10. Chapter 10 – Olivia
Chapter 10 – Olivia
“ M mh,” I groaned, rolling over and stretching my arms above my head as my body protested against the movement. I was so comfortable I didn’t want to even wake up. My morning sickness had let up a bit in the last few days, which meant I didn’t get the abrupt wake up every morning and I was going to enjoy every single slow wake up I could get.
The delicious scent of food tickled against my nose though and my always hungry stomach growled, forcing me to open my eyes and figure out what the delicious scent was. But as soon as they opened, I let out a startled shriek and hastily sat up in bed.
Maddox’s bed.
He was standing in his kitchen, wearing only those same black shorts, as he looked over his massive shoulder at me. “Good morning, Storm.”
I pulled the blankets up to my chin as hot sexy flashbacks from sometime before dawn assaulted my brain and lady bits. Hissing out, “I fell asleep.” Wishing the bed would swallow me up and drop me out somewhere far, far away, I cringed. “I can’t believe I fell asleep.”
He put something on a plate and set it down on the counter on his way over to the bed. My eyes instantly roamed over his hulking dad bod in the light since last night it was so dark when I butted my way into his apartment and bed. I finally had the answer to the mental conundrum of whether or not his body was hairless as I stared at the light dusting of black hair over his chest and abs. God, it fucking suited him.
I wanted to drag my fingernails over it. And the ink that covered his chest and stomach too, fuck.
“You were tired.” He knelt on the bed and leaned over me, “We both were.”
“You promised to do something to my clit, and I fell asleep.” I stared at him with wide eyes. “I’ll never get over the regret.”
He chuckled, showcasing those perfect teeth under his dark beard, and then he cut the distance between us and kissed me. Maybe he meant it to be a soft, slow peck, but when he hesitated to pull away, I ran my tongue over his lip, and he responded with his own lick. “Careful, Storm. Or your food will get cold.”
“Something else is getting hot.” I smiled against his lips, mentally begging him to get back into bed with me.
He growled and deepened the kiss, burying one hand in the hair at the back of my neck and holding me there for his attention. Had a man ever kissed me so thoroughly before? I didn’t think so. “Be my good girl, eat your breakfast, and then you can come on my face again.”
I sighed dreamily and looked up at him, I’d do just about whatever he asked of me with that kind of reward. “Fine.” He backed up, and I slid out of bed, pleasantly surprised by the warmth emanating through the flooring. “Ooh, this is nice.” I wiggled my feet on the hardwood floor.
“Yours has it too, didn’t you see the control for it?” He went back to the kitchen, plating food.
“I didn’t know what all of those controls were for.” I shrugged, wrapping my arms around myself and following after him. “You’ll have to show me sometime.”
“Is that why your place is always so cold? And you use blankets like clothing?”
I shrugged again, “How was I supposed to know the heat came out of the floors?”
“Woman.” He groaned and caged me in against the counter, bringing his face right in front of mine. “You. Have. To. Tell. Me. What. You. Need.”
“I. Don’t. Know. How.” I contested, and he pursed his lips.
“You did last night.” He cocked his head to the side, “You needed me to keep you safe from the storm and you called me. And I rewarded you for it.”
“Hmm.” I uttered. “Technically, I only called to see if you were sleeping through the thunder.” I shrugged. “Then you got all bossy and made me come sleep with you.”
“Made you?” He sat back on his heels and crossed his arms, “Did I make you beg to come too?”
Now it was my turn to cross my arms, “Technically, yes.”
He grunted and ushered me out of the kitchen. “Go sit down to eat so I can do it again.”
“Mmh.” I moaned with extra flare and glanced over my shoulder as he followed my path with his eyes glued to my ass.
“How’s the nausea?” He asked after a minute, “Anything not sound appealing?”
“I feel good, still.” At his small table, I sat down and tucked my feet under me. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but I think I’m over the worst of it.”
“Does that mean I can throw out the four jars of pickles I bought yesterday?” He asked, carrying over the plates.
I aimed my fork at him and tried to give him my best intimidating stare, “Not if you want to live.”
“Thought so.” He sat down across from me and picked up a cup of coffee and watched me as I started cutting into the pancakes and eggs he made.
“What?” I paused, with a bite halfway to my mouth.
“Eat, and then we’ll talk.” But he didn’t make any move to eat his own food.
“Why do I feel like I’m not going to like the conversation you choose?” I quickly took the bite off the fork, because if I was right, I wanted to enjoy my meal before he ruined it.
He shrugged and forked a bite of eggs to eat.
“Because you won’t, but I think it’s necessary.”
“Well then,” I stabbed a giant piece of pancake and shoved it into my mouth. “Talk about something else for now. Talk about what the souvenir was last night.”
He sat back in his chair with a grin. “There were three souvenirs last night.”
