Ridden (Scandalous Moves Book 3)

by Deborah Grace Staley

  When she turned to walk away, A.J. snagged her elbow. “Let me walk you to the inn.”

  “I remember the way,” she said and waved.

  Watching Maddie Greene walk away from him was equal measures pleasure and pain. She’d be gone tomorrow, but they still had tonight. His nights, however, belonged to his demons, and he refused to invite any woman into his own personal hell.

  It took all Maddie had to not look back—to not ask A.J. to stay with her tonight. But she knew she had to fight this battle alone. She walked past the inn, to the convenience store at the edge of town. An hour later, she stood alone in the living room of her grandmom’s house, two bags of supplies dangling from both hands.

  The next morning, Maddie sat in a booth at the diner, sipping coffee. An egg and toast slathered with butter and honey had hit the spot after a long night. What had she been thinking, staying in a house with no running water or electricity? Thank goodness the temperature hadn’t dipped too low and that there’d been plenty of musty blankets to wrap up in. She sniffed the sweatshirt she’d bought last night at the convenience store. Smelled the same as the blankets. And she needed a shower.

  A buzz swept through the diner. Every woman sitting along the windows at the front, and there were many, looked outside. Maddie looked, too. A.J. Johnson jogged up wearing nothing but a backwards ball cap and a pair of shiny gray gym shorts riding indecently low on his hips. A sheen of sweat made him look like he’d been oiled up for a shoot with a fitness magazine.

  A collective sigh rippled across the room. Someone said, “I swear, he gets better with age.”

  “Yeah,” someone else agreed. “He was hot in high school, but now . . .”

  “Mmm . . .” several salivating ladies hummed their agreement.

  A.J. grabbed a t-shirt he’d tucked into the back waistband of his shorts, swiped it across his face and chest, and put it on, much to the delight of his attentive audience. Maddie shook her head. Who knew you could get breakfast and a show on Saturday mornings in Hidden Harbor.

  The bell on the door jangled as A.J. came inside. June was waiting on him with an empty cup and a carafe of coffee in her hand. The diner’s owner was sixty if she was a day, but Maddie could have sworn June had just looked A.J. up and down. “Mornin’, handsome,” she said.

  “Mornin’,” A.J. said, oblivious to the fact that he held the attention of every woman in the place, including Maddie’s.

  “Good run?”

  A.J. rotated his neck and raised and lowered his shoulders. “You know I hate running,” he replied. “But I gotta keep your customers entertained so you’ll keep giving me free coffee.”

  Maddie must have made a sound because A.J. turned and spotted her. She ducked her head and wiped her mouth, but it was too late. He carried his cup of coffee over to her booth. “Surprised to see you here,” he said.

  “Why? You knew I was spending the night.”

  “Yeah, but they do a full breakfast for guests at the inn.” He focused on her over-sized sweatshirt that had “Put Down Anchor in Hidden Harbor” surrounded by colorful flowers emblazoned on the front. “Nice sweatshirt.”

  Maddie shrugged. “I needed a change of clothes. Not much to choose from at Marvin’s.”

  A.J. slid into her booth without being invited. Several women gave her envious looks. “If you didn’t stay at the inn, where did you spend the night?”

  “Nosy much?”

  “You didn’t stay at your grandmother’s place?” At her non-response, he continued. “You couldn’t get the keys to the place from your car, so how did you get in?”

  She’d ripped her skirt and blouse climbing in the window. “Same way you did,” she said, proud of herself despite the damage to her clothes.

  “Why?” he asked, clearly perplexed.

  “I decided to start going through things,” she said. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

  Ignoring the last bit, he said, “In the dark?”

  “I bought a flashlight, and I found some candles and an oil lamp.”

  He still frowned. “No bathroom?”

  “I managed,” she said without elaborating. “Is the utilities office open on Saturday mornings?”

  A.J. nodded. “Eight to noon. You thinkin’ about staying the weekend?”

  “Why not?” Maddie said, a little irritated by all the questions and her body’s insta-reaction to him. “Why are you so interested?”

