For the first time since Max had stormed back into her life she didn’t feel foolish for thinking that things could be worked out between them. She was able to look at him with love, and in time she knew that her trust would be complete and whole again.

Maybe not overnight, but it would come.

She had faith.

She had love.

She had…hope. Sweet, healing hope.

Chapter Sixteen

Max absorbed the love in Callie’s eyes like a man dying of thirst. She was a balm to every ache in his soul. He wanted to possess her. He wanted to own her. He wanted her to light up for him—only him.But he also wanted her to be free. He never wanted to crush her spirit and the zest with which she embraced life.

She was special.

She was his.

He rose to stand before her and stared down as she looked up into his eyes. They burned with trust where before there had been a subtle wariness to her gaze. He knew he wasn’t completely there yet, but she wanted to trust him and that was a huge step forward.

Slowly he undid the fly of his pants and pushed them over his hips until his cock jutted free of confinement. He wrapped his hand around the base and gave a short pull but then squeezed the tip when he found just how precariously close he was to coming undone under the caress of her gaze.

Holding his cock, he guided it toward her mouth.

“Open.”

Her mouth slowly opened, and she licked over her lips before opening wider with a breathy little sigh that had him itching to bury himself as fast and as deep as he could.

His hand shook and the head of his dick bumped clumsily against her lips as he guided it into the hot velvet of her mouth.

Pleasure exploded over his body. His muscles jerked and his knees nearly buckled as she sucked wetly while he pushed further inside. She was a craving like he’d never experienced. Edgy. Nearly painful. His skin was uncomfortable, like he needed to shed it. Itchy. Alive. Hot.

Need. It burned through his veins like feathers tinged with acid. It was soft but sharp. Pleasure mixed with pain. Satisfaction mixed with mounting impatience.

“Hands behind your back.”

He wanted to see her up on her knees, her breasts pushed forward.

She readily complied, pushing herself upward as she looped her arms behind her.

“Now tilt your head back. Just a little. Perfect, dolcezza. Just like that.”

Now he could see her throat bulge and work up and down as the angle sent him deeper into her mouth. It was an erotic sight, such a sweet mouth and eyes.

He reached down and stroked the sides of her neck, marveling at the baby-soft skin. The muscles jumped and quivered as he stroked to the back of her throat. He held himself there for a long moment, liking how her neck and shoulders tensed.

Through it all she never protested. Never asked him to stop. Calm acceptance blanketed them both. It was like a beautiful classical piece played to perfection.

He eased back, allowing her to breathe and relax for a moment. He was tuned in to her body. Knew the exact moment she needed a reprieve. Knew when she wanted more and when he should back off.

It had always been like this. He’d been able to read her mind and body from the start. They’d been in perfect harmony. A perfect match.

Until he’d walked away.

Until he’d had doubts that he could go through with the reason he’d sought her out.

He pulled back quickly as he realized he’d pushed too far as darker thoughts intruded into the moment. She breathed hard through her nose, and he pulled all the way out of her mouth, pissed that he’d allowed himself to become distracted even for a moment.

“Will you allow me to put your present back on you?” he asked as he stroked his erection with one hand.

She nodded without hesitation and he smiled his approval.

He extended his hand down to her, and she slid her slender fingers over his palm as he pulled her to stand before him.

He retrieved the waist restraint from the end of the couch and wrapped it around her, securing it in the back. Then he pulled her arms back and cuffed her wrists.

“Come over to the chair,” he said as he directed her toward the large ottoman situated in front of the overstuffed leather chair catty-corner to the couch.

“On the ottoman. On your knees.”

When she positioned herself according to his wishes, he gently lowered her head until her cheek rested on the edge of the chair. He then spread her knees so that she was open to him and he got a prime view of the soft pink flesh of her pussy and the puckered rosette of her anal opening.

“Beautiful. So pretty and so feminine.”

He ran a finger through the silken, damp flesh and teased her opening before going lower to dance over the taut bud of her clitoris. Her entire body tensed and her knees shook.

He smiled. So responsive. So fucking beautiful she made his teeth ache.

“Be right back, dolcezza. Don’t move that pretty ass. I’m going to fuck it.”

He grinned again when a violent shudder rolled through her body. He slid his fingers through her pussy once more before he backed away, delighted that she’d grown even wetter at his husky promise.

He strode from the room but took his time locating the lubricant from his bathroom. He wanted her to kneel there and anticipate the moment when he’d come back. When he’d fight her resisting opening to push inside her gorgeous ass and the indescribable sensation when her body surrendered and allowed him entry.

Christ but he was hard as a rock at the image—from the memory—of how it felt.

There was nothing better than a slow, sensual fuck inside her ass. Drawing out both their pleasure. Opening her, then pulling out before pushing back in to reopen her all over again.

He closed his eyes and palmed his aching cock as he walked back into the living room. When he opened them and saw her where he’d left her, ass perched delectably in the air, it was all he could do to breathe.

When he went back to her, the sight of her soft pink folds was more than he could take. Holding the lubricant in one hand, he guided his cock into her pussy with the other.

She sighed and tightened around him, her pussy gripping his dick like a fist. For a moment he simply closed his eyes and slid back and forth through her velvet heat.

Buried to the hilt, he uncapped the lubricant and used his fingers to spread her cheeks so that her opening was bared. He squeezed a generous amount of the gel over the seam of her ass and then ran his thumb over the puckered rosette.

He was patient, sliding one finger through the tight opening. She clenched around him and he heard her breath hiss from her lips. Back and forth, slowly, he tucked his finger into her before finally adding a second.

