Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
ELLA
Charity Flag Football Game
"Rebound?" My body was numb; the cold must have started seeping into my brain. Did that make any sense? "I practically threw myself at you. Like an idiot. How you could think—"
"You’d just broken up with a guy who asked you to marry him.
After cheating on you. Repeatedly. You said he never hit you before that night, but still, you needed time.
That shit doesn't go away overnight." His brow furrowed.
"And I wanted a real chance, not some 'right guy wrong time' thing with you. "
My heart hammered as my stomach swooped and tumbled. "But I thought…I felt like I was a weak, helpless thing you took pity on."
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."
My heart caught in my throat. He shook his head. "Sorry, too much time around Seager. You're a fucking All-American badass"—he pointed at me—“Not sorry for that one. I thought I was doing the right thing. Not that I'm any kind of saint, just probably out of my damned mind…"
I crossed my arms and shuddered within the circle of my own embrace. It was your loss.
He puffed a visible breath. "I convinced myself giving you time meant having space to deal with this other shit I let people tell me was important." He rubbed a hand over his face. "None of it was what they made it out to be. I was just being prideful—thinking I needed to live up to something."
"Live up to what? Ash?"
His jaw tight, he glanced away.
A raindrop splashed my face, the water dripping all the way down my cheek.
I wanted to shake him. "Maddox, the whole quarterback's wife thing was already so far over for me. The night you and I met, I’d been in the same building with Ash one time in like three months—the night he tried to give me a ring, and I caught him cheating.
" What could I say to get through to him?
"Bowl games, practices, my softball season kept getting in the way.
I know you thought it was a line, but it really became clear when I saw him at that party—how long we'd been pretending at a relationship.
" I looked up at the grey, hazy sky. "This rain…
" I shivered again. Or maybe I hadn't stopped.
"We should go."
I may have nodded, or my whole body vibrated. "Yeah, it's cold."
"You going to the dinner?"
I shook my head. "I really don't—"
The sky opened up. The perma-mist turned to an icy slush and pelted the ground—and us.
I glanced at the parking lot, then over at the locker room at the near end of the field. My brain clicked, and my legs moved. “Come on.” I ran toward the building. Rain coated my skin, my hair. Mud splashed and sloshed with every step.
I made it to the door, stabbed the key in the lock and turned it. I moved to shut us inside. The biting wind took a last bite at my skin; Maddox ducked in behind me.
He flicked on the light. Both of us drenched and muddy, he didn't say a word.
Just punched at the thermostat until a whir started overhead.
I shivered and quaked as he disappeared, returning with one of the rolling infrared heaters.
Within seconds, beautiful warmth touched my skin.
I wiped water from my face, kicked off muddy shoes and moved closer.
He touched my shoulder, but before I could say a word, I was wrapped up in his arms. I stared at his neck, breathed the must of earth and rain. Shaking, I clutched the back of his shirt, turned my head and hugged him back.
I closed my eyes, just feeling…the warmth of him, the gentle pounding of his heart. The rush of his breath. It reminded me of that night, when his kiss changed from soft and sweet—to hungry. Feral.
His mouth came down hard over mine. His hands gripping my waist as he hauled me up onto the worktable. I clung to him, my skin on fire everywhere he touched. I bit into his lower lip as a different kind of heat took root, changed shape…and finally ignited.
I clutched and pawed, desperate to be closer. His mouth left mine to brand kisses into my neck. He pressed me backwards, and I pulled him with me, arching against the hard planes of his chest.
The bulge in his jeans settled between my hips…
"We should get out of our wet clothes."
"I'm warm just like this," I whispered to his collar bone. And I was, for the first time in so many months. Safe and warm and slightly spinny.
"You're still shivering." A shudder coursed through him. He released me, the grim look on his face anchored me back to reality.
"There's showers and—"
"If that was why…why you left?"
His eyes met mine, and I lost my ability to breathe. You threw yourself at him before. I lowered my gaze to the floor.
Then Kanami's voice from earlier echoed in my brain: "But what have we ever gained by holding back?"
