Chapter 21 – Maddie
Home is Where the Hanky Panky Is
Maddie
IT FEELS SO good to be home. With Leo. In a place I feel safe and cared for and like I can breathe again.
The second I walk in the door I feel better. As better as I can feel all things considered.
Leo leads me inside, dropping all my bags on the living room floor as we go. I follow behind him, not because he’s got my hand tight in his, but because I don’t want to be away from him. I tried that. It was awful.
I sniff, still a little teary as he takes me into the bathroom and flips on the light.
“What are we doing?” I ask as he turns to me.
“You’re going to take a shower and then you’re going to bed.” He runs a thumb over my tear-streaked face. “The hot water will make you feel better and help you relax so you can sleep.”
I nod as he goes to work peeling away my clothes. “Okay. That sounds good.”
There’s nothing sexual about what he’s doing, but I can’t help my reaction to the gentle skim of his hands across my skin as he works the layers off my body. When one knuckle accidentally brushes my nipple, I shiver as arousal ripples through my body.
I need him. So much more than I even realized.
“I’m sorry.” My breath hitches on the last word.
Leo’s eyes slowly lift to mine but he doesn’t say a word, just keeps taking care of me.
And it makes me feel like I need to keep explaining. “I just didn’t want you to suffer for my mistakes.”
Leo is still silent, his eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them. His gaze burning into me with an intensity that steals my breath while he reaches into the shower and switches on the water and starts stripping away his own clothes.
“But no one’s ever looked at me like you do.” My chest tightens at the real truth of my statement. “No one else has ever seen me.”
My throat is tight as he pulls my body to his, stepping us under the warmth of the water, putting me directly in its path so it’s soaking my skin while he’s left in the cold.
“I see you, Maddie.” His words are soft.
Almost as soft as his hands as he reaches for a bottle of body wash and squeezes a pool into his palm, rubbing them together before putting them on my body, starting at my neck.
His thumbs work into the muscles of my shoulders as he carefully soaps me up. “I’ve always seen you.”
Leo lifts one arm, working the suds down to my fingers, massaging every inch he covers with a firm but gentle touch before moving to the other arm.
I love it and hate it at the same time. I thought I could walk away because I was doing it for him, but I can’t. In just a few short weeks he’s made me need him. Need this. “No one’s ever taken care of me like you do.”
He finishes with my arms before lowering to a crouch in front of me. “You deserve to be taken care of.” His hands glide up and down my leg, soaping up my skin.
“So do you.”
His hands stall for just a second before continuing on.
I wait for him to acknowledge what I said, but he simply continues working his way down my legs and over my feet, the tips of his strong fingers sliding between each of my toes before gently lifting each foot up so he can massage my soles.
It feels so good. Not just what he’s doing, but to be with him again. To feel safe. Protected.
Cherished.
If nothing else good came from my temporary lapse of judgment, it gave me the time and distance to see something important.
“I don’t want to be in a one-sided relationship, Leo.”
His eyes snap to mine.
“I want to take care of you too.”
He slowly straightens. “You do take care of me, Maddie.”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t. Not really.”
“You cook for me. You got me a pet.” His lips barely quirk. “You entertain me with your stories about old ladies in the mob.”
I frown at both the reminder and his assessment. “That’s not even close to the way you’ve cared for me. Encouraged me. Did everything in your power to give me what I wanted.” I rest my hands on his chest, letting them glide over his wet skin. “I want to do that for you.”
Leo’s palm comes to my face. “You have given me everything I want, Miss Miller.” His thumb skates across my lips. “All I want is you.”
I can’t imagine that’s really the case, but it’s a nice thought.
And one I’m happy to indulge, because right now all I want is him.
“Then you can have me.”
Pushing up onto my toes, I brush my lips against his, my wet skin sliding against the hard planes of his body in the most sensual way. I reach between us to find his straining length.
Leo hisses as I grip him tight, the water easing the way as I stroke him from root to tip. I watch his face as I fist his cock, taking in the lines of his features. The slight bit of stubble shadowing his skin.
His lashes are longer than I realized, lying black and thick against his tanned skin as his head tips back, jaw tight, the muscles of his neck straining more with each pass of my hand over him. His tongue slides over his lips as a masculine groan passes between them.
He’s beautiful, and the sight of him thrusting into my hand as the water sluices down his body is the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen.
Watching what I’m doing to him is like a drug. The flex of his muscles. The jerk of his hips. The deep rumble of a groan when I add my other hand, gently stroking the sensitive skin of his sack as I continue to work his length.
“Maddie.”
The sound of my name is everything. Feeding a part of me I thought withered and died. A victim of a life fulfilling other people’s expectations.
I kiss him, putting everything I have into it, hoping somehow it will show him how much I need him. How grateful I am to have him in my life.
Helping me find my way through it.
Leo growls deep in his chest, pulling my hand off his body before switching off the water. He keeps my body against his as he steps out of the shower, bringing me along. I don’t have time to get cold before I’m wrapped in a fluffy towel. He gives me a stern look. “You need to sleep.”
I shake my head. “I need you.”
Letting my towel drop to the floor I flatten one hand against his damp chest, pushing Leo into the bedroom. “I need to be close to you.” I give him a little shove when he reaches the bed and he tips back onto the mattress.
I climb on top of him, my knees pressing into the blankets at each side of his hips.
His eyes stay fused to mine as I push him backward, following him down. I should probably do all the things to him that he does to me, but I’m impatient. After being without him—thinking I’d never have him again—I want Leo as close as he can get.
Leo must want the same thing because his hands grip my hips as he lifts under me, filling me in one slow, easy move. I pull in a breath as he lowers and pushes up again, knocking me a little off balance.
Leo’s fingers lace with mine, providing what I need like he always does. Supporting me while I claim one more thing for myself.
Him.
I try to find a rhythm, I really do, but my body is tired. Leo uses his grip on my hands to pull me down until my belly rests against his.
The different position takes the necessary work from an up and down movement to more of a rocking motion. It’s easier. We’re closer.
And that changes everything.
Just like he has.
Leo growls encouragement against my skin as we move together, filling space around us with words I’ve never heard from anyone but him.
That I’m brilliant.
That I’m beautiful.
That I’m perfect.
It’s so sweet and warms me from head to toe.
But it’s the words that come next that send that heat into a full-fledged fire.
“Take it, Maddie. Take what you want. All of me is yours.”
There’s something carnal about his words. The power he’s giving me. The ownership. It’s something that’s only been asked of me, not offered.
But I will never take advantage of Leo the way people have taken advantage of me. Never.
I grip his shoulders, the steady thrust of his hips bringing me closer with every passing second as the emotion of the moment tightens my throat.
“I can’t hold back much longer, Maddie.”
Somehow his admission shoves me hard and fast, the thought of Leo coming, his cock swelling as it pulses inside me, dragging me down with him. We come together and for a second all the noise in my head is quiet. There’s only him and me and the happiness and safety only Leo makes me feel.
And it has nothing to do with the things he does to my body.
Mostly nothing.
I blink away the haze clouding my mind, straightening until Leo’s eyes are on mine. I lift one hand, using a finger to trace the lines of his face.
He’s so handsome. So kind and thoughtful and caring.
And I almost let him go. Walked away and let Drake ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Maddie.” Leo’s hands slide up my thighs. “As long as you don’t try to leave me again.”
I shake my head. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Good.” He gives me an easy smile for the first time since walking into my apartment. “Because I don’t think Gill can handle what I turn into when you’re not here.”