Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NICK
Although Mads’ list was an excellent one, there was an additional activity I wanted to add, and so while Mads grabbed those beers he’d promised, I set about lighting a fire in the stone hearth in the lounge.
When Mads returned from the kitchen, he handed me a beer, took a seat on the sofa, and cut me a smirk. “Well, this is . . . cosy. No spa then, I take it?”
I took a long swallow of beer before placing the bottle on the coffee table and sidling closer to Mads. Then I took his bottle and set it next to mine.
I cupped his face and drank in those beautiful green eyes. “Have I told you how much I love you today?”
A pretty blush stole over his cheeks. “Twice, I believe.”
“Mmm.” I got to my knees on the sofa and straddled his thighs.
“Then I clearly need to do better.” I leaned in and licked a path up his neck to his mouth.
He shivered and snagged my lips in a hungry kiss, inviting me in.
The familiar sexy taste of him shot fire through my blood as it always did.
The addition of some Spanish spice and the grassy notes of the Sauvignon Blanc had my cock rapidly hardening in appreciation.
I pushed him back, delving deeper, a soft growl rumbling up my throat as he groaned and shifted under me. He pulled me sideways down onto the sofa, his erection pressed snugly against mine as we jockeyed to find a comfortable position on the narrow cushions.
It didn’t happen.
Frustrated, I scrambled to my feet, taking Mads with me. He watched, amused, as I added a couple of gnarly logs to the burning kindling and scooped a couple of cushions from the sofa onto the rug.
“Get yourself comfortable.” I waggled my eyebrows, which made him laugh, then I headed to the bedroom for lube and towels.
When I returned, Mads had managed the fastest strip in history and was lying spreadeagle and naked on the rug exactly where I’d told him. Those sexy black reading glasses I loved so much were perched on his nose, and he held his thick cock in one hand, slowly stroking himself.
The lewd sight stopped me in my tracks, my heart pounding so fast, I almost couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t just how fucking debauched he looked, although there was that, it was the miracle of witnessing once again this alter ego Mads had that slayed me every single time.
A few minutes earlier, he’d blushed at simply hearing me say how much I loved him, and yet now he lay naked and shameless on the floor, waiting for me to fuck him.
It was so mind-blowingly different from the buttoned-up book nerd I’d met the year before, I knew I’d never get enough of him.
Never get enough of the mystery and puzzle that was Madigan Delaney Church.
He caught my eye and grinned lasciviously. “Are you going to stand there all day?”
My gaze travelled slowly up from his cock to his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Mads. Just look at you.” I dropped the supplies to the floor by his hips and shook my head. “Maybe warn a guy next time. A fat lot of use I’ll be to you if my heart gives out before we even start.”
He chuckled and patted the blanket beside him. “Get rid of those clothes and get down here. You’ve got work to do.” He hesitated, studying my face. “Unless you’d rather I took the reins?”
The idea certainly wasn’t without merit. It had been a hell of a day, for sure, and the thought of Mads taking control and burying himself deep in my arse was all kinds of comforting. But not tonight.
“Nope.” I shucked my gear as quickly as I could, goosebumps trailing over my skin as I stretched out beside him. The fire crackled promisingly in the hearth, but its warmth was yet to fill the room.
I rolled Mads onto his back and straddled his body again.
Cool air hardened his nipples and I sucked on them one at a time.
He cradled my head, directing my mouth as he groaned and squirmed beneath me.
I kissed my way up his pecs, relishing the brush of his chest hair over my lips.
When I suckled on the hollow at the base of his throat, he whispered my name.
“So good,” he breathed. “You always feel so damn good.”
I lifted my head, my face hovering over his.
“I don’t know how I would’ve done this without you.
” I traced the curve of his lips with my tongue, then nibbled along his jaw, talking as I went.
“I’d still be in Auckland, stewing in my anger, finding every reason under the sun not to open myself up to any more pain.
” I pulled up to look at him. “Thank you.”
He gave a crooked smile. “You would’ve made the trip when you were ready. All I did was give you a little push to make a decision. You’re not a quitter, Nick. You don’t walk away from things simply because they seem too hard.”
