Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
“ I can pretend you are mine,” Maddie breathed, briefly pulling away from his fiery lips. “For the very last time.”
She didn’t realize she had spoken the words aloud until his face changed. His grey eyes darkened to the color of slate. He reached out, touching her bottom lip with his thumb.
“I want you,” he growled. “I want you so much. I feel as if I will die if I do not have you.”
“Then take me,” she whispered, her head dizzy with desire, the rawness of the moment, her reckless abandon. “For I want you as well.”
His eyes shone with joy as well as desire. “It will not be the last time,” he promised, his voice full of conviction. “It is just the beginning.”
Maddie didn’t contradict him, but she knew it wasn’t the truth. It was the end for them, not the beginning. He didn’t want to admit it at that moment, but he would see eventually that it was for the best.
She had meant what she said. She was offering herself to him. She wanted him to take her completely. Perhaps she would regret it, in the fullness of time, but she doubted it.
I will always have the memory. I will always know that my very first time was with the man I love. No one can take that away from me.
Boldly, she reached up, pulling his lips down to hers again. There wasn’t much time. At any moment, Selina might be knocking on her door, saying that he must leave.
Daniel didn’t need any encouragement. Instantly, his hands found Maddie’s breasts, kneading them through the thin fabric of her gown, tweaking her nipples with his fingertips. Maddie groaned, her head falling backwards, reveling in the sweet sparks of desire that shot through her body like tiny pinpricks, one after the other.
Suddenly, he spun her around, roughly unlacing her gown, pulling at it frantically. She heard a small rip before it fell to the floor. He let out a small, agonized groan as he beheld her.
She shivered slightly. After the shocking revelations and the high emotion of the morning, she had quite forgotten that she wasn’t wearing any undergarments at all.
“Hound’s teeth,” he murmured. “I have never seen anything as beautiful as you are, Maddie. Let me worship you like the goddess you are.”
She shuddered as his head dipped to her breasts, taking a nipple into his mouth with a sigh, suckling her deeply. His hands snaked around to her derriere, kneading and squeezing it. She was so aroused that she almost couldn’t take it any longer.
Vaguely, Maddie was aware of his member pressing against her stomach quite insistently. She started. It was alarming but arousing as well. And she gloried in the evidence of his high arousal, that he really did want her as much as she wanted him.
Our bodies do not lie . They tell the only truth that matters.
Suddenly, he broke contact, panting, as he lifted her in his arms, carrying her to the bed, before gently laying her down on it. She gazed up at him, giddy with desire, basking in his narrowed eyes taking in every last inch of her.
He ripped off his shirt, lowering himself on her. For the first time, she felt the smooth, silky bare flesh of his muscular chest. Slowly, she ran her hands over the planes of his torso reverentially. He was beautiful. His skin seemed to spring to life beneath her hands.
He was kissing her again, fiercely, his hands buried in her hair as if he couldn’t get enough of her. And then, she felt his hands sweep lower, pausing at her breasts to knead and caress them, before drifting lower still, finding her moist sex. She was so ready for him that it was almost painful.
Maddie cried out in delight as he peeled her nether lips apart, delving into her. Her hips arched instinctively as she felt him slide a finger inside her and his palm pressed against the nub at the apex of her sex.
The sensations were starting to overpower her. Sweat broke out over her entire body like a fever. She didn’t know how much longer she could stop the torrent from bursting forth.
“Are you ready?” he whispered, his voice thick and husky with desire. “Because now is the time to tell me if you are not.”
“I am ready,” she panted. “More than ready.”
He nodded quickly, positioning himself between her legs. She blinked, savoring the sensuous sight of him, before he plunged into her.
Maddie gasped, her eyes widening in shock. It was an invasion, and it hurt momentarily, before the pain subsided entirely, replaced by her desire for him. He rocked against her, almost hesitantly. Questioningly.
She looked at his face. He seemed to be in another world entirely, lost in the sensation of being inside her. She didn’t know when she had ever seen such bliss on a person’s face.
She took a deep breath, arching her hips high so that he slid deeper inside her. He groaned, clutching her hips, raising them again. Over and over. It was so deliriously wonderful that she moaned, her head twisting from side to side, her hands clawing at the bedsheets beneath her.
