Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
Maddy surfaced from the dark depths of sleep when the bed shifted. She blinked in the dull gray morning light, and her heart tripped when she saw Lachlan sliding out of bed with the dogs cradled against his bare chest.
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered. “I’ll take these guys out.”
Part of her felt like she should protest, but the other part was still half asleep. “Kay. Thanks,” she mumbled, and closed her eyes.
He leaned down and kissed her temple on the way out. She smiled and dropped back into sleep.
When she woke next, the room was brighter. She sat up, yawned and stretched, looking for a clock. Holy crap it was almost noon. She’d slept the morning away, and Lachlan would be leaving soon.
She hurried to the guest bathroom to freshen up, brushed her teeth and hurried downstairs in Lachlan’s shirt that covered her to mid-thigh. The smell of something sweet and delicious wafted from the kitchen.
He stood at the kitchen counter with his back to her. All three dogs were in their little beds, their chins resting on the edges as they stared at her with unblinking eyes.
When Lachlan looked over his shoulder and saw her, his welcoming smile hit her dead in her heart. And the way his gaze raked over the length of her brought back every explicit detail of what he’d done to her last night. She flushed all over. “Hi. You hungry?”
“Yes.” And not only for whatever he was cooking.
She spotted the steaming circular iron in front of him. “Are you making waffles?” Never in her life had a man cooked for her. Not even Blaine. It surprised her how much it meant to her.
“Hope so. Otherwise, these are the most horrific pancakes I’ve ever seen.”
She grinned, watched as he deftly pulled a crispy brown waffle from the hot gridded iron with a fork and waved it back and forth for a few seconds.
“This is the key. You gotta make sure you let them cool down so the steam escapes, or they’ll be soggy.” He set it on a plate. He’d made four of them, already had butter and syrup laid out on the counter beside the plates and cutlery.
He seemed at ease as he worked. That he even owned a waffle iron in the first place probably meant he made them on a regular basis. It wasn’t hard to imagine him making them for him and his wife on a lazy weekend morning.
She’d bet he’d been a good husband, wondered what had happened to his wife. There were no pictures of her anywhere. At least not displayed. It seemed strange, but maybe that was partly to help him move on.
“Normally, I’d serve them with berries, but I don’t have any left,” he said, setting the waffle on a plate.
“It’s okay. They smell amazing.”
“You want eggs with them?”
“No, this is plenty. Thanks.”
He looked over at her. “Eggs and waffles can’t touch?”
“They shouldn’t.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “Got it.” He turned off the waffle iron.
Maddy eyed the breadth of his shoulders as he finished readying everything, the way his back tapered down to his waist.
He’d taken her in when she was vulnerable. She had fully expected to lose her virginity when she’d gone to his bed last night.
Instead, he’d given her unbelievable pleasure and taken nothing in return. She couldn’t imagine many men in his position would have done the same, and now he was feeding her, taking care of her at the most basic level.
If this was some strategy to make her want him more, it was working. Big time.
Feeling a little giddy with the power of having the right to touch him, she walked over and slid her arms around him from behind. Lachlan stilled a second, then turned around and took her hips in his big hands while his eyes searched hers.
Unsure what he was looking for, she cupped the side of his face in her palm and lifted up to kiss him.
With a low, hungry sound, he curved an arm around her hips and pulled her flush to him as he deepened the kiss. A powerful wave of arousal swept through her, starting an ache between her legs.
The tip of his tongue touched hers. Retreated. She followed, wanting more.
His hands tightened on her hips. Squeezing in a possessive way that thrilled her. But a second later he made a negative sound and broke the kiss to stare down at her. “I have to be out the door soon, and I’m not doing this until I can take my time with you.”
The heat smoldering in his eyes as he said it was unmistakable.
Maddy stared back, at a loss. He should write a book about how to make a woman want you. It would be an instant bestseller.
He groaned and gave her a quick kiss, then a little push toward the island. “Let’s eat.”
She sat in the same spot as last night and ate a waffle. It was crispy, not too sweet, and delicious. “This is the best waffle I’ve ever had.” She still wanted to peel his clothes off though.
“Ever? You need to get out more.”
He meant it as a joke, but he wasn’t wrong. “You’re not good at taking compliments, are you?”
“Not really, no.”
“Me either.”
“I’ve noticed that. Maybe if I give you enough of them, you’ll start to get used to it.” He made short work of both waffles on his plate, then quickly opened his laptop, which was sitting on the end of the island. It seemed like he was trying to cross-reference something on it and his phone.
She swirled a bite of waffle through a puddle of maple syrup on her plate. “What are you working on?”
