By the time the last spasm shook her body as well as his own, he knew what they had shared was one of those incredible experiences that he wanted to share with her for an entire lifetime.
CHAPTER 14
Skye woke up hours later to find she was naked and in the bed alone. She hadn’t remembered Slade getting out of the bed, but she did recall every little detail of their making love. And they had done so more than once. At least three times before she had finally drifted off to sleep.
She couldn’t help but wonder where she had gotten so much energy. She had never looked forward to sleeping with Wayne and had never gotten the amount of pleasure from the experience as she had with Slade. She hated to keep comparing, but the two men were so vastly different it was simply astounding. She couldn’t discount the possibility that the fact that she was in love with Slade probably had a lot to do with it.
She knew she needed to get up, take a shower, and start unpacking. This would be her home for the next three months, and already she was looking forward to spending her time here. She didn’t want to think about how her parents had literally turned their backs on her because she’d refused to bend to their will and how Wayne had called, giving her one last warning, the same day she had left for the airport. He wanted her to know that he wouldn’t be waiting around for her forever. Before hanging up the phone she had tried to explain that he didn’t have to wait for her at all because they were not getting back together. For some reason, he wanted to believe their wedding was back on and they would have a Christmas wedding like they’d originally planned. He might be having a Christmas wedding, but she had no intentions of being the bride.
“You’re awake.”
Skye turned her body toward the sound of the sexy, masculine voice to find Slade standing in the bedroom doorway with a tray in his hand. “I thought I would whip us up something to eat since it’s past dinnertime,” he said, walking into the room.
She pulled herself up in bed, conscious of the state of her undress. He had slipped back into his jeans and he came and sat on the edge of the bed while placing the tray on the nightstand. He had made a couple of turkey sandwiches, had grabbed bags of potato chips and two cans of iced tea.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, but was glad he did, at the sound of her growling stomach.
“No problem. I have to make sure you keep your strength up.”
She couldn’t help but smile when he handed her a moist wipe for her hands. “So in other words, you have an ulterior motive for being so nice to me.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, you can say something like that.”
She knew she needed to say a number of things to him. First she had to thank him for giving her one of the most wonderful experiences of her life. “Thank you, Slade.”
“I told you that you didn’t have to thank me for—”
“I’m not talking about the food any longer. I want to thank you for sharing what you did with me. Like I told you, Wayne had a different view on sex, and since he was the first and only other person I’ve slept with, I didn’t know there was any other way. Today you showed me differently.”
Slade went about uncovering their sandwiches and said curtly, “The more and more I hear about this guy, the more I don’t like him.”
“To be completely honest, I never liked him myself.”
Slade lifted his head and met her gaze. “Yet you were going to marry him?”
Skye inhaled deeply, knowing she needed to explain. She owed Slade that. “In Maine things are done differently between wealthy families. It’s not uncommon for the parents to match their children up for marriages. Although my father is an accountant, he came from a well-off family. So did my mother. And their parents arranged their marriage when they were still in their teens. If my father never worked a day in his life it wouldn’t matter, because he’d have money coming in from the trust funds his family established for him.”
Slade nodded. He knew about trust funds. His uncle Jake, the one in the family with a head for investments, had established trust funds for all the younger Madarises when they turned sixteen that were to be paid out starting on their thirtieth birthdays. The smart ones had turned the money back over to Jake when they’d reached that mark so he could rein-vest it for them. Everyone in the family knew that when it came to ways to make your wealth grow, Jake was the man. Even now, at a mere thirty-two, Slade considered himself pretty well-off, and thanks to Uncle Jake, his money was growing daily.
“So your marriage to him was being arranged by the two sets of parents?”
“Yes, and Wayne and I agreed to what they wanted so our parents wouldn’t yank our trust funds away. At least Wayne was doing it for that reason, since he stands to lose half of his if we don’t marry. I have no such stipulation on mine, thanks to the person who set it up for me.”
Slade lifted a brow as he watched her bite into her sandwich. “Your parents didn’t set it up?”
She shook her head. “No, someone else did. I believe it was an older aunt or somebody. I never asked, but I do know my parents can’t deny me access to it when I turn thirty. Trust me, as angry as they are with me for coming here this summer, they would have done anything they could have to stop me.”
He nodded, not really surprised that her parents hadn’t given her their blessings to spend the summer in Houston, but she had come anyway. He would love to think he had something to do with it, but he knew the reason. The only reason she was here was to spend time with Vincent.
“So, how does your ex-fiancé feel about the possibility of getting denied some of his trust fund because the two of you won’t be getting married?”
Skye met Slade’s gaze. “That’s what’s so strange, Slade. I’ve told Wayne countless times that we won’t be getting back together, but he acts like he doesn’t want to believe me. Even earlier today he called before I left for the airport and I had to break it down to him again that we would not be getting married on Christmas Day.”
“Christmas Day?”
She nodded again. “Yes. All Bigelows get married on Christmas Day. It’s a tradition that got started by his family generations ago.”
