I came to a stop inches from his chest, unable to move closer. Now in my bare feet, I was a good ten or more inches shorter than him.
Had he always been as tall?
Stillness filled the hotel room with deafening silence.
Even the hum of the heat disappeared as his gaze moved from my head to my toes. With each passing second, my skin warmed, reminding me that under the robe I was nearly naked, preparing as I’d been for my impending bath. As we continued our silent battle of wills, my nipples drew tight and my core clenched.
It wasn’t fear that Patrick’s proximity instilled.
It was something else, something I’d forgotten.
It had been so long since I had a spontaneous physical reaction to a man that my body and mind were having difficulty processing. One would think this carnal reaction was not uncommon when faced with a handsome mountain of a man. But it was as I pondered this thought that I realized that neither of us had spoken. “Patrick, you found me.”
“Oh, Madeline, finding you wasn’t an issue. The question remains did I want to?” His head tilted, his handsome face taut as the cords in his neck pulled tight. “I don’t have the answer to that yet.”
The rich scent of his spicy cologne settling in the air filled my lungs, creating a magical concoction. As had been in the hallway at the club, we were again close. It would only take a small step for me to feel the firmness of his chest against mine. I peered upward. Without thinking, I allowed my hand to do what it had wanted to do at the club.
I laid my palm against his stubbly cheek. The prickling rekindled the connection I’d felt earlier. Like electricity, the connection tingled my palm. Looking up into his blue eyes, I said, “God, Patrick, I never thought I’d see you again or that you’d want to see me. It’s been a lifetime.”
That statement was more accurate than I could admit—the life we’d shared and the one we hadn’t. Half of one person’s life was the whole of another’s.
It would be easy to melt into him, to remember what we once had.
My hand lowered from his cheek to his chest. He moved closer, one step and then another. Our feet moved in unison until my back collided with the wall. All the while, our gazes never parted. I found myself mesmerized by the cyclone of emotions swirling within his blue orbs.
Without speaking, he reached for my waist and pulled me toward him.
No longer did I imagine the firmness of his chest against my breasts. It was there, solid as a statue and emitting heat.
“I found you, Maddie, now what am I going to do with you?”
There was an unfamiliar edge to his voice that set off my nerves.
Kill or fuck.
“Nothing,” I said, doing my best to sound confident. “I’m here for the tournament. After that I’ll leave.”
Patrick’s head shook as his finger skirted over the side of my face and down my neck. It was a ghost of a touch as if he were restraining himself. That thought made me want him to let go.
“I think it’s more,” he said. “I think after all this time, you came to my city to fuck with me.” A forced grin came to his lips. “And now that we’re here, I don’t have a problem with that. As a matter of fact, right now, I want it too.”
My mind was a blur as the proximity of his body and the hardening of his erection confirmed the accuracy of his intent. Yes, I was turned on. No, I wasn’t prepared for more. I hadn’t been with a man in over five years. The idea frightened me more than it excited me. My head shook. “No, Patrick. That’s not why I’m here.”
He took a small step back. “Are you saying you don’t want to fuck?”
My neck straightened. “I’m saying...that isn’t an option...”
“I believe you’re mistaken. Fucking my wife again is an option, one I haven’t had for a long time but now do.” His finger again came to my cheek, neck, and down to my collarbone as he peered into the V of my robe. “You were always too beautiful.” He lifted my chin. “It was a liability when we were young. Now I assume it is part of your arsenal.” Before I could respond, he added, “Too much makeup but still stunning.”
I lowered my chin to obstruct his view. “Come sit down. We can talk.” When he didn’t move, I placed more pressure against his chest and looked into his blue orbs. “You were a lot of things, Patrick Kelly, but you never forced me...” The words created a bubble in my throat I tried to swallow. I didn’t want to think about nonconsensual sex.
