Taking Stage 3: A Night With the Rock Star (2 page)

“How did you know this was exactly what I needed?” he asked.

“I didn’t,” she said. “This is just what I need too.”

She lay down on the blanket beside him, the picnic basket on the grass and untouched. The sun sifted through the leaves overhead, occasionally piercing the canopy they lay under to wash Max’s fierce face in gold. On his back, he laid stretched out, hair spread out on the blanket, his sunglasses swept aside. He watched her.

“I don’t know what it is about you,” he said.

She remembered him saying something like that not very long ago. She’d thought he was talking shit then. But now...now he’d traveled over two thousand miles in a single day just to come see her. He’d called her sister to track her down. He came to where she worked and nearly gave poor Natasha a heart attack. And now, here he was by her side. Asleep.

Therese looked down at his peaceful face. Even in sleep, he was like a force. She looked down at him, feeling as if she’d been given permission, having not gotten the chance before to truly indulge her eyes with the sight of him.

She tucked her legs under her and watched him. He was truly a magnificent man. Bone structure, hard body, a face that was all slashes, angles, and dark beauty. She imagined him as a young warrior from centuries ago, riding against the cowboys bent on enslaving and disenfranchising his people. She imagined him as a man she could love.

The thought sent an arrow of dismay through her. Love? No, never that.

As she watched Max, his long lashes fluttered up. “What are you thinking about?” He asked.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. That thought had been beyond foolish. There was no point in her even having those thoughts about Max Stone. Sure, he came out to spend some time with her, but that meant nothing in the bigger scheme of things. He’d been bored. There weren’t enough girls chasing after him to suit his taste, so he recruited one more. Whatever the reason, it was not enough for her to lose her heart to him, her mind over him.

“Nothing, huh?” His mouth tilted up. “Okay.”

He stretched his long body against the blanket and yawned. Popped his back and some painful sounding bones in his neck. Max looked wide awake, much better than when he had walked into the shop. But he’d only slept for fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour. He sat up.

“You can sleep longer if you want,” she said. “This place doesn’t close until six.”

“I’m good. I can usually get by on a cat nap or two. I couldn’t sleep on the plane so this was perfect.” He smiled at her, that same crooked, charming grin she was coming to lust for. “Besides, I didn’t come just for you to watch me sleep,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “Then what did you come here for?”

A dirty chuckle left his mouth. “For you. Anything you can give me. I just want to soak in your presence.” His smile disappeared. “As much as you’d let me.”

“You’re a dangerous man, Max Stone,” she said. I just want to soak in your presence. If any other man had said those words to her, she would have sent him packing with his bullshit. But not Max.

“Never that,” he murmured. “I just want you.”

She sat on the blanket, watching him, aware of their close proximity, the heat of his body, the seductive smile that flickered on and off his lips. He touched her face, traced the soft curve of her chin with his thumb, the line leading up to her mouth, her lips. Therese licked her lips, inadvertently licking his thumb. He hissed. Leaned in. Kissed her.

His mouth was firm against hers, a press of flesh to flesh. She met his kiss with no resistance, simply pressed her lips back against his, then parted them, licked his lower lip, took it gently between her teeth. Sucked it. He tasted like mints and sleep. She pulled slightly away, opened her eyes to stare into his.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the last time we were together,” she said. “There was something you promised me then that I want now.”

His lashes dropped heavily over his dark eyes. “What’s that?”

“Oh, I think you know.”

This time, she kissed him. Fingers threaded through his thick hair, lips parted to sip him as he opened his mouth to taste hers. Ah...she loved kissing him. His lips were so soft now, a delicious contrast to his tongue that was hard and firm inside her mouth. Therese sucked his tongue, sighing as arousal fluttered through her, at first a light stroke between her thighs, a tingling in her nipples.

As if he knew exactly where she needed his touch, Max touched her breasts through the dress and bra, squeezed them.

“I’ve been thinking about your tits for days,” he whispered against her mouth.

Through the dress, he captured her hardened nipple between two fingers, rolled them, pinched them. Therese gasped, feeling the wetness and arousal grow between her legs. She pressed her palms against Max’s chest, feeling the hard, flexing muscles move under her skin. She remembered how he had stood in her bedroom, shirtless and hard, just a moment away from being completely naked with her.

“Take off your shirt,” she said.

Take off your bra,” he countered.

She pulled completely away from their kiss, unbuttoned her dress and pulled its sleeves down her arms, freed herself from them, then unhooked her bra. The cups sagged without the shoulder straps to support them. Her breasts fell heavily from them. Nipples already hard and tight, tingling for the touch of his mouth.

Barely a foot away, Max groaned. Then abruptly took off his shirt a moment before he came back for her, his mouth hot and hard on hers, his kisses devouring while his hands roamed over her bare breasts, squeezing her nipples, rubbing the wide areolas.

“So damn beautiful,” he moaned and dropped his head down.

Therese moaned at the first touch of his mouth on her breasts. Tongue hot, lips closing around her hard nipples, fingers holding up the heavy weight of her breasts to his kisses and licks. She moaned softly as he tongued her nipples, licked them, making her squirm even more against the blanket.

“Max....”

He sucked a nipple deep into his mouth and she clutched his head, her fingers caught in the abundant luxury of his hair. Max pushed her down onto her back on the blanket, his fingers rooting under her dress.

“You’re wearing panties this time,” he gasped in disappointment. “Why?” Then it was a moot point because he slid his fingers under her panties, found her wet, made her gasp and groan her name even more. He fingered her clit, stroking with firm movements while they kissed, their tongues dueling, stroking, enjoying.

He slid two fingers inside her. Firmly. Deeply.

“Fuck...” Therese moaned.

“Exactly.”

