Three Days

by Ariadne Wayne

  “Stop that. You have to wait until later.”

  “Oh, I expect to get a lot later. Madeleine.” Our faces were inches away from each other, and I grinned at that look on her face. If I were reading it correctly, she’d be hot and ready to go when we got back to my place.

  “You know, it’s kind of hot when you call me that,” she whispered, placing her hand over mine, and pushing it between her legs.

  “You look like a Madeleine tonight. And like you want to be really naughty.” My fingers pressed her skirt right up and I swear her eyes rolled back in her head.

  “Oh crap. You are such an arse.”

  “Why is that, Madeleine?”

  I jumped as my mother coughed, and I looked over at her smirking at me. “I guess it’s getting late,” she said.

  Maddy yawned, pulling her hand away from me to pat her mouth. “It is. I’m not used to being up at this time of night.”

  I lost it, bursting out laughing to Maddy’s horror. Mum and Dad were both laughing and Maddy frowned, pinching my arm.

  “Sorry.” I grabbed her hand, tracing lines on the back of it with my thumb.

  “Maddy, you don’t need to worry about impressing us. Andrew hasn’t told us a lot, but he wouldn’t be spending time with you if you weren’t special. I do know that much,” Mum said.

  Maddy blushed, her shoulders relaxing as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from them.

  “Your mum seems like a good person,” Dad said, as if to back up Mum’s words. “Takes someone special to run a house like she does.”

  “Thank you,” Maddy said, “she works really hard.”

  “I’m sure she does. Sounds like you do too, from what Andrew has told us.” He smiled at her with that warm fatherly smile of his.

  She looked down at the table and shrugged. “I just work in retail, it’s nothing too exciting.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s not easy either. Andrew says you have an ear for music. I used to play in a band before we had Andrew.”

  The sound of my fork hitting the china plate echoed through the restaurant. “Seriously?” I stared at my father. Who was this man?

  “Your father used to play guitar. When I fell pregnant with you, he decided that he needed to find a job and take life a bit more seriously. I understood, but it was such a shame. He decided it was better not to have musical instruments in the house in case they were too much of a temptation. He didn’t want any distractions from our new life.” My mother gazed at my father with such adoration, my stomach flipped. I’d always loved the way they looked at each other.It was the kind of look I wanted from someone I loved for the rest of my life.

  “I can’t imagine ever giving it up totally,” Maddy said. Her eyes were full of sorrow, as if this were just something she couldn’t comprehend. Neither could I; I’d never heard any of this before. “I’ve got a guitar at home if you want to play.”

  Dad grinned. “It’s been years. I’ve probably forgotten how. Do you play too?”

  Only the sun would have been brighter than Maddy’s smile at that point. “I do. But I’m more violin. I always wanted to join an orchestra.”

  My temple pulsed, as if it were about to explode with all this new knowledge. Maddy had told me she played some instruments; I never knew she wanted a career in music. With what I’d just found out about my father, this was some crazy night.

  “Come back to our place, and we’ll jam.” Now she’d found something in common with Dad, her confidence had grown.

  Dad looked at Mum, who nodded. “Sounds great. I’ll just pay the bill and we’ll get out of here.”

  Maddy stared at him. “You’re paying the bill?”

  Dad looked at me, and then back at her, brow furrowed in confusion. “Yes, that was the plan.”

  Maddy sighed, patting my father on the hand. “I would have ordered the more expensive dishes if I’d known that.” She couldn’t keep the look up, and her face melted back into that beautiful smile while Dad roared with laughter.

  “I like this girl, Andrew,” he said, grinning at me.

  I squeezed Maddy’s hand. “I like her too,” I said.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  I liked her a lot more later on, with her ankles over my shoulders. She’d played her violin while Dad played guitar for the first half hour, and then sang along with him for the rest of the time they spent. While I’d heard the beautiful music she could make with her violin, I’d never heard her sing before¸ each note making me want her more and more. Her voice was soft and seductive.

  As much as I loved seeing my parents again, and the bond they’d created with Maddy in one evening, I couldn’t wait for them to leave so I could be alone with my girl.

  As soon as we waved them goodbye, I chased her up the stairs and back to my room.

  No sooner had we gotten inside, I pressed her up against the door, sealing her mouth with mine, pulling her skirt up until I could slip my hand under it. A moan escaped her lips as I stroked her, pressed my fingers into her, my thumb grazing her clit. As her knees buckled, I caught her, scooping her up and into my arms, and carrying her to the bed.

  She gazed up at me, her eyes full of emotion with just a touch of uncertainty. While we’d spent a lot of time in bed together, it had never been like this. We’d never had an evening like this, where she just seemed to fit into place, just like part of my family.

  As it was, she’d swept me away, and I’d thrown all caution to the wind as we wrapped ourselves in each other night after night. Now, it was as if the final piece fell into place, and my heart soared as we just looked at each other, searching each other’s souls for something deeper.

  “Maddy,” I whispered. I put my hand to her face, running my thumb across her lip. She closed her eyes, her breathing becoming ragged at a simple touch.

