Good Vibrations

Rating: NC-17.

Spoilers: Takes place after Freak Nation. Events from 'Before the Dawn' are mentioned.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters from the TV series Dark Angel.

Note: This is slightly AU as I have decided to ignore the runes in this story.

Chapter 2

Max's mouth opened and closed several times before coming to rest wide open, as she struggled to find something, anything to say in response. Unfortunately, no snappy comeback was forthcoming. Her brain simply refused to cooperate. Completely befuddled, it lingered instead on the tantalising image of him sucking on his finger, tasting her, his husky comment reverberating through her head. The man is sex personified. There ought to be a law.

Alec barely restrained his laughter at her gaping expression. She looks like a fish. A really, really sexy fish, but a fish nonetheless. Being in the presence of a nude, completely speechless Max, had to be number one on his list of extremely unlikely, not to mention incomprehensible events. Deciding to take pity on her, he held out his arms and motioned to her. “Come here.”

She balked at first, inexplicably apprehensive as the reality of the situation hit her. Then, remembering their bargain, she did as he asked, slowly taking the two small steps required to place her within his arms, but stopping just shy of touching him. What does he expect from me? Hell, it’s been so long, I’m not even sure I know what to do anymore. Like I ever really have!

She chewed on her lower lip, her eyes darting from his chest, to the bed and back again as her hands fluttered nervously at her sides. Not that I’m innocent or anything – not by a long shot – at least I know the basics. And well, I did figure out a few things from the smutty books Kendra left behind when she moved. A sexy smile lifted her features. Gave me lots to fantasise about. And did a damn fine job of fuelling my heat dreams too.

A small, frustrated sigh escaped her as she remembered running away from those dreams and him over three months ago. She hadn’t told anyone, especially Alec, what was wrong; choosing instead to hide out with OC in a heavily wooded area outside Seattle for a few days until it was over. Barely managing to keep her sanity and virtue – so to speak - intact.

She forcibly pulled her thoughts away from that to the matter at hand. Maybe I should tell him about my lack of real experience. He does kinda have a right to know. Especially since we’re gonna… well… do the deed.

She thought about it for a moment, the devil's advocate in her brain taking over. Yeah, that's a good idea. He'll probably laugh his head off at you. Or get completely pissed off. Here you are insulting his sexual prowess, when the only encounters you've had have been when you're so far gone in the throes of heat that you can barely remember any of it afterward. It's too much of a fucking blur! Pun intended.

At least he has a normal sex life. Sure you've figured out how to satisfy yourself with that toy, but do you even know what foreplay is? Let alone how to please a guy? She shook her head and took a deep breath, her body quivering with self-doubt. Hopefully, he's about to change all that.

Alec watched her intently, the play of emotions across her face too fast to read accurately. Is she happy? Excited? He tensed when he felt her shiver and saw a hint of fear race over her features. Is she scared? Of me? A frown marred his lips and creased his brow as he thought about it, his arousal subsiding.

Why is she hesitating? With how nervous she's acting, I'd almost think she's a virgin except I know damn better. It's impossible given the female heat cycles. So what's the problem? He scanned her face again quickly and scrubbed a hand back through his hair. Does she want to stop? Fuck!

Reaching down, he meshed his hands with hers and lifted them up to the center of his chest to get her attention. "Max? Look at me. You know you can tell me if something’s wrong, right? I won’t bite.” He tried to ease the tension mounting between them. “At least not hard.”

She laughed despite herself, avoiding looking directly into his eyes. “It's nothing.” When the only change in him was the lifting of his eyebrows, she tried to sound a bit more convincing. “Really! Just waiting for you to do your… thing." Her fingers wiggled against his, trying to bluff her way through. "After all, you're the one trying to prove a point, aren’t you?”

He stared at her earnestly, trying to get her to open up to him. “Only if you want me to. You've got to know I'd never do anything to hurt you."

"I know." She slowly nodded. "You've more than proven that by now."

"So you should also know that the last thing I want is to ruin the friendship we've finally established by pushing you into doing something you don't really want." Alec hesitated, reluctant to ask the question in his head, but knowing he had to even though he dreaded her answer. “Have you changed your mind about this?”

