House of Payne: Sage

by Stacy Gail

  “This one isn’t.” He looked around the large living space, where not even a single strand of tinsel could be found. “Considering your place looks like a damn Hallmark movie set, I guess this looks pretty bare.”

  “It’s perfect.” She shot him that killer smile of hers from over her shoulder. “I’ll bet the light is spectacular in the morning, with all these east-facing windows.”

  “Oh, yeah. That’s where I do most of my creating.” He nodded to something covered in a drop cloth on a battered adjustable workbench near the windows, with scraps of metal stacked to one side of the bench. “I’ve already wrapped up the two paintings I’m donating to the auction, and I’m almost done with the sculpture I said I’d get to them. Problem is, once I saw that painting of yours last night, the fire to finish this last piece has kinda fizzled out.”

  The look she sent him was wary, like she thought he might somehow be reprimanding her. “My painting? What does my painting have to do with anything?”

  “The moment I saw it, I got hit with an inspiration for another piece, and now that’s all I can think about. Well,” he qualified, moving in to catch her hand in his, “that’s not exactly right. Your painting was the inspiration for my next piece, but you’re the one I can’t get out of my head. Especially since we had our first fight. Gotta say, that really sucked.”

  “I wasn’t exactly a fan of it, either.” She grimaced and looked down at their entwined hands. “I’ve never had anyone—outside of family, of course—get to me the way you do. It’s like the world glows when we’re together and things are running smoothly. But when things don’t run smoothly, it’s… awful. I had no idea that another person could have that kind of power over me. To be honest, it kind of pisses me off that you do.”

  “Careful now, Skittish.” Just to make sure she didn’t slip away, he pulled her into his arms. It didn’t surprise him in the least to find that while she didn’t resist him, she didn’t exactly melt against him, either. “You’re sounding dangerously close to putting up some defenses against me.”

  “I didn’t sleep last night. You didn’t sleep last night. Why? Because we had a fight? That’s so insane. Why do we care so damn much?”

  “Because what we have is rare, and neither one of us wants to lose it.” The words were out without any thought, but he wasn’t even mad about it. How could he be? They were the truth. “Think back to the time before we got together. Was your life better without me in it?”

  It seemed to take her a while to find the right words. “It was less complicated.”

  She had him there. “That wasn’t what I asked.”

  She rolled her lips in between her teeth. “It’s hard to even think back to that time, even though it wasn’t that long ago.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because before you, my life before was just… nothing. Like one of my outlines without anything inside of it. No color. No substance. Not even a frame of reference. It’s like it was empty. Waiting to be filled.”

  “By me.” He bent to nuzzle his face against hers, and almost smiled when he felt her slowly begin to melt against him. There we go. “I’m the same way. That’s why I couldn’t sleep last night. That’s why we’re never going to go through another night like that, you hear me?”

  “I’m not the one who walked away last night.”

  So she was still a little salty. “I’m going to make sure you never do.”

  “You sound certain that you can.”

  “I like my chances.” Snuffing out that tiny flame of resistance in her—not that he could blame her for it—became his number-one priority. Every instinct he had screamed at him to just haul her into his bed and fuck her until she was nothing more than helpless putty in his hands, but that wasn’t a long-term fix. “Still mad at me?”

  “No.” Something glowed deep and pure inside him when she lifted her face a little more to his. “Not about the painting, anyway.”

  “Tell me what you’re mad about. Let me hear what’s going on inside you.”

  “I’m not mad at you. Not exactly. I just feel… raw, I guess. Like we’re not on firm ground, even though we’re standing here together. It’s like I can’t believe it won’t just vanish out from under my feet if I say or do the wrong thing.”

  Shit. “Fuck me for making you feel that way.”

  “No, no—”

  “Yeah, Skittish, how you’re feeling now is totally on me, and I’m not so fucking spineless that I’m going to hide from that fact. My walking out was a totally dumbass thing to do, and it’s shaken your belief in me. I did that, so fine. I’m the one who needs to fix it.”

  “How?” Her smile had nothing to do with humor, though she didn’t pull away from him. That had to mean something good. “Want to draw up a contract, promising that neither one of us will just up and head for the hills if things get too difficult?”

  “Great idea,” he drawled, trying to soothe the tension he could feel in her by running his hands up and down her back. “Except for the fact that contracts were made to be broken.”

  “I thought that was promises.”

  “Same thing. Point is, what we’ve got going on can’t be confined to empty promises. What we have is good, and real, and I want to build on it. I want you to want that, too.”

  “I do.” Her answer was so quick he had no doubt she meant it. “I really do.”

  “Good. So that means as of now everything I do is going to be dedicated to proving you can trust me. I’m going to be everything you need, even before you know you need it. More than that, I’m going to be there for you whenever you need me. You reach out a hand, I’ll be there no matter what. Being all that you need and more is how I’m going to win back your trust.”

