Simon inched a finger inside her and then another. “You taste so fucking good. Come for me, Madison.”
Madison’s entire upper body bowed off the floor with the power of the orgasm that exploded from within. Her mouth opened on a silent cry that never came. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, so overwhelming was her release.
Long moments ticked by with Simon gently licking the insides of Madison’s thighs. It felt as if he attempted to sooth her in some way and, strange as that seemed, Madison found that she liked it.
His fangs penetrated her mere inches from the crease of her left leg. A moan vibrated from his chest that could be felt more than heard.
Madison stared up at the ceiling, marveling at everything that had happened between Simon and her; things that would have disgusted her only a week before. Or would it?
As much as Madison had always tried to convince herself that she despised Simon Le Blanc, deep down, she knew it to be a lie. She’d felt a certain attraction to the vampire, and that had scared her more than she cared to admit. And now, I’m a vampire.
His fangs retracted from her flesh. He sat up between her open knees and stared down into her face. “Don’t overthink things. It’ll only drive you crazy.”
Madison had the sudden urge to close her legs. “I’m already there.” She moved to get up, thankful that he didn’t try to stop her.
“There are worse things than being a vampire, Madison.” He got to his feet and took her by the hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
She tried to pull away, but he only held on tighter. “Just give me tonight to take care of you. You’ll have centuries to think up ways to destroy me, so do not fret.”
Madison’s stomach dropped. He’d said ‘centuries’ like it was an everyday occurrence, instead of hundreds of years.
The reality of her situation literally took her breath. She found it hard to think, let alone put one foot in front of the other.
Simon tugged her closer, dipped, and scooped her up into his arms.
He carried her into the bathroom where he turned on the water to the tub, waited for it to fill and then poured some bubbles into its steamy depths.
“This will make you feel better.” With Madison still in his arms, he stepped over the side of the tub and took a seat.
Madison allowed him to turn her around with her back to his chest. He pulled her against him until her head rested beneath his chin.
“Talk to me.” Plucking up a bar of soap from the side of the tub, Simon began to coast it down Madison’s arm, across her chest, and over her breasts.
Madison stared ahead in a kind of daze, unable to muster up the energy for conversation. Her life had been forever altered, and she wasn’t sure how to process it all. “I have nothing to say.”
“Sure you do. You’re Madison Wilson, the Mouth of the South. Speaking of, why the hell would your parents name you Madison, knowing full well it wouldn’t fit with Wilson?”
Her lips twitched. A tiny spark of humor surfaced for the first time since Svetlana’s unwelcomed arrival In Atlanta. “It really doesn’t go well with Wilson. I was teased about it continuously all through school.”
“I should say so. It’s positively horrid.”
The corner of her mouth lifted. She found herself relaxing somewhat; surprised to realize she kind of enjoyed Simon’s humor.
He dragged the soap along her ribs and down to her abdomen. Her stomach tightened as he slipped it ever lower.
“I’ll tell you something else that jerks my chain,” he continued, guiding the soap through her freshly loved center. “The way the kids nowadays wear their pants hanging off their asses. Back when I was coming up, if my pants slipped below the crack of my ass, it was because the rope tied around my waist had loosened.”
Madison grinned. “You didn’t have a belt?”
“No one did. Belts hadn’t been invented yet.”
It suddenly sank in just how old Simon truly was. He’d lived through centuries of change, watched everyone he’d ever cared about pass on while he continued to live and never age. “Does it ever get old?”
“The belts?”
A laugh bubbled up. “No, dummy, living forever.”
His roaming hand stilled for a moment before picking up where it left off. “I never wanted this for myself.”
Neither had she, Madison thought. “You said that you didn’t want to die, but is a fear of death the reason why you never walked out into the sun?”
“No,” he rumbled, resting his chin on top of her head. “Death doesn’t scare me. It’s what comes after that gives me pause.”
Madison considered his words. “You believe in hell?”
