Chapter 7 #3
“It’ll be torture.”
“I’ll be right there with you the whole time.”
“Promise?”
She couldn’t get over the way he looked at her, as if she was everything he’d ever wanted. How was that possible? The warmth she saw in his cool blue eyes made her heart flutter with desire. If this was one of her crazy dreams, she hoped she never woke up.
“I promise.” He caressed her face for a long moment before he leaned in to touch a tentative kiss to her lips.
Even knowing she could be making the biggest mistake of her life, Maddie reached for him.
Even knowing if he left her the way the others had, she might never recover, she kissed him.
Even knowing he had a power over her that she’d never given anyone before him, she caressed his tongue with hers and loved the groan that rumbled through him.
Mac rolled them so he was on top of her and then froze, tearing his lips free of hers. “Oh, man. I’m sorry. I got so carried away I forgot for a second about your cuts.”
“It’s okay.” She sank her fingers into his hair and brought his mouth back to hers. Suddenly, she was starving for more of the way he made her feel. She slid her good leg free of the sheet and hooked it around his much-longer leg.
“Maddie,” he whispered, his lips hovering just above hers.
“God, you make me so crazy.” Rocking against her, he drew a gasp from her and recaptured her mouth for the most carnal, sensuous kiss of her life.
He used everything in his arsenal—tongue, lips and teeth—to devour her.
She clung to him, certain that if she let go she’d be hurtled into space.
Just when she thought she couldn’t bear the intensity of the desire he’d stirred in her for another second, he softened the kiss and destroyed her with tenderness.
His lips sank into hers before moving over her face, her nose, her eyelids and then down to her neck.
Maddie shuddered as sensation after sensation zipped through her, settling into a throb of desire between her legs. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her, but still the fear outweighed the desire.
“I could kiss you forever,” he whispered, “and never get enough.”
“You frighten me,” she replied in the same soft tone.
His entire body tensed. The mouth that had been toying so deliciously with her ear went still. He raised his head to meet her eyes. “I do?”
As she stopped him from shifting off her, she realized he thought she meant physically. If only it was that simple. “You make me want things I decided a long time ago weren’t in the cards for me.”
Awareness dawned on him, and he relaxed a bit. “Maybe life has dealt you a new hand. A better hand. Isn’t that possible?”
“I’ve learned not to gamble. It doesn’t work out well for me.”
“I wish there was something I could say or do to convince you that you can trust me.”
“I wish there was, too.”
“You’re making me pay for things other people did to you.”
“I know that.”
“It’s not fair.”
Unable to resist the urge to touch him, she brushed the hair off his forehead, delighting in the silky feel of it. “I know that, too.”
“I’m going to show you.” He shifted off her to lie on his back next to her but kept a firm grip on her hand.
Glancing down, she noticed his still-impressive erection and quickly brought her eyes back to his face. She had to acknowledge that unlike most men she’d known in the past, he didn’t seem to be driven solely by the whims of his little brain. “Show me what?”
“That I’m different. That you can trust me.”
“I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate—”
“I have no interest in your appreciation.” He turned his head so he could see her. “I want so much more than that from you.”
She studied the face she’d grown so fond of so quickly. Already he was more familiar to her than people she’d known all her life. “Why me?”
His mouth quirked at the corners. “Because.”
“That’s all you’ve got?”
Shrugging, he said, “If I told you all the reasons, you’d run screaming for your life.”
“Try me. Give me one good reason.”
Mac rubbed at the stubble on his chin as he gave that some thought. Then he turned those formidable blue eyes on her, and the blood heated in her veins. “Promise you won’t run screaming?”
Maddie gestured to the bandage on her leg. “I promise.”
He brought their joined hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Being around you makes me breathless and needy and horny as hell, but that’s only the start of it. You make me want to be a better man so I’ll deserve you and Thomas.”
Maddie stared at him. No one had ever said such things to her.
“How was that?” he asked after a long period of silence.
She wished she had words to match what he’d given her, but her brain had turned to mush along with the rest of her. Clearing her throat, she said, “Pretty good.”
Mac winced. “Only pretty good? Well, at least you didn’t run off screaming.” He glanced at his watch and groaned. “We need to get going or we’ll be late.”
Maddie desperately wanted to convince him to stay right here where everything felt safe and a tad bit magical. She feared their bubble would burst the minute they let others inside. “You must be so tired.”
“I’ll sleep well tonight unless you decide to talk my ear off again.”
Maddie laughed as she play-punched his shoulder. “I can’t believe you said that!” She sat up slowly and painfully.
“We should see to those wounds.”
“Libby did it earlier after I took a shower. She said the one on my elbow looked like it might be infected.”
“I want to see it.”
“Later. I need to go get Thomas up, or he’ll be awake all night.”
Mac bounded off the bed and headed for Thomas’s room. “I’ll do it. You take it easy.”
Maddie sat there for a long time after he left the room, thinking about what he’d said and wishing she had it in her to believe they really had a chance.