by Aria Ford
I sighed as he came to join me on the bed. I could smell the musky scent of him and it excited me. He moved to lie next to me and I shivered, feeling his soft skin pressing on mine.
He moved to kiss me, his soft lips gently tracing mine and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close. It felt safe and warm and secure, his lips warming mine, his body pressed on me. It was different, so different. I was a woman with my own career. He was a man, with his. We weren’t kids. We were grown up now.
But still, our bodies remembered how we had been, all those years ago. As his hand stroked down my chest, making my entire body shudder with anticipation as he traced his long, firm fingers over my belly and lower still, stroking my thighs.
I gasped as his fingers moved between my thighs, gently probing my wetness. That was something new—he had matured in the time he’d been away and I felt a throbbing need in me to find out what it was he’d learned.
His finger slid down between my legs, probing my folds. I cried out as he touched me there, grazing lightly over my clit with his index finger. My body jolted under his touch and, as he gently stroked me there, a slow, repeating touch that started slowly and grew faster, I felt myself shudder and start to shake.
I was so close to my climax as he sat back and then, so gently, lowered his body between my thighs. Those soft brown eyes met mine. He looked at once naughty and overwhelmed.
“Yes?” he whispered.
“Yes,” I replied. “Oh, yes.”
I drew in a sharp breath as he positioned himself at my opening and then, slowly and exquisitely, pushed in.
Oh. My whole body relaxed, all the tension that I never even knew it held melting into the delicious sweetness that was having him inside me.
He pulled back and pushed in again, slowly. My body tingled and throbbed with the sweetness of it as he thrust into me repeatedly, faster each time, riding the waves that were crashing through my body, faster and faster and stronger and harder and…
I screamed aloud as I came. It was amazing, a sweet, flowing wonder that lifted me and carried me away into the barest consciousness.
I must have slept. When I next became aware of my surroundings, I was lying with my head on Maddox’s shoulder, his arms wrapped around me. He was stroking my side and his lips pressed my hair.
“Mm?” I murmured, turning over in his arms.
“Macy,” he whispered. His arms tightened around me, and I shifted so that I could look into his face. I looked into his eyes. My own were wet with tears. Happiness and wonder and release. All of them flowed through me into a single feeling so intense that it tightened round my heart and made me cry.
I kissed him wordlessly. What could I say? There were no words to tell him what I felt.
His lips moved over mine tenderly, nibbling and exploring and making me smile, a tender kiss that held new passion in it, and a wealth of feeling.
I snuggled close to him again and put my hand on his sternum, feeling the hard muscle and bone beneath my hand. It felt right to lie like this. Right and safe and lovely.
When I next woke, there was morning light filtering in through the window. Maddox was awake. I could hear him walking stiffly across the floor, heading to the bathroom. A moment later, he was beside me again.
“Morning,” I murmured. I reached out to him with arms deliciously aching from our embrace, my whole body sweetly bruised, inside and out, with the weight of our loving.
He rolled onto his side and looked down at my face. He gently stroked my hair. “Morning,” he whispered. He kissed me and I kissed him back.
We made love again, slowly and sweetly. I rested against his shoulder, my passion spent. I looked out over the growing light beyond the window and knew that I had never felt happier in my life.
He rolled over and kissed me as I twisted onto my side, preparing to get up. I slid out of bed and looked at the clock, stretching deliciously as I stood. “Seven thirty,” I said, stifling a delicate yawn. It was the time I usually got up.
I looked about the room, seeking out my clothes. When I stood up from retrieving my socks from under the bed, I found him watching me. I grinned.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head, still smiling. Then he stood up and stretched and I found myself staring at his body, so clear now in the early morning sunshine. Every muscle was so obvious, a walking lesson in anatomy except that no anatomy lesson was ever so beautiful. I found my breath catching in my throat as I watched him move, lost in the sheer beauty of that muscled form.
He collected his clothes and gave me a lazy grin.
“What?” I wryly said again, smiling back. My body, even though I had thought it impossibly sated, was heating up again just watching him.
“Nothing.” He smiled at me and came over and kissed my hair. I clung to him, reluctant to let go now that I had him here with me again.
He gently extricated himself and went to the bathroom. I heard him showering and bit back a smile as I listened to the water sluicing down his body. I wanted to go in and peep, but I didn’t know what he would say, so I stayed outside, waiting while he finished.
He came out dripping wet and I held him tight, loving the way his clean, damp body felt against my skin.
We kissed and I went to shower rapidly. I could hear him dressing and when I came out he had his clothes on again, the suit looking striking on that muscled body.
“Well,” I said, raising a brow as I tiptoed to my wardrobe to get out a fresh pair of panties. “You are handsome, aren’t you?”
He chuckled, a low rumble that started somewhere deep in his throat, a smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Nowhere near as gorgeous as you.”