I pulled in a halting breath as I caught the edge of his sleeve with my fingers. "I've had time." I lifted my eyes and caught his stare. "And you're still the one I want, Maddox." Pain seared my chest with each and every heartbeat.
He held my gaze as he removed his shirt. Turned his left shoulder toward me. "You sure about that?"
Pinkish-tan scars formed a lumpy star pattern near the top of his arm; he turned all the way around. More peppered one side of his back.
"Saw combat. Got my scars…"
"What happened?" I breathed as I ran my fingers over the healed gashes.
"Caught shrapnel from an IED."
"Does it still hurt?"
"Just to look at. I was lucky," his voice rasped.
The way he said it…my heart and lungs, weighted and heavy, lost their rhythm. Someone he knew didn't make it. I swallowed as hot tears blurred the world around me. I pressed my lips to the center of the large, spindly scar at the top of his shoulder. Ran my fingertips over the marred skin.
"I can't feel…"
I slid my arms around him, and his large hands trapped me in place. I held him, held onto him, for a long, quiet moment. The hum of the heater the only sound besides the distant drum of rain.
"You're here." I could barely find my voice. "Still here."
"Yeah." He gently pulled away. "And your last boyfriend has a modeling contract."
"There's no comparison, Maddox. I don't want him." I pulled his hand into mine. Rough, calloused, it was so much larger than mine. "I want to be with you." I looked up and met his gaze.
Heat permeated my skin, turning into a liquid fire. It pooled in my stomach, torching the air in my lungs and warming every part of my body. I tried to swallow, to find or form words, but his intense glare stopped the world beneath my feet.
His mouth claimed my lips, biting, aggressive. My liquid insides simmered even as another shudder washed over me. He stripped my shirt over my head, and then he was back, pressing every bare inch of my skin against him. His tongue in my mouth sent fluttering sparks into my chest.
He broke the kiss and rasped. "Your skin is like ice."
I shook as I nodded.
"Shower. Now." He tugged me in the direction of the nearest stall and flipped on the water. Pipes shushed as thin streams of water came alive inside the expansive walk-in. He fiddled with the temperature as I peeled off the rest of my clothing and removed the tie from my hair.
I moved into the steam and the streams of warmth. He grunted something then disappeared. I glanced at the door as the water tapped and danced along my skin. Deep, saturated breaths filled my lungs. My toes came back to life.
I hugged my arms over my breasts as I turned, dipping my head back to let the spray pour over my forehead and scalp, sliding through my hair.
When I opened my eyes again, a very nude Maddox stood at attention inside my warm shower cocoon. I took a moment to admire his carved, powerful form, my heart beating wildly in my chest. My breath came in short, shallow gasps. My eyes strayed…to the erect length at his waist.
And then he was there, pulling me around as he settled beside me, hands slipping against my skin.
My head tilted back to accept his frenzied, fiery kiss.
I lost the ability to breathe when his arousal pressed against the curve of my hip.
He cupped my breast, fingers teasing, toying with the aroused bud.
A fluttering heat beat its wings inside my core—the empty space between my legs aching for his attention.
The urge to touch him stirred. I reached for him, gripping his arousal and sliding my hand over his shaft. He groaned, nipping at my ear, my neck. "Ella…"
He pulled my hand away. We stumbled as he moved us to the small seat along the opposite wall.
He placed my hand on a metal bar carved into the side of the shower, then knelt.
He lifted my knee, scoring rough kisses into my thigh.
My heart leapt into my throat. I wasn't positive I was ready for this, but my sex pulsed, hot and needy. And I was sure I wanted him…
A flash of blue, as his dark eyes met mine an instant before he pressed a kiss at the mouth of my arousal. His tongue slid inside my folds and a thousand electric charges sang through me. My legs trembled. I hardened my grip on the bar to keep myself upright.
“Uhn,” I gasped as he laved and teased my clit.
My core tightened. That heated longing between my legs threaded into the muscle of my thighs, opening them wider.
I thrust against his lips as my desire climbed, weaving itself into my skin, my breasts.
I need you inside me. I tried to say the words but only managed to whimper.
