Max’s POVShe set her toast down and took the box slowly. Her fingers untied the ribbon with the kind of carefulness that made my throat tighten. She opened the lid and stared.Inside was a fine silver bracelet, set with three stones, onyx, obsidian, and smoky quartz. Dark, like her eyes.Her thumb grazed one of the stones, then looked at me. “Max…”I kissed her cheek. Her skin tasted like salt and sugar and morning.“Don’t say anything yet,” I added, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth, “that’s not all.”Her brow arched. “What else..”“Come with me.”I took her hand and led her down the hallway, past the living room, out the back doors. The warm air wrapped around us like silk. Morning light filtered through the trees in dapples, and the ground was soft with moss and dew as we followed a small trail. Her grip tightened when she heard the music.The notes carried through the trees like wind-chimes, soft, beautiful, impossibly familiar. She gasped as she saw them.The clearing wa
Lana’s POVThe first thing I felt was the thick blanket tangled around my legs. The room was quiet, except for the chirping of the birds outside and the rhythmic rise and fall of his breathing. Morning light slipped between the slats of the blinds, casting golden stripes on the far wall. The air smelled faintly of linen, skin, and the faint salt of the ocean carried in by the wind.My eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the slow hush of daybreak. The clock on the bedside table read 7:24 a.m., but the moment didn’t belong to time. It belonged to this moment. To the slight weight of his arm wrapped around my waist. To the way our legs were tangled beneath the sheets, both our knees brushing now and then with every small shift.I tilted my head slightly, just enough to glance back at him. Max was still asleep, his dark lashes resting on his cheeks, a small furrow between his brows.A smile tugged its way to the surface of my face.I could feel the warmth of his breath against my shoulder,
Max’s POVAnd then she laughed.It was a slow, amused laugh that curled like smoke.“You really are something else,” she said, crossing her arms, clearly unimpressed. “Attracting every single woman in a ten-mile radius. Including the hired help.”“Lana…” I started, voice tight. I hoped she didn’t misunderstand the situation.But she just walked past the maid, who scrambled to grab her uniform and disappear in shame.Lana sauntered over to me, her eyes shining with smug amusement.“Did you want her?” she teased.“I nearly threw her through the wall.”“Good. Because if you’d so much as wanted her, I would’ve made sure you didn’t get to use that mouth of yours for a month.”I smirked despite myself.“You’re not jealous?”She leaned in, dragging her nails lightly down my chest.“No. I’m not jealous,” she said softly. “I just know exactly what’s mine.”Then she kissed me in a possessive, claiming way sealing the moment with heat and laughter.I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted h
Max’s POVI didn’t speak as I drove. My hand rested on her lap the entire ride, and she didn’t ask a single question. Lana always had a way of sensing when something was bigger than words.We left the city lights behind, the road thinning, narrowing, until trees replaced buildings then, I turned into a private lane. It was long and winding, tucked into the side of a forested mountain.When the villa came into view, it looked like it had been carved from a dream. Glass walls, natural wood, and stone steps. A private lake shimmered beyond the back deck, and the air smelled like pine and lavender.She stepped out of the car slowly, her eyes scanning everything like she couldn’t quite believe it.“Max… what is this place?”“Peace,” I said. “And yours. For as long as you want it to be.”She didn’t speak. She just let me take her hand and guide her inside.Warmth greeted us immediately, there was a candlelight flickering across and a quiet fireplace already lit. A maid stepped out from the
Lana’s POVOne hand splayed across my stomach, the other came up to grip my throat again in a gentle but dominant way. My fingers braced against the wall as he moved inside me, his mouth brushing against my shoulder, then biting down softly as the tension built between us.It wasn’t just wild, it was intense.It was as if every thrust was an apology he didn’t know how to say out loud.When we both came, it was quiet, just a gasp, a tremble, the press of his chest against my back as we clung to each other under the water, shaking.He kissed my temple as he slowly pulled out, resting his forehead against the curve of my neck.We stayed there, tangled in water and skin and silence, until the steam began to cool.Later, wrapped in a towel, I stepped into the bedroom to find him getting dressed in the same jeans and black shirt he’d worn yesterday.I gave him a look. “Seriously?”He glanced down. “I didn’t exactly plan to stay overnight.”I laughed, grabbing a hanger from the closet. “You’
Lana’s POVI woke up to the damn sun bleeding through the floor-length curtains, I felt his skin against mine, his arms were around my waist, my heart beating steadily inside my back. For a moment even after fully waking up, I didn’t move. I just lay there, breathing him in. Max.His chest rose and fell with a rhythm that matched mine too perfectly. His arm was across mine and he held me very tightly.I turned my face slightly into the pillow and whispered, “We said we wouldn’t do this again.”He tightened his hold around me. “You said that. I never agreed.”I rolled onto my back, looked up at him. His hair was messed up, the line of his jaw filled with stubble, but his eyes, God, his eyes were looking exceptionally beautiful that morning.He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Let me make you breakfast.”I blinked. “You? Cook?”His mouth twitched. “You’re not the only one who knows her way around a boardroom and a kitchen.”I snorted. “What could you possibly make that isn