  “I do trust you.” The shadow of doubt pulling her brows together told him a different story, probably more than even she realized. “I’m just freaked out over how quickly everything fell to shit. I mean, I know relationships fall apart. I’m from a broken home, so I get it. There are no guarantees. I just didn’t know things could unravel so fast. Fighting with you… it was like watching my house burn down from the inside, and I was helpless to stop it. I’m not good at being helpless. Helpless can frigging bite me.”

  “We’re in the same boat on that one.”

  “The point is, I want us to stay in the same boat without it sinking underneath us.”

  “I’m no expert on long-term relationships,” he said after a moment, and he plowed his fingers through her short hair to get her to raise her eyes to his. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a relationship last longer than a few months at a whack, which was always fine with me in the past. But this time it’s different. No one’s ever given me a sleepless night the way you have, and no one’s ever made me understand what it is to be obsessed the way you do. I’m willing to hang in there with you long after the fight’s over and do the hard work of putting us back together, because everything in me is telling me you’re… fucking… worth… it. The question is, am I worth it to you?”

  “Yes.” Again the answer came immediately, and he could see the truth of it glowing in her eyes. “Somewhere between flipping a mushroom at you with chopsticks and now, I became totally invested. I didn’t even realize how much until you walked out that door. Just tell me that you’ll give me the chance to be the first one to walk out that door next time we fight. Then we’ll be even.”

  “No more walking, for either of us,” he said flatly, not even close to amused at her lame joke. “Next time we fight, I’m locking us up in a room and we won’t leave it until we’ve hashed it out and had the best make-up sex this world has ever seen. Deal?”

  “Deal.” With the beginnings of a smile, she rolled up on her tiptoes and sealed their deal with a kiss.

  *

  Mads closed her eyes as the sweet, agonizing tension grew deep in her belly, radiating outward to make her spine tingle.

  Yes.

  “I’m close.” It took all her concentration to form th
e words. The feel of Sage’s cock thrusting in and out of her was too distracting and essential to life, that verbal communication meant almost nothing to her. “Deeper, Sage. Please let me feel you all the way inside me.”

  “You want deep? I’ll give you deep.” His growling voice came from somewhere over her shoulder, his chest pressing against her naked back while her knees, spread wide, sank into the mattress. Her cheek was against the rumpled sheets, but a second later he pulled out of her and flipped her over. “I know exactly how to give you deep.”

  “Yes.” Sheer relief slammed into her even as he slammed his thick shaft back into her depths. He moved her so that her legs were completely folded with her knees pulled all the way up toward her head, a position that tilted her pelvis toward him for the best possible melding of their bodies.

  Perfect.

  Her world shook with each powerful thrust. He became fully sheathed within her every time he plunged into her, his body impacting hers in a way that made her gasp with jagged, aching pleasure.

  This was a savage fucking, bordering on brutal, and she absolutely loved it.

  Even as that thought burst and vanished in her mind like a firework, that sweetly anguished tension inside suddenly ballooned. A frantic little noise escaped her as the madness abruptly engulfed her, shattering that tension so completely she was sure she would never be put together right again.

  And it was glorious.

  On and on it spun out inside her, a piercing, breathless glimpse of heaven, and even as she heard his groans of wild completion join hers, she struggled to hold on to that precious madness.

  A small eternity passed before he stirred against her. He kissed her neck in the place that now seemed to bear his permanent hickey, before she felt him gently slide out of her and away from the bed. Less than a minute later he was back, and she let out a low hum of appreciation when a warm washcloth wiped between her legs.

  “I’d always heard that make-up sex is the best sex in the world.” His voice was a deep, warm rumble, and the mere sound of it made her shiver. “I’m sorry we fought, and I sure as hell won’t pick any fights with you just so we can get some epic make-up sex. But damn, that is now officially a temptation. Make-up sex fucking rocks.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to walk right again.” Still dazed and thoroughly content with it, Mads at last dragged her eyes open and found Sage’s face only inches from hers. How utterly heart-stopping he was. “Thanks for that.”

  “Maybe I should get you a nice little scooter for Christmas.” Smiling a smile that melted her from the inside out, he situated himself back on the pillows of his bed, then dragged her up to sprawl halfway on top of him. “Or would that be a birthday present? How does that work, anyway, having a birthday on Christmas Eve?”

  “It used to be pretty cool, when my mom was around.” Mads yawned against his chest, feeling as boneless as a ragdoll. “In those early years, she told everyone straight up that there was a difference between my birthday and Christmas, and almost always we had a little birthday party for me that had absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. No red and green decorations, no songs or movies that had to do with Christmas. Not even the wrapping paper on my birthday gifts were allowed to look anything like Christmas. She usually went for the neon, ultra girlie stuff, and all the thought she put into it made my birthday feel as special as anyone else’s. Then she left, because she couldn’t take my dad’s whining about his unfair life, and that all came to an end. My birthday became just another day during the mad rush of the holidays. But I do still celebrate Christmas.”