I smiled and kissed him. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mister Jefferson.”
He chuckled.
I dressed and brushed my hair and when I finished I was surprised to find him by the front door.
“You’re leaving?” I asked.
He stroked my hair. “Yes. I should. Early start, you know.” He sighed.
“I know,” I nodded.
Before he left, he paused in the doorway. “I forgot. I don’t have a number.”
We looked at each other and giggled. He was right—neither of us had a contact number. I sighed and told him my number. He told me his and I reached for my phone, keying it in. That felt better.
“Good,” I said. He smiled.
“I think so too.”
We kissed again and when his lips moved away from mine I felt it like a physical ache. I wanted him so badly. I didn’t want to let him go.
All the same, as I heard his feet slowly walk down the hall and the sound as the elevator door opened, I felt a glow of pure joy fill my body.
I had spent the night with Maddox. And, I realized as I made my coffee, a song on my lips as I moved about the kitchen, I was as close as ever to completely, utterly and totally, falling for him.
In fact, I thought as I stirred my coffee, lost in sweet memory, I had already done that. It was a wonderful feeling. I didn’t think I’d ever stop smiling.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Maddox
I drove to my apartment in half-awake haze of wonder. I wasn’t aware of anything—the cars, the buses, the pedestrians, the grayish fog of early morning as the sun slowly rose. All I was aware of was my own sweet memories.
So many memories of her. The way her body felt under mine. The way she tasted when I kissed her. The sweet sound she made when I entered her.
I went into my apartment and blinked. It was exactly the same as it had been when I left it the previous morning, but everything seemed so alien, as if someone else lived here for the last three years; someone I’d seen before and knew but never was.
I am not the same person as I was when I went out.
I stared at myself in the mirror. It was me, alright—the same hooded eyes and thin-lipped mouth, the strawberry-pale hair, and the same slightly tight-fitting suit. But inside I was different.
&nbs
p; Last time I was here, I was still trying to tell myself I didn’t care about Macy anymore.
This time, I knew that I loved her.
“Wow.”
It was all I could say. I went through to make coffee and, while the kettle was on, I changed out of the suit into my normal work gear. I checked my schedule—I had to meet a client for a run at nine. It was 8:40 A.M. now. I quickly slid on my running gear and scrambled around the kitchen for a quick breakfast.
As I left the house, running to the bus stop to warm up, I relived the memories from that night. It had been completely surreal. From that magical evening when I had sat with her, talked with her—when I had danced with her, for goodness’ sakes—to the drive home and all that happened next. I felt as if something magical had happened; some ray of sunshine from another world breaking in on my ordinary life.
In the park, I saw my client, George Blake, waiting. I waved.
“Hey,” I called. A tall, spare man with the body of a marathon runner—if only he could find more time away from his work as a high-powered financier—he waved back.
“Hey.”
We set off together. I was trying to keep an eye on my client, trying not to push him or let him sink into the habit that he had of dragging his left leg that always resulted in a bad strain afterward. My mind wasn’t letting me do my job very well, though. It was preoccupied with memories of that night I’d just had. That unbelievable night.
As we rounded the edge of the park and headed out onto the street, sticking to the nice wide pavement on the right, I felt my own legs stretching and checked the time. We’d been at it for about half an hour already. George was looking surprisingly peaceful. When I first met him, he would have been sweating by now, but now he barely looked strained. I nodded to him.
“Great,” I said. He nodded back, breathing deep and regularly. As I thought earlier, he could be a great runner if he had time.
We rounded the block and headed back, planning on a circuit of the park again. When we finally stopped, stretching and sweating, my legs cramping just a little in the early morning cold air, he smiled at me.
“You look happy this morning,” he said mildly.
I blinked, surprised it was so obvious. “Thanks,” I said. I felt shy about it and found myself looking at the path, dotted here and there with patches of dew.
“A lovely morning,” he continued, bending to stretch his hamstrings.
“Uh huh,” I agreed, lunging to ease out the cramp in my calves.
“Springtime’s here, I reckon.”
“I think so,” I replied.
“Well, then,” he said when we were through with our stretches. “Thanks very much. Same time next time?” He shrugged a light pullover on over his running things, ready to go.
“If it suits you,” I agreed.
“Yup,” he nodded affably. “Always free on Thursday mornings.”
“Great,” I replied. “See you then.”
As he left, I wondered whether it was as obvious to everyone how happy I felt. I walked back through the park with an enormous grin on my face. Everything was beautiful today, from the kids playing on the lawn, to the dogs running around the flower beds, to the swallows, flitting high above the city just below the overhanging mists. I just felt wonderful.
As I drove back home again, the doubts started to set in. What was I thinking? Did I really expect that Macy Trent, executive at Trent Incorporated, was going to be interested in me? I sighed. Unlocked the door to my small, unassuming apartment and sat down heavily on the couch.
