Just remembering how lucky she’d been should
have sent her scurrying for the door but God, she felt so good.
“You said something about a bed,” she gasped
when he lingered on that sensitive spot below her ear.
“One minute.” He slid his hands up, over her
T-shirt, and cupped her breasts in both hands, dragging a sigh from
both of them before he closed his hands over her waist and pushed
her from his lap. “Upstairs.”
Her legs were rubbery, and he caught her arms
with a chuckle, and guided her toward the stairs. As she started
up, he made a sound of appreciation behind her. She looked over her
shoulder to see him looking at her ass, and she gave it an extra
sway before heading up the rest of the way.
The bedroom was a loft, with a big bed in the
center, under a row of skylights in the slanted ceiling. She could
see the stars through them.
Maddox caught her around the waist from
behind, kissing the side of her neck so that she thought he would
leave a hickey. Twisting out of his grasp, she turned to wrap her
arms around his neck, bringing his mouth to hers briefly before he
tugged her T-shirt up and over her head. He stroked his hands up
her bare waist to cover her lace-covered breasts, his thumbs
sweeping over her nipples so she gasped into his mouth. Before she
could recover, he bent his head to suck one tip into his mouth,
deep and hard. She cried out, curving her hand over the back of his
head, holding him to her, arching against him, and she felt him
grin against her.
“Always loved making you do that,” he said,
and with a deft move, unhooked her bra.
She couldn’t wait to see what else he loved
making her do. She shoved his shirt down his shoulders and leaned
forward, pressing her breasts to his chest, loving the rasp of his
chest hair against the sensitive skin. His fingers slipped between
their bodies and worked the button of her jeans loose, then slid
his hand down the front.
And made her cry out again.
“Good thing there aren’t any close
neighbors,” he said, trying to withdraw his hand, but she clasped
his wrist. “No, baby, you’re not getting off that easy.” He pulled
his hand free and shoved at her jeans. She helped, stepping free of
the denim. He glided his hands down the curve of her ass as she
reached for the buckle of his belt, fumbling with it for a bit
before tugging it free and closing her hand around his straining
erection.
“You’d better not be kidding about having it
covered.”
He chuckled and backed her toward the bed.
Then she was on her back and he was over her, his hands pinning her
wrists to the mattress, his hips holding hers. For a long moment,
he did nothing but look down at her, his eyes glinting just as they
had when he was seventeen years old. Then he was himself, and
devouring her. She lifted her hips, desperate now, and he peeled
away.
She made a sound of protest that had him
chuckling again, and he returned to her, naked except for a very
important accessory. He skidded his fingertips along the soft flesh
along the inside of her thigh, as if she needed encouragement to
open for him. He slid a finger into her, watching her face as he
did so, then another.
God, it had been too long. She was tight, and
while her body was wet for him, she wasn’t ready. He knew it, too,
because he swept his thumb up, across the bundle of nerves, making
her sigh again and lift into him as he pressed his other fingers
deeper, stretching, until she moved against him, into the thrust of
his fingers, and he drew them out slowly before settling between
her legs, parting her, pushing the head of his erection against
her, into her, slowly.
The muscles on his neck tensed with his
restraint, and she held her breath until he was seated fully inside
her so that she felt the pulse of him at her center. Even then she
couldn’t breathe, could only look up at him in wonder.
Then he began to move. She couldn’t bear the
intensity of his gaze, so she curved her hand around the back of
his neck and drew his mouth down to hers. He indulged her for a
moment, his lips moving over hers, his muscular chest brushing her
breasts. The way he touched her, those reverent caresses, made her
realize her heart was at risk. She could tell herself this didn’t
mean anything, was only a release of tension, he’d be gone soon.
But deep in her heart, she knew the truth. She wanted too much. She
never let herself want anything, but she wanted this. It was too
late. She couldn’t protect her heart.
She released him so he could lift himself
over her again, move into her in that maddening rhythm—wasn’t he as
frantic as she? Each thrust of his hips only made her hunger grow.
