Chapter 44

CHAPTER 44

Y ou know, you wouldn't think a guy like Max Reddy could be charming since he has the subtlety of a rock, but that smile got me every time. Plus, there'd been all that sweating and bodily contact, and I actually was feeling a little more confident about defending myself, although I liked Max's instruction to run away best. But what I really loved was that he was so sure I could learn what he was showing me. He was patient, he went over things again and again, telling me that I could do this, smiling when I managed not to screw up, pulling me against him over and over; it was just so much Max , so strong, so solid, and so much on my side, and as much as I wanted to know how to defend myself, by the second hour, all I wanted was Max.

I was always going to want Max.

So when he said, "How sorry are you?" I feinted and when he moved to redirect my attack, I went the other way, hooked my ankle around his knee, took him down, and straddled him, bearing down on him until I could feel him hard against me.

I leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Very sorry," and he shuddered under me and then pulled me tighter to him, so I kissed him. Kissing Max is one of the best things in my life. The man knows how to kiss.

When I came up for air, I said, "That was just to redirect your attack."

"Pretty sure I wasn't attacking," he said, but I could feel his hands slide down to my rear.

"Well, why aren't you?" I said, and he rolled suddenly, trapping me under him, pushing hard against me as I wrapped my legs around him, trying to get closer. "Too many clothes," I said, and he leaned back—which felt great—and stripped off his t-shirt, so I half sat up under him and stripped off mine.

His hands were on me in an instant, pushing me back to the floor, and he rolled again so I was on top. "I just want to look at you," he said, and I trailed my hand down his chest to the top of his jeans, loving his body, loving the strength of him under me, just loving him , and he added, "And do a few other things."

"You know, all of our self-defense lessons are going to end like this," I said.

"Yeah, we'll have to practice a lot," he said, and then he sat up and put his arms around me and kissed me, and we both just forgot everything else and went for it, stripping off leggings and cargo pants, touching each other everywhere, kissing and biting until finally, finally, finally, when I was crazy for him, he slid inside me, surging against me, and I clenched around him, angling my hips so he was hitting the good stuff. After less than a month of sex, we had the basics down, we knew exactly what to do, and when he finally overwhelmed me, when the spasms started and I'd writhed under him, crying out because it felt too good to be bearable, I opened my eyes, breathing heavy, and saw Max. Max, smiling down at me.

Smug.

Yeah, you're good at this, buddy.

But so am I.

I redirected his attack so I was on top, clenched down on him hard, and fucked his brains out.

And then when we were both finished, sweaty and breathing hard, I said, "See, that's what happens when you teach me self-defense." He said, "Yeah, we're gonna have to work on that a lot," and kissed me again.

I'm going to be really good at defending myself by the time he leaves.