Stand (Black Addiction Book 3) (8 page)

“How many of those pills did you shove into my mouth?” His eyes had a hard time staying open as he swayed unsteadily on his feet.

“Ummm. A couple?”

It happened so fast I couldn’t be sure. That stupid packaging had been the work of the Devil and I was trying to get them out quickly, I can’t be positive of how many. Two, maybe three? Definitely not more than three. God, did I give him too much? No, no one was that stupid. There was no need to panic.

“Let me check.”

I unwound myself from his body—risky considering he was having trouble with gravity—and thankfully his legs accepted his weight without my help. Small victories, but still too early to cheer— moving on. Next I grabbed the paper bag, and sifted for the box I had opened. Success. Another victory with the first one that tumbled out being our golden ticket. All I had to do was look at the vacant places where pills should be.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Oh fuck!

“I need to lie down.” Max groaned as his head fell forward on his chest, his fight with gravity entering the second round. Ding Ding.

If I thought this ordeal couldn’t get worse, I was seriously mistaken. It could always get worse, which it was.

The fact I was standing in his living room in my underwear or that I had been dry humping his leg flew completely out the window as my attention returned once again to watching Max’s vitals. The rise and fall of his chest had never been such a welcome freaking relief. I couldn’t even appreciate its fine form any more, the only concern that the heart within it kept beating.

“I think you should try and stay conscious.” My brain thankfully jumped online as I ran through my mental crisis checklist. “I need to call Poison Control.”

“Beth, me staying awake is probably not going to happen right now.” His eyes opened, before shutting again, his body fighting the good fight and keeping him upright.

“Oh fuck, please just hold on a little longer.”

I grabbed my cell from my purse as I cursed every swear word I knew and even made up some, the number thankfully—probably because of idiots like me—printed on the back of the box.

“Bedroom, that way.” Max started to limp toward the closed door down the hall, his hands on the wall to support his weight.

My fingers couldn’t dial fast enough as I ran to Max, my body fitting underneath his shoulder as I helped him to his room, his feet getting more unsteady with each step.

Great, if he passed out, I’d have to add a head injury to my current list of misdemeanors. Once again I was mentally trying to make deals with whichever spiritual being was in control of this debacle.

Whatever I did, I needed to be fast, the call connecting just as we made it into his bedroom, a few feet away from his bed. He didn’t wait for me, the last few steps taken under his own steam before he collapsed onto the mattress, thankfully not face first.

“Hello Poison Control . . .” I didn’t hear the rest of the rattled off greeting, probably something I should have been paying attention to. Not that common sense had prevailed yet, I mean, really? Why start now?

“My friend took four Benadryl by accident; is he going to die?” I yelled into the receiver, my hand on Max’s chest as it continued its up and down.

Of course that was a slight skewing of the truth, that I had forced fed them to him after I’d already tried to poison him glossed over in the need to get help. Oh, and these calls were monitored, so I would rather them call the police
after
I was sure he was going to see tomorrow.

“Ma’am, my name is Rhonda.” Her voice was calm and level the polar opposite to my current freak out. “Do you need 9-1-1 assistance?”

“I have no idea, he’s still breathing.” You didn’t need medical school to know that was a huge positive. And I needed as much positive as I could get.

“Well that’s a good start. Is your friend a child, a pregnant woman or elderly?”

“No, he’s not old or pregnant. He’s thirty-one.” I probably could have just said he was male and his age, but like always I was over complicating.

“So male, thirty-one. Is he responsive? Unconscious? Have any existing medical conditions?”

“Um, no he’s healthy.” I think, at this point it was a guess. “I don’t know if he’s conscious.” How quickly can someone slip into a coma? Who gives someone four Benadryl?

“Ma’am I need you to calm down and check for me okay?” Easy for her to say, she hadn’t drugged the bass player for Black Addiction. Calming down was a tall order. “Can I have your name so I know who I’m speaking with.”

“It’s Beth.” I guess that’s so they know who to address the warrant to.

“Max?” I sat down on the bed beside him and gently shook his shoulder. His lips parted as a breath pushed past. “Max I need you to stay awake for me.”

“Beth, I’m awake. Tired. Need to sleep,” he said without opening his eyes.

