9. Miles
She’s been screaming in her sleep for the last ten seconds, but it feels more like ten fucking hours. The second she started thrashing, I jerked onto the shoulder of the road.
My hands find her shoulders, giving them a gentle shake.
“Maddie,” I call, trying to keep my voice steady despite the panic clawing at my chest. “Maddie, wake up. It’s okay. He’s gone.”
Her eyes fly open and she laches onto me so hard, it knocks the breath from my lungs. Her fingers are digging into my shirt like she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she lets go.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” I coo. “It’s just me. He’s gone, baby. I’ve got you.”
The second she actually sees me, all color drains from her face. Her fiery eyes widen until they look like they’re ready to spill tears, and her lips part as ragged breaths leave her. Her chest rises and falls so fast, I’m convinced she’s about to hyperventilate.
Fuck. She’s having a panic attack.
I carefully lift my hand, meaning to brush a few strands of hair away from her face, but the moment my fingers get close, she recoils like she’s expecting me to hurt her.
The movement hits me harder than it should.
“How do you know he’s gone?” she whispers, her voice trembling.
For a second, I don’t understand the question. Then I realize she’s still trapped in whatever nightmare dragged her under.
“Baby,” I say softly, glancing toward the windshield, “We’ve been driving for a while. We’re almost back to campus.”
I hesitate before adding, “Unless…you’d rather stay with me tonight?”
Her gaze slowly drifts away from me and out the windows.
As she takes in the familiar roads surrounding us, recognition settles across her face.
Little by little, her breathing evens out.
Relief loosens the knot in my chest, but I still have to fight every instinct screaming at me to cup her face in my hands and convince myself she’s really okay.
That flinch fucking hurt. It shouldn’t have—I know she wasn’t pulling away from me. Whatever nightmare had her screaming moments ago hadn’t let go of her yet.
It took every ounce of self control I had not to run back to the cabin after I got Maddie safely into the jeep. Every instinct in me screamed to get her the fuck out of there.
The only other person who knows that cabin exists is my uncle. I called him after Maddie fell asleep, hoping maybe—just maybe—he’s decided to come back without telling me, but no such luck.
He was still somewhere in Europe, living like he didn’t have a care in the world. Women laughed in the background, music blasted through the phone, and he sounded far too relaxed for someone who always seemed to have one foot out the door.
Regardless, he swore he hadn’t been back to the states in months.
Which means whoever was in there was probably looking for him.
It wouldn’t exactly be the first time he’d pissed off the wrong people.
My uncle has always had a talent for collecting enemies, though he never tells me how.
He just brushes it off with one of his cocky grins and tells me not to worry about it.
Easier said than done.
After everything I’ve seen growing up, I know there’s something shady about the life he lives. I just don’t know what. But still, if that guy was there because of my uncle, why the fuck was Maddie so terrified?
Why did she look at that man like she’d seen a ghost?
The questions churn in my head until her soft voice pulls me back.
“You wouldn’t mind, would you?” she asks, fidgeting with her fingers in her lap. “I’m just a little…freaked out.”
I can feel the tension in my shoulders ease at her words. Without thinking, I reach over and interlace my fingers with hers. I bring her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to each knuckle one by one before leaving one last kiss in the center of her hand.
When I glance up, her cheeks are flushed.
“Of course not, baby,” I say smiling. “I’d love it if you stayed with me.”
She smiles back, and that’s when it hits me.
I’m completely fucking screwed over this girl.
I park my car in the underground garage of my apartment complex and come around to the passenger side before she even has a chance to reach for the handle herself. Maddie watches me with that small, knowing smile of hers as I pull the door open.
She steps out and immediately slips her hand into mine like it belongs there.
“Such a gentleman,” she teases, a soft giggle escaping her.
A low laugh slips out of me as I close the door behind her and start walking her toward the elevator.
“A gentleman?” I glance down at her, shaking my head slightly. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
“Why not?” she asks right away, like she already decided I’m wrong.
The elevator dings as I press the button, and the silence between us stretches long enough to charge the energy. When the doors slide open with another soft chime, I guide her inside first, my hand still loosely holding hers.
The second the doors begin to close, something inside me shifts.
I turn towards her, not rushing, but careful as to not scare her.
Her eyes flick up to mine, another question forming on her lips, but she doesn’t get the chance to speak before I step into her space.
I’m close enough that the air between us disappears entirely.
Her breath catches, subtle but unmistakable.
“Still think I’m a gentleman?” I murmur.
Her back meets the wall of the elevator as I brace one hand beside her head, caging her in. Her chest rises a little faster now, her fingers curling slightly at her sides like she has no idea what to do with them.
“Mmm,” she hums faintly, like she’s trying to play it off, but it doesn’t land as confident as she probably intended.
I tilt my head, studying her face. Every flicker of reaction she tries to hide, I see.
“You sure about that?” I ask quietly. “Would a gentleman do this?”
I lift her up, placing her ass on the railing inside the elevator. Her legs instinctively open for me, and I press myself between them, loving the way her body so easily molds to mine as if she was made for me.
She is made for me.
I crush my lips to hers, and she moans into my mouth, the sound sending a shock wave straight to my cock.
This delectable woman will be the death of me.
Her kiss alone has me rock hard in fucking seconds, and I’m aching to take her right here in this damn elevator.
Her tongue wraps around mine, the taste of coffee still lingering there, and I suck it straight into my mouth, earning another glorious moan from her throat.
I release her mouth, pulling her hair away from the side of her neck.
She opens up for me like the good girl she is, and I growl deep against her throat, slamming my hand onto the emergency stop button just to get more time with her.
“Your lips are like fucking heroin to me, Princess,” I breathe between kisses. “I can never get enough.”
