by L. P. Maxa
His heart was racing, his body shaking. He’d never come as hard as he did with Madden. Her body was made for sex. He stared down at her, waiting for her to yell at him. To put him in his place. She stayed silent, but her eyes were full of questions and anger.
She waited until he got up to throw the condom away before she spoke out loud. “What the hell is going on with you?”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and put his hands in his hair. Wasn’t that the million-dollar question? He decided to play dumb. It’s not like he had a smart answer anyway. “What are you talking about?”
Madden sat up, grabbing her shirt from the floor and pulling it over her head. “There will be no more looking into each other’s eyes while we come and absolutely no fucking without protection. If you can’t handle that, then it’s time for this to end. I’m not really a forever type of girl anyway.”
Linc straightened at her admonishment, whipping his head around while chills raced down his spine. “What did you just say?”
“I said no condom, no sex.” Madden took a rubber band from around her wrist and piled her hair back on top of her head. “Those are pretty common place ru—”
“No. The other thing.” Linc was standing now, pacing the room, looking for his clothes. He needed to get out of there.
Fast.
“Oh. Uh, I’m not really a forever type of girl?” She let out a sexy little chuckle. “That shouldn’t really come as a shock to you. I turned down a date and asked you to fuck me instead.”
Linc jumped into his jeans. “I gotta go.”
“What? Why? Because I don’t believe in happily ever afters? I thought you were more of a love ‘em and leave ‘em type of guy.”
“I was. Uh, I mean, I am. And this is me, leaving.” Linc walked out the door, pulling his shirt over his head on the way out.
As soon as he cleared the porch he took off in a sprint toward his car. Madden’s words had shaken him to the core. Was that what was happening here? Was he trying to fucking bond with Madden? No. There was just no way. He didn’t want a mate. He never wanted to settle down. Why would he? He got more ass than any man could ever dream of. He got to play baseball all year round, and the cherry on top? He was rich. Like really, really rich. Well, his parents were, and they insisted on sharing.
Nah, Madden wasn’t his forever girl. She turned out to be the first girl to make him work for it. The first girl that wasn’t eating out of the palm of his hand. She was a challenge, and his dominant side, his shifter side, wanted to own her. Own her as in make her submit, nothing more.
He’d know if she was meant to be his. He’d be feeling pissed off and aggressive, uncontrollable. He’d have ripped the damn condom off his dick and claimed her without her permission. He had no desire to do anything like that, to force anything on her. There was no way she was his soul mate. He’d simply overreacted back at her house. He needed sleep. He needed a break from his…from the sexy nurse. That was all.
Linc blared his music and headed home, wiping all concerns from his mind in a way that only he could.
Chapter Fifteen
Madden
Madden woke up hungry. And horny. Again? No. There was no way after yesterday and last night with Linc that she could still be horny. He’d made her come so many times she’d lost count. Six? No, seven—seven times. He was as sexy as he was crazy. But what the hell was that last night? Running out of her house like a madman after he’d basically begged her to let him stay? He’d seemed spooked, scared even. He better not be catching feelings for her. Madden didn’t do feelings. She’d seen the worst love had to offer and she’d decided at a pretty early age that wouldn’t be her path. Ever. Plus, Linc was a player to the core. He didn’t have a single serious monogamous bone in his stimulating body.
She rolled over when she heard her phone ring. Madden couldn’t help the smirk that spread across her face when she saw that Linc was calling her. “Good morning, psycho.”
She heard his chuckle on the other end of the line. “Good morning, gorgeous. How did you sleep?”
“Good, after I got the sex-crazed maniac out of my bed.” She covered her yawn with the back of her hand. “Why are you calling me so early?”
“It’s noon, baby.”
“Don’t call me baby.” Madden put her cell on speaker and climbed out of bed, stretching her arms over her head. She rarely slept this late, but she’d be lying if she said Linc hadn’t worn her out yesterday.
“You didn’t seem to mind it last night.”
“Yeah well, I’m sure you know there are a lot of things women tolerate in the bedroom that they don’t tolerate otherwise.” She picked up her phone and headed into the bathroom to get ready for what was left of her day.
“Like me slapping your tight little ass and wrapping your silky hair around my fist.” His voice had dropped an octave. He was turned on. Madden was suddenly irritated that she knew the different tones of Linc’s voice. They were spending entirely too much time together. She needed to push him back a few steps. “Or how about when I tell you to fuck me harder, boss you around and make you do as I say?”
Well, hell. How was she supposed to push him away when he said things like that? His sexy talk alone had her core aching. “You’re cocky, you know that?”
He let out another deep chuckle. “Madden, I’ve heard you scream my name. I know you enjoy every second that I’m inside you. Just like I know that right now, I’m turning you on. I can practically hear you squeezing your thighs together to alleviate the ache.”
Damn it. “The front door is unlocked. And bring food.”
“I’m on my way. Baby.”
She hung up on him and flung her phone across the room. Lucky for her it landed on her bed before bouncing to the floor. He’d left her mere hours earlier, and now she was letting him come back? This wasn’t her. And her actions were starting to piss her off. What was Linc’s dick doing to her? It was like magic.