I shook my head. “Maybe. But having you by my side, knowing you support me no matter what, that’s the best gift you could have given me.
This thing with my mother—it’s defined my whole fucking life.
Maybe even more so than my father’s shitty behaviour, at least in terms of my trust. For years, I told myself that Davis was the exception to that.
He was my golden ticket to happiness. My once-in-a-lifetime.
And then he died, and by some miracle you were there.
I didn’t believe it. Maybe I didn’t want to.
That whole trust thing again. It felt too good to be true, sometimes it still does. ”
He frowned at that and I smoothed the furrows of his brow with my fingers.
“But I was wrong,” I amended. “And you . . . you—” I swallowed hard, not sure I could finish.
Mads drew my face closer to his and peppered it with kisses.
“You were there for me too, darlin’. When I’d all but given up on finding someone to share my life with, someone I could love.
I wasn’t convinced I could believe in you either.
That you weren’t some trick the universe was playing on me.
I was sure you’d eventually see me the same way every other boyfriend had.
Predictable. Boring. Never quite enough. ”
How was that even possible? How could anyone think my Mads wasn’t the most fascinating guy on the planet?
I brushed my nose against his. “Well, we sure showed them, huh? There hasn’t been a boring day in our lives since we first met. In fact, I’m kind of looking forward to a little predictability in the future.”
“You and me both.” Mads wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me against his chest, my cheek resting on his shoulder. “You and me both.”
We stayed that way for a long time, our cocks softening into the tenderness, the fire in our blood banking to warm embers. Then somewhere along the way, Mads’ hips began to circle once again, small movements at first, then harder and more demanding, sending a jolt of want through my balls.
He pressed his lips to my throat, his breath coming in soft gasps, our bodies finding a rhythm. Our rhythm. Mads and me. And as we ground on each other and began to soar, all those decades of anger and resentment started to fall away, the space opening for something new and fragile to grow.
No matter how this thing with my mother turned out, the world became perfectly clear in that moment.
I wanted Mads with everything I had. I wanted this complicated man.
I always wanted him. Constantly. In a myriad of ways.
It’s who I was now, and I could live with that.
I wanted to live with that. But I had to make sure the past didn’t trip me up first.
And so, I took Madigan Church—my beautiful, funny, frustrating, and wonderfully unpredictable man. I took him slowly and tenderly, my body sliding into his until we lay joined as one, rocking and groaning, my heart thrilling with that joy I once thought I’d never feel again.
And when he came on a cry and a single shed tear, I buried myself as deeply as I could and sailed along with him, our bodies jerking and shuddering with every wave of pleasure.
And when we were done and lying spent on the rug in front of a dying fire, I tucked him against my side and drew a rug over our naked bodies.
He snuggled close, an arm thrown over my chest, his soft cock resting against my thigh.
I kissed his head and whispered that I loved him. He hummed and told me the same.
We lay in silence watching the fire dance in each other’s eyes until the last embers sputtered and faded and the bubble of content we’d drawn around us gave an almost audible pop.
Mads sighed and looked up at me. “Back to work?”
I kissed his forehead and nodded. “Back to work.”
We showered and dressed, and while Mads grabbed a couple of fresh beers and a plate of cheese and crackers to share, I began to go through Chloe’s accounts, separating them into piles on the small dining table.
“This is your area of expertise, not mine.” Mads slid into the seat opposite and shifted one of the piles toward him. “What am I looking at?”
I pointed to each pile in sequence. “A savings account with around two thousand. Another with a few hundred. And two large investment accounts.” I tapped each one.
“The first holds four hundred and fifty thousand. The second for two hundred and thirty, making a grand total of six hundred and eighty thousand, both coming due in about six months.”
Mads blew a low whistle. “She wasn’t kidding about Brendon squirrelling money away, was she? I guess that’s something. What are those?” He pointed to another two piles sitting in front of me.
“Ah, yes. These.” I grimaced. “What we have here are two credit card accounts. One is maxed out at twenty thousand dollars. The other has a balance of nine and a half, with the limit also set at twenty.”
Mads frowned. “But why would she need—” He stopped and looked at me. “This isn’t good, is it?”