Page 71 of Maxwell

Maxwell dropped his head and sank his teeth into her neck. That solitary move helped her reach the summit. A helpless sound of surrender left her throat. A raw, unadulterated response to the orgasm that powered through her. Her whole body clenched around him. She gripped his shoulder blades and pressed her heels into his buttocks.

He bucked hard between her thighs, whispering her name, his breath brushing her shoulder as he too surrendered to the climax. They rocked back and forth. Their arms wrapped around each other. Their sweat-damp bodies locked together as they trembled through the aftermath.

Afterward, they lay in a tangle of arms and legs. Jasmine’s heart hammered her chest. She had nothing left to give but to gently rub his back and listen to their breathing as they struggled to return it to normal.

* * *

She didn’t want to move, but reluctantly, Jasmine rolled to a sitting position. Her movement shook Maxwell from his doze.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he asked groggily.

“I need to go.” She swung her feet over the side of the bed.

“Go?” He sounded confused.

She looked back at him. He was on his side with the sheet lying over his waist. She wanted nothing more than to remain cuddled up against him but didn’t want to overstay her welcome.

“Yes,” she answered, with a heavy heart.

“No. Don’t leave.” One muscular arm reached out, and before she knew what was happening, he had pulled her toward him. “Get back under the covers.”

“It’s late,” Jasmine said, flopping onto the pillow.

“Exactly.” He pulled the sheet over her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, not putting up a fight.

“Come here.”

Maxwell gathered her in his arms and kissed her neck and her shoulder. They were unhurried kisses. Soft and affectionate.

“Why won’t you let me leave?” She touched his sexy lips with her fingertips.

His slumberous eyes opened wider. “I want you to stay the night. I want to wake up next to you in the morning.” He placed a gentle kiss at the center of her forehead. “Go to sleep. Don’t make me tie you to this bed.”

He closed his eyes.

Jasmine watched him sleep for a few minutes. Then she rolled onto her side and backed up against him. His arm settled on her waist, and she relaxed, snuggling closer, savoring his musky male scent and the sensation of naked flesh against naked flesh.

Then she did as he told her and went to sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jasmine awoke slowly. Golden sunlight slanted through the crack in the blackout curtains and landed across the most comfortable sheets she had ever lain on. The thread count must be near one thousand. Coupled with the to-die-for comfort of the mattress, she wanted to stay in bed forever.

She sighed. Wow, she was really in Maxwell’s condo, lying in his bed.

Last night, in his arms, she hadn’t missed her pillows once as she snuggled against him while he spooned her.

She stretched and let her eyes wander the room that she hadn’t paid much attention to the night before. She took in the sleek dresser and a photo of him with his parents, wearing his graduation tunic and hat.

Yawning, she slipped naked from the bed and padded toward the bathroom Maxwell had pointed her to in an offhand manner the night before. Inside was a neatly folded white towel, washcloth, a toothbrush still sealed in its wrapper, a gray Emory University T-shirt and a pair of navy boxer shorts.

Touched by his thoughtfulness, she couldn’t help but smile.

She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and took a luxuriously hot shower behind glass walls. When she finished, she dressed in the clothes he had laid out for her, knotting the T-shirt in one corner to keep it from looking as if it was swallowing her.

Before she went in search of Maxwell, she caught her reflection in the mirror. She was bare-faced, damp tendrils around her head, wearing his clothes, feeling sexy and feminine.