“He’s awake but super drowsy.” This time my words directed at Rhonda. “He responded though and his breathing looks normal.”

“Okay Beth, that’s great.” I heard the clicks of her computer keyboard, hopefully the tapping producing a good verdict. “I would say that he is experiencing a side effect from the drugs. The typical dose is two tablets but if he is an adult male and healthy he should have no lasting effects. Are you able to observe him for the next six to eight hours?”

“Yes, I can stay here.” The only way I was leaving was if someone dragged me out, even then I’d put up a fight.

“Wonderful, Beth. Just watch his breathing and try and get a response every hour. Other than that, he can follow up with his regular doctor.”

“Are you sure he isn’t going to die?”
Please tell me he won’t die.

“I can’t give you guarantees but I’m almost positive no one has ever overdosed from four Benadryl,” Rhonda laughed. “He’ll be fine. Probably drowsy for a while though.”

“Oh thank you, thank you so much.”

“No problem, Beth. Now stay on the line while we get some information for our records.”

It was such a relief I wasn’t sure if I had to call 9-1-1 for myself, my heart beating way faster than it should be. And it was with absolute pleasure that I gave the heavenly being on the other end of the phone—or Rhonda if you want to get technical—Max’s and my details. I guess so they knew who to charge if things didn’t pan out so positively. Not that I was worried about that anymore. Jail time would be worth it if it meant Max was going to be okay.

“Beth.” Hearing him say my name made me so relieved I almost cried. “I’ve never broken a promise to you; I promise I’m going to be fine.”

He was right—in all the years we had known each other, he had never broken a promise. And if ever there were a time for him to be consistent, it would be now.

My head felt like
a hundred pound weight was chilling on my forehead. That, and I was struggling to open my eyes. My lids able to crack open for a second before slamming shut. It was a game I was playing, my body wanting to stay asleep while my brain was telling me to wake up. Neither of them wining at this point as I floated in and out of some weird lucid state unsure of whether or not I was dreaming.

To test out the theory, I figured I’d try and move. The message from my cortex obviously got through as my arm lifted off the mattress and stretched out. I worked out that it wasn’t my foggy state that had stopped me from moving, but instead the warm body lying on my chest. Beth.

The night’s events hadn’t escaped my memory. I recalled all of it, its hilarity rivaling the best comedy stand up I’d ever seen. What started as Beth’s desperation to avoid some dude at dinner—I still needed more intel on the asshole— was quickly followed by a few bad decisions. It was like a series of unfortunate events, shit just started to unravel. And yet given a choice, I wouldn’t have changed a damn thing.

If I had known that all it was going to take was some strawberries and four Benadryl to get Beth in bed with me then I would have it done the day I’d knocked on her door. Sure I’d said all the bullshit about me being happy to just be friends with her, but I had been kidding myself. Given the opportunity for more, I would definitely take it.

Sadly despite the good fortune of last night—I refused to see it any way but positive—I hadn’t been able to enjoy being in bed with one of the hottest women who walked the planet.

Things had started out promising, the kiss and my hands on her giving me a hard-on from hell, but before I could get to any of the good parts, the freaking drugs knocked me so hard on my ass I could barely think. Of course, she’d given me enough antihistamine to take down a fucking horse, so it was no wonder I went lights out, goodnight.

While I felt sluggish, I wasn’t blind. Before I’d lost my ability to stay upright, I’d managed to get the dress off Beth and onto my living room floor. It was a much better place for it. Which meant my parting view had been of her knock-out body—seriously deserved a standing ovation—in her bra and panties. And thank fuck when she crawled into my bed she didn’t only keep her threads where I’d left them, but also helped me lose the rest of mine. My T-shirt, the only thing I remember taking off.

Another win was my grid coming back online; the shit causing the Z’s easing out of my system. And if any part of me was still sleeping, it sure as hell wasn’t my cock. The bastard was still antsy about the hard-on that had been wasted last night. And given half a chance, I wasn’t passing it up. No, sir. Not this guy.

“You’re awake; how are you feeling?” She lifted her head off my chest, her eyes focusing on mine.