She had forgotten how wonderful he felt, how gentle he was. He
stroked down her side, toying briefly with her breast before
tucking his hand under her bottom and lifting her, parting her. And
just that simple movement opened her that much more, and sent her
crashing over the edge. She cried out, her head back, her fingers
digging into his shoulders as she shattered.
When she pulled the pieces of her brain back
together, she looked up to see Maddox grinning. He lowered his head
to kiss her, and stoked the fire all over again.
By the time he was done with her, she was a
boneless puddle on his mattress, with three orgasms in the span of
time it took him to reach his own. When he dropped to the mattress
beside her and dragged her close, she didn’t have the energy to
protest, though the self-protecting side of her brain urged her to
get up, get dressed and get out.
“I love that you still sound the same when
I’m inside you,” he said, his lips against her temple.
The cynical side of her wanted to ask how he
remembered after all the women he’d no doubt been with, but she
didn’t have the energy to spar.
“I should go.”
“Just a few minutes,” he said, and shifted to
face her, scooping her hair away from her face. “I should have had
you in a real bed fourteen years ago.”
“And then I’d probably have been in the same
situation Linda’s in. No, it’s just as well we were limited. We did
enough damage in the back seat.”
“But I wasn’t able to get you naked like
this.” He coasted his hand down her body, lingering on her breast,
then her hip. “You’re gorgeous, Beth.”
“Right.” After all the women who threw
themselves at him. But that gave her the energy to push herself
upright, away from his touch. “I need to get home.”
He blew out a breath but didn’t say anything
as he rolled onto his back. “I want to see you tomorrow. Are you
working?”
“Yes.” She stood to pull on her panties, then
bent to reach for her jeans.
“Let’s do a picnic or something, before you
go in.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “You
don’t have to romance me, Maddox. I got just as much out of this as
you did. More, I’d say.”
“I still want to see you.”
She hooked her bra deftly. “I’ll come back
tomorrow night after work.”
He sat up, opened his mouth as if he wanted
to say something, but didn’t. Good.
Her shirt was in the other room. She
considered kissing him good night, but decided against it, and with
a casual wave, she left.
What. The. Hell. Beth had never been one for
casual sex. Hell, it had taken him most of the summer after her
junior year to talk her out of her virginity. And based on the way
her body felt, and her awkward movements, she hadn’t added to her
experience by much. So what was with the nonchalant exit? Not even
a kiss, when she’d been ready to devour him before?
He got that she was cautious. But to not even
want to have dinner, to agree to come back tomorrow night,
presumably for another round, was strange. Was it because of him,
or some other reason? He was damned sure going to find out, because
he wasn’t going to touch her until he romanced her a bit.
Maddox tucked the cell phone with a half
dozen messages from his manager away in the kitchen drawer, and
turned back to setting the table. Despite his crazy hours on the
road, he’d never actually eaten a sit-down dinner after midnight.
Crazier still, he didn’t know for sure if Beth would show up. She’d
been so skittish last night after they made love, like she couldn’t
wait to get away from him. But she said she’d be back, so he
planned for it, with a light dinner of salad and rolls and the fish
he’d caught today, lightly grilled. Well, it would be grilled when
she got here.
Tires rolled on the gravel drive and his
stomach eased. Hell, he hadn’t been nervous about entertaining a
woman in years. And this was Beth. He knew her better than he knew
anyone.
He crossed to the door and opened it as she
came up the steps. She was blushing even as she stepped through the
door. He dipped his head to kiss her cheek, which seemed to
surprise her, and guided her across the open living room to the
table on the patio. He’d already poured a glass of wine and a
sparkling cider for himself.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“You wouldn’t come on a picnic with me, so…”
He picked up his glass and took a sip.
She eyed the glass. “You didn’t have to feed
me. I ate at work.”