The man I love is inside me. We are joined. I never imagined it could be so beautiful.
The sensations were overwhelming her now. With each powerful thrust, she strained, closer to the edge. It was so amazing that she couldn’t stop moaning. She felt it gathering around them like a force, his eyes pinning her to the bed, as much as his body.
“Daniel, please…”
When it crashed over her, she cried out, unmindful of where she was or even who she was. She had drifted into another dimension entirely. She was only vaguely conscious when he cried out, grinding into her, before collapsing on the bed.
Maddie blinked, opening her eyes as she slowly came back down to earth. Her body was covered with sweat, and she realized his body was slick with it as well. She felt a warm stickiness between her legs, as well as a gentle throb.
She was no longer a maiden. Her prized maidenhead was gone and could never be recovered. She had willingly given it to him. She had wanted the man she loved to make love to her for the very first time.
It had been the most incredible experience of her life. She wanted to lie in his arms forever. She wanted to do it all over again. But none of that was possible. They had already been in this room together for far too long.
And yet… and yet… she couldn’t move. Not quite yet. She needed to taste the last sweet, sad drops of this encounter before it vanished forever. It was bittersweet.
She had never felt so happy or so sad in her entire life.
She looked at him. To her surprise, he wasn’t turned away, half falling asleep. Instead, he was looking at her intently. His eyes traveled over her face searchingly, as if he were seeking an answer to a silent question.
“I… I do not know what to say,” he whispered, his hand reaching over hesitantly, to caress her face. “It was more powerful than I ever expected. More powerful than anything I have ever experienced before.”
Maddie felt her cheeks redden. She had no experience with this at all. Perhaps this was just something that men said to women to reassure them in the aftermath. Especially when the woman’s maidenhead had been taken.
He was so much more experienced than she was. He had probably made love to dozens of women. He was a seducer and a rake. This is what he did.
“Are you… hurt?” he asked, still caressing her face.
She bit her lip, shaking her head. “I am fine,” she mumbled, trying to steel her heart against the tender look on his face. “It was amazing. I have no regrets.”
She knew, as the words left her mouth, that it was the truth. She didn’t regret it. And she wouldn’t regret it tomorrow. This belonged to her now, and whatever happened between them was irrelevant. Or at least it couldn’t take away from it.
“We should leave this room,” she said, glancing at the door anxiously. “It has already been far too long.”
Daniel sighed heavily but nodded, swinging his legs off the bed. She watched as he slipped back into his shirt, her heart tugging painfully. Trembling, she slipped off the bed, gathering her gown and pulling it over her head.
He was behind her, gently lacing her gown. She felt his breath on her neck. And then, to her surprise, he put his hands around her waist, kissing her neck gently, tenderly.
Maddie squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t breathe. It was on the tip of her tongue to just turn around and tell him how she truly felt about him. To spill it all out and lay it at his feet. Come what may.
She balled her hands into fists, resisting the impulse. She knew she was feeling especially vulnerable because they had just made such amazing love together. But she wasn’t about to show how inexperienced she was in such matters.
He made love to many women. She was certain he would recoil in distaste if she expressed that her feelings for him went deeper than desire. He would leave hastily, and she would feel like a broken fool.
It wouldn’t change anything if she told him. If anything, all it would do was make him feel he had more power over her than he already did.
“I will leave and make sure the coast is clear,” he said softly. “We will find a moment to talk. Perhaps we could meet in the gardens, near the lair?” There was a hint of gentle humor in his voice now.
Maddie turned around, facing him. “Very well. In half an hour?”
He nodded, his eyes full of tenderness as he beheld her. “A perfect plan.” He hesitated, reaching out to caress her cheekbone with one hand. “We will defeat them all, Maddie. I swear it.”
She forced a smile on her face. “Yes. Perhaps we will.”
He took her hand and kissed it, before quickly departing.
When he was gone, Maddie slumped against the bed. It had taken all the strength she had to send him away. All the strength she had to not reveal her true feelings for him.
She took a deep, ragged breath before straightening her spine. She walked to the trunk and closed it with a decisive thump. She had no intention of meeting him in the gardens in half an hour.
By that time, she would be long gone. And with luck, he would not be any the wiser… until it was too late.