Chapter Thirteen
Maddie
Joy floods me as Caesar finally casts off his misgivings and kisses me properly.
I know he has doubts. I understand them, and I have a few myself. But when he said, This is very, very impressive, I was lost.
In my heart, I felt that my work was exciting and had such potential, but nobody else has ever been interested.
And not just that. Deep down, I know it’s all tied up with the way people look at me.
I’ve always been an oddball, physically and in every other way.
And Caesar… he looks at me as if he truly sees me, not just as a white-haired maverick, but as a woman who’s smart and beautiful in her own right.
I know I’m not beautiful, not in the traditional sense, but he looks at me as if I am, and that’s all that matters.
I can’t have him forever. He’d never allow it. He doesn’t want the Rutherfords within an inch of Ashford AgriTech. But I can have him here, tonight, in the storm, and I’m happy to take it.
I don’t think we’ll be able to have sex on the sofa; I’d never be able to get my jeans off without knocking him onto the floor.
But there’s something hot about making out like this, as if we’re fourteen and this is all we’re allowed to do before he has to go home.
I don’t want to rush it. I really like this guy, and I don’t want to let him go until I absolutely have to.
So I settle back, as much as I can, and he props his head on his hand and makes himself comfortable, and I let myself drift away on a sea of warm deliciousness as he takes his time to kiss me.
Ohhh… the bliss of being with a man… of feeling his warm skin beneath your fingertips…
of having his lips and tongue tease yours, starting off a firework display at the base of your spine.
Rockets shoot up my back, and Catherine wheels spin in my stomach, and sparklers go off in my fingers and lips and between my legs until I feel more alive than I’ve ever been before.
Mmm… he kisses like a god. I could do this forever. The rain hammering on the roof and windows only adds to the feeling that we’ve somehow stopped time, and we’re existing in an isolated bubble that has nothing to do with the real world.
At that moment, the room flares with light. Caesar lifts his head, and four or five seconds later, a low rumble of thunder rolls across the landscape.
We’ve left off the main light and turned on a couple of lamps, and they flicker briefly before returning to a steady glow… maybe a little dimmer than they were before.
“It’s been cloudy today,” I say, “so the battery’s going to be low. There’s a backup generator, though. The switch is by the door.”
His gaze comes back to me. “You’ve stayed here a lot, haven’t you, over the last two years?”
“Yeah. I love it here.”
He nods. Then he says, “Can you take your hair down?”
Surprised, I lift a hand to the elastic that’s barely holding the ends up in a scruffy bun and slide it out. I run my hand through the strands to separate them. “Sorry, it’s a bit of a mess.”
“It’s beautiful.” He caresses it, his fingers sliding through it. Then his gaze comes back to me. “You’re stunning.” His eyes sparkle. “Mon Petit Gateau.”
My immediate instinct is to make a joke in return, but he doesn’t give me time.
He kisses me, going straight to eleven, plunging his tongue into my mouth, and I moan and slide my hand under his polo top again.
Somehow, we’ve twisted a little, and I’m almost on my back, while he’s half on top of me.
One of his arms is beneath me, but his other hand is free, and he slips his fingers beneath my tee and strokes up the side of my ribs.
I shiver in response, my nipples tightening beneath my bra, and he obviously senses it because he brushes his thumb across one of them, then teases the tip with the pad of his thumb.
I moan against his mouth, and his lips leave mine and kiss down my neck while at the same time he pushes up my top to reveal my bra.
I’m trapped, so I can’t help him out, but he seems to be coping quite well on his own.
He takes the bra cup and tugs it down beneath my breast, revealing the nipple, then covers it with his mouth and sucks.
“Fuck.” I close my eyes and arch my back as pleasure spikes inside me. He groans, pushing my breast up to lift the nipple to his mouth, and he teases it with his lips, tongue, and teeth until I’m writhing beneath him.
When he eventually returns to my lips, our mouths slant across one another, hot and demanding. He takes my breath away with his deep, searching kisses, and I can’t help but rock my hips against him, aching for release.
He lifts his head, bringing his hand up to cup my face. “How are you feeling?”
I blink. “Fine.”
“Is your head okay?”
“Oh. Yes, it’s… um… better, thank you.”
He brushes his hand down to my jeans. “Is it okay to touch you?”
I’m not sure what he’s getting at, at first. Then I realize what he’s asking—if my period’s started. “Oh, no, it’s all right, you’re all clear.”
“It’s not that I mind,” he says, undoing the top button of my jeans. “A great sailor always braves the red ocean.”
