Chapter 38
Madelyn let the straps of her dress fall from her shoulders. The moonlight kissed her smooth skin as she let the frilly garment slink down her body. She shimmied out of it and stood there, proudly bearing it all.
My God, she looked gorgeous.
The pale light highlighted the supple curves of her figure. Madelyn knew exactly what kind of effect she'd have on me. That vow of celibacy would be the shortest one in history.
"I'm completely unaffected," I said.
Madelyn was smart. She knew the ruse wasn't going to last for long. "If I'm naked, you have to be too.”
Who was I to say no?
I peeled out of my shirt and shorts, and before long, we were both standing there buck naked.
I motioned to the Jacuzzi. "After you."
I followed her to the tub, cranked on the jets, and climbed in.
"You have to stay on your side," I said as she inched closer.
"That's not how this works. This whole thing is a test to see how committed you are to your vows." With her lips inches away from mine, my willpower was certainly caving.
"Still unaffected?" she said, putting a delicate hand on my thigh, sending a thrill through my body.
"Like I said, I'm a monk."
"Really? What's this?" she asked, grabbing my package.
"I knew you were trouble.”
Madelyn smirked. She straddled my hips and pushed her glorious peaks in my face. "See anything you like?"
"Nope. Not at all."
"Liar." She leaned in and planted her soft lips against mine.
I was a monk for all of 30 seconds, if that.
Our tongues danced, and my hands traced her supple curves.
Madelyn could certainly spark impure thoughts.
We fooled around in the Jacuzzi, the bubbles swirling.
It wasn't long before I had her on the edge of the water, obliterating my vows.
Our hips collided, and water sloshed. The stars twinkled overhead, and her breathy moans drifted across the sky deck and spilled throughout the marina. I'm sure our neighbors heard it all.
I didn't care.
We wore ourselves out, then dripped down to my stateroom, had a little fun in the shower, then toweled off and fell into bed.
Dopamine and oxytocin swirled. Madelyn snuggled close. Her steamy voice whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry I made you break your vow.”
"It's okay. I wasn't that attached to it anyway.”
"That's good, because I might force you to break it again.”
"You know, that wouldn't be all bad.”
She smiled and kissed my cheek. "I hope I didn't compromise you. I don't want you to be so head over heels in love with me that you fail to do your job and adequately protect me.”
I chuckled. "I think I can manage.”
Madelyn was a lot of fun. Smart, witty, sexy. She might be easy to love.
"I'll have you know, I don't just hop into the sack with all of my bodyguards. Only the handsome ones.”
I laughed again.
"Did I mention you’re my first bodyguard?”
“Surely a woman of your stature has had a security detail.”
"I've always tried to live a modest life. Out of the spotlight. Sebastian was the one who always liked the attention. I was happy writing code, building out the platform, handling the business.”
"You seem too smart to have gotten duped by Sebastian.”
Madelyn frowned. “I got blindsided. I didn't see it coming. Maybe I did. I should have. I had a lifetime of growing up with Sebastian. I knew what he was capable of. When my parents died, I fell into a deep depression. There were other things going on in my life. I had a bad breakup, and well... I don’t need to go into the details.
Needless to say, I was in a funk. I would lock myself away for days and wouldn't come out. I was drinking too much. Sebastian took the opportunity to bring in outside investors and dilute my shares. Before I knew what had happened, I owned less than a quarter of the business. But I still kept control of the platform. I refused to hand it over.” She sighed.
“Sebastian thought he could manage these people.
But that's impossible. He thought he could retain control.
But there's always a cost when you take on outside funding.
It's like selling your soul. Your company isn't yours anymore.”
I flashed a sympathetic frown.
My phone buzzed the nightstand with a call. I grabbed the device and looked at the screen.
It was Teagan.
I swiped it and took the call. "What's going on?”
"I'm about to wrap up here at the bar. Would you mind walking me to my car?”
"I'll be right there. Don't go outside without me.”
"Hell no. Not with that creep running around.”
I ended the call and told Madelyn I'd be right back.
"Is everything okay?”
"We had a little incident earlier. I just need to make sure one of my employees gets to her car okay.”
"You look after everybody, don't you?”
"As much as I can," I said as I pulled on some clothes. I grabbed my pistol and holstered it for an appendix carry, then hustled to the dock. I jogged down to the bar, greeted Teagan at the door, then escorted her to her car after she locked up.
The bar was empty, and it was well after 2:00 AM.
I kept a wary eye out, but the parking lot was empty.
"You want me to follow you back to your apartment?" I asked.
Teagan shook her head. "No. I'll be fine. That guy just freaked me out earlier. Go back to your houseguest,” she said with a trace of jealousy.
I gave her a look.
"I'll be fine. Thank you for walking me out.” Teagan pulled her wireless earbuds from her ears, slipped them into their case, and stuffed them into a pocket.
"You call me when you get back to your apartment. Okay?”
"You got it, boss," she said with a mock salute.
She climbed into her car and cranked up the engine.
I watched her drive out of the parking lot, then I hustled back to the Avventura. I climbed back up to my stateroom, peeled out of my clothes, and slid into bed with Madelyn.
"Is she cute?"
"Who?”
"Your employee?”
I chuckled. "Yes, she's cute.”
"Don’t worry, I'm not the jealous type," she said in a sleepy voice, already half in dreamland.
I waited to hear from Teagan, already regretting the decision not to follow her.
Minutes went by, seeming like hours.
Finally, my phone buzzed again. I swiped the screen faster than a cobra. “You okay?”
“Yeah, some asshole parked in my space.” Her keys jingled as she drew them from her purse. “I had to find another place to park.”
The sound of her walking down the hallway filtered through the speaker. She put the key into the slot and twisted it.
“Tyson, we have a problem. I locked my door before I left.”
“Don’t go into the apartment. I’ll be right there.”
Her screams filtered through the phone, piercing my ear.
“Teagan!”
“Get off me!” she screamed.
The sound of a taser crackled through the line.