“Six sons!” Lex repeated loudly before she could stop herself. Cynthia gave her a puzzled look. If you were dating one of her sons, of course you’d already know how many siblings he has. She knew he had brothers, but not five of them. “I mean...I can’t imagine not having a daughter. It must have been hard raising all boys.”
“It sure was,” Cynthia said with a laugh. “Boys and girls are totally different breeds. I felt like I was pregnant for a few years straight. I’m sure Micah has told you how tall all his brothers are. Imagine making the newspaper every time you have a son with the headline being, Local Resident Breaks New Record With Largest Baby In Arkansas.”
“I can’t even imagine that,” Lex said, making a note to ask Micah about the names of his siblings while she was in town. The only brother she knew about was Malik, who had attended Imani and Daman’s wedding. “When did you and Mr. Madden move to Cranberry Heights?”
“Two of my favorite ladies,” Micah exclaimed, not giving Cynthia a chance to answer. He bent down to kiss his mom on the cheek before turning toward Lex and planting a soft kiss on her lips. Usually, she’d be caught off guard by the kiss, but after talking to Micah’s mom, the kiss felt natural. He lingered above her mouth for a while, both of them soaking in the sight of each other. He smelled masculine and woodsy, a combination that aroused every part of her body despite the cold air.
“Having a good time,” he asked, his eyes remaining locked to hers.
“I’m having a great time.” Even better now that you’re here. She wished it weren’t true, but it was. I wonder if I’ll ever have a love story to share in the future? Evan definitely wasn’t her fairy-tale story, but he took the cake for worst nightmare ever.
“You’ll have that moment soon,” Cynthia said, glancing between her son and Lex. Huh? Did I ask that out loud?
“What moment?” Micah asked, finally stepping back from Lex. Okay, good. It was in my head. But, by the way Mrs. Madden assessed her meant she’d probably keep an eye on Lex to see how she reacted to Micah while she was in Arkansas. Her best option was to fake her attraction to him when they were around his mom so that she couldn’t read the truth in her eyes, but would still assume they were dating. How can I fake attraction when I’m already attracted to him?
“Micah, dear, how about you sit next to Lex and I’ll go sit next to your father.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Micah said, grabbing his mom’s hand to help her out the chair.
“I enjoyed our conversation,” Cynthia said before turning to walk toward her husband.
“Me, too,” Lex said with a smile. When she was alone with Micah, she rested her head on his shoulder, wishing that the conversation with his mother hadn’t put her in such a sentimental mood. She loved hearing the love story, but she hated the affect the story was having on her. When she divorced Evan, she vowed to never get close to another man who could make her lose herself and become consumed by him. Everything about Micah was intoxicating in the most seductive way imaginable.
She lifted her head off his shoulder and pretended to observe her surroundings when in actuality, she wanted to steal glances at him. When he caught her eyes, they made her pause as if she hadn’t seen his eyes before.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said, his eyes remaining on hers and not on her lips where they usually ventured when he got her attention.
“I’m glad I’m here, too,” she said, ignoring the chill that whipped in the air, twirling her scarf around her head. When she laid her head back on his shoulder, she was certain that Arkansas had a lot more in store for her. Oh, well...there are way worse things to be consumed by than a man like Micah Madden.
Chapter 11
Micah had no idea exactly what time it was, but if he had to guess, he would assume it was close to 3 a.m. The parade had been amazing and the time he’d spent with Lex had been even better.
After the parade, he’d introduced her to several townspeople who were close friends with his parents and informed them that he was planning a surprise anniversary party for them. As suspected, every person they spoke with was eager to attend and claimed it would be the biggest celebration in town history. When Lex’s eyes landed on him questionably, he had to explain that not a lot happened in Cranberry Heights. Even marriages were few because a lot of couples found solace in Cranberry Heights after they married, while those raised here were eager to get out. It was a great town, but it had taken a hard hit after the economic downfall, leaving many future residents on a search to find something better. The winter festival was one of the few annual events that brought back old residents, new residents and tourists alike.
Although the day may have gone great, the night was an entirely different story. This is ridiculous! Micah thought as he discreetly glanced over at Lex. He knew she wasn’t asleep, but she was adamant on pretending to be. When they got back to Madden Manor and retired to their room, Lex had gotten all antsy and jumpy. Last night, Micah had crept into the bedroom after Lex had fallen asleep and she had been sprawled on the bed snoring softly. She’d looked so cute and he didn’t want to wake her, so he slept on the couch and was gone before she woke up.
Now, not only was she as quiet as a mouse and had been for the past two hours, she also hadn’t moved a muscle. There was no way that wild sleeper from last night was the composed sleeper lying beside him in bed right now. They were separated by several oversize pillows and concealed under a soft velour cover, but he could still feel the heat between them lingering in the air, hiding under the sheets, and taunting his state of mind.
