Wanting to Remember,Trying to Forget(29)

She didn’t know if she would like it, but she’d seen Tom Cruise do it in Jerry Maguire and it looked tempting enough for her to give it a try.

Max dipped his head and placed a soft kiss on her collarbone. It was gentle, tender and yet it still managed to send shivers down her spine. The tip of his tongue traced tiny circles on her skin. The sensation was ticklish, but electrifying so. Her hand moved into his hair, pushing his mouth harder against her. He pulled her skin into his mouth and she gasped.

He pulled away, whipping off his T-shirt, and she took a moment to appreciate the sight of him. She had only seen him without a shirt once before and because of the bruises that had covered his body at the time, she hadn’t paid much attention. He was not as skinny as she thought he was. He wasn’t muscular as such, but extremely toned. His chest and arms were defined and she could see the faint lines of a six pack that was in the early stages of development.

He pushed her back against the bed, resuming the same position they had been in just minutes before. Only this time his lips didn’t stay in one place. He kissed her down the other side of her neck and began unbuttoning her pajama top. It only took a few seconds for her brain to register what he was doing and as soon as it did, her hand quickly moved to her chest, tightly clutching the material between her fingers.

Max lifted his head and looked down at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Not there,” she managed to say.

He smiled awkwardly. “I am so confused right now.”

“I want you to touch me…but not there. Just skip that piece. Move onto something else. There’s nothing wrong with the bottom half of me.”

He snapped up, his forehead creasing. “What’s wrong with the top half of you?”

It wasn’t the question as such, but the way he asked it, that made her feel like another proverbial bucket of ice water was dropped on her head. She placed both hands over her face, trying to hide the humiliation and the tears that came all too quickly.

“You can tell me,” he said.

She shook her head, pressing her fingers harder against her eyes.

Max gently pulled her hands away from her face. “Hey,” he whispered. “It’s just me. You don’t have to be afraid when you’re with me.”

Danny shut her eyes tighter, but the tears still seeped through. She was afraid, afraid of showing vulnerability, afraid of him rejecting her again. She hadn’t wanted this. All she wanted was a heavy make-out session with her boyfriend and now she was an emotional damper on the mood.

“Danny, look at me.”

She shook her head again. She felt his hand on her cheek, stroking her tears away. “It’s just me,” he whispered, kissing the side of her face.

His words were supposed to calm her, make her feel less intimidated, but it actually had the reverse effect. It was just him. The one person who she had completely opened herself up to and she wouldn’t be able to handle it if he rejected her again.

With his mouth still placing reassuring kisses on her face, his hands moved back to the buttons on her pajamas.

Again, her hand clamped down on the fabric. “Max, please don’t. I don’t want you to see me.”

His hand moved over hers, tugging the material from her fingers. “It’s just me.”

She finally mustered up enough courage to open her eyes and look at him. His hands moved tentatively, nervously as he undid the rest of her buttons.

He slowly spread the material, revealing the thick, ugly scar on her chest. It started below one breast and zigzagged its way to above the other. A look came over his face, a look she couldn’t quite read. It wasn’t pity, but it wasn’t appreciation either. His breath caught slightly as his eyes moved over every part of her exposed skin.

“I’m hideous!” she said, quickly covering herself up again.

“You’re not.” His hand caught hers. “You’re not. You’re beautiful.”

Her eyes shut, burning from the tears, the embarrassment, his brazen stare. “You don’t have to lie to me.”

Max stood up and pulled her up as well. “I wanna show you something.” He walked with her to the dresser and stood behind her, shifting her body so that she looked directly at her reflection in the mirror. Both his hands came up from behind her and he slowly pulled the pajama top off her shoulders, exposing everything, including the same thick, ugly marks on her back.

“Max…”

“It’s okay.”

He held her gaze in the mirror as his fingers lightly traced the length of her scar, starting under her left breast and ending above the right.

“I’m so ugly,” she whispered, tears welling up her eyes again.

