Okay, so I thought about doing this from Max's POV…..but ended up doing it in Fangy's. He's just so much fun to work with now that Max is back.
Fang's POV
Someone was knocking quietly at my door.
Before nine.
Unless one of the flock members were dying, someone had been bird-kidnapped, or the damn hotel was on fire, I didn't want to know.
But I got out of bed and rug myself to the door anyway. Angel probably had another nightmare or something.
"Hey." Max smiled nervously when I opened the door.
Whoosh-goodbye anger. And sleepiness.
"You okay?" I asked.
Typical Fang. Blurt out the first thing that comes to freaking mind instead of using some slick-as-Iggy line like, "Took you long enough, babe."
She nodded. "Can I come in?"
No, I'm going to ask you to stay in the hallway.
I nodded and stepped aside. She surprised me then-instead of sitting in one of the we-hope-you-hate-your-stay-here-armchairs the hotel had lovingly provided us with, she got in my bed. Under the covers.
She curled up in the exact spot I'd occupied moments before.
Not that any of this mattered.
"Need something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Earplugs. Gasman snores." She frowned and yawned.
I said nothing, just stared at her. Thinking things that only belonged in those sappy Nicholas Sparks novels that Ella was always reading.
"What?" She asked, fidgeting self consciously.
"Nothing." I murmured.
I watched her expression as I carefully crawled into the bed beside her. Her eyes widened, but she said nothing.
I smirked at her, watching with extreme pleasure as she blushed.
Haha. I could make Max blush.
We were so close now all I would have to do was barely even move to stroke my fingers across her face….one of her legs was already pressed against mine.
"I have something important to tell you." She breathed.
"So tell me," I said, and I did reach out, pushing some stray hair behind her ear.
"The Voice told me something, back in the School. And before, on the plane to save my mom."
I stared at her expectantly. She peeked at me through her eyelids, then squeezed them shut again and took a deep breath.
"." She blurted in one huge sentence.
"Um." I managed.
She opened her eyes. "Okay that's all. We're heading out at ten tomorrow, so be ready." She squeaked and moved as if to get up.
Quickly I rolled and trapped her under me, straddling her upper thighs…..I tried not to think too hard about it.
Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and got angry.
I held my ground, watching her expressions change; bewilderment, surprise, fear, then finally anger.
Her fury seemed to trigger some of my own. "Don't run from me, Max." I growled. I had no clue where this was all coming from suddenly.
"I'm not running, you idiot. I'm going back to my room to get some freaking sleep." She muttered, not meeting my eyes.
"Why can't you sleep here?" I asked casually.
"Angel might need me, or Nudge or Gasman. They'll freak if I'm not there when they wake up." She said too quickly.
I rolled my eyes. "Angel will find you telepathically in seconds."
"I don't want to sleep here," she said, again too quickly.
More fury rolled through me. I thought we were passed all this crap.
Some weird instinct hit me then and I changed tactics. This was sure to throw her off…
I let my body turn gentle and all the tension melt away. Then I leaned down until my lips were barely a centimeter away from her ear and whispered, "Don't you?"
She shivered and her breathing turned ragged.
The Fang inside me that sang show tunes and whistled and rode pink unicorns did a happy dance. I made Max shiver, I made Max shiver…nah nah nah nah nah, nah…
"No," she managed, but it was strangled.
I raised my head up slowly and tilted it, keeping my face blank but probably still managing to look curious.
"You don't need me?" I inquired. Oh yeah, that's me; Fang the Smooth. Most of the time.
Max rolled her eyes. "Don't be retarded. I need all five-now six-of you."
"But you don't need me like this?" I whispered and trailed my lips slowly up her jaw…
"Ow, Fang!" She gasped suddenly. I sat up with a jerk and she glanced pointedly at her ribs.
But Max never admitted injuries….this must be a tactic of her own.
I wasn't about to let her get away with it.
"Which one?" I asked, frowning a tiny bit.
"The third one up on the left." She said instantly.
Keeping my eyes on hers I slowly raised her shirt up above her belly button. Then I glanced down.
One rib was a mottled purple. I knew it would heal in two days or so, but it still really ticked me off…someone had done this to her.
I smirked at her again and before she could say anything, bent and put my lips to her hurt rib.
She gasped and went completely still.
"No, Fang," she finally snarled.
"Why?" I breathed, sending goose bumps scattering across her flat stomach and arms.
She was quiet and I knew she had no good answer.
"You know what I think?" I asked rhetorically, sitting up and pulling her shirt back down. She said nothing, just stared at me with those big brown eyes.
"I think you're scared. Scared of getting hurt. Would I ever hurt you, Max?" I breathed. Her eyes told me I'd guessed correctly.
She hesitated, then shook her head.
"Exactly." I let the corners of my mouth twitch.
I bent down again, my lips so close to hers I could practically taste them.
She closed her eyes in submission and my heart soared higher than my wings could ever take me.
Oh God. I've got to stop reading passages from those damn romance novels.
Hehehe. Pure smut or what? I know Max is all "he's my only one" in Max but I sort of figured that even though she realized this, that whole flight instinct would die hard.
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