Damn! I feel like a horny-ass teenager. It was bad enough he was hard as hell with no signs of going down before sunrise. But even worse, he was lying still, not moving an inch, all because he knew she was doing the same damn thing. He’d been reduced to one of those lame men who shared beds with women they weren’t sleeping with. I can’t do this every night...especially when she’s within arms reach.
Deciding to test his theory and see if she was really sleeping, he moved a couple inches toward the middle of the bed to see what she would do. Within seconds, she scooted a little more toward her edge of the bed. Really? All this just to avoid being next to me?
He moved another inch toward the middle of the bed, only this time he had to move halfway on the pillows that separated them. Just like the last time, Lex moved over closer to her edge of the bed. Micah mouthed an expletive and raised his hands in the air in disbelief before bringing them back down to his side. Tilting his head without raising his body, he glanced past the cover to see how much space she had left on the bed.
She’s almost out of space, he concluded, deciding to cross over the pillow-drawn line in the center of the bed and enter Lex’s sleeping territory.
Micah pushed on his forearms and lifted himself at the same time that Lex began sliding closer to the edge. His thigh brushed against her butt and in a frenzy, Lex scatted even farther to the brink of the bed until there was nowhere left to go but down.
“Shiitake mushrooms!” Lex yelped when her butt hit the floor...hard.
“Shi ti what?” Micah said as he bent over the bed to see if she was okay while trying to contain his laughter. Lex ignored his outreached hand and flew to her feet. The moonlight seeping through the curtain danced across her face, illuminating her features.
“Shiitake mushrooms,” Lex repeated, readjusting her pajamas and denying Micah a free peep show. “I try not to swear so it’s what I say in place of the S word.”
Is she for real? Micah knew some women and men who preferred not to spit out curse words every second, but Lex was spurting out a word he’d never heard anyone use to replace a curse word.
“Good for you,” Micah said still trying to contain his laughter.
“Shut up,” Lex spouted as she pushed on his shoulders and thighs, trying to get him to move over to his side of the bed.
“What did I say?” he asked, playing the innocent role.
“You know darn well what I mean, Micah,” she said still pushing him. “I can tell you want to laugh. I can hear it in your voice.”
“So you say shiitake mushrooms in place of shit and you say darn instead of damn?” he asked, unable to resist taunting her.
“Shut up,” she said again, pushing against his body even harder. “A lot of people say darn.”
“I know. I’m just giving you a hard time. I like getting you all hot and bothered and this is the most your hands have been on me since we met.”
Lex jumped back from the bed, and missed a step. “Fudgesicles,” she shrieked, when she hit her foot on the bedpost. Her hand flew to her foot and she began hopping around in a half circle around the bedroom.
Micah threw himself back on the bed and released the hearty laugh he’d been trying to contain ever since Lex fell to the floor.
She shot him a dirty look before releasing her foot and wobbling back to the bed. He didn’t miss the look of hurt on her face as she turned her back to him.
“I’m sorry,” Micah said, reaching out for her arm. “I shouldn’t laugh at your expense, but sometimes, you do the funniest things and I can’t help but laugh.”
“People laugh at me all the time,” Lex said in a defeated voice. “Out of all of my close girlfriends, I get teased all the time because I’m a little clumsy.”
I was supposed to be seducing her...not upsetting her. “I’m sorry, Lex,” Micah said as he pulled her into his arms, taking note of how great she felt pressed against him. “I didn’t think about how you would feel. I apologize for hurting your feelings, but you’re unique and unlike any woman I’ve ever met. That’s one of the reasons I’m so infatuated with you.”
Her body began shaking uncontrollably. Damn, I really messed this night up. Just when he was about to apologize again, he heard her let out a chuckle. When she looked up at him, she was giggling...not crying.
“What the...” he said as it hit him she was joking around.
“Remember when you made me feel bad when we were walking to your car the other night back in Chicago,” she said, sitting up in the bed. “Payback sucks doesn’t it?”
“Payback, huh,” he said, sitting upright. “I think the joke is really on you.”
Her eyes twitched in confusion. “How so?”
“Well,” Micah said drawling out the word while moving closer to Lex, “your mini performance gave me the opportunity to be next to you unlike I have before.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “What do you mean?”
So glad you asked. “When you gave me the sad puppy-dog eyes, I was able to pull you into my arms, giving me the opportunity to feel your soft curves.”
Her eyes softened, so he continued. “As I held you, I felt you relax in my arms...a sign that I’m growing on you.”
“So, exactly how is the joke on me?”
“You don’t get it, do you?” he asked with a slight chuckle. She shook her head to imply that she didn’t. “During that brief moment when you were trying to prank me, I had further decided that I wasn’t going another night without tasting you again.”
Micah placed both hands on either side of her thighs and pulled her into the center of his legs. She slid across the Egyptian cotton sheets with ease and her eyes widened in surprise and anticipation. The soft gasp that escaped her lips was barely audible. Her once mellow breathing now increased its pace. With one target on his mind, Micah’s eyes zoomed in on her lips before pressing his mouth to hers.