  His grin developed slowly and had the desired effect, damn her traitorous body. He propped his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “We had a moment last night—a couple of them.” He let his gaze dip to her mouth. “I was interested then. Still interested now.”

  A biting retort sat on the tip of her tongue, one that always worked in getting rid of unwanted male attention. But it had been a while since she’d had a regular male companion. Why not enjoy A.J.’s company while she was in town since he was . . . interested.

  Maddie leaned toward him as well. “I’m only going to be here for a few days.”

  “No worries. I know what this is.”

  “Do you?”

  “It’s a small town. I don’t get involved with women here.” He paused and added, “I don’t get involved,” he corrected.

  “Neither do I,” she said.

  “Then we understand each other.” He checked his watch. “Thirty minutes until the Utilities Board opens. I got a hot shower at my house.”

  A hot shower and a hot guy. Maddie’s skin tingled with anticipation. “Where do you live?” she asked.

  “Just outside town.”

  Maddie put some money on the table, stood, and walked to the door. A.J. followed. It took everything he had not to touch her. Even in a shapeless sweatshirt, an old, faded skirt, and sneakers that had seen better days, Maddie had him revved up and ready to go.

  They walked west down Front Street, past all the shops and offices that lined the streets of downtown. When they got to his house, he opened the gate. Maddie gave the place a look then turned back to him. Without speaking, she preceded him up the sidewalk. A.J. scooted around her and opened the front door.

  “People in Hidden Harbor still leave their doors unlocked?” she said.

  A.J. shut the door and pulled her back up against him. “You wanna talk about unlocked doors?”

  In response, Maddie grabbed the hem of his shorts and pulled them up so she could put her hands on his thighs. A.J. turned her around and backed her up against the door. He swept her sweatshirt up and off. She wore a t-shirt underneath, also clearly purchased at Marvin’s. This one read, “Sail Away to Hidden Harbor.” Unlike the oversized sweatshirt, the too small t-shirt molded to her curves. Now, her hands were down his shorts, cupping his ass.

  “You know, you put on quite a show for the ladies in town. Jean’s was packed. You do that every Saturday?”

  “Who am I to deprive the ladies of their Saturday morning entertainment?”

  She squeezed his cheeks. “I bet their husbands just love you.”

  He lifted her and turned, moving them toward the bathroom and that shower he’d promised her. She wrapped her legs around him, pushed his hat off, and bit his earlobe. “Were you entertained?” he asked.

  “I was surprised,” she said. Her words sounded careful. Measured. “I didn’t take you for an exhibitionist.”

  He passed through his bedroom as she continued to nibble and tongue his earlobe and drive him right out of his mind. In the bathroom, he set her on the counter and turned on the shower. He took off his t-shirt and dropped it. “I’m not joining a nudist colony anytime soon, but I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin.” He pushed his shorts and boxer briefs down, kicked them aside, and stood there, giving her time to look.

  She slid off the counter and removed her t-shirt, sending it to join his on the floor and wiggled out of the faded, cotton skirt that looked like it belonged to another decade. She wore the bra she’d had on last night, but she was still going commando under the skirt.
She unhooked the bra and let it slide down her arms. Then she gave him a minute to look at her. And hell, he was going to need more than a minute. She toed off her sneakers and came toward him, nice and slow.

  “Damn,” he said softly, still staring at her killer body. “Now who’s putting on a show?”

  “Maybe I should jog down Front Street in nothing but a brief pair of shorts and a sports bra—give the men in town something to do on Saturday mornings.”

  A.J. didn’t normally feel possessive, but he growled. Maddie just smiled and stepped into his tiled, oversized shower stall. She let the spray hit her front, then turned and arched her back as she put her head under the spray. If Maddie naked had blown his mind, Maddie naked and wet and in his shower fried his remaining brain cells. A.J. joined her and closed the shower door. He leaned against the back wall, arms crossed, staring at her.

