by Sheila Kell
“You’ve got a great family,” she offered.
Their eyes connected, and she put the happiness for him and his family in her gaze. His eyes widened briefly and then softened. Electricity shot between them like in the old romance novels she’d read while hanging around on modeling shoots. They sat there, frozen, just staring at each other with hunger in their eyes.
Brad cleared his throat and broke the moment. “Thanks. Let me see your hand.”
She turned over a flush, truly expecting to take the hand.
“Not so fast, princess.” He turned over a full house, eights over fours.
Shit. She’d hoped to run the table. Oh well, she could manage one more hand. “What do you want me to remove?”
“Your shirt.”
She sighed. At least she had a bra on. A sexy, lacy one, but at least it was one. Many times for comfort she’d go braless. When she wasn’t going anywhere. She took off her shirt, folded it and set it on the edge of the table. Then she thought better of it and picked it up and tossed it across the room like Brad had been doing with his clothes. She laughed as it landed on the chair. Freeing her tight control, she was lost in the moment… the game… the possibility of what would occur when a champion was crowned.
“Okay. Your deal.”
His eyes stayed on her chest as he shuffled the cards and dealt. “Your turn for a story. Any one, but the more embarrassing, the better.”
She laughed at that. “Let me think.” She fanned out her cards and stopped. Could she win with the hand? She’d thought so last time, but he’d still beat her. Odds were this would be her hand for the win.
When she didn’t take any cards, he raised an eyebrow, and she could’ve sworn she saw sweat on his brow.
“Okay, my first time going down the runway. I was so nervous that I threw up right before it was my turn for my first walk. I had three outfits I’d be modeling. What’s worse, I hadn’t eaten, so it was mostly the dry heaves. I missed my first two walks but finally made it for the third on shaky legs.”
“Wow, what did the designer say?”
“Jacques laughed about it and took me under his wing. We’re great friends now.”
He cocked his head. “Do you keep in contact with him?”
“I haven’t, but we promised to.”
Brad nodded. “Then you should if he’s so important to you. Don’t let too long go by.” He winked, changing the subject. “Okay, let’s show our hands at the same time since this may be the game ender.”
She nodded.
“One, two, three.”
They both laid down their hands, face up, and Brad cursed. Her flush beat his straight.
“How the hell did you pull that again? Were you cheating?” he accused.
“How could I be cheating when you dealt?”
He stood and took off his underwear, his excitement in full swing. “Go to your room. I’ll be there in a minute,” he dictated as he stood.
A shudder raced through her at his voice. It wasn’t how she’d expected the conversation to go after the game, but he was coming to her room. Her heartbeat pounded and her pulse rate accelerated, and he hadn’t even touched her. Heat began to infuse her body. Without questioning him, she bounded up from her chair, leaving their drinks and cards behind, and went into the room where she’d been staying. With her thoughts tangled around her feelings for Brad, she paced. Should she finish undressing and wait for him under the covers or would he undress her? Both ideas sent a shiver of delight riding her, and she hoped he’d hurry.
Since he didn’t show right away, nervousness ate at her. Deciding to give herself the best chance of him actually coming to her bed, she quickly stripped off her jeans and undergarments, tossing her clothing in a pile, and then climbed under the covers. If they were naked, the quicker they could have sex.
As she settled, Brad knocked softly then walked into the room—naked—holding a box of condoms and a red scarf. Delicious thoughts tingled through her. He’d surprised her the first time when he’d tied her wrists, so she should’ve expected he’d do it again. A man was serious about it if he took his scarf on a trip to Vegas—Sin City. And it had been an experience she’d not forgotten and somewhat craved. Thankfully he wasn’t all BDSM—or so he said. She wasn’t ready for that lifestyle in the bedroom—even if it was Brad. He had explained that he liked to be in control and tying a woman’s hands helped him achieve that feeling. Since he’d loved her body like crazy, she wasn’t arguing, but she did miss rubbing her hands all over him during sex.