I wasn’t sure if it had been my arm moving that woke her or she’d been sitting vigil the whole time. Her beautiful smile, my reward for finally shaking the fatigue.

“I’d tell you I’m fine, but you didn’t buy it the thirty times I told you last night.” My hand ran down the length of her arm. “You stayed?”

I’d assumed she would have tucked me in and said goodbye. I couldn’t imagine I would have been good company. Unless hanging out with a corpse is your idea of a good time. She hadn’t only gotten me into bed and wiggled herself beside me, but also spent the night by my side. Couldn’t have hidden my grin if I’d tried.

“Well of course I stayed.” Her hands moved across my chest, the shiver traveling all the way to my dick. “I didn’t want you to die alone. It was the least I could do.” She shrugged, giving me a smile.

“Oh, I think you probably did enough.” I laughed, pulling her into a hug. Mmm. I liked that. I liked it a lot.

“I swear to you, I am never putting anything into your mouth again.” She hid her head in the crook of my neck; I felt her smile against my skin.

“Well that’s a shitty promise to make.” In fact I had a list of things I wanted her to put into my mouth, her embargo was not cool with me.

“I think it’s for the best.” She turned to the side treating me to the view of her beautiful brown eyes. “If last night is anything to go by, I can’t be trusted.”

“Last night was fucking fantastic.” I wasn’t even kidding, other than the case of narcolepsy, it had been stellar. Even the asshole we’d seen at the restaurant couldn’t rain on my parade, his appearance working in my favor. Thank you, douchebag.

“Hey can you wait a minute.” She lifted herself from my chest, my arms stopping her from leaving. “I need to check something.”

“What do you need to check?” I had no intention of letting her go, whatever it was, could wait.

“That one of the side effects isn’t hallucinations or delusions.” She rolled her eyes not buying my version of events.

“There’s nothing wrong with my mind, sweetheart.” My lips that up until now had been playing nice punctuated the point by kissing her forehead. “Or my body.” My eyes shot down to the rod between my legs, the bastard begging for attention.

“Yeah, that’s been there most of the night.” She bit her lip, my hard-on not escaping her attention.

“I’m not surprised.” Not like he had anywhere to hide, and I sure as shit wasn’t embarrassed. “You were here and he knows what he likes, can’t blame him for trying.” I grinned like a smug asshole. Couldn’t help myself, she was just too fucking adorable.

“Can you please be serious?” She elbowed me in the ribs, her little jab packing more of a punch than I’d anticipated.

“Fine, Beth.” I rolled onto my side, our faces inches from each other. “I seriously want to kiss you right now. And you’re going to let me because it’s what you want too.”

Maybe I was arrogant or didn’t want to give her the chance to change her mind, but I didn’t wait for a response. I wanted to very much pick up where we’d left off last night. My lips on hers. Which is exactly where I put them, my mouth hungry for hers as my tongue teased her lips apart. I should have been sweet, but I wasn’t, tilting her chin so I could get even deeper. The only time I stopped was to give her a chance to breathe, my mouth pulling away and landing on her throat.

“We shouldn’t.” Each breath deep and desperate as her hand moved against my bicep. “We got caught up in the moment last night.” Breath. “I’d had too much wine and . . . we shouldn’t.” Breath.

“Let me be clear about something, if all you want this to be is a kiss that’s fine, I’ll stop right there.” Ain’t no way we were doing anything if she didn’t want it too. And even though her body was saying yes, if her mouth said no that is exactly how far it would go. “But the only good reason why we shouldn’t is because you don’t want to, everything else is bullshit.”

Her fingers trailed along the grooves of my chest, each sweep driving me further into insanity.

“Beth?” This wasn’t the time for mixed signals and I needed the words.

“I said we shouldn’t, I didn’t say I don’t want to.”

“Well good, because unlike last night I don’t have a truck load of drugs making me stop.”

“So don’t stop.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the residual Benadryl hangover, or the fact I’d been hard for who knows how long. But hearing her say those words was enough to launch my back off that mattress and on top of her before it seemed humanly possible. I wanted her under me with her lips on mine, and I wasn’t waiting a second longer.