My eyebrows rose as I took another bite. “Busy man.”
“They’re in the fridge.”
I swallowed the bite of eggs that now tasted like fingernails and washed it down with some water. “What is in the fridge, exactly?”
“Their hearts.” He stared at me, and I tried to keep any emotion off my face. “Have you ever seen a human heart in person before?”
“Can’t say as I have.”
Maddox cocked his head to the side, “Do you want to?”
I opened my mouth to decline forcefully, expecting the nausea from the finger episode to return, but there was none. Every day he would tell me what gift he got me from someone on the list of people that wanted me dead, and I would forcefully ignore any mental imagery of the items that tried to assault my brain.
But today, no disgust came. I doubted it was because it was hearts, those seemed as grotesque as the fingers, ears, eyeballs and other organs that he had collected, yet I was mildly intrigued.
“I don’t know.” I paused, “Quintin’s sounds appealing, but only if I can take a meat tenderizer to it for the fun of it.”
He raised one brow at me, “That sounds personal.”
I shrugged, not wanting to turn my calm and relaxed psycho into a raging and vengeful one before I finished my breakfast. “He was an evil man.”
“Explain that further.”
I took another bite of my pancakes and brought my knees to my chest, trying to word my next sentences carefully. “He had a thing for thick girls, but not in a fantasy way. He liked the big girls so he could degrade them and break their spirits because of their looks before he fucked them.” I watched him closely, trying to read his expression as I recalled the memory. “One time, Damon made me meet him at his club during selection hour,” I explained, remembering the way that bastard’s words and hands had felt when they hit me, I gritted my teeth. “I almost didn’t make it out of there without him—” I closed my eyes and shook my head, “You know.”
“Raping you.” Maddox leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “You almost didn’t make it out of there without the man raping you.”
“Yeah,” I whispered, and cleared my throat, trying to brush it off. “But he didn’t. Damon doesn’t like to share his toys.”
Maddox’s massive chest rose and fell as he filled his lungs, watching me like a hawk. “Come here.”
I scowled, “What?”
“Come here.” He pushed his chair back and challenged me with his dominant eyes, “Now, Storm.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m struggling to stay calm hearing about how they treated you. I’m struggling not to go back and mutilate the fucker’s body even more than I did last night for what he did. I’m pissed that I didn’t know that before I went for him. And I need to calm down, so you don’t see that side of me.”
“You don’t scare me.” I whispered, not really believing it.
“Yes, I do.” He closed his eyes, “And I hate that. Now, get your ass over here so I can calm down before I hulk out and scare you with my darkness.”
Not really sure why I was getting to my feet and walking closer to the man who just admitted to being triggered, I rounded the table and as soon as I was within reach, he lifted me onto his lap, straddling him. He was so fucking tall we were face to face even though I was sitting on him, and I instantly ran my hands up his shoulders to the back of his neck, feeling the tension there.
He leaned forward and buried his face in my neck, taking a deep breath as he wrapped his massive arms around my body, pressing me to him tight. “I don’t recognize this feeling inside of me, Storm.”
“Describe it.” As I ran my nails up the back of his head, he let out a noise similar to a purr and his chest rumbled against my breasts, which were firmly pressed against him. So, I did it again.
“Like I want to hurt anyone who’s hurt you.” He replied, his voice strained, “It’s overwhelming, a tidal wave of emotion consuming me like never before, leaving me breathless. The urge to protect and avenge you is more powerful now. I feel like I’ll snap under the need to act on it.”
“Act on something else, then.” I pulled his head back by a handful of his hair and rocked in his lap. “Because I’m safe and sound, right here. Because of you .”
“Maybe I’ll do just that.” He reached behind me and the plates and glasses rattled as he shoved them aside.
“What are you doing?” I asked and then shrieked when he put me on the table and pushed my thighs wide. I was naked under my nightgown and on display for him in the bright morning light of his kitchen but when I tried to close my knees, he pushed them wider apart, staring at my exposed center and licked his lips with a feral look in his eyes.
“You ate your food like my good girl, and now you get your reward.” He pulled my hips forward, making me reach behind me to support myself as only my tailbone touched the table. Leaning forward, Maddox licked me from ass to clit and sucked it into his mouth, pulling a startled scream from my lips that ended on a moan. He growled, twisting his face back and forth against my pussy and letting his whiskers stimulate me everywhere. “I want my beard covered in your cream, baby girl. Let me use this sweet pussy to calm my psycho down.”
“Fuck!” I moaned when he dived back in, pushing his tongue into me and sucking. “Just like that.” Giving into the pleasure he was intent on giving, I held myself up with one hand behind me and scraped my nails through the hair on the back of his head, pulling him against me harder as I arched my back and rode his face like a good little slut.
Who was I to tell the man who was risking his life for me that he couldn’t pleasure me sexually to calm his inner demons?