Seductively, she lowered the covers to below her chest, exposing her bare breasts to him. Brad’s eyes didn’t leave the mounds for a couple of minutes—at least it seemed that long.
He looked away from her only long enough to deposit the box on the side table. Then, he pulled back the covers, baring her entire body, and whistled. “Even better than I remember.”
The man just did not have a way with words, but she knew he didn’t mean it as a backhanded comment on her beauty before. It was a compliment for both before and now.
Her breath caught when he ran a finger outlining a circle around her breast. “Heavenly.” Her nipple puckered at the thought of what he might do to her.
When he leaned down, she thought he was going to kiss a nipple, but was pleasantly surprised when his lips stopped just short of hers. “Are you sure?” he asked quietly.
Her heart melted. He was such a different man in the bedroom, and she wished… and hoped that this man would appear more often “Yes,” she breathed, craving his kiss and his touch.
And then, ever so softly, his lips touched hers, and something near an electrical shock reverberated around inside her and settled down low in her belly. As his lips moved over hers, it didn’t take long before he became more aggressive, more dominant, taking control of the kiss with a fervor of desire and fire.
There was no denying that the man knew how to kiss.
His tongue slipped between the slight parting of her lips, and she sighed in pleasure. As their tongues met, he reached for her hand and pulled it above her head. He broke the kiss long enough to say, “Keep it there.” Then his lips were devouring hers, exciting her body and tossing kindling on the fire burning within.
He tasted of beer, apple pie, and all male if that were a taste. Still, it’s what she imagined when their tongues intertwined in a loving dance.
While he kissed her, he pulled her other arm above her head and held both wrists in one large hand. A delightful shiver ran through her knowing what he planned to do next. She never thought she’d enjoy this, but the want and need for him were too strong.
Breaking the kiss, he lifted his head and smiled before leaning over her and binding her wrists together then tying them to the headboard. Not too tight. Nothing that would leave marks or cause her pain. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded against the pillow. “I’m fine.”
Brad’s face morphed, and he looked like the kid about to grab a cookie from the cookie jar on the sly. Eager would be an easy word for his expression.
Climbing on the bed, Brad hovered over Madison, propped on his forearms. “I’ve wanted to be back here for a long time.”
So had she if she were honest. It’d been nearly a year and a half. Okay, less than that, but not by much. Still, she remembered their night together like it was yesterday. Apparently, so had he.
Without giving her a chance to respond, Brad took her mouth in a heated kiss that curled her toes. This time, his tongue was all about domination and control. He didn’t want her to forget he had it. He just didn’t realize she eagerly allowed him to have that control. When something clicked in the bedroom and washed away the memory of every other sexual encounter she’d had in her life, she couldn’t deny that she craved it. Him.
When he broke the kiss, she moaned, but her pulse rate jumped as he kissed his way down her neck toward her breasts. She’d always had super sensitive breasts, and having Brad love them nearly drove her insane
.
Anticipation rode her, and she wished she could reach down and push his head close instead of him staring at a breast and breathing heavily on it. He shifted his weight to one side, and his hand captured her breast, massaging it.
Looking up at her, he gave her a lopsided sexy grin. “You like this, don’t you?”
Madison whimpered for his mouth on her breast. His touch—while grand—wasn’t enough. “I don’t like you teasing me,” she responded with a slow smile of her own.
He chuckled. “Princess, teasing is my middle name.”
With that quip, he lowered his head and swiped his tongue across her taut nipple.
Madison instinctively arched her back to be closer to his mouth. “What’s your real middle name?”
Another chuckle, and then he took her nipple into his mouth, sucked on it and then tugged it between his teeth while his hand squeezed her breast tightly.
Instant ecstasy.
“Lee. Bradley Lee,” he breathed against her breast. Then, as if she hadn’t had enough, he went to her other breast and gave it the same attention, and, once again, she almost jumped out of her skin in excited pleasure. She pulled against her bonds before remembering they were there. Relaxing her arms, she settled into allowing him to love her body without her interference.