Now that stupid 50 Cent song was stuck in her head.
I got the magic stick
I know if I can hit once, I can hit it twice
Madden showered quickly, humming that damn song the whole time. She brushed her teeth, put on just a little makeup and pulled on leggings and a long-sleeve t-shirt. It was Sunday. And Sundays were for being lazy.
Well, they were now. When she was growing up, Sundays were for church, then her mother would spend hours in the kitchen preparing their dinner. She baked and fired and whisked all afternoon. The three of them would sit down in the fancy dining room and talk about their weeks. It became the only meal her father was never late for. She hated the memory, the lies that were pushed on her at that table. Now, she rarely left her house on Sunday, and she certainly never ate a home-cooked meal. Just another passive aggressive way of sticking it to her twisted parents. Much like all the other choices she made in her life.
Madden smiled when she heard her front door open. “Hey, Maddi? Are you awake?” Her smile fell.
Shit. Fuck. Damn.
“Yeah, preggo. I’ll be out in a second.” She grabbed her phone to send Linc a text letting him know not to come over, but the second she starting typing she heard her door open again.
“Linc? What the hell? You can’t just walk into someone’s house like you own the…wait. Why did you just walk in Maddi’s house like you’d…wait. Wait.”
That was fast. That little fucker was probably already halfway through town when he called. Madden came out of her room, wearing the snottiest look she could muster. She dug deep, back to her high school days mirroring the girls she and Corey had always detested. “Linc? What are you doing here?” She turned to Corey. “Did he come with you?”
“No. He just walked in.” Corey looked from Madden to Linc then back again. “What’s going on with you two? This is the second time I’ve seen Linc come to your house.”
“Um, uh, I um saw you walk over here. I was on my way to your house, with lunch.” Linc held up the takeout bags.
Madden hid a giggle behind her hand at how easily distracted Corey was by food.
“Yes it is. I know it’s been your favorite lately. I, um, yeah I wanted to come hang with you and Dom for a bit and when I saw you walking over here…I figured I’d bring you your food. So. Uh, here’s your food.” He handed Corey the bag, winking at Madden while she put her head inside, breathing deeply and walking into the kitchen.
“Thanks, bud. That’s so sweet.” She shoved an eggroll in her mouth and kept walking. “You may as well hang here with us, though. Dom and Riley just left on a run up the mountains.” Corey sat down and started pulling out the white takeout containers.
Madden winced; they really shouldn’t be eating on this table. Linc must have been thinking the same thing because he chuckled quietly as he grabbed her ass on his way into the kitchen.
Corey took out some chopsticks and started in on the lo mein. She narrowed her eyes at Linc when he reached into the bag and handed Madden an egg roll.
Linc snorted. “Corey there is enough food in there for four people. Madden can have an egg roll.”
“She can have some of that rice too. I can’t eat shrimp.” Corey watched Linc like a hawk, making sure he dished out only the stuff she didn’t want on their plates. “How was your date last night?”
“It was good. She was good. Feisty, just how I like ‘em.”
Madden reached under the table and palmed his dick. She’d give him feisty. She grinned when he accidentally let out a little moan. Seemed he was just as horny as she was. What was wrong with the two of them? Would they ever get enough? And how the hell was she supposed to drop him like a bad habit? She was almost positive the cocky prick had ruined her for all other men.
Corey pointed at Linc with her chopsticks. “You keep your whoring ways to yourself. What we said last year still goes—you set a better example for those kids.”
Linc held his hands up in mock surrender. “I promise. No one will ever know.”
“What about you, Maddi? You and Baze gone out yet?” Corey waggled her eyebrows.
Madden glanced at Linc and then met Corey’s gaze. “Uh, no not yet. I haven’t really seen him since Moon Bar on Friday. I’ve been busy unpacking.”
Corey looked past Madden into the living room. “You have been busy. It looks like almost all your boxes are unpacked.”
Madden frowned and looked over her shoulder—were they? Had Linc done all that last night while she slept?
“Well he’ll be at the house tonight for dinner. You can get your flirt on then.” Corey was oblivious to Linc’s death stare. But Madden sure as hell felt its heat.
“Dinner?” She hadn’t attended any kind of Sunday dinner in over ten years.
Corey nodded. “Yeah we try to do dinner together every Sunday. Molly cooks or the guys barbecue and we just hang out. That’s why I came over, to invite you. You’ll come, won’t you?”
A whole evening pretending she didn’t want Linc to nail her in the kitchen, while she half-heartedly flirted with Baze to keep up appearances? Sounded like a great fucking time. “Uh, well—”
“Please?” Corey grabbed Madden’s hand. Damn. Corey was strong for a pregnant chick. “Maddi. Plllllease? I know how you feel about things like this, but I promise its super laid back. And I haven’t really gotten to spend much time with you since you got here. I miss you.”
She hadn’t gotten to spend time with one of her oldest friends because she’d been lying to her face and fucking Linc behind her back. It was Madden’s guilt, and her guilt alone, that finally made her agree to dinner. “Fine.”
