Page 107 of Maxim

“Sorry for what?” he asks, sounding puzzled.

“For not telling you about the message about Jane from Uriov, and for leaving like I did.”

He doesn’t say anything for a few moments and I wonder if he’s angry about that. Rick would have been. He always got mad when I didn’t listen to him. But instead of berating me for my poor judgment, Max just sighs.

“I’m sorry too,” he murmurs.

“For what?” It feels like we’re going around in circles.

“For not protecting you as I should have done.” I start to argue but he shushes me. “I knew there was something wrong after the funeral but I got distracted by work issues.”

“Bratva work?”

He chuckles. “I see you know more than I thought.”

“Yeah,” I admit. “I asked Mickey to investigate you a while back and he found out all sorts of things.”

“Hmm,” he mutters, “I bet he did, the little fucker.”

“Hey! Mickey’s my cousin, so don’t talk shit about him!”

I feel more than hear his low rumble of laughter. “You’re like a mother bear protecting her cub, malyshka. It makes me want to put a baby in your belly.”

Baby? Until now, I haven’t thought much about having children. Does he mean it?

“I can hear your thoughts, malyshka. Don’t you believe me?”

“You want to have a baby with me?”

“Natalya…” He moves me so I’m lying with my breasts pressed against his chest. “I love you, of course I want to have children with you. I plan to spend the rest of my life with you, making you happy, filling you with my seeds until they take root and grow a baby.”

There’s something primal about his words and I shiver. I didn’t expect to want anything sexual yet, not after all that’s happened in the last 24 hours, but suddenly, I need to feel him inside me.

Not because I want a baby - although I find I do like the idea now that he’s mentioned it - but because I want to erase the horrible memories and make new ones.

“I love you.” The words fall from my lips without conscious thought and I realize how much I mean them.

Before this awful thing happened, I wasn’t ready to tell Max I loved him. But he’s shown me what kind of man he is. He saved me and eradicated the people who meant me harm. Yes, he’s morally gray, and some would call him a monster, but he’s my monster, and I love him, all of him. Even the monstrous side of him.

“And I love you too, baby girl.” His lips meet mine and heat unfurls in my belly. We slide together in the warm water, each touch igniting a fire in my veins. Before long, gentle touches and kisses are not enough.

“Don’t treat me like a fragile flower,” I growl.

“Baby, I don’t want to hurt you,” he protests. “You’ve been through so much.”

“I want you to fuck me like you mean it!”

He hesitates but when I grab his hard shaft and squeeze, he growls like the feral beast he is.

In a heartbeat, I’m swept up out of the bath, water dripping everywhere, and taken into the bedroom. He drops me on the bed and dives between my thighs to feast on my pussy.

This is what I need. I don’t want Max to make love to me - I want him to take me hard. In no time at all, he has me teetering on the brink of ecstasy and I cry out as pleasure rips through me.

“Fuck, yes!” I yell, not caring whether anyone hears me. While my body is still flying high, he pushes his thick cock inside me.

“You feel so good, malyshka,” he groans, sliding in and out, each drag of his shaft pushing me closer to a second orgasm.

“Please, harder!” I can’t explain why I want him to fuck me hard, but I need it this way. Gentle won’t cut it. Hard and brutal will push me out of my head and help me vanquish all the awful thoughts churning around in there.

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