  “We’re celebrating your birthday this year,” he decided, and the way he said it made her think that neither hell nor high water was going to stop him. “’Course, we’ve got to get through the auction first, but if we do all our glad-handing right at the beginning of the event, we should be able to bounce out of there after fifteen or twenty minutes, and then spend the rest of the evening however you want. How about I take you out to your favorite restaurant?”

  “I want to go to Noodleheads with you again.”

  “Noodleheads? That’s your favorite restaurant?”

  “That’s where our first date happened, so yeah. That’s where I want to go. I have high hopes that this time I won’t accidentally fling a mushroom at you.”

  God, you’re sweet.” She’d thought there’d be a smile or maybe even laughter in his tone, but he sounded so serious it alarmed her enough to make her raise her head to search his face. “I didn’t know there were people in the world like you, Daniels. There’s a part of me that still can’t believe you’re real.”

  Was that a good thing, or a bad thing? “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been given a choice of having your birthday meal anywhere in the city—a city that’s world-renowned for its cuisine—and you want to go to the little hole-in-the-wall ramen joint where we had our first date.”

  “Because that means something to me.”

  “Which makes me think that I mean something to you.”

  Well, duh. “Of course you mean something to me. You’re my favorite person, Sage McCormick. Didn’t you know that?”

  “See? So fucking sweet.”

  Aww. “I try.”

  “That’s the thing. You don’t. You’re so good and kind in such a natural way, it blows my damn mind. Everything you do makes the people in your life feel so frigging special, it feels almost like love. Swear to God, I don’t know how you do that.”

  All at once the air left the room. Love? Was this love? “Do you like feeling that way? You know, almost like you’re, uh…” Come on, coward, say it! “Like you’re loved?”

  “I feel like you give a shit about me. I’ve never had that, not even when I was a kid. I never even knew I needed it, until you came along.” He turned his head and pressed a breathlessly gentle kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll do my damnedest to return that favor to you, so that you know what it feels like to matter to somebody. And make no mistake, woman. You matter one helluva lot to me.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that, because…same goes for me,” she whispered, feeling the opportunity slip away, because she was such an idiot. “I’m happy when you’re happy, so I’ll do just about anything to keep a smile on your face. That’s what I love to do most in the world—make you smile.”

  “Yeah?” His big hands reached for her to pull her completely on top of him. She couldn’t help but delight in how the action brought them nose to nose, enabling her to see the smile glowing in his eyes. “You love making me smile, huh?”

  “It’s one of my favorite hobbies.”

  “Good to hear.” The smile appeared on his lips at last, and she couldn’t stop from zooming in on that enticing curve of his mouth. “You know what would make me smile right now?”

  She could guess. “What?”

  “Ordering pizza from my favorite twenty-four-hour pizza place, polish off the last of the beer I’ve got tucked away in the fridge, then crawl back into bed and fuck each other until we’re both unconscious. How’s that sound to you?”

  “I love it,” she said, then mentally groaned for repeating the L-word like a moron. It was almost like she was trying to tell him she loved everything about him, from his smile to his decision about ordering pizza. Because…

  She did.

  She loved everything about him. Or mostly everything about him. That whole walking-out thing hadn’t been all that great.

  But he regretted that, clearly. She loved that about him, too.

  In fact, she loved…

  Him.

  Oh, God.

  What had she done?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mads slowly rose through layers of sleep, the white glare of sunlight against her closed eyelids impossible to ignore. At last she dragged her eyes open and stared at the unfamiliar cathedral-like ceiling soaring above her, then at the navy blue and silver patterned sheets and comforter snuggled around her.

  What…? />
  Oh.

  That was right. She’d stayed overnight at Sage’s place. Not that she’d had any official plans to do so. Things had just worked out that way. The sleepless night before, coupled with their energetic sexy times, it was no wonder why she couldn’t even remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was being wrapped up in Sage’s arms…

  With that thought, she reached out to the other side of the bed and came up with a whole lot of nothing except cold bedclothes. Just as she was bracing herself to get out from under all the soft, warm goodness that smelled faintly like Sage, the familiar sound of her phone sidetracked her. Automatically she snagged it up from the bedside table where she’d left it and brought it under the covers.

  “Serena,” she mumbled around a yawn. “Good morning.”

  “Morning? It’s almost noon.”

  “It is?” She pulled the phone back just far enough to verify the time. “Huh. Guess I really needed to catch up on my sleep.”

  “You’re not coming down with anything, are you? You’ve been burning the candles at both ends lately, so it wouldn’t surprise me.”

  “I’m good, Rena. In fact, I’m better than good. Right at this very moment I’d say I’m just about as close to perfect as I’ve ever been.”

  “Oh, really?” Her sister’s chuckle reached her ear. “Let me take a wild shot in the dark here. You’re with Sage, aren’t you?”

  “Actually, I have no idea where he is. But I did spend the night at his place. That’s where I am now.”

  “And you just now woke up? In his bed?”

  “Well, yeah. I mean, where else would I be? It’s not like this was a sleepover with one of us crashing on the floor in a sleeping bag.”