Kate followed Maxwell out the door of the safe house, under the pretense of fixing the generator. His stride was purposeful in a way that Kate had never seen. Like a man possessed, he stalked through the tall grasses edging the forest in which the house sat, Kate stumbling in her heels as she tried to match his pace.
“Maxwell – wait!” she huffed, unsure of the change she saw in the man she had so recently revealed her affections for. Things were so fresh between them and, Kate knew, Maxwell was trying his damnedest to “not screw this up” (his words, not hers, because Kate knew there was nothing Maxwell Beaumont could do to extinguish the fire burning for him inside of her). Ahead, Maxwell slowed his pace slightly, allowing her to catch up to him but not halting in his mission. They had reached the back of the house and, to Kate’s surprise, Maxwell continued to stride past the emergency generator and into the thicket of trees.
“Aren’t we going to try -”
“Not right now.”
Thoroughly confused, Kate stayed at Maxwell’s side as he took them further into the forest. She remained silent as they walked, afraid that, somehow, Maxwell was angry with her. The thought wedged itself in Kate’s head, bringing with it a rise in her own ire. She had been shot at, for God’s sake – Drake had taken a bullet protecting her! Kate began to open her mouth, ready to lash out at Maxwell for his ridiculous attitude, when he stopped abruptly in the small clearing they had come upon. He spun around to face Kate, grasping her shoulders, his own heaving with exertion from their trek and, Kate realized, something else.
“I almost lost you.”
Kate looked into the azure eyes of the man she loved, seeing the storm of emotion swimming in their depths: rage at the would-be assassins who almost hit their mark that night at the Homecoming Ball; love for Kate, despite everything, despite wanting to save his family and instead saving himself; grief at the realization that their world was shattered, that they were in danger and their sense of security was forever diminished. Kate saw these emotions swirling in his eyes, felt the current of his feelings emanating from the rough grasp of his fingers through the smooth skin of her bare arms.
“Maxwell, I’m here, I’m fine,” she soothed, reaching up to cup his chiseled jaw with her palm. She held his gaze with her own, trying to diffuse the tension she could feel pouring out of him. “You didn’t lose me – you won’t ever lose me.”
A ragged breath shuddered out of Maxwell as he leaned into her touch. “I couldn’t find you last night,” he began. “I thought-” he broke off, and Kate saw how thoroughly he was affected by the idea of losing her. Her heart, only just patched back together when she saw Maxwell standing with Liam, Bertrand, and Hana on the front steps of the safe house, broke all over again thinking of how close they had been to losing everything they wanted.
“I fell in love with you the moment I saw you at that bar in New York,” Maxwell continued, bringing his hand up to meet the one she rested on his face. Grasping it, he pulled her closer, resting their joined hands on his chest. Kate felt the strong beat of his heart under her palm, reassuring her, grounding her. Gazing into her eyes, willing her to understand, Maxwell continued,
“I knew Liam wanted you. I could tell from the way he looked at you, the way he touched you. It infuriated me. You were so radiant, so beautiful, so…” he searched for the right word, “…so….everything, that you literally took my breath away. I knew that if I didn’t do something quickly that I would never see you again, that we would go back to Cordonia and the social season would be here, and I would be thrown back into the endless, soul-sucking cycle of court life, the mindless flirtations, the games we all play with one another.” Maxwell swallowed hard, staring into Kate’s eyes, and she could see the intensity of his feelings mirrored in their depths.
“I’m sorry – I lied to you. I told you that I wanted you to be House Beaumont’s candidate for Liam’s hand, to become the next Queen of Cordonia,” he uttered, his voice shaking from emotion. Kate looked at Maxwell, at the man she knew she truly loved, unsure of where he was headed with his confession. He lied to her? About what? House Beaumont’s finances? Their need to regain favor with the court? But, surely, Bertrand wouldn’t have gone along with Kate being set up for failure right from the start… would he? Kate’s head spun with the possibility that this thing, this blossoming romance, could be cut short because Maxwell hadn’t been truthful with her. She opened her mouth to ask the questions tumbling through her brain when Maxwell continued, cutting her off.
“I never thought you could feel same way I did, so I did what I could to at least be close to you. To bring you back to Cordonia so that, even if you did fall for Liam and become Queen, that I would still have you in my life. But that’s never what I wanted.”
Kate gazed at Maxwell, marveling at the sheer emotion radiating from his words, at the searing heat she felt from his touch, so different from the playful man she knew so well.
“I wanted you to be mine.”
For a brief moment, the pair looked at each other in silence, the air around them crackling with passion. Then, without warning, Maxwell’s mouth crashed down on Kate’s, his tongue pressing against the seam of her lips, begging – no, demanding – entrance. Kate whimpered and opened her mouth to him, opening her heart to what had been building between them for months. Maxwell cupped her face gently between his hands, his soft touch at odds with the roughness of his kiss. Her hands grasping at the front of his shirt, Kate felt powerless to stop the feelings coursing through her. She felt his kiss down to her toes, desire thrumming through her veins. Their kisses before had been chaste, brief, with just a promise of things to come. This was pure lust, consuming both of them from the inside out.
