Stella
Maddox groaned as he pulled me closer beneath the covers, his arm tightening around my waist as though he could shield us both from the rest of the house.
“Did you tuck your mum in?” I murmured sleepily, resting my cheek against his chest.
“Why did you let her in?” he grumbled. “She could have found a nice hotel. Preferably one far, far away from here.”
I smiled against his skin, tracing lazy circles along his ribs.
“If your mum’s a sex therapist, what does your dad do?” I asked, turning slightly so I could look up at him.
“He’s retired now,” Maddox said, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. “But he was a civil engineer.”
He leaned down and kissed my cheek.
His lips lingered there longer than necessary, warm and slow. Then his fingers tilted my chin toward him and he kissed my mouth.
Softly at first.
Then deeper.
His tongue slipped between my lips and I tasted the cool sharpness of mint from his toothpaste. The contrast of it against the warmth of his mouth made a small shiver run down my spine.
Our legs tangled beneath the sheets as I hooked my hand behind his head, pulling him closer and kissing him back.
His hand slid along my side, warm and heavy against my skin.
Then—
A loud pounding slammed against the bedroom door.
Maddox jerked upright instantly, the mood shattered as if someone had thrown cold water over us.
“I want lots of grandbabies, chop-chop!” his mother’s voice called from the hallway. “You’re not getting any younger, son, and neither am I!”
Maddox stared at the door in stunned disbelief before swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
“Go to sleep, Mother,” he shouted through the door. “You’ve killed the mood.”
I buried my face in the pillow, trying—and failing—not to laugh.
The house fell quiet again.
For about three seconds.
Then a cheerful voice drifted back through the door.
“You’re welcome!”
Maddox slowly turned back toward the bed, rubbing both hands over his face.
“I’m calling my dad tomorrow,” he muttered.
I grinned.
“I think she’s rooting for us.”
He stared at me.
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
I didn't care what he said. I loved Hazel Lexington.
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?
?
The weekend finally came, and with it Hazel and Jonathan’s departure. Their car had barely disappeared down the street before the house seemed to exhale.
Which meant Maddox was officially on the prowl.
After that first disastrous night with his mother under the same roof, Maddox had developed something close to performance anxiety. Not because he lacked confidence—far from it—but because Hazel had a supernatural ability to appear at the worst possible moments.
Now the house was quiet again.
And Maddox had noticed.
I could feel the tension humming in the air from the moment he came home from work.
Even when we were cooking dinner together in the kitchen, he was extra handsy, brushing past me far more often than necessary, his hands lingering on my waist or sliding along my hips when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.
The dinner table was the worst.
He watched me the entire time.
Not casually either. The way he looked at me made it seem like I should be the main course instead of the roast duck sitting between us.
“How about a movie tonight?” I asked lightly, cutting into my food as if I hadn’t noticed the way his eyes kept drifting to my legs.
“I think we both know that’s not going to happen,” he muttered.
“Why-ever not?” I asked innocently, hiding the smile tugging at my lips.
“My parents have left.”
“What does that have to do with watching a movie?”
His gaze dropped pointedly to my plate.
“Finish your food and go to the third floor,” he said evenly. “And I’ll tell you.”
“But the dishes—”
“I’ll deal with them.”
I lifted my fork and stuffed my mouth full of food, because if I hadn’t, I would have laughed.
And Maddox was already on edge.
He was hovering somewhere near boiling point.
Which suited me just fine.
He was nastier—and lasted much longer—when he was this pent up.
It would be a very long and satisfying night for both of us.
But the fact that we were more alike than I’d first realised made something deep in my chest ache. Maddox knew exactly what I had been going through when we first met, and not once had he made me doubt myself or feel ashamed.
I loved him all the more for it.