Chapter 5
Maddie got home before Mac and made good use of the time.
She changed into the white silk nightgown he’d bought her when they were first dating and covered it with the matching robe he’d given her for her birthday the following year.
He’d given her everything, most important his love and devotion.
Certainly, no woman had ever been so adored by her husband.
He’d never been more attentive or solicitous than he’d been since she delivered their baby daughter in the midst of a tropical storm.
She brushed her hair until it hung in soft, shiny waves on her shoulders and smoothed on some of the strawberry-flavored lip balm that had been known to make her dear husband a little crazy.
Who was she kidding? Everything about her seemed to make him a little crazy, and she loved every crazy, over-the-top thing about him.
The bang of the sliding door opening caught her attention. “Madeline! Where are you?”
“Show time,” she whispered in the mirror with a small, satisfied smile. At the top of the stairs, she looked down to find him on the sofa tearing at his work boots with hasty, fumbling movements.
“Maddie!”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing at him and went down the stairs to sit next to him on the sofa. “You beckoned?”
He turned to her, and when he saw what she was wearing, his eyes got big. His mouth opened and then closed. “You’re stunning.”
“You’re dirty.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll take a shower so fast I’ll be back before I’m gone.” He stole a quick kiss and headed for the stairs, stopping halfway up. “Where’re my children?”
“With my mother and Ned until dinnertime.”
“God, I love you so much.”
Maddie laughed as he bolted up the remaining stairs and disappeared.
She thought about going upstairs to meet him after his shower, but decided it would be far more fun to make him come after her.
Sure enough, he came flying down the stairs less than five minutes later, with a towel wrapped around his waist, his dripping-wet hair standing on end and a small spot of blood on his chin from where he’d nicked himself shaving.
“You’re a mess,” she said, laughing as she held out her arms to him.
Smelling of soap and sexy man, he came down on top of her and sighed with relief when she hugged him. “I know. I can’t help it. Waiting for this day has made me nuts.”
She combed her fingers through his hair, attempting to bring some order. “Good thing I love you even when you’re a messy nut case.”
That drew a smile from him. “So what did David have to say?”
“Everything looks good.”
As she’d expected, he scowled darkly. “You’re damned right it looks good. I hate the idea of that guy having his face . . . there.”
Once again she held back a laugh at his ridiculousness. “He’s a doctor. Seen one, seen them all.”
“That’s crap. Yours is way better than most. I should know. I did a lot of shopping before I bought.”
“Mac!” She sputtered with laughter as she smacked his shoulder. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you said that! You’re outrageous. Don’t forget ‘that guy’ saved your daughter’s life.”
“I’ll never forget that, but it doesn’t mean I want his face in my wife’s hoo-ha.”
She squished his lips together before releasing them. “You really need to stop talking now.”
“Why? Is there something else you’d rather be doing?”
“Definitely.” She kissed him fully, deeply, letting him know exactly what she’d rather be doing.
Mac stood and held out his hand to help her up. He lifted her and headed for the stairs.
Maddie looped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. She’d never felt truly at home anywhere until Mac McCarthy put his arms around her and refused to let go.
He put her down next to the big bed he’d insisted they needed. That they occupied about three feet of it was a source of endless amusement to her. Sleeping in his arms had become as necessary to her as air and water.
For a long time, he only ran his hungry gaze over her, taking in every detail and heating her from within.
“I never get tired of looking at you, Madeline.”
She released a nervous laugh and put her hands on his superbly formed chest. “I could say the same to you.”
“I want you to know . . .” He combed his fingers through her long hair. “These last few weeks, watching you care for our baby, watching you feed her, you just . . .” His voice faltered, and he rested his forehead on hers, collecting himself. “You take my breath away.”
“Mac . . .”
He drew her in closer to him. “You positively glow when you’re looking at that baby. Do you know that?”
“You should see yourself with her. So big and protective. She’s a lucky girl to have you as her daddy.”
“She won’t think so when I refuse to let her date until she’s thirty.”
Maddie laughed. “I’ll be around to manage you on her behalf.”
He raised a rakish brow. “Manage me, huh? I could use some of your brand of management. I thought I’d die waiting for this day to get here.”
She dragged her hand from his chest to his belly and pulled the towel off him, licking her lips as she tried to figure out where she wanted to kiss him first.