Duh.
He pushed a finger into me and curled it as he looked up at my body. “Take this nightgown off. I want to see your sexy tits.”
I hesitated, knowing my curled over position was going to leave my stomach all sorts of rolled over and unappealing, but then he bit my clit to challenge me, and I gave in. If he wanted to see me, I’d let him.
I’d do just about anything for him with his perfect mouth, pushing me even closer to an orgasm with each flick of his tongue.
I took my nightgown off and threw it on the floor, leaning back and arching into his mouth more when he hit my G-spot just right with his thick finger. “Yes, Maddox. I’m so close.”
He hummed against my clit, staring at me, and reached up to play with my nipples, pushing me over the edge and into bliss. “Good girl,” He growled as I tipped my head back and lost it for him. “My good little Storm, let it all go for me.”
Maddox slid his hands around my back and pulled me off the table and back into his lap, where I laid my head on his shoulder in total relaxation. The man was a walking psychotic grizzly bear who killed men for me and delivered their body parts to my doorstep in between other sweet gifts like blankets and jars of pickles. Yet I didn’t hesitate for even a second before falling into his embrace to relax.
At least I was relaxed until I felt the rock-hard proof of his own need under me with only a thin piece of fabric separating our bodies.
I wiggled my hips, rubbing him with my ass and pulled back to look at him as his eyelids lowered and his nostrils flared. “Careful, or I’ll take you to bed and not let you up for days.”
I leaned back into his neck, shook by how comfortable I was in his embrace, and nibbled against his neck. “That’s kind of what I was hoping for.”
He growled and pulled my head back to kiss me. I had never kissed someone with a full beard before, but I loved kissing Maddox. There was something so erotically masculine about it. “Well, unfortunately, we don’t have time.” He sighed, “We have an appointment to go to this morning.”
I calmed in his arms and leaned back to look at him. His words from before breakfast came back to the front of my mind, where he told me I wouldn’t like the conversation he wanted to have. “What did you do?”
He tightened his arms around my waist and held me as I tried to create more space between us. “I made you an appointment with the best OB in Boston.”
Glaring at him with rising indignation in my chest, “You had no business doing that.”
“I know.” He replied instantly, taking some of the wind out of my angry sails, “But I think you should at least get a checkup. You can’t just kill time hiding away eating pickles and watching your silly movies for the rest of forever, Storm.”
I tried to stand up to get away from his warm and soothing body and put some space between us so I could be mad at him. “I know that. But I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.”
“You haven’t seen a doctor yet, have you?” He asked, holding me tight until I stopped fighting him. “Don’t you want to at least know everything is okay before you make any other decisions?”
“No.” I admitted, staring at him straight in the eye. “I don’t want to know anything.”
“Why?”
My nose burned as tears pooled in my eyes, and I hated how I was breaking apart for him to watch. “Because it will just hurt more.” I whispered.
“It doesn’t have to hurt, Liv.” He ran his thumb over my cheek, wiping away the tears that dared to fall over my bottom lashes. “It doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”
“How can it not be?” I cried, “I got knocked up by a man who I hate. Who did terrible, horrific things to me. I literally wish death upon him every day. How am I supposed to have his baby? What if it’s a boy, and he’s just like his father? I’m all alone!”
“It’s not his baby.” He said firmly. “It’s yours, Liv.” Maddox lowered one hand to my still naked belly and the warmth from his rough palm made me cry harder. “This baby is yours. All yours. And Damon Kirst will never have a hand in its life, because I’m going to eradicate him for you. I’m going to protect you from him.” He slid his other hand from my cheek to the back of my neck, pulling me forward to rest his forehead against mine. “I’ll protect your baby and neither of you will ever be alone again.”
I cried harder, as he wrapped both arms around my naked body and held me to him, right there in his kitchen. After a while I whispered my biggest fear, “You don’t even know me, Maddox. What happens to us when you change your mind? The decision to keep this baby is for life, literally.”
He growled, tightening his arms around me. “I can’t describe the way taking care of you makes me feel, Storm. But I’m not a quitting man, and I won’t quit on you. I don’t have all the answers for the rest of forever, I’m just asking you to go see the doctor and get some answers about this baby first. And then we can go from there.”
“How are you so confident?” I took a calming breath but kept my face buried in his neck.
“It’s probably the lack of raging pregnancy hormones rushing through my body.”
I bit his neck and snickered at his joke. I didn’t want to laugh, but I didn’t want to cry anymore either. “You’re probably pretty right.”
“Let’s just take it one step at a time. And step one is getting showered and dressed for your first appointment.”
“Will you go with me?” I finally leaned back to look at him. “I don’t know if I can go in there alone.”
His earth-shaking smile lit up his face, and he nodded, “You weren’t going to keep me out of there even if you didn’t want me there.”