“No!" Flinching at the harshness of the quickly spoken word, she attempted to extract her foot from her mouth without being too obvious about it. "It’s only fair to play this out. You’ve got me curious now, about how good it might actually be with you.” It was the truth as far as that went. She peeked at him from beneath her lashes to gauge the effectiveness of her ploy, but unfortunately, her nonchalant act didn't appear to be working.

"Riiight. That's why you look nervous as hell. Come on Max. I thought we were friends. Please tell me what's wrong.” A determined look came over his face. “If you don’t, this isn’t gonna happen. There’s no way I’m screwing us up. Not over something as stupid as sex."

Damn. I should have known that wouldn't work. He knows me too well and is too damn stubborn to keep going without an explanation. I've got to tell him something. Sighing and mustering up what was left of her waning courage, she looked directly at him and froze, momentarily stunned by the wealth of concern displayed in his unwavering gaze. Maybe he won't laugh or get mad.

"I… umm… I'm sorry." She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, trying to find the right words to explain. Just spit it out and get it over with. "There is something I should probably tell you… before we go any further."

Alec nodded, relieved that he'd gotten through to her. But she still seemed really tense. Releasing her hands, he bent down and picked up her discarded towel, wrapping it carefully around her body and tucking the loose end in above her right breast. When she stared at him surprised, he shrugged disarmingly, “Figured you might be more comfortable talking like this.”

“Thanks.” She wrapped her arms around herself and took a step back, looking off into the corner as she struggled to gather her thoughts. “I don’t know quite how to put this. It’s just that I… well… It has been a long time for me.”

“You mentioned that already.” He interrupted.

She sighed exasperated. “Please just let me finish. This is hard enough, as is.” When he nodded and made a motion of zipping his lips, she rolled her eyes then continued hesitantly. “It’s more than that. I’ve… been around, quite a few times actually…" She looked down, ashamed. "I really hate our feline DNA sometimes.” She forced herself to look back up at him. “I assume you’re aware of the heat cycles we go through?”

“Yeah. It’d be hard not to." His lips lifted in a wry grin and he almost laughed. "Manticore had a bitch of a time trying to control them when we hit puberty. Sex-Ed became the topic of the day. And as we got older they eventually allowed us to experiment a bit. Actually had classes for it, if you can imagine,” he wiggled his eyebrows. “But they made sure we intermingled a lot to avoid attachment and kept us under strict leashes the whole time.”

“I wish I’d had someone around to do that for me. My brothers and sisters were nowhere to be found, they’d scattered who knows where, and I’d just recently ditched the foster family I’d been stuck with ‘cause the dad had started looking at me funny and was making me feel really uncomfortable.”

Her eyes filled with regret and sorrow as she remembered the chain of events that followed. “So there I was, on my own and I don’t know, I’d guess around thirteen the first time it hit me.” She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling for a moment, then meeting his gaze once more. “I had no idea what was wrong with me or what I wanted, didn’t even really know what sex was. All I knew was that my body was suddenly burning up, aching inside…and I had to put out the fire…”

“I was still in the early stages when I came across this real bad-ass who suddenly became the sole focus of my existence.” Alec stilled, no longer amused, his eyes darkening with horror as he realised what must have happened, what she would have been helpless to prevent. And then she confirmed it. “On a normal day, I would have kicked him to the curb for daring to touch me.”

Her voice lowered to a whisper as she addressed his chest, unable to meet his soulful gaze any longer. “But it wasn’t a normal day. I didn’t put up any resistance when he pulled me down a deserted alley and shoved me up against the wall. Didn’t fight at all when he ripped my clothes off. I let him do it. Do me.”

Her tone was filled with self-disgust and she had to swallow hard before continuing. “Hell, I egged him on, even though it hurt like blazes." She bit her bottom lip and tried to control the shaky breaths brought on by the pain of the memory, a nightmare that continued to haunt her dreams from time to time.

His arms reached out for her as she shivered, pulling her lightly against his warm body and wrapping around her comfortingly. "Oh God. Max. I’m so sorry." His voice broke with emotion imagining what it must have been like for her.

"Don't Alec. Please. I dealt with it a long time ago." Her hands twisted against his chest as she looked up at him, a bit of her normal fire lighting her eyes. "I don't want your pity. That's not why I'm telling you this."

