Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
LUKE
Idon’t let go of her hand the entire walk to my room. I won’t chance it. If I have my hand on her, I know she’s here and there is no escape. I need to see about getting a better tracker. That shit only let me know she was in the building. I had to hunt for her little ass.
As pissed off as I am about her running from me, at least now she understands that I will track her down.
I’m not going anywhere, and maybe this will make that even clearer.
If she wants me to prove that I’m in this with her, I’m more than happy to oblige until she gets it through that beautiful head of hers.
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I liked that she got jealous over me.
She’s never really shown that side of herself to me before.
While I may have enjoyed her reaction, I didn’t enjoy the rest of it.
The silent treatment, the not knowing where she was, the anxiety I felt when I couldn’t find her.
I still can’t fathom that she, for a second, thought I was checking out the ice girls. My attention isn’t easily swayed. In fact, not much of anything catches it, honestly. My life has been dull, moving through the motions. Only trying to push through school so I was done with all this shit.
My heart is still pounding from the fight as I lead her into my room. It looks like every other hotel room—beige walls, bland art, and two queen beds I won’t use. I close the door and lock it, the sound loud in the quiet room.
Madeline stands in the center of the room, arms crossed again but differently now. Less angry. More uncertain.
“You stole a key card,” she says. It’s not a question.
“Borrowed,” I say, dropping my jacket on the chair by the window. “I did what I had to. Besides, what if there is an emergency? A fire. If I didn’t have a key, I’d die pounding on your door, trying to make sure you’re not inside.” I’m being ridiculous. I’m sure she thinks I’m teasing. Wrong.
“Well, there isn’t any kind of emergency, so—” She shrugs one shoulder.
“This is an emergency.” I cross to her, close enough to smell her shampoo. “It felt like one.”
She looks up at me, and I see it—the doubt still there, lurking under the surface. She thinks I wanted those other girls. She thinks I’m capable of looking at anyone else.
I take her face in my hands, gently this time. “Madeline. Look at me.”
She does, reluctantly. I want to make things real fucking clear to her. No more cat and mouse bullshit.
“I don’t see other people. I haven’t since the day I met you.” I brush my thumb across her cheekbone. “You could walk into a room naked, and I wouldn’t notice anyone else in it.”
Her lips twitch. “That’s a lie.”
“What?”
“You’d lose your mind if anyone else saw me naked.” She raises an eyebrow. “You get huffy when I wear shorts.”
I open my mouth to argue, then close it. She’s right. I hate when her legs are showing. Hate when other guys look.
“Fine,” I admit. “I’d notice. Then I’d kill them.”
She laughs, the tension finally breaking. “There it is.”
“Test me anyway.”
She laughs, a real one, and some of the tension breaks. “You’re impossible.”
“I’m yours.” I say it simply because it’s true. “Say you believe me.” I need to hear this from her, and I want her to hear it too.
She’s quiet for a long moment before she finally speaks. “I believe you don’t want them. But I don’t believe you weren’t looking.” I’m shaking my head no. She’s lumping me in with basic boy bitches.
“I was observing.” I drop my hands to her waist, pulling her closer. “They were boring. You’re real. You’re loud and messy, and you make shirts with my name on them.” I kiss her forehead. “That’s what I was thinking about. How fucking lucky I am.”
Her breath catches. “Luke.”
“I saw you in that crowd, and I thought, she’s mine. She’s actually mine. She’s getting it. And then you wouldn’t look at me, and I thought I’d lost you before I even had you.”
She reaches up, her fingers finding the back of my neck. “You didn’t lose me. I just... I got scared.”
“I know, but you’ll see. Like right now. I’m not letting you push me away. I don’t care what it takes.”
“It freaked me out how jealous I got. It was this flood of emotion.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “Then I was thinking this is too fast. We can’t be feeling all of this so soon. If I’m this lost in you, how will I be a year from now?” She stares up at me.
“Well, in ten years maybe you’ll catch up to how crazy I am over you.” I watch her features soften and then her body too.
I kiss her then, softly and slowly, trying to put everything I can’t say into it. The fear. The want. How easily she rearranged my entire life without even trying. She makes me want to be better.
