“I want to take my time, okay?” the woman said; her quiet voice held a slight tremor in it. All Max could do was nod; the power of speech had abandoned her. “I…I need to feel.” She dipped her head and brought her lips to Max’s neck. “I need to…taste.” Her voice sounded strained as if she had her own battle raging. Max had no idea what that was and, to be honest, didn’t care. Max moaned, unable to help herself, and her whole body pushed up towards the stranger.

“Oh yes.” Max, finally remembered she had arms and hands of her own and brought them up to grip the woman’s hips. She cupped her ass and pulled her in tight against her.

The woman moaned, and the tension in her body relaxed at Max’s touch. Her whole stance softened as Max held her. Perhaps she wasn’t as confident as she had at first appeared. And then Max’s thoughts fluttered away as the woman’s lips trailed a path across her chin to find her mouth.

Max didn’t hesitate. Her lips opened, and for the first time in over eight years, she felt a new tongue push into her mouth, a tongue that sent shockwaves of heat and want pounding through her veins. At the back of Max’s brain, a sliver of guilt writhed but was tamped down by the overwhelming physicality of the moment. They devoured each other’s mouths, long, deep kisses that elicited moans and whimpers from Max that she’d forgotten how to make. It was hard, messy, and passionate, yet tender all at the same time.

“What’s your name?” whispered the woman in Max’s ear. Her tongue lingered to lick and probe and send shivers down Max’s spine. “Just your first name…”

Max trembled. “Max. Yours?”

“Lou.”