“No.” He kissed the scar on the side of her head. “You see scars, but these aren’t scars, Danny. They’re reminders…reminders that I could have lost you, but here you are…in my arms. There’s nothing more beautiful than that.” He lifted both her arms and pulled them back around his neck. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered against her skin.

His hands moved down her arms, but when they reached her chest, they stopped moving in unison. One hand moved onto her breast and she gasped. The other hand pressed against her stomach, pushing her back against his chest.

There was something strangely erotic about watching his hands move over her body, feeling his bare skin against hers. He dipped his head to her neck, kissing her Jerry Maguire spot again, cupping her breast at the same time. She bit her lip to stifle a moan, her head falling back against his chest.

The warmth of his mouth caused goose bumps all over body and for a few minutes she closed her eyes and enjoyed every tantalizing touch. The hand on her abdomen began to inch lower, but she could tell he was nervous. With one hand still holding onto the back of his neck, she placed her other hand over his and guided it past the waistband of her pajama pants to the wet spot that was aching to be touched. He groaned against her ear and she melted against him. With the slightest encouragement of her hand, his fingers moved inside her. This time she couldn’t stifle her moan.

Suddenly all the sensations flowing through her body were overwhelming. She had asked him to touch her, but now she was feeling like maybe it was more than she could handle. The lips on her neck, the thumb rubbing over her nipple, the finger pushing deeper inside her, it was all too much. Too many pleasure points were receiving too much pleasure.

“Max,” she whimpered.

Her knees felt weak, ready to give in at any moment. She shifted her pelvis, rubbing her bottom against his crotch. A low growl rumbled in his throat and the urgency built inside her. Max spun her around, pushed her back until she was sitting halfway on the edge of the dresser and then he was kissing her again, hot and intense. The hard wall of his chest pressed against her. His hand moved down her pants again, his finger easily sliding into her.

Every muscle in her body tensed. She bit his shoulder as attempt to release the pressure, but it kept building with each thrust of his finger. She wanted more. She needed more. She shifted her hips and his thumb accidentally brushed against her clitoris.

A staggered groan left her lips. “There, Max,” she whispered urgently. “Touch me there.”

His thumb began rotating over the same spot. “Like this?”

“Faster.”

Her hands moved to the buckle of his belt. She wanted him to feel what she felt, give him the same pleasure he gave her.

“Don’t,” he said, quickly grabbing her hand. “I’m hanging on by a thread here and if you touch me, I’m done.”

She didn’t argue. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. She needed something to hold on to. With his hand working her inside and out, she felt almost dizzy. Her nails grazed over his back as he moved faster and faster until…

“Oh…Max…”

It started off at her core, tiny little tingles. And when the pressure finally released, it was like a burst that rippled through her entire body, all the way to her toes. Her head dropped against his shoulder and he held her silently, allowing her time to regain composure.

When she finally had enough strength to lift her head and look at him, he was beaming; a very proud smile on his face.

“That…was far from disappointing,” Danny said, her voice sounding strange to her own ears. Her hands moved up into his hair. “Now, give me those lips again.”

* * *

“Yeah, Lauren,” Danny said as she surveyed the conference room. “I definitely see what you mean.”

“I am up in arms, Danielle. The function is in two days and this is what they left me with.”

Danny smiled to herself. Lauren didn’t show anger like most people. It wasn’t curt, or even nasty. It was poised like everything else Lauren did.

She could understand why Lauren was angry, though. She had paid a small fortune to the designer to decorate the conference room and it looked horrid. The colors were all mismatched. Red, green, purple, and yellow. Who the hell does that?

It looked completely unprofessional. Even an untrained eye could pick up the lack of attention to detail. The tables were arranged untidily, leaving minimal room for the dance area Lauren requested.

Danny studied the room, top to bottom and left to right before she turned to the older woman. “Hey, Lauren. This is a benefit function for underprivileged kids, right?”