“This is delicious.”
Tate nodded. “Right? I told you.”
I ate so quickly, anyone watching would assume I hadn’t eaten in a week. I should savor it, relish every mouthful, but neither my stomach, nor my taste buds, would comply. If I wasn’t here with a guy I hoped to impress, I’d lick the bowl. Swear to God.
Full to bursting, I declared that I couldn’t eat another thing, until Dorotea cleared away our plates and set down mini donuts—bunyols—with chocolate, strawberry, and caramel sauces all clearly homemade. I scoffed down four of the tasty treats. I would have eaten more, but I’d already come close to undoing the top button on my jeans, and that was not a good look unless you’d been married for a solid ten years, or you were with your girlfriends and every one of you did the same thing.
“I’m stuffed,” I said, licking the last of the caramel off my fingers.
Tate wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin “You liked it?”
“I more than liked it.” I sighed contentedly. “Although I won’t be able to eat another bite for days.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Not sure I like the sound of that.”
I shook my head, laughing. Tate left an enormous tip, and we said goodbye to Dorotea. In the time we’d been inside the restaurant, night had fallen. High up the mountain with barely any artificial light, twinkling stars filled the sky.
“Walk with me,” Tate said, holding out his hand.
I didn’t hesitate. I wasn’t ready to go back to Tate’s home yet. It was sacrilege to waste such a beautiful evening.
We strolled a short way along the road, with only the glow from a half moon to light our way, but Tate was surefooted as he picked through the stones and moss on the verge. Eventually, the ground evened out. Tate stopped, removed his jacket, and set it on top of the grass. The spot gave us the perfect view of the town by the sea, the lights from bars and restaurants and hotels twinkling far below us.
He lay on his back, and I followed his lead. His fingers found mine in the darkness.
“I’ve never brought a girl here,” he said.
“To this spot or to Dorotea’s restaurant?” I asked, my pulse jolting.
“To Majorca. This place, it’s my sanctuary, my peaceful corner of the world that allows me to escape my crazy life. It’s private, it’s personal. It’s me. That’s why I’ve never brought anyone. I don’t share me.” He turned onto his side and blinked. “But I want to share everything with you, Madison. I want you to know the real me, the man behind the public image.”
I forced a swallow past a swollen throat. How had we come to this point when, a few short months ago, this man had been my adversary, the focal point of my anger, my grief, my hate? Now I couldn’t imagine a life without him in it.
“And who is that, Tate?”
He smiled softly. “The kind of guy who enjoys the simple things in life. Lying here with you, gazing up at the stars, enjoying a meal in a shack hidden away in the mountains, sharing my body, my mind, my soul with someone I’ve… grown so close to.”
My heart sped up. Thud, thud, thud. Was that his way of saying he loved me without uttering the words? Did I love him? I think I might, but I wasn’t ready to admit it yet, either to myself or to Tate. I grazed his face with the pads of my fingers, exploring every angle, every curve, every dip and hollow, his ever-present stubble rough to the touch.
“Can I ask you something?”
He nodded. “Anything.”
“If this is the real you, Tate, then why chase the money? Why the need for sponsorship after sponsorship, each one demanding more of your time, forcing you into making sales pitches that only reveal the glamor and not the gritty underbelly of the sport? When is enough money, well, enough?”
He sat up, and my hand fell away. His gaze fixed on a point in the distance, and he absentmindedly rubbed his fingers over his bottom lip. “I don’t do it for me,” he eventually said.
“Then who do you do it for?” I asked. “Don’t tell me, you’ve got a wife and kids squirrelled away, and she demands the best of the best.” I laughed, but when Tate didn’t join in, a dart of anxiety settled in my chest. Oh, hell. Could that be it? No, surely not. A secret so enormous would be impossible to hide from the press, not to mention such a woman would never agree to being kept in the shadows.
“I do it for Cam,” he whispered, so quietly the words almost dissipated on the breeze.
