by Maggie Way
“Darren, please,” she begged.
He raised his head and even though it was dark, she could see his smile. “Please what?”
He liked the words. She knew that from the flirtatious exchanges they’d shared. Maddie had never been with anyone so vocal, but she liked it. There shouldn’t be any guessing when it came to intimacy. “Make love to me,” she said.
His smile grew. “I knew you’d be bossy in bed.”
She laughed. “We’re not in bed.”
“Close enough.” He smoothed his hand across her breast and down her belly, caressing over her jeans. Anticipation was good, but damn if she wasn’t ready to implode.
His hand moved back up and opened her jeans with the same dexterity he’d shown with her bra. He pushed the denim and cotton panties over one hip and she lifted to help him tug her clothes over the other hip. He pushed as far as he could reach while holding her gaze, and Maddie took over, kicking them off.
Moving up and down her thigh, he teased, firing up all those nerve endings again. She thought she might die if he didn’t touch her.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered.
“Touch me,” she whispered back.
And he did, his hand moving between her legs as his mouth found her nipple again. Now it was Maddie’s turn to feel like the teenager ready to lose control, because it had seemed like it had been that long since a man had touched her like this.
Maybe it had.
She managed to push his jeans and boxer briefs over his hips and once again wrapped her hand around his velvet skin. He was thick and long and she was desperate to feel him inside her, but she was so close to orgasm already, she didn’t want to interrupt his mission with more suggestions or demands.
“Yes,” she whispered instead, her hips moving in time with his hand and his tongue.
If she hadn’t been aware of being under a moonless sky, she might have thought he’d caused her to see stars, and when he pushed a finger and then two inside her, she just might have seen the kind every woman dreams about.
“Yes,” she cried this time, her release rocketing through her body and shooting out of every extremity. She pushed against his hand, demanding more as wave after wave echoed through her.
He continued to rub between her legs as the aftershocks subsided. “I wish I could see you,” he said, nibbling her ear.
You can see me after I’ve lost the last seven pounds, she thought. Seven seemed like a lucky number tonight, she was fine hiding inside the sleeping bag under a dark sky.
Ready for more of him, she stretched to reach her purse at the edge of the blanket. She needed two hands to get the pocket open since every muscle in her body had turned to putty. She grabbed one of the special little wrappers and pushed the purse away.
Meanwhile, Darren shimmied out of his clothes and they were both now naked. Based on the body heat swirling inside the sleeping bag, they were both ready, too.
She rolled the condom over him, loving the way he held his breath and released it with a groan.
“I had plans, you know, fantasies about taking you to the edge over and over again, about exploring every inch of your skin. I want you so badly, I’m going to be lucky if I last eight seconds.”
“I have more condoms and all the time in the world,” she said. “Slow or fast, I’m game. I just want to feel you.”
He kissed her, softly, reverently, his body moving between her legs. She guided him to the center of her and he stopped kissing her as he pushed in. The orgasm he’d given with his hand was mind-blowing, but nothing compared to this … how he stretched and filled her, the weight of him on top of her, his skin so hot on hers.
She lifted her hips to take him all the way and he groaned, making her feel so much pleasure and power.
“I don’t think slow is in the cards,” he said, withdrawing nearly all the way and thrusting back in. “You feel too damn good.”
She moved her hands over his ass as he withdrew again, pulling him back into her as she lifted her hips. “Take me however you want me,” she said, wanting him fast and hard.
When his mouth found her nipple again, she threw her head back and just let herself feel. As he moved to her other breast, his tongue firm, his mouth warm, the scrape of his stubble an erotic contrast, the sensations shot straight to where they were joined. She’d had multiple orgasms in the past, but not this quickly and as the pleasure honed in on the one area, her hips moved faster, desperate for Darren to take her there again.
“Darren,” she whispered, loving how his name was a soft caress across her lips.
He lifted his head and looked at her. It was still so dark, but her eyes had adjusted enough to see the desire on his face. “I know, Maddie,” he breathed. “Just hang on. I want us to come together.”
She wanted that too, to feel his pleasure mixed with hers. She’d known they had chemistry and in her own fantasies, she’d known they’d be good together, but she had never imagined it being this perfect.
As her hands gripped his back, his strong muscles flexed beneath her fingers. “Maddie,” he growled. “Now, come with me now.”
Those words were so erotic and the way they moved together was so hot, she couldn’t have stopped her release. She cried out his name as he grunted hers, falling into wonderland together.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m not sure why we are going over the financials, I haven’t even done the mock therapy session with him,” Maddie said. Nope, she’d been too busy dating him and getting naked with him to even think about therapy.
“The agent told me someone else wants to put an offer on the property. We need to get moving.”
Maddie had been stalling with Darren. Things were moving fast in their personal relationship and she wasn’t sure she wanted to complicate that with a business partnership.
Plus, there was still the issue of Chocolate.
Being the responsible adult and business woman, she was delaying the purchase of the horse to ensure she didn’t need the money for the center, because as much as she wanted Chocolate, she wanted her business with Clarissa more.