  I had to taste her lips, and I claimed her mouth in one swift movement, feeling her kiss just as urgent as mine.

  Each button on her blouse came undone in my fingers as I worked my way down, pulling it back to expose her smooth, alabaster skin. Now I had to taste that skin, and I leaned over, brushing my lips against her stomach as I reached up to stroke her breasts through the bra I’d been surprised she wore.

  Never had I wanted her more, and I’d be damned if I’d ever make a mistake with her again.

  The guttural sound she made as I pulled her skirt down, spreading her legs and possessing her with my tongue made me harder than I ever thought possible.

  She was mine.

  ~

  I closed my eyes, pulling her close. Her fingers stroked my chest with that gentle touch I’d come to adore, and I knew more than ever that this was it. In this crazy world of mine, I’d managed to find someone to care for, maybe even to love.

  “Something’s different,” she whispered. I kissed her tenderly, sharing a smile, our eyes locking.

  “You were amazing tonight. I loved listening to you, I loved how you got on so well with my father.”

  Maddy cocked an eyebrow. “I’m amazing every night. It’s just taken you a while to notice.” The grin that spread across her lips lit up her face.

  “I noticed.” I brushed her lips with mine, wanting the contact. “I thought I knew everything about you, but there appears to be so much more that I had no idea about.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Nothing that you needed to know about.”

  “You don’t think I want to know your hopes and dreams? Maddy, listening to you tonight was indescribable. The sound you make with your violin …”

  Her nails scraped against my skin. I gasped when she planted her lips on my neck, sucking gently, and I lost myself all over again, distracting me from any thought I had as the blood rushed to other parts of my body. All for her—only for her.

  ~

  It was the same dream, the one I’d dreamed a million times, or so it seemed. Over and over it played in my head, as if trying to seek some alternative ending, some different resolution.

  But it was always
the same.

  “She loved helping me. I’m sure she understood.”

  “But did you explain to her?”

  Charlie shook her head, the tears rolling down her cheeks as what she had done sunk in. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I love her.”

  “I do too. You two are the most important people to me in the world. Do you think I wouldn’t act in Rowan’s best interests?”

  Out of nowhere, she pushed at me hard, and I staggered backwards.

  “I think sometimes you’re selfish, and you only think of your best interests. Leave Rowan alone.”

  I rolled my eyes, exasperated at the whole conversation. I’d already warned Kyle away from Rowan, not that he would pay any attention to me.

  “Screw you. You don’t care what I have to say.” She was out the door before I could stop her.

  The bright summer light hit me as I ran out the door after her. She never ran, terrified of not being able to catch her breath, scared of the asthma attacks she’d suffered in her youth. Now, she took off and I struggled for a moment to keep up with her. Me, who went to the gym three times a week and kept fit.

  “Charlie,” I called. We were already a distance from the house and I was worried that she’d push herself too far. She stumbled, falling to her knees as I caught up with her, and to my horror, she wheezed as she pulled on my leg.

  “You need to calm down,” I whispered.

  “I … can’t … catch …” She didn’t finish her sentence, gasping for breath as I bent down to pick her up. I needed to get her back to the cabin, back to her medication.

  All her things flew everywhere as she sat, watching. I emptied her suitcase on the bed, praying to find her inhaler, the phone in my hand as I called emergency services.

  Trying to calm her, while screaming for an ambulance, her face reddening with the effort needed just to find that elusive breath.

  No sign of the inhaler, and I threw the phone on the bed, hitting the speaker button so we still had contact with the outside world, cradling my beloved Charlie as her quest for breath failed. I wouldn’t let her speak; she couldn’t give up more of the precious oxygen that kept her alive.

  Her big blue eyes were filled with sorrow, and we shared more love in that moment than a lifetime.

  I woke to big brown eyes looking at me, Maddy’s soft lips kissing away the tears on my cheeks, her soft voice telling me I’d been crying out for Charlie.

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I’d practically told her I was falling in love with her and now I was crying for my dead wife.

  Good one, Andrew.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for. I can be strong for you just as you are strong for me. I know when I’m with you that I’m safe, which is more than I can say about anyone else I’ve ever been with.” She smiled just a little, enough to give me the reassurance that I hadn’t upset her.

  I reached up to touch her hair, like golden silk beneath my fingers. My heart beat hard, and I pulled her down roughly to kiss the lips that had given me that security.

  This was me, falling apart and coming back together all in the space of a moment. It was as if I’d been frozen, numb to all that went on around me, and now I felt everything.

  And it was all because of her.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  At the end of the month, I went to see Steve. Steve had been my counsellor right through my prison time and had heard all about Charlie and Rowan. I didn’t have to keep up the sessions, but they’d helped so much, I wanted to go. Steve was a good guy who had helped me find myself again through the mess that had become my life.

  This was the first time I’d been to his office; every other meeting had been in the prison, and I found myself outside an old building, reminiscent of Carly’s boarding house—one of those old Victorian style houses, which was in need of a repaint, moss growing on the eaves of the house.

