Chloe curled her legs around his hips as he began to thrust again. He came like that, kissing her, his whole body pressed to hers, their skin slick with sweat.
At that moment, Chloe had the silly and terrifying thought that she could stay wrapped around Max Sullivan forever.
CHAPTER TEN
HER HIP ROSE UP from her waist in an enticing curve, drawing Max’s eye every time he tried to form a thought. Not that he was in a thought-conducive position, pressed naked against Chloe’s back while she curled into his pillows like a cat. He eased his hand onto her hip and followed the contour up to her ribs. “You are so damn soft.”
“I wish you’d stop saying that. You’re making me feel fat.”
“That’s not what I mean,” he said. Genevieve had been whip-thin and elegant and well-manicured at all times. Chloe was perfect, with her soft curves and fresh, natural beauty.
“Your skin is soft,” he said belatedly, and that was true, too. And she smelled good. And her breasts…and her sex…
Jesus.
Maybe he was just OD’ing on femaleness. Maybe nine months of celibacy had drained his body of any resistance to their delicious charms. Or maybe it was that she was the girl next door he’d always dreamed of.
Max closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to the nape of her neck. Even as he breathed in the scent of her skin, he told himself to cut it out. This was an island fling. She wasn’t going to be his girlfriend. She was way too normal to be his girlfriend.
But her body fit against his perfectly, melting into him as if she felt the same draw he did.
“So…” she said. “You also have a fear of out-of-wedlock pregnancy?”
The words shocked a cough from his throat. “Good God, can you imagine me with a kid?”
She wiggled onto her back to look up at him. “Aw, I think you’d be an adorably overprotective dad.”
Max automatically reached for the headboard to rap it with his knuckles. “Knock on wood when you say shit like that.” She laughed, but he wiped a hand over his brow. “I’d be a complete nightmare.” But he felt a twist of disappointment in his gut at his own words. He liked kids. But so many bad things could happen to them, and any kid of his would be the one life he actually would be 100 percent responsible for. Max barely bit back a shiver at the thought.
Luckily, he was saved from descent into panicked thoughts by the realization that Chloe’s chest was fully visible. “Have I mentioned how gorgeous you are?” He cupped one breast in his hand as a blush crept up her neck.
“Yes. You mentioned it. But I’d like to make clear that I think you’re ridiculous.”
“I’m
not ridiculous.” He softly dragged his fingers over her nipple, watching as it pebbled at his touch.
“I’m entirely average.”
He noted the faint rasp to her words and smiled as he touched her. “Perhaps you don’t understand just how much men like women’s bodies. If you mean you have an average dress size…you’re naked now, Chloe, and that means you’re officially spectacular.”
“Really? Is that all it takes?”
“That and your gorgeousness.”
“Ha!” She shook her head again, but her smile was more than a little pleased. He pressed a lingering kiss to that grin.
“It’s nice,” he said. “Being honest with you.”
The smile faded. “Lying to everyone can’t be fun.”
“Oh.” Max flushed with shame and dropped to his back. “I prefer to think of it as living in a disguise.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine.”
“I just don’t know how you have relationships if you never reveal that part of yourself.”