I stared into those gorgeous pools of green as I stepped closer. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”
Her eyelids flickered. “About what?”
“Last night. Do you regret it?”
She exhaled a shaky sigh. “No.”
A knot in my gut unravelled. A knot I hadn’t even realised was there until just now.
“Do you?” she asked.
“The only thing I regret is not burying my dick inside you. I always knew if I touched you even once, it’d be a point of no return for me; that I’d only want more.”
She swallowed. “I’m not looking for a fling, Max.”
“I know. But you want me. I want you. If that was going to go away, it would have happened by now.” I’d spent years hoping it would, but it never had. “Seventy-two hours.”
Her brows inched together. “Huh?”
“Give me seventy-two hours.”
“To do what?”
“Make you come over and over and over, until we’re both wrung dry.”
Her pupils swallowed the colour of her eyes.
“You might not want to admit it, but part of the reason you wouldn’t look at me was that you worried I’d sense what you’d rather I never knew.” I lowered my face to hers. “You don’t want last night to be a one-off. I know I don’t. It wasn’t enough.” It had only made everything worse, because now I knew how things could be between us.
She spluttered. “We can’t just hole up somewhere for seventy-two hours.”
“I know that. We’d do whatever shit we needed to do around The Hollow, as usual. But then you’d come back to my bed each night.” And I’d take her in every imaginable way as many times as I could. Because it had become abundantly clear to me that I wouldn’t manage to keep my hands off her. Not unless I finally explored the chemistry that pulsed between us. Not unless I got to act out the many fantasies that rattled around my brain and made it impossible for me to see any woman but her.
Paige didn’t respond. She just stared at me, her lips parted, her expression utterly unreadable.
When she finally went to speak, I put my finger to her lips and said, “I’m not looking for you to give me an answer here and now. I know I’ve probably taken you off-guard. I know this isn’t a typical suggestion. But I also know that both of us will struggle with pretending last night didn’t happen.”
She didn’t deny it, which I was glad of.
“I don’t want to pretend,” I went on. “I don’t want to keep obsessing over how good it might have felt if we’d finished what we started. And I don’t see why either of us should have to. We’re adults, we’re single, and forever is a long fucking time to spend having what you want so close yet so out of reach. So I say we just take it.” I cupped her chin and swept my thumb over her mouth. “Seventy-two hours. Think about it. You can give me your answer tomorrow night.”
With that, I left … knowing if she gave me a ‘no,’ I wouldn’t behave and just walk away. I wouldn’t let it drop so easily. No, I was too fucking far gone for that.
CHAPTER FOUR
(Paige)
The following evening, Imani stared at me, gaping. “Make you come over and over and over until you’re both wrung dry? He actually said that?”
“Yup,” I replied, shifting slightly on my rug.
Cassie used the end of her wheat-blonde braid to fan her face. “I wish someone would make me an offer like that.”
It hadn’t been only Imani who turned up at my door to ‘get the gossip.’ It had been my entire squad. They’d all noticed the odd looks Max and I had exchanged earlier while patrolling the rainforest, and they all wanted answers. Since I could really do with having some advice, I had no issues with giving them said answers. Especially since Max would be here in a matter of hours, and I’d have to give him a yes or no.
So now, all seven of my squad were spread around my living room. Some sat on the half-moon leather sofa. Others sat on dining chairs they’d dragged in from the kitchen. All were drinking vodka-flavoured NSTs—well, aside from Imani, who could only stomach vampire blood since the serum she’d been injected with messed with her system. The vodka-flavoured drinks never gave vamps an alcoholic buzz, but they tasted pretty good.
Ava let out a soft sigh. “It’s kind of sweet that he kept his distance out of respect for how you’d saved his life.”
“He doesn’t owe me anything,” I insisted.
“Maybe not, but he feels like he does,” said Ava. “It’s just super sweet that he reacted by basically depriving himself of what he most wants.”
Sipping her NST, Alora narrowed her eyes at me. “He really said you’d keep going back to his bed? His specifically, not yours?”