euphoric haze surrounding them. He let her go, surprising her, even though he rose up on one elbow to look at her through narrowed eyes.
“You didn’t use a condom.”
She rolled away from him and curled her legs to her belly, wishing desperately she had covers to pull over her.
He touched her arm but she didn’t acknowledge the touch even though she knew it was a command for her to look at him.
“We didn’t use condoms before. I saw no use for them now.”
“That was before.”
“Before what, Callie?”
She exhaled long and slow. “That was months ago. You weren’t with anyone else. I don’t know who you’ve been with since. It’s not fair to me. Nor is it safe. You should have used one.”
This time he didn’t ask. He simply rolled her over until she was forced to meet his angry gaze. “You think I was with other women after I left you?”
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I don’t know. That’s the point. You should have used protection until we could talk about it.”
He swore under his breath. “There’s been no one else. Not since you.”
She stared for a long time, judging the veracity of his words. She hated that there was doubt. Before she would have embraced his words. She hadn’t believed him capable of lying to her. He wasn’t a man who lied. But in a way he had. He’d told her he wanted to be with her. And he’d left her.
He spread her legs, and to her shock she felt him prodding at her with his cock, hard and erect again. He slid deep, his semen making his entry easy this time. He was deep and hard inside her, and he stared down at her, his face stormy as he pushed into her again.
“Just you, Callie. You haunted my nights. My days. I never stopped thinking about you. How could I possibly go to bed with another woman who wasn’t you?”
Her mouth rounded in shock as he thrust deep and hard through her swollen tissues.
She was so hypersensitive after her orgasm, his entry was nearly painful, but there was a raw, edgy bite to it that stirred her response and had her arching into him, wanting, needing more.
“And you, Callie? Has there been anyone else? Tell me, do I need to worry about protecting myself?”
Her eyes widened in shock and then she frowned but remained silent.
His nostrils flared, and he planted his palms on either side of her head and rocked his hips against her.
“Answer me. Has there been anyone else?”
He set a ruthless pace, driving her so close to the edge that she twisted and begged him to let her come. But he’d stop, just at the edge, and he’d watch her with cool green eyes as she went nearly frantic, trying to get him to move again.
“Max, please!”
“Tell me what I want to know, damn it. Tell me, and I’ll let you come.”
“No,” she said brokenly. “There’s never been anyone after you. I couldn’t.”
He lowered his head and kissed her softly on the mouth. He swallowed her soft sob and then slowed his thrusts. He began making love to her, so gentle and sweet.
Slowly and tenderly, he slid into her until the bite was replaced by waves of warm pleasure, seeping into her body and spreading like sunshine.
“Come, dolcezza ,” he whispered, and this time her release wasn’t a violent explosion but rather an exquisite flow of honey, sweet through her veins.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she tried valiantly to regain her composure. But he kissed each one away, sipping at the salt and then kissing her until she tasted the slight salt.
“I missed you so much,” she said brokenly.
“And I missed you. So very much. You’re mine, Callie. Mine. I’m not letting you go again.”
Chapter Ten
Callie lay in Max’s arms as the first rays of dawn crept through the window. He stroked her idly, his hand moving over the curves of her body to her hair. He bent and kissed her shoulder, sending a shiver of awareness over her aching body.
He’d made love to her the entire night. Raw and insatiable. He’d taken her to the very
J. S. Cooper, Helen Cooper