Castillo Del Angel: Marked By Vengeance.

Angel.

Max had changed since the last time I saw him. Apart from the fact that he was now staring at me with a look of adoration that he didn't bother hiding, he was also more soft-spoken.

Despite the fact that he had hurt me when he left last year, it seemed like the time away had done him a lot of good.

Max had been waiting for me in the VIP area and I had been a little nervous as I walked in. As much as I told myself that it wasn't a date, I knew it was.

As I stepped into the booth, he had gotten up to hug me and I was hit with a wave of nostalgia as his chocolate scented hair cream wafted towards my nostrils.

“So tell me, any special someone?” He had asked after we had exchanged pleasantries and also, after five shots.

My mind went to the masked stranger but I pushed him out of my head as I replied, “No.”

“What about you? Things didn't go well with your fiancee?” I asked innocently even though I was fishing.

“On the contrary, we're actually married now.” His face fell, and then he lifted his left hand in my direction where a shiny onyx ring sat. In the center of the ring was an engraved ‘E’.

Still smiling, I nodded my head. “Well, she's one hell of a lucky woman.”

“No. Don't do that, Angel. Don't patronize me. I didn't come here to discuss Eva anyway. I've missed you.”

Scoffing, I lifted my sixth shot and throwing my head back, I downed it.

“So you want to cheat on your wife with me?” I raised a brow.

“It wouldn't be cheating. We're separated for the time being and she knows I'm not straight. This trip was permitted by her.” He sighed.

“Her exact words were, ‘Go and find the man that makes you happy, and I'll do the same. We both know we're not entirely happy with each other.’ So coming to the city, I just had to find you.”

I wanted to ask if he loved her and if I was just going to be a rebound. Because why would he still wear her ring if they were separated?

The look of affection on his face as he stroked the ring was enough to make me second guess my plans for the night.

But when his hand inched towards my thighs and I felt the heat of his skin, when he leaned in and whispered, “Can I?”

When I nodded and he climbed into my laps, rocking in time with the music, all I could do was throw my head back with my hands gripping his waist, and lose myself in the sensation.

At that time, the masked stranger was nowhere in my mind, and as I began rocking my hips along with Max, I knew I was going to act on my impulse to forget the masked stranger.

He had just been a one night stand, and it was about time to stop acting like he was more than that.

I pulled Max out of the VIP and to the crowded dance floor, and we danced together until we were sweaty, panting, and crazy turned on.

Eventually it got to the point that I was about to explode right there on the dance floor and so I tugged him with me.

The moment we hit the side of the dance floor, I spun around to face him as he linked his arms around my neck. I smashed my lips to his and with the way he kissed me back, I'd say he had been waiting desperately for that.

I backed him against the wall, and groaned as his hands roamed my body.

His hard length crushed against mine, and I wanted nothing more than to spin him around and fuck him into oblivion. There were way too many clothes between us. Way, way too many.

“Bathrooms,” I murmured as his lips left mine and trailed down my neck, sucking and biting at my pale skin.

“Come on,” I grabbed his hand and basically dragged him down the short corridor that led to the bathrooms.

The accessible stall was occupied, much to my irritation, but Max read my mind and dragged me around the corner into a supply closet instead.

“Is this okay?” he asked me, looking around at the stacks of beer cases and cleaning supplies with a small frown.

His back was against the door, so I reached past him and flipped the lock on the inside. Now no one could walk in and catch us, and as an added bonus, it didn't smell like shit.

“It's fine by me,” I told him, holding his gaze as I reached for the button at the top of his dress shirt.

Max didn’t move—he just watched, eyes flickering with something that looked a lot like hunger and longing.

I undid the first button. Then the next. By the third, I pushed the shirt open and dragged my hands across the smooth planes of his chest.

His breath hitched, and I leaned in, kissing the spot just beneath his jaw, my tongue flicking across his pulse point.

He groaned, low and needy. “Angel…”

“Shut up,” I whispered softly. I needed silence.

Max's hands found my waist, then slid under my shirt. His touch was hesitant, and reverent. Fuck. He was trying to make love.

I couldn’t take that so I grabbed him, spun him around, and pinned him to the metal shelving with a thud. Bottles clinked dangerously behind him, but I didn’t care.

I kissed him again, rougher this time, biting his lower lip until he gasped, and then sliding my tongue into his mouth to claim what he was so eagerly offering.

“God, I forgot how aggressive you get when you're turned on,” he panted as I kissed down his neck, my teeth grazing his skin. “I missed this.”

I didn’t answer. I dropped to my knees instead.

He sucked in a breath as I tugged his belt loose, yanked open his pants, and freed him from his boxers. He was already hard—thick, flushed, and twitching with anticipation.

I wrapped one hand around him, slow and tight, and watched his face as I dragged my tongue across the head.

He gasped, one hand flying to the shelf behind him, the other fisting in my hair.

“That mouth… fuck—Angel—”

I took him deeper, hollowing my cheeks and bobbing my head in a rhythm that made his thighs tremble. He tried to guide the pace, but I grabbed his wrist and pinned it to the shelf, eyes locked on his as I worked him over.

His moans grew louder, more desperate, and I knew he was close. But I didn’t want it to end yet—not like this.

I pulled off with a wet pop and stood, lips slick and swollen, the taste of him on my tongue.

“Turn around.”

“Wha—” His breath hitched, eyes wide with shock but his body obeyed before his mind could catch up. He turned, braced both hands on the shelf, and pushed his ass back instinctively.

I licked my lips as I stood.

Dragging his pants down just enough, I reached into my wallet—thankfully still in my back pocket—and pulled out the condom I always kept on me. Old habits die hard.

As I slicked myself up, my eyes roamed his body, and I hated that I was comparing him to the masked man in my head, and Max was found wanting.

I lined myself up and pushed in slowly, gritting my teeth at the tight heat that welcomed me. Max groaned, his body bowing as he adjusted to the stretch.

“You okay?” I asked, breathless despite myself.

He nodded rapidly. “Y-yeah. Just—fuck me already.”

I didn’t need more encouragement. I gripped his long hair and slammed into him, setting a brutal pace. The slap of skin echoed off the walls, mixing with Max’s moans and my low grunts.

I bent over Max’s back, biting the shell of his ear as I pounded into him. “You wanted this. You came looking for it.”

“Yes—fuck yes, Angel, don’t stop—”

I didn’t. I went harder. Deeper. Until he was clawing at the shelf and I was sure we were going to collapse the damn thing.

Sweat dripped from my temple, slicking our skin. My fingers dug into his hips so hard I knew he'd bruise. But I couldn’t stop.

It didn’t take long before his body tightened and his legs started to shake. He cried out, jerking beneath me as he came, sticky heat splashing across the lower shelves.

I wasn’t far behind.

With a final thrust, I groaned his name and came hard, trembling against his back as white light blurred my vision.

For a moment, all I could hear was my heartbeat and the distant thud of the bass from the club floor.

And then the silence crept in.

Max slumped forward, boneless and panting, while I pulled out and tossed the used condom into the nearby bin.

I stared at the floor, jaw clenched. I’d used Max, taken what I needed. But instead of relief, I felt hollow.

“I have to go,” I said to Max, already buckling my belt.

“You always disappear after,” Max said quietly, not looking at me.

I said nothing. Because he wasn’t wrong.

And as I stepped out of the closet, thoughts of what I had just done haunted me. I wanted to forget, wanted to erase him but all it did was carve him deeper into me.

And now, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.