“Look, it’s not what you think–”
“Did she want you to kiss her?” I advance towards him, feeling every muscle in my body tensing and bunching, anger rippling through me. “Did she want this?”
“You’re not going to believe me no matter what I say–”
Even after all these years, I can tell when my brother is trying to hide something. And I can tell, in that instant, that there’s more to this than what I first thought.
I act without stopping to think whether it’s wise or not. Neither Art nor I were ever fighters, but I’m bigger than he is, stronger, and when I swing for his jaw, he doesn’t clock it in time to dodge. He goes down onto the garden path, hard, and I turn away and leave him there in a heap, striding quickly after Sasha as I see her fleeing up the hill into the house.
“Sasha!” I call after her again as I enter the house, following her to the stairs. She glances back, her eyes red and her face tear-streaked.
“You told me to leave, so I did. Now you’re following me?” Her voice cracks and breaks, and I feel a sick flood of guilt.
“If Art forced you–”
“You wouldn’t listen long enough for me to tell you! You were just too pissed!” She whirls, her voice angrier than I’ve ever heard it, going up the stairs as I follow her.
“I’m listening now.” I make it to her door, my hand on it as she starts to slam it behind her. “Sasha–”
She moves away from the door without shutting it, and I follow her into the room, feeling as if the night is coming apart at the seams. “You have to understand, Sasha–the way it looked when I walked out there–”
“No!” She spins to face me, her cheeks flushed. She looks angrier than I’ve ever seen her, angry atme, and I feel a flood of emotion that I can’t begin to untangle. “I don’t have to understand anything, Max! What Iunderstandis that you jumped to the conclusion that I would kiss your brother, after everything I’ve said to you, after how much I’ve begged you to see how good we could be together, that themomentyou left, you thought I’d jump into Art’s arms?”
“He’s good at manipulation. He’s good at making you feel–”
“No.” Sasha shakes her head violently. “You’regood at making me feel, Max.You’rethe one I want. Andnothinghas ever hurt as badly as hearing you say that you think I’d throw myself into your brother’s arms because you rejected me.”
“I didn’t–”
“Yes, you did.” Her chest heaves as she crosses her arms under her breasts, fixing me with an angry glare. “You can’t pretend it’s anything else, Max. And you can’t pretend that this whole misunderstanding could have been avoided. If you hadn’t left me here, if you’d taken me to that gala as your date, this wouldn’t have happened!”
“I’m trying to protect you!” The words come out as a shout, louder than I’d intended, but I feel as if my entire world is spinning out of control. “I’m not just going to take you directly into the fucking lion’s den, Sasha!”
“I’m not as weak as you think I am!” Her voice is raised too, her eyes sparking with fury I’ve never seen in them before, and she steps towards me, her hands bunching under her arms. “I’ve been through fucking hell, Max, but it hasn’t broken me yet.”
She strides towards me, quick and angry, until she’s almost touching me, her chin thrust upwards defiantly as she stares up at me. “I didn’t want Art,” she hisses through her teeth, trembling with anger. “He forced that kiss on me because I guess no one has ever fucking told him no until now, and he doesn’t understand the meaning of the word. Idon’t want him.”
Sasha enunciates every word, glaring up at me. “I wantyou, Max. You’reallI want. And no matter how many times you tell me not to, no matter how many times you tell me that this won’t work, I’m not going to stop wanting you. I’m not going to stop loving you. It’s not something I can just turn off–and even if you leave me and one day I meet someone else, it’s always going to be you that I want more than anything else.”
She’s shaking as she looks up at me, her voice trembling, and something in the way she’s looking at me, the way the words tear loose from her lips, breaks something inside of me.
I reach for her without thinking about it, my hands hard on her waist, and the cry she lets out pierces me down to my soul.
“Max–” She breathes out my name, and I feel myself go tense, my cock thickening as her hips arch against mine.
“I’ve held back with you,” I growl, my mouth very close to hers. “I’ve been gentle, denied everything I want–” I spin her around, her back suddenly against the wall as I surge against her, my hand reaching up to fist in her hair as she cries out under the onslaught of my mouth–the way I thought she had for Art. Now I realize how wrong I was, the difference between what I saw and what I feel now, her body arching against mine, craving me, needing me as desperately as I need her.
“I never asked you to–” Sasha gasps against my mouth before I kiss her again, hard and violent, my hand fisting in the waistband of her joggers as I yank them down roughly along with the soft panties beneath. “This is what I want, Max–”
“Do you still want it?”
The words disappear in her mouth crushing against mine, her hands fumbling for the zipper of my suit trousers as she drags it down, her palm rubbing against the ridge of my hard cock. It takes only a second for me to pick her up, lifting her against me as her legs go around my waist, her slick entrance rubbing against my cockhead as my thick shaft springs up between her legs, aching for her tight heat wrapped around me.
“I’m going to fuck you now,” I growl against her mouth, my hips arching forward, the swollen tip of my cock stretching her tight entrance. “Tell me, no, and I’ll stop, Sasha. But if you don’t–”
Her hands come up, fisting in my hair as her legs tighten around me, and that’s all I can take. I feel feverish with need, the rage and betrayal I’d felt at seeing Art kiss her, the adrenaline of our argument, the lust that I fight a daily battle with all coalescing into a volcano of desire that sends my hips lurching forwards, thrusting into her in a hot, hard slide that tears the breath from my lungs with the exquisite pleasure of it.
I pin her to the wall as I slide my cock into her, feeling her heat clenching around me, and then her tongue is sliding into my mouth. My world dissolves into nothing more than her and I.