He nodded reluctantly and she continued. "Needless to say, I've hated heat ever since. Fought it as much as I could. It’s awful. Being out of control - completely mindless and so desperate for a man that any cock will do." She snorted; her lips lifting in a perverted caricature of a smile. "It's always about fucking. Plain and simple. No foreplay. No nothing."

She shuddered, staring blankly over his shoulder. "And after, well, it's all so hazy, so hard to remember, which is a blessing most of the time. Probably my brain’s idea of self-preservation after what happened my first time… But I still end up feeling so… used. Dirty. I've never gotten any kicks out of it."

He shook his head grimly at the bleak picture she'd painted, starting to get an idea where she was going with this. But he didn’t want to believe it. It can’t be true. Can it?

"With those kind of encounters to go by, I've never really been interested in experimenting when I wasn't in heat." She studied his face, hoping he’d understand what she meant. Finding only disbelief in his eyes, she sighed. “I don’t... I’ve never… The only time I’ve ever had sex… is when I’ve been in heat.”

He stared at her, stunned and saddened as he started to accept it. So much of her standoffish behavior suddenly made sense. It certainly explained the way she’d reacted when he’d introduced himself as her breeding partner. “You've never been with a guy just because you wanted to? Never had a guy make love to you?"

“When have I had the chance, Alec?" She cocked her head at him, an incredulous look on her face. "I’ve been on the run since I was 9 - practically my whole life it seems. Always hiding, wary of everybody, moving on whenever things got too intense. I never had the time or inclination to get close to anyone. It was too dangerous. I was too scared that Manticore would find me and take me back.”

“Yeah. That makes sense, I guess. But why did you stay in Seattle so long, if that was the case?”

She sighed. “I was tired, fed up with keeping to myself all the time and decided to start making friends. Start taking my own life back. Figured I’d been out long enough and had enough skill to avoid the spooks if they came after me.”

“What about Logan?" He studied her face carefully. "You spent all that time with him and never did anything, yet you certainly cared about him. Why didn’t you get together with him?”

“It was just never the right time." She cut him off when he opened his mouth to interrupt. "And I know that I've said that before but it's true. First we were business partners of sorts, eventually friends after I overcame some trust issues. And we had a ton of misunderstandings along the way - his paralysis, my guilt, Ben, Manticore." She shrugged. “You name it.”

"By the time things progressed to the point where I actually started thinking about it, the virus came in to play.” She looked back up at him, an ironic smile lighting up her face. "I never thought I'd actually say this, but… thanks… for giving me a reason to forfeit the cure. You stopped me from making one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

She shook her head, disgusted by her own stupidity. “I never belonged with Logan. He was always putting me in danger - the lying bastard - just like he did with Seth. I'm lucky I didn't get killed too. Lucky you had my back."

He nodded slowly, still trying to take it all in. He couldn't quite believe any of this was happening. It was almost surreal. "So where does this leave us? Do you want to stop? I don't want to force you into anything."

"You're not, Alec." Max hurried to reassure him, her hands creeping around his waist as he went to take a step back. She took a deep breath and blurted out the rest of her confession. "I want to do this with you. I want to find out what all the fuss is about. Especially if what you did earlier is any indication. I've never felt like that before."

She blushed and looked up at him shyly, seeing the surprise and almost immediate satisfaction flaring in his eyes. "I just… I don’t want you to expect too much from me and end up being disappointed."

"You could never disappoint me, Max." His husky whisper swept through her, giving her the courage to continue.

"I'm sorry for tearing into you earlier, putting you down. You obviously know what you’re doing.” She licked her lips nervously, adding, "But I don't really, except for what I've read about in books and seen on TV." Then she uttered two small words that changed Alec's life forever.

"Teach me?"

He'd never heard anything more arousing in his life. Never had such a jolt of primitive awareness run through his body. Teach her. Holy shit! A shiver ran down his spine, his erection pulsing instantly back to life. She's going to kill me before we're done. But it'll be worth it.

Studying her face carefully, noting her serious expression, he asked one last time. "You're sure about this? About me?"

She nodded, something indefinable shining in her eyes. “There’s no one I trust more.”