“Really, Maddie? You didn’t come to Chicago after all this time to fuck with my head? Because seeing you has done that, and being close to you makes me want to tug the tie on this robe and remember what it’s like to get lost inside you. You’ve fucked with my thoughts. It’s only fair I get my turn.”
My neck stiffened. “I want you to leave.”
“I want to fuck my wife. Either we both get our way or neither of us do.”
My eyes closed slowly as I let out a breath. This wasn’t what I wanted or imagined. To be honest, I wasn’t certain of what I wanted. It seemed abundantly clear that the reunion I’d dared to dream about over the years wouldn’t happen.
I should have known better. After all, I’d never been the happily-ever-after type of girl.
Happy endings and dreams were simply illusions our minds created to soften life’s blows, an alternate universe that existed only in the realm of make-believe. Maybe for a moment while basking in the rich aroma of his cologne, I’d dared to entertain such a notion, but that was simply another mistake my mind made when it came to this man.
Hopes and dreams were the thoughts and illusions of little girls. That wasn’t me. I wasn’t certain it ever had been.
My shoulders straightened as I reached for his hand. “Let’s talk. Tell me why you’re really here.”
His features hardened as he stepped away from my touch. “I think you should answer that question first.”
Patrick
In the following seconds, Madeline’s expression cooled. The genuineness of her gaze dimmed in her green orbs like cooling embers that were no longer privy to the flame. Whatever she’d been thinking a moment ago was disappearing behind a well-practiced mask.
Her chin lifted defiantly. “I’ve told you that I’m here for the poker tournament. I’m not sure why you came here, but if it’s for any other reason, then you should go.”
“You played the odds by inviting me to your room. Now I’m here. Isn’t that what you do, gamble?”
“You think I gambled on you?”
I pulled the keycard from my pocket. “You gave me the key.”
“I did. It was a mistake,” she said with a shrug. “Maybe I wanted to see the boy I knew one more time.”
Madeline brushed by me, the softness of the robe fluttering against my hand as she made her way toward a sofa near the windows. Catching her, I reached for her hand and spun her back around until we were again face-to-face. As she had been moments ago, her soft, supple body was against me, the beat of her heart hammering against my chest. My tone lowered as I stared down at her beauty. “The boy is gone and so is the girl. It’s time to be the adults we once thought we were.”
Her chin rose. “You’re right, Patrick. Our rosy childhood is a thing of the past.”
“I’m not leaving until I have answers.” Releasing her hand, I stepped away. It was then I saw the dress she’d been wearing lying upon the carpet. I picked it up, noticing the softness of the material. I brought it to my nose. For a moment my eyes closed.
The material held her lingering scent covered in a sweet, perfumed fragrance. Fuck, the whiff alone brought my dick to life. “I’ve missed...” I didn’t finish. There were too many options.
“This isn’t...” Madeline stopped talking and spun in place as if trying to get her bearings.
I’d seen others make similar moves when cornered. Yet watching the gorgeous woman before me didn’t give me the sense of a trapped animal; instead, it was as if she were drifting and in need of an anchor.
If af
ter all this time, my wife was a ship lost at sea, I had to admit, if only to myself, I was fucking thrilled she’d made it back to my harbor. Tossing the dress on the bed, I reached for her again. She came to a stop, her green stare upon me. “Maddie.”
Her lids fluttered momentarily. “I’ve missed that name. I’ve missed hearing it from you.”
My hands went to her cheeks. “Everything.”
“Everything?”
“I’ve missed every fucking thing about you. I never allowed myself to do it, but now, here, fuck, it’s like a landslide of memories—the way you slept, smiled, smelled, and tasted.”
It was a fucking pull I couldn’t control—an unbreakable twenty-ton chain bringing us together. The cogs were turning ever slowly, link by link. With the sound of her breaths in my ears, I leaned closer and brought my lips to hers.
I expected Madeline to resist by pulling away, or perhaps slapping me and telling me to stop.
Not just expected...I needed her to do that, to be the one to stop what I couldn’t.