Corey clapped her hands together. “Okay. Good. Now that’s settled, I’m going to take my food and go home. It’s nap time.” Corey stood and gathered all the food in her hands. “Y’all don’t mind if I take this, right?”
Madden was starving and she was really hoping Corey was going to leave the rest of the takeout. But far be it from her to take food from a pregnant woman. “Nope. It’s all you, preggo.”
“Linc, you coming home with me? Dom and Riley should be back soon.” Corey called over her shoulder as she waddled to the door.
He came up behind Madden and whispered in her ear. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, baby.” Then louder so Corey could hear. “Nah. I’ve got some things that need to be taken care of.” He threw a wink over his shoulder on his way out the door.
Madden cleaned up the mess from Corey’s lunch then shot Linc a text.
Madden: Don’t come back without more food.
She wandered into her living room and sure enough, almost everything was unpacked. The deal was that Linc would unpack her kitchen, yet he’d gone above and beyond. And he hadn’t even stayed the night. Madden plopped down on her couch, pulling her legs up underneath her, looking around her new home. This house could fit in the entryway of the large Victorian she’d grown up in.
Old Southern money had provided Madden every opportunity in life. She’d never known what it meant to want for anything. But the more the learned about her father, the more she saw the way he treated her mom, the more the gifts and fancy clothes made her sick.
Madden’s parents always seemed so happy, so in love. But just like a lot of things in life, she came to realize it was all a lie. When Madden caught her father cheating, she’d felt sick for days. She couldn’t eat. She was heartbroken, and she was so sad for her mother. It took her a long time to work up the courage to tell her mom what she’d seen. When her mom blew her off, like she was a silly child who didn’t understand the way the world worked, it hurt. It rocked her to the core. She felt like the rug had been pulled from under her. Nothing had made sense anymore. Her parents were strangers. She’d lost trust in them, in the love she thought they shared. From that moment on Madden had decided that marriage, forever, wasn’t worth it.
Why dream for something that never really existed in the first place?
She did everything in her power to make sure that she never became like her parents.
And she always would.
Chapter Sixteen
Madden
She was lounging on her couch, watching some documentary on Kurt Cobain when her back door opened and then shut. She got to her feet, stretching her arms above her head. “You better have brought me some more food. I’m fucking starving.”
She rounded the corner as Linc unloaded a bunch of bags on the dining room table. “The guy at the Chinese food place thinks I’m insane.”
She grabbed a couple plates and set them on the table. She’d disinfected it when Corey had left.
Linc handed her a container of sesame chicken, smirking. “And I thought you said we’d never do dinner together.”
She popped a piece in her mouth, chewing before addressing his comment. “Number one, this is takeout. Number two, it’s also lunch.”
They ate in silence for a while, exchanging heated glances across the recently cleaned, but formerly defiled dining room table. Eventually Linc leaned back in his chair, clearing his throat. “What are you going to do about Baze?”
“Fuck him, I guess.” She was totally kidding, but the dark look that crossed Linc’s face made it clear that he didn’t find her funny. Madden snorted. “I’m joking, lighten up.”
“If you fuck him, I’ll kill him.”
Madden felt chills go down her spine. “What?” Linc blinked back at her, his gaze icy and distant, like he was no longer there. Like someone else had taken over his body. “Linc?” She snapped her fingers in front of his face like she’d had to yesterday. “Hey.”
He gave a small shake of his head and went back to eating. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, I’m fine. Little horny, but I’m about to take care of that.” He sent her a flirty smile and a wink. “Why?”
“You just threatened to kill Baze.” Right? Had she imagined that too?
“What? No, I didn’t.” Linc was chewing around a mouth full of orange c
hicken like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Yes, you did. You said, ‘If you fuck him I’ll kill him.’” Was she the crazy one?
Linc snorted then took another large bite of rice. “Nah. Doesn’t sound like me. Plus, Baze is a boss with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. He’d kick my ass.”
Okay. So maybe she was the nut-job here. But she could have sworn…
“What are you going to do about Baze? You never answered me. Corey is going to expect you to at least flirt with him.”
Was she being filmed? Was this some kind of hidden camera show? She had answered him. And then he’d gone all dark and scary. Right? “Uh, I don’t know. Flirt a little, I guess.”
Linc looked up, all humor gone once again, but at least his eyes weren’t glassy. “Why don’t you just tell Corey that you changed your mind? That you don’t want him after all?”
It was her turn to snort with laughter. “Because she’ll never buy it.” Madden took a deep breath. “Corey has known me pretty much my whole life.”
Linc kept staring at her. He still seemed to be himself, though. Albeit a pissed-off version. “But you don’t date? You don’t do relationships?”
“True love doesn’t exist. People aren’t meant to be monogamous, and trying only leaves you with your heart crushed in the end.” She got up to put her plate in the sink. “You’re one to talk. From the way I hear it, you’ve slept with every girl in Colorado.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Takes one to know one.”
Linc’s reputation was definitely one of the reasons she’d decided to jump into their little arrangement. He didn’t seem like the type of guy who would want more from her than she was willing to give. “Something like that.” She grabbed his empty plate and placed it in the sink next to hers. “Thanks for unpacking all those boxes. You didn’t have to do that.”