“Don’t you?” he shot back.
“I suppose so,” she managed to answer, her treacherous body once again coming alive with his ever-moving hand.
He dropped the soap, gently inserted two fingers inside her, and pressed his thumb against her swollen nub of flesh. “Do you like that, Madison?”
God, did she…
Chapter Twenty-Five
Simon had intended to take Madison’s mind off her tormented thoughts by using the one tool at his disposal he knew he was good at…humor.
Yet, the longer she remained against him, her soft, tempting body coming alive beneath his fingers, the more he became lost.
He wanted her again, plain and simple. What the hell was it about her that he couldn’t seem to get enough of? She was simply a female, just like every other female he’d bedded throughout his long life.
Simon mentally laughed, recognizing the lie before it settled in. There was nothing simple about Madison. She had to be the strongest willed woman he’d ever encountered. Not to mention intelligent, witty, and unequally beautiful, with whiskey-colored eyes that could pierce a man’s very soul.
He inserted his fingers deeper inside her, basking in the soft, sexy sounds she made in the back of her throat.
It surprised him that he wanted her again so soon. He’d taken her every way imaginable for the last couple of hours, brought her to completion over and over. “Are you sore?”
She shook her head, another moan slipping past her lips.
Simon gently eased his fingers from her sex, wrapped his hands around her waist, and turned her until she faced him. He wanted to look into her whiskey-colored eyes when he took her this time.
Madison shifted her hips, aligning his erection with her opening. She held his gaze, and oh-so-slowly, lowered herself onto him.
Nothing he’d ever experienced before came close to being inside Madison.
His hands came up to cup the sides of her face, and he closed his mouth over hers on her next downward stroke.
They simultaneously moaned, their tongues caressing, lips sucking, and their bodies moving as one.
Something happened to Simon in that moment, subtly at first. But it grew in strength the longer he stared into Madison’s eyes. No matter how feverish that kiss grew, neither of them could seem to look away. Damn me.
An impatient knock sounded on the bedroom door, jerking Simon out of his euphoric haze.
He broke off the kiss, tuning into the intruder out in the hall. There was no need to raise his voice or call out loudly, he could sense Ivy’s essence as if she stood in the bathroom with him. “What is it?”
“Sawyer has word of Svetlana,” came Ivy’s quiet response.
Madison dislodged from his body so quickly, a hiss snaked from Simon’s lips. “Well, that was a show stopper.”
But Madison barely spared him a glance. She sailed from the tub, snatched up a towel, and bolted back to her bedroom. She was dressed by the time Simon emerged.
Without meeting his gaze, she yanked the door open and nearly ran over Ivy in her haste to flee. “Where is Sawyer?”
“In the security hub.”
And just like that…she was gone.
It chapped Simon’s ass that Madison rushed to Sawyer’s side as if the devil himself were chasing her.
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Ivy’s eyes grew round in surprise before she quickly glanced away. “I…well, I’ll see you downstairs.”
Simon shook his head. He’d been so caught up in Madison, he hadn’t thought to grab a towel before barreling into the room.
He ran a hand through his damp hair and scanned the room for his clothes. He found his jeans lying half under the dresser.
After throwing on his clothes, Simon blasted from the room and blurred his way to the security hub.
Roman, Sawyer, Niko, Alex, and Madison looked up as Simon burst through the door.
Simon’s gaze immediately settled on Sawyer, dickhead that he was, to find him standing entirely too close to Madison. “You have news of Svetlana?”
“She’s in New Orleans.” Sawyer shifted his weight, propping his hip against the large, horseshoe shaped desk. “Been there for at least two days.”
Simon narrowed his eyes. “She has to know we’d be notified of her presence in NOLA. She’s not there by chance.”
The door opened and Vlad filed into the room. “Svetlana is more than aware of our knowledge of her whereabouts. In fact, I’d wager that she’s counting on it.”
