Page 26 of Maximum Risk (The Andrades 3)
Tara lifted herself up on her knees, positioned herself perfectly, then gasped into Max’s mouth as she thrust herself downward onto him, taking him deeply inside her. He released her hands and shuddered. Whatever control he’d had fell away. He continued to kiss her deeply as she rode him with an abandon that had them both moaning and feverishly running their hands over each other.
They rolled so he was on top. He rose onto his knees, put his hand on her knees and spread her folded legs wider as he pounded into her. Tara gripped the sheets beside her head as wave after wave of heat flowed through her. Still, he didn’t stop. This was not tender lovemaking; it was a carnal fucking. He glared down at her. She glared up at him. He demanded she submit. She did so with pleasure. He took what was his with a wildness that brought Tara to a second climax. She cried out his name, clawing her nails into his forearms as she did. He came with a final thrust and shudder.
Their eyes met as, still intimately connected, they both caught their breath. The anger of a moment before was gone. He looked down at her sadly as if he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. He pulled out of her and rolled away for a moment.
Tara lay on the bed, flushed and dazed. Max sat on the edge of the bed with his back to her. She forced herself up and shifted closer to him until she was kneeling behind him. Following her instincts, she laid a splayed hand on his bare back. He tensed beneath her touch. Quietly, Tara found her words. “I will never lie to you again, Max. Never.”
He shook his head without looking at her. “It doesn’t matter.”
Tara shifted closer to him until she was pressed against his back. She pressed a cheek against his back and wrapped her arms around him. “Yes, it does. It’s okay to be angry with me, but I never meant to hurt you.”
He covered his face with his hands. He let out a long sigh and said, “I am angry with you. I wanted you to be different.”
Tara raised her head. “It was a job, Max, and it was one that was supposed to help your family.”
He cleared his throat. “Did I hurt you?”
Tara hugged him tighter. “What do you think?”
He laid a hand on the one she had on his chest. “I don’t know. I never lose control like that.”
“I hurt you, Max, and maybe you wanted to hurt me, but you didn’t. You couldn’t. You’re not that type of person.”
“And you know so much about me because?”
“Because Maddy showed me a picture of you when she asked me to take the job. You’re why I agreed to do it. Something in your eyes touched me. I wanted to know what had made you so sad.”
He tensed beneath her touch again. “I’m not sad.”
She kissed his back. “Yes, you are. And you have reason to be. But what are you going to do? Go back to pretending you don’t care? Were you happy doing that? I have a theory why you don’t want to tear down this house, Max. Four houses. Four brothers. You can deny it all you want, but you want to work things out with your brothers. You think somehow this island could be your chance to do that.”
Max stood without looking at her and walked out of the room. When he returned he was showered and dressed. He put a pile of her clothing on a chair near the door. “I called for a taxi to take you to the airport. You have thirty minutes before it arrives.”
Tara stood up, not bothering to cover herself and went to stand in front of him. She studied his proud and carefully emotionless face and said, “Okay. I’ll go. But just so we’re both clear, I’m more honest than you are. Maybe I did lie to you, but I came clean, and I’m not ashamed of what I did or why I did it. You are so afraid someone else might let you down you can’t even be honest with yourself.”
When he didn’t say anything Tara shook her head and picked up her clothing. She turned away from him without saying another word. It was only once she was beneath the hot spray of the shower that she let herself cry.
I’m an awful private investigator.
And now I know I also suck at casual sex.
How can something that feels so good leave me feeling this bad?
It’s not like I love Max.
I’m not that stupid.
***
Max paced the large foyer of the house. Tara wasn’t who she’d said she was. Hell, he probably should have asked her if her real name was actually Tara. Just like everyone else in his life, she wasn’t who she appeared to be. He supposed it was better he found out early.
He frowned as he remembered in painful detail how he and Tara had ripped each other’s clothing off and made love in the alcove beside the stairs. And on the stairs. And against that railing.
It may have been a mistake to trust her, but that mistake had been more enjoyable than even he would have predicted. Sex with Tara was better than anything he’d ever experienced. Hot, eager sex. Tender morning lovemaking or angry fucking. It didn’t matter. It all left him wanting more.
If all she made him feel was that, he wouldn’t be sending her away.
Tara also had the most annoying habit of getting under his skin and making him uncomfortable with choices he’d previously been perfectly fine with. Of course he fucking wanted a normal family, who didn’t? Unlike in business, when it came to family, wanting something was not enough to fucking make it possible.
Tara was no one to him. He didn’t have to prove anything to her. He definitely didn’t need to keep her around now that she’d revealed the reason she was with him in the first place.
A private detective? I would have known that if I’d done a background check on her the day I found out her last name. But no, I believed she was Maddy’s friend.
What a fucking joke.
She said she wasn’t married. She said the man in her apartment was not her boyfriend. She’d lied about many things; those could also be lies.
I don’t fucking care because she’s gone as soon as her car arrives.
He turned when he heard Tara walking down the main staircase. She was freshly showered, back in the gown from the night before, and her cheeks were pink. Her face was void of makeup. Her eyes looked puffy as if she’d been crying, but she carried herself proudly and met his eyes without shame. She was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
And he’d never felt like more of an ass.
“I told you I don’t do relationships,” he said and couldn’t believe the words had come out of his mouth.
“You did,” she said simply, and walked past him to look out the window for the car.
He went to stand beside her. “I never lied to you.”
She shrugged and continued to look out the window.
Fight it as he did, he couldn’t deny how much he wanted to turn her around, pull her into his arms, and kiss her until they found a way past this. He didn’t, though. Instead, he muttered, “I have nothing to feel sorry about.”
She turned back toward him, her eyes flashing with temper. “You think I want an apology from you? Please spare me. I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with me. You are the same man I met in this very foyer and told myself to forget about. You’re right. You told me who you were and what you wanted. I am the one who made up an entirely different and completely fictional version of you.” She waved her hands sarcastically in the air. “I absolve you of all wrongdoing. Are you happy now?”
“No,” he growled and grabbed one of her arms. “I’m not happy with any of this.”
She leaned in and growled right back at him, “Good, at least you’re willing to admit that much.”
“I don’t want you here,” he said angrily.
“Then let go of my arm,” Tara snapped back.
“But I don’t want you to leave,” he said just as curtly. He tightened his grip on her arm.
“Then ask me to stay,” she said, her tone still angry.