It was funny how Darren was there to help with the latter but was her opposition in the former.
Except they hadn’t talked about Chocolate since the day they’d gone riding with her.
“You need to make a decision about Darren. Here are the numbers. Column A is what we have to contribute if we go it alone. Column B is if we bring someone in as a partner. Right now, that’s Darren.”
Maddie didn’t look at the numbers. She didn’t even try to resist the urge to kiss and tell. She was bursting at the seams to share the news that her self-imposed celibacy came to a dramatic close with multiple orgasms. “We did it.”
Clarissa looked up from her papers, surprise morphing into a smile. “It?”
“You know what it is,” Maddie said.
“You can say nipple in public, but you resort to it for the big bang? It was a big bang, right? I mean, you’ve been celibate so long it’d stink if your reincarnation was a let-down.
“It wasn’t a let-down,” Maddie said. Anything but.
“I don’t want details, but I’m going to need more than that because you don’t seem at all happy about it.”
“It was,” Maddie searched for the right word, “celestial.”
“Celestial?” Clarissa asked.
“He took me out to Frontier Ridge to watch the meteor shower and we ended up creating our own.”
“Oooh, romantic. Any regrets?” Clarissa asked.
Maddie shook her head. Thinking about Darren gave her perma-grin and even though she had thrown caution to the wind, she was questioning her feelings. She always fell hard and fast, but never this hard or this fast. Whether it was because she was coming out of a dating drought or something deeper, for the first time in her life, she was afraid of what her feelings meant.
“Well, I don’t want to steal your thunder, but I have a date.”
Maddie we
lcomed the distraction. “Really? With whom?”
Clarissa shrugged. “A guy I met at the feed store. He lives in Sunset Valley. We’re going out next week.”
Maddie high-fived Clarissa.
“So,” Clarissa tapped the papers, “Celestial event notwithstanding, we need to make a decision about Darren as a business partner. I vote yes.”
Maddie looked at the numbers on the spreadsheet, her heart sinking. Even with Darren as a partner, she wouldn’t be able to meet her contribution and buy Chocolate.
“I’m sorry, Mad. I know it still cuts into your Chocolate funds.”
Reminding herself there were more tragic things in the world, Maddie blinked back the tears. This eliminated her dilemma about Darren and Chocolate. If she couldn’t buy the horse, at least she knew she was going to someone who loved her. Maddie just hoped she was wrong about Darren’s sadness for his sister affecting the horse.
“Opening the center is my top priority. Darren will buy her and I’ll be able to visit. Maybe he’ll even let me ride her.”
“You could ask your parents for a loan,” Clarissa suggested.
“Chocolate is a frivolous purchase, completely selfish. I’ll suffer some growing pains, but this is for the best.”
“And Darren? What do you want to do about bringing him on as a partner?”
Maddie nodded. It was smart and Darren would be a good partner, her intuition told her that. “Let’s do it.”
Clarissa smiled. “Great. You let him know and I’ll call the agent. I can put down a good faith deposit to keep anyone else from putting in an offer.”
“My funds are accessible,” Maddie added. She’d kept them in a checking account she never touched, just in case she needed quick access to the money.
“Great. I’ll let you know if we need it. Are you okay?” Clarissa asked, giving Maddie’s hand a squeeze.
“I will be,” she said honestly. Maddie didn’t have a tendency to lie about her feelings and she’d been friends with Clarissa for so long, she would never buy a lie anyway.
“Call me if you need anything,” Clarissa insisted.
Maddie nodded. She was going to have a long, stupid cry, then she’d call Darren and share the good news.
As soon as Rissy left, the damn holding back the tears broke. Maddie dropped onto the couch and curled into the fetal position. She’d only been crying a few minutes when there were three loud bangs on her door. Clarissa usually walked right in, but she didn’t do well with tears, so probably hoped Maddie would get it under control before she stepped in.
“It’s open,” she called.
Wiping at the tears, horror replaced sadness when she found Darren standing in the doorway.
“Shit,” she muttered, taking more aggressive action to hide the evidence of her meltdown.
“Maddie? What’s wrong?” Darren closed the door and crossed the room in quick steps, dropping onto the couch next to her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
Darren held up a bouquet of wildflowers she didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Not a lot of flowers in early May, so I had to grab these from the supermarket.”
“They’re beautiful. Thank you. What’s the occasion?”
Darren shrugged before a goofy smile crossed his face. “I can’t stop thinking about last night. I’m not the type of guy to play it cool the next day. I was dying to see you.”
Maddie laughed because she wasn’t the type of woman to play it cool and she appreciated him not playing games. “I can’t stop thinking about last night either,” she said.
“And it brought you to tears? I can do better, I promise.”
She laughed harder, leaning into him as he put his arm around her. “I might spontaneously combust if you can do better than last night.”
“Sounds like a challenge. Maybe after you tell me why you’re crying I can get started on it.”
“It’s stupid,” she sighed.
“What happened to the woman who is a brutally honest open book?” he asked.
