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"You’re beautiful," he whispered when I’d given up and cried out, when I’d finally stilled and he’d crawled overhow it affects ing hiet what he needed this ti he possibly could My handshi him back so I could see hiainsthis ertips

I whispered, "Please"

He groaned, exhaling as he lowered his body over --everything all at once--the feeling of his chest on ainstinto his hair, of his hands pullingas he moved in me

Please don’t ever let this end I don’t want this moment to stop

We were out of words, and covered in sweat, and this, I thought, this is what it’s like to make love

He rolled me on top of him, watched my face until it was too much, too intense, and I let my eyes close as I came I heard the click of the camera, and the heavy thud of it as it hit the hs pressed up in his hands and his brows pinched together in concentration

Iainst my retinas but this time I refused to close my eyes

He fell over ainst each other, breathing and on the edge together He moved his parted lips over an to speak silently

I’

We’d both skipped dinner, so I watched in rapt attention as Max raided the kitchen

He wore boxers but nothing else, and I registered that I’d never just stared at his body Obviously Max was long and sculpted, but he was also easy in his own skin I liked watching him scratch his stoot lost in the way his lips wouldin the produce drawer

"Woh an assorte Maybe so" I’d put on his T-shirt and pulled it up to inhale the smell of him It smelled like his soap, and his deodorant, and the inherent Max-smell of his skin

"I suspect I last went in May"

"What are you looking for?"

He shrugged, pulling out a bowl of grapes "Snacks" He grabbed a six-pack of beer and grinned as he held it up "Stella Nice choice"

"I’rapes, nuts, and a few slices of cheese on a plate and nodded to the bedroorape between , "So, I have a thought," around his bite

"Do tell"

"I’ a fund-raiser at -out night? Max and Sara: blissfully in love" He snacked on a few nuts and studied , "I’ll even make a no-press rule"

"You wouldn’t have to do that"

"I wouldn’t have to, but I would"

It took a while for ht it all through, Max snacked patiently It was such a stark contrast from Andy, who alanted an answer as soon as he’d asked the question The truth is, my mind had never worked that way Politicians pop questions and answers like verbal racquetball It always took er to formulate what I wanted to say And, in the case of Max, it seemed that it took me a couple of months to sort out what I felt

"Iwas that there are so ether And they’ll always be there, easy to pull up every time anyone wants to I’ll always feel hu one"

He finished chewing his bite before answering, "I know"

"So I think you’re right Maybe no press this tiuests, and see how it goes"

Max leaned forward and kissed rape and then slid the plate next to a bottle of water on the bedside table before pulling his T-shirt up and overwas unhurried this tiht was at its blackest and the wind roared just outside the open s With ainstand watching

Nothing had ever been like this

Nothing

Max was curled up behind ht the sky He looked as wrapped all around ry and honest and asking for friction even before his le word once he realized I atching him He just rubbed his face, looked at my lips, and reached for the bottle of water we’d left on the nightstand He offered it toit aside so he could run his hands up and over my breasts

And I was immediately lost in the feel of hi there, kissingdownat flesh and ribs and hip bones I slidto be smothered in his inches and inches of smooth skin I wanted hiers everywhere

His hands were calm and deliberate; he teased What he started to build underpleasure with his hands andme what I liked as if we hadn’t done this so many times before But I understood: it was different here, in ht, and I couldn’t see anything beyond how it felt to finally open my heart to hi sun, all sleep-warledthe side of her bare breast and down the curve of her spine, to where the sheet rested just at her hips