He curled his other hand around the base of his cock and slowly withdrew from her pussy and positioned the head at her lubricated entrance.

She posed an erotic picture, ass stuck in the air, her hands secured helplessly around her back and her cheek pressed into the cushion of the chair. There wasn’t a part of her body that wasn’t open and accessible to him.

Carefully he pushed forward, forcing the broad crown of his penis into her tiny opening. The sensation of the tight ring squeezing his erection nearly sent him over the edge. She sheathed him with unbearable tightness.

She opened around him, but her body fought his invasion. He pressed forward relentlessly, not giving an inch as he forced more of his length into her ass.

With a slight plop, the head pushed through, and she gasped and wiggled beneath him.

“Too much?”

“No,” she whispered hoarsely. “Not enough. Never enough.”

In response, he pushed hard, forcing another inch inside her.

He was lodged halfway in her. The sight of him piercing the opening between her cheeks sent his pulse skyrocketing. It didn’t seem possible that he could fit into her body this way, but he knew not only was it possible, but that she had accommodated him easily. Many, many times.

He withdrew a few centimeters and then gripped her hips, holding her steady, and thrust hard.

He sank into her body, his cock sliding through the tight opening until his hips met the curve of her buttocks. His balls pressed against her pussy and he rotated, rubbing his sac over the softness of her entrance.

“You feel so damn good, dolcezza,” he groaned. “I’ve dreamed of reclaiming your body. Of reclaiming what’s mine.”

He remained still a moment longer and then gently withdrew, watching his cock reappear as her opening stretched and widened around him.

When only the tip remained inside her entrance, he pushed forward again, watching once more as her body gave him access.

He pressed into her ass, rocking his hips against her lush bottom. He closed his eyes and rubbed up and down and then side to side, relearning her body, straining to go deeper, to the very heart of her.

He took his time, making love to her as sweetly as if he were sliding into her warm pussy. His fingers dug into her hips, holding her tightly so that he could push into her each time he withdrew.

Finally he reached underneath and slid his hands down the tops of her thighs until he pushed at her knees to cause her to go down on her belly.

No longer supported by her legs, she lay flat over the ottoman with him pressed to her body as his hips worked against her ass.

He kissed her shoulder then nipped at the flesh with his teeth. He loved marking her. Loved leaving little reminders of his possession. He sucked sharply at the curve of her neck until he left a light red welt that faded slightly when he pulled away.

“My dolcezza.”

He arched off her and carefully withdrew. He spread her buttocks so that he could see the enlarged and slightly reddened opening that his cock had just come from. Keeping her wide, he flexed his hips so that his cock lodged inside her opening again and he pushed forward.

Then he withdrew, holding her open again as he stared down, watching as her body slowly closed. He positioned himself again and then thrust hard, eliciting a gasp from her as she wiggled under his forceful lunge.

He kept her pinned to the ottoman, satisfaction tightening every muscle in his body. His. She belonged to him. She was his to do with as he wished.

He flexed again and a shudder of pleasure shook through his body until he sucked air violently through his nose in an effort to control himself.

He began pumping with quick, short motions, closing his eyes as his balls drew up into hard knots. He kept his hands on her cheeks until he was sure she’d wear his fingerprints on her flesh. He squeezed, kneaded and then spread her wider, wanting her completely open to him when he shot semen over and inside her ass.

Her fingers curled into tight little balls at the small of her back. He gripped her harder as he slowly began to unravel.

Threads of silk surrounding his heart popped and frayed as his chest swelled with emotion. She undid him. Always had. No one could make him lose control like she did. He alternately loved and hated her for that.

He was barely rimming her entrance now as he continued to thrust fast and furious. Still holding her cheek in one hand, he reached frantically for his cock with the other and began jerking as he aimed at her opening.

The first rope of semen splashed inside her and then a second until the thick, white cream filled the opening and trailed down the inside of her leg.

He groaned with each pull and more liquid splashed onto her ass and into the wide-open entrance. He loved filling her, opening her to him, marking her in the most primitive way a man could mark a woman.

He guided more onto her behind and over her fists secured to her back. Her ass glistened with shiny fluid that trailed down the backs of her thighs.

Then he guided his erection back into her opening, sliding all the way in with one push. He closed his eyes as the last of his release spilled inside her. For a long moment he held himself still, simply enjoying the sensation of being seated so deep inside her body. Then slowly he withdrew.

He backed away, staring down at her with satisfaction.

Quietly he walked back to the bathroom where he spent a few moments cleaning up, and then he wet a washcloth with warm water and returned to Callie where she still lay awaiting his next command.

Gently, he cleaned her, wiping the trails of semen from her skin. Then he reached up to unfasten her hands and let them fall limply at her sides.

Then he helped her sit up and pulled her into his arms. Lifting her effortlessly, he carried her over to the couch where he sat and cuddled her against his chest.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

She shook her head against his shoulder.

“You have a sweet ass, Callie. I love fucking it. There isn’t a part of your delectable body that I don’t love fucking.”

She yawned tiredly but when she looked up, her eyes shone and sparkled like they hadn’t since he’d returned. He touched her cheek and then leaned forward to kiss each eyelid.

“Do you need the bathroom?”

She nodded and he carefully rose, still holding her tight against him. He carried her into the bathroom and set her down, holding onto her until he was sure her legs were sturdy enough that she wouldn’t fall.

“Okay?”

She smiled and turned away. While he waited, he turned on the shower to warm the water.

A few moments later, she returned, and he pulled her into the stall and under the spray with him.