33. Madison
MADISON
I ’m waiting at the bottom of the main staircase for Hayden to get off the phone with Ramsey. All the guys are frustrated over the fact that there’s no sign of Bethany. Word around campus is that the police scoured the area where the video was shot, but not one bit of evidence was found. They can’t consider it a homicide until they find her or at the very least, her blood soaked car. I glance over when I hear a low, rumbling voice. The door to the study is cracked open, and I catch a glimpse of Winter and Tristan reclining on the couch. Tristan’s stretched out, his legs taking up the whole damn thing, and Winter is reclined against him like she’s meant to fit there. She’s holding a book, but he’s the one reading the words to her in Russian.
Tristan’s hoodie is up, covering his head like always. Winter is swallowed up in another one of his sweatshirts, and her pink ballet leg warmers rest just below the hem.
They don’t look like foster siblings. They look like a couple.
“She’s the only person he’s sweet to,” I tell Hayden as he walks up beside me. He tilts his head to look down at me, and I add, “Kinda like you are with me.”
The corner of my mouth lifts, as Hayden pulls me in close, his hand sliding lower to my hips. “Did Ramsey find anything?” I ask, and I don’t specify about what, because there’s so many loose ends that we need to figure out.
“Nope. He did figure out how they’re hacking the systems in the arenas. They’re doing it during games, so even if he hacks the cameras to see who is doing it, there’s too many people in the building to isolate who is behind it,” Hayden says, suddenly pulling away and grabbing my hand, and steering me toward the stairs. I stop him, my fingers tightening just enough to make him turn back to look at me.
“Feel like getting out of here for a while?” I ask him. “Just the two of us?” I add, hoping it’s enough to entice him to take me where I want to go.
Hayden doesn't answer. Instead, he just switches trajectory and heads for the front door.
“Where are we going?” he asks over his shoulder.
He smiles at me, accepting the little game I’m playing when I tell him, “I’ll tell you once we get in the car.”
Hayden helps me in my seat and buckles me in, it’s a little thing I’ve really come to appreciate. To be honest, there’s this lightness in my mood every second I’m with him. It’s stupid, probably to feel like this when everything around us is so uncertain. Bethany might be dead or at the very best, faking her own brutal killing. That video was like something out of a nightmare, and if it’s real, we can only assume that whoever is behind it wants us to know they’re not finished with us.
I think maybe that’s why I need something good, something to take my mind off all of the scary stuff going on around us. Hayden’s hand grips the wheel, his knuckles flexing slightly. He’s calm and steady which makes it impossible to feel anything but safe. It feels like as long as he’s here, nothing else can touch me.
When I tell him I want to go to his second favorite place, all he says is, “Yeah?” and takes the turn to head in that direction. The headlights slice through the dark, the SUV bouncing slightly as Hayden maneuvers the dirt road like he’s done it a million times. Maybe he has, and I hope that I’m around for the next million. I glance over at him, the sharp cut of his jaw illuminated in the glow from the dashboard. As I reach over, he leans toward me as if he knows what I'm going to do before I can even push his hair back a little.
Hayden pulls into the clearing, the frozen surface of the pond glittering under the headlights. My stomach flips as he shifts the truck into park, killing the engine but leaving the lights on.
“Why did you want to come here?” he asks curiously, as he leans back in his seat to look at me.
I glance out the window, the words caught in my throat. I don’t know why I suddenly feel shy, why this moment feels heavier than I expected it to. But it does, and that’s okay, because I’ll eventually know what to say.
Hayden doesn’t let me stay quiet for long. His fingers are on my chin, tilting my face back toward him, his grip as gentle as it is firm. He knows exactly how to handle me, and I love that.
“Eyes on me, princess,” he says, his voice edged with command. His eyes lock onto mine, and he asks me, “What’s on your mind?”
I curl my fingers toward my palms and grip the sleeves of my navy blue mini dress as I force myself to meet his gaze. “I wanted to tell you this in a place you’d always remember. The same place where you made me feel so special.”
I barely get the words out before he’s moving, reaching over to unbuckle my seatbelt. There’s nothing tentative about the way he scoops me up and pulls me into his lap.
My knees settle on either side of him, and his hands find my hips. The warmth of his touch sinks through the fabric of my dress, and suddenly it’s easy to remember what I’ve wanted to say to him for a while.
I reach up, cupping his face in my hands. His skin is warm beneath my fingers, and his eyes are on me, waiting for what he knows is coming.
“I love you, Hayden,” I whisper, my voice trembling slightly but I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life. “You’ve given me a life where, even with everything going on I can let my guard down with you. I’ve never been able to do that with anyone.”
His grip tightens on my hips, his chest rising sharply as he exhales, and for a moment, there’s nothing but the sound of our breathing filling the space. We’re just staring at each other, memorizing each other’s faces, like we want to remember everything down to the smallest detail.
