Free Loving the Bastard by Marteeka Karland Page B

the extreme. More importantly, Zeta had to wonder if she had been able to keep her heart distanced from such an intensely emotional act. Just before she relaxed into an exhausted sleep with Max still draped over her, she realized she was terribly afraid she hadn’t. Zeta knew she was falling hard for Maximilian Roth.

Chapter Fifteen
     
    “Wake for me, sweet.” Max’s gruff rumble floated through the haze of sleep around Zeta, rousing her to an erotic reality that felt more like a dream. How could one man be so insatiable? Or so fiercely demanding yet still gentle? After their first frenzied mating, Max had slowed his pace considerably, taking time to learn her body from top to bottom. Every time she whimpered in need or squealed in delight, he’d stopped to explore that area further.
    Before she’d fully awakened, Max had hooked her leg over his arm and entered her from behind. His other arm cradled her head while his fingers tugged and rolled one of her nipples between them. There was no way Zeta could contain her cries of pleasure as he began a slow but insistent rhythm. This was the man she’d hoped to find when she’d talked herself into this craziness. The only problem was, she liked it too much. He still held himself away from her while demanding everything she had to give. Any hope of keeping her heart uninvolved until Max showed some sign he actually cared for her went up in flames along with her body.
    “There’s a good girl,” he praised. And, God help her, Zeta’s whole body responded. She could almost pretend there was more between them than the physical attraction when he said things like that in that particular tone of voice. He sounded like a lover intent on pleasing his woman, when in reality she knew it was only one more weapon he used to try to control her. “I love how responsive you are. How you love what I’m doing to this beautiful body of yours.” His words seduced her just as much as his body. Probably more so. Had she even realized how much she wanted a man to say things like that to her? Hell, Max probably studied and prepared for seducing a woman just as hard as he worked at making money, at his precious business. Deep down, Zeta knew he was executing a plan that had likely been carefully laid out and plotted to the extreme, but, God help her, she was stepping into that trap willingly.
    His lips slid along her neck to her ear before sucking the tender lobe into his mouth and nipping slightly. The stinging sensation only added to the sensual assault he waged on her body. Had sex ever been this all-consuming? Zeta never wanted this to end, never wanted to pull herself back to reality, which was far different from this wonderful fantasy. He’d been right before. The relationship she was trying to force on him was a fantasy. The one he’d laid out so patiently for her that first day in his office was the reality, and it made her heart weep.
    With a cry, pleasure washed over her in a rush only to be mocked by the pain stabbing through her heart at the same moment. Tears burned her eyes, and she had to blink them back. Showing such a weakness in front of this man simply wasn’t an option. If he smelled blood in the water, he’d move in for the kill with expert efficiency and brutality. Max might feel something for her, but he’d never acknowledge it to himself. Or to her. Especially not to her.
    As she lay there, breathing hard, Max feathered kisses over her face and neck. The gesture was almost tender, so unlike Max. As he had earlier, when he’d first taken her, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, as if afraid she’d slip away from him while he slept. His heavy thigh was draped over her legs, effectively pinning her against him and the bed. The funny thing was, Zeta wasn’t certain the sensation was unpleasant. In fact, she wasn’t certain how she was going to live without it in the future. She felt safe and warm. Wanted. Her last thought before drifting to sleep was to