His fingers spread me as he continued to press slick circles into my clitoris. My entire body quivered, desperate for his touch. I writhed and moved. Tightened and released. I knew nothing but this building hunger. "Maddox…"
His hand grasped my leg. I jolted as he found his feet, lifting me into the air.
I held on for dear life, my heart racing, my body suspended—anchored and yet floating.
Water pulsed from the shower heads, jetted streams arousing my nipples.
His finger entered me, curling deep inside my sex.
He stroked me as his tongue delved deeper, fluttering and teasing my aching nub.
"Maddox," I pleaded. Muscles taut and searching for the point of release, my body quavered beyond my control.
I shut my eyes as my need grew higher, brighter.
Pleasure threaded and strung so tight, I almost broke through…
only to fall short when his strokes changed their tempo.
I groaned and gasped and arched against him. Please…
He chuckled as he settled my feet back on the bench. I opened my eyes, everything inside me, my core, my skin, on edge.
"I think we should try a different position." His eyes sparked and a sly grin pulled at his lips.
"I was just starting to like that one." I tried to keep the warble out of my voice.
He dug out a packet from the soap dish, ripped it open and rolled the condom over his length.
He pulled me backward, against him. His sex nestled against my rear, as he breathed melty kisses against my shoulders, my neck.
The heat from his lips sinking through my skin, stirring a warmth in my chest. He murmured in my ear, "Ella…
" His fingertips traced decadent paths through the water on my abdomen.
I pressed my rear into his erection. He moaned. "God, Ella, I want you."
"Yes," I hissed and was rewarded with the tip of his length—skimming and slipping along the seam between my legs. His palms grasping my waist, his arousal teased my entrance.
I tried to move against him. "Please," I breathed. I grasped the handle in the wall and lifted my rear as I bent forward.
And then he was pushing inside me—stretching, filling the aching want that belonged only to him. My eyelids slid shut. I took a shuddering breath as his long, thick cock buried itself inside my sex.
He groaned as he curled over me, one arm clutching me against him, the other gripping my thigh. Heavy breaths puffed against my neck.
"I've wanted you. Since that first night. And every night since." He moved unbearably slow as he pulled out to the tip—only to sink back inside. His thrusts sent ripples of pleasure coursing through me. I whimpered as I tried to take him deeper, pushing back and moving up on tiptoe.
He thrust against me, once, twice, settling into a steady rhythm.
My body pulsed as it tightened around his length, so desperate and wanton.
Nimble fingers found my intimate nub again, working it in time with his thrusts.
He pounded into me, feral and rough. His voice a guttural cry as he called out my name.
I bucked and writhed beneath him, trying to hold on to the swell of heat and desire. Tightening everything, reaching, striving for that peak of pleasure and release as he plunged into me again and again.
"Come for me, Ella," he growled against my ear.
My entire body reacted to his command—nipples budding, I moved his hand to my breast and thrust back, hard, against him.
He slammed into me again, sending exquisite heat flooding through my core.
A last thrust and I found the crest. Floating, flying, my need shattering into shimmering bliss.
The world sparked and spun beneath me as I came, released, then fell and fell and fell.
Maddox caught me as we both collapsed to the floor. The shower sprayed and misted all around us. Its constant hiss drowned out the sound of my labored breathing.
He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead as he tucked wet pieces of hair behind my ear. My core pulsed again, and my sex hummed its approval. Water droplets clung to my eyelashes, pattering the skin around my eyes. "I’m so over being wet."
He tilted his head. "I have a towel in my bag, but I kinda like you wet."
I huffed and flicked water at him. He laughed as he helped me up from the tile. His arms around me. My head on his chest. We stayed like that for a moment, skin to skin.
There was something about being pressed so tightly against him, his head and shoulders curled around me.
And then his mouth found mine…
I clung to him. His lips thick and lazy, he traced kisses against my chin, my cheek, before seizing my mouth into something deeper. Our kiss broke, but we remained connected. My breasts slid against his chest as he engulfed me in a hug.
The shush and splash of the shower drowned out the rest of the world. Humid breaths puffed in the spaces between drops of water. His dog tags caught my eye and I smiled.