“Macy Trent,” I sighed. “You can’t really fall for me, can you?”
I looked around the apartment from the viewpoint of the sofa. My eye lingered over the cracks stain on the rug. The general impression of having been decorated in the late Eighties and left undisturbed. It was old and, let’s face it, a bit grim. The taps in the bathroom, I knew, still had the star-shaped handles that taps had when I was a kid, and the light in the kitchen had a chain pull that almost came out of the ceiling if you pulled it right.
I couldn’t even bring Macy in here, never mind expect her to stay.
It was all the old doubts all over again. I was the son of a convenience-store owner and she was the daughter of a multimillionaire. It wasn’t going to work.
“Oh well.”
I stretched, feeling the ache of cramp in my leg where it still objected to running in the morning chill, and headed through to the kitchen for coffee.
I checked my phone, but Macy hadn’t said anything. I chuckled.
What do you expect? To win an award for performance?
I breathed in the scent of the coffee and tried to calm down. To be pragmatic about things. In all fairness, I didn’t even know for sure Macy was single, much less anything else about her.
The clock told me it was eleven am. I had to be on shift at one at the mall. I called Neville, to see if he was around. He usually was, Thursday mornings.
“Hey?”
“Hey!” he said cheerfully in reply. “How’s it going?”
“Okay,” I sighed. “Um…can I ask you something weird?”
“Sure,” Neville said easily. “Why not?”
“Um, okay.” I drew in a deep breath. “It’s like this. Do you think a woman…um…high above my social standing…would like me. Like, like me?” I asked.
Long silence. “Nev?” I felt nervous.
He let out a long breath. “Well, let’s face it, Jeffers. You’re pretty good to look at, right?”
I huffed a laugh. “Thanks.”
“So…” he paused. “I think lots of women would like like you.”
He sounded uneasy and I frowned. “But what?”
“But, well…” he was clearly vacillating. “You know…what’s the word? Fickle. That’s it. Girls are fickle. They like the bling, y’know?”
I let out a long breath. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
“So, maybe this bird likes you. Maybe she doesn’t. I dunno. All you can do is ask her. Yes?”
I sighed. Asking Macy if she actually liked me. Given that, or given a job defusing bombs, I wasn’t sure which one I wanted. At least the bomb could just blow my head off. Having Macy’s undiluted honesty would break my heart.
“You’re right, Neville,” I said sadly.
He chuckled. “Hell, man. You sound like you have the bug here.”
I scowled. “Stop it, Nev,” I said, peaceably enough. “I’m doing my best here.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry, man,” he said. “I guess maybe I’m just living vicariously here, you know. Your life’s more exciting than mine is.”
I chuckled. “Nev, I don’t believe you.”
“Thanks,” he said fondly. “But really, it is. So all the best, seriously.”
“Thanks, man,” I said.
I got off the phone feeling low. I had been fairly sure I was right before I called. Now I was completely sure. Neville was right. No girl of her status would see anything in a guy like me.
I checked my messages again, just in case. When there was nothing, I put my phone resolutely in my kit bag and went to change for work. I just had to face it. It was a magical, magnificent, and memorable night. But it was just one night.
I was going to forget it happened. It was the best thing I could do. For both of us.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Macy
I sat at my desk, trying to concentrate on the presentation I was preparing for the board meeting. It wasn’t easy.
All my thoughts were crowded with thoughts and memories of the previous night. Thoughts and memories of Maddox, to be accurate, and of our intimacy.
I smiled to myself, thinking of how he had touched me, his fingers gently exploring me in that wonderful way. The feel of his mouth on mine. The sweetness of him moving in me and kissing me.
“Hello?”
I blinked. Jess, the secretary, was at the door. I had no idea how long she’d even been there. I shook my head to clear it.
>
“Jess! Hi. Something urgent?” I asked.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “Just these forms…the visa application for the China trip.”
“Oh.” I raised my brows in surprise. I’d actually forgotten about the fact that I was supposed to be flying to Beijing in December. Part of my father’s expansion as a major freight provider for the Dandong port. I had been really excited about it, but now it had slipped my mind. “Thanks,” I said.
“Of course, Ms. Trent.”
Jessica left the pages on the desk and I read them idly, unable to concentrate on anything except the drifting haze of joy inside me. I still felt deliciously bruised inside and I wished I could just spend the whole day enjoying the calm tranquility that filled me.
“Describe the reason for your trip…” I read aloud. I thought about my reply, but pictures of Maddox kept intruding on my thoughts. I felt almost exasperated. Go on, get outta my head. I smiled just imagining saying that to the images that filtered through my happy, peaceful mind. I didn’t actually want them to stop, of course. I never wanted them to stop.
I couldn’t believe we were finally back together.
I filled out the forms and sent them to Jess. Then I checked my phone. My dad had messaged me with more pictures and a small note.