The Darkest Embrace by Megan Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

listened to the roar of the rain on the roof. The lightning and thunder had subsided, though every so often there was another far-off rumble. Sleep had seemed impossible just a short time before, but now her eyes started to get heavy and her tongue loose.
    “Max...”
    “Yeah, baby?”
    The endearment warmed her. She snuggled closer, eyes closing, words slurring a little as she drifted. “Why don’t you ever talk about your last girlfriend?”
    “She tried to kill me.”
    Jessie blinked awake. “What? For real?”
    “Yes. She tried to run me over with her car. She tried to hit me with a frying pan to the face. And she set my apartment on fire trying to burn all my clothes.” Max cleared his throat, and she thought he was done, but he continued. “She also befriended my younger sister online under a man’s name and posted nude pictures of her with links so that our friends and family would find out.”
    “Oh, God. Why would she do that?”
    “Because she’s crazy.” Max’s lips pressed her hair.
    “I’m crazy,” Jessie breathed, “about you.”
    This time, the low rumble was from Max’s laughter and not from thunder. Helpless against her exhaustion, Jessie lost herself in disjointed but somehow comforting dreams, all featuring Max. Kissing her, dancing with her, making her laugh, making love to her.
    Making her love him.
    * * *
    Jessie woke to the fire burned low, the storm still rushing outside, though now the rain sounded soothing and comforting, not so angry. Max had adjusted them on the couch so that he lay behind her, his face buried in her neck and one arm cradling her, his hand flat on her belly beneath her shirt. Waking just a little, Jessie murmured his name, but he didn’t answer. She settled back against him, snugging her ass tight to his crotch.
    Max’s fingers twitched on her skin.
    Jessie woke up a little more.
    Another carefully orchestrated wiggle. Max sighed into her hair. She smiled, shifting her hips to press herself against his growing erection. She’d changed earlier into soft pajama pants. Max wore sweatpants, and there was no denying that the more she wiggled, the harder he got.
    Her ankle had stopped hurting, or maybe it simply didn’t matter anymore when his hand slipped into the front of her pants and his fingers brushed her clit through her lace panties. A moment later he pushed them inside the front of her panties to find her bare flesh. Jessie’s back arched, and one hand went up to caress the back of Max’s head, pulling his mouth closer to the curve of her shoulder, bared by the neckline of her T-shirt. He feasted there, each lick and nibble sending pleasure along every nerve and straight to her clit where his fingers still played. When she rocked back against him, grinding, his muttered “yes” almost tipped her over the edge right then.
    Somehow, without falling off the couch or even twisting around, Jessie eased her pants down her hips until she could kick them off. The soft fleece of Max’s sweatpants caressed her bare behind for a minute or so while he also maneuvered, getting himself naked, too.
    It felt so good when he pushed inside her that she cried out, low and wordless. A voice full of need. His fingers tickled the underside of her knee, the couch rocked. If she’d opened her eyes, she might have been alarmed at how close to falling off she was, but all Jessie could think about or feel was the perfect, thick length of him fucking into her.
    They’d been lovers for two days, but already he knew her body better than anyone else ever had. The pace, the rhythm, the perfect amount of pressure, exactly the right pattern of circles on her clit. Jessie was going up, up, up and over, but she wanted Max to go there with her.
    “Come with me, Max,” she murmured. “I’m so close.”
    “Close,” he agreed, his voice muffled in her hair. His hot breath caressed her skin. His fingertips on her clit slowed, maddeningly, but his thrusts got deeper.
    She cried out