However, as our kiss deepened, her breasts pressed harder against me, her soft moans filled my ears, and my tongue invaded the sweet warmth of her lips, I knew without a doubt that her return would ruin us. My body and mind were on a collision course to our mutual destruction. If I didn’t stop, I never would.
I lowered my touch, skirting her arm, until my fingers found hers, intertwining as they once had. I held on to her. Like the young boy leading the girl through the dark alleyways, I wanted to lead her away from here to a place where we could reconnect.
Breaking our kiss, I lifted her hand in mine. It was her left hand. The fourth finger was bare, as it had been seventeen years ago. A ring was another expense we promised to someday afford. I brought her knuckles to my lips and after leaving a kiss, I looked up. “Whether you admit it or not, we are still married and without a doubt, you are fucking with me.”
“Do you still want to kill me?”
“Not as badly as I want to fuck you.”
Her breathing deepened and nostrils flared as the spark I remembered glistened in her gaze. “I haven’t wanted that in so long, I’d forgotten what it felt like.”
“And now?”
“Patrick, I can’t tell you...almost anything. I can tell you that it’s been forever since I felt safe with a man. I feel that way with you even after all these years.”
Indescribable desire such as I couldn’t recall percolated within me. My hands longed to roam her soft skin. My arms ached to hold her. My hardened dick grew painful. My gaze simmered on hers. “Don’t fool yourself, Maddie. You’re not safe with me. I want answers from you, but fuck. If I don’t rein this in, I don’t think I can stop.”
“Do you want to stop?”
Hell no.
“I didn’t come here for this.”
“So you came to kill me?” By the sparkle in her eyes and the upturn of her lips she knew that wasn’t the case.
“I came to get answers.” My breathing stopped as Maddie reached for the hem of her robe.
“I have one answer I can show you. It’s all I have.”
I couldn’t look away.
She reached beneath the length of the robe and lowered a pair of silver panties until they fell to the floor and she stepped away.
“You seem to be losing your clothes to the floor. Your dress and now...” My words stilled as she tugged on the sash and opened the robe. Inch by inch, I took in her natural beauty, her curves, including the roundness of her breasts, fuller than they’d been when we were young. My gaze lowered to the flatness of her stomach and the trimmed patch of dark hair, curlier than those on her head. I could hardly breathe as she added the robe to the floor’s collection and turned away.
Her ass was round and perfect, and on her left cheek was a small tattoo.
She craned her neck back at me. “You’re the only person on this earth who knows the meaning of that tattoo.”
I took a step closer, and as I did, she reached down to retrieve the robe.
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Patrick. I just—”
“No.” I reached for her waist and pulled her ass toward me as I stared at the small red apple tattooed on the flesh of her ass cheek.
Our first meeting came back in a wave of emotion.
The apple.
The policemen.
The chase.
I ran the tip of my finger over the artwork.
Fucking soft as a baby’s butt.
A gasp filled the room as goose flesh came to life over her skin.
Madeline wasn’t a baby. She was all woman, bared naked within my grasp.
Without thinking, my hand came back, palm straightened, and I swung it forward, landing my palm on her ass. My hand tingled as her ass cheek reddened, the skin matching the apple.
“Fuck, Patrick.” Leaning forward, her hands landed on the window’s glass as she let out a squeal.
“That’s for me. You marked yourself for me. Now it’s my turn.”
Madeline sighed. “No one else knows what it means.”
“It means you’re mine.” I looked at her delicate hands splayed on the glass. “Don’t fucking let go of that window.”
Her face turned toward the glass. “What if someone sees?”
“We’re twenty stories in the air.” I brushed her long hair to one side. Reaching for her hips, I pulled her ass against my hardened erection. Leaning over her back, I whispered menacingly in her ear, purposely exhaling warm air on the sensitive skin of her neck. “I wish the whole damn world could see, see you, see us, see that damn apple, and see that you’re mine.”
“I-I...”
