Give him what?
Catherine’s heart began to pound harder.
The bedroom door was slightly ajar, but that didn’t matter. She lived alone here. No one would walk in.
Still... the small opening sohow made the mont feel even more dangerous.
Maximilian’s hand shifted beside her shoulder, pressing deeper into the mattress.
When Catherine lifted her eyes to him, she realized just how close he was. He was so close she could see the delicate curve of his eyelashes... the darker shade of violet near his pupils... and the unmistakable hunger burning in those eyes as they looked at her.
Her breath trembled.
So... this is it.
He leaned down.
Instinctively, she closed her eyes. She waited for the mont his lips would finally touch hers, ready to lt into it, to welco the warmth she had imagined so many tis before.
Her chest rose and fell slowly, each breath brushing against him. Strangely, his breathing seed to fall into the sa rhythm.
Warm air ghosted across her lips. Her fingers curled slightly against the sheets.
His hand moved. It reached her neck first, warmly and steadily, and then slowly slid downward along the soft lapel of her robe.
"This is botherso..." he murmured.
His breath grazed her mouth as he spoke.
The low vibration of his deep voice rippled through her entire body, making her stomach tighten and her skin burn with awareness.
With a quiet tug, he loosened the knot of her robe. The fabric fell open. A soft gasp escaped Catherine when cool air brushed against her bare skin.
Before the chill could settle, Maximilian leaned closer. The warm skin of his chest pressed against hers. Heat flooded through her instantly.
"Hm," he muttered quietly.
"My towel’s wet."
His lips brushed lightly against her cheek as he shifted.
Catherine didn’t open her eyes. She couldn’t. Every inch of her face tingled with the closeness of him, and she wanted to stay in that suspended mont for as long as possible.
She heard the soft rustling of movent on the bed. A second later... His towel dropped to the floor with a muted thud.
And suddenly... Catherine beca very aware.
Is this the night?
Is this the night they finally cross that line?
Her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. But another feeling crept in, too, sharp and uncertain.
This man...
He had teased her before. He had driven her to the edge only to pull away with that infuriating smirk.
What if this was just another one of his gas?
She didn’t want to think about it.
Not now.
"Catherine..."
His voice was barely more than a whisper, yet it carried the pull of a man calling her from across centuries.
His lips brushed against hers. The touch was feather-light... so soft it almost felt imagined.
Catherine leaned toward him instinctively, letting the warmth of his mouth rest against hers, letting the heat of his body settle slowly over her as though it had always belonged there.
And then she noticed it.
One very unmistakable part of him. Hard and corchingly warm against her.
Her breath hitched. This... didn’t feel like teasing anymore.
After that first brush of lips, he didn’t move. Slowly, Catherine opened her eyes.
Maximilian was already looking at her, as if he had been waiting for this exact mont. Waiting for her gaze to et his.
"Catherine..."
This ti, his lips caught hers in a gentle nip.
A small gasp slipped from her.
She wasn’t sure whether it was the sudden bite... or the way he said her na.
"Give ..." he murmured.
He leaned closer again, and just when she thought he was finally going to kiss her properly... He touched his nose to hers.
Catherine blinked.
"What do you want?" she asked.
And then, in pure irritation, she bit the first thing within reach.
His nose.
Maximilian froze for a second before a low chuckle escaped him.
He let his full weight settle over her, unconcerned about the unmistakable tension between their bodies. As if he felt no sha in the way he pressed against her... nor any fear of what she might think, as if sothing like this was just a norm between them.
If anything, he seed entirely certain of her answer.
The warmth of his laughter brushed against her neck as his breath fell in short bursts over her skin.
His face dipped lower, nudging softly along the curve of her throat, grazing her earlobe in a way that made every nerve in her body spark to life.
Catherine’s patience snapped.
"I can’t breathe, dummy," she protested, pushing weakly at his shoulder.
He didn’t move.
"Bear with ..." he murmured.
Catherine let out a frustrated sigh.
Breathing was difficult like this, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t love the feeling of his bare skin pressed against hers... the steady heat of him surrounding her from every side.
"Catherine... give your hand."
For a mont, she simply stared at him.
Then irritation surged through her.
All this... for that?
He had shalessly pressed himself against her like this, and driven her half mad... And all he wanted was her hand?
Honestly... she didn’t exactly mind the situation. But it felt terribly one-sided. Why settle for a one-way pleasure when it could very easily beco two?
She was more than willing.
"I am not fellating soone who isn’t my husband," she declared.
Wasn’t that what he had said the other day? That he wouldn’t sleep with soone who wasn’t his wife?
Well.
This was payback.
Maximilian paused.
Catherine felt it imdiately... the way his entire body seed to stiffen above her.
Slowly, he pushed himself up onto his elbows and studied her face as if trying to decide whether she was serious.
Catherine sucked in a deep breath the mont the weight lifted from her chest. Air rushed back into her lungs, and she suddenly realized how close she had been to drowning in his presence.
She t his eyes. But only for a mont. The intensity in them made her glance away almost imdiately.
Maximilian caught her hand.
She should have resisted, especially after what she had just accused him of asking. But strangely... she didn’t.
He lifted her wrist easily and pinned her hand above her head.
The next mont, his fingers slipped between hers, interlocking them firmly against the mattress.
"Miss Catherine..." he whispered.
His lips curved into that infuriating smirk of his. The sa smirk that always made her want to smack him and kiss him at the sa ti.
"Let go," she protested, trying to push him away with her free hand.
He caught that one too. In one smooth motion, he pinned her second wrist beside the first. Now both of her hands were trapped above her head.
Catherine squird beneath him, trying to twist free. The movent only made things worse.
His gaze dropped. Slowly...Unashadly... His eyes settled on her chest, which rose and fell with every frustrated breath she took.
The look in his eyes darkened instantly... like a man whose patience had finally run out.
And his smirk widened slowly... as if he had just won.
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