“One day, I’ll make you come by loving on your breasts alone,” he stated.
Her body quivered at the thought. Anticipation flooded her veins. She liked that he planned to be with her again. She wasn’t really sure when she’d let her guard down—maybe it was when he’d cared for her after the accident or maybe it was watching him all lost while looking at that brochure—but one thing was for certain, she was the one lost now. She wanted all of him. Wanted him to be the man she knew he could be and not the grump she’d seen, although he wasn’t always that way with her.
“I need you, Brad,” she heard herself saying. “Please.”
Stroking his hand down her belly, he slid it between her thighs. When he reached her burning core, he exclaimed, “Damn, princess.”
“Please, no more waiting,” she begged, needing him filling her.
With a lick of his fingers, he said, “Okay, this time. But before the night is through, my head will be between your thighs.”
Another soft whimper escaped her at the promise of such exquisite pleasure.
Leaning across her, he reached for a condom, tore open the package with his teeth and rolled it onto his magnificent length.
Her hands ached to touch him, to feel him in her hands sliding up and down, but she’d have to wait for that, too.
Brad positioned himself at her entrance and leaned back over her full body. With one swift thrust, he nearly filled her. With a groan, he slid back out and pushed back in until he was fully seated and she was ready to explode in orgasm.
“Good God, you feel so good. I’m not sure how long I can hold on,” Brad admitted.
“I’m the same,” she said through an erratic breath. With her heart beating fast, she moved her hips to savor the feel of him inside her.
“Christ,” he exclaimed, and started moving, stroking in and out of her in a steady rhythm, the friction rubbing her just right.
What began as slow, loving strokes became frantic and needy. For someone who needed control, Brad was rapidly losing it. And, she didn’t care.
Madison would die a happy woman with Brad inside her.
Reaching down, his thumb brushed across her nub and rubbed it, teasing her, taunting her with what she knew was to come. He suckled on her breast. Then she was rapidly climbing that cliff, nearly ready to jump off into erotic satisfaction. “I’m going to come, Brad.”
He lifted his mouth and looked at her through hooded eyes. “Go, princess.”
Stars burst in front of her eyes, and she was falling into the abyss of ecstasy. She cried out as every limb felt weighted then free to float. The ripple of pleasure came in waves, and she refused to fight it. For what seemed an interminable amount of time, she came back to herself, sated in bliss and feeling Brad throb inside her as he came with a loud groan before he then collapsed on top of her.
Another drawback of having her hands tied was that she couldn’t run her fingers through his hair or up and down his back at a moment like this.
With a groan, Brad lifted his head and smiled before sliding out of her and leaving her empty. He leveraged himself off the bed and quickly untied her hands before going to the bathroom and disposing of the condom.
Although they didn’t hurt, Madison rubbed her now free wrists and wondered if he’d ever let her touch him during lovemaking.
Walking back into the room with a hand towel, Brad smiled. “This is the point of the evening where I say something stupid, and you walk out on me.”
Madison went instantly on alert. Was he trying to ruin a good time? Hell, she wasn’t asking for anything beyond sex—at least not out loud—and she hadn’t even asked for more than tonight. She swallowed at the lump in her throat. “What do you want to say this time?”
He reached down and gently cleansed her. Why did the man have to be so contradictory? “Only, thank you.” He tossed the towel toward the bathroom door and told her to scoot over. When she did, he climbed into the bed and pulled her close. “Besides,” he said, “I’ve still got plenty of time to put my foot in my mouth tonight.”
Although he chuckled, she didn’t find it very funny. He must’ve realized that when she stiffened in his arms.
“I’m just joking.” He sighed wearily. “I’m sorry if I sometimes come across wrong. I don’t always end up saying what I mean. I would never say anything purposefully to hurt you.”