Madeline responds immediately, her body pressing into mine, her fingers tangling in my hair. The kiss deepens, turns hungry, and I lift her slightly so she can wrap her legs around my waist. Madeline pours all her passion into it, and I greedily take it all, starved for it, for her.
I carry her to the bed and lay her down, following her, never breaking the kiss. Her hands are under my shirt, nails dragging down my back, and I groan against her mouth. I start to push up her shirt, wanting to feel her skin against mine. Needing to be as close to her as possible.
“You know how fucking hot it was when I saw you in this shirt?” The shirt is simple, white with my number and name painted in Kingmakers gold. Handmade. Imperfect. Perfect.
“You better appreciate it. I spent three hours on it.” She smiles shyly now. “I’m not crafty.”
“I know. That’s why it means more.”
Her phone buzzes. I’m pretty sure it’s Georgia checking in on her.
“You should text her,” I say softly against her neck. “So she doesn’t send a search party.”
“You’re right. I don’t want her to worry, but I think she knew how this would go.
You’ve grown on her, you know. Like a Cordyceps fungus.
” She pulls out her phone, typing with one hand while I kiss her shoulder.
“There. Told her I’m alive and I’ll be staying here tonight.
” Her eyes flick up to meet mine, holding my stare.
“Are you staying the night?” We both know what that means. Spending all night in a bed together, we won’t be able to control ourselves. Madeline is filled with fiery passion, and I love to bring that out of her and feel the burn of it. She makes me feel more than anyone else ever has.
She looks at me, really looks at me, and her expression softens into something I don’t have a name for. “Yeah,” she says, licking her lips. “I am. Unless you don’t want me to. I can just go back to my roo…”
I cut her off with my mouth, kissing her again, harder this time.
She makes a quiet sound in her throat that goes straight to my dick.
I groan back, grinding against her, letting her feel what she does to me.
She lets out a small gasp, her fingers digging into my shoulder.
I love that she doesn’t hold back. She lets me hear it all.
“Luke—”
“I know,” I say against her neck, tasting salt and the sweetness that’s only her.
“I feel it too.” My heart is once again racing with anticipation.
I have never been this close to anyone before.
Madeline fills in all the cold emptiness inside of me.
I didn’t know how bad it had become until she was there, filling me with her warmth.
And I had to work for it. That only made it that much sweeter when I got it.
I don’t believe I’ve really had to work for anything in my life before her.
She nods, breathless, and I sit up just enough to pull her shirt over her head, her bra quickly following.
I freeze for a second, staring down at her and taking her in.
Her breasts are perfect, small and soft with pink nipples already hard, begging for attention.
My mouth waters to taste them. I can’t wait another second.
“Fuck,” I breathe out and lower my mouth to one, sucking gently, then harder when she moans and arches into it.
Knowing I’m the one that’s giving her this pleasure only spurs me on more.
Her fingers sink into my hair, holding me there, and I switch to her other breast, teasing it with my tongue.
She truly is the picture of perfection, and I can’t get enough of her.
I’ll never get enough. Not now, not ever.
Thank God I have forever to try to get my fill of her.
I need more. I sit up and strip my own shirt off, then reach for her shorts, my fingers hooking in the waistband and tugging them down her long legs that are driving me insane. I can’t stop the thoughts of having them wrapped around me as I sink my cock into her over and over again.
I suck in a breath when I see she’s bare underneath. No fucking underwear. She’s been prancing around everywhere with nothing underneath. Then I stuff down the jealous bastard part of me, not wanting to ruin the moment.
“Buttercup—”
“I was hoping,” she whispers, cheeks flushing. “Before. When I thought... I wanted to be ready. For you.”
I groan and drop my head to her shoulder, kissing the skin there, trying to get control of myself. She’s too much. She’s everything. She’s mine from now until forever.
“Don’t do it again.”
“What?” A small laugh leaves her.
“You’re running around without fucking panties. You’re going to drive me to the edge, and I might have to kill a few assholes.” She only laughs, thinking I’m teasing, but I’m not. Madeline knew when she left to come to the game what was going to happen between us. Planned for it.
I slide my hand between her legs. She’s already wet, slick, and warm, and I groan again, pressing my forehead against hers. “You’re soaked.” Her body is already ready for me, primed.
“It’s for you,” she says and kisses me. “Only you.”