In a Heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) (29 page)

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered and brushed his lips over hers lightly. Smiling, she locked her hands behind his neck and pulled him to her, kissing him. Max glided his hand along her breast and her stomach, until he reached her panties. Breaking their kiss he looked at her to confirm it was OK, and when she nodded he slid a finger inside her.

Stella moaned, her back bowing up and her hips grinding against his hand.

“Stella ...” he whispered, unable to tear his gaze away from her.

“Max, please ...” she panted and locked her gaze with his through hooded eyes. “No more teasing.”

As if he needed another invitation.

Quickly, he found a condom in his jeans pocked and put it on. Then he slid her panties off and positioned himself on top of her, supporting his weight on his arms so that he didn’t crush her body with his. Stella wrapped her legs around him and caressed his back as Max dipped his lips to hers. Their kiss was slow and deep, savouring every sensation. Carefully, Max slid inside her as she cried out against his lips. His heart was beating so fast that he thought he might have a heart attack. This moment, this very second right here, being inside Stella, was the most amazing thing he’d ever felt.

His very soul expanded until it spilled out of him with every movement of his hips.

When Stella arched her back and bit his shoulder, trying to muffle her cries, it all became too much for him and with one final push he found his own release.

They lay like that, limbs entangled together, panting, catching their breaths, calming their bodies. Max stroked Stella’s hair and looked into her eyes, trying to see how she felt. His heart swelled in his chest as he thought of her, of how much he loved her. His soul was hers, whether she liked it or not.

Stella was his soul mate, his home, his everything, and he was never letting her slip away. All he wished for now was to be able to tell her how much he loved her, but how could he, when he’d promised they’d be together just for the remainder of her trip? Newly found determination flooded his veins and he silently vowed that he’d spend the next six weeks doing anything it took to make her fall for him so hard she’d never want to leave him.

His raging emotions must have registered with her, because a tear rolled down the side of Stella’s face.

“What?” he asked softly, brushing it away.

“Nothing. I’m just ... happy. I can’t remember the last time I felt so content. So whole.” She blushed, as if she didn’t want to admit that.

“Me too.”

Max kissed her and, bringing the covers over their bodies, enveloped her in his arms and held her as they slept.

Chapter Twenty Three

As Stella’s brain drifted into consciousness in the morning, she realised two things: first, she’d slept all through the night and felt incredibly refreshed and calm; and second, Max’s warm body was curled around her and he breathed softly on the back of her neck. She didn’t dare move. The moment was too perfect.

She must have fallen asleep again, because she woke up to the amazing sensation of Max’s lips on her neck. They slowly moved towards her shoulder and then the tip of his tongue traced her skin back to her earlobe. He sucked on it and Stella couldn’t pretend to be asleep any longer. She moaned at the back of her throat and felt Max smile, exhaling warm air over her neck.

“Mornin’,” he whispered.

The only response Stella could formulate right now was a weak ‘Mm-hm’. Max moved his hands along her thighs and over her stomach, squeezing her even closer to him, and buried his face in her hair.

“Can we stay here forever?” Stella asked, so wrapped up in the moment that she never wanted it to end. When it ended she would have to face reality again, including Lisa and her aunt. They’d probably seen Max’s car out at the front and would be waiting for an explanation. Niki had always been very understanding and down to earth, but still Stella wasn’t sure how she’d react to the news that Max had spent the night in her bed. She also had to tell her mother about him.

“Fine by me.”

Stella turned to face him and he looked just as perfect in the morning as he always did. Seeing his messy hair reminded her that her own hair must be a complete disaster right now. On any other occasion Stella would have felt incredibly self-conscious about how she looked in the morning, but not now. Max’s warm hazel eyes sparkled at her and he clearly liked what he saw, because his expression grew serious and that sparkle turned into full-blown fire.

He dipped down and kissed her, taking his time and making her remember every single moment of last night. Her heart must have stopped, because when he finally separated his lips from hers, she felt a pang in her chest and it started beating again. His hand traced the outline of her naked body and she shivered. Max hissed through his teeth and, circling her waist with his strong arm, rolled over and brought her on top of him. He cupped her face with his palms and pulled her mouth to his.

“I love waking up next to you,
tesoro
” he said as he nuzzled her neck. Her hair was falling over his face, but he didn’t seem to mind. “For the next six weeks I’m going to wake up next to you every day,” he murmured as he guided her hips and gently eased her on top of him. Stella closed her eyes as pleasure burst all over her body. She started moving slowly, rhythmically, gripping Max’s shoulders for support as he pushed up on his elbows and trailed kisses along her neck, her jaw, her breasts.

For the next six weeks.

His words made her heart skip a beat unexpectedly, as if it was unsure whether it would be worth it to even beat if Max wasn’t with her.

Sensing her sudden sadness, Max pushed himself up all the way until he was sitting on the bed, Stella straddling him.

“Hey, you OK?” he asked. Nodding because she couldn’t trust herself to speak right then, Stella brought her mouth to his and ravished it breathlessly. Hopelessly. Following her lead, Max dug his fingers into her hips and urged her to move faster until they were both spent.

As Stella lay wrapped in Max’s arms, her mind was completely empty. She didn’t want to think; all she wanted to do was
feel
.

And she did.

She felt every part of him as if it was hers.

“I think I need a shower,” Stella said, as she absent-mindedly traced her fingers along Max’s shoulder tattoo. He shook his head. “What?”

“I don’t think you need a shower.”

“No?”

“No. I think
we
need a shower,” he said with a playful smirk.

Stella leaned in towards the base of his neck and inhaled.