“Caesar!”
His eyes gleam as he slides down the zipper. “I don’t want to hurt you, that’s all.”
I think about Little Raspberry. I’ve had no bleeding, and sex is technically safe. “If you could just… um… you know…”
“Be gentle?” he asks. “I don’t know any other way.”
For some reason, as he kisses me again, it brings tears to my eyes. Oh no, I can’t cry now, that’ll totally spoil the mood. So I hold the emotion in as he slips his hand beneath the elastic of my underwear, then moves his fingers down.
My jeans are tight, but he manages to maneuver his hand beneath them, and then we both groan as he finds bare skin.
Clearly I’m aroused, because he has no problem sliding his fingers into me, and then he finds my clit and gives a long, “Aaahhh…” as he begins to circle the pad of his forefinger over it.
“Ohhh…” I close my eyes and suck my bottom lip as my hips automatically move at the same rhythm. “Mmm. This is embarrassing.”
He continues to stroke me. “Why?”
“I’m… so close… and you’ve just… started…”
He chuckles, his touch gentle but firm. “Why is that embarrassing?”
“I… don’t know… it just makes me look…”
“Sexy?” He kisses me. “Hot?” Another kiss. “Fucking beautiful?”
“Mmm…”
“Let go, Maddie. Then we can start for real.”
Ooh, that sounds exciting. Is he planning more than one? I shudder as he kisses down to my breast and sucks my nipple, and I arch my back a little, continuing to match his rhythm. Oh that feels good, oh it feels amazing, oh fuck…
It doesn’t take long before I come, and I enjoy the smooth pulses that feel like warm waves washing over me. When I’m done, I open my eyes to discover him watching me, a tender expression on his face.
Then he slides his hand out from under my jeans and licks his fingers.
“Oh my God.” I laugh. “Gross.”
“Not as much as last time,” he states. “The sofa’s breathing a sigh of relief.”
“Jeez.”
He smirks, then cups my face and studies me. His smile fades as he brushes his thumb across my bottom lip. Is he about to say that’s as far as he can go?
We have no excuses this time. We know who each other is.
We haven’t had any alcohol. It’s not a one-night stand with a stranger.
It’s a tangled crashing together of two complicated lives, and even though I said what happens in the South Island stays in the South Island, I think we both know there are going to be repercussions to this.
So is he having second thoughts? My heart hammers.
But he lowers his head and kisses me, for a long, long time. Maybe he’s not having second thoughts. In fact, it doesn’t seem as if he’s ever going to stop.
I sigh and squirm and moan against his lips, but he still kisses me, while his fingers roam over my body, teasing my nipples and finding erogenous zones I didn’t even know I had.
Lightning flashes, thunder rolls, and the lights flicker, but all it seems to do is intensify the heat between us.
We’re both breathing fast, and I can feel him hard against me…
but he continues to kiss me, until my body is stirring again, responding to his skilled touch.
Eventually, he lifts his head. “Maybe we should adjourn to the bedroom,” he advises. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to do anything here without one of us falling off.”
“I’d say it would undoubtedly be me,” I reply from where I’m wedged against the back of the sofa, “but there’s no way I’m going anywhere right now.”
He chuckles and pushes up, rises awkwardly, stretches, then turns and pulls me up, too. Then he bends and lifts me, wrapping my legs around his waist. I laugh, put my arms around his neck, and let him carry me through the bedroom, ducking as we go under the doorway so I don’t hit my head.
The bedroom is tiny, with barely enough room for the double bed, but as that’s the only place we’re interested in, it doesn’t really matter. He climbs onto the mattress and lowers me down, lying on top, and kisses me some more for a while, rocking his hips against mine, arousing us both.
“Too much clothing,” he says after a while, growing frustrated with the tangle of bra straps beneath my top. “I want you naked.”
He pushes up and lifts off me. I take off my tee and bra while he divests himself of his polo shirt, jeans, and boxers.
I get my jeans down to my knees, and he helps me tug them over my feet and takes off my underwear.
Next he pulls back the duvet, and then we slide underneath and tug the duvet up over us.
“Mmm, better,” he murmurs, pulling me close against him. We’re lying on our sides, pressed together from our chests to our thighs, his mouth searing mine as his hands glide over me. Ohhh, this is bliss… I could stay here all night…
But nothing lasts forever, and I can’t wait any longer. I shift up the bed a little and hook my leg across his hips, then move until I feel the tip of his erection enter me.