by Claire Adams
“That doesn’t match,” Maddie said and gestured at my suit. I wore a cream-colored blazer with navy trousers, an outfit that I used frequently.
“Gray goes with everything,” I argued.
She shrugged as she got ready to leave.
I led her across my property over to mom’s house, which had been cleaned by professionals throughout the day. The garden was perfect, with lush bushes and colorful flowers greeting us as we walked toward the door. Maddie took her time admiring the fountains and statues that mom had picked out when I had the house built. She brushed her fingers along the bird feeder on top of the fountain.
“It’s like a house you’d see in a garden magazine,” she murmured. “It’s beautiful.”
“Don’t tell me,” I said and opened the door. “Tell my mom.”
My mother was waiting at the golden oak dining table when we arrived. Her thin hair was in a loose bun, and she wore a baggy blue dress that was tied at the waist with a belt. Everything looked big on her. She must have lost another couple pounds within the last few days.
She smiled deeply as Maddie bent over to offer a quick hug, and she pulled me into an even deeper hug before I took my seat.
“How are you, dear?” she asked Maddie. “It’s so upsetting that I’ve seen you only once in the past decade.”
“I’m good, Ms. Hayward,” Maddie said. “It’s been a busy decade, at least.”
“Mona, please,” Mom said.
I played with my utensils, and the ladies caught each other up on their lives. Maddie told her about her promoting business and her acting and modeling jobs, all the while mentioning times that I’ve supported her from afar. Mom would never have known that I hadn’t said more than a word to Maddie within the past six years.
“Your son has probably been my biggest supporter throughout it all,” Maddie said. “Every time I wanted to quit, he was always there to make me feel better.”
Mom sighed. “I’m so glad to hear that. A woman like you deserves all the support she can get. It’s not easy to make a name for yourself these days.”
“Exactly,” Maddie leaned forward. “It’s so nice to have someone understand.”
Maddie grabbed my hand and squeezed, and it startled me enough that I dropped my fork onto the floor. I apologized and bent to grab it. Maddie’s mouth brushed by my ear as we were beneath the table together.
“Can you at least try to act like you like me?” she whispered.
“Yeah, sorry,” I said and put my fork back on the table.
“Such a klutz,” mom said and shook her head at me.
“Maddie’s getting used to it, right?” I looked at her and smiled. It was forced, but I knew it would look real enough to my mother. Maddie blushed, she was a true actress and nodded.
“Then again, you’ve always been sort of a klutz,” Maddie said. “Oh, like the time that you and Ron went out TP-ing the neighbors’ houses? He loves that story!”
Mom leaned forward with a curious look.
I opened my mouth to shut her up, but she continued without a second glance toward me.
“So, when they were like 13 or 12, Ron and Gavin would run around the neighborhood with like three giant packs of toilet paper. Ron was the fastest at it, but Gavin would take his time because he wanted everything to be even. Like, the entire tree covered in toilet paper.”
Mom broke out in laughter, and I groaned, knowing exactly where the story was going.
“So one night Ron is holding the pack and Gavin is in the tree, but not that high. I think like just five or six feet up there. He wrapped toilet paper around several of the branches and the branch fell. Of course little Gavin thought the best thing to do was throw the rest of the toilet paper on a different branch and try to hang from it. So, he jumped and threw it, and he fell so hard I think he broke his arm!” Maddie covered her mouth as she laughed.
“I remember that!” mom exclaimed and looked over at me. “You told me you fell off your bike!”
I shrugged. “I didn’t want to make you or dad mad.”
Mom laughed and shook her head. “Oh, that’s great. I can picture the whole thing.”
Karen brought out our plates, homemade lasagna with a side salad and glasses of wine for Maddie and me.
“It’s delicious, Mona,” Maddie said, and we ate. “I’ve never had such amazing lasagna before.”
“It’s an old family recipe,” mom said. “Gavin used to eat up the whole pan.”
Maddie brushed her shoulder against mine, and it took everything in me not to push her away.