Maxwell pulled back slightly, resting his lips against Kate’s, his next words nothing but a whisper against her mouth.
“I want to feel you. Let me love you, Katie.”
She tilted her head back, breathless from the feel of Maxwell’s lips on hers, by his use of the diminutive nickname that only he ever used, from the certainty that what they were doing was right. His smoldering gaze burned into her, through her, filling her with a need that she had never before felt. Maxwell waited, despite his desire; he would stop if she gave him the word, delaying his own satisfaction if she wasn’t ready for this next step. That alone, she realized, confirmed that she wanted this as badly as he did. A small smile played across her lips as she closed the distance between them, pressing her mouth against his as she whispered the words:
“I’m yours.”
Again, the pair’s mouths met in a frenzy of passion, teeth nipping, tongues dancing. One of Maxwell’s hands came up to bury itself in Kate’s thick, raven hair, pulling her head back to expose her neck. Trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down her throat, he mumbled against her skin, speaking his desire aloud. “You’re so beautiful, Kate,” he uttered, his breath tickling across her skin. “I’ve wanted this for so long.” Kate’s breath caught as Maxwell’s hands gripped her hips, pulling her against him so they were flush with each other. His erection pressed against her, and Kate moaned at the sensation, at the physical proof of how much he wanted her. She felt her own body reciprocating, her nipples tightening beneath the cups of her bra, wetness pooling between her thighs.
Every touch Maxwell left on her skin was like a brand, the heat scorching her in the sweetest possible way. She had thought about this countless times since her arrival in Cordonia; while her love for him had grown from friendship to something more over the months they had spent together, she had never denied that Maxwell was a beautiful man. Skin sun-kissed by the gorgeous climate of Cordonia, thick, chestnut hair that he kept artfully messy, eyes the color of the sea on a cloudless summer day, Maxwell Beaumont had been the subject of many of Kate’s late-night fantasies, when the stress of courtly life and the obligations to please those around her made her seek sweet release at the touch of her own hand.
Wrapping one arm around Kate’s waist and holding her tightly against him, Maxwell continued raining kisses on Kate’s creamy skin. “That night in New York, I wanted you. I wanted to take you back to my room and fuck you until you couldn’t remember your name,” he declared, reaching for the zipper on the back of Kate’s simple black sheath and tugging it down inch by inch. Pulling the dress off her shoulders, Maxwell christened every new inch of skin exposed, nipping and sucking until he reached the tops of her breasts. Kate stood, heart pounding, as Maxwell reached up to touch her. His mouth moved almost reverently over the curves spilling over the lacy, black cups, tasting her skin as though she were the most amazing delicacy. Kate’s head lolled back, her tresses brushing against his arm wrapped around her waist, the only thing keeping her upright. She couldn’t ever remember being this turned on, ever wanting a man as much as she wanted Maxwell Beaumont at this moment.
“Then fuck me now, Maxwell,” Kate challenged breathlessly.
With a primal growl, Maxwell jerked aside the cup of Kate’s bra, grasping and tugging at her already-erect nipple. “Fuck, yes, please,” she moaned, feeling the heat spreading through her core, her panties damp with her desire. Maxwell tugged the rest of her dress down to pool at her feet, and unclasped her bra, his hands immediately going up to cradle her plump breasts. He sucked one nipple into his mouth while his other hand came up to tease its twin. Standing before Maxwell in nothing but a scrap of black lace underwear in the middle of the forest gave Kate a thrill; she felt his eyes on her as he pulled away; they were nearly black with desire.
“How do you feel about these?” he queried, wrapping a fist around the flimsy bit of fabric at her hip. Kate shrugged.
“I’m not partial to them.”
Maxwell grinned at her, ripping them from her body in one swift motion, throwing the discarded lace in the grass. He reached down and wrapped one arm around her waist, the other sweeping her off her feet to lay her gently in the soft grass. Completely bare to Maxwell, Kate felt self-conscious in front of him for the first time since they’d met.
“Kate, you’re gorgeous,” Maxwell breathed, leaning over her. His mouth danced across her hot flesh, from the hardened peaks of her breasts, down her stomach, where he paused to briefly dip his tongue into her navel, finally settling his mouth just above where she wanted him the most. Kate felt his breath washing over her damp folds and writhed beneath him, desperate for contact.
“Please, Maxwell, I need you,” she moaned aloud. Maxwell lifted his eyes, glittering with unbridled lust, to meet her gaze before bowing his head and running his tongue up her glistening slit. Kate arched her back and moaned, thrusting her hips instinctually to meet his mouth, which licked and sucked at her sensitive flesh. Plunging his tongue into her hot core, Maxwell was sure he had never tasted anything as delicious as the paradise between Kate’s legs. “God, you’re so wet for me, Baby.” He greedily lapped up her juices, laving her from bottom to top before finally latching onto the swollen nub at the apex of her sex. He thrust two long fingers inside of her as he continued to tongue her clit, moaning against her. “Baby, you taste so good. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you like this.” His words, combined with his tongue and fingers working magic on her flesh, brought her closer to the brink. “Fuck, Maxwell, yes,” she cried incoherently, writhing against his mouth, desperate to feel him inside of her. “I need you to fuck me.”
