by J. S. Scott
“Sleep,” she insisted, cuddling against him.
Sam was groggy, probably from the medication, but he couldn’t keep the images of Maddie’s car being slammed, with her inside it, from haunting him. What if she had been seriously injured…or worse? Christ! Those images were going to torment him for a while. “Something bad could have happened,” he finally answered gruffly.
“It didn’t,” Maddie said soothingly, placing her head on his shoulder and running her fingers through his hair gently, caressing the back of his head in gentle circles. “Please rest, Sam. I’m worried about you. You obviously have a bad case of the flu and you need to sleep.”
His chest ached, but not from his illness. Her concerned, soft voice comforted him and he closed his eyes tightly, his emotional reaction to her protectiveness intense.
His maniacal concern for her safety and possessiveness he could handle. But having someone care for him was foreign, and he wasn’t sure how to react to it. “I’m glad you’re here, Sunshine,” he muttered softly, rubbing his face in her hair.
“Call me next time, please,” she requested sleepily.
“Nothing can happen to you, Maddie. I wouldn’t live through it,” he said in a husky voice.
Sam wondered how Max had even survived after losing his wife. The pain must have been excruciating if Max had felt anything like the obsessive need he had for the cuddly, redheaded miracle he held in his arms right now.
“I’m here, Sam,” she whispered.
Thank God!
“You’re marrying me,” he rumbled, his eyes closing, drowsiness taking over his body.
She didn’t answer. She just snuggled closer and sighed.
Sam didn’t let her lack of response bother him. In fact, his lips curled up in a smile. It was progress. At least she hadn’t argued and she hadn’t said no.
With that positive thought in his head, he slept.
Chapter 11
Maddie stayed with Sam until he had completely recovered, spending her two days off getting him through the worst of the illness and then going to his house every night after work for the last several days to make sure he was taking care of himself properly. He was by far the worst patient she had ever had, and she had seen her share of horrible ones. Sam Hudson didn’t like weakness of any kind, and obviously that included anything that hampered him physically.
At the moment, he looked like nothing but trouble, completely furious and irritated as he stared at her from his home office desk, leaning back in his chair, glowering.
Sam was hiding behind his façade again, and Maddie hated it. He’d shown some vulnerability during the time that he had been ill. But he was the bully again…back in full force. She could accept Sam’s alpha male personality. In fact, there were times she adored it. However, now was not one of those moments, when he was uttering demands, without a compromise or reason for his actions.
“You’re driving the new car. Period. End of discussion,” he barked, as though she were one of his employees.
Maddie took a deep breath and blew it out. “Fine. If the discussion is over, I’m leaving. And you can take the car and shove it up your ass because I’m not driving it. You had no right to select a vehicle for me without asking and then demand I drive it. I’m not one of your damn employees.”
Wishing she had never come to his house this evening, she tried to compose herself. All she’d wanted to do was make sure he was feeling okay, taking care of himself. He’d been a complete ass to her this evening, basically throwing her keys to a new metallic black Mercedes SUV that had probably cost more than most people’s homes, and demanding that she drive it. It wasn’t that she didn’t love the vehicle. She actually did. Who wouldn’t? Her problem was his attitude, his distance. He just commanded and expected her to jump to his demands. He was hiding again, worried that he had shown too much weakness, and was going way over the top to make up for the lapse during his illness. She understood what he was doing and his motivations for it. But dammit…it hurt.
“I know you’re not one of my damn employees. If you were, you’d do what I tell you to do,” he growled. “And if you walk out that door, I’ll catch you.”
Folding her arms in front of her, she glared at him. “Then what? How do you plan on forcing me to drive it?” she retorted, her voice starting to get shaky and emotional. “Damn it! You didn’t even ask me if I liked it, if I wanted it. My opinion doesn’t matter, as long as I do as you say. What the hell is wrong with you tonight?” A lone tear flowed down her cheek and she swiped at it impatiently. There was so much about Sam that she loved, but there were a few things she couldn’t tolerate.
