Naughty November

Chapter 6

SIX

REID MCKINLEY

Even when I thought Max was being obvious in his brooding and grumbling, he could fool most people into thinking shit was fine. With Sam being one exception.

That observant motherfucker followed me down to the water when I went to rinse out my coffee mug.

“So is Max really all right?” he asked.

I glanced over my shoulder, making sure we were alone.

The sun was dipping behind the clouds that rested on the horizon, painting the darkening sky red and purple.

Max wasn’t all right. Not at the moment. But he would be. I’d had the day to find my confidence.

I straightened again and wiped the mug off on my shorts. “He will be before the night is over.” I cleared my throat and figured…Sam was safe. “He’s the one I’m hunting tonight.”

He lifted his brows, clearly surprised. “You mean beyond…I don’t know—beyond playtime?”

I inclined my head .

I was gonna do it. I was gonna go for it.

“Well, damn,” Sam said.

Yeah.

If today had shown me anything, it was that Max wasn’t comfortable with casual fun. I’d gotten into his head. He was worried, he had questions, and he didn’t feel he could talk about it. I could only think of one reason—he was scared to lose what we had.

Max Jensen was the world’s biggest overthinker—but only for serious shit. He could get down with zero strings attached any day of the week; he could be spontaneous and reckless for fun. Until potential consequences threatened something he genuinely cared about.

He hadn’t been spontaneous or reckless today. He hadn’t jumped all in at the chance of exploring a fantasy, which he would have if this were only a fantasy .

“Are we gonna do this or what?!” Trey hollered up the beach.

Sam looked over there, just as I did. “Are we in a rush?” he yelled back.

“Yes!” the brats responded in unison. “It’s gonna be dark soon!”

And?

The dark was fun. In the dark, we let the fears run wild.

In the end, Sam, Rome, and LC took charge—right around the time Max returned from “taking a leak.” He wouldn’t make eye contact, so I let the anticipation build, and I took a couple deep breaths and absently cracked my knuckles. The others were busy reminding the boys about safety once more, and I tuned them out. I wasn’t here for them. For any of them. Just that man over there, standing by the tree line, staring into the fire.

It had to be us. The combination of having one of those periods when I couldn’t suppress what I was feeling for him…and this trip—this particular trip, where we’d gone further than any other time before…yeah, I couldn’t fight this any longer.

I wasn’t nice enough to say all-or-nothing either, because “nothing” wasn’t on the table. It wasn’t an option. This had to happen. I felt the urgency and determination swell rapidly as the guys droned on. The boys swore they’d safeword if needed, which wasn’t exactly a worry. We went way back. But Daddies had that extra worry gene in their DNA.

“And now the sun is completely gone!” Cas pointed toward the horizon. “Let’s go !”

Sam didn’t miss a beat. “So fucking run ,” he growled.

“Eeep!” The boys yelped and hightailed it up and down the beach. Only two dared to sprint right into the jungle.

I grinned and let the adrenaline buzz through me.

We always gave the boys a two-minute head start, and I let Max decide how he wanted to begin. If he wanted to run now or later. I was good with both. This was our little game.

“I’m definitely gonna need help with my two,” Rome drawled.

Yeah, no kidding. Max and I had helped him plenty in the past. Just not this time. Someone else would have to assist him in catching Cas and Trey.

Sam smirked. “Happy to help.”

I patted my pockets, double-checking so I had everything. Folding knife, first aid, glowstick, eight-ounce bottle of water, flashlight?—

“Where did Max go? It hasn’t been two minutes yet.”

I snapped my head up and scanned my immediate surroundings, and sure enough, Max was nowhere to be seen.

You sneaky fucker.

He couldn’t have gone in any direction other than backward, right into the jungle. He’d been standing by the tree line.

Sam covered for me, joking things off as Max playing dirty to catch a brat faster, which worked for the others. Those damn brats were always trying to skirt the rules anyway.

“I’ll go see what he’s up to.” I didn’t wait for a response. I picked up my shoes on the way and walked along the tree line to utilize the last daylight in an attempt to find a route. But the vegetation was too thick, without any hints of trails.

When I looked back toward the fire, the others were off too. Time was up. We were on the hunt.

It wouldn’t be long before we heard the first screams.

A familiar excitement rolled through me like a summer storm, but it was 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, did he?

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 absolutely certain 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, before I could 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 gritty oomph . 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.

Fuck, that hurt.

New strategy—don’t attack from the front. He could ward me off too easily.

He shoved me off him, and I landed next to him in the sand. But when he scrambled to his feet in an attempt to escape, I reached out and grabbed his ankle. He went down again, and I gnashed my teeth and crawled over him.

“Motherfucker!” he groaned.