“Yeah, well.” He didn’t know how to tell her,
other than he’d already done, that he wanted more than sex. Still
he realized she was thrown off balance by his greeting and this
set-up. “I’m going to grill the fish. Shouldn’t take long, but I
didn’t know what time you’d get here.”
“What can I do to help?”
She followed him to the kitchen and they fell
into an easy pattern of working together. She eyed the bottle of
cider on the counter and he tensed.
“Twelve steps?”
He nodded, holding his breath and awaiting
her reaction.
“Good,” she said with a decisive nod. “I hope
it wasn’t anything terrible that pushed you in that direction, but
I’m glad of it.”
“It was a series of things,” he said,
deciding to be open. “A few lost days, a scare from a woman I
couldn’t remember saying we were engaged. She’d gotten my credit
card and bought herself a ring and a wedding dress and everything.
So scary, yeah, but not life-endangering. I now have a restraining
order and a two-year pin.”
“That’s incredible.”
“I missed a lot, though, you know. Partying
all the time. I missed a lot of the fun parts of being a country
singer, like playing at Red Rocks and singing the National Anthem
at the Cardinals game. I didn’t screw up, thank God, but I sure as
hell don’t remember it. I was plastered at the CMAs the year I
didn’t win, sat with freaking Shania Twain, and don’t remember.
Pretty sure I made an idiot of myself, because she looks at me
weird these days.” He flashed her a half-smile. “So yeah, clean and
sober now.”
“I’m glad. I’m proud of you.”
Of course. Of any person in the world he
could tell, it should be Beth. She lived with an alcoholic father
who ruined his life and that of his kids, drowning his grief when
his wife died. Beth knew all about blacking out and making a fool
of oneself, always worse in a small town. It was no wonder she kept
to herself.
And now she was going through the same thing
with Linda, only he didn’t know if she’d listen to him about
getting help. She never wanted anyone’s help.
“You don’t have to buy wine for me. I’m just
as happy drinking cider.”
He set the spatula on the edge of the
in-stove grill and turned to her, catching her around the waist and
backing her up against the other counter. “I wanted you nice and
relaxed tonight, so that once I get you naked…”
She blushed, but laughed and wrapped her arms
around his neck. “Then what?”
Dinner was tense, but not in a bad way. He
kept his foot in contact with hers under the table, and she’d touch
his hand more than he expected. They’d barely cleared the table
when she turned in his arms at the sink and kissed him, long and
deep.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” she
murmured, and pulled him toward the stairs.
He didn’t argue, and followed, his hands
shaking. He understood it was false bravado on her part, but he
planned to take full advantage.
She stopped at the edge of his bed, turned to
him, and stripped off her top. Lust punched him hard as he took in
all that bronze skin, the toned body, the small breasts that filled
the lace cups. He wanted to touch her, but some instinct told him
to let her make the first move. She loosened her ponytail and her
hair fell around her shoulders. He got even harder, just imagining
the ends of it brushing his skin.
Then she took a shy step toward him. He
angled his head to kiss her, but she didn’t raise her face, instead
reaching for the buttons of his shirt. Her breath gusted against
his skin as she parted the fabric, and damn, his erection bordered
on painful. She hadn’t even touched him yet.
Once she pushed the shirt from his shoulders,
she leaned into him, skin to skin, and lifted her face. He slipped
his fingers under her hair and cupped the back of her head as he
claimed her mouth.
God, he loved the taste of her, warm and
sweet, as her tongue lifted to glide along his. Her kisses had
always been playful, and that playfulness had always got him going.
So many nights when they were kids, he had to take matters into his
own hands. But tonight—
As if she read his mind, she slid her hands
down his stomach, rubbing her palms over the hair there before she
loosened the button and zipper and reached inside.
He couldn’t stop the groan of pleasure as she
curled her fingers around him, firm but gentle, stroking until he
had to grab her wrist to stop her. He broke the kiss and looked
down at her with what had to be a grimace.
“You don’t want it over that fast.”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder, not
releasing him, gifting him instead with an evil grin. “I do want to
get home tonight.”