She didn’t know him well enough to know if that were true, and her biggest remembrance was the bucket list comment. Not a shining moment for him. She really had to stop holding that against him. It had just hurt, whether he’d meant it or not. Like other men, he’d taken Madison the model to bed before. She thought this time might be different, but history had given her a slanted probability. She wanted to rely on him, but could she?
WATCHING MADISON IN her tight jeans and white blouse eating breakfast at his table, Brad’s gut clenched in an unyielding knot. For the first time, he wasn’t sure how to act after sleeping with a woman. In the past, it’d always been casual where he might or might not see the woman again, depending on the sex and how she reacted. Clingy he didn’t do. Madison acted calm, like he’d want her to react if he’d just picked her up or had that type of easy relationship with her, but deep down he didn’t want her to act like it’d meant nothing.
Because it’d meant a hell of a lot to him, and even though he’d resolved Madison would be his, he’d never expected the power that came between them in bed, and that scared the fuck out of him. No woman had twisted his insides like she had.
Although he was a bit offset, he had a nervous excitement about him with the thought of exploring all that was Madison and all that could be between them. Becoming a couple. Just doing the little things like holding her hand in public as they walked down the street appealed to him, and he didn’t feel like a pansy for it. Doing anything—and everything—with Madison appealed to him.
Putting her fork down on the now empty plate, which had held bacon and eggs, Madison sighed and drew his attention back to her in person, not in thought. “That was good. I’d forgotten how tasty food can be. I’m going to be as huge as a house if I don’t watch myself.”
He set down the coffee cup and winked at her. “Never. You’re beautiful.”
Their eyes met and burned from the heat searing between them. He could so easily pick her up and carry her back off to bed, but he wanted more than the bedroom between them. So, he held back his urge to reach out to her. “What’s your plan for today?”
“Remember? I’m meeting with the contractor at the club, but not until later this morning.”
“Do you want to just hang out until then?”
She shrugged. “That’s fine.” She paused nerv
ously. “I’m wondering….”
“Yeah,” he asked, not sure he wanted to hear what she’d been wondering. Her mind was a dangerous thing. At least to his psyche.
“It’s about the hypnosis. I guess I don’t understand why you aren’t jumping on it. Don’t you want your memory restored?”
Ah, hell. He’d rather have his eyelids cut off than deal with this. “It’s complicated.”
“Then, uncomplicate it for me.”
Wearily, he replied, “Let’s just say that I might not like what I find.” That was an understatement if what he’d been told really happened had been true.
She worried her bottom lip for a moment, as if deep in thought, before she spoke again. “But you have an idea already, don’t you?”
Brad shifted in his high-back chair, which had always been so comfortable before, but now felt like he sat on hot coals. “Yeah.”
Madison reached across the table and covered his hand with hers, and heat shot straight through his body to somewhere down south. Damn the effect she had on him. “Tell me. I won’t judge.”
Fuck. People said that all the time, but they did judge, at least in their minds. But if he wanted any chance at that relationship with her, he should be honest about the situation. That was easier said than done. He couldn’t stand her censure on the matter.
“Talk to me, Brad,” she requested softly.
A heavy burden weighed on him, and he wanted it lifted. He knew that wouldn’t happen until he cleared his name—if that were possible. But maybe, sharing it with her—with Madison—would help ease it. That was if she didn’t judge him as she’d promised. Fuck. He’d never even told all of his brothers the truth. Only his twin. How was it he wanted to—yes wanted to—share his embarrassment and disgrace with her?
It had been his long-held secret. One he probably should’ve done something about before now, but that feeling that he might’ve been wrong always sat in the way. He wasn’t sure if he could hate himself more if that turned out to be the truth, and he hadn’t wanted to find out. But he’d changed his mind and needed to find out the truth, no matter what it was. Could he share it with her and expect her to stand by him? Everything was so new and uncertain between them; he didn’t want to scare her off before giving them a chance. She already meant so much to him. She always had, and it wasn’t because of who she was in the public eye; it was because of who she was in private. Strong. Loving. A woman worth risking everything for.