All eyes swung in Vlad’s direction.
Simon spoke first. “Why is that?”
“The city of warlocks,” Sawyer answered for the Impaler.
Understanding dawned. Simon shifted his attention to Sawyer, recalling that had it not been for Roman, the wolf would have died years ago at the hands of a warlock. “Do you know which one is harboring her?”
“More than one,” Sawyer admitted in a deadly soft tone. “But Ahmon is my main concern. He’s one of the oldest and deadliest.”
Simon hated like hell to have to deal with the warlock, but Ahmon thought to get in his way. Simon would rip off the guy’s head and wear it for Mardi Gras.
Sawyer’s gaze bore into Simon’s. “I can see that you have no fear where the warlocks are concerned. But make no mistake, they are both sadistic and deadly. You would do well to remember that.”
“I’m fully aware,” Simon retorted. “But I’m also not about to cower here in Atlanta when Svetlana is still within reach. I’ll be leaving in half an hour. That should put me in New Orleans by three AM. That’ll give me plenty of time to find a secure place to sleep before the sun comes up.”
Madison stepped forward. “I’m coming with you.”
Simon shook his head. “Not this time. If Svetlana finds out that we’re mated…” The collective gasp that flew around the room wasn’t what stopped Simon’s words as much as the look on Madison’s face. It was as if what had happened in that bedroom had finally registered in her mind.
“Mated?” she mumbled in a trance-like state.
Roman cleared his throat. “Perhaps we can discuss this at a later time once we’ve all had a chance to process everything.”
Simon would give anything in that moment to take back the words he’d spoken aloud. He hadn’t meant to blurt it in such a way. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Madison cut him off.
“I’m going to grab a few things from my room. I’ll be ready inside of ten minutes.” And just like that…she brushed past Simon and left the security hub.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Madison hurried down the hall without looking back, afraid she’d find Simon there racing up behind her.
She couldn’t face him right then, not until she’d had a minute to digest his words. They were mated.
Opening her door, Madison entered her apartment, her gaze falling on the bare mattress of the bed. Her face heated up when she took in the disarray her surroundings were in.
The sheets and covers lay at the foot of the bed in a tangled mess. Her hair brush, along with several other knickknacks, were scattered around the floor near the dresser, and the cushions of her favorite chair were missing.
Madison closed the door and leaned her weight against it. If she were being completely honest with herself, she’d known somewhere in the midst of their passion that what she and Simon had done would bond her to him. She’d just been too far gone to think about it. Well, she was thinking about it now.
She pushed away from the door and made her way into the bathroom, only to come up short when Simon’s breathtakingly masculine scent engulfed her. Her nipples began to harden on cue.
“Bloody hell.” Blowing out a trembling breath, Madison stepped in front of the mirror. Her eyes had a reddish glow about them, matched only by the white fangs peeking out from her top lip. She had become the very thing she’d never wanted to be.
Madison acknowledged something else in that moment; she couldn’t simply walk out into the sun as Laya had over two thousand years ago. To do so would doom Simon as well. They were now mated.
Refusing to think on it too much, Madison washed her face, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and spun back toward her bedroom.
She jerked the duffle bag of weapons from underneath her bed, checked the ammunition and then rushed back to the security hub. “I’m ready.”
Madison could feel Simon’s gaze on her, but she refused to look at him; not with her emotions on the raw side.
She turned to Sawyer. “Who all is going with us?”
“I really think you should stay here,” Simon interjected, forcing Madison’s attention on him. “It’s too much of a risk.”
The feel of Simon’s body moving inside hers flashed through Madison’s mind. She pushed the thoughts aside, refusing to entertain the lustful memories. “I know you’re worried about me, and I appreciate the sentiment. But that rose water-smelling bitch fed from me against my will, tortured me and then took my life. I deserve my revenge.”
Something shifted in Simon’s pale blue gaze; an understanding of sorts, and something else that Madison couldn’t name.
