9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Ezra
I can’t stop kissing her.
Madison’s lips are so soft beneath mine. I love the way she hums in pleasure when I pull her toward me and tip her chin up, moments from another kiss. The way she fits against me, every soft curve pressing perfectly.
She’s been in my house for four hours, and as I predicted at the gala, I never want her to leave. From the moment I met her, this was what I was afraid of. Getting attached. Needing more than she’s able to give. Maybe more than I’m able to receive.
By the time I finished stacking the wood I chopped earlier and checking the generator, she’d managed to make an incredible meal of chicken in some sort of white wine sauce with vegetables. I can see why she was chosen to be on that show. She told me a little about it, and the reasons she quit. As she spoke, I could see lines of tension settle into her shoulders. She seems to be at a crossroad in her life, and as much as I want her to stay, I couldn’t even offer the suggestion. There’s a lot she doesn’t know about me. I haven’t figured out a way to approach the subject.
“Want to decorate the tree?” Madison asks as she comes back into the kitchen while I put the last plate in the dishwasher.
When I look up, my mouth goes dry. She’s wearing one of my flannels and some fuzzy socks, the smooth lines of her legs on display. Her hair is piled up on her head in a messy bun, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. While cooking, she splashed a little of the wine sauce on herself, and since she’s limited to the clothes she wore over here for now, I offered her something of mine. Best decision I’ve ever made.
Seeing her in my shirt does something to me. I’m instantly hard as a rock and feeling feral. I need her mouth on mine. Right now. Striding forward, I catch her around the waist and pull her to me, slanting my lips over hers in a deep kiss. My hands roam her back, feeling the soft flannel slide over her body as I trail down to cup her ass, fitting her hips flush to mine. I want her to feel what she does to me. To know how much I want her.
“Is that a yes?” she pants against my lips.
“Yes.” To everything, anything. Even if I don’t remember what she asked.
Madison giggles and tugs at a lock of my hair. “Yes you want to decorate the tree or yes you want to kiss more?” Her eyes are sparkling and there’s a flush to her cheeks she didn’t have a few minutes ago.
I groan and resist the urge to lift her up, fit her legs around my hips, and fuck her against the wall. “Both.” And so much more.
She grabs my hand and pulls me into the living room where I moved the boxes of decorations earlier. Cooper is laying in front of the fire with a full belly from his own dinner. He stretches, one ear twitching, and rubs his back on the rug before settling back down for a nap.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked for decorations, so I went traditional.” She pulls boxes of glass ball ornaments out, along with garland, and lights. “Do you like colored or white lights on the tree? I bought both because people are oddly opinionated about the choices.”
“My grandmother always had colored lights. She had this little artificial tree that seemed like it was two feet taller than she was.” It wasn’t much, but that didn’t matter. Not when you’d never had a Christmas before going to live with her and Grandpa.
“Colored lights it is.”
She hands me a box and we spend the next few minutes winding the strands around the tree. I take every opportunity to brush against her. Her smiles light up the cabin, the sparkle in her eyes settling into my heart. There’s a tenderness to the moment, like the intimacy of family, and it once more reminds me of my grandmother.
I dig out my phone and scroll for a music app. It’s not the same as her old record player, but it will do. I set the phone on the table just as an old Bing Crosby song begins.
“I love this song! It’s not Christmas until I’ve heard it.”
“It was one of my grandma’s favorites. We decorated the tree to it every year.”
“You must have really loved her.”
“I miss her, especially during the holidays.” Maybe it’s time to bring some of her things out of storage. Honor her and my grandfather for taking on another child instead of enjoying their last years together with only grandparent duty. “They taught me about love.” The words slip out before I even realize I’ve thought them.
Madison moves closer and puts her hand on my arm. “They did?”
I nod. “God knows my parents didn’t know anything about it. I used to wonder how my mother could have been related to the sweetest, kindest people and turn out the way she did.”
“I’m glad you had them. I’ve been lucky. My parents are still very much in love after thirty years. They’re spending Christmas in Paris this year to celebrate. My dad says it was love at first sight. He knew she was the one from the very first meeting. They met and married within a month. Do you think things like that happen anymore?”
I stroke the silken skin of her cheek, threading my fingers through her black locks and stare into the clearest, prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen. “Do I think people can meet and fall in love in the space of a day, and have a love that lasts forever?”
