Maxine felt her body tremble at the thought—and let out an even louder moan when he slid a finger inside her, moving it with skill. "Do you like that?" Liam whispered against her neck, and Maxine couldn't answer—she just gave a weak nod as he lifted her, guiding her legs around his waist and settling her on a low ledge jutting out from the wall. The heat of her pressed against his stomach was like a direct challenge to the intense erection teasing her mercilessly, driving her insane. "You ready for this, baby?" Liam murmured in her ear. "Please!" Maxine begged, crashing her mouth onto his. "What was that? Say it," he teased with a smirk. "You know! Now!" she growled, nearly punching him. "Ohhh, this?" Liam asked, and Maxine let out a sharp moan as his hips thrust forward, pressing her back against the wall and sliding into her, slow—inch by inch—until he was buried completely inside her. "God!" she gasped. "My friends call me Liam," he quipped, starting to move inside
Liam stood by the cabin's only window, alert and tense, his senses dialed to the max. Adrenaline surged through his body, and he felt like his heart could explode right out of his chest at any second. But the forest was so silent, it seemed like even a branch cracking a kilometer away would echo through the trees. Meanwhile, Maxine rummaged through the only closet in the place. The clothes smelled musty from storage, but they were clean. She pulled out something that would fit—and, thankfully, found a pair of boots smaller than Liam's. And, as in any proper hunting cabin, there were several rifles and boxes of ammunition tucked in the back. "Relax. The door's locked, we're surrounded by hunting rifles and ammo," Maxine said. "Besides, I promise—they're not going to find us." "How can you be so sure?" Liam muttered. "Because to find us in the middle of the night, they'd need to know how to track. And those guys barely looked like they knew how to chew their own food," she grow
The silence in the room was funereal—just like the expression frozen on the face of the dead man. The moment the blood-covered heel slid out of his ear, Liam let out a savage roar, launching himself backward with all his weight, chair and all. His body crashed down onto the man behind him, crushing him. At the same time, Maxine slammed her head backward into the face of the guy holding her, shattering his nose. She dropped to the floor, swinging her tied hands under her legs and kicking the guy with the broken nose away before sprinting toward the gun. One of the men was trying to choke Liam out, but the chair had splintered, and Maxine watched as he rose like a beast, smashing what remained of the chair into the attacker with brutal force. He turned at the sound of the first gunshot—and saw Maxine holding the weapon. One man was already running out of the room, and she darted after him, tackling him to the ground. "There's more outside! There's more outside!" she shouted just
"Not yet. Last mark." They might have sounded like simple words, but for Thorne and Weston, the two ex-marines stationed in that van—they meant everything. "Not yet" meant Lieutenant Johnson was not authorizing them to intervene. "Last mark" meant they were to stick to her closely and only act when there was absolutely no other option—waiting for her final signal. And more than anything, those words meant: she was drugged, but not incapacitated. Thorne jumped into the driver's seat, tailing the van where Maxine and Liam had been taken. In the back, Weston quietly prepared the assault gear. They exited the city via a busy highway, but about an hour later, they turned off down a dirt road that led into the forest. Maxine began to stir as the van jolted and bounced over potholes, but she kept her eyes shut to avoid tipping off her captors. When they pulled her out and tied her to a chair, she let her body go limp. Her hands were bound behind her back, and through barely opened
With a low growl, Liam scooped Maxine up into his arms, pressing her tightly against him as he deepened the kiss. She could feel his arousal growing hard against her stomach as their mouths moved together, their tongues dancing between lust and restraint. When they finally pulled apart with a satisfied sigh, they looked at each other for a long second, and he smiled. "Want me to bring you something for a headache?" he asked sweetly. "But I don't have a headache…" "Then you already know what I'm going to do to you tonight! I want wild sex!" "But—" "Wild sex, I said!" Liam declared, and she burst out laughing as she kissed him again. The rest of the night was a whirlwind. Maxine handled collecting donation checks, but she didn't take her eyes off Liam. Most of the time, his father or Alex was with him—but if Maxine had expected trouble to come from one of Garrett's enemies, she was about to be surprised by a very different kind of threat. She'd seen that woman circling ar
If there was one thing Maxine Johnson had in abundance, it was the desire to help others. In the sea of lies she swam in to keep her cover story straight with Liam, there were still plenty of truths—and the fact that she'd grown up in an orphanage was one of them. Unfortunately, for people raised in orphanages, life usually went one of two ways: detachment or responsibility. Maxine had chosen the latter. Growing up without parents was tough, but she'd had good people around her to help her stay on track. That was why giving back felt like the right thing to do. The following week was hectic. Maxine swapped her high heels for low-heeled boots, and Liam was annoyed because even then, his executives couldn't stop drooling over her. They threw themselves into organizing the charity gala before the first cargo ship set sail, and Liam was genuinely surprised to see that Maxine had the organizational power of a general at war. Wherever she moved, people scrambled to follow orders. Fin