It was the headiest fucking feeling, to have all other aspects of my life just disappear. I suddenly existed for one thing only, and it was to claim my prey. Our heavy breaths faded into the background, any pain and discomfort were sedated by the adrenaline, and I barely registered the sand and sweat.

I pinned him to the sand, tight grips on his wrists, my cock right over his ass, and I locked my feet over his calves.

“This is gonna be good.” I tried to steady my breathing, and I dipped down and grazed my teeth along his ear. “The more you struggle, the harder I’ll get.”

No lie.

He was exhausting himself by thrashing underneath me, and I was here for every second of it.

“You’re fucking delusional if you think this is over,” he gritted out.

Over? We’d just gotten started.

I pushed my cock against him and dropped an openmouthed kiss along the back of his neck. “Did you finger yourself a little extra earlier? Thinking about when I finally get to rapefuck your tight ass?”

“Son of a bitch,” he hissed. “Good luck trying. You can’t make another move without loosening your hold.”

That did pose a problem, but no matter. I was going to tire him out.

“Admit it.” I pushed forward again, creating enough friction to make it feel damn good. “You stood there in the jungle, knuckle-deep in your ass, and moaned my name. ”

“The fuck I did,” he spat out. “You conceited bastard.”

I grinned, out of breath. Arrogance always worked. It pissed off a brat in no time at all, and Max wasn’t immune to it either.

“You don’t have to play hard to get, baby. I’ll give you all the come you want.”

That did it. His rage came out in a growl and a burst of energy, and he managed to squirm onto his side, where he could kick me off him. I was ready for it. I was ready to wrestle.

Even in the dark, I saw the look in his eyes. The sheer lividness, the animal coming out to play.

He was a drug for me. I fed off his reactions, and I jumped up in a low crouch the same time he did.

After that…it was on.

We came at each other with fists, kicks, and rough grabbing. We knew where to charge to prevent real injuries, and then we didn’t have to hold back. He knocked me over, sand flying all over, and flattened himself on top of me. The pain exploded up my spine, but my determination blazed more intensely. I pushed him off and quickly got to my feet, and I hauled him up and swung him around to the boulder a few feet away. He cursed and groaned, and I pushed him up against the rough surface. I couldn’t fucking help myself. I kissed him hard and went for his belt, but he wasn’t having it yet. No surrender on the horizon—except, he did kiss me back, with so much hunger that I almost lost control.

The fucker took advantage when my brain was clouded by my need for him, and he spun me around. My chest smacked into the boulder, and he trapped me there. One hand came up my throat, and I felt his hard cock.

“Maybe you should get fucked instead,” he panted.

I blinked, my eyes watering because I’d gotten sand in them. That shit stung.

I had my hands free, but I wanted to see what he’d do next. Hell, if he managed to overpower me, I’d let him do whatever he wanted.

“Give me your best.” I swallowed.

His heavy breaths hit my neck, and he leaned in to kiss me there. “Would you like that, sweetheart? ”

Fuck. Maybe I would.

“I’d force my way in slowly,” he whispered.

Jesus.

I screwed my eyes shut. Problem was, I wasn’t just picturing primal takedowns and rape play. I was envisioning us in my bed, sharing lazy mornings of hard, sweaty, unhurried fucking where we took as much as we gave.

He went for my shorts, and I let him. But…only because he was making my next move real easy.

Button undone, zipper coming down…

“I bet you’re tight as fuck,” he murmured.

Yeah, I’d fucking say so, considering I’d never bottomed before.

I stayed quiet. He slipped a hand down my front and cupped my cock, and I exhaled.

He kissed my neck. “You drive me fucking crazy, Reid.”

It’s mutual.

I gave in to the pleasure for a moment. I fucking had to. I turned around, and we met in another searing kiss. Fight temporarily forgotten. We made out as if our lives depended on it, and he had to fucking see how hot we were together. He had to feel it. This sense of urgency couldn’t be faked.

Soon, though, my need became too forceful. When he wasn’t prepared, I grabbed a fistful of his hair, and I snaked my foot behind his knees to unlock them. Then I pushed him down onto his knees, quickly grabbed my cock, and forced it between his lips.

He cursed and sent me a death glare, but he went with it. He sucked me into his mouth and closed his eyes.

“There we go,” I breathed. “Be a good cocksucker for me.” I manhandled him into position, so I was the one trapping him against the boulder, and I didn’t hold back for a second. I pushed my way in and started fucking his throat in sharp thrusts. “You wanna fuck my ass? You better up your game, darlin’.”

He grabbed the backs of my legs roughly and let his fingernails dig in painfully.