Alec’s heart leapt painfully in his chest. She trusts me - with something monumentally important and personal. So what if she doesn’t love me. It’s a hell of a lot more than I had before. And I can work with that. Maybe turn it into something more over time. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down his racing heart. “Okay then."

He brushed his fingertips over her lips gently, eliciting a shiver from her and a sexy grin from him. "Smile Maxie. This is supposed to be fun. To feel good." Her lips quirked a bit under his fingers. For once, the nickname didn’t sound so bad leaving his lips, was almost an endearment in fact.

"We've got all the time in the world.” He stared deep into her eyes, letting his desire for her shine through as his head tilted down toward hers. “Why don't we start with kissing?”

Gulping audibly, she braced her hands on his shoulders and stretched up on tiptoe to meet him halfway, gently pressing her lips against his, her eyelids fluttering shut as she discovered the warm velvet there.

His hands framed her face, ran softly through her hair and over her barcode as his lips caressed hers. They were soft and moist, trembling beneath his. Keeping the pressure light at first, he sampled her, his lips brushing back and forth against hers, teasing her, his tongue slipping out to trace them, encouraging her to open up to him.

Slowly she did, her mouth parting on a moan, her own tongue moving to meet his as her head tilted back a bit, a gentle sigh escaping her lips. He took his time, letting his tongue slide leisurely over hers, across her lips, searching for and finding the sweet honey hidden in the depths of her mouth. He kissed the way she’d always dreamed of being kissed, drinking her in as if he could never get his fill. As if tasting her was more important than his next breath of air.

His hands slid down her back as he continued to kiss her, stroking little circles over the curve of her hips through the thin material of her towel. The slow movements unbelievably arousing and she could feel her towel loosening with his ministrations, slipping down her body, his strong hands soon finding soft, warm flesh instead.

Max moaned again as his tongue continued to dance and mate with hers. It was slick and hot, their mouths fitting together seamlessly as if made for each other, the kiss going on and on, her knees going weak as she clung to him, her hands sliding up around his neck for support as she leaned into him. She thought she heard Alec groan, but couldn’t be sure whether the sound came from him or her, she was too far gone, lost in the taste and feel of him against her.

Alec swallowed her moans; delighted by the hungry response he was getting from her. Desperately trying to rein in his own excitement, he pulled back for a moment, looking down at her. She was trembling in his arms, lips swollen from his kisses, eyelids fluttering, little mewling sounds leaving her throat in disappointment. Her eyes opened slowly, met his beneath heavy lids and thick lashes, so dilated by passion they were almost black.

He closed his eyes, taking in several deep breaths. It didn’t help. The smell of her arousal, their arousal, wafted over him, only increasing his desire. His heart almost stopped when he felt her hands move down from around his neck, grazing along his collarbone and across his pecs.

Taking advantage of his preoccupation, her hands began moving of their own volition, slowly exploring the hard planes of his chest. She'd been aching to touch him for so long, yearning to stroke her fingers over his heated flesh, the glimpses and small touches she'd had over the past several months not coming anywhere close to this. He was fascinating, lean and solid, the texture of his skin hot and smooth, hard muscles jumping and flexing beneath taut flesh.

Drawing in a long, calming breath to bolster her nerves, Max watched him carefully, seeing his jaw tense up, feeling the harsh breaths leaving his body as he leaned into her touch, his head falling back, the muscles in his neck cording and beckoning to her. Stretching up, she tentatively placed her lips on him, kissing and then nibbling along his jawbone and down the cords of his neck, following her fingers down to his nipples, skimming her fingers over them, lingering there when a low growl emerged from his lips.

She peeked up at him, amazed to find him staring hungrily down at her. Should I? He nodded slightly in encouragement; reading the question in her eyes and letting her see the need in his. Licking her lips, she took one of his nipples into her mouth, flicking her tongue over it, then laving it.

He groaned, the sound rumbling from deep within his chest, his fingers coming up to comb through her hair, brushing it back from her face and holding her to him. "God, that feels good. You’re a natural." His voice was husky and deep, sensual, his obvious pleasure setting off a reaction deep inside her.

What was I worried about? This isn't so hard. I can do this. Rapidly gaining courage, she splayed her fingers out to trace the six-pack adorning his abdomen as she moved to his other nipple. The slight sweat from his exertions earlier in the day gave his skin a slightly salty taste and she couldn’t get enough of him, her lips and tongue roaming hungrily over him.