“How old is this guy?”
“Twenty-nine. He’ll turn thirty in April, but he has to be married to me by then.”
Slade shook his head. Now that was an arranged marriage if he’d ever heard of one. What if the couple weren’t compatible? What if they didn’t love each other and were in love with other people? He guessed those things didn’t matter. People who established those types of stipulated trust funds used money as an enticement for people to marry the person they felt was right for them, regardless of how the individuals felt about it.
He got the impression that Skye didn’t want to discuss her ex-fiancé any longer when she asked, “The kitchen is stocked? Is that how you were able to fix these delicious sandwiches?”
He smiled. “No, your cupboards are bare. I went to my place and used the stuff I had in my kitchen to fix them.”
She took a sip of her tea. “I know you said you have a condo in this same building; what floor is it on?”
“This one.”
He knew his words caught her attention when she stopped sipping her tea. “You’re also on the twenty-fifth floor?”
He tried not looking at her when he said, “Yes.”
Evidently, she began suspecting something, because then she asked, “How close is it?”
He glanced up at her, trying not to smile under her quizzical stare. “It’s right across the hall.”
She didn’t say anything as his words sank in. Then as if for clarification purposes, she asked, “Your condo is right across the hall?”
“Yes.” He decided not to go into any details about their having the entire floor to themselves for the time being.
“Don’t you think us living so close is a little too close for comfort?”
He couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips. “Sweetheart, after what we shared earl
ier, it might not be close enough for me.”
Skye began nibbling nervously on her bottom lip. She hoped she hadn’t sent out the wrong message to Slade by sleeping with him. Although she loved him—something he didn’t know and she didn’t intend to tell him—her purpose for coming here hadn’t changed. She wanted to spend time with Vincent, and she didn’t want his family getting the wrong idea about her and Slade. But then, she wondered what idea they could get now that wasn’t true, especially after she and Slade had shared a bed today. So technically, they were lovers. But still, she had to get him to understand.
“Slade, you do know why I’m here, don’t you?” she asked.
He met her gaze and the dimples in his smile were getting her body hot all over again. “Because you missed me.”
She had done that, but that wasn’t the reason. “I’m here to spend time with Vincent. I don’t want you to think that—”
He placed a finger to her lips. “Hey, don’t get nervous and uptight on me. No sweat. I know what brought you to Houston, Skye. But then I also know something else that maybe you need to know as well.”
“What?”
“I can act as discreet toward you as I can, but my family knows me and it won’t take long for them to figure out just how much I’m interested in you. I can’t and won’t pretend you aren’t important to me, so please don’t ask me to take anything we share lightly, because I can’t and I won’t. But I will promise not to dominate your time. I just want you to know that I’m here, right across the hall, whenever you need me.”
Skye didn’t know how to respond to that. He was being extremely gracious about things, but then she had discovered from the first that Slade was a very generous and gracious man. “Thank you, Slade.”
“You’re welcome. But there’s something I think I ought to tell you up front.”
“What?”
“I want you something awful and it’s going to be hard to keep my hands off you when we’re around others, but I will. But once we’re alone, Skye, do you know what will happen?”
She smiled. “I think I do, but tell me anyway.”
He decided to show her, and moving the tray aside, he lowered his mouth to hers.
Slade went to his own apartment to get dressed for dinner, and after he’d left, Skye took a shower and dressed in a pair of black slacks and a light pink blouse. Her body was still tingling over the lovemaking they had shared.
And now they were going out to dinner together. Their official first date, although she didn’t want to think of it as such. But then how could she not when she loved him the way she did? However, she would keep her love for him to herself. It was a secret she would share with no one, because nothing could ever come of it. The last thing she needed was to dream about things that couldn’t happen. She was a realist. She didn’t believe in dreams. How many times had she dreamed that her mother would start being kind or that they would have a normal family life, something that never happened?
But then there were dreams worth holding on to. Like the ones she’d had of Slade when she had returned to Maine. She had dreamed of him holding her in his arms, kissing her passionately, constantly, non-stop, and then there were those of when he would make love to her. He had made the real thing so much better than the dreams, and she’d thought the dreams she’d had were pretty heavy. There had been nothing lightweight about them at all.
The sound of the doorbell caused her to jump. She smiled, knowing it was probably Slade, and headed for the door. She opened it and found him standing there, leaning one broad shoulder against the door frame. He was wearing a pair of dark gray pleated trousers and a white shirt, and he looked the epitome of everything male.
The dark eyes that looked her up and down, from head to toe, were turning her stomach to jelly, and then when she remembered all the intimate things they had done together earlier, she knew a tint had to be showing in her features.
“You’re beautiful.”
His words had her shaking her head yet smiling nonetheless. The man definitely knew how to dish out compliments, and he was very generous with them. “Thanks, and I think you’re beautiful, too.”
Now it was he who shook his head. “Men aren’t beautiful.”