Madison nods, her body swaying closer. I wrap my arm around her waist and tug her close. “If you had asked me last week, I would have said ‘No’.”
“And now?”
“You make me think anything is possible, angel.” If love like that does still exist in this world, and if I was fortunate enough to deserve it, I’d want it to be with Madison and no one else.
“I feel the same,” she replies, going up on her toes to kiss me. It’s sweeter, more precious than all that came before.
“That’s good, because it looks like you’re stuck with me through at least tomorrow.” I gesture to the window where heavy snow is still falling.
“It’s so beautiful here. We get snow in the city, but never this much. By the next day it’s already dirty and starting to melt. Then it’s just a slushy, ugly mess that blends in with all the other ugliness.”
“How did you end up there?”
She frowns and sits on the couch, patting the seat beside her in invitation. I sit facing her, one arm over the back of the brown tweed couch I’ve been meaning to replace.
“I discovered how much I loved cooking as a teen. I thought that was the dream career. Go to a top culinary school, then to New York and work my way up to Head Chef. It took years of training and hard work, but I finally made it to the city. Within a month, I’d accidentally met Chef Alastair. I’m not sure why he liked me, but he took me in and continued my training.”
She’s curled up on my couch, wearing only my flannel shirt and socks, looking more beautiful than a goddess and she doesn’t know why he liked her? “Hmm.”
“When he started Spiced, everything changed. Working at a five-star restaurant was already different than I expected. Stressful instead of fun. The show makes all that worse. One day I woke up and realized that I wasn’t living my dream. It was the dream I thought all chefs were supposed to have.”
“Now that you’ve quit?”
Her gaze skates to where her cell phone sits on the side table. “I’m not sure.”
“Will you stay in New York?”
“No.”
Her response is immediate, and for some reason, it fills me with relief. Which is fucked up, because it’s not like she declared she was moving to Montana.
“Go back to where your parents live?”
She laughs. “No. I think they’re busier than I am.” She smooths the hem of the flannel over her thigh, drawing my eye as sure as if she was a magnet. “Amanda suggested I move to White Falls.”
My lungs hitch. “Is that something you would consider?”
Madison looks at me from under her lashes. “It is.” She swallows. “Would you…?”
I capture her hand and bring those delicate fingers up to my lips. “Would I what?”
“I mean, if I did, would you want to see me again? For more than four hours?” There’s a spark of humor in her eyes, but I can feel the vulnerability in the slight tremble of her hand in mine.
“I want to see all of you, angel. If you move here, you may never be rid of me.” My old fears choose that moment to creep in. What if I have a spell and she sees it? What if she can’t handle a man who isn’t as strong as she thinks? I should talk to her about it. I know that, but I can’t bring myself to say the words.
Unaware of my internal war, Madison rises to her knees and slowly straddles my lap. “What if I want to see all of you, Ezra?”
Her hot center comes down over my cock, with precious little fabric between us. My dick hardens, eager to answer her question. Gripping her hips, I grind our bodies together so she feels what she does to me. “My body is yours. Anything you want, any way you want. But I have to warn you—there’s only one bed. So if you don’t want to share it, tell me now. Because the more I taste of your sweetness, the harder it gets to restrain myself.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing? Restraining yourself? Even when you kissed me against the wall at the depot?”
A rumble of pleasure rises from my chest at the memory of her in that sequined fuck-me dress. I circle her neck in a gentle grip, rubbing my thumb along her jaw line. “Then and every second since.”
Her eyes darken and a flush spreads across her cheeks. “Don’t,” she whispers. Madison touches my hand surrounding her neck, then closes the distance between us and kisses me, tugging on my lower lip.
Jesus this woman unhinges me. It’s sexy as fuck.
“You want me to kiss you, Madison?”
“Yes. Everywhere.”
Can’t deny her that, not when I want it as much as she does. I lean back long enough to unbutton my shirt and peel it off, dropping it somewhere on the floor. Her hands move over my chest, stroking, feeling every inch.
Gripping her hips, I slide her forward over my cock, savoring her gasp, then I pull her head down and kiss her hard. She matches every stroke of my tongue, but it’s not enough. I want everything she’ll give me, for as long as she’s here.
This is madness, but it feels like love.