Chapter 10 #4
"Did you ever doubt you would?" Jade asked.
"No." Maddox's thumb brushed across her cheekbone. "But I know what it costs to share this stuff, what it feels like to open it up and let someone else see inside."
Jade closed her eyes, leaning into the touch. "I needed you to know. Not just the parts of me that work, but"—she struggled to articulate her thoughts—"the parts that are still broken, that might always be broken."
"You're not broken," Maddox said firmly.
"Neither are you." Jade opened her eyes and met Maddox's gaze. "But we're both carrying things, the ones we couldn't save."
"Yeah," Maddox agreed quietly. "We are."
They stayed like that for a moment, their foreheads nearly touching as they breathed the same air. Then Maddox kissed her, soft and tender, like Jade was something precious that might shatter.
When they pulled apart, Jade felt lighter. Not healed—she wasn't sure she'd ever fully heal from Marcus—but less alone in it.
"I'm glad I told you," she said quietly.
"I'm glad you did too."
Jade's hands found the front of Maddox's shirt, her fingers curling into the fabric. She could feel Maddox's heartbeat under her palm, steady and strong.
"I need—" Jade started, then stopped, then tried again. "Can we—?"
"Yeah," Maddox said, understanding without needing the words finished. "Whatever you need."
Jade kissed her then, harder this time. Not softly but desperate, needing to feel something other than grief. She needed to be close, to be held, to forget for just a moment the weight of choices made and lives lost.
Maddox responded immediately, her hands sliding into Jade's hair, pulling her closer. The kiss deepened, years of grief and guilt seeking release in heat and want and the simple fact of being here together. When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Maddox's eyes were dark with want.
"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.
"Yes," Jade said. "I need this. I need you."
Maddox stood, pulling Jade up with her. Their hands stayed linked as they walked toward the bedroom, leaving the living room and its ghosts behind. In the bedroom, Maddox turned to face her. The light from the hallway cast shadows across Maddox’s features, softening the sharp lines of her jaw.
“Hey—” Maddox said quietly, her hands coming up to frame Jade’s face.
Jade kissed her, cutting off the words. She didn’t want gentleness right now. She wanted to feel Maddox. Maddox’s hands moved from Jade’s face to her waist, pulling her closer, their kiss deepening into something desperate and urgent.
Jade's fingers found the hem of Maddox's shirt, pulling it up and off, then dropped it. Maddox did the same for her, the faded Army t-shirt landing somewhere on the floor. They moved toward the bed, hands and mouths seeking each other’s warmth.
When they fell onto the mattress together, Jade felt the first tears slip down her face. Not from sadness exactly, but from the overwhelming need to be close, to be held, to let someone else carry some of this weight.
"I've got you," Maddox whispered against her skin.
Jade's hands tangled in Maddox's hair, holding her even closer. "Please don't let go."
"I won't."
Maddox curled toward her and ran her hand down Jade’s body, and Jade allowed herself to close her eyes and luxuriate in the touch, needing it to ground her.
Maddox rolled on top of her, straddling her leg and slowly grinded her pussy against her thigh.
Maddox kissed her gently on the lips, then along her face and down her neck.
“I need you,” Maddox growled low as she kissed the peaks of her nipples.
Jade looked down at Maddox, finding her already looking at her. She softly moaned. “I need you too.”
Maddox kissed her body lower, leaving searing Os the lower she went. Jade circled her hips, coaxing Maddox lower, and Maddox frustratingly didn’t take the bait.
“Don’t rush me,” Maddox said and nipped her stomach softly.
Jade huffed, pretending to be upset but secretly loving the push and pull. Maddox grabbed her breast, and Jade moaned as Maddox ran her thumb over her nipple and pinched it between her thumb and first finger.
“That’s for not being patient,” Maddox said, a small smile playing on her lips.
“If that’s supposed to be a punishment, I don’t think it’ll work.”
Maddox looked up at her, making eye contact, and squeezed her nipple again. Jade leaned up and kissed Maddox on her neck and bit her softly before lying back on the pillow.
“Two can play that game,” Jade said.
“We’ll see about that,” Maddox said as she flatted her tongue and licked her from her belly button up to one breast then the next.
Jade’s breath caught in her throat, and she closed her eyes, moaning softly. She felt Maddox continue to grind herself against her leg and the wetness soaking her leg. She reached down and softly rubbed against Maddox, feeling her slick and ready already.