I frowned. This wasn’t new information. I already knew his parents had basically forced him into taking up the sport when his older brother had died. But what did that have to do with his thirst for more and more money? I didn’t understand. Cam could hardly spend it.
“You mean because Cam would want you to sell your soul to the highest bidder, all in the name of the mighty dollar?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, that’s not it.”
I rested a hand on his back. “Then what is it, Tate? You can tell me.”
He stood. “Come on, it’s getting late. We should get back.”
I scrambled to my feet, too. “Wait, hang on.”
He stopped, slowly rotated, then captured a lock of my hair, feeding it through his fingers. If I read him correctly, he looked to be struggling with a decision. He leaned in and kissed me, his tongue sliding between my lips, tasting, exploring. His hand gripped my hip, tugging me into his body. I lost track of time as we stood there kissing under the moonlight.
Pulling away, he caressed my face, his eyes locked on mine. “When we get back to the UK, I’ll show you.”
I frowned. “Show me what? I don’t understand.”
“It’s easier than explaining. Please, Mads, can you let me do this my way?”
Well, what could I say to that other than, “Okay.”
His answering smile stole my breath. “Come on, beautiful. We’ve a holiday to enjoy, places to explore, and I plan to start with your body.”
Tate
I should have told her. Why didn’t I just come straight out with it and explain that I wasn’t some money-grabbing freak who measured success by the number of zeros in his bank account? The thing was, when I did tell her, she’d only be the third person who knew—Joanie and Zoey being the other two—and it was hard for me to loosen my tongue on this particular subject. I’d kept my philanthropy secret for so long, and I intended to continue along that path, but like most secrets, the more people who knew, the greater the chance of a leak. I didn’t think for one second Madison would betray me like that, certainly not intentionally. But unintentional slips of the tongue happened all too easily.
I knew I was being anal about this, but somehow, if the facility I bankrolled ended up in the news because of me, it would detract from the essential work carried out there. The press would descend in their hoards, patients would be spied on, photographed, their privacy destroyed. They wouldn’t be able to peacefully stroll around the gardens enjoying the beauty of nature before their lives came to a cruel and all-too-abrupt end.
No, simply telling Madison wouldn’t have the same impact as showing her. And once she saw, she’d understand why I’d been so cryptic, my insistence that no one could ever know about my involvement in the project. Why I needed the money so badly.
I’d almost told her I loved her tonight, but at the last minute I’d lost my nerve. I’d only ever said I love you to one other person, and that had been Cam.
But tonight had taught me one thing: She was The One. My future. The woman I’d do anything for.
When we arrived home, she gave herself to me without question, willingly, completely, her soft moans and gentle touches as she welcomed me into her body, reaffirming my belief that I’d found the other half of me, the part I’d searched for since Cam had left a gaping hole in my life fourteen years ago. The woman lying beneath me, gazing lovingly into my eyes as I moved inside her, had fixed my broken heart.
I owed it to her to fix hers—with the truth. About my facility. But first, about my feelings for her.
&
nbsp; “I love you,” I groaned against the shell of her ear as I climaxed.
She momentarily stiffened, then her whole body relaxed, and she covered my face, my neck, my chest in kisses.
“I love you, too.”
Madison curled into my side, her head on my chest, and moments later, she’d fallen asleep. I remained awake, staring at the ceiling made of rock in a house that, through Madison’s presence, became a home, wondering how the fuck I’d got so damned lucky.
After a dreamless night’s sleep, I woke the next morning and crept out of bed. I put on a pot of coffee, poured me and Madison a steaming mugful, and wafted hers underneath her nose to wake her. She groused, pushed me away, and turned over.
“Come on, Mads, wake up. I’ve got a surprise planned, and we need to leave soon.”
She cranked open one eye, then raised herself to a seated position. She took the coffee from me, blew across the top, then sipped. “What surprise?”
I considered just taking her, like I had with the two-seater racing car, but after her adamant refusal to fly in the helicopter after that first time, I didn’t want to put her in a position where she felt she couldn’t say no without disappointing me.
