Chapter 23 #2
“I was afraid the bead would break one day, and I couldn’t let that sever our connection. Even when we were apart, you’ve always anchored me, Mads. Near or far, I couldn’t ever lose that.”
In the next breath, Maddie interlocks her fingers around my neck, pulling me with her sheer strength, smashing our lips together. Her hands glide down my chest, lingering over my tattoo, then down around my pecs, fingers tracing every ab muscle I’ve worked my ass off for.
“It’s beautiful. Not just the anchor, but the way you choose to remember your sister is something that I admire.” Her voice catches, and I don’t miss the small crack as she speaks.
If I didn’t know her well enough, I wouldn’t detect it. Only I know her better than I know myself.
“What’s wrong?” I mumble around her lips when I feel the slight tremble.
This isn’t about the tattoo.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she snaps too quickly. Her hands keep roaming, desperate. “I want it all. But is it too much to ask for one more minute just to feel you? To memorize your skin under my hands again? I might’ve taken longer to admit it, but I’ve missed this too, you know.”
Leaning back, I catch her chin, forcing her gaze to mine. Her eyes are glossy, storming with something deeper than lust.
Somehow, this took a quick turn in the wrong direction.
“Hey. What’s going on?”
She shakes her head wordlessly, causing me to crawl up onto the bed and pull her into my arms. Her skin is warm against mine, smooth, bare, every curve pressed to me as if she’s afraid I’ll slip away if she lets go.
“I didn’t mean to rush you, Mads.” Christ, what a selfish prick.
My dick was leading the way, one hundred miles per hour, with one destination in mind.
“No.” Her voice is muffled against my shoulder. “It’s not that. I just… got carried away earlier.” A heavy breath spills out of her, frustration laced in it.
Sensing her irritation, I give her the minute she needs to get her thoughts together.
I’m not stupid enough to think everything’s perfect between us. As much as I hate it, she was recently engaged, she only just forgave me, and we haven’t been together in years.
If I don’t give Maddie the time to figure this out on her own, she’ll push me away for good.
We lay there for a few more silent minutes, the city buzzing below us. You can hear the hum of it through the room, but mostly I hear her shallow, uneven breathing.
She’s quiet, too quiet, and that sets off something in me.
I draw my hand slowly up her back, coaxing her to look at me. “What’s going on in that head of yours?” Her eyes lift to mine, wide and guarded, but the way her lips tremble tells me she’s fighting something bigger than nerves.
She swallows hard, her fingers curling into my chest like she needs the anchor. “We’ll go slow, Mads. Fuck everything else I said.”
“It’s not that,” she barely says above a whisper. “I want everything with you, Nate. Everything that’s us. Hard, fast, slow, dirty, fun—whatever you give me, I’ll always want it. But…” She gulps and continues her exploration of my body. “But I’m nervous.”
“You never have to be nervous with me. You know that. You’re in charge.” I caress her back to soothe her nerves. “We go at your pace.”
She hesitates, and I feel her heart hammering against me.
“There’s something I need to tell you before we…
before this goes any further.” Her lashes flutter, and for a second, I think she’ll pull back.
But then the words fall out in a rush, so fragile I almost miss them. “I haven’t been with anyone since you.”
The words hit like a wrecking ball. For a second, I don’t breathe. “Since me?”
Her chin dips, unease flickering across her face. “Ten years. I never… I couldn’t…with anyone else. Not with my ex. Not with anyone. You’re the only one I’ve ever slept with.”
The confession shatters something in me. My grip on her tightens instinctively. “Jesus, Maddie…” My voice breaks, low and rough.
Her face twists, misreading me. “You don’t have to say anything.”
“Madeline.” I cut her off, my throat thick. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just told me?”
Her teeth catch her bottom lip, her eyes glistening.
I press my forehead to hers, holding her still so she feels me, hears me.
“You’ve been mine all this time, even when I didn’t deserve it, and I’ve been yours.
” Her breath shudders out, her hand sliding to my cheek like she needs proof.
I cradle her face between my palms, forcing her gaze to lock on mine. “It’s. Always. Been. You.”
For a beat, she stares, stunned, not fully believing me, then she pushes back and sits up in a rush, “Are you telling me…”
I nod, confirming her thoughts.
She shakes her head vehemently. “I saw pictures with you and dates. There were ones of you leaving clubs late at night with women draped all over you.”
“And you were engaged,” I remind her, my jaw tight. “It means nothing.”
