Chapter 32
Ellie
It’s late, and I’m still at work. I’ve had meetings all day, racing from one to the other, and now I’m finally catching up with myself.
I glance at the clock on my Mac and see it’s just after six.
Maddox will have found out by now if his application for the business loan was successful.
He had his final meeting with the investors at four, and I’m desperate to know how it went.
I gave him a little set of Guatemalan worry dolls last night.
They’re the sweetest things, tiny and dainty.
Made of brightly colored wool and cloth, they’re from the Mayan tradition.
You’re supposed to tell them your worries and put them under your pillow before you sleep at night.
Then by morning, the dolls will have taken all your worries away.
He loved them and made sure they were all tucked away beneath his pillow before we fell asleep.
Given how nervous he was this morning, I’m not entirely sure they worked, but this is a huge thing for him.
I’m confident that he’ll get what he’s asking the bank for, and I hope he calls soon and puts me out of my misery.
His plan is solid. It’s well thought-out and researched.
Beautifully presented, if I do say so myself.
He could buy the place outright with his trust fund, but he wants to succeed without using his money as a crutch.
He rarely touches it anyway. Setting aside the odd spontaneous purchase of a signed Yankees cap, of course.
I smile at the memory. Our early days, when we were still tip-toeing around this thing between us.
Now, months later, here we are. In love. Coupled up. Living in our own little bubble of bliss. We’ve been even closer since Maddox confessed what he did all those years ago, and I couldn’t be happier.
I meant what I said to him. I have no problem with the morality of it.
I’ve spoken to Uncle Loz since and told him that I know.
Lorenzo is the kind of man who will take many secrets to his grave, and Maddox’s would have been one of them, but I don’t want him to feel like he has to keep it from me. It’s better this way.
“That’s good news, Ellie,” he’d said. “I’m glad he told you.
It shows how much he trusts you, and how much you mean to him.
And just for the record? That boy handled himself well.
He dealt with a situation that needed a tough solution, and he wasn’t scared to go down that path.
I know you’re going to tell me you don’t need it, but he’ll look after you. ”
No use arguing with a man like Lorenzo Moretti, who looks after Mia in a way that blows my mind.
Besides, I might be a feminist, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like feeling safe.
Being a feminist means doing what I want, doesn’t it?
Choosing what’s right for me? And Maddox is right for me.
In all his goofy, possessive, dominant-yet-tender, dark-yet-light glory.
There’s a knock on my door, and Maddox pops his head around. My heart actually jumps at the sight of him. How is it possible to love one person so damn much?
“You still busy?” he asks.
I shake my head, eager for news. “No. Get in here. How did it go? I’ve been waiting for your message, or a call.”
He grimaces. “I forgot to charge my phone again. And I knew you were busy with meetings until late, so afterwards I went and visited Nathan and Drake to tell them the news, and then I came here to let Elijah and Mase in on the plan.”
“Oh. Is that the only reason you came here?” I ask, fluttering my eyelashes at him.
He grins. “Of course not, baby. You’re the main attraction. The star of the show.”
He walks into the room, and I get my first full look at him. “Wow, actually, can you just stop for a second and let me admire this view? If they were giving out loans just for hotness, then kerching.”
He laughs and gives me a twirl. He’s wearing a suit, and, unusually for him, it looks new rather than vintage. He shrugs, bashful. “I just thought it’d be good to have one of these things in my wardrobe. You know, for business meetings.”
I laugh and come out from behind my desk.
He is so wonderful, this complicated man of mine.
Rich enough to buy his own Caribbean island yet still awkward about wearing a new suit.
I already know enough about him to guess that it’s made of organic materials and from a sustainable brand with an impeccable ethics policy.
It also fits him perfectly and makes me want to peel it off him and then lick him all over.
“So come on. Stop teasing me and tell me how it went. And don’t do that thing they do on TV shows, where you pretend it’s bad news but it’s actually good.”
He looks a little confused. He doesn’t watch a lot of TV.
He gives me a slow grin that transforms his face.
“I got it. All of it. They said they were willing to take a chance on me because they had every faith that I could make a success of my own place. That I combined passion and drive with solid business sense.”
“Yay!” I shout, then start to dance around the room, throwing my hands above my head and shaking my hips. “Come on, Mad. Surely this is deserving of a happy dance.”
He grins and joins in, showing off some killer moves.
I know how much this means to him. He was desperate to go it alone, to prove that he could do this himself.
His brothers are all fantastic, and they think the world of him, but he felt the need to show them what he was capable of.
That he wasn’t the fuck-up anymore. I don’t think any of them really see him like that, but I get where he’s coming from.
“I’m so proud of you, Maddox,” I say, once we stop our happy dance.
I glide into his arms, letting my hands slide inside his jacket.
His firm, muscular body is as swoon-inducing as ever, even more so beneath the suit.
It’s a thin veneer of sophistication that he can swap out for brute force with a moment’s notice.
That moment is now.
I loosen his tie, use it to tug his head down for a kiss.
It’s an absolute doozy of a kiss, the perfect combination of tender and demanding.
Pretty soon the demanding side starts to win out, and his hands are all over me.
I slip off his jacket and undo the buttons of his shirt, exposing his magnificent torso and solid abs.
I sigh out loud, still not quite believing that this is real.
“Does your door lock?” he asks, voice gruff with need.
I nod, run over, and do exactly that. There are still people in the building even though it’s late, and much as I love Mason, I do not want him seeing me butt-ass naked with his brother. He’d die laughing and would never let me forget about it.
Maddox scoops me up and lays me flat on my desk.
I keep a tidy desk, so there’s lots of available space once he moves my little potted cactus out of the way.