“Have you ever tried hang gliding?”
Her eyes widened, and then she broke out into a beaming smile. “No, but I’m hoping that after today, I can answer a big fat yes to that question.”
See, this was one of the reasons I loved Madison: she was game for anything and unafraid to try out new experiences, even if they might be a little scary.
“Maybe,” I teased. “Depends if you’re good.”
She set down her coffee on the bedside table, threw back the covers, and patted the mattress for me to get back in bed. “You know I’m very good,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “At least that’s what you told me last night.”
I flopped next to her, then pulled her on top of me and dropped my hands to her delicious backside. “You’re not bad, I guess, although a man will say anything when he’s orgasming.”
Warm laughter filled her eyes. “Brave, Flynn… very brave.”
I chuckled. “I’m used to taking risks.”
“But not with your balls, right?” She reached between my legs and gripped me. Not painfully, but I held my breath anyway. “Message received and understood.”
She grinned and let go, but not before giving my cock a firm stroke.
“Mmm, maybe we’ll stay in after all,” I said, brushing my thumbs over her nipples.
They puckered immediately. Her eyes fell closed, and her lips parted.
“Do we have time for a quickie?”
I grazed her earlobe with my teeth. “You’re my kinda woman, Brady.”
Forty-five minutes later, we were on our way to the location where we’d launch the hang glider. Whenever I took a trip to Majorca, I always did this. Normally, I’d fly a single-seater, but today, I’d arranged for a dual-seat motored glider to be available. That way, we’d be able to see more of the island than with a wind-powered machine.
We kitted up, and the instructor went through the safety briefing. Despite being proficient, and having done this numerous times, I still paid close attention. Madison’s safety was in my hands, and I took my responsibility for her extremely serious.
“Ready?” I asked as we strolled across to our waiting glider.
She nodded excitedly. “It flies more like a plane than your helicopter, right?”
“Exactly,” I replied. “To be honest, I half expected you to refuse to try it. I’m really glad you’re game. You’re going to love it.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and nestled her head beneath my chin. “I know I’m safe with you.”
My chest virtually puffed out. Talk about what every guy wanted to hear from his woman. Sure, society had moved on, and we were no longer cavemen, but make no mistake, most men still loved to feel needed by their woman, to know they were relied on to protect and keep them from harm. The only thing that had really changed was the politics.
I settled her into her seat, made sure her straps were tight. “All good?” I asked.
“Yep,” she said excitedly.
I climbed into my own seat. Happy everything was in order, I aimed the glider for the edge of the mountain and took to the skies.
Madison’s breath expelled with a whoosh. No doubt adrenaline had kicked in, too, and as soon as she settled down, she would have the ride of her life.
“Okay?” I shouted to her.
“Yes. Oh, Tate, the view,” she cried out as I dipped the nose of the glider and angled it to the right, the position allowing us to see all along the rugged coastline. Majorca was one of the most beautiful places on Earth—at least in my opinion—and from this vantage point, it simply didn’t get any better.
“Gorgeous, huh?”
“Stunning,” came the reply.
The sound of the wind whistled past us as I cut to the left and dipped into a valley. The golden sand and blue waters of the coastline gave way to green hues and brown-topped mountains situated on either side of the gulley I flew through. Homes dotted around the hillside, and I lowered our altitude so we could take a closer look. Chickens pecked for seed, goats grazed on the green mountain pastures, and bedsheets flapped in the breeze.
Idyllic. That was the only word to describe it. These people didn’t have much with regard to materialistic possessions, but they made the best of what they did have, and I’d bet they were happier than most.
Too soon, the time came for us to fly back to base. I landed the glider, the wheels bumping along the grass, eventually coming to a halt a few feet from where we’d started an hour earlier. I unbuckled my belts and jumped out, then helped Madison with hers. She tugged off her helmet and, grinning, gripped my hand.