I hissed a curse but didn’t stop. Only every now and then to allow him a breath or two, and then I was raping his throat once more. Fucking hell, he felt good. He didn’t gag as much as I’d anticipated, and it pissed me off. Goddamn jealousy. How many partners had he pleasured this way?

I clenched my jaw and went faster, and I somehow lost my filters…

“I want you to be done wastin’ these skills on others,” I gritted out.

His eyes flashed open, and the intensity in his gaze made me pull back. All I saw was fire and unshed tears, and it was a gut punch. I hauled him up and kissed him again, and he panted and croaked something incoherent.

This time, he didn’t roll with the punches. He pushed me away and scowled, and I noticed I must’ve gotten him with my teeth. The corner of his bottom lip was bleeding.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked hoarsely. “Wasting skills on others?”

No, we weren’t going there now. I’d opened the can of worms, and I could apologize for that later.

Instead, I gave my cock a few strokes and motioned for him to turn around. I had to fuck him.

“Are you kidding me?” he laughed humorlessly. “Now you want somethin’ without a fight? Dream on.”

Oh, I could fight. I made quick work of tucking myself in and zipping up, and I?—

“Great—now you’re a mute again,” he stated. “Default Reid mode. Don’t say anything, don’t show anything.”

What the fuck?

“This whole weekend—you throw me for this fucking loop, and now I’m just supposed to guess?” he demanded. “What the hell are we doing? You say we’re solid, but are we? What happens when we go back home? Do we pretend we didn’t cross every line in the book?”

I scrubbed a hand over my mouth and jaw, feeling the tension build up too fast for me to get shit under control. Anger, jealousy, possessiveness, and this…this sense of just being so fucking done. I couldn’t pretend anymore. I couldn’t mosey my way through life and cope with the occasional depressive episodes during which I pined over my best friend and let it come out in anger. How many hours had I wasted at th e shooting range convincing myself we weren’t a good fit? That we didn’t make sense?

“Fuck it, we’re done here,” Max said. “I’m gonna wash all this sand off.”

You can’t leave, you can’t leave, you can’t leave.

I watched him trail down to the water’s edge, and for every step he took, the panic within me rose closer to the surface. I couldn’t explain it. I didn’t know what the fuck was happening to me, except one thing. If he kept walking, I was going to chase him down.

“Max, wait!”

“No—fuck off!” he yelled over his shoulder.

Bad move.

I let out a breath, and it sounded like I was being fucking strangled. My heart started pounding again, and my skin prickled uncomfortably. My chest felt tight too. And no more. I couldn’t handle it.

I went after him.

Never in my life had I understood the concept of one’s vision clouding and turning red, but that was the only way I could describe this. I had one target, and he was going down. By the time he got up again, he’d be mine.

He walked out into the water and bent down to splash it up his arms and legs, and I didn’t see the point. He might as well dive under. But this worked better for me. I ran faster and didn’t stop until he heard my approach. By then, I was two feet away, and I grabbed him roughly and threw him down in the wet sand.

“Fucking off isn’t an option,” I said, out of breath. He cursed me out and tried to push himself up, but I was faster. I straddled his ass with one goal in mind. He knew his safewords if he was serious about stopping, which I reminded him of. “I trust you know how to put a stop to this—but I don’t think you want to.” With that said, I pulled down his shorts, just enough to expose his perfect ass.

“I swear to fucking God,” he growled. “Get off me.”

Oh, there would be some getting off.

I forced a hand underneath him and undid his shorts. They needed to come down a bit more.

“This weekend isn’t a one-time thing,” I told him. I unzipped my own shorts again and pulled out my cock. “It’s me giving up. I’m done watching you try to figure shit out with others when you can do it with me.” I swallowed hard as a wave rolled in over our legs and his back. The water washed away a layer of sand and revealed the scratches the boulder had given him. He was so goddamn sexy.

“Reid, I?—”

“I don’t wanna hear it,” I snapped, immediately out of patience. “You’re gonna give me another stupid rant about you not knowing who you are in kink. I’m over it.” I gripped my cock and pushed it between his ass cheeks, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Goddamn, that’s it . He had lubed up for me. I rubbed the head of my cock around his opening, then slowly began pushing inside.

“We gotta talk,” he groaned. “Quit it.”

“No. I’m takin’ this ass.” I planted one hand across his back, and I didn’t stop. I stared down between us as my cock disappeared inside him, one slow inch after another. “You’re so goddamn blind—you know that? So fucking caught up in roles and labels. You already have an identity, and it belongs with mine.”

My God, he felt too good. I had to fight against closing my eyes.

I pulled out a little, only to push in again, and I set a measured pace.

