Anger spikes in me suddenly, a hot, burning dart in my chest. “I’m notfallingfor anything!” I say tightly, crossing my own arms. “I’m trying to be polite. I know you’ve warned me away from him, told me not to trust him–and believe me, I’m taking that under advisement. I trust you, Max, and anything you tell me, I take to heart. But I think there’s more to how you feel about Art than what you’ve said, and from what I see, he’s not that bad–”
“That’s what he’s trying to get you to think!” Max shakes his head, letting out an angry breath. “I’ve been doing my best to make it look like you don’t matter all that much to me, but he seems to have picked up on it anyway, and he’s trying to get between us–”
“Well, he’s fucking succeeding!”
Max blinks at me, swallowing hard. “You know you mean everything to me, Sasha,” he says after a few seconds, slowly and quietly. “But Art–”
“Is succeeding at doing exactly what you’re afraid of. You’ve put distance between us. I’ve hardly seen you since Art got here. We’ve barely talked. When you are present, you’re not the same person. You’re someone I hardly recognize, and I want–” I suck in a breath, feeling my chest constrict airlessly with hurt. “I want my friend back, Max. At the very least, I want that.”
“I can’t sit around and watch my brother flirt with you, and you allow it–”
“I’m just trying not to be rude!”
“Are you sure?” Max glares at me. “You seem happy enough with the things he’s been bringing you. I’ve seen you talking to him, and you don’t look upset about it. You look like you’re enjoying his company.”
“Because I don’t think he’s that bad!” I exclaim. “He’s a little overbearing and definitely thinks too highly of himself, but I haven’t met many men who aren’t and don’t! He seems to be trying to get to know me.”
Max is looking at me as if I’ve lost my mind, and I let out a long breath. “I’m not interested in your brother that way, Max. No matter how much you keep insisting that you’re not jealous, I can see that you are. But it’s not going to happen. Art is never going to get that from me, but Max–someonemight, one day. You keep saying you want me to go out and explore the world, my options, that that’s part of why you won’t give in to the idea of us being together–but when that happens, what then? If you don’t want me–”
His face contorts at that, and he turns away, but I plunge forward, everything that’s been building up in me for days spilling out at once. “If you don’t want me, then eventually, I’ll probably find someone else to date, even if that’s not what I really want. I’m practical enough to know that I’m not going to be a dried-up old maid at twenty. So you can’t have it both ways, Max!”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do!” Max whirls back around, his eyes dark in the dim light. “I’m trying to protect you!” Max’s brows draw together, and he shakes his head. “Art only has ulterior motives for being here, things that he wants for himself. It’s not for anygoodreason. I’m trying to protect you from him, and Art isdefinitelysomeone that you need to be protected from.”
I stare at him for a long, heavy moment, feeling my heart ache in my chest. I’d never doubted that Art isn’t what I want, no matter how nice it is to feel desired and paid attention to, but being so close to Max is just confirmation of how I feel all over again. My pulse races in my throat, my breath catching there, as we stand there, close enough to touch. I can smell the lemon and salt scent of him, can remember how it feels to tangle my hands in his softly curling dark hair, and I want him with a force that takes my breath away. “I don’t need a protector, Max,” I say softly, the exasperation in my voice bleeding out as I speak. “Iwanta lover.”
Max’s face hardens, and he glares at me. “Of course, you need a protector,” he spits out, stepping towards me. I back up instinctively, startled by the anger on his face, and I bump against the railing, my back pressed against it as I grip the edge, looking up into Max’s taut, chiseled face.
“How many times have you been kidnapped now? You’ve been bought and sold, hurt and violated, nearly killed more than once. Ofcourse,you need a protector. If anyone has ever needed protecting, Sasha, it’s you.”
He’s very close to me now, our bodies almost touching, and I can see his chest heaving as he looks down at me. He reaches out, his hands clasping over mine on the railing, and Max looks down at me with a dark expression on his face that startles me with its intensity.
“I’ve never wanted anything more than to protect you, Sasha,” he says, his voice low and rough. “But you can’t deny that all those reasons are good ones.”
“You forgot one,” I whisper, forcing myself not to look away from his face, even as the expression there sends twinned shudders of desire and fear through me. I’m not afraid of Max, but at that moment, I am so scared of how much I want him. I’m fearful of how I’ll feel if he walks away from me now.
“What?” Max’s hands tighten over mine, and he leans towards me, so close that I can almost feel the pressure of his body, the beating of his heart. “What did I forget, Sasha?”
“You think you need to protect me from yourself,” I whisper breathlessly. “But you don’t need to, Max. You never have.”
The crush of his mouth on mine is sudden, hot, and desperate. He surges against me, hard and fierce, his fingers curling into my hands as his mouth pries mine open with an almost violent force.
I’m helpless under his onslaught–as if I ever wanted to fight back at all. My lips part for his thrusting tongue, my hands clutching to grasp his, my body arching for him. I want him fiercely, passionately, desperately. I’m on the verge of begging him to take me right here out on the deck, to remind me of what it feels like to have his hands all over me, his cock inside of me, his body pressed against mine and filling me up.
“I need you,” I whisper, the words lost in the kiss, in the moan that Max drags from me as his teeth graze over my lower lip, his hips leaning into mine as I feel the hard ridge of his cock pressing against me.
Max groans, sucking in a sharp intake of breath as I arch up into him, my mouth seeking out his again before he can think to break the kiss. I want more of him, I want everything, and I don’t want to let him go.
Neither of us hears the door opening, too caught up in the fevered heat of each other. Neither of us hears anything at all until someone clears their throat, and we hear Art’s voice carry across the deck, full of sarcastic humor.
“Well, well, well. Seems like I’m not as much of an idiot as my brother thinks I am.”
17
MAX
I’m lost in Sasha.
No matter how many times I tell myself it’s the last time, no matter how hard I try to stay away, it feels impossible. It feels like a battle that I fight again and again, and I feel as if I’m forgettingwhy.