers teased higher, higher on the inside of her thigh until he brushed against the silk of her panties.
“Max.”
The sound of his name stopped everything in the quiet kitchen. He sucked in a breath and shifted back. Natasha furrowed her brow and looked up at him. Max’s eyes were half-closed, clouded with lust. She reached for him again, but he caught her hands and held her back. Another spike of desire burst through her, and her breath caught in the back of her throat. Max’s smile was dark and amused.
“Hold on, sweetheart,” he said, his breaths unsteady. “I’m way too close to fucking you right here on this table, hard and dirty.”
The words—just words—made her gasp. Natasha let out a shaky sigh. “I’m not against that idea.”
“No way are we starting tonight, when you’re coming off an evening with another guy.” He brought her hands behind her, so her back arched up toward him. She was heaving in breaths, and Max’s gaze drifted down to her chest. His eyes were hot, desperate, and he gave a low laugh. “I am really fucking tempted right now, Natasha. But no test runs. If we’re doing this, it can’t be anything you could call a mistake.”
“I wouldn’t regret it, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she said quickly.
Max smiled and shook his head slowly. “I’m nothing like Wayne or any of those other jerkers. I’ll make sure you love it.”
Just not too much. Just enough to get a little break from the pressures of grant applications, publications and jockeying for coveted academic faculty positions. Natasha was very aware of how fortunate she was, with fewer financial pressures than most researchers since Alya paid for various extravagances that came with a fashion model’s life. Still, marine biology was her passion, and success in this male-dominated field was short-lived. But to step off that endless cycle of projects, just for a few days of luxurious indulgence on a tropical island with Max...
“Sounds like the holiday of a lifetime,” she whispered, pushing away all other thoughts, concentrating on the man in front of her.
Max’s breath hitched, and he brushed a soft kiss over her mouth. “I can’t wait.”
He