I bite at her bottom lip, and she hisses slightly at the sting. I release it with a pop, kissing her deeply and tightening my hold on her ass while she rakes her hands through my hair.
“Everything alright in there? What’s going on?” The man on the intercom asks and I growl at his interruption.
Fucking cock block.
Maddie’s face turns bright red as she coughs, clearing her throat. “Oh my god, we’re so sorry. We must have bumped the button by accident. Everything is fine!”
I let Maddie back down and she immediately covers her face, hiding behind them like she can erase what just happened. She’s so fucking cute when she’s flustered. The elevator starts moving again, and I let out a quiet chuckle under my breath, shaking my head as I watch her.
I’m not going to tell her there’s a camera in this elevator. She’s embarrassed enough as it is, and honestly, I’m already not thrilled about some guy getting a front row seat to her like that.
When the doors finally open, I take her hand again before she can spiral further into her own head and guide her out into the hallway.
Her confusion is immediate as she looks down the clean, empty corridor. I can already see the question forming on her lips before she even says it.
“All the apartments in this building are studios,” I explain as we walk. “Each floor is basically one unit. One door.”
She nods slowly, taking it in, but doesn’t say anything else.
She’s pulling back again, still stuck in what happened in the elevator, and I hate that I can feel it happening, but can’t quite stop it. So I don’t push. At least, not yet.
I unlock my door and step aside to let Maddie walk in first. She hesitates for half a second, then steps inside, pausing just past the threshold to take everything in.
My place is very simple—not much furniture other than the essentials and hardly any decor pieces, but I prefer not to have a cluttered space. My mother was a minimalist; I guess I take after her in that sense.
“Are you hungry?” I ask, moving toward the kitchen and dropping my keys onto the counter. “I could make us some dinner? Or we could order in?”
She’s smiling at me now, which confuses the hell out of me.
“What?” I ask.
“You cook?” she repeats, covering her mouth as she tries to hold back a little laugh.
Normally, that kind of teasing would irritate me. It's like she’s questioning whether I could do something so simple, but damn, she looks so cute when she does it, it’s hard to stay mad.
“Yes,” I say, shutting the fridge a little harder than necessary. “I cook. Don’t look so surprised.”
Her smile falters just slightly when I add, quieter, “You learn a lot when you’re all alone as a kid.”
The look she gives me once I let that bomb drop is a look I never want to see on her face again. I walk over to where she’s standing, and she shakes her head.
“I—Miles, I’m so sorry,” she says quickly. “I didn’t mean to overstep, and I shouldn’t have laughed, I—”
“Hey.” I cross the space between us before she can keep going, gently cupping her face in my hands.
Her words are cut off immediately as I tilt her chin up just slightly.
“You’re not overstepping,” I say steadily. “If I didn’t want you to know me, I wouldn’t have said anything. I want you to feel comfortable with me, okay? You don’t need to apologize.”
Her eyes shine at the edges now as her lashes fill with tears. And that…that does something worse than embarrassment ever could. Because I can handle her flustered, but I don’t like seeing her look like she’s about to cry.
Seeing her like this, so open and vulnerable, makes something in me shift. What kind of life makes a simple comment like that pull that kind of reaction out of someone? What kind of people made her feel like she has to carry something heavy behind her smile?
Maddie has scars beneath her beauty, and she does a damn good job covering them up. But the more time I spend with her, the more I see her trauma rise to the surface.
I run my hand through her curls carefully, slow and grounding, then let it settle against her cheek. She leans into it instantly, like she’s been waiting for it without realizing. That alone makes something in my chest tighten.
“Let's just order in,” I say quietly. “We can watch Netflix or something.” She gives me a pointed look and I already know what she’s thinking. As much as I would absolutely love to fuck her tonight, I know she’s not ready, and I’m not going to push her.
“I promise,” I add, my voice softer now, “just a movie. That’s it.”
She nods, and I let her pick the movie while I order us some pizza. I half expected her to choose a romance, something soft and girly, but she surprises me when she lands on an action movie.
That alone makes me want her even more.
My eyes were fixated on her throughout the entirety of the movie. Everything she did had me mesmerized. The way she would laugh when one of the guys would say something stupid was by far my favorite thing.
I could listen to the sound of her laugh all night and never grow tired of it.
Every once in a while, she would glance over at me and spot me watching her. I never dropped my gaze, which only made her look away quickly and blush. Watching the way color spreads across her cheeks is becoming something I love.
We stayed there on the couch for a while once the movie ended, talking about everything and nothing.
She curled up on one end while I stayed on the other.
I hated every inch of space between us. It took every ounce of self control I had to hold to not close the distance, hook my hands beneath her thighs, and settle her on my lap where she belonged.
I’d give just about anything to feel her pressed up against me again. Instead, I force myself to stand.
Walking over to the linen closet, I grab a few pillows and a blanket before tossing them on the couch. As much as I would love to sleep beside Maddie, I wasn’t going to put her in a position where she felt obligated to share a bed with me. She’s been through enough tonight.
I glance over at her and she looks at the pile of linens before meeting my gaze.
“Is this for me?”
A laugh slips out before I can stop it. Does she actually think I’m going to let her sleep on the couch while I take the bed?
“No, this is for me. You’re taking the bed.”
I pointed toward it. It’s only a few feet away, but she looked at it as if it was on the other side of the room before looking back at me with the smallest smile tugging on her lips.
“You don’t want to…” She tucks a curl behind her ear. “I mean…there’s enough room for both of us.”
Fire. I am a living, breathing flame ignited by this gorgeous fucking woman who’s looking up at me with the most innocent eyes.
I walk over to her and grab her hand, pulling her up from the couch. She looks up at me with so much thought in her amber eyes. I tilt her chin up to me and watch her throat roll as she swallows nervously.
“Let's go to bed then.”