Maximum Dare - Vanessa Fewings Page 0,40

“Ghosts don’t exist, Daisy.”

She rose and stood beside me. “Then what was that noise?”

Before turning the corner, Max gave me a wink to reassure me he’d be fine. I didn’t actually believe someone was in here with us, but I’d definitely heard something.

He had no idea how sexy his cute grin looked, but with that one gesture of reassurance, he’d made my toes curl and my heart flip-flop. He was still here, after he could have made an excuse to leave.

I felt a twinge of regret at the thought that he would soon disappear out of my life and I would not have the chance to get to know him better. He’d been kind to me at Nick’s party. I shouldn’t have run out on him like that at the Hampstead estate. I’d just been so mortified that all I’d wanted was to place as much distance as possible between me and that manor.

Max took my hand and pulled me closer, leading me down the hallway. At his warm touch, my limbs went weak and I almost forgot what we were up to. Ghost hunting—that’s right. Checking out the spirits, guiding them into the light.

I couldn’t think of another person I’d rather go ghost chasing with.

All Max had to do was walk into the room or arch a brow or breathe for heaven’s sake.

We stopped just outside one of the rooms.

“Let me go first,” he said, shaking me out of my daydreams.

“Don’t you want me to instead? I’m more qualified to deal with ghosts.”

“No,” he said incredulously. “That’s not how this works.”

It made me smile.

“Stay here.” He disappeared inside the dark room.

This was the stuff horror films were made of…the couple splitting up, one left alone while the other goes off bravely exploring the mystery. Each one had a fifty-fifty chance of dying first.

“Max,” I called out.

Silence.

“Max, are you okay?”

A shuffling sound reached my ears.

I hurried after him through the door and slammed right into a firm chest, knocking the air out of my lungs. Max’s strong arms reached around my waist and lifted me off the floor. He pressed me against the wall and leaned his body against mine. I inhaled sharply and wrapped my legs around his middle, hooking my fingers behind his neck.

His lips lingered dangerously close to mine. “I want you off the floor,” he said huskily.

“Why?”

“It was a ghost,” he said. “But it’s gone.”

“You saw it?” I was panting.

“It floated off.”

I studied him. “It was a rat, wasn’t it?”

He relented with a look that said yes.

“How big?”

“The size of a double-decker bus.”

I squealed and buried my face in his neck, cringing. Immediately, my senses were stimulated by the familiar scent of the sexy Alpha male who’d protected me. Being this close to Max Marquis made my head spin.

“Are you okay?” he said.

I nodded.

“You shouldn’t be here. Not alone, anyway.”

“I’m not alone.”

“I can’t stay, Daisy.”

“I know.”

“And I can’t kiss you. You understand why, right?”

I understood nothing at the moment because he’d pushed his pelvis against me. I felt his erection nudging between my thighs and there was no moving away. I felt suspended in bliss, lulled by the erotic sensations coursing through my body, thrumming my clit.

Max’s eyes fell to my lips.

I could feel him growing harder.

When he dragged his teeth across his bottom lip it was dangerously inviting…and proof that he was fighting an urge to do more.

“I need to make sure you’re safe.” A flash of desire sparked in his eyes.

I stared at his beautiful mouth.

“I’ve never felt safer,” I said softly.

He was speaking now, saying something in Portuguese, his words hypnotic.

Max leaned in to kiss me and then stopped himself.

I pulled back to see his look of confusion.

He peered into my eyes as though searching for the words to appease me.

“Can I kiss you goodbye, Daisy?” he whispered.

I let out a wistful sigh, which he knew meant yes. His mouth captured mine greedily, persuading me to relent. Our tongues lashed passionately, our moans of desire colliding as the world fell away.

We could have been anywhere.

I’d never been kissed like this…not by any man. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced, this fierce heat that shook me to my core, promising eternal happiness, a life lived in the sun—the kind of affection that could erase a past filled with sadness, replacing it with hope.

He pulled away and studied my face, nearly gasping. “God, your kiss intoxicates me!”

I’d never felt more alive.

Max’s warm breath touched my face. “To taste you…”

The thought of him going down