Chapter 27
Lark lay perfectly still under Max who kept her pinned to the ground. The sound of Ollie and Johan wrestling over the flag Ollie had no right to touch, a soundtrack to their own battle.
"Chère, you tried to shoot me in the d**k," his voice was hot in her ear.
She giggled unable to stop herself. "If I was trying to shoot you in the d**k I would have. I aimed high." "And my ass?"
"Well, that I meant to hit."
"And my face?"
She looked over her shoulder in alarm and noted the stain on his face. Her last shot must have grazed his face. He must have turned his head right at the last second but in order for the ball to burst it needed to have hit somewhat. "Oh god, no. Max I didn't mean to -"
He shook his head, "this one hurt. A lot."
"I bet," she rolled under him to look up and wiped the paint off his cheek with her fingertips, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." "Kiss it better," he demanded his eyes full of mischief.
"No!" she protested as she tried to wriggle out from under him. He was heavy on her. This was eerily like this morning when he dreamed of her.
"Chère," he gave her a warning glance and tapped his cheek, "kiss this one better or you can kiss the one near my dick." "Absolutely not." Her blue eyes flashed furiously to him.
"There were rules. No face shots. You got my face. You owe me," his eyes were mocking, "or forfeit the game."
She opened and closed her mouth as she pursed her lips angrily, knowing her competitiveness was going to be used against her, "it was an accident."
"You are supposed to be in control of your firearm at all times," he lifted up on his elbows keeping her pinned.
"We won fair and square."
"Nope. I would have gotten passed you in the footrace to the flag if you hadn't shot me in the face,
causing me to stumble and trip. We would have won."
"No way."
"But" he continued despite her protests, "you cheated."
"I didn't cheat."
"Tell it to my cheek. I bet it's going to be bruised tomorrow. The rules were no face shots."
"I grazed it."
"Still counts. Kiss or forfeit."
"Ugh," she dropped her head back into the dirt frustratedly. Her heart was thumping wildly. Why did she want to kiss his cheek so much? Damn him and his stupid dimples.
"Fine."
"Great, cheek or ass or d-"
"Cheek!" she smacked at him furiously.
Despite the fact Ollie was on Johan's back not twenty feet from them, trying to wrangle the flag away, he tapped his cheek playfully.
She lifted her head back up and gripped his chin and then started to press her lips to his cheek, but he turned his head at the last second. He pinned her hands and kissed her mouth. It was less than ten seconds of a kiss when he pulled back and grinned at her.
"I didn't want your lips to be full of paint." He explained his kiss with a devilish smirk.
"Oh," she blinked as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Almost as good as my first kiss when I was twelve."
"Max, you said friends."
"Yes, but the way you flirted with Seb tells me you're not as hurt as you are over Doug the Douche so I'm starting my plans to woo you earlier than I anticipated."
Her face flushed as he ground his hips to hers.
"It's not what I want," she protested his heated words.
"Not yet it's not. However, I've been dreaming of you for too long," he ran his finger along her cheek as she stared up at him. "I won't give up without a fight, love. You are too important to me.
"Hey!" Ollie screamed from where she danced excitedly with the flag she stole. "No s*x in the arena." "We're not having s*x!" Lark shrieked.
"I should hope not!" Max rolled off Lark and pulled her to a standing position. "I love hanging out the four of us but when Lark and I get naked for the first time, you two won't be there!" he ducked away from her slapping at him.
"There will be no s*x!" she spat knowing her cheeks were bright red.
"Not with that attitude," Max laughed as he moved to hide behind Johan when she held her gun up as if ready to shoot at him.
"Hey Lark," Ollie questioned her with a twinkle in her eye, "we should go find Seb and see if he wants to join us for dinner." "No!" Max and Johan both spoke unanimously.
"He eats bugs," Lark hissed to Ollie quietly. "And drinks his own urine."
"***k off, he doesn't?" she turned to Johan incredulously. "Really?"
Max gave a shudder, "and the last time we went to dinner with him he insisted using cutlery took away from his genetic make-up which includes neanderthal DNA. I like meat like anyone, but it should be cooked and eaten with a knife and fork. He also questions the servers on ingredients used in food preparation."
"He didn't use cutlery?" Ollie was aghast. "What did he use?"
Johan wiggled his fingers.
"He'd probably be a good match for Mori." Lark said suddenly.