She parted her mouth the minute mine hit hers, the access granted juicing me up even further as my tongue decided to take the guided tour. And so my hand wouldn’t feel left out, it also joined in on the action, its own expedition happening as it moved up her leg and across her stomach.

“Max, I want to touch you.” She moaned into my ear, her hands doing their best to move, given I had almost pinned her underneath.

“I told you I have a hard time saying no to you.”

I’d barely tilted to the side when her hands went straight for my cock, wrestling it free from the boxers it had been trying to jailbreak from since dinner. If my hands hadn’t been so busy undoing the clasp of her bra I probably would have helped, but there was very little that could have pulled me away. And with a flick, the piece of lace did a
David Copperfield
and disappeared.

Boom. Better than Vegas.

“Fuck.” The curse fell out of my mouth as her fingers moved along the length of my cock, her tight grip half way between pleasure and pain.

New plan.

I lifted my ass off the mattress and yanked down my boxers, cursing the SOBs for not magically disappearing by themselves. And with those taken care of, it was time to get Beth to the same level, i.e. she was losing her panties ASAP.

She arched her back pressing her tits against me as my hands got busy, my fingers hitting her wet core before I could get the lace off.

“Oh, Beth.”

Her panties didn’t stand a chance, what was left of them after I’d torn them from her body were tossed aside as I forced myself to slow the fuck down.

The hand job she was giving me wasn’t helping me ease on the brakes, with the up and down along the length of my dick feeling so good I might completely give up jerking off. Clearly I had no idea what I had been doing when hands on cock could feel like that.

“Max, oh God, yes.” She bowed off the bed as I plunged a finger into her. Her slickness coated me instantly as my thumb circled her pussy.

“I missed this,” I added another finger as she loosened her grip on my cock, her ability to multitask severely hindered by my hand action. “You wet for me turns me on so damn much.”

“I don’t think your cock could get any harder.” Her fingers moved to the base of my shaft and cupped my balls. “And I missed this too.” The gentle pull on my nuts making me want to come before I’d even had the chance to enter her.

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

I had barely started fingering her and I was already moving to the second act, my body shifted off the mattress and repositioning between her thighs. Her look of surprise fucking priceless as my tongue got up close and personal with her sensitive flesh.

“Oh God,” she screamed as my mouth moved over her core and sucked hard on her clit, her hands threading through my hair as I continued to suck.

“So good.” Her body shook as my tongue dove deep, leaving no part of her unclaimed. “Please don’t stop.”

If I could have torn my mouth away—wasn’t happening—I’d have reassured her that there was no danger of that. I would lick and suck her beautiful pussy until I developed lockjaw if it made her happy. No problem there. But it didn’t take nearly as long as I would have liked. Her body convulsed as I added a finger, her pussy gripping me tight as I continued to play.

“Yes, yes.” Her head thrashed against the pillow, my eyes alternating between watching her come and my perfect view between her legs. The struggle was real and thankfully I didn’t have to choose.

“Max,” she moaned, the orgasm I’d given her not enough for me stop. “I want you in me.” Her hand yanked hard against my hair, my mouth losing suction.

“Well maybe I wasn’t done yet.” My tongue lapped against her thigh teasing her, even though my dick was cursing the torture.

“Okay then.” Her back jacked off the mattress with her full body weight behind her, the momentum pitching us both off balance.

“What the fuck?” Her body landed heavily against me as her palms slapped against my pecs, trying to right herself. The warm sting against my skin sent a shiver right down to my cock.

“I’m stronger than I used to be.” She laughed, her legs positioning either side of my hips as she straddled me. “And I told you what I wanted.”

“You want this?” I swiveled my hips, the ridge of my hard-on sliding against her wet core, the sensation so fucking amazing I wanted to close my eyes and just absorb it for a moment.

“Yes, that’s what I want.” She joined me with the hip action as I reached up and palmed both her tits. Had to admit this position had some major advantages. The access to her body was one, the view another.

“Yeah, I like that too.” My eyes shot down to watch as the head of my dick slid in and out of view as she rocked against me.

The wet friction between us wasn’t just getting me close; I could feel the desperation in her as well. I had started this game of tease and I was fucking ready to end it, my dick needing to be inside her as of five minutes ago.