It’s been too long, he thought as he parted her mouth with his tongue and pulled her to him even closer. She only tensed for a moment before her body relaxed beneath his tender grasp and her mouth explored his with the same hunger. Micah vaguely remembered telling Lex that he would wait until she made the next move. But that was before he’d arrived in Arkansas and learned they would be sharing a room. Even so, he also knew giving her control was the validation he needed to kiss her and not feel guilty about it. Being so near her without touching her was absolute torture, but somehow, he convinced himself to listen to the more logical part of his brain and forced himself to stop kissing her.
“Sorry,” Micah said, removing his hands from her hair, not remembering when his hands had even ventured to her hair in the first place. Their legs were tangled in the sheets, evidence that he’d still gotten more carried away than he’d planned.
He threw his head to the ceiling and puffed out a long breath before rotating his head to crack his neck and shifting his focus to Lex once more. After hours of lying in bed, he’d adjusted to seeing in the dark, so although her back was to the moonlight, he could read the question in her eyes.
“What are you questioning?” he whispered. “The fact that I kissed you?”
She slightly tilted her head to the side. “Actually,” she said, brushing her tongue across her own lips. “I was curious why in the world you stopped...”
* * *
Gathering up as much courage as she could, Lex wrapped one hand around the back of Micah’s head and pulled his lips back to hers. She pushed his back to the bed and straddled him, her lips never leaving his.
For years, she’d told herself that kissing a man the way she was kissing Micah was the type of kiss she could live without. What was I thinking? As their tongues mingled in the sweetest conversation, her hands roamed over his muscular arms slightly squeezing his biceps. He groaned at her touch and the erotic sound prompted her hands to continue their journey. She ventured under his shirt, finally able to touch his mouthwatering six-pack that she couldn’t wait to see in daylight. She guessed the movement was what Micah had been waiting for because his hands that had been residing on her back, eased to her butt, fully cupping both cheeks.
“I knew you would fit perfectly in my palms,” he said in between kisses. His words flowed through her like a cascade of water and elevated her desire. Slowly and seductively, she began rotating her hips, enjoying the feeling of him growing beneath her. Faint moans echoed in the room as they kissed, bit and sucked on each other’s lips, both attacking one another with a starvation that food couldn’t even satisfy.
In a quick move that caught her off guard, Micah wrapped an arm around her waist and switched their position. He left a trail of wet kisses along her neck before moving to her breasts and delicately cupping them. He pushed her pajama shirt aside, a nipple escaping the constraints of the cotton fabric.
“Oh, my,” Lex responded when his tongue grazed over one nipple while squeezing the other through the material. It had been way too long since her nipples had gotten any action, and Micah was definitely giving them the attention they deserved.
He left her breasts and lifted her shirt completely off, softly kissing her stomach and stopping at the drawstring of her pajama shorts.
“Lex,” Micah said trying to get her to focus on him.
“Yes,” she said as she lifted her head off the bed.
“Do you mind if I take these off?”
She briefly thought about the implication behind his request and what would come next if he removed her bottoms. She didn’t take long to decide.
“Yes,” she said, making sure she sounded confident. “You can take them off.”
He gave her a sly smile before he undid the drawstring and slid the shorts off her. His hot fingers ran down her thighs followed by his daring tongue, each lick and touch hotter than the last. What is he doing to me? Lex was so wrapped up in the moment, she didn’t feel him nudge her legs open until his tongue was on her center, lapping up her sweet juices.
She bucked off the bed giving Micah the opportunity to slide his hands under her butt, bringing her closer to his mouth. He dipped his tongue in and out of her core with determined precision, hitting her sweet spot with every lick. The ends of he
r toes curled into the sheets and her back lifted completely off the bed.
On their own accord, her hands gripped his face, not knowing if she should push him away or bring him even closer. When he plunged two fingers into her and encircled his mouth around her clit, her dilemma was forgotten. She gripped his head and held on for dear life as his long fingers played with her instrument while his mouth sang a sweet song in a way no man had ever done before.
Lex rolled her head to the ceiling and wailed a soft cry as she released an orgasm so strong she lost all sense of reality. Falling back to the bed, she closed her eyes, not believing that she’d been denied the sexual satisfaction of a man with a lethal mouth who knew how to please a woman.
“Shame on all the men who are too selfish to satisfy a woman in that kind of way,” she said aloud, needing to voice the words for her own benefit, since until tonight she was one of those women.
“Told you I was the sweetest kind of troublemaker,” Micah said, inching his way to her. He lay on his back and rolled her on top of him. Lex ran her fingers down his body with every intention of easing him inside her, when suddenly, he pulled her up by her thighs, stationing her center right above his mouth, the position forcing her on her hands and knees.
“We aren’t having sex tonight,” he said in the sexiest voice she’d heard yet. “But I do want to make you come as many times as possible.”
She looked down between her legs to get a better view of him. The sight she saw nearly stole her breath. “Do you want me to lie back down?” she asked.
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