Jade pushed against Maddox, just enough to where Maddox fell on her side and Jade crawled on top of her. “Let me go first this time.”
She could see the conflict across Maddox’s face, but she relented and repositioned herself into a comfortable position on the pillow.
Jade leaned down to kiss Maddox, darting her tongue into her mouth and playing with Maddox’s tongue.
Jade’s lips brushed the ridge of Maddox’s collarbones with feather-light kisses, her tongue tracing the hollow where her pulse thrummed.
Jade glided her palms over her broad shoulders, kneading them slightly and drawing a sigh from Maddox.
“That feels good,” Maddox whispered.
“Do you want a full massage?”
“I want you.”
Jade gently tilted Maddox’s head, exposing the long line of her neck, and she leaned down, sucking gently. She didn’t leave a mark, just savored Maddox, her teeth grazing the vein that jumped beneath her touch.
She dropped lower, Jade’s mouth found Maddox’s breast, drawing a nipple into her mouth as she sucked on it.
Jade splayed her hands over Maddox’s ribs, pressing tightly over her body and wishing she could crawl into Maddox’s chest and stay there forever.
She swirled her tongue over the other nipple, turning it into a hardened peak before she kissed it gently and kept moving down.
She kissed down her stomach, feeling the ridges of her abs, and her tongue dipped into her navel as she tasted the salt on her skin.
Jade reached around to Maddox’s back, feeling her muscles and lowering hand over the swell of her ass, squeezing it tightly.
She trailed downward with open-mouthed kisses, then leaned down between Maddox’s legs.
She nudged Maddox’s legs with her knee, getting her to make more room for her as she lowered her head.
She spread Maddox’s lips, exposing her clit already swollen.
Jade licked with slow, deliberate laps, starting from the bottom and working her way up.
Two, three, four licks, before she homed in on Maddox’s clit.
Jade buried her face between Maddox’s legs, circling her clit with tight circles and pressing firmly, and Maddox’s back arched as she bucked her hips against Jade’s mouth.
Jade hummed as she sucked Maddox’s clit, letting the soft vibrations make Maddox gasp in ragged breaths.
She felt Maddox reach down and thread her fingers through her hair, tangling it as Jade ran her tongue back and forth against her clit. She slipped in a finger, then another, inside, pumping them rhythmically. She curled her fingers upward, searching for the soft G-spot to make Maddox lose control.
Jade felt Maddox squeeze around her fingers, and she picked up the pace, alternating plunging them in and out, then curling them, all the while her tongue still sucked on her clit.
She could feel more than hear Maddox’s breathing pattern change, quickening as it grew more shallow.
Jade reached up with her free hand and grabbed Maddox’s breast, squeezing it gently as she played with her nipple between her fingers.
Maddox circled her hips in rhythm with Jade’s motions, and Jade could feel her clit pulse for more.
When Maddox’s orgasm came, Jade could feel every muscle in her body tighten as she arched her back and screamed. Before she got up off Maddox, she kissed the nub of her clit softly, tasting its sweetness, and smiled.
“You taste divine,” Jade said as she rested her head on the pillow next to Maddox.
“Not as divine as you,” Maddox said as she pulled Jade closer to her body.
Jade could feel the heat radiating and slick sweat coating Maddox’s body, and she let herself be held, sinking into the feeling of being supported and loved.
Before she knew what was happening, though, Maddox had spun her on her back and straddled her. “Speaking of you tasting divine,” she said as she leaned down and kissed her.
Maddox’s lips on her bare skin felt electrifying as Maddox trailed down her body, kissing in all her sensitive spots.
Jade inhaled deeply, trying to control her breath as Maddox grabbed her breast and teased her nipple while sucking on the other.
Maddox nipped her nipple gently, making Jade writhe underneath her.
“Hey, that hurt,” Jade said with no malice and a smile.
“I’ll make it up to you.” Maddox’s sly grin spread, making her eyes twinkle with a little deviousness. “Still have that little toy?”
“The bullet vibrator?” Jade’s eyes widened.
Maddox silently nodded, and Jade started to scoot to the edge of the bed to get it but Maddox stopped her.
“Stay. I’ll get it,” she said and reached over to open the bedside table drawer.
When Maddox came back between her legs, she was holding the small pink toy.
“This is for later, if you’re good,” she said, her grin growing wider.