  “Aren’t you going to join me?” she invited. She found a bar of soap and rubbed it between her palms before smoothing the suds over her breasts and stomach. His erection twitched when she neared the juncture of her thighs, but she didn’t give him want he wanted to see. Instead, she moved her hands down one, long, shapely thigh to her calf, then she bent to better reach her ankle and foot, giving him a nice view of the curve of her ass. She dragged her hands back up her leg then repeated the process with her other. When she’d finished, she smiled at him and soaped her hands again. “You must be cold,” she said.

  He was hot enough to spontaneously combust. “You missed a spot,” he said, and stared at her. Like most women, she waxed, but she’d left a love trail.

  “Did I?” she said, still soaping her hands.

  A.J. nodded.

  She glanced at her soapy body. “Where?”

  Restless, he said, “Open your legs.” Her temper flared at his command, but he didn’t add “please,” and he didn’t ask again. When she complied, he said, “Wider,” a bit more forcefully than he’d intended, but she did as he asked. “Touch yourself.”

  Maddie’s smile held a hint of challenge. “I will if you will.”

  “You first.”

  She took her time, letting her hand glide over her breast, down her stomach and lower until she reached the cleft he was dying to explore. When she dipped her fingers inside, she moaned and A.J. stroked himself. “Are you wet?”

  Maddie bit her lip as she moved her hand, watching him do the same. “Drenched,” she said.

  “Is your clit swollen?”

  She rubbed her fingers over it. “Yes.”

  A.J. double-fisted himself and moved his hips, setting a rhythm. “Slide a finger in.”

  “I’d rather have you slide in,” she countered.

  “Do it,” he commanded.

  She propped her foot on the bench that ran the length of the shower and tilted her hips so he could see what she did as she put her middle finger inside, moving it to match the strokes he gave himself.

  “Put your index finger in, too, and rub your thumb across your clit.” She did as he asked and tipped her head back, her mouth opened in a little O. “How does it feel?”

  She bit her lip. “Mmm . . .”

  “Look at me.” Her green eyes were so dark they reminded him of emeralds. “Make yourself come.”

  She sat on the bench and spread her legs wide. Looking up at him, she used both hands, one on her clit and the other to move three fingers in and out of herself. A.J. stepped between her legs. The warm water from the shower hit his overheated body, stinging his skin. She stared at his cock, wet her lips, and opened her mouth.

  “You want it?” he asked.

  She nodded, still working herself.

  “It doesn’t seem fair since you’re getting yourself off without my help.”

  “Just a taste,” she said.

  He lifted himself to her lips, and she licked the tip. He had to brace a hand on the wall above her head to keep his knees from buckling. This woman shook him to the core. That alone should have him running, but he couldn’t resist her pull. She licked him again and took his tip into her mouth. She hooked her ankles around his. Her legs fell further apart, and she moved her fingers faster while he moved himself in and out of her mouth at the same speed. When she had him right on the edge, her body tightened and she came.

  He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around him. When he turned her toward the shower spray and loosened his hold, her feet slid to the floor. Confused, she raised an eyebrow, questioning.

  He moved his hand back over his head. “No condom,” he said, jaw clenched.

  She took him in her hand, and he nearly came. “I had a tubal,” she said against his ear. “I can’t get pregnant.”

  He braced his arms against the shower wall behind her. “I like to be safe,” he said, kissing her temple.

  “Me, too,” she said. “I get checked after each lover, even though I’m always careful.”

  He looked at her then. “But you’re willing to risk it with me?”

  “Are you saying you’re not safe?” She got on her tiptoes and positioned him at her entrance, making him want to do something he’d never done with anyone.

  “That’s not what I’m saying,” he said. But he didn’t do this without a condom. Ever.

  “Don’t you want to come?” She hooked a leg around his hip and took his tip inside and squeezed. “Just imagine how good it’ll feel without the condom.”

  Temptation had a name, and it was Maddie Greene. He’d never given that part of himself to anyone. It was too intimate. This was too intimate.

  A.J. grasped Maddie’s waist and pushed her away, then stepped out of the shower.

