“Not unless I follow in my sister’s footsteps and disown my entire family, including my father,” he responded.

I couldn’t imagine being put in that position. Having to choose between your family and your sanity. Especially since he’d already lost his sister.

“So your father’s still with your mother?”

He nodded. “Yes. He’s terrified of her, which is another reason I find it hard to cut them out of my life.” I didn’t have to ask if that meant his father never stood up for him. I pretty much guessed he hadn’t.

Wow. I suddenly felt so grateful for my insanely loving parents. They would never allow anyone, let alone someone in our family, to hurt us like that.

“Let’s get some breakfast,” he said, giving my bare thigh a loving stroke. “Then I can take you to your thrift-store debacle to collect some clothes.”

He didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and I understood why. Still, my heart genuinely went out to this beautiful man, and strangely, it didn’t make him lesser in my eyes. It made him more—more human, more admirable. He’d built his dream despite having to deal with some rather daunting emotional obstacles.

“Max, don’t go insulting my woman cave. And why would I need clothes?” I stood in front of him and stripped off his tux shirt, letting it fall to the floor.

His eyes traveled up and down the length of my naked body.

He cleared his throat. “Well, I didn’t say you needed them right away. But you can’t go to work like that tomorrow. I mean, yes, you could…but then I wouldn’t get any work done.”

“I’ll go home tonight.”

“Not to stay.” He folded his arms over his bare chest.

“Max, I can’t live here. It’s too weird. And that Nancy woman is probably watching your house.”

“You’re not living here; you’re staying for a few weeks. To start. And that Nancy woman can screw herself.” He stood and grabbed me around the waist. “And if you don’t mind, Lily, I’d like to get on with some screwing of my own.”

I couldn’t resist that charming smile. Not when it was so genuinely seductive and those little smile grooves had made an appearance. “Fine. You can screw me.” My sore body demanded it now that I felt the heat of his hard cock pressing against me through his pants. “But we’re not done with this conversation.” He kissed me and backed me up until my ass ran into the narrow table against the wall.

I reached for the button of his pants and opened them up. The moment they fell around his ankles, he stepped out and spun me around. Before I realized what he was doing, he pushed me forward and stroked me from behind, letting his fingers slide between my folds, instantly drawing a soft moan from my lips.

“God, Lily, you’re already wet for me.” His tone indicated how much that pleased him. He suddenly gripped my hips and thrust into me in one smooth, hard stroke, stealing my breath.

He pulled out and thrust his hips forward again.

I let out a sharp gasp. He felt so good inside me, but there was no doubt that the three rounds of sex from last night had left me raw and overly tense. He wasn’t getting very deep.

“You’re so fucking tight, Lily.” Holding me firmly, he withdrew and eased in again. “Try to relax.” This time he stayed there, not moving for several moments, allowing me to enjoy the sensation of his thick cock inside me. I felt my muscles relax around his hard flesh and then the throbbing, buzzing euphoric pressure building on my c-spot. I wanted him to touch me there, but knew if he did, it would all be over too quickly.

“That’s right,” he said in a husky voice. “Just like that.” He slowly pulled out and eased back in again, applying pressure to that sweet, sweet spot deep inside me. “Try to stay relaxed.”

The sensual sound of his deep voice and the coaxing, smooth motions of his hips and shaft felt like a blissful massage of my aching inner walls. They molded around him, allowing him to deepen the penetration.

I could tell he liked it and was close already because as he pushed forward again, burying himself fully inside me, his grip on my hips tightened. “God, you feel so good, Lily.”

Now that I’d warmed up a little, I wanted him to show me exactly how good. “Don’t hold back.”

He didn’t need me to twist his arm, because the force of his next thrust jarred my body forward, forcing me to press my palms to the wall. With the entire weight of his body, he pounded into me, his hips slapping against my ass. With the stamina of a wild beast, he went on and on and I never wanted it to end.

“Fucking hell, Lily, you feel so goddamned good. I can’t get enough of you.”

The sound of his deep husky voice pushed me closer to my own release. And when he bowed his large body over me, digging his forehead between my shoulder blades and cupping my breast, I couldn’t wait anymore. I reached down with one hand and stroked myself, immediately feeling the hard waves of sinful contractions paralyze me. God, what you do to me Max.

Max’s head fell back, his face tilted toward the ceiling, as he came inside me with sharp little thrusts. “Fuck, Lily. Oh fuck.” His tense body ground against me while my mind floated away.

After several moments, he dropped his head between my shoulder blades again, and I felt his panting chest matching my own vigorous breaths.

“I could do this all day with you, Lily.”

Still panting, I said, “Fine by me, but you’ll have to feed me eventually. Or I won’t be able to keep up with you.” He was an animal. Completely insatiable. I loved it.

“I’ll feed you anything you want,” he said. “Just don’t leave.”

It felt like a sincere plea from his heart. Or maybe it was his sexy afterglow talking. I wasn’t sure, but I knew I wanted to stay with him, too. It was the fear of what was to come that had me wanting to run.

He withdrew, and I turned around, reaching for his neck to pull his lips to mine. His mouth moved in lazy, sated strokes.

Then a thought struck me, and I pulled back, staring him in the eyes. “Max?”

“Yes?” His tone indicated he thought I was up to something.

“You do realize you haven’t looked away from me since yesterday.” Not once.

He made a little blink, perhaps surprised. “I think it’s because when I look at you, I see us. And we’re beautiful together.”

I slid my hands to his cheek. “Now that’s the sweetest, corniest thing I’ve ever heard.” And it genuinely melted my heart. “Please say it again.”

It turned out that Max was just as bad of a cook as I was. Nevertheless, between the two of us, we managed to whip up some banana pancakes in his huge chef’s kitchen with gleaming white-speckled granite countertops, stainless steel indoor grill, and a panoramic window with a view of the lake that bathed the space in warm, cheery light. My favorite part of the morning, however, wasn’t the view of the lake. It was his unstoppable smile. Okay. That, and he wore absolutely nothing underneath his apron and every time he turned around, his adorable, perfectly round ass cheeks peeked out below that broad, muscled, smooth back.

After we ate on the patio, just outside the kitchen—and no, he did not put on clothes (so hot)—I borrowed some mouthwash and a spare toothbrush and we took yet another shower. I honestly felt like I couldn’t get enough of him—his body pressed against mine, his hot kisses, his strong hands holding me to him.

After another slow session of long drawn-out orgasms, we lay in his bed again, facing each other. He didn’t take his eyes off me.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked.