16
Camila
My heart is pounding in my ears so loudly that I can barely hear the crunch of gravel beneath my boots.
I stride along the dark path leading to the cabins, my hands trembling at my sides and the taste of a wild kiss still lingering on my lips.
I press my fingers there, desperate to remember Darana’s mouth against mine.
“This is a mistake,” I repeat to myself over and over as I move forward almost blindly.
“Darana is crazy. I’m crazy. The two of us together would be madness!
” Ten years apart and a single kiss have been enough to debunk every theory and tell the world in no uncertain terms, “Hello? Can’t you see you like each other?
” Shit, I need to shut my brain off any way I can.
Erase the memory of her furious gaze, of her voice. Of what I saw her feeling.
Just before I reach the door of my cabin, a figure emerges from the shadows along the path.
Maddie is leaning against a wooden post, a cigarette between her fingers and that typically relaxed pose of hers that always seems to defy the world.
She’s wearing a dark tank top and jeans that hug her hips with brazen confidence.
The dim moonlight highlights the muscles in her arms and the mischievous sparkle in her eyes when she sees me.
This has to be the kind of madness that’s actually fun.
“Well, Bennet…” she murmurs. “You look like a high-voltage wire about to snap. What happened to you?”
I come to a sudden stop. I try to smile, but all I manage is a grimace. Maddie stubs out her cigarette against the sole of her boot and walks slowly toward me. Her hand brushes my arm gently—a light touch that nevertheless sends a hot shiver through my entire body.
“Come here,” she whispers, stepping closer. “You should let me help you relax. Whatever it is that’s got you so worked up, I can make you forget it… at least for a little while.”
The scent of tobacco and something sweetly musky envelops me.
I know I should step back, keep my distance for the sake of what I have to do at Birdsong Hills.
But her brazen gaze draws me in, and there’s no resisting it.
It’s clear that Maddie isn’t the type to ask for explanations or promise forever.
She simply offers me what I need right now: escape, warmth, and, above all, oblivion.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea…”
She lets out a low, sexy laugh, sliding her fingers down my neck in a slow caress that makes me hold my breath.
“A good idea? Honey, good ideas are overrated. You need to let loose a little. And I… I’ve been thinking all night about how good you’d look moving beneath me.” Her lips brush my earlobe.
The chemistry between us is immediate, electric, uncomplicated. And tonight, I don’t have the strength to resist.
I grab her waist with both hands, pulling her against me. Our mouths meet in a hungry, almost desperate kiss. Maddie tastes of tobacco and freedom, and I let myself be swept away by the sensation.
We stumble as we open the cabin door. I barely manage to slam it shut before pushing her against the wall inside. My hands tug at the straps of her top, pulling them down impatiently while she laughs against my lips, amused by my urgency.
“That’s how I like it, Camila,” she murmurs, helping me pull off her top. “Without thinking.”
Maddie’s shirt falls to the floor along with mine.
Our skin meets—warm and eager—in the dim light of the cabin, illuminated only by the moonlight filtering through the curtains.
Her hands trace my back, sliding down to my hips and pulling me tightly against her.
The touch of her breasts against mine sends waves of pleasure coursing through my whole fucking body.
I guide her toward the bed without breaking our kiss, gently biting her lower lip. Maddie lets herself fall onto the mattress, pulling me down with her. Her legs tangle with mine as her nimble fingers unbutton my jeans and pull them down along with my underwear.
“I’ve been dying to have you like this,” Maddie whispers against my neck, leaving a trail of fiery kisses down toward my breasts. Her mouth closes around one of my nipples, sucking on it while her hand slides between my thighs, finding me already wet and ready for her.
I can’t help but moan, arching my back. Maddie knows exactly how to touch me.
“God, Maddie…” I gasp, digging my nails into her back.
She lifts her head and gives me a wolfish smile.
“That’s it, baby. Let yourself go.”
I kiss her fiercely, reversing our positions so I’m on top.
My hands eagerly explore her body: the curve of her hips, the softness of her belly, the warm wetness between her legs.
Maddie writhes beneath me, moaning my name as my fingers find her sex and begin to move with the same desperate rhythm she’s giving me.
Our bodies move in a wild, overwhelming dance. Maddie rolls me over again, positioning herself between my spread legs. Her mouth travels down my abdomen until it reaches my sex. When her tongue touches me, I think I’m going to lose my mind.
I don’t think about Darana. I don’t think about anything.
All that exists is this fire, this physical release that completely sweeps me away.
I come violently, trembling and moaning as a wave of pleasure washes over me.
Maddie doesn’t stop; she draws out the orgasm until I’m shaking, sensitive, and exhausted.
Then she moves up my body, kissing me with my own taste on her lips. I switch our positions and return the favor with the same intensity. My mouth and fingers push her to the edge until Maddie arches her back, screaming my name as a delicious orgasm tears through her.
I release all the tension that has built up since I returned, using Maddie’s body to stop thinking, to feel nothing but this overwhelming pleasure.
The silence of the night is broken only by our ragged breathing, which gradually calms. Maddie curls up against me with a satisfied smile on her lips, and within a few minutes, her breathing becomes deep and steady. Wow, she’s fallen asleep in a matter of seconds.
I, on the other hand, lie there with my eyes wide open, staring at the cabin ceiling shrouded in shadows. My body is sated, but my mind… my mind hasn’t stopped wandering for a single second. The memory of Darana’s kiss comes flooding back, along with her gaze.
Despite the fire Maddie has ignited inside me, a sharp pang of guilt and confusion grips my heart. “What am I doing?” Maddie is fire, fun, and immediate relief, but… why is Darana the one occupying my thoughts?
I close my eyes, trying to push that uncomfortable truth aside. Tomorrow, I’ll have to face the consequences of my actions… but tonight, all I can do is lie here, listening to Maddie’s calm breathing and wondering how the hell I’m going to fix the chaos inside me.