He latched his mouth to her breast, sucking her nipple, as he fucked her with those two incredible fingers. She squirmed against the blanket, opened her legs wider for him, groaned his name. His fingers moved faster and faster as the heated tension in her rose.

Therese gasped, roved her fingers over his chest, raking her fingers over his nipples. Max groaned around her breast as he sucked it, his fingers kept up the frantic pace inside her, not slowing down the least as she moaned and thrashed on the blanket. She felt her juices rush over his fingers, coat them even more as the desire built and built. Therese whimpered at the first flash of flame inside her. The orgasm was coming, but she didn’t want to be alone in it. Panting, she grabbed Max’s belt, unbuckled it, freed his cock from his jeans. He gasped as she stroked him. His hips jerked. She pulled him down between her thighs, his cock slapping against the curve of her stomach.

“I want you inside me now!” She bit his ear, gasping.

His hips jerked as he pulled his fingers wetly from her body. Therese grabbed his cock the same moment he did. They both guided the thick head of him to her soaked sex. They both groaned as he slipped in, inch by inch, bringing fullness, bringing pleasure.

“Fuck me!” Her nails sank into his back, the bottoms of her feet planted firmly on the blanket. “Please, Max! Please…” She panted, squirming against the blanket with his hot fullness still and immobile inside her. She thrust up against him in desperation, then she heard a sound like a laugh, felt him moving inside her, lazily but firmly, then building speed until he slammed into her. Bam. Bam. Bam. His flesh slapping her flesh, their grunts rising into the afternoon.

Therese felt the orgasm building again, felt Max angling his thrusts to maximum effect, hitting her g-spot over and over and oh! The orgasm crashed over her like a tidal wave, sweeping her away. Therese wailed her satisfaction to the sky.

And Max fucked her. His hips thrusting harder and faster and deeper, his grunts like a song, his strong body heavy and sweaty on top of hers, then shuddering as he gained his satisfaction. Shuddering.

“Therese....”

He sagged on top of her for a bare moment, then he rolled over onto his back, taking her with him. She rested on top of his chest while they both panted softly, the particular twitches and heat of orgasm slowly fading away from them both.

“I didn’t bring you here for sex,” she said when she could finally talk with coherence again. But it had been a good decision. Her body felt full and soft and well-loved.

Max chuckled. “If you did, I wouldn’t be mad.” He stretched under her, making a noise of contentment as she unconsciously stroked his chest.

He grew limp under her, as if he was falling asleep. She was tempted to let him fall back into dreamland, all the better so she could look her fill on his gorgeousness without seeming desperate or stalker-ish. But…Therese lightly bit his shoulder.

“We should get dressed in case anyone wonders by,” she said.

He looked at her with amazement. “Someone could have come by before?”

“Of course, this is a public area.”

“Jesus!” He shoved a hand through his hair. “You must be trying to kill me.”

She sat up, setting her underwear and dress to rights. “You weren’t worried about an audience when you were jizzing on the wall outside my window,” she said, a smile in her voice. Even now, the thought of him splashing his cum on the wall on the other side of her bedroom filled her with a kind of hot excitement. Already, she’d masturbated to the mental image too many times for her to count.

He laughed. “It was night time,” he said. “And I was drunk.”

“If someone comes by now, I’ll just tell them you’re drunk and you think it’s already night time,” she countered with a smile.

Max laughed again, the sound rumbling like the sweetest music from deep in his chest. “Who’d have thought you’d be so kinky?” He raised an eyebrow at Therese.

“It would have only been kinky if you’d put your cock in my ass,” she said. “At least that’s what my sister says.”

“Oh, really?” Max looked at her ass in speculation. “I’ll have to remember that.”

After they dressed, they ate some of the food from the picnic basket, lay back down on the blanket that was sheltered under a canopy of trees, and fell asleep. As she drifted away, Therese sighed, snuggling deeper into Max’s chest, thinking that for today, and today only, she was probably the luckiest woman on earth.

They spent the rest of the day together at Calloway Gardens, resting in their private arbor for hours then going to explore the resort, including the butterfly gardens, on foot. By the time they left, it was full dark and they were both drowsy from the sun and a day well spent. Therese drove them back to Atlanta in Max’s little rental Toyota.

“Thank you for spending your day with me,” Max said from the passenger seat, his head lolling with the movement of the car.

“It was my pleasure.” She kept her eyes firmly on the road, but reached out a hand toward Max’s next to her. After a moment’s hesitation, his hand touched hers. “I haven’t had such a good day in a long time.”

“Good,” Max said. “I want to be the cause of all your good days.”

Therese smiled. Big rock star talk.

At her apartment, they had dinner together, talked about everything that came to their minds. Max’s music. Nikki and her appetite for danger. Max’s appetite for Therese.

“I know you want me,” Therese said. “But I also know that means nothing in the bigger scheme of things. I won’t expect anything of you, not even what you’re willing to give.”

Max nodded but said nothing.

That night, they made love in her bed for the first time. Max loved it. After they were finished and took a long and distracting shower together, he rolled the entire length and width of the queen-sized bed with a delighted smile on his face. “This feels like the best ride at Disneyland,” he chuckled.

In the morning, Therese rode with him to the airport in his rental. She wanted to see him off, to experience the small things she’d always taken for granted with an ordinary lover. Like taking him to the airport. But Max wasn’t an ordinary lover and they weren’t long at the airport before people starting recognizing him. Then he had to disappear into a private area reserved for VIP’s and celebrities. She waved goodbye to him as he disappeared behind a broad-shouldered body guard and into the secret belly of the airport. Just like before, she didn’t know if she’d ever see him again, but she felt satisfied with what they had shared together. Satisfied and full.

She took the train back home and went straight to work where Natasha greeted her with the same open-mouthed expression Therese had left her with. She flew from behind the register, her hands fluttering with excitement.