Secrets and Satin: A MacKenzie Novel (Romantic Suspense) (MacKenzie Family) (9 page)

“How
’s the headache?”

“It’s gone. They never last more than a few hours and sleep seems to be the cure more so than the pills. It’s mostly an annoyance. Watch the turn here,” he said. “The road drops straight off into the ditch.”

“I guess you don’t get much company out here.”

“That’s the point. There’s no one around for miles and I’ve got sensors in the road to alert me if someone’s coming. I originally put them around the perimeter of the property, but there are so many wild animals they kept setting the sensors off.”

Jade took the corner slowly, holding her breath as she kept the Explorer on the narrow road. Max hadn’t exaggerated—there was a ten-foot drop off on each side and the tires came almost to the edge of the pavement. The curve straightened out and she had to squint her eyes against the sudden darkness. Tree branches gnarled over the road and hung low so they almost scraped the top of the car, and limbs scratched against the side windows.

“Jesus, Max. This is a little overboard, don’t you think?”

“I like my privacy,” he said, shrugging. “And this place is off the books. No one but Declan and now you knows where it is. You’re sworn to secrecy.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t have posted the picture of the exit I took on my Facebook page?” She widened her eyes playfully. “Oops.”

“You’re getting a little cheeky, Jax.” His eyes darkened and he reached across the console to trail his finger along her jawline, and her flesh pebbled at his touch. Things had gone from playful to seduction in a matter of seconds and she was still trying to keep up. “We’re going to be pulling into my driveway in about forty-five seconds. I’m going to be inside you in about fifty.”

“Why are you waiting so long?”

Max sucked in a breath and she licked her lips, pressing her foot to the accelerator. She shot out of the tree-lined tunnel and back into the glaring sunlight. Dust kicked up around the tires and at the top of a small rise, Max’s house came into view. It was a long, one-story ranch house built with rough timbers and a slate roof, with a wide porch wrapped around all sides. It wasn’t anything like she’d been expecting.

She was about to comment on the fact when she caught what Max was doing out of the corner of her eye. He’d
unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled his shirt up, and he was unbuckling his belt with deliberate movements. The Explorer veered into the grass and she swerved it back onto the long stretch of Max’s driveway.

His erection was prominent behind the zipper of his jeans, and he popped the top button open.
Her breath came faster and her foot pressed to the floor, shooting them forward. He worked at the zipper next, pulling it down slowly and she licked her lips at the sight of him bare beneath the denim.

“You lick your lips like that every time you see my cock,” he rasped. “It’s the sexiest damned thing I’ve ever seen, and ever
y time you do it I can’t help but imagine you taking me between those sweet lips.”

Jade slammed on the brake
s and the SUV skidded to a halt just in front of the house. She released her seatbelt and Max hit the lever at the side of his seat so it leaned all the way back, and he was pulling her across the console almost before she had it in park.

Their mouths fused together, lips and tongues clashing, and he lifted her so she straddled his hips and the hard length of him pressed against the very heat of her. It was out of control—wicked sensations and fiery licks of pleasure that skated across her skin and gathered in her womb.

His hands wound into her hair and he held her head still as he took control of the kiss, as he licked into her and tasted every whimper that escaped her lips while her hips mimicked his tongue. A startled cry broke free as a little electrical current pulsed in her clit and a tiny orgasm ripped through her. She tore her mouth away from him and pressed her head against his chest as the small shudders rocked her body.

“Let go, baby,” he whispered against her ear, licking at the sensitive shell and making her shudder again. “That’s just the first o
ne. I can’t wait to taste that sweet pussy and have you come against my lips. And then the feel of your muscles clamping around my cock as you come again.”

Jade could barely catch her breath. The sensations were overwhelming and the eroticism of his words electric. She felt the dampness of her desire
between her legs, and she was suddenly unsure of herself. She wanted this more than she realized, but there were nerves fluttering in her belly and a sense of the unknown.

Max jerked her shirt over her head, tossing it in the backseat, and
baring her aching breast. He flicked the clasp of her bra and it followed in the direction of the shirt.

“
Christ, look at you,” he said, a flush mantling across his cheeks. His gaze was hooded and he exhaled slowly as his hands came up and cupped her breasts, his thumbs rasping against the sensitive tips of her nipples. “So pretty and full, just waiting for my mouth.”

Max leaned forward and took a straining bud
between his lips. She’d never been able to come more than once when she made love, but she could feel the low hum of desire building inside of her once more.

“Wait—God, Max,” she pushed against his chest
, but he grasped her hips and rolled her pussy against him. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her lashes fluttered closed at the sensation. It was all too fast. Too much. She didn’t know what to do with this much pleasure. He lifted his head to move his attention to her other breast and she took advantage of the space between them.

“Wait,” she said again.

He sucked in a breath and seemed to shake himself out of the lustful daze he’d been in, and he finally met her gaze, a question in his eyes.

“I need to say something.” She licked her lips nervously, and bit at her bottom lip, and his eyes followed the movement.

“Say it quick, baby, because I’m losing control fast here.”

“I just wanted to say that it’s been awhile since I’ve done this.”

He froze completely against her and the unreadable mask he used when he was working shuttered over his face. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and almost rolled her eyes at the words that had actually come out of her mouth.

Of course he knows you haven’t done this in a while. Idiot.

“That’s not what I mean,” she hurried on. “Not exactly. It’s not a big deal. I just want to make sure you tell me if I do something—” She paused for a second, searching for the word. “Wrong,” she blurted out. “Or something you don’t like. I’m just out of practice.” The words left her in a rush and she wondered if there was a rock big enough to crawl under.