Bossy…okay. Occasionally.
Demanding in bed…hell yeah.
Protective…yep.
Distant and cold…hell no!
Sam stood and walked around the desk. “You’re not leaving,” he said huskily. “Why are you crying?”
Maddie sprinted for the door, not ready to answer that question.
Because I love you so much it hurts. Because I want to matter to you as much as you matter to me. Because when you shut me out and get cold, I get scared.
Pulling the door open frantically, desperate to escape, she felt Sam’s body slam into her from behind, pushing the door closed, trapping her between his arms on both sides of her body.
She leaned her forehead against the door, tears escaping her eyes unchecked. “Please, just let me go.”
“Tell me why you’re crying. You don’t like the car? I can take it back. Get something else, as long as it’s safe. It’s classy and it reminded me of you.” He was panting, his breath warm against her ear.
Shit. He was softening, acting like her Sam again. Here I go, up the roller coaster incline, wondering when I’m going to plummet again.
“I can’t handle this, Sam. Please.” Her emotions were a jumbled mess, old baggage coming back to haunt her. She couldn’t help it. Sam was so necessary to her happiness that it scared her when he became so icy and brittle.
“What did I do, Sunshine? Tell me.” His voice was tender, emotional. “I’ll fix it.”
“When you’re cold and distant, I get afraid that you don’t want me anymore,” she choked out emotionally. She hadn’t meant to say it, but there it was. “I know it’s old baggage, and I know I’m probably needier than most women when it comes to you, but I have to know that I’m important to you, that my opinions matter. That I matter.” Even to herself, she sounded pathetic, but she couldn’t help it. “When you distance yourself emotionally from me, acting cold, I get scared.”
Sam wrapped his arms around Maddie’s upper body, bringing her back against him, rocking her. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. So sorry,” he murmured against her ear, rocking her back and forth against him. “I get scared, too. I’m afraid something will happen to you and I won’t be worth a shit if it does. Don’t you understand how important you are to me?”
Maddie shook her head, her shoulders shaking from suppressed sobs of agony, temporarily haunted by her fears from the past. Dammit! She had learned to be alone, not to depend on anyone. But all of her defenses were crumbling with this man.
Sam turned her and lifted her into his arms, coming to rest on the leather couch against the wall of his home office, holding her tightly on his lap. “I need you, Maddie. So much that it terrifies me. I guess sometimes I’m afraid to need someone so damn much that my whole life depends on it.” He released a shaky, masculine sigh as he stroked her hair.
“I need you too, Sam. So much. I can’t stand it when you’re cold and remote. It brings back all of my past, all of the times that nobody wanted me.” She had already told him the worst. If she couldn’t share her emotions, he would never know.
“Fuck!” He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “Sunshine, sometimes I forget that you have your own insecurities. I was a selfish prick. I was only thinking about protecting myself. Forgive me. Please. I’ll try to never do it again. I promise. But I don’t think I can stop
worrying.” He pulled back, shooting her an intense look, his liquid green eyes hot and torrid.
“I want you exactly as you are, minus the frigid stuff,” she said, smiling through her tears. She had been selfish too, letting her fears rule her, forgetting about Sam’s past and how vulnerable he had to feel right now.
“What if it’s too hot?” he asked, his baritone husky and rough.
She melted and smiled as she met his eyes, his look of desire blatant, his face completely stripped of its icy mask. “Then I’ll happily burn,” she answered, moving to straddle him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Sam snaked his hand behind Maddie’s head, pulling her head down roughly to meet his hungry mouth. He devoured her, his silken tongue dancing with hers, demanding and rough. She was positioned on top of him, but still, he mastered her. His hands moved to her temples, spearing his hands into her hair, securing her in place for his possession.