“ Fuck .” Max pushed himself up a bit, just his upper body, and his fingers disappeared in the wet sand. “Can you slow the fuck down? I’m new at this.”

What?

I did slow down, when I was buried all the way in.

“How new?” I’d been so sure he’d done this before.

“At the risk of bringing up labels,” he gritted out, “I’m not a fucking bottom.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You wanted me to take you.”

“So?” he bit out. “Doesn’t mean I have experience, fucker.”

But…

Shit.

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me?” I asked irritably. “This is shit we cover before a takedown, you dumb son of a bitch.” I started pulling out, worried I’d hurt him, but he shook his head quickly .

“Don’t.” He rushed out the word. “Don’t stop. I didn’t want you to be careful with me. It’s not like I…” A harsh breath left him. “It’s not like I’m a stranger to toys.”

Fuck me. But he’d never bottomed for anyone before. I was the first.

Fucking hell.

Good luck stopping the possessiveness now…

I sank all the way in again, and I leaned over him to kiss his neck. “When you’re ready, I’ll fuck you properly.”

He let out an unsteady breath, and I could feel him trying to unclench.

I bet he felt vulnerable—and maybe defensive and angry, because he wasn’t used to being exposed.

“You see?” he said quietly. “I’d make a horrible partner for you.”

I exhaled and shook my head. “Bullshit.”

“But I’m not?—”

“Don’t say it,” I told him. “I don’t wanna hear it. I’ve known you for over twenty years, Max. I’ve lived through all your phases, and I don’t give a fuck.” I rubbed my nose along his neck. “Do you like pain? Do you like these adrenaline rushes? Do you like the fight?”

He nodded once.

I withdrew slowly and pushed in again. “So we’re both primal,” I murmured. “We’re both sadomasochists for takedowns. We’re Sadists and Tops.” I nipped at his flesh. “But I think we’ll both wanna experience the other side too. Because it’s us . It’s you and me.”

Feeling him more at ease physically, I set an unhurried pace, and another slow wave rolled in over us.

“You wanna get taken, don’t you, darlin’? You like this. You hate feeling vulnerable, but you can’t help but crave this right here. You’ve fantasized about it.” I let out a groan and felt the pleasure heat me up. My fucking hell, he felt amazing. “I stopped listening to your hangups about kink roles a long time ago.” And for the first time, only one word fit the bill in the end. The one that mattered. Which…admittedly, I’d never dared dream he’d want. “Now I understand why.”

“Why what?” he groaned.

“Why I stopped listenin’.” I couldn’t help it. I went a little faster and harder. “They never made sense. They didn’t fucking matter.” Still didn’t.

“Just because—fuck.” He hissed in pain, not that it stopped him from moving with me. He was meeting my thrusts, pushing back every time I went deeper. “Just because you don’t care about those roles doesn’t mean others won’t. I care. I care about finding out what I am.”

“I already know,” I snapped. Fuck, he was getting to me. My fuse burned shorter for every thrust, and I was putting an end to this bullshit. “I’ll tell you what you are, Max.” I gripped his hip tightly and stopped holding back. “You’re fucking mine.” Holy fuck . Pleasure coursed through me like wildfire, and it felt indescribable to have that word out in the open. Mine. All mine. “My Sadist, my masochist, my primal motherfucker, my annoying goddamn dentist—the man I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with. You’re mine.”

My Top, my bottom, my better half.

He didn’t say anything, but I sensed he wanted to move. I eased back, and he immediately followed, and then he snaked an arm around my neck from behind. Fuck, that worked for me. We met in a messy kiss over his shoulder, and I groaned as he tugged at my hair.

“Be mine, darlin’. Only mine.”

He nodded jerkily and kissed me harder, and I couldn’t put words to the relief. He had to mean it. A single nod—and I’d take it. Consider that written in stone.

I reached around him and grabbed his cock, only to find he was already stroking himself off. But I took over, and I fucked him closer to our orgasms.

Every part of my body protested, and I had to change our positions again. I pushed him forward onto all fours, and I fucked him as hard as I could, with the water rolling in with more force.

He let out a loud moan that got me right to that edge, and I felt the familiar tingles at the back of my neck, slowly spreading and moving south.

“Fill me,” he breathed. “I’m so fucking close.”

So was I. I let my head fall back, and I breathed deeply as the pleasure crashed down on me. Eyes closed, forceful thrusts, tight grips—I let go. The instant every ounce of bliss centered in my lower stomach, I held my breath and started coming.

Over and over, I fucked my come deep into his ass, and he fueled my climax when he surrendered too. His sounds were so goddamn hot. He had a gritty groan I’d always found intoxicatingly sexy.

Something less sexy was the sound my knees made. They just reminded me I was on the wrong side of forty-five.