This moment, this night, will always be ours.
Hayden drops his face to my neck and he exhales before he breathes me in. “I love you, too,” he tells me, and his tone is possessive as his hips lift, grinding up against me. His hardness pressing against my pussy sends a jolt of heat through me, and I can feel how much he wants me, how much he needs this.
“Fuck, princess,” he groans, the sound rough and desperate, his head tilting back against the seat. “I love you more. I love you. I love you.” The words tumble out of him, frantic and raw.
Hayden’s hands leave my hips, only to slide under my dress, his palms rough as they skim the bare skin of my thighs. The sensation makes my breath hitch, and before I can blink, my dress is gone, tossed in the passenger seat. He’s just as fast with his sweatshirt, pulling it over his head in one fluid motion.
I trail my fingers down his chest, tracing the hard lines of muscle that feel like they were carved just for me.
Hayden doesn’t give me time to linger. His lips find my neck, trailing kisses along the sensitive skin there. Each press of his mouth sends shivers skittering down my spine, and when his teeth graze just below my ear, I gasp, my nails digging into his shoulders.
“Hayden,” I whisper, his name catching in my throat.
“Shh,” he murmurs, his lips moving down to my collarbone. “Let me take my time with you.”
His hands slide up my thighs. I feel exposed, but the way his gaze lingers on me makes me feel like the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
When his lips brush over the curve of my breast, my breath stutters, and I arch into him without thinking. His mouth closes over my nipple, and the sensation sends heat pooling low in my stomach.
“Oh,” I breathe, my fingers tangling in his hair as he sucks harder, his teeth grazing the sensitive peak. Both pleasure and pain make my thighs clench around his hips, and I can feel the smirk that spreads across his lips as he switches to my other breast.
He takes his time, nibbling his way back up to my mouth, but then his lips crash against mine in a kiss that’s all tongue and teeth and desperation. I can’t think, I can only feel.
“I need you inside me,” I whisper against his lips, my voice trembling with need. “I need you to fuck me.”
Hayden’s breath catches, and he groans, the sound vibrating against my mouth. His hands move quickly, shoving his sweatpants and boxers down just enough to free himself, and my breath catches when I feel him, hot and hard against my thigh.
His hands are on my hips again, gripping tightly as he hooks his fingers in my panties, pulling them to the side. “You’re so fucking wet,” he groans, his voice nothing but reverent as his gaze drops to where our bodies are about to meet.
I lift myself slightly, my hands gripping his shoulders for balance as the head of his cock presses against my opening. The stretch is slow and deliberate, every inch of him filling me more than I think I can take, and I can’t stop the moan that escapes my lips.
“Fuck, Hayden,” I gasp, my nails biting into his skin as I’m fully seated on him.
“God, baby,” he groans, his head falling back as his fingers dig into my hips. “You feel so fucking good.”
I pause for a moment, my forehead resting against his as I adjust to the size of him. No matter how often Hayden is inside of me, every time the fullness is almost overwhelming.
“You’re so deep,” I whisper, my voice barely audible, and his grip tightens in response.
“Say it,” he demands. “Say you love me.”
My hips begin to move, slow at first, rolling against him as my body stretches and accommodates him. “I love you, Hayden,” I gasp, my words punctuated by the steady rhythm of my movements. “I fucking love you.”
His hips snap up to meet mine, his thrusts deeper and faster, his breath coming in short gasps against my neck. “One of these days,” he growls, his lips brushing against my ear, “I’m going to give you my last name, and you’ll have my children. You’re mine, princess. You belong to me.”
His words send a wave of heat through me, my pussy clenching tightly around him. He feels it, groaning against my neck as I bounce on him, our pace quickening with every long, deep stroke.
“Come for me,” he begs, his voice breaking. “I need to feel you.”
Hayden’s hand moves between us, his fingers find my clit. It’s only a few flicks of his fingers and my body shakes as the orgasm rips through me. I lean forward and my cries are muffled against his shoulder. Both of his hands are back on my hips now, his thumbs rubbing in soothing circular motions as I come down from my high.
When I sit up straight, my pussy grinding on his hardness, he doesn’t waste any time. Hayden’s lips latch onto my nipple again, sucking hard as he keeps thrusting, dragging out every ounce of my release he possibly can. He lets go of my breast with a gasp, his face burying in the crook of my neck as his thrusts become slower, more purposeful, and seem to reach deeper inside of me. Hayden’s grip on my hips tightens one last time, holding me in place as he comes, the heat of him flooding inside me.
“Mine,” he groans possessively, his arms wrapping around me like he’s afraid to let go. “You’re finally fucking mine.”
And as I sink against him, his hands stroking my back in the quiet aftermath, I know I always will be.