Page 14 of Under Their Protection

“You’re a bad liar, Nika,” Max says with a sweet smile.

“I’m not lying.”

“Yes, you are. You will get worked up just like you do with me in the club and you’ll want Rowan to help relieve all that pressure between those beautiful thighs of yours,” Max says as he cups my cheek.

“Leave me alone,” I frown and swat his hand away. Max grabs the back of my neck and jerks me closer to him. At the same time, he grabs my waist and pulls me against his body. In the snap of a finger he has me on my knees beside him and pressed against his body. Before I can stop myself, I let a small whimper escape me.

“I can melt you like butter, sweet Nika. Tell me the truth,” he says sweetly. He’s right. All I can think about is how amazing it would feel for him to bend me over the arm of this couch and ruthlessly fuck me.

“Max, please don’t make me say it,” I whisper. I can’t force my voice out any louder. The way this man affects me is insane.

“I swear I will make you come in front of him if you don’t open that pretty little mouth and tell us the truth,” Max warns.

“Fine,” I sigh. “I haven’t had sex in more than six months so it’s… frustrating. It also makes me self-conscious.” Max lets me sit back on the couch but I don’t dare look at Rowan. I’m not prepared to see how he’s looking at me right now. I can feel his eyes all over me.

“I feel like I already know why you and Isaac weren’t having sex,” Max says.

“Probably. We would go months and months without having sex, so I never saw it as abnormal. I suspected him of cheating, but I couldn't ever find proof. I knew he went to The Cherry without me many times. I don’t knowexactlywhat happened but I can assume.”

“He did,” Max says slowly.

“So I am guessing you knew he was cheating on me?” I ask.

“Yeah. I saw him a handful of times with some of the regular subs. I didn’t want to be the one to blow up your relationship. Mia tried to have you find out by catching them because you weren’t receptive to her trying to tell you,” Max explains.

“Is that why we came back early yesterday?” I turn and ask Rowan.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “I didn’t know he wasn’t going to respond to you all day or that you’d walk in on that, but Mia was confident you’d finally get proof.”

“I’d like to be angry about this but I know she was trying for years to get me to leave him. I can’t be surprised that she did this or brought you two into it,” I sigh and look back to Max.

“Now… Why do you feel self-conscious?” Max asks.

“Because I was called fat my entire life by my parents and Harper, so it stuck. It makes it hard for me to be confident in myself, so I panic.”

“What did Isaac have to say about it?” Max asks.

“I don’t think you want me to answer that,” I warn him.

“Tell me,” he says softly.

“Well,” I sigh. “He would tell me that I would look better if I ‘wasn’t so big’. He hardly ever directly called me fat but he definitely never called me anything nice.”

“What? Never?” Max asks with a frown.

“You, Rowan, and Mia are the only three people who have ever complimented me based on physical appearance, or anything really. Although, you two are way more respectful with your words than Mia. She’s a dirty little woman,” I laugh.

“I definitely don’t say what I really want to, so I choose to be respectful instead,” Max grins.

“Rowan is far more respectful than you,” I shrug.

“What does he say?”

“He tells me I look nice every day. He will change the word he uses but it’s always the same general idea,” I explained.

“Well, youdolook nice every day. Also, Mia says the same thing,” Rowan says.

“Yeah, but Mia likes to also tell me what she would do to me if I were bisexual,” I laugh.

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