“Mmmm, I think you might be right,” she said and wrinkled her nose in mock disgust.

“Are you saying I smell?”

“No, I’m saying that I wouldn’t mind lathering soap all over you.”

Max’s eyes instantly lit up and in one swift movement he scooped Stella up and, giving her a toe-curling kiss, carried her to the bathroom.

*

She did lather him up with soap, and she did other things that made him feel as if he’d never experienced pleasure before. Being with Stella, having her so completely, was like waking up from a dream; all his senses were so heightened that he wasn’t sure if he was still dreaming or not.

It was perfect.

She was perfect.

Max washed her hair and combed it with conditioner, then squeezed shower gel on the sponge and washed her body. After she had done the same for him, they rinsed and got out. He wrapped her in a towel, grabbed one for himself and towel-dried her hair.

It felt so intimate to be able to do this with her.

Walking back to the bedroom, he sat on the edge of the bed and she came to him, standing between his legs as she locked her hands behind his neck and kissed him.

“At some point we need to leave this room, you know. Face the world,” she said when she had separated her lips from his. He groaned and pulled her back to him, biting her lower lip.

“By ‘the world’ you mean Lisa, right?”

“And Aunt Niki. They know you’re here; they’ll have seen your car.”

“So? I meant what I said the other day. We are adults and we don’t need anybody’s permission to have hot, sweaty, breath-stopping sex.” He grinned mischievously and slid his hands along her thighs, still wet from the shower.

“Was that an exact quote? ‘Cos I don’t remember the hot, sweaty, breath-stopping part.”

“You don’t, eh? I might just have to remind you.” He flipped her onto the bed as she giggled, and unwrapped her towel.

“Again?”

“We have three weeks to make up for, baby. And it’s all your fault, so now you’ll have to take your punishment.” Stella giggled again when Max unwrapped his own towel and left no doubt that he was ready for her. Again.

*

It was afternoon when they finally managed to get dressed and leave the room. The house was completely quiet; there was nobody home. Niki was at work, that was obvious – but where was Lisa?

Max offered to make some pasta and Stella sat at the table, watching him. His movements were so graceful, it was hypnotising.

“I need to speak to Aunt Niki. It’s her house. It doesn’t matter if we’re adults or not – if she’s not comfortable with you spending the night here, then you won’t.”

Max raised an eyebrow.

“Fair enough. But if that’s the case, which I doubt, then I’ll have to kidnap you and lock you in my room to use as I please,” he smirked and deliberately licked some sauce off his finger.

“I bet that’s going to go down well with Gia,” Stella said, the irony in her voice not lost on him.

“What do you mean?”

“Did she tell you ... about ... about how she found me on Friday?” Stella was staring at the table top intently, unable to meet Max’s eyes. He left the sauce on the stove and moved to sit next to her.

“Yeah,” he replied, concerned. “What was that all about?”

Did she imagine, it or did he sound guilty?

“On Friday Lisa and I were hanging out around the house when she ran out on me again, because she ‘had to do something’,” Stella began, making air quotes with her fingers. “I decided to follow her. She went to the street and hailed a taxi. The only choice I had was to hop in another taxi myself and it took a lot to even consider it.” Max gave her hand a little squeeze to let her know he understood. “Well, I did hail a cab of my own but when he pulled over ...” Stella closed her eyes, trying not to cry. “He looked so much like the piece of shit who had killed Eric and Dad. I just froze; I couldn’t move. He shouted at me to either get in or get out, and so I slammed the door and ran. I had no idea where I was when Gia found me.”

“Stella ...” Max said, his voice hoarse as he pulled her to him and hugged her. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. Gia called me after she left you at home and I knew you were safe. I just ... I couldn’t. I was cross with you and it took everything I had to stay away from you ...”

“You were cross with me? Why?”

Max looked at her for a long time before he spoke, as if deliberating whether he should tell her. In the end he sighed and said,

“I saw you with Rico. Kissing on the street.”

“That was why you stayed away? Because of a stupid kiss?”

“Stupid kiss? I thought we had something, Stella. I thought we were making progress, that you were coming round and would want to be with me – and then I leave you for one night and you go out with Rico ...”

“You went out with Beppe! To be his wing man! You were going to flirt with girls all night, or worse. I didn’t feel I had any right to stop you.” Stella stood up from the chair, because she was so angry she needed space to move. “I thought you had met someone that night and that was why you suddenly disappeared.”

“And I thought you were dating Rico! Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you even try to reach me?”

“Because I’m stubborn and proud! The more time passed, the more I thought you’d found someone else that night and moved on. I thought I’d finally managed to push you away for good.” Stella was shouting, and her tears threatened to spill over. Max stood up and went to her, his eyes full of concern and regret. He hugged her tightly until she calmed down.

“Why did you go out with him, Stella?”

“Because I was mad at you for going out with Beppe and picking up girls all night. He called and I took the chance to get out of the house before I went crazy thinking of you with some woman all over you.”

“I wasn’t interested in any of the women that night. I only thought about you and how I’d much rather be with you. When I saw you with Rico I lost it. Thank God Beppe was there to drag me away, otherwise I don’t know what I would have done.” He kissed the top of her head as she relaxed against his chest. He voice came out muffled when she spoke,

“He kissed me completely out of the blue. It was all him, Max. I pushed him away. Then when he drove me home I told him I had feelings for you and we wouldn’t be going out again.”

Max exhaled loudly, his whole body relaxing. Stella raised her head to look at him and he stroked her cheek with his knuckles.

“I’m sorry, babe. Foreverything. But we can’t change what’s already happened. Let’s just leave all that behind and enjoy what we have now.”