“I loved that,” she gushed. “I want to do it again and again and again.”
I laughed at her enthusiasm. “Maybe we’ll get you your pilot’s license, and you can go out alone.”
“Oh no.” She shook her head vigorously. “I loved it because I got to do it with you. If I were alone, it wouldn’t be the same at all.”
Well, fuck.
I spotted our instructor on his way over, and I probably should have waited until we were alone and somewhere a little more private. Instead, I kissed her, hard, passionate, my tongue stroking against hers. She swept her hands up my arms, then buried them in my hair. When we broke apart, we were both panting—and still alone. I glanced over my shoulder. Our instructor was busying about with another hang glider, about twenty feet away, his head stuck inside the cockpit. He must have taken a swift diversion when he’d seen us kissing. Good man. I’d make sure I tipped him well for his discretion.
“What’s next?” Madison asked, her cheeks still flushed from the glider.
I curved a brow. “Demanding little thing, aren’t you?”
She grinned. “That’s why you love me.”
My expression grew serious. I tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and pecked her lips. “I’ve only ever truly loved two people in my entire life. Cam… and you.”
She stroked my face, a tinge of sadness darkening her eyes. “Not your parents?”
I shrugged. “Not really. I figured out very early on that my parents didn’t possess the kind of unconditional love yours clearly have. We weren’t exactly showered with affection as kids, not even Cam. I guess, in the end, I stopped expecting it.”
“I wish I’d known him.”
“I wish I’d been able to meet Dean.”
She gave me a wry smile. “Do you think it’s our grief that binds us?”
An interesting question, and one I’d considered, although only briefly. I shook my head. “No, I don’t. I think fate brought us together, but since then, it’s all us. There’s much more to our relationship than two people who’ve both lost a key part of their soul. Besides,” I added, “you’ve healed the tear in mine.”
Her eyes shone, and her hands curved around the ba
ck of my neck. She fiddled with the ends of my hair. “I’m so glad I could put my anger aside long enough to see the person you are beneath the public image. And who knows, maybe I’ll be able to use the fact you’re blinded by love for me to encourage you to choose more responsible sponsorship deals going forward.”
I ordered my lips to form a grin, but inside, my guts twisted. If the deal I’d been working on the last couple of weeks came off, I’d have a whole lot of explaining to do. All I could hope for was that when I showed Madison the amazing work my facility carried out, and how, with each passing day, we were edging toward a cure, she’d find it in her heart to forgive me.
If she couldn’t, we’d be done.
Madison
I arrived in Belgium, my very first trip to the country, completely unaware that the track, the superbly named Spa-Francorchamps, was so far from, well, anything. Absolutely rural, the nearest city lay some distance away. Tate had offered to fly me straight there, but as that would have meant another trip in his godforsaken helicopter, I’d hurriedly declined. He found it hilarious that I’d gladly get onto a plane or even fly in a hang glider without a moment’s hesitation, but a helicopter, nope, not happening. To me, those things were death traps, and no one would persuade me otherwise.
Bless him, though, he did send a car to pick me up at the airport, and as I watched urbanization give way to rolling green fields, a sense of peace settled over me. In a way, Kaz’s need for a break had changed my life. Without her begging me to take over for a few months, I would still be holding on to my anger and blaming Tate for the shocking loss of my brother.
I found it enlightening how easy it was to judge others when you knew so little about their own suffering. From the outside, Tate led a charmed life. Rich, successful, handsome, talented, he had it all. But behind the scenes existed a man who lived with horrendous pain: parents who were cold beyond belief, the loss of his anchor in Cam, the pressure to become the best of the best, to leave his own dreams behind and take on someone else’s. That kind of pressure would break most people, but Tate was one of the strongest individuals I’d ever met. Maybe this had been his destiny all along, but because his choices had been taken away by his parents, it had taken him a while to realize. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Tate came alive behind the wheel. He wasn’t faking his love for the sport.
The Full Velocity Series Box Set Page 34