Mac let out an unsteady sounding laugh. “You’re going to finish me right off if you keep looking at me that way.” He got busy removing her robe and nightgown in quick, well-practiced movements.
Maddie was always astounded at how competent he was at divesting a woman of her clothing. He’d had plenty of practice in his bachelor days.
“What are you thinking?”
Feeling guilty, she met his intense gaze. “About how you got so good at getting a woman’s clothes off so quickly.”
“The only woman whose clothes I want off—quickly—is the one I was smart enough to marry.” He kissed her then, hot and sweet and full of the love and passion they’d shared from the day they met.
His hands were everywhere, combing through her hair, smoothing a path on her back, cupping her bottom, coasting over her ribs to her breasts.
Maddie was mortified when the stimulation made her leak. She tried to pull back from him, but he let out a tortured-sounding moan and used the moisture to slide his fingers over her tender flesh.
She wrapped a hand around his throbbing cock, stroking him the way he liked, harder than she would’ve done without his guidance.
He stopped her. “Can’t,” he gasped. “I want to be inside you when I come.”
“Hold that thought.” She went to the beside table and retrieved a condom left over from their dating days. When she handed it to him, he moaned.
“Seriously?”
“I don’t want to be pregnant again any time soon.”
“But you’re breastfeeding. You can’t get pregnant.”
“That’s a load of crap. Suit up or no nookie.”
He took the condom from her. “Fine. Be that way.”
“Want me to do it for you?” she asked with a coy smile.
“Absolutely not.”
Maddie loved it when he pouted. He was so used to getting his own way that when he didn’t, he acted like a petulant little boy—an adorably petulant little boy.
He rolled the condom on and reached for her. They landed on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs, lips fusing, tongues mating in a frantic, familiar dance.
He tore his lips free and bent to lave her sensitive nipples with his tongue.
“Mac . . . Wait, I don’t want you to . . . Oh God.” She wanted to die when her breasts tingled with the familiar sensation of milk letting down. “Mac. Don’t. Please.” She worried about him being turned off by the flow of liquid, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.
“Wow, look at that.” His tongue dabbed at the moisture on her nipple in a moment so erotically charged, Maddie knew she’d never forget it.
The shocking intimacy, the reverent expression on his face .
. . The images etched indelibly into the growing album of memories that made up their beautiful life together.
She wrapped her arms around him, holding his head to her chest. She’d spent most of her life hating her oversized breasts, but he managed to make her forget all about that with his worshipful treatment.
“I love you, Mac. More and more every day. Just when I think I’ve reached the outer limit of how much it’s possible to love you, you go and top yourself, and I discover there’s even more. ”
When he raised his head to meet her gaze, she was stunned to see his shockingly blue eyes swimming with tears.
“That might just be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” He pressed his lips softly to hers. “In fact, I know it is.”
She combed her fingers through his damp, dark hair, leaving it mussed and sexy looking. “I mean every word of it.”
“I know you do. And I feel the same way. I never imagined anything like this happening to me. I love you so much sometimes I feel like I could burst with it.” As he spoke, he shifted so he was poised between her legs, his cock pressed against her, without demanding anything she wasn’t ready to give. “Speaking of bursting . . .”
Laughing softly, Maddie cradled him between her legs, and ran a soothing hand down his back. She cupped his muscular rear end and tugged, urging him to take her.
He let out an unsteady sounding groan. “I want you so bad, but I’m afraid of hurting you, babe.”
“You won’t.”
“After what you went through . . .” A shudder rippled through him.
“Don’t think about that or you’ll never want to have sex with me again.”
Laughing, he kissed her with sweet reverence. “No chance of that.” He reached between them and used his fingers to test her readiness. “Oh, God,” he gasped when he found her slick and primed for him. “Will you tell me to stop if it hurts?”
“Yes.” She gasped when his fingers pressed on the tight bundle of nerves that pulsed with desire. “Mac, please. Hurry.”
Moving slowly, he slid into her in small increments, giving her time to adjust and accommodate him. “Is it okay?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“It’s divine,” she whispered. “Nothing hurts. I promise.”
That seemed to snap his control, and he surged the rest of the way in one thrust. “Oh shit, sorry. Sorry, I can’t help it—”
She raised her hips in encouragement. “Love me, Mac. It feels so good.”