“Then I guess you’re an exception, Slade Madaris, because in my eyes, you are beautiful.”
Instead of standing there arguing with her, he leaned over and gently kissed her lips. “You’re having a delirious moment. I think it’s time I fed you more than chips and a sandwich. I’m going to take you to a place that serves big juicy steaks, Texas size, with all the trimmings that go with them.”
“Sounds delicious.”
“I think you’ll be pleased. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. I just need to grab my purse.” She took a step back inside the condo. He pushed away from the door frame and followed her inside, closing the door behind him.
She picked up her purse off the breakfast bar separating the living room from the dining room area, and spinning back around, she almost collided with Slade, who was standing directly behind her. “Oops, I didn’t know you were standing so close.”
He reached out and placed his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to the fit of him. Then he leaned forward and those so-desirable lips of his moved over hers with such tenderness that something warm and cozy began to spread all through her.
Moments later he pulled back and whispered in a raspy voice, “Thank you for such a wonderful afternoon, Skye.”
He was thanking her when she figured she should be thanking him. She had done more than share a bed with him this afternoon, more than made love with him. She had shared an experience with him that even now still had her body tingling from head to toe. There was no way what they’d shared hadn’t had an impact on her life. For the first time ever, she knew how it felt to be wanted by a man, desired by him, and taken to a level of lovemaking with him that could set your soul, as well as your entire body, on fire. She felt moisture form in her eyes at just how special their afternoon had been together. For the first time ever, she had felt she’d been special to someone. Truly special.
She stared at him, wanting to say the words to make him understand. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead she focused on his lips and thought she could show him better than she could tell him.
She leaned up and kissed his cheek. She then slid her lips to taste the area along his firm jawline. Moments later the tip of her tongue tasted the corners of his mouth, and then with a deliberate purpose, she placed her mouth over his.
On a deep sigh he parted his lips, and she invaded his mouth with hers, tasting him as hungrily as he’d ever tasted her. She felt his hands tighten around her waist as he pulled her closer to the fit of him, letting her feel how aroused he was.
She continued kissing him, stroking her tongue with his, while her heartbeat hammered relentlessly in her chest. And when she couldn’t take any more, she pulled her mouth back and inhaled a deep breath.
He reached out and tipped her chin toward him and met her gaze. The eyes holding hers were dark, hot, mesmerizing. “You are so unlike anyone I’ve ever known. So utterly different in a good way,” he whispered hoarsely as his lips quirked into a smile. “But you like playing with fire, don’t you?”
She grinned at the incredulity in his voice. “I don’t mind as long as I can count on you to be my fireman who’s willing to put out the flame if it gets out of hand.”
He chuckled. “Well, in that case, I think we need to leave before we end up burning this place down,” he said softly with meaning as he took her hand in his.
As he led her to the door, she whispered over at him, “I think you’re right.”
By the time they had arrived at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Skye’s heart had stopped hammering in her chest. And when she was seated at the table she and Slade had been given, she was ready to relax and feed her stomach as the delicious scent of food filled her head.
Sh
e glanced around, liking the décor of low ceilings, dark wood, paneled walls, leather upholstery, and soft lighting, which gave the interior an upscale feel. After they had been served water and handed menus, she took a sip and glanced over at Slade. “I’m sure you’ve been here before, so what do you suggest?”
He smiled at her from across the table. “For me it will be their classic prime-rib-that’s-grilled-to-perfection steak, but I know in your neck of the woods, seafood is the name of the game, so if you prefer to go that route, then I suggest either their lobster tails, steamed crab legs, or wild Alaskan salmon that you can complement with various side dishes that include a baked potato and macaroni and cheese.”
Skye’s eyes lit up. “Oooh, I love macaroni and cheese.”
“Then I’m going to have to prepare dinner for you one night and include it on my menu.”
She lifted a dubious brow. “You can cook good macaroni and cheese?”
He leaned back in his chair and chuckled. “Not only is it good; it’s mean. And if you’re a person who likes cheese, then it’s the dish for you. I use my great-grandmother Laverne’s own recipe. We all do. It’s been passed down the Madaris line for years and is one we can share freely. Now the Madaris prized tea is another matter.”
She smiled over at him. “What about the tea?”
“It’s a secret. The only persons who know what goes into the making of it are the males in the family, but only when they reach the age of thirty-five. So I don’t know the ingredients yet, and in a way I don’t want to know.”
Skye raised her brows. “Why?”
“Because there are certain female members of the family who think they have a right to know and are trying to find out, and I don’t want to be placed in a position where I’m cornered by any of them.” He chuckled. “They can be ruthless in the pursuit of finding out things they have no business knowing.”
Skye grinned. She knew he was just teasing about the women being ruthless, and she enjoyed listening to anything he had to say about his family. She had heard enough to know they were a tight-knit group who might fuss among themselves, but she had a feeling when it came to the real deal, they backed up their own.
Slow Burn (A Madaris Family Novel) Page 14