Maxwell’s lips traveled up her body, kissing, nibbling, and sucking his way to her mouth, her lips rosy-red and open, waiting for him to devour them with his own. Kate greedily accepted his kiss, tasting herself on his tongue. She could feel Maxwell, hard and thick, poised at her entrance and shifted underneath him, needing to have him inside of her. Maxwell paused, breathing heavily, propping himself on one arm as his other hand came up to stroke Kate’s face lovingly.
“Kate, I want you to know, that this isn’t just about sex,” he said earnestly, his eyes gazing into hers. “I mean, of course I – I never imagined, though, that you, that we -” Maxwell stumbled over his words, the commanding facade from moments ago cracking to show the shy, slightly awkward man that Kate had fallen for. “I just want you to understand that I want more,” he confessed. “I want it all. With you. Kate, I love you.”
Tears pricked at Kate’s eyes as she stared up at Maxwell, the enormity of the situation and what their physical coupling meant hitting her. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Maxwell was what she wanted. She wanted him to be her human alarm clock every morning, to wake up to his smile, in his arms, every single day. She felt the tears eke out of her eyes, slipping back into her hair, as she smiled up at Maxwell, who still looked down at her, waiting for a response to his declaration. “I love you too, Maxwell Beaumont, so much,” she affirmed, smiling as she wept from happiness, “and I’m yours for as long as you want me.” Maxwell gave Kate a blinding smile, the one he reserved only for her, and bent his head to kiss her, slowly, his tongue meeting hers in a languid tangle, pressing and probing. Kate could feel the intense passion from before building within her again, and she sighed into Maxwell’s mouth as he lined himself up to her entrance.
Pulling back, Maxwell leaned his forehead against Kate’s, looking into her eyes as he sheathed himself fully inside her, stopping when she gasped to allow her to adjust to being so completely filled. Kate had never before felt so completely in tune with a lover; Maxwell had been designed especially for her, and she for him, their bodies fitting together like two halves of a whole.Slowly undulating her hips, Kate stared back at Maxwell, biting her lip as a groan escaped him. They began to move together, breaths mingling as each began the slow burn toward release.
“Maxwell, you feel….so…good,” Kate panted, as his thrusts hit that elusive, sweet spot inside of her. Toes curling, she opened her legs wider to him, needing to feel every inch of him as he slammed his cock into her, over and over. Maxwell moaned at the new angle, gripping Kate’s thigh and wrapping her leg around his hip, trying to control his impending orgasm and failing. His desire grew, and he felt the familiar pressure building, signaling that he was close. “Kate, baby, I’m so close,” he growled, bringing his hand down to brush her clit as he continued to pound her. “Come with me,” he ordered. Kate’s nerve endings were on fire, the exquisite pressure inside her matched by the insistent circling of Maxwell’s thumb on her most sensitive spot. She came in a shower of sparks, blinding white light behind her eyes, crying out Maxwell’s name in the deserted forest. Maxwell was sure he had never seen anything as breathtaking, or as erotic, as Kate Carson in the throes of her orgasm. Her walls tightened around him as she came, and he shuddered above her as his release overtook him, groaning as he spilled into her.
The pair came down from their high, gasping into the silence as their hands roamed lovingly. Kate caressed Maxwell’s back lightly scratching him with her nails as he leaned over her, eyes of sapphire burning into her orbs of the palest aquamarine. His hand gently brought her leg down, running his palm from her knee, to her thigh, up her side, to rest on the side of Kate’s face. Their heartbeats slowed as one, their eyes never breaking contact as they came down from their high together. Maxwell leaned forward, brushing Kate’s mouth with the tenderest of kisses, sweetly tasting her, and Kate returned the gesture. Their lovemaking had been frenzied, spurred by passion, as well as fear from the assassination attempt; now, they had all the time in the world to explore their newfound love, unbound by courtly intrigue and the rules of royal courtship.
Maxwell quickly pulled on his boxer briefs and pants, buttoning them up and extending a hand to help Kate up from the ground. She shimmied back into her dress, turning around so Maxwell could rezip what he’d undone earlier, Kate turned around, suddenly feeling bashful as she peered up at Maxwell, who gazed at her intently. “Don’t you dare get shy on me, Little Blossom,” he quipped as he finished buttoning his black dress shirt, his hippo tattoo safely tucked away from sight. He stepped closer to Kate, reaching a hand to cup the back of her neck while his thumb brushed against the soft skin of her cheek. “I meant what I said – I want you, all of you, every day. You’re the best part of my life, and I’m not going to lose you now,” he insisted. “Besides,” he continued with a grin, “have you ever known Maxwell Beaumont to give up on anything?”
Kate giggled as Maxwell leaned in to kiss her, his sweet words punctuated by his gentle kiss, full of promises for the future. She wasn’t sure what the future held for them, but as long as they were facing it together, Kate knew, they would be fine. Maxwell straightened up, fixing her with a serious look as he plucked a long piece of grass from her hair.
“Okay, so do you know how to fix a generator?”