“That reminds me,” Maddie said. “Would you happen to have those old stories Gavin used to write? We’ve been talking about them lately, but he said he doesn’t have them anymore. I figured as a mother you might have kept them.”
“That’s not necessary,” I said. “I doubt she kept them.”
“Of course I have them!” mom said. “I know exactly where they are. If you’ll just excuse me.” She stood, and I pushed myself off of the table and helped her balance.
“Mom, really, sit down. You don’t need to get those,” I said. Maddie was also on her feet, a fork in her hand, as she told mom not to worry about it.
“I want to read them, too,” mom said. “I’ll just be right back. Finish your food.”
Maddie and I both sat back down in silence. I was having trouble keeping my anger hidden, and Maddie looked just as embarrassed as I had been earlier.
“I’m sorry, Gavin,” she said. “I didn’t think she’d actually go and look for them.”
I took a deep breath and ignored her as mom returned with a binder. She gave it to Maddie, who flipped through printed pages of stories that I had written a long time ago.
“Thank you, Mona,” Maddie said, and it almost sounded heartfelt. “I’ll return them soon, I promise.”
“No rush, dear,” mom said. “Well, as long as it’s before six months.” She laughed, and Maddie bit her lip and looked at the table.
“I don’t know if dark humor is appropriate yet, mom,” I said. We all had finished our dinner and were waiting for a dessert that mom insisted on making as well.
“An old lady has to get her kicks in somewhere,” she said as Karen brought over three small plates. They each had two miniature cannolis, with chocolate chips and powdered sugar sprinkled on the ends.
“These are my favorite!” Maddie ate the first one in practically a single bite. “My roommate begged me to stop bringing these home. We both were eating way too much.”
“Take it from me, sweetie,” Mom said. “Eat as many cannolis as your stomach can handle. You’ll never know which one might be your last.”
“They’re good,” I said and ate mine.
Mom had a forlorn look on her face, eyes cast downward, and shoulders slumped. I picked up the second cannoli and brought it toward Maddie’s mouth. She raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth as I fed it to her. A crumb fell onto her lip, and she blushed as I wiped it away.
It was a romantic gesture, and I was rewarded with my mother sniffling beside us before breaking out into a grin. I didn’t realize how much it meant to her that I was happy with a woman.
“Thank you so much,” she said to Maddie. “This dinner meant a lot to me.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” she said. “If there’s one thing I love about Gavin, it’s how much he loves you. I hope we can make this a regular thing. Maybe once a week?”
Maddie had crossed off two things on the checklist in a single sentence. Compliment one thing about me, and plan to have one dinner a week with us. I was almost impressed with her.
“Of course, darling,” Mom said. “I’ll have Gavin set up the schedule.”
Mom was beginning to sway a little, and I realized she must have been exhausted from cooking all day and then having dinner with us. Karen was hovering nearby, and she also noticed mom’s lack of energy.
“I’ll start the bath,” Karen whispered into mom’s ear and left for the restro
om.
“I think that’s my cue,” mom said. “It was so nice having you here, Maddie. I’ll see you again soon.”
I stood, excused myself from the table, and helped mom to the restroom.
“Don’t leave her alone too long,” mom said. “You don’t want that one running away.”
I grunted and moved her in front of the tub. Karen was checking the temperature and getting a washcloth ready.
“You looked happy,” mom said and sat on the toilet lid. “And you have no idea how happy that makes me.”
I kneeled in front of her. “She does make me happy,” I said. “You never have to worry about that.”
“My sweet boy,” mom pressed a palm against my cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I said. “So impossibly much.”
“Nothing’s impossible,” she said and kissed my forehead. “Now go finish your date.”
I said goodbye to them both and returned to Maddie typing on her phone in the dining room.
“Is she okay?” Maddie asked and put away her phone.
“Yeah,” I said. “She’s fine. Time for you to go home.”
Maddie rummaged in her purse. “My keys are in your house,” she said. “At the bar, I think.”
“Just get them and go,” I whispered and left mom’s house. Maddie followed behind me while holding the binder full of my stories.