“You haven’t been with another woman in ten years? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“Why?” she blurts out.
I grit my teeth, furious at the thought of being with someone else. “Because I belonged to you, Mads. Still do. Do you honestly think I’d waste ten years trying to claw my way back to you, only to fuck it up with someone else on the side?”
“Never?” she whispers.
“No.” I hesitate, feeling this is the time to be completely open.
“There was one time, after Camila died, after you left. I gave up hope, but I couldn’t go through with it.
I hated the thought of touching someone who wasn’t you, like I was betraying you.
” She nods dutifully, rolling her lips to hide a smile. “Does that make you happy, babe?”
Her grin breaks, and then she covers her mouth, wide-eyed. “Oh my god.” Her chest starts to shake, trying to hold in her amusement. “No wonder you’ve been close to blowing in your pants all night.”
I bark out a laugh and pull her back into my chest. “You’re getting punished for that one.”
Then I kiss her, with hunger but more importantly with reverence, tasting every ounce of her confession.
She melts into me, and I feel her surrender.
I can’t wait to worship every inch of her like she deserves.
“Don’t you dare slow down now that you know,” she murmurs, words muffled against my mouth. “I was only nervous because I needed to tell you, but I want everything you promised.”
“Fine by me.” I ease her back onto the bed and crawl down her body. “Now that I know what I do, I’ll have to spend plenty of time warming you up.”
“My favorite part.” She wiggles, her whole body with anticipation, and my gaze drops to the way her breasts wobble in my face.
I lower my head and take one nipple between my lips. Her groan is immediate.
It’s deep and raw and has my cock jumping in excitement from the sound alone, loving how she is getting pleasure from one simple suck.
She clamps a hand in my hair, anchoring me to her breast, as if begging never to stop. I, of course, oblige, then switch sides, showering the other with the same slow, hungry attention.
My tongue flickers back and forth, and I know by the way her hips keep grinding against me, she’s thinking about how I feel against her clit—long, rough licks over and over until she can’t take it anymore.
Her back arches when my other hand pinches and tugs her lonely nipple.
I love this…when she’s utterly at my mercy…silently begging.
She lets out a long, involuntary moan. I pull back with a soft pop, tweak it once more for good measure, then kiss my way down her body.
She smiles at me, her expression smoldering, and the demanding way she lifts her hips again, I know she wants more.
“Please, Nate,” she cries, begging, knowing I normally have the patience of a saint when it comes to worshipping her. Delayed gratification only heightened the tension between us, but today, I won’t be able to wait long.
I trail my hands up and down her body, over her now red, abused nipples, the slope of her waist, the smooth arch of her thighs, slowly savoring her long, toned legs before moving inward.
When I slide my fingers along the inner crease of her thigh, she parts instinctively, exposing the hot, slick promise of her pussy.
Her scent pulls me closer, and I slide two fingers into her slickness and curl them to find the place that always makes her lose her mind.
“Look at this creamy cunt begging for my fingers.” I fist my dick hard with my free hand, pumping and releasing some tension, “Or does my girl want my fat cock?”
“Your mouth is still so filthy.” Her eyes are glued to my hand that I’m jerking myself with until they snap away to watch my fingers sink into her core. “That feels so good.”
“Look at my goddess.” I drag my soaked fingers out, then drive back in with more force. A low growl leaves my chest when she clenches hard around me. “So tight, so pink, so fucking perfect. Made just for me to use, to please.”
“Oh…god.” Her one hand grips my forearm, the other grappling with the sheets when I really start giving it to her.
I can tell the second it gets too much, when that burning sensation takes over, because her legs snap up for more friction.
“Spread them,” I bark.
She snaps back to the mattress, and I take this opportunity to add a third finger and ride her hard.
The room fills with the sound of Maddie’s wet arousal as she sucks me in, clenching on every pass. Giving me a taste of precisely what my dick’s about to feel any minute now.
When I rub my thumb around her clit, she tears out a scream, her orgasm rippling tightly around my fingers until she has nothing else in her.
She collapses back onto the bed, breath ragged, smiling, her eyes shuttering close. I shuffle up to smash my lips to her. “You’d better get a second wind, Cunningham. We’re in this together all night long.”
She snorts, patting me on the cheek. “Don’t worry, coach, I have great stamina.”
“Fuck yeah, you do. Maddie Grace Cunningham, world champion sex master.”