I suck in a desperate breath as he stares at me, his obsidian eyes glittering with desire.
“Stay right where you are, baby. I’m going to undress you. ”
I nod. I mean, why on earth would I move? I’m exactly where I want to be.
He starts with my pumps, taking them off and kissing my stockinged feet.
It tickles and makes me giggle. He shoots a look of warning at me, and I clamp my lips together.
His hands slide up my legs, very efficiently getting them naked before moving up my inner thighs.
He strokes the soft flesh there, teasing, then runs his fingers over my panties.
The fabric is already damp because Maddox, as ever, is reducing me to mush. “Already wet for me, baby?”
“Always,” I murmur.
He pushes one finger beneath my panties and strokes my clit, making it swell and throb in a way I’m deliciously familiar with now.
The finger slips inside me, and I thrust gently against it.
Then he removes his hand and stands over me, licking his skin clean of my juices.
My cheeks flame a little; they always do when I’m confronted with the evidence of how much I want this man.
“Best. Taste. Ever,” he says, his tongue glistening. “I need more.”
He removes my skirt, sliding it smoothly over my hips and throwing it to the floor. Now I’m completely naked from the waist down and a wicked smile curls his lips. “Spread your legs for me, Ellie. Nice and wide. Show me how much you want me to eat your delicious pussy.”
Oh my goodness. I tremble as I put myself on display like the needy woman Maddox turns me into. He makes an appreciative noise and kneels on the floor between my legs.
He hoists one onto each broad shoulder and pulls me closer.
His face is so near I can feel his hot breath on my center.
He parts me with his fingers, and then his incredible mouth is on me.
Normally he starts slowly, with long soft laps, but today it’s intense right from the start.
He sucks my clit into his mouth, flicks it with his magical tongue.
It’s quick and effective, and I skyrocket from aroused to on-the-edge-of-orgasm in about thirty seconds flat.
I stare at the ceiling of my office, eyes rolling in my head as he slides two of his fingers inside me and thrusts.
“Oh, fuck, Maddox.”
I feel his thrusts speed up, hard and fast. He matches each push with a suck and a flick of my poor throbbing clit, turning that little bundle of nerve endings into something miraculous.
My climax builds inside me, waves of pleasure cascading through my body, all heading in one direction. Right where his mouth is.
I slam my palms down on my desk as I come, crying out his name as wetness slicks his fingers and face.
He holds me in place, big hands on my quivering thighs, and licks me clean.
When he glances up, his beard is shining with my cum.
Although this happens every single time, somehow I’m still not used to it. I bury my face in my hands and laugh.
“Don’t be embarrassed baby. You know I love it when you squirt all over me. That was quick, huh?”
“Yeah. Like the quickest orgasm ever. In the history of orgasms.”
He looks smug, smirking as he works his way up my body, unfastening my blouse and unhooking my bra. I’m entirely naked, lying weak-limbed on my desk, wondering if anybody heard me calling his name.
I don’t care, I decide, as he looms over me. His shirt is open, his body sheened with perspiration. He is so insanely gorgeous. “You remember I once promised to fuck you up against that window?” he asks.
I nod. Oh yes, I do. “Good girl. Now go and stand in front of it. Hands on the glass.”
He helps me up off the desk, and on shaking legs I do as he asks.
The sun is sinking in the sky, an orange ball sliding down between the skyscrapers and towers of Manhattan.
It’s incredibly beautiful, an urban paradise.
I can see cars and people down below, even into other offices and homes up here in the sky.
“Hands on the glass,” he says again, more firmly this time. I love it when bossy Maddox comes out to play.
I look over my shoulder at him. “Like this, sir?” I ask. My palms are planted, and I spread my legs. Stick my ass out so it’s jutting towards him.
He runs his hand over its curves, giving me a delightfully anticipated slap. “Yeah. Just like that. Now I’m going to fuck you so damn hard you’re gonna see stars.”
I smile as I hear him unzip. He says the most romantic things.
I turn my face back to the window and spy somebody in the opposite building.
He’s standing with a coffee at his window, clearly visible, and it momentarily distracts me.
“Maddox, are you sure about this glass? Nobody can see in, you’re positive? ”
“Of course I am.” His hands go to my hips. “Do you think there’s any chance I’d let anybody else see you like this, baby? You’re mine and nobody else in the whole fucking world ever gets to see you like this but me.”
His voice is deep, dominant. Possessive in a way that thrills me to my core.
He thrusts his thick cock inside me, and I let out a loud moan at the delicious sensation of him filling me up.
One hand fists into my hair, tugging my head back, and he scatters kisses and nips along my neck and throat.
The other hand goes to my breasts, stroking and caressing the tender flesh, murmuring about how beautiful I am as he rolls my hard nipples between his thumb and finger.
The pressure is a perfect mix of pain and pleasure.
My nipples have a hotline directly to other parts of my body.
I push my hips back to meet him, loving the fact that he still has his pants on. It makes it feel so much more urgent.
“You want me to fuck you harder, baby?” he growls.
I tremble. “Yes, please.”
He groans and buries himself inside me. My cheek is flat against the glass, my breath steaming it up as he slams in and out, in and out, faster and harder and…fuck!
I come again, my pussy clenching and contracting around his thick cock. My eyes close, and I whimper in ecstasy. One final hard squeeze of my nipple, a bite at my neck, a final sway of his hips, and he finds his own release.
He leans in against me, his hands now either side of mine on the window. My legs are as wobbly as newborn Bambi, but he holds me upright. His breath is hot and fast against my skin, both of us silent as we stand, still entwined, watching the sun finally slide out of view.
“I love you, Ellie Madison,” he says softly, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me back against him.
“I love you too, Maddox James.”