“It’s the reservation system. I always double check through the website to make sure I’ve got the right number of passengers before I head out.”
Sounded inefficient. “Can I see?”
“Sure.”
She came around to stand next to him, compared what was on his phone and the laptop. It only took a few moments for her to realize how cumbersome a system it was. “There’s a software program that would streamline all of this and make your life a lot easier.”
“Yeah? That’d be nice. But unfortunately, I’m technologically illiterate and don’t have any time to bother with trying to change it now.”
“Mind if I play around with it while you’re gone?”
“If you really want to, be my guest.” He grabbed their plates and turned for the sink. “I need to grab a quick shower before I go.”
Was that a subtle invitation? No, of course not, he was in a time crunch. Though it did make her envision being in there with him.
She stepped forward to take the plates from him. “I’ll do these. It’s the least I can do,” she said when he opened his mouth to argue. “Go get ready.”
He searched her eyes a moment, then dropped a kiss on her lips. “Okay. But only because I kinda like it when you try to boss me around.”
She couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but she took care of the dishes and tidied up, thinking about him the entire time. Her body craved him, but it was far more than just physical. The pull toward him was so strong she couldn’t fight it. Didn’t want to.
In less than a minute, she found herself outside the cracked open door to his ensuite, the dogs right behind her. She tapped on it, a little unsure of her welcome. He had to leave soon.
“Yeah?” he called out. “Everything okay?”
Acting on instinct before she lost her nerve, she stepped inside the humid bathroom and shut the door. Lachlan stood stock still, staring at her from inside the shower. Rivulets of water ran over his wet, muscular torso, a tiled half wall hiding the rest of him from view.
His intense stare emboldened her. She reached under the hem of the shirt ending at her thighs. Pulled her panties down her hips and let them fall to the floor, watching him the whole time.
Lachlan’s eyes darkened. He seemed frozen there, unable to look away.
Tangling her fingers in the hem of the shirt, she drew it up and over her head. When she dropped it on the floor, her breath caught at the naked desire there as he raked his gaze over the length of her bare body.
She walked to the shower entrance, pulse racing. Stepped inside with him, unprepared for the sudden rush of excitement when she saw the rest of him up close. He was fully aroused, the length of his erection flushed and standing against his lower belly.
“Maddy, I need to be out the door in under ten minutes.” His tone was full of regret but his eyes ate her up as he spoke.
She’d come this far. Wasn’t about to stop. “I didn’t get to touch you properly last night. I want to now.”
He pulled in a breath, jaw clenching as she settled her hands on the rise of his pecs. She explored his wet skin with a sense of wonder. Let her fingers linger in all the dips and hollows on the way down to the rigid length of his erection.
She was inexperienced, not clueless. She wanted to touch him intimately. Give him pleasure in the same selfless way he’d given her last night. Hopefully in under ten minutes so she didn’t make him late.
His muscles twitched as she eased a hand down his belly. When she gently curled her fingers around his erection, he sucked in a sharp breath and went rigid. She looked up at him, felt a rush of power at the tension and need etched on his face.
She lowered her gaze. Slowly drew her hand up and down the rigid length of him, aware of the throb starting between her legs. Lachlan groaned and grabbed a bar of soap from the ledge and helped her soap up her hand.
She stroked him again, a little harder this time. Paused at the top to run the slick pad of her thumb around the swollen head.
Lachlan let out a low curse and planted his palm flat against the shower wall, the muscles in his arm standing out.
Enjoying the evidence that she was turning him on, she kept going. Fascinated by the building tension in his muscles as the seconds ticked past. The way his breathing turned ragged.
He curled a muscular arm around her back. Dragged her close, held her tight to his slick chest, and buried his face in her hair. All signs she’d shown last night. He was getting close.
A second later he dropped the soap and grabbed hold of her hand. Tightened her grip and sped up the motion until he stopped abruptly, squeezing her fist around him. His big body shuddered, a raw groan ripping from his throat while he pulsed in her hand, coming over his belly in spurts.
Maddy stayed huddled against his chest while he got his breath back and the hot water rained down on them. Washing away the soap suds and his release.
Lachlan cupped the side of her face and tipped it up for a kiss, a low growl forming in his throat. “God, Maddy. I want to pin you to this wall, get on my knees, and bury my mouth between your legs so bad.”
Her core clenched around the ache there, her body humming with arousal. “Raincheck?” she said in a breathless voice.
He huffed out a laugh, and an insistent beeping filled the room. An alarm on his phone signaling an end to their shower. “Oh, sweetheart, you can count on it.”