She nuzzled her nose into his chest, breathing in heavily, the heady scent of his arousal blending with the musky aroma of pure alpha male - something she knew instinctively - tantalising her beyond reason. Desire curled through her, her lower body tightening, starting to ache as moisture beaded inside her. Easing her hands down, she found the waistband of his jeans, her slender fingers slipping beneath the top button, brushing through wiry hair and finding incredibly hot, velvety steel.

“Christ!” Alec’s hips jerked hard against her and he tensed. She immediately looked up at him, startled, afraid she’d crossed some invisible line. He moved her hands quickly away, bringing them up to his lips for a kiss. Seeing the worry in her eyes, he growled, “You didn't do anything wrong, Maxie.”

He struggled to take in air. “I’m just… a bit on edge right now.” He blew his breath out hard, then grinned sexily at her, trying to get her to see the humor in the situation. “You’re not the only one who’s been on the shelf for a while. It’s been over six months for me. And if you start touching me down there, I’m liable to lose it, way too quickly. So let’s save that for later. Okay?”

She nodded, relieved, a seductive smile of her own lifting her lips. He hasn’t been with anybody in over six months? She tried not to get too elated by the prospect. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It’s not like he’s confessed his undying love or anything. But if he hasn’t been catting around like he used to, maybe…

He bent down again; capturing her mouth and attention as his hands moved back to her hips and pulled her in to his body, enfolding her in his arms so that her breasts brushed against his bare chest. His fingers ran lightly up and down her back and she arched into him.

Max gasped against his mouth at the sensation and slid her hands up to his shoulders, rubbing her taut nipples against him again. And then again. God, that feels good. Her lips danced with his, her breathing becoming more and more erratic as her excitement multiplied. His arousal pressing insistently into her stomach effectively reassuring her that Alec was just as involved as she was.

Her fingers wandered over his shoulders and down to his biceps, feeling the flex of his muscles as he cupped her ass, lifting her up. She moved her hands back up to his shoulders, scrambling for purchase as she lifted her legs instinctively around his waist. His arousal ground directly into her mound, wringing a startled cry from her lips as her head fell back. She pushed her hips back against his, the worn denim and stiffness underneath creating a delicious friction. She rubbed against him as he strode toward the bed.

He groaned, one hand moving up to cup her head as he lowered her on to her bed. He stood up quickly, kicking off his shoes and socks, then starting on his jeans, slowing down when he caught her watching him, sprawled out on the bed transfixed.

Her eyes widened as he undid the buttons on his Levi’s, easing them open and down his hips revealing… No underwear. And oh… my… God… “I guess you do have a reason to be cocky.” It slipped out before she could censor herself, an immediate blush covering her chest and face as she realised what she said.

Kicking them off, he smirked and knelt down on the bed, stretching himself out over her, easing into the cradle of her thighs and holding himself up on his elbows. He whispered against her ear. “Just wait. You’ll love what I can do with it too.” If anything her blush deepened, something he thought would be impossible. Grinning like an idiot, he murmured, “Man, I love teasing you. That’s a lovely shade of red on you.”

A burst of laughter involuntarily escaped her lips at the look on his face and she swatted half-heartedly at his shoulder. “Knew I should have named you Dick.”

He joined in her laughter, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment. “How did I know you were gonna say that?”

Max was suddenly struck dumb by the situation she found herself in. I’m laying here naked, in my bed, with Alec; about to do what will undoubtedly be all sorts of wicked things… And we’re laughing, holding one another. And it’s so easy - no big drama like there would have been with Logan. Just us joking around as if we don’t have a care in the world. As if we aren’t in the middle of starting something completely earth shattering. At least for me.

Her breath caught in her chest as she stared up at him, abruptly realising something that should have been painfully obviously much sooner than this.

I love him.

Alec didn’t notice her sudden quietness, as he became preoccupied with exploring her, sliding his lips down the side of her neck, trailing hot, wet kisses to the base of her throat and nibbling at the junction of her neck and shoulders. He slipped down further, blazing a path down between her breasts, admiring the supple flesh pressed against him.

