Chapter 70 The Claiming
Max's POV:
I woke up to the noise of her sobbing.
For a moment, I was disoriented... the unfamiliar cabin, the empty space beside me in bed...
Where the hell was I?!
Then reality crashed back, and I was on my feet immediately.
I found her on the balcony, standing at the railing without even a jacket on, her shoulders shaking as she cried.
"For fuck's sake, it's cold out here," I said, grabbing the blanket from the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders.
When she turned to look at me, I felt like a complete asshole.
Her eyes were red, mascara smudged down her cheeks.
I'd done this. I'd pushed her too far, taken her somewhere she wasn't ready to go, all because I couldn't resist seeing how far she'd let me lead her.
I knew I should have contained myself. Should have held back, been gentler, not dragged her into this mess of power dynamics and control games that I used to keep people at a distance.
"I warned you this would happen," I said. "I told you I was—"
"It's alright," she interrupted, and then suddenly she was hugging me, pressing herself close against my chest. "I finally understand what I was missing in my life. I was very passive."
"Baby," I said softly, one hand coming up to stroke her hair. "Listen to me, okay? What you're feeling right now? That awareness about yourself? That's not weakness. That's strength. Most people never figure out their patterns, never see the ways they give themselves away."
She pulled back slightly to look up at me, tears still clinging to her lashes.
"You've always had it in you, Veronica," I continued, and I swear... I was meaning every word I said. "That fire, that strength, that ability to take what you want instead of waiting for permission. It's been there all along. You just needed someone to show you it was allowed."
"But I don't know how," she whispered. "I don't know how to be anything other than what people want me to be."
I cupped her face in my hands, forcing her to meet my eyes. "Then learn. Right now. With me."
"What do you mean?"
"Be a sexy vixen with me," I said, a slight smile tugging at my lips despite the seriousness of the moment. "Stop trying to please me passively. Just claim me instead. Take what you want. Make demands. Tell me what you need, what you're thinking, what you're feeling. Don't perform for me... express yourself to me."
Her eyes widened slightly. "I don't... I don't know if I can."
"You can... and you already did it...," I assured her. "Because this isn't about impressing anyone, Veronica. It's about expressing yourself. About claiming what's yours. That's the only way to get this intense... when both people are fully present, fully demanding, fully alive in the moment. Not one person orchestrating and the other following. But two people taking and giving in equal measure. That is how sex feels complete."
"You mean... I should just..."
"Tell me what you want," I said. "Right now. What do you want from me?"
She blinked, like the question had never occurred to her before. Then slowly, carefully, she said, "I want you to stop treating me like I might break. I want you to see me as strong enough to handle whatever you throw at me. And I want..." She paused, her cheeks flushing. "I want to know that I can affect you the way you affect me. That I have power here too."
Pride swelled in my chest. "There she is."
Veronica looked impressed with herself, a small smile breaking through the tear tracks on her face. "I'm learning a lot from you."
"Good," I said, pulling her closer again. "That's the whole point."
As I comforted her, another thought crept into my mind. Once I didn't want to acknowledge but couldn't ignore.
Why was I doing this?
Why was I molding her so carefully, teaching her these deep secrets about herself, investing so much energy into transforming her from the passive girl she'd been with Chase into this powerful, self-aware woman she was becoming?
The answer hit me like a punch to the gut.
I was claiming her. I wanted her all for myself...
I was making sure that she got the best from me... so that she would never feel like this with anyone else.
Especially with my baby brother Theo... he too loved her, didn't he?! He, too, was trying hard to win her, just like I was doing right now.
The realization made me feel more guilty.
My brother. Sweet, sincere Theo with his meditation practices and his gentle approach to everything. He would never push her the way I was pushing her...
He can never touch her, make her feel like this... the way I do...
Damn... I was in competition with my brother... again...
This was the very thing I'd sworn off years ago, the very pattern I'd broken when I walked away from being the perfect son, the golden child, the one who always had to win.
And I was doing it in the worst possible way... not by being better than Theo, but by reshaping Veronica so thoroughly that she wouldn't fit with him anymore.
So that by the time she had to choose, the choice would already be made because I'd molded her into someone who needed what only I could give her.
It was manipulative. Strategic. Calculated.
It was exactly the kind of thing my father would have done. My father would be proud of me to know that the old me still existed...
And it sucked to think that way... that I was still that competitive kid underneath my rebel mask.
"Max?" Veronica's voice pulled me from my spiraling thoughts. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I lied. "I'm fine."
But I wasn't fine.
Because I was starting to realize that I couldn't win this without losing something essential.