Max’s senses came back to him in a hurry after her confession. He could only blame his ineptness on the need to be inside her so badly. As it was, his balls were drawn so close to his body that he could practically feel the come ready to spurt from his cock.

He was insane. That was his only excuse. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. No, he
hadn’t
been thinking. That was the problem. But he was about to rectify that. She deserved more than a fast fuck in the front seat of a car.

He knew she wasn’t experienced. Donovan had shared in confidence on a mission once that he had been Jade’s first and only lover, and he’d loved the fact that she’d only belonged to him. She was giving herself to him, despite her anxiety and her inexperience, and he would cherish the gift as much as Donovan had.

“Jade,” he breathed out, taking her flushed cheeks between his palms. He leaned forward and kissed her once—softly—and then lifted her so he could sit up and reach the door handle. He thanked God he lived in the middle of such remoteness because otherwise they were sure to be arrested.

He opened the car door and she immediately covered her breasts, struggling to get off his lap.
Confusion flittered across her face and he kissed the underside of her jaw before wrapping his arms around her and lifting her physically from the vehicle. Jade was almost as tall as he was, but once his feet were steady on the ground he swept her up in his arms and watched the surprise light across her features.

“What—”

“Ssh, baby. I’ll take care of you. I’ll make this right.”

“There was nothing wrong before,” she protested. “Have you changed your mind?”

“Far from it,” he said, kicking the car door shut with the bottom of his foot. “I just remembered the best things are worth doing right. But just a warning, I probably won’t get it right until the second time. I’m pretty sure I won’t last long once I finally get inside you.” Her mouth opened in surprise and he leaned down to nip at her bottom lip. “But I’ll make it up to you,” he said. “I promise.”

He carried her easily up the porch steps and to the front door and called out his name for the
voice recognition program he had installed, and then he said the code aloud to override the system. The front door opened silently and he carried her into the cool darkness of his home. The door locked automatically behind him and he carried her straight to the back of the house, to the bedroom he rarely had time to sleep in.

The shutters were pulled over the windows, but he didn’t need the light to see his way. He felt her flesh pebble and a shiver rush through her body as the cold breeze from the air conditioner blew across her skin.
His bedroom was large and the oversized bed dominated the middle of the room. The sheets and down comforter were white because he hadn’t had time to mess with anything but the basics.

Max
set her on her feet and then pushed her back so she sat on the side of the bed, and then he turned the dial above his nightstand so a light glowed just over the bed, casting them in a soft wash of light. He kneeled in front of her, unlacing her boots and pulling them from her feet. He pulled off her socks next and then rubbed the arch of each foot, moving his thumb in slow circles as she moaned at the unexpected pleasure.

Her gaze was wide and curious, the insane passion they’d shared before
banked, but still burning in her emerald eyes.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said, touching the side of his face with her hand. “I’m not glass. I won’t break.”

“I know. But I’m bigger than you. I can do what I want,” he said, grinning.

He was so hard he hurt, and he wanted her more than he had the first time he saw her, but he relaxed as he saw the fire light in her eyes at his words. He realized this was the first time he’d ever been completely comfortable with a lover. Jade was his friend first—he knew all her quirks and faults and strengths—and he knew they’d find their way with each other in bed just as they’d found their way outside of it.

He helped her to her feet and then quickly stripped off her pants so she was left in nothing but a pair of black boyshort panties. He looked up her body from where he knelt and watched as her head dropped back on her shoulders, almost in surrender. He kissed the top of her thigh and then higher, just above her hip bone, before slipping his fingers beneath the edge of her panties and pulling them down.

“God, Jade,” he said, the words choked at th
e sight of her womanly flesh. “So pretty.”

A small patch of soft black curls sat just above
the swollen nubbin of her clit and the completely bare folds beneath. He touched one of the creamy folds gently, delicately spreading her juices around the entrance of her pussy. His finger barely slid inside her and he groaned as she clamped and shuddered around him.

“Max—”

“Ssh, baby. Let me see all of you.” He guided her back to the edge of the bed and pushed her down gently. Her skin was dark against the stark white of the comforter and she watched him out of hungry eyes. That look made it hard for him to remember that he was going to go slow and take his time.

He quickly unlaced his boots and tossed them aside, and then stood and pushed his jeans down, stepping out of them, while he watched her eyes get bigger and bigger at the sight of him. She licked her lips again while she stared at his cock, and he almost came then and there. He clamped his fist around the base of his cock and then took a deep breath to get himself back under control.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but that looks painful,” she said. “For me, I mean. Holy shit, Max.”

He laughed, but the sound was strained. “We’re going to fit like we were made for each other.
Put your heels on the edge of the bed.” His voice rasped the words and his mouth went dry as she did as he asked. “See, already I can see how ready you are for me. Your pussy is glistening for me, your clit swollen. Oh, yeah, we’ll fit like hand and glove. I’m going to sink right in.”

She whimpered, her hips shifting greedily as she waited for him to take his place between her thighs. His fingers touched lightly up her leg, swirling over her knee, and the
n higher until he pressed against her thighs and had them splaying open wider. He leaned forward and kissed her taut belly, licking and nipping his way up until his lips opened and he suckled at her nipple. She jumped beneath him and her hands came up and grasped his upper arms, her nails biting into his flesh.

“No, don’t stop,” she cried as he released her nipple with an audible pop and kissed his way back down to the sweet folds of her pussy.