Chapter 4
MADISON
“Did she even apologize to you, in the kitchen?” Seth’s voice is a growl. He looks like he’s going to rip the steering wheel from the dash.
“Sort of.” Sonia had touched my shoulder and said, I apologize for what I said to you on the phone recently. It was uncalled for. She didn’t say anything about not meaning her words, or that she spoke too harshly, or that she was mistaken. Only that her words were uncalled for.
Translation: she meant what she said.
“What even was that, back there?” Seth slams to a stop at a red light. “What the fuck were they doing?”
“Putting me in my place,” I whisper.
And it worked. I haven’t felt so small in a very long time. Not even stupid Jacqueline at the catering company made me feel as bad as Sonia and Renata just did.
The light turns green, and we continue forward.
“Did Kyle cheat on me?” I ask.
“I highly doubt it.” Seth grits out the words. He turns to look at me, his expression softening, his hazel eyes on mine. “I don’t think he cheated. He loved you, Madison. More than I believed possible.”
I can hear the sincerity in his words, yet it doesn’t do much through the dark, depressive haze overtaking my mind.
If Kyle was going to see Eliza on those nights he took off on his solo motorcycle rides—trips he ostensibly took to “be alone” and “give us each some space,” then what meaning did any of it hold?
I thought I was being an understanding wife.
I knew that nobody can be everything to someone else.
Or at least, I was slowly figuring that out.
Not only that, but for five years—longer, if I count our time dating and our short marriage—I believed Kyle was the best, most honorable, attentive partner in the world. No one measured up to him before we started dating, or after. He was everything to me.
Now some offhanded remarks from his family and Eliza’s are calling his character into question. By extension, they’re calling my judgment into question.
“Madison.” Seth’s voice brings me back to the present. He has pulled over to the side of the street. “Hey. Look at me.”
I turn in my seat to face him.
“Hey.” He cups my cheek, his palm warm against my skin. “They’re assholes. I’m so sorry I put you in that situation.”
“No. I…I wanted to go. I thought it was a good idea. I thought because I’m not close with my parents, at least you should be, with yours.
You gave me a hundred opportunities to skip that dinner, and I didn’t listen.
” My throat feels like it’s closing up. I don’t want to cry, but damn, it feels like I need to.
Seth is quiet while I try to regain control of my emotions.
Suddenly it hits me. “You’re probably thinking I told you so, aren’t you?”
“What?” He leans back. “Because I tried to talk you out of Thanksgiving with my parents?”
“No—because you told me not to marry Kyle, and it turns out he was lying to me and spending time with Eliza. You told us we were too young, that it wouldn’t last.”
“That never crossed my mind.” He scoffs. “Well, not until now, that is.”
“Of course.” I’m not sure if I’m more hurt, or angry. “Of course, everything comes down to our ‘mistake’ in getting married. You were right all along, weren’t you? But it was our mistake to make—you know that, right?”
“Madison.” He sighs. “Nobody will ever know if you two would have lasted. This meaningless shit with Eliza is just that—meaningless shit. And it doesn’t matter if I was right or wrong, or if you were right or wrong. He’s gone. You’re angry at the wrong thing.”
I turn to stare out the window, taking in the dark sidewalk.
Very few people are out and about. Most are probably having Thanksgiving meals with friends or family.
I wonder how many other people had dramatic reveals today.
Holidays like this are often charged events, if the movies can be believed.
Did anyone else make fast escapes like Seth and I did?
He puts the car back in gear and pulls into the street.
The knowledge of what we learned tonight presses against my throat in a heavy way.
At the same time, a dark anger simmers in my chest. Kyle and I had everything stacked against us—our ages, lack of familial support on either side.
Seth could’ve been a support, but he seemed to hate me on sight.
Kyle’s parents could’ve been a support, but that would have meant taking their attention away from themselves for two freaking seconds. Impossible.
I tried to support Kyle, but meanwhile he was confiding in fucking Eliza, of all people.
I thought she was my friend, too.
Now I understand why she didn’t get in touch after the funeral. She either felt guilty, or she couldn’t be bothered. Or perhaps she was angry. Maybe she felt she had more of a right to grieve Kyle than I did.
I’m so busy stewing in my own toxic thoughts, I don’t realize at first that we’ve passed Nove and we’re nowhere near my neighborhood. At the sight of an unfamiliar landmark, I say, “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere quiet.”
He doesn’t elaborate, and something about his tone tells me not to push.
The car travels along an old highway that winds us out of town. Streetlights are fewer and farther in between, and soon the only light comes from the dash displays. I sneak glances at Seth’s profile, at his hard jaw half-hidden by that long stubble. His gaze is intent on the road in front of us.
“Are you mad?” I ask.