“Taking a break from reality,” Maddie responded, pushing off the couch and grabbing the flowers from Darren. “I was going to call you when the break was over.”
“I’m here now,” he said, following her into the kitchen.
“Clarissa and I decided to bring you on as a partner. She’s meeting with the agent to put down a good faith deposit.”
Darren didn’t smile with the good news. “If bringing me on as a partner brings you to tears, Maddie—”
She laughed at his assumption, shaking her head. “No, that’s not what I was crying about. I can’t buy Chocolate. She’s yours.”
“What? Why?”
“I need the money for the therapy center. Chocolate was a frivolous, selfish purchase. Plus, she’s yours. I just feel bad you have to buy her for a second time.”
Darren wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Maddie felt more than heard the beat of his heart against her ear, his calming strength soothing her. “I’ll call Cooper, let him know I’m withdrawing my offer.”
“You don’t have to do that right now. Come on, let’s head over to the stables, take a couple horses out for a trail ride.”
“I’m not in the mood,” she said, stepping away from him. “I do think we need to talk about the therapy center, set some ground rules and expectations.”
“Ground rules and expectations?” he asked, his voice thick with suspicion.
“We’re going to be working together. Our personal relationship could complicate that.”
“I don’t see it that way,” he responded.
“You’re probably suffering from post-orgasmic brain cramps. It’s a temporary condition, but there’s no telling how long it could impact your logical thought processes.”
Darren didn’t laugh. He didn’t even smile.
“Come on, that was funny,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.
“You’re trying to bring things between us to a grinding halt when we’re just getting started. I don’t think that’s funny.”
“Not a halt,” she admitted, because she wasn’t sure she had the self-control required to break things off. “But we need to face the reality, Darren. Things are great now, but what happens after all the papers are signed and the therapy center is thriving? Our personal relationship could have an impact on our clients. I’m not willing to compromise my professionalism.”
“Then don’t. We’re adults, Maddie. You’re a therapist, I’m sure you have a textbook full of reasonable solutions to any scenario. If not, we’ll figure it out.”
“We haven’t known each other long,” she argued.
“Now you’re using the calendar as an excuse? I bet next you’ll say we don’t know each other well.”
“We don’t,” she agreed.
“Long enough and well enough. I trust my instincts, I always have.”
Maddie had once trusted hers and was getting back to that. She couldn’t say why she was pushing Darren away. She didn’t want to, didn’t like what she was doing, but she couldn’t make herself stop.
Darren stopped her kitchen-fidgeting and held her still in front of him. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, her tongue darting in anticipation. He smiled and shook his head. “I’m not going to kiss you,” he said. “What’s going on between us, it isn’t just sexual. I want you, Maddie, all of you. Your laughter, your intelligence, your quick wit, even your tears. I know things are moving fast, but I don’t want to slow it down. I’m not scared.”
“I’m not scared either,” she lied. “I’m just trying to be smart.”
“You are scared. The woman standing in front of me is the same woman who ran from me in the barn that first time I asked you to dinner. The woman who kissed me on Main Street and wishes on shooting stars, that’s the real Maddie.”
Instead of being mad, Maddie resigned herself to the truth. Darren was right. Maddie’s dad had pointed it out, so had Clarissa. Now Darren, who she’d known for mere weeks
, was seeing her duplicity. “How do you do that?” she asked.
“Do what?”
“See the real me?”
“You’re easy to see, Maddie, even when you hide.”
Maybe he didn’t intend to kiss her, but Maddie wasn’t going to let the moment go. Lifting onto her toes, she held on to his waist and brushed a gentle kiss across his lips. “I’d love to go riding now,” she said. There was no point sitting around her apartment feeling sorry for herself.
Find a penny, pick it up, all day long, have good luck.
Maddie could use the luck, so she snatched the penny off the ground and headed back to her office where she’d left her cell phone.
Rubbing the penny between her thumb and index finger, when Maddie rounded the corner from the driveway to the sidewalk that passed in front of her office, she spotted a woman struggling to move down the porch steps.
There was no one on her schedule this afternoon, she’d checked before making the decision to go hang out with the horses. Since walk-ins weren’t common, she was curious who would be looking for her. Curious, and hopeful, because clients meant money and while Maddie wasn’t that shallow, she really needed some funds.
Maddie tossed the penny, catching it in her palm. She gripped it, kissing her closed hand for an extra touch of luck.
Starting up the walkway, Maddie realized how difficult it was for the woman to manage the steps. That’s when realization dawned. It was Skye Everhart, Noah’s best friend — the woman he loved.
“Skye?” Maddie asked as she approached.
Skye stumbled before she gripped the rail, catching herself for a moment before she dropped onto her butt. Maddie stopped and waited.
“Aren’t you going to ask if I need help or if I’m okay?” Skye asked.
Maddie chuckled. She had met Skye a few times and always admired her direct approach. “Would you be honest with me if I did ask?”
Skye glared at her in response.
“I’m glad you made it home,” Maddie said, sitting on the steps next to Skye.