  7

  “What the hell was that?” Maddie stood naked, dripping water in the middle of A.J.’s bedroom, talking to his back. He didn’t turn. Didn’t speak. He just stood there, also naked and dripping wet, digging in the drawer of the bedside table. “Fine.”

  She stomped back into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and dried off. When she’d picked up her bra, she dropped it again as A.J. said, “That was me keeping my head,” he said from the doorway. He held up a condom. “I wasn’t suggesting that you leave.”

  She propped a hand on her hip. “But you are suggesting that I wasn’t? Keeping my head?” At his no-response, she continued dressing.

  “Maddie—”

  “I have to go.”

  A.J. tossed the condom aside. “At least finish your shower. You didn’t wash your hair.”

  Maddie tried to ignore the fact that he stood there naked and fully aroused while he discussed washing her hair, like he did this sort of thing every day with women he’d almost just had sex with. She grabbed her shoes and would have brushed past him, but he took up the whole damn doorway. “Move,” she said. He turned, and she barely avoided brushing his erection as she swept past him—which made her want to turn back and jump him. But he didn’t have the condom on, and since that was a deal breaker for him—

  “Maddie, wait.” When he caught up to her, she was one-hopping into her shoes by the door. And yup, he was still naked and impressively hard. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

  She stumbled, but righted herself, her foot halfway in the shoe. “My feelings are not hurt,” she informed him. “In order for my feelings to be hurt, I’d have to feel something for you, which I definitely do not.” She bent and pulled the back of the sneaker up over her heel then stood. “And besides,” she added, because she apparently couldn’t just shut up and leave, “you’re the one who’s left unsatisfied. Your choice. Not mine.”

  A.J. moved surprisingly fast for such a big man. He had her backed against the wall, his arms braced on either side of her before she knew what had happened. “Are you saying getting yourself off satisfied you, Maddie?” he said, his breath brushing her lips like a caress.

  “I’ve been single for a long time,” she said, her tone matching his. “And I’m really, really good at satisfying myself.”

  He dipped and pulled her skirt up with nothing but his hard sh
aft. With a hand in her wet hair and his face even with hers, he said, “Do whatever you want when you’re alone, but when you’re with me, I might want to watch you pleasure yourself, but then I’m going to finish you. And I promise, you’re gonna feel things you never imagined feeling—alone.”

  Despite herself, her toes curled. When he pushed against her closed thighs with his tip, just to tweak him, she said, “Too bad we don’t have a condom.”

  He kissed her, and damn if that didn’t throw her off-balance. And it was a sexy, melt-a-girl’s knees kind of a kiss that had the desired effect, so he carried her back to the bedroom, laid her on his big, king-size bed, and pushed her skirt up to her waist. A.J. teased her clit and Maddie opened her legs, giving him better access, because she was that girl who couldn’t resist the kind of heaven he’d just promised her. She groaned when he buried a finger inside her and then another. And somewhere in the process of driving her wild, he also put on a condom. With a hand on the back of her knee, he positioned himself at her entrance, pulling her forward as he pushed inside.

  “I hate you,” she said on a moan.

  “Good,” he replied, then gave her the most mind-blowing, intense orgasm of her life. But that wasn’t enough for A.J. No. He wasn’t even close to satisfied. He flipped her over and pulled her up to her hands and knees and entered her again, his hands on her hips as he set a quick pace. “Your ass is perfect,” he murmured.

  She opened her legs wider and tilted just so. “I love how your balls are slapping my clit,” she all but moaned.

  He found the spot he wanted and rotated his hips, grinding against her until she came again. This time, she was pretty sure she screamed his name. And God’s.

  And he still wasn’t done.

  A.J. crawled up the bed and braced his back against the upholstered headboard. Legs bent, he looked at her through the V of his legs and crooked a finger, inviting her to join him. His erection lay long and hard along the line between his hip and thigh. When she got close enough, he took her hand and settled her on his lap with her legs snug against his hips, but then he lifted her so that she was on her knees. She grabbed his cock and rubbed it against her sensitive flesh.