She gyrated against his heavily swollen cock as her hands fisted into his hair, needing him, wanting him inside her so desperately that she moaned into his mouth. She was lost, she knew it…and she didn’t care. Breathing in the scent of him, tasting him, feeling that massive cock against her core turned her wild, insane to have him inside her. Buttons popped on her button-down short sleeved shirt and she whimpered against his tongue as his hands frantically sought her bare breasts, opening the front fastening of her bra and cupping her breasts possessively. She panted as she pulled her mouth from his and shrugged out of the torn shirt and bra, letting them fall haphazardly to the floor. “Please, Sam. I need to feel you inside me.” Rocking backward, she stood in front of him and yanked at the drawstring waist of her cotton capri pants, shedding them with her panties, standing before him completely naked.
Still dressed in his gray suit and tie, he looked like he was ready to go into a business meeting; until she looked at his face, and his bulging erection. He fucked her with his eyes, his gaze so heated and tortured that she knew he was already anticipating the act…and needing it desperately. He jerked at his belt and unzipped his fly, his hot stare never leaving her body. “Ride me,” he grunted demandingly, pulling his engorged cock from his pants.
She looked at his enormous member and then his expensive suit. “It might stain your nice suit,” she said hesitantly, but her pussy was creaming at the thought of covering him right now, exactly as he was, rocking his world when he was dressed like a powerful executive.
“Then it will become my favorite goddamn suit. I’ll get it cleaned and wear it every day, remembering what it felt like to fuck you in it. Come here. Now,” he rumbled, opening his arms to her.
She straddled him and his arms came around her body possessively, his mouth seeking her sensitive nipples before she had even settled on his lap. Her back arched as he bit gently at her nipples with just enough pleasure/pain to drive her insane. Rocking her hips, she slid her clit along his member, moaning at the friction, his cock as hard as steel, allowing her to stimulate herself against him. Hands gliding down her back, Sam cupped her ass, sliding one hand between their bodies from the back, his fingers gliding through her drenched folds.
“Christ! You’re so fucking wet. Hot. For me.” His voice was strained, his control barely leashed.
“I need you,” she whispered, leaning forward to nip the lobe of his ear, feeling his harsh whiskers against her soft skin. His skin abraded hers, adding to the feral wildness that was taking over her body.
Frantically, his fingers invaded her pussy, his breath ragged and hot against her breasts as he stopped laving and nipping at her nipples, inhaling and exhaling as though he was trying to gain control of himself. One hand clutched the cheek of her ass as the other left her saturated folds, and worked to her anus, wetting the star-shaped entrance with her own juices. She gasped as one cream-soaked thumb worked its way into her ass, easing gently into her after breaching her tight external sphincter.
“Ahh…” she groaned, throwing her head back as he eased a little further into her, gently pumping. It didn’t hurt; it was so damn erotic she almost climaxed.
“Fuck!” Sam jerked his thumb from her, his chest heaving. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he chanted in a husky, confused voice.
“What? What is it?” She jerked back to look at his face.
He was sweating, droplets pouring from his forehead and onto his pristine white shirt, his face pale and haunted. “I’m sorry,” he repeated again. “I don’t do that. I shouldn’t have violated you that way.” He was breathing hard, his whole body tense.
Oh, shit. Obviously Sam didn’t do anal sex…or anal anything because of his past experience. Neither did she, but the sense of fullness had been hot, erotic. He’d been so gentle and careful not to hurt her. “Sam, you didn’t hurt me. It felt good. It was hot.”
“I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t.” He shook his head, perspiration still dripping from his face. “I was just so damned obsessed with being inside you in every way that I forgot.”
Grasping his face, she forced his eyes to meet hers. “It was erotic. I loved feeling you inside me. I’m not ready for anal sex, but you nearly made me come. You were gentle. You. Did. Not. Hurt. Me.” She stared at him with adoring eyes.
“You actually like it?” he asked, his voice astonished. He searched her face, looking for the truth.
“Yes. You have my permission to invade me any time you want to,” she answered, her voice sultry and needy. “Please. I need you.” She wanted to take away the remorseful look from his face and replace it with desire again.