"Oh my god!" Max made a gagging noise. "They would live in a straw hut with mud floors, and neither
would bathe. Can you imagine the smell? Johan did you know Mori was refusing to bathe and Mom hosed her down in the yard?"
"Jesus your family is weird, Max," Johan dropped his gun over his back and waved. "You and Ollie owe us dinner and it's not going to be any of the places which you guys like. Lark, is there anywhere you've been wanting to go since you've been back and haven't gone yet?"
"I've eaten at home almost every night. I don't really know the social scene much here in Dallas." Johan shot Max a grin and then spoke, "Max, you should get us a table at The Estate."
"What is The Estate?" Lark asked when Max groaned.
"Best food and service in the city. It's like pub food but elevated," Johan made wide eyes. "Elevated is the word all the fancy chefs use now. Anyway, he knows the owner."
"Did you sleep with her? Is this how you know her?" Lark asked condescendingly.
He turned to face her, his dark eyes focused and his brows furrowed, "no I did not sleep with him," he retorted, "however he is a friend from college and he and his wife are beta testers for me."
"Wait, what?" Lark's nose shrivelled up with revulsion at what he was saying as they walked back to the entrance of the playing area.
"When we get a new product out of development, I have a close circle of friends I use for beta testing. I always use married couples or couples who have been together for a long time and then I also have a different focus group of single women," when her mouth opened, he held up his hand, "who I do not pick. They are selected by my testing department, and I never meet any of them. Anyway, the last beta testing they did for me, she got pregnant."
"They've been trying for six years," Johan made wide eyes of excitement. "Gary told Max there will always be a table for him at The Estate despite the fact there's usually a three month wait. He swears it was because the device caused her to damn near crawl up the walls and her body was so relaxed after she couldn't worry about whether or not they'd made a baby but rather enjoyed the moment instead." "What toy was this?" Ollie asked boldly.
"Ollie!" Lark felt her cheeks were likely to combust the way they were burning at the conversation. "The Savior." Max spoke over Lark's complaint as he struggled to get to his phone through the plastic coveralls he wore. "You have a dildo called The Savior?" She couldn't help herself as she stopped to look at him with incredulity.
"Not a dildo," he made a face. "A s****I enhancement device."
"Dear god," she rolled her eyes ducking under Johan's arm as he held the door open to the locker rooms. "Yes. For some women orgasm by penetration never happens. Whether it's because their partner is s**t or they can't relax enough to enjoy what is happening because we all know during s*x many women are planning their itinerary for the next day if it goes on too long." Max said with a shrug, "or they simply don't get the right fit physically. Partners can be too big, too small, pelvises can be tilted, cervix's can be short." Lark was staring at Max like he had three heads. "What?"
"Its all backed by scientific evidence," Max explained. "I know you and most of my family, especially the triplets, think all my work is about me stuffing my d**k in holes, it couldn't be further from the truth. 1 employ a scientific approach. I research. I use focus groups. I talk to doctors who specialize in the fields of gynecology and s****l health. I collaborate with women and men alike. For many men, s*x is easy. For most women it's not. While many of my devices are purely for fun and s****I entertainment, many have been created in accordance with significant data collection. The Savior was one of those devices. It was made to assist in finding the g-spot for women. It is buildable." "Buildable?"
"Yes. It starts out as a device approximately two inches in length plus the base. It comes with multiple attachments so you can make it as long or as short as you need for your own pleasure. It also has a flexible tip which rotates," he spun his fingertip around, "and buzzes to ensure stimulation." "It's like build-a-bear but for adults," Ollie snickered. "How come I never heard of this one?"
"It's just come out of beta testing." Max shrugged. "Anyway, Gary and Rhoda were part of the initial testing group. There was a bit of an issue with the connections where we needed to make sure they didn't pinch or come separated and we fixed this by using a latex cover, similar to a condom if you will but a bit thicker, which is adjustable and covers the connecting pieces. We have it colors which match pretty much any skin tone and then some playful ones too like bright pink or neon green."
She was gobsmacked by his plain speaking as if everything he was saying was normal conversation. Ollie noted her expression and laughed, "this is why everyone thinks Max has a s*x addiction. His job is literally about s*x, so people presume all he does is f**k and take notes, but the truth is so much more boring than the reality. He literally spends more time pouring over statistics and data than he does personally examining vaginas."
"True," Max shrugged and looked at his phone when it dinged, "Gary has a table for us. We should get going."
As she considered the information she was learning about Max, Lark was never more confused in her life.