“Can you feel how hard I am?” I hadn’t been this hard for any woman since her. It was another of the things I tried to forget. Grinding her ass over my trousers was positively painful. If I didn’t get inside her soon, I might react more like a teenager than the man I was. “I didn’t come here to fuck you, but I’m going to.”
“It’s been a long...” Her voice cracked. “I’m scared.”
With one hand still holding her hip, I unbuckled my belt, lowered the zipper, and freed myself from my boxer briefs. My heavy cock sprang outward. Taking it in hand, I ran my grip up and down. With each stroke I grew impossibly harder, going from erect to steel.
“Tell me no,” I said, running my hand again over her ass.
“I don’t know.”
Lowering my touch, I found my home, the only place I’d wanted to stay. “Spread your legs, Maddie girl. If you’re not wet, I will turn around and walk away. If you are, I’m reclaiming what’s mine.”
Madeline
“...If you are, I’m reclaiming what’s mine.”
Each word struck me to the core as his warm breath sent chills tingling down my spine. My feet moved apart, doing as he’d said. It was the moment of truth, one that despite my rekindled desire, I feared I’d fail.
Wet.
I hadn’t been wet since I could recall.
Gels worked to make sex less painful.
Orgasms happened or they didn’t.
Spontaneous arousal wasn’t something I could control.
And yet having Patrick’s hands on me awakened something that was both stimulating and vaguely familiar. I fidgeted as his hands continued to roam over my skin. Strong and forceful, yet tender—it was a masterful combination that I’d never known with anyone but Patrick.
Now it was more.
“I’m not...” My sentence faded into the cloud of lust and desire. There were so many sensations that I found myself yearning.
Could it be?
Maybe.
Yes.
With my breasts heavy and my nipples hard, I was aroused. The heat of his touch bubbled within me, making me want what I hadn’t for so long. The need wasn’t only physical. I wanted that, for him to take me. It was more. It was emotional. I wanted to remember what it had been like to be with someone I trusted, someone I’d loved.
Even if it was in the past.
My neck craned to the side, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the handsome man behind me. His eyes were wide, staring down at my ass and the apple I’d had inked a lifetime ago. From my angle, I saw his strained neck, white shirt, and suit coat. My gaze went to my bare feet. On either side was a large black loafer.
Oh my God.
He was going to fuck me. I was naked and he was still fully dressed.
I don’t know what made that so hot, but it was.
My core clenched as Patrick’s touch moved to my entrance.
“Gah...” I sighed as one and then two of his long fingers slid within me.
“You’re wet, Maddie girl. Your body wants this. Tell me to stop.”
His hand had created a rhythm as his fingers curled.
Shamelessly, my knees bent as I moved with him. It was as his thumb found my clit that I froze. Like the shock of electricity from our first touch, he already had me on the edge.
“Tell me,” Patrick growled near my ear.
Like a log jam made up of too much to process and unable to move, for a moment my answer stuck in my throat. His fingers again moved, commanding my attention and filling my circulation with both endorphins and wonder.
I was wet.
I was aroused.
And I wanted this more than I’d wanted any man since him. Breaking free, the words came out like rapid-fire. “Don’t stop. Oh, please don’t stop.”
As if not hearing me, his fingers disappeared. And all at once, we were one.
My back arched as a scream tore from my throat, echoing around us.
Oh God. It was good, yet so much more than I recalled.
“Fuck yes,” his deep baritone approval washed over me.
Patrick’s speed slowed as he continued his claim. My scarred core fought the stretch. I bit my lip as I willed his entrance. Bit by bit, he did what I thought was impossible, going deeper and deeper until he stilled.
“They say we build things up in our mind,” he said as his warm breath skirted over my neck and collarbone, bringing goose bumps to my exposed flesh. “...that our memories exaggerate reality. That’s not true. Being here right now, with you, within you, you’re...it’s better than I remember. Maddie, it’s fucking heaven.”
Vote Then Read: Volume III Page 6