Immediately brought back to the present, her hands slid into his hair, cradling him to her as he kissed his way over to her right nipple, capturing it between his teeth and biting down lightly, his tongue flicking against it repeatedly before he sucked it fully into his mouth.

She arched up into him, her thighs spreading further apart, one leg wrapping around his waist as she tried to get closer to him, feeling him pulse against her inner thigh. “Oh...” she cried out, licking her lips as a shivery burst of heat ignited in her stomach.

He moved to her other breast, shifting his weight and freeing up one hand, running it up and down her body, exploring her curves, testing the firmness, the smoothness of her skin. Finding the ticklish spot just beneath her ribs and then stroking lightly over the length of leg wrapped around him.

The need to taste her, which had been driving him crazy all night, became impossible to ignore. He eased her leg from around him and moved down her body to kneel at the foot of the bed. Max propped herself up on her elbows as he eased her legs further apart and began kissing her knees, her inner thighs, steadily making his way up to his goal.

“Alec? What are you…” Her voice trailed off as she eyed him uncertainty.

Her confusion made it plain just how limited and disappointing her previous experiences must have been - a tragedy he was eager to remedy. Smiling with anticipation, he eased her back down on the bed, kissing her gently on the lips and whispering, “Just lay back and relax. I want you to enjoy yourself tonight and this is one way to make sure of it.”

He bent down to her nipples once more, sucking one in deeply for several moments before gradually moving lower, kissing her belly button, her stomach, dipping lower to nuzzle through the dark curls adorning her mound. He found the delicate nub of her sex and took it into his mouth, sucking gently on it.

“Dear God!” She gasped, arching up against him, her fingers digging into his hair, trying to drag him away from her, but he refused to move, holding her hips steady with his hands.

“Calm down.” Looking up at her, he murmured, “I’ve been dying to taste you, Maxie. Trust me, you’ll love it. Let me do this for you.” His eyes were flashing with desire, intensely green as they shone up at her, pleading for her consent. Nibbling on her lower lip and nodding as she remembered her earlier promise, she slowly eased her death grip on his hair and tried to relax.

He took the opportunity and ran with it. Easing her into it slowly, he slid his lips across her abdomen, her hip bones, working his way meticulously down again. He began his magic, licking her lightly at first, kissing her, sucking her in between his lips and nibbling on her tender bud. Minutes seemed like hours as he buried himself in her sweetness, in her scent, feeling the tension in her body skyrocket with every move he made.

Max thought she would die the pleasure was so intense. She could feel her body tightening, tendrils of awareness shooting through her as she felt his fingers stroking over her, in her, sliding easily through the moist heat she was producing, his lips, his tongue caressing her intimately, erotically, and she gave herself up to it. To him.

She felt wild and free, alive as never before. As if her body was some newly discovered part of her that she could no longer control. Her stomach quivered, the muscles in her thighs tensing, her hips arching up toward his mouth of their own accord, trying to get closer to him, to ease the delicious tension coiling low in her body, to … “Alec!”

He continued his movements, gradually slowing down after he felt her climax around his tongue, looking up and watching her, his eyes alive with something primitive and possessive. Her eyes were clenched tightly closed, mouth open gasping for air, her whole body shivering with reaction as her fingers twisted in his hair.

He slid his lips up over her body, taking her mouth again and again, plundering her with hot, wet-tongued kisses. Deep, erotic kisses that pushed them both over the edge. She could taste herself in his mouth and was stunned by the rush of excitement it aroused in her.

She tilted her head back and he kissed the side of her neck, nibbled along her jawline and then took her mouth again. His tongue fencing and tangling with hers, mating perfectly as his fingers meshed with hers beside her head. Heat tore through her body and she struggled to breathe, to remember her own name. “God. Alec. I… I need…”

“I know, babe. Me too. Me too.” He said between hot, drugging kisses. He nudged her thighs farther apart, positioning himself carefully, his whole body tightening further as he brushed against her moist heat, coating the tip of his shaft with her juices. “Look at me.” He groaned as her hips arched up against him, almost capturing him. He nipped at her lips, repeating his request. “Please, Maxie.”

Her eyes opened, met his dazedly, raw need shimmering in them. A growl left his throat and he moved his hips, pushing his shaft slowly inside her, feeling her clench around him, her eyes glazing over as she cried out, warm velvet enveloping him tightly and welcoming him home.