He blew out a defeated breath. “Promise me one thing.”
Madison raised an eyebrow.
“Promise me you’ll stay by my side no matter what. Svetlana isn’t the only danger we’ll have to face.”
“I’m more than aware of how deadly the warlocks are,” Madison assured him.
Sawyer piped in, a faraway look in his eyes. “Death isn’t the worst that can happen to a being. There are things far more horrific.”
Madison knew that Sawyer spoke from experience. She opened her mouth to question him further when a dark-haired vampire, wearing a leather jacket stepped into the room.
“Are you ladies about ready to saddle up?” the stranger remarked right off the bat. “Roman secured us a place on Decatur Street. We need to get a move on if we want to make it there by four AM.”
Another vampire entered the room, his hair nearly as dark as the first. He sent Madison a warm smile and extended his hand. “Angelo Dimitrov, but my friends call me Angel. And the ugly guy in front of me is my mate’s cousin, Shon Wells.”
Madison accepted Angelo’s palm. “Madison Wilson.”
Shon flashed a grin in Madison’s direction. “Did you say Madison Wilson?”
A younger version of Simon, Madison thought, easily returning his smile. “I did. And no, my parents didn’t hate me.”
Simon stepped forward, irritation evident in his tone. “Enough pleasantries. We best get on the road.”
“Is the Impaler coming with us?” Sawyer pushed back his chair and rose.
Madison nearly swallowed her tongue. “Vlad is here?”
The Impaler himself suddenly entered the room. “In the flesh, as it were.”
Madison found herself staring up into the sky-blue eyes of one of the most beautiful yet commanding beings she’d ever beheld. She attempted to speak, but the words stuck in her throat.
“He tends to have that effect on women,” Shon quipped, clapping Vlad on the shoulder. “And even most men. Not me, mind you, but most.”
The corner of Vlad’s mouth lifted. He took hold of Madison’s hand, lifted it to his lips, and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “Do not believe everything young Shon tells you.”
Madison could practically feel the tension coming from Simon as Vlad released her hand. She cleared her throat and held the Impaler’s gaze. “Madison Wilson. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Likewise.” Vlad flicked a glance in Simon’s direction. “Are we ready to depart?”
Simon blurred his way to the door. “We are.”
“Is Roman coming with us?” Madison followed the rest of the crowd into the hall.
Vlad shook his head. “He will be staying behind with his mate and daughter. Niko and Alex will also stay in case Svetlana decides to return before we reach New Orleans.”
Madison hadn’t thought of that. “We’d better hurry.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
New Orleans
Simon checked the windows of the Decatur Street condo for the tenth time since arriving in the middle of the night. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Svetlana knew of their arrival long before they’d entered the city limits of New Orleans.
He could see Madison’s reflection in the glass of the window he stared out. Damn her for insisting on coming along and damn him for allowing it.
“She has a right to be here,” Vlad murmured, coming to stand next to Simon. “I would have done the same in her position.”
Simon continued to watch her in the glass, the way her hands moved when she spoke to Shon Wells. Though her speech sounded relaxed and friendly, her body language told a different story. She was poised for a fight.
Vlad grew quiet for a moment before stepping in closer. “Can you feel that?”
Simon merely nodded, knowing that Vlad would pick up on the gesture.
“The presence of the warlocks,” Vlad continued. “More than a dozen.”
Simon turned his head to study Vlad’s profile. “Madison’s not strong enough to withstand that kind of power.”
“She’s stronger than you realize.”
Was she? Simon directed his gaze back to Madison’s reflection in the glass. She looked so soft and feminine. Of course, that meant very little where the redhead was concerned. Simon had seen her in action on more than one occasion. She’d even unloaded an entire round of silver bullets into him without batting an eye. “I hope you’re right.”
Midnight Secrets: A Dark Vampire Romance (Secret Series Book 2) Page 9