Page 46 of Naughty November

A familiar excitement rolled through me like a summer storm, but itwas different. Something about it wasn’t so familiar after all, because this was Max, and for as well as I knew him, I’d never studied him from the perspective of a predator. I couldn’t predict his next move. I couldn’t goad him like I would with a brat. He’d see right through that.

“Come out, come out wherever you are!” LC yelled up the beach.

I squinted into the dark, certain I saw something rustling and whooshing by, but whatever it was…it wasn’t Max. He couldn’t run that quickly so close to the ground. My guess? Cas. He was about two shits high and disturbingly fast.

Rounding a few boulders, I realized I was more tense than normal, and I guessed that wasn’t weird. This was uncharted territory, and it excited me more than I could describe. Hell, I’d been damn near bored the last couple of years because I was a magnet for brats and masochists. They were certainly fun at times, just…a bit too predictable for my tastes in the long run.

Max wasn’t a brat or a cookie-cutter masochist, though.

I kept walking, not sure he’d even be on this side of the island, except…something told me he might have eyes on me. Fuck,didhe?

I stopped short and stared into the nothingness, and for a quick second, I felt like the prey. Like the tables had turned.

Defeating Max wasn’t gonna be easy. He was strong and agile, almost as tall as me, and he’d been around for a while. He had fewer buttons to push.

My eyes were adjusting to the darkness, but I received more help from the moon. The clouds parted and let the moon cast the island in a pale blue glow.

“Nooo! Help me!” someone screamed far away. “Stop it, you dummy!”

I couldn’t stay out here any longer.

I put on my shoes and tied them tightly, and then it was time to go in there. Out here, I was too exposed.

Stepping between two ferns, I ducked lower when I heard someone running nearby. Quick footfalls, heavy panting, a few curses—it sounded like someone young.

Then I stayed put and looked around me until I was absolutelycertain I was alone. I caught no movement nearby, no sounds that didn’t belong here. He couldn’t know where I was, could he?

I started walking back toward our campsite, slowly, carefully, all senses heightened. I sidestepped to avoid big rocks and bushes, and I crouched to prevent being slapped in the face by the vegetation from above. Everything was wetter in the forest, and the place was alive.

Maybe I should’ve put on a tee.

Movement caught my eye, and I whipped my head sideways to see a form out on the beach. He moved cautiously along the tree line, and I hid behind a boulder.

My heart began pounding.

Was it him? The silhouette was familiar.

I poked my head out and looked between two palm trees.

Whoever it was, he was trying to find someone in the jungle. He walked close without entering, and he was about ten feet away.

It had to be him.

“Where the fuck did you go?” he snapped under his breath.

I grinned. It was him. He’d been watching me.

Something trickled down my neck, sweat or water dripping from the trees, maybe a combination of both, and that tiny thing did something to me. It made me wanna get filthy. Mud, sweat, blood, sand, humidity, twigs—I wanted to feel all of it. I wanted the saltiness of the ocean on my tongue and scratches from the forest all over my body. But more than that, fingerprints and bitemarks. Bruises and cuts.

“You lookin’ for me, darlin’?” I asked.

He shot up and stiffened, and before he could react further—hell, beforeIcould make a conscious decision—I bolted into action. I pushed away from the boulder, darted out of the jungle, and flew at him. With that split-second decision, I’d made up my mind. Topple him over in the sand, not the forest floor, where more things could cause harm.

Max crouched and braced himself for impact the second before I reached him, but it wasn’t enough. I rammed into him and sent us both to the sand, and he let out a grittyoomph. Adrenaline pumped through me, and my mind was wiped clean, aside from one single goal. Bury my cock so far up his ass he’d taste me.

His shock was clear, though it quickly morphed into fury. “Jesus Christ—slow your fucking roll,” he growled.

“What did you expect, dinner and drinks first?” I grunted and took a punch to my side as I tried to roll him over.