“Sweet Jesus.” He stopped when he was buried to the hilt, giving them both a moment to adjust, overwhelmed by the absolute rightness of the moment. Certain, as he’d never been before, that he’d finally found that elusive and mysterious goal he’d been subconsciously searching for his entire life. This was it. He was finally home.

Max clenched his fingers in hers, feeling her body stretch around him, feeling him press deeper and deeper, his shaft pulsing and throbbing inside her, filling the empty void she’d been carrying around for so long. She’d never felt this complete. Had never imagined anything could feel this good. She whimpered and stretched her head up, licking at his lips and covering his mouth with hungry kisses as she continued to gaze at him through half-lidded eyes.

After a long, endless minute, he began to move, slowly, carefully, easing out and then filling her, again and again, out and then in, over and over, trying to drag out the intense pleasure coursing through their veins. Her body began to move with his, finding his rhythm and meeting each one of his strokes, her heartbeat quickening, matching the rapid beat of his. She was wet and warm, so tight around him, her nipples hard buds against his chest, brushing against him with every stroke of his body. “God, you feel so good, baby.”

“Mmmm.” She mumbled incoherently against his lips, starting to move faster, harder against him as she felt the tension building again, her body about to take flight. About to jump off the high cliff she suddenly found herself on. “Al…ec… Oh... Oh… Please...”

The muscles of her womb contracted tightly around him and he barely managed to hang on through her climax, his body going rigid. Goosebumps rose on her flesh as she screamed out his name and God’s, the pleasure as she spasmed around his shaft almost too much to bear.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Max realised he was fighting for control and then he began to move again before she came all the way back down. Driving into her with long, deep strokes that had beads of perspiration breaking out on his skin, he released her hands and moved his down to her hips, her legs, pulling them up and over his arms, spreading her wider, changing his angle of penetration.

She cried out at the new sensation and moved her arms up around his neck, her nails raking over his shoulders, down his back, feeling the raw power barely contained in the man above her. He flexed and strained under her fingers, his muscles bunching as he drove inside her. She knew the exact moment he gave up the struggle to hold himself back, felt the deep thrust and drag of his erection inside her as his strokes sped up. Felt her own body responding wildly, molten lava spreading quickly through her.

Alec pressed deeper and deeper, his head arching back, low growls of pleasure rumbling over and over in his chest. Plunging inside her again, he pushed up against her cervix and then past it, causing his partner to arch violently up off the bed, digging her nails into his back, drawing blood. Indescribable pleasure soared through him, his body pistoning wildly as he came, spilling his seed deep inside her, almost passing out as she clenched repeatedly around him. “Max!”

She pressed against him; nails buried in his shoulders as shock waves overpowered her, her staggering release shaking through her. She just about died when she felt him cum, felt him filling her with his essence. Spasms shook her body, tossing her helplessly about. She couldn’t get out a coherent sound as she struggled to breathe through her sobs, unaware of the tears raining down her face.

Alec released her legs, his fingers running up to tangle in her hair, lowering his head and resting his cheek next to hers, shaking uncontrollably. Eventually noticing her tears, he lifted his head a bit, pressing light kisses over her cheeks and lips, murmuring, “It’s all right, baby. Everything’s okay.” He pulled her into his arms and rolled over on to his back, taking her with him.

The room finally stopped spinning, the earth stopped shaking and Max dimly became aware of his words, of his lips pressing softly against her forehead, of his arms wrapped gently around her, holding her close to his body. She slowly raised her head and swiped at the tears still coating her cheeks with one hand, the other pressed over his heart feeling it slow down to a more normal rhythm. “Sorry,” she whispered huskily. “I’m okay. I just… That was… … ” She shook her head and sighed, unable to find a word to adequately describe it.

“Yeah. Exactly.” His lips curved up in a sleepy grin. I’ve rendered her speechless again. That’s got to be good. He studied her carefully, noting the languid smile lifting her lips, the slumberous slant to her eyes, the way her body draped heavily over his. I’ve tired her out.

Brushing his lips against hers, he ran a hand through her hair and pulled her head down to his chest. “Close your eyes and get some sleep, Maxie.” His lips quirked as he yawned, “We’ll need the energy later.”