His End Game (MMG #1) (45 page)

“You won’t. I promise.”

He ran his tongue over my lips and slightly deepened his thrust. There was no way in hell that I was going to put up with this for eight more months. I slid my hands up his back and tightly gripped the tops of his shoulders. Then I brushed my sensitive nipples against his muscular chest while at the same time pulling up into his downward thrust. His head tipped down and his eyes locked on mine. “Again,” I gasped and let out a throaty moan. He closed his eyes, cursed under his breath and I knew I had him. He gave it to me again, except this time it was hard and deep and exactly what I needed. Suddenly I was there. “I’m there Max.”

Three thrusts later he buried his face in my neck, let out a long guttural moan and poured himself into me. I gave myself a silent pat on the back.

As we lay in bed, I watched Max rub his hand up and down my belly and couldn’t help but smile. I ran my fingers through his hair and quietly confessed what was on my mind. “Priscilla got to me when she said that you had sex with her at MMG. I know I shouldn’t have believed her, yet I started thinking about our lack of communication and how I hadn’t even seen the garage and I let what she said get to me.”

His eyes slid from my belly up to my face and I glanced away. “Look at me,” he softly demanded. I shifted my gaze back to him. “I would never have done that to you, but I get why you
doubted me. I should have been more open and more cautious in dealing with her. That’s on me and I promise it’s a mistake I won’t repeat. Kurt watched her leave and I filed an application for a restraining order against her. It’s over. I promise. As for the garage,” he shrugged, “I didn’t want you to see it until it was finished.”

I arched my eyebrow at him and asked, “Are there anymore scary psychotic women from your past that I should be aware of?”

He smiled and touched his mouth to mine. I took that as a no.

Max and I spent the next few days helping my dad move into his new condo. Max was worried about me bartending while pregnant and since Piper still didn’t have a job and Max didn’t have a manager for MMG Charlotte, he came up with a plan. He proposed that I help him run MMG until the baby was born and Piper take my place bartending at Dragonfly. Apparently this plan suited Piper because not even three seconds after Max had presented it, she was on the phone with Kurt setting up bar-tending lessons.

Joss picked teal green as the color of her bridesmaid’s dresses. Now that I had put on some pregnancy weight, mine was a little snug. A month ago it fit perfectly and barely accentuated my chest. Now it looked obscene. Max loved it of course. He couldn’t keep his hands off of me and every time he talked about how much he wanted to tag me in it, he earned himself an eye roll.

Max in a tuxedo was a sight to see. I almost cried when he came home with his hair cut shorter, but he quickly got me over it. He was a gorgeously sexy badass in his dinner jacket, sporting his new haircut and a five o clock shadow.

And he was all mine
.

The wedding went off without a hitch. Joss looked stunning in her dress and was the happiest that I had ever seen her. Kurt? Well Kurt, like Max, was just hot.

After the ceremony, while waiting for the photographer to finish up I watched how seamlessly Max fit back in with everyone. He even managed to get along with Dillon. I’m sure that my being pregnant and madly in love with him had a little something to do with it. Finally, we followed the bride and groom up a flight of stairs to the reception.

The table decorations and flowers were amazing but what made the night, other than two of my best friends getting hitched, was the music. Ben Edwards, Dillon Whitaker and Mass Seduction were playing together and it was brilliant. I was out on the dance floor with Polly and Lena when I happened to glance outside and see Piper and Gage out on the balcony. From their body language it looked like they were arguing, but when I glanced back a minute later they were gone.

I knew there was something up with those two
.

Gage was a good guy. I couldn’t imagine him ever hurting Piper. Before I could further investigate, the music paused for the cutting of the cake. While Joss and Kurt were shoving cake into each other’s faces, I scanned the room. Dillon, Lena and Polly were laughing at something Dillon had said, Harry and Garrett were conversing at the bar and my dad was trying to cheer up a glowering Piper. Max was nowhere to be seen. Just then the lead singer started strumming his guitar and when I recognized the song, my heart flip-flopped and my breath caught in my throat.

All I want is you
.

The words to this song were permanently etched into my heart. Every time I heard it I thought about the night Max and I spent together before he left and falling in love with him so long ago. I awakened from my reverie when Max’s approached me. Our eyes met, he held out his hand and my pulse spiked.

God I love this man
.

“Did you plan this?” I asked, as he swept me onto the dance floor.

“Mmmmm….maybe.”

My eyes filled. “I can’t believe I am here….dancing with you…to this song.” I barely managed to get the words out.

“Shhh,” he whispered and wiped the tears from my eyes. He pulled me close and quietly sang the words to the song in my ear while dancing us around the floor. Feeling him pressed firmly against me with his hands on my body while singing this song made my heart ache. I wanted him …here with me… like this… forever.

“Oh Max,” I sighed and planted my face in his chest. He tipped his head down to look at me. I swallowed deeply, looked up into his beautiful eyes and allowed him to see the power he held over my heart.

His eyes moved over my face. “You believe it now, don’t you?” he asked.

I hesitated. “Believe what?”

“That you are my end game.”

I swallowed deeply before responding. “I believe it Max.”

He placed his hands on either side of my face, leaned in and slowly touched his lips to mine. “You…are…mine,” he whispered against my lips. “Let me hear you say it.”

“I am yours.”

He stepped back and placed his hands on my belly. “This… is… mine,” he declared. “Say it, Ellison.”

I put my hands on top of his. “This is yours.”

He led me from the dance floor and into a quiet side room before continuing. “I told Kurt that I wouldn’t do this until the time was right.”

My breath hitched. “Do what?”

“I have been waiting a long time for you to get that you are mine, babe. I have always known this but somewhere along the way….you forgot. I knew from the moment I saw you in Dragonfly’s parking lot that it was going to take some work to make you remember. I’ve gotta say, my gorgeous girl, you have made me work for it.”

What
?

I opened my mouth to protest, but was silenced by a kiss. “I am crazy in love with you Ellison Elizabeth Davis and have been for as long as I can remember.”

Oh God
.

I blinked back the tears. “I’ve told you time and again that you are my end game. When we danced, just now, you showed me that you finally fucking get it. I love you. I want to take care of you. I will never leave you. I will protect you and our children,” he paused, cut his eyes to my belly and continued, “for as long as I breathe. Tell me you get this.” The love in his eyes for me was staggering.

“I get it Max,” I whispered through my tears.

I so get it
.

“About fucking time,” he muttered. Before I could get a word in he reached down into his pants pocket and dropped to his knee.

OhGodohGodohGod
.

“I want our forever Ellison. Will you give it to me?”

“Yes,” I sobbed, “I will give you our forever, Max.”

He stood back up and took my hand in his. “This was my mom’s. My dad gave it to her when he wanted a forever with
her. This ring represents the good before the bad. I want you to wear it because, other than the brief time that my mom was alive, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. We have already had our bad so now begins our good.” The ring was an exquisite round diamond surrounded by sapphires.

He slid it onto my finger. Then he leaned down and gave me a soul scorching kiss.

My heart belonged to this man. “From the bottom of my soul I love you, Max McLellan.”

He smiled. “I would have followed you to the ends of the Earth, if that is what it took to make you mine. Promise that you will love me always, Ellison Davis?”

I touched my mouth to his and smiled. “Always.”