  He grinned when he answered the door, clearly happy to see me on the other side of the fence. We’d had so many chats over the last three years—he knew my state of mind better than anyone. I considered him a friend.

  We sat in the sunshine on the back deck. There was a small garden, full of fragrant flowers. Every flower reminded me of Charlie, the forbidden, as far as she was concerned.

  “Tell me about Maddy,” Steve said, sitting back in his chair.

  “It’s all been really sudden, but we’re having fun together. She’s so vibrant, and beautiful, and sweet. We’re good for each other, I think.”

  He smiled. “Do you think moving so quickly is good?”

  “To be honest, I have no idea, but it feels right at the moment. We’re both happy with whatever it is, and my parents loved her when they came for a visit. I’ve told her everything—she knows what happened, what I did, and how much I regret it.”

  He was franticly scribbling, and I made a mental note to one day ask for all my records to see what he really thought.

  “It felt more like friends with benefits than a boyfriend-girlfriend kind of thing at first, and then grew. If anything, I’m scared of breaking her heart.” That was my biggest fear, having let Maddy in so quickly.

  Now he looked up at me, his steely grey eyes taking in my expression. If I lay it on the line to anyone, it needed to be him. “Why do you think that?”

  “She’s had her problems too. Her father was an alcoholic who smacked her mother around, and hit Maddy. Sometimes I wonder if two damaged people are really going to make anything work.”

  He leaned forward, taking a sip out of his water glass on the table. Now I had him thinking. I’d seen a lot more of this in the early days, where as we’d been chatting more like friends.

  “Do you want to make it work?”

  I paused, looking at him for the moment as I pondered the question. I’d been so carried away with my developing feelings for Maddy, I hadn’t thought about the long-term. My reply had been flippant, without the thought behind it that needed to be there.

  “I do. We just seem to fit. She gets that I’m still struggling with Charlie’s death, and she has her own nightmares. She came on strong in the beginning, but underneath all that bravado is a sensitive, sweet girl who just needs her emotional needs met. We’re different, but the same.”

  He nodded. “I’m glad you’re happy. But, as always, if there’s anything you need to talk about, I’m here. Feel free to bring her along too some day. I’d love to meet the girl that’s put that smile on your face.”

  I laughed. “That obvious, huh?”

  “The second I mentioned her name, you brightened up. I think it’s good for you to find someone to share your feelings with that isn’t me.”

  That made me laugh harder. I’d been feeling the same way. Plus, the sex was amazing. Not that he needed to know that.

  ~

  “So, did you talk about me?”

  Maddy sat across the other side of the table, waving her fork in the air, her eyebrows raised in anticipation..

  “We did as a matter of fact. I told Steve I’d met this crazy girl who won’t leave me alone.”

  She grinned, poking her tongue at me.

  “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I finished, lifting my foot and rubbing it against her bare leg.

  She giggled, going back to her dinner. I loved the the routine we’d settled into, sharing meals and our evenings together.

  It had been a long time since I’d been this happy. More than anything, I wanted it to last.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  I pulled in to park just outside the house when my mobile rang. The number wasn’t familiar at all, and I closed my eyes for just a second, crossing my fingers that it was about a job.

  “Andrew Carmichael?” a man’s voice said.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s Damon Spears. We had an interview a couple of weeks ago?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  Holy shit, it’s Kim’s boss.

  “I need to talk to you about the job you interviewed for …” />
  I bounced in the door, grabbing Maddy as I went past and landing on the couch with her on my lap.

  “What on earth has gotten into you?” she asked, laughing.

  “You,” I said, raising her tank top, pulling it over her head and cupping her lace-covered breasts in my hands. She hadn’t been home long enough to remove the bra she wore to work. I pulled her to me, planting kisses in the cleft of her cleavage, running my hands up her back.

  She giggled, and I unclipped her bra. Her breasts spilled out, and I ran my tongue over one nipple. She shivered, her hips thrusting towards me.

  “Seriously. What has gotten into you?” She pulled my head out from just under her breasts where I was nipping at her skin, revelling in the smell and taste of it.

  “I got a job.” I waggled my eyebrows at her, grinning at her obvious delight as she squealed.

  “That’s awesome. Congratulations, babe,” she said, kissing me tenderly.

  “Three-month trial, then a salary increase to a decent amount. I can find a nice place to live, really get on with rebuilding my life.”

  A shadow crossed her face as she looked away, sliding off my lap.

  “What is it?” I grabbed her arm before she ran, pulling her back to me, studying her face to see what was going on.

  “You’re going to move out?” She could barely look at me, raising her eyes, but hiding behind her lashes.

  “I didn’t plan on staying here forever. It’s awesome that your mother offered me this place—I appreciate it more than I can say, but I need my independence. I want more.”

  My grasp weakened, and she tried to pull away again. I stood, grabbing her in my arms and pulling her in tight to my chest.

  “What’s this about, Maddy?”

  “Are you going to leave me behind?”

  Her breathing was rapid, and I rubbed her back.

  “Did I say that?”