“A little.” He doesn’t sound mad. But there is a coiled tension in his muscles, like any second he might spring.
Not in a scary way—in a sexy way.
I take a minute to consider that. I’m angry and sad. I shouldn’t be down for sex.
Seth turns off the road and onto a dirt lane. Tall trees surround us, their branches allowing slivers of moonlight to reach the ground. After driving on the dirt lane for a half-mile or so, Seth pulls over and parks.
“Where are we?” I whisper.
He turns in his seat to face me. The dash lights have dimmed, and his hazel eyes appear black in the darkness. “Somewhere that you’re helpless, little girl. Somewhere you’ll have to trust me to take care of you, where you’ll have to believe I have your best interests and happiness in mind.”
I open my mouth to respond, before realizing I don’t have any words.
He grins. “Reach under your dress and take off your panties.”
SETH
Madison stares at me for a long moment, but she doesn’t look surprised or put off by my request. It was a risk pushing her into this after the absolute fucking circus of my parents’ Thanksgiving dinner. However, I think the risk will pay off.
I push back my seat while she eases off her underwear. I unfasten my belt next, and the buttons on my slacks, before pulling out my hardening cock.
“Here?” Madison asks. “We’re really doing this?”
“It depends on what you mean by doing.” I stroke my length while I watch her widening eyes. “Because right now, I just want you to warm my cock. No moving around, just letting your cunt hug my length.”
“This is like what Damiano had me do.” Her lips turn down in a slight frown.
“Yeah. Spread your legs, little girl. Let me feel you.”
She parts her thighs, and I send my hand under her dress.
Her pussy is so fucking soft, fuck, I love petting her here.
I explore softly, fluttering my fingers over her skin.
She starts to lift her hips, searching for more.
Soon, her wetness coats my fingertips. I bring my hand to my mouth, tasting her.
“You’re ready. Get up on here, Miss M.”
Pressing her lips together in concentration, she climbs over the console and maneuvers until she’s straddling me. I push my dick forward, rubbing the crown in her wetness.
“I’m going to get your pants messy,” she says.
“They’ll wash. Now sit all the way down on my cock, Madison. I want to be inside you.”
She grabs my shoulders for leverage and slides forward, onto my length.
“There, just like that.” I cup her ass, pulling her in and down. Her heat surrounds me. I lean my head back against the headrest, closing my eyes, savoring this feeling.
Madison wiggles, probably trying to get comfortable.
I give her hip a little pinch and open my eyes. “Remember to stay still, sweetheart. We’re reconnecting, and I don’t want any fucking to get in the way of that.”
She meets my eyes, her stubborn green gaze soft with arousal. “So I’m going to sit here, and that’s it?”
“Yes. And keep your eyes on me.”
Puzzlement flashes in her eyes, but she accepts my instruction quickly, just the same. I feel her cunt pulse and flutter around me, but so far, she keeps still otherwise.
I look into my girl’s eyes, seeing the pain she holds there.
The sorrow, the anger, the loneliness. She’s held so much in, for years.
I wasn’t there to help her after Kyle’s death.
I did what I could, keeping my parents from trying to take the survivor benefits from her. But otherwise, I kept my distance.
It was wrong to do that.
“I should have been there,” I whisper.
She doesn’t ask me what I’m talking about, because she knows. This isn’t about tonight. It’s about those weeks and months after her husband, my brother, died.
“Nobody was around for you, were they?” I ask.
“No.” She blinks back tears.
“It should’ve been me, all along.”
She shrugs one shoulder. “Then we might not have had this.”
Tightening my hands on her hips, I push my hips up, thrusting carefully into her a single time. She gasps, arching her back for more leverage.
“No, no. It isn’t time for more of that yet. I just needed a quick taste.” I tug her toward me so we’re chest to chest, her head nestled against my shoulder. “Let’s sit like this for a while longer.”
Her rapid heartbeat matches mine. I take deep breaths, calming us both. I’m hard as steel, eager to plunge in and out of her, fill her with my come, make her mine again and again.
“How are you feeling?” I ask her.
“Horny.”
I laugh. “Me, too. But how else are you feeling?”
“I’m still sad.”
“You mean I don’t have a magic feel-better cock?”
Now it’s her turn to laugh. “It’s definitely magical. But I’m not sure it has the power to make all of my icky feelings go away. It’s the perfect distraction, though.”
“I guess that’ll have to be good enough.” I stroke her back through her sweater dress. I’d love to have more contact with her bare skin, but it’s chilly. Also, we’re completely alone, but if someone else happened out here, I don’t want her in an even more compromised position.
Her voice is muffled, but thoughtful against my chest. “I do feel a little better, actually.”
“Good.” I cup her ass cheeks and squeeze. “Because I can’t go another second without fucking you through and through.”