control of thought and self and reason, becoming a ball of pleasure and need.
I’m not sure if I moaned or if I cried out, but Maxwell was beyond caring about being overheard and didn’t tell me to be quiet. As the pleasure built to an intensity that made my muscles clench like a closed fist, Maxwell pounded into me even harder.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he moaned.
I wanted to tell him he was so fucking big, but my words came out a garbled groan.
The edges of my vision darkened, and I squeezed my eyes shut as the delicious pressure within me mounted until I couldn’t breathe or do anything else but cling onto that huge, muscular body. If fucking was a drug, I’d be freebasing—flying on a flurry of euphoria.
With one deep thrust, something within me snapped, releasing the most intense gust of sensations. As an orgasm tore through my body like a hurricane, Maxwell shuddered and moaned out his climax.
“You are incredible,” he growled.
“I so fucking needed that,” I moaned in his ear. “Thank you.”
Maxwell carried me across the room and laid me on the bed. I melted against the mattress and stared at him through dazed eyes. In that moment, I was just a girl who’d had the most amazing fuck of her life.
He got on top of the bed beside me and wrapped his arms around my middle. “There’s something off about the Liddells.”
“Huh?” I let my eyelids flutter shut.
“The entire bunch of them are keeping secrets from the archbishop.” His melodic voice drifted through my ears. “That’s why I stole their DNA samples.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The words hit like a punch, making my eyes snap open. I stared into Maxwell’s twinkling eyes that crinkled at the sides from his wide smirk.
“You stole what?” I whispered.
“On the way home, I kept thinking about what Lady Liddell’s bullshit on your parentage.” He slid a hand up my bare thigh, under my skirt, and rubbed circles on my ass cheek.
I nodded, my pulse fluttering in my throat. My mind raced ahead, trying to work out how he could steal a person’s DNA without hypodermic needles, a bunch of vials and subjects dumb enough to allow a schoolboy to extract their blood. It seemed like an impossible heist.
He placed a kiss on the tip of my nose. “You said you were going to prove that Mr. Burgh was only your grandfather, so I thought why not see if I could manufacture a scandal to take their minds of persecuting your family?”
My brows drew together into a frown, but that still didn’t stop me from reaching around him and grabbing a handful of his hard, tight ass. “With a fake DNA test?”
“That was the original plan, but Lady Liddell arrived in time for lunch with Elizabeth, Camden, and Mackinnon Macdonald.”
My lips curved into a smile. That name sounded totally made up. “Who’s that?”
“Macdonald and Macdonald Solicitors in Glasgow has served the Liddell family since 1614.”
“Alright.” I nodded and waited for him to continue.
Maxwell released my ass, rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “I played the uptight asshole, saying I didn’t want a bride who had been sullied.” He chuckled. “Everyone around the table was livid. I’ll have to apologize to Ken for making him sound like such a prick.”
I bit down on my lip, cringing for the quieter twin. “Did Elizabeth tell the truth?”
“She backtracked, saying it was just a few kisses and a hand up her skirt.”
My heart sank. I’d hoped she would admit to lying about Mr. Burgh to save face. Apparently, it was alright to admit to exaggerating fictional events.
“My dad went mental.” Maxwell shook his head as though reliving the experience. “He just had to pay a huge out-of-court settlement in one of his dairies for a manager’s sexual harassment. That sort of bullshit sends him in a rage.”
“What happened next?” I asked.
“Everyone went silent, even Camden bloody Liddell.” Maxwell snorted. “It turns out that he’s not such an alpha male when he doesn’t have a squad of men at his back. Then Elizabeth cracked and blamed Lady Liddell for everything from handing Myra the gun to making her spout all that bullshit about Mr. Burgh on TV.”
My heart flip-flopped, and my breath came in excited, shallow pants. I was no stranger to gossip, but hearing this was like getting three matching numbers on the scratch cards. “No!”
“It gets better.” He turned onto his side and met my gaze. “My mother sent us both out of the