Chapter 40
FORTY
Maddy swiveled to face him and straddled his lap, planting a knee on either side of his hips. The cool air chilled her hot skin as she emerged from the water, but she barely noticed because that hungry look on Lachlan’s face raised her internal temperature by at least ten degrees.
“I missed you last night and today,” she said.
“I missed you more.”
She smiled, pleased by his answer. This was completely different to how she’d felt with Elliot.
So much deeper she couldn’t believe she’d ever mistaken her previous infatuation for anything else.
Lachlan was as solid a person as she’d ever known, and he mattered to her in a way no one else ever had.
She leaned in to kiss him, a hot thrill whipping through her when he closed a hand around the back of her neck to pull her closer. His other arm slid beneath the hem of the sodden T-shirt to grab her bare butt and squeeze.
“I’m already addicted to you,” he groaned, and kissed her deeper, his tongue twining with hers.
Maddy sank into it. There was no point in talking more about where things stood between them. She had no answers, no further information other than what she’d just told him. She didn’t know if she was even capable of real love, or a lasting, committed relationship.
Maybe she was too scarred by betrayal to ever be able to give someone her whole heart. But dammit, she was sick of living in fear and questioning her instincts.
He was already hard between her thighs. She rocked into him, letting sensation take over. His mouth found the side of her neck, one hand slipping up under the shirt to find and tease a hard nipple.
Maddy gasped, already breathing faster. She didn’t care that their relationship didn’t have an official status. She’d learned firsthand in Syria how uncertain life could be.
All she knew was, she wanted him. Right now. For as long as they had together.
“Take me upstairs,” she whispered, her heart racing and about to burst.
Lachlan growled and kissed her again. “With pleasure.” He stood and pulled her from the tub, wrapping her up in a towel.
They hurried up the stairs, stopping partway up for him to peel the shirt off her and drop it on the floor. He took her hand and pulled her down the hall.
In his darkened bedroom, he caught her by the hips and spun her around to face him. His mouth came down on hers, tongue gliding inside to tease hers. But there was another layer to his kisses now. An urgency that hadn’t been there last night.
He walked her in until the backs of her thighs met the bed. “Lie down,” he ordered in a low, commanding voice that sent a shiver of anticipation through her. A shiver that turned hot when he stripped off his trunks.
She stretched out on the soft bedding, heart tripping all over itself as he came down on top of her and blanketed her with his naked body. His mouth found hers again, kissing her deep and slow before moving to the side of her neck.
Her eyes closed when he claimed that lovely, sensitive spot with his tongue, scraped the edge of his teeth over it.
She inhaled sharply, wound her arms around his wide shoulders.
She loved the contrast in their size. How much bigger he was compared to her.
The power coiled in his muscles as she ran her hands over his bare skin.
His big hands slid under her to grasp the backs of her thighs as he sank to his knees at the edge of the bed. Maddy’s heart galloped against her ribs, her core already wet and aching.
“Been thinking about doing this since I left yesterday,” he murmured, kissing the top of her thigh.
She tensed slightly, a little uncomfortable at being so exposed and having his face right in her most intimate area. But it faded the instant his mouth touched her heated skin.
She gasped, jumped a little when the smooth warmth of his tongue glided up her folds. The muscles in her belly quivered, the sweet ache at the top of her sex sharpening when he caressed it. Slow and careful and with single-minded intent.
Her hand flew to his head, her fingers knotting in his hair. She lifted her hips, pulled his tongue to the exact spot that sent fireworks along her nerve endings.
Lachlan made a low sound and firmed his grip on her thighs as he zeroed in with his tongue. The lovely sensation intensified, obliterating any lingering traces of self-consciousness.
He dipped his head lower. She inhaled as the slick warmth of his tongue slid into her, then he moved back up to refocus on her sweet spot. She moved her legs restlessly, testing the strength of his grip as he held her there. He slid a finger part way inside her.
Maddy moaned, instinctively rocking her hips.
The combination of his tongue and finger was incredible.
She could feel the release starting to build, the pressure rising with every decadent caress.
It was like she was floating. Safe in a warm sea while Lachlan anchored her, pushing her to the edge of bliss.
He released her thigh to unwind her hand from his hair and pull it between her thighs. “Keep going,” he ordered.
She heard a quiet tearing sound as he shifted to sit back on his heels. She felt a fleeting moment’s shyness at touching herself intimately in front of him, but the intensity on his face and the promise of more pleasure made her comply.
Her fingers slid over her aching clit. The pleasure was still there, but more distant somehow. Then Lachlan moved back between her legs, one arm under her hips as he lowered himself on top of her. Stared into her eyes as he settled the solid head of his erection against her opening.
She felt pressure as he eased inside her. Braced for a sting, but there was only the heat of him and a slow, delicious stretching sensation as he pushed deeper, the muscles along his spine bunching beneath her clutching fingers. No pain at all.
Watching his face, she slid her fingers over the slick knot of her clit. Closed her eyes and moaned deep in her throat when he eased his hips back and thrust forward again, the feeling of fullness and the incredible friction augmenting what her fingers were doing.
Oh my God. It felt like magic. The closest thing to magic a person could ever experience.
“Maddy,” he breathed above her, the way he said her name making it sound like a prayer.
She dug her fingers into his back, belatedly remembered his bruises when he sucked in a sharp breath.
Shifted her grip to his shoulder, desperate for him to keep going, the beautiful friction of him moving inside her blending with the stroke of her fingers along her clit.
Waking millions of tiny, hidden nerve endings and making them all shiver uncontrollably.
He didn’t stop, but within seconds the steady tempo wasn’t enough. She needed more.
Her body made the decision for her and took over, thighs locking around his hips as she rocked with his measured thrusts. Urging him to go faster. Harder, while the sensation built. Higher. Deeper. More intense with every surge of his hips.
She cried out his name when the orgasm finally swept through her. Wave after beautiful wave of bone-melting pleasure.
Lachlan groaned deep in his throat, planted both forearms on either side of her head and rode her harder. Then his big body went rigid, every muscle bunching. He shuddered, a low, raw groan of ecstasy filling the air.
He sagged on his elbows as it faded, breathing hard, and buried his face in the side of her neck. “Damn, Maddy…”
Not knowing what to say in response, she drew him down into her embrace and held him close. Cradled the back of his head with one hand as she absorbed his weight, the heat of his body.
No matter what happened between them after this, she would always treasure this memory. That he had been her first.
Her heart was so full it hurt, the intense closeness and trust she felt between them eclipsing anything she’d imagined. The thought of ever being parted from him pierced her.
Was this what it felt like to fall in love?
The logical part of her brain told her it was way too soon for that. That she needed to be careful.
But her heart already told her that’s exactly what was happening.
Even as it warned her that it was going to break her when the time came to leave him and this island.