“I have to be inside you, Maddie. Now,” he rasped, his voice desperate.
She lifted her ass and he grasped his engorged member. They groaned together as his cock slid into her channel. Inching herself down onto him, she clenched his shoulders, her muscles stretching to accept him, panting as he exquisitely filled her to capacity, almost, but not quite, to the border of discomfort.
He fisted his hands at her hips, his jaw clenched, his whole expression feral and covetous. Sam looked beautiful in that moment, his desire and possessiveness so close to the surface, his powerful body tense with carnal desire.
Maddie gasped as he thrust upward, burying himself as deeply inside her as he possibly could. “Yes,” she hissed, panting, the air around them humid, heavy and scented with equal parts desire and need. Her inner muscles clenched around his pulsating cock, her entire body trembling.
His eyes held hers, their gazes locking as he controlled his thrusts, the movement of his cock in and out of her tight cavern.
“I want to go slow. I want to savor this feeling. But you feel so incredible, Sunshine. I can’t last,” he whispered huskily.
Maddie felt like she was about to incinerate. “Just fuck me, Sam. Please. I love the feel of you inside me. I wish we could stay like this forever.” She moaned as he stroked harder, the curve of her ass and upper thighs being caressed by the elegant fabric of his pants with every pump of his hips. Her clit rode his open zipper, the teasing friction sending her reeling. Maddie gave herself over to Sam, completely lost to sensation as she closed her eyes and tipped her head back helplessly.
“Need you, Maddie. I need you,” he growled, one of his hands sliding over her ass. “I want to be inside of you everywhere. Need to.” His thumb slid back into her anus, the area already wet with her juices. He stroked in and out of that tight hole gently while he rocked her channel with pummeling thrusts of his cock.
“Oh God, yes. Yes.” Her pussy clenched around his cock, milking him with her spasms. She keened as tremors shook her body.
“Come for me, Maddie,” he growled, grasping the back of her neck and pulling her mouth roughly to his, spearing between her lips with his marauding tongue, deeply inside her in every way possible.
Even though she was supposed to be riding him, Sam continued to master her, demanding, insisting, and dominating. The only thing she could do was lower herself down to meet his frantic, deep thrusts…and come.
Ripping her mouth from his, she screamed, her climax tearing through her body like a turbulent storm, leaving her helpless in the aftermath.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” Sam groaned, slamming into her hard as his cock pulsated, releasing himself deeply into her womb, his thumb still stroking gently in and out of her ass unconsciously as he shuddered from his explosive release.
Sam twisted, pulling his hands away from her hips and ass. He collapsed on the couch, keeping her body on top of his by wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. “You’re going to kill me,” he rasped, belying the harshness of his words by kissing her forehead, her temple, her cheeks, and finally laying a tender kiss on her swollen lips. “I’m sorry. I did it again.”
Maddie didn’t have to ask him what he meant. “I gave you consent, Sam. You aren’t violating me. Please. Nothing we do together is shameful. I enjoyed it, I wanted it. I want you in every way, everywhere.”
“I don’t have any control with you, Sunshine,” he said woefully.
“I know. And I love the way you want me,” she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder.
“Do you, Maddie? Does it ever frighten you? Cause sometimes it scares the hell out of me,” he said, his hand stroking her hair.
“No, Sam. I could never be afraid of you. You might piss me off, but the way you want me makes me so hot that I can’t resist you. I want you as much as you want me,” she answered him honestly.
He shook his head, his whiskers lightly brushing her forehead. “Not possible, sweetheart,” he said, his rough baritone vibrating against her ear.
“So you’d rather have control? Fuck without passion?” she asked curiously.
“Hell no. I didn’t say I didn’t want it. I just said it can be a little uncomfortable,” he answered gruffly.
Maddie traced her finger over the striped pattern on his tie. “We’ll get used to it,” she mused. “I can’t believe I’m laying here stark naked while you look like you’re ready to go out and dominate the world.”