The moment I closed my front door behind us and I grabbed her arm and forced her to look at me. The binder fell in between our feet.
“And don’t you dare tell her any more stories that would make me look bad. I’m not trying to make my dying mother disappointed in me,” I barked.
“What are you talking about?” Maddie’s eyes glared at me as she squared her shoulders. “Your mom laughed at it. She loved that story.”
“Just no more,” I said. “Or else I take back the first half.”
“Fine,” she spat. “No more cute, innocent stories about little Gavin.”
I squeezed her arm, and she winced. A tinge of guilt hit me just as she seemed to remember something.
“Oh, right, that picture,” she said and pulled out her phone. “Come on, Gavin, let’s take our first official couple picture.”
I rolled my eyes and moved in front of the camera while still holding her arm, nearly an entire person’s length away from her.
“No one is going to believe we’re even friends if you’re that distant. Get closer,” she said. I hesitated. She pursed her lips and tried kissing my cheek, but I ducked it at the last minute.
“What are you doing?” I demanded. “No physical relations.”
“You’re my boyfriend,” she said. “We’ll have to kiss at some point. Might as well get it over with.”
My hand had slipped up her arm and onto her shoulder, where her skin was soft and smooth and hot. She was facing me, the phone in her hand dropped beside her thigh, and her lips tilted at an angle toward mine. My fingers pressed into her skin harder as I pressed a quick kiss on her lips and backed away.
“There,” I said, hoping that she would leave it alone. But I still didn’t let go of her shoulder.
“That wasn’t believable,” she said and pressed her body against mine. I reacted instantly; I couldn’t help it. Her soft breasts pressed against my chest, and her breath tickled my ears as she said, “Try it again.”
I growled and pushed her away.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I said and pushed her against the wall beside the foyer. I kissed her, hard and forceful, as my fingers got caught in the tangles of her hair and pulled. She gasped and lifted her thigh as one of my hands slid up her dress. “Don’t you ever tell me what to do. It’s not your place.”
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie
My back was pushed against the wall as his body pressed against mine. His hands slid up my dress and in between my thighs, and he wasn’t shy about any of it. He held me like I belonged to him, and I supposed that in a way I did. The back of my head hit the wall as his fingers touched between my thighs, brushing by my pussy. Pleasure raged through me, and I moaned, which he seemed to enjoy hearing.
“What if I did?” I moaned into his ear. “What if I told you exactly what I wanted?”
He flipped me around abruptly, pressing my face against the wall as he grabbed my hip and pulled it toward him. My dress rode up my ass, exposing my flesh to the cold air. He ran a hand down to cup me, squeezing hard.
I opened my mouth to say something when he slapped my ass hard. I screamed, but it was more pleasure than pain. I wiggled my hips for more and moaned again.
“Don’t make me warn you again, woman,” he growled against my ear.
I heard a zipper, the removal of a belt, and turned just as he was finished unbuttoning his shirt. He noticed me, and grabbed my hand and forced me toward his bar.
“Okay,” I whispered, lost in the moment. How badly I wanted him to own me. To fuck me. To open me up in ways that would leave me lost to him.
“I didn’t say you could turn around,” he said and pushed me against the wooden counter. Several glass bottles half full of liquor fell and smashed onto the marble stone floor, but he didn’t look as if he cared.
“Tell me what to do,” I begged. “Please, tell me.”
His big, strong hands roamed my body, and I leaned over the counter. A hand smacked my ass again, and I moaned loud against the wood.
“I don’t like beggars,” he said. There was pure anger in every word, and I realized he was taking out all of his frustrations on me, every single one.
“Are you punishing me?” I asked, knowing it would only stroke the fire. His knee slid in between my thighs and forced them apart. I noticed he was slightly hesitant as he grew rougher. He was giving me a chance to object, to turn away from these of events and draw a line. But I didn’t want to.
I tried grabbing his shirt from behind me, but he slapped my arm away. It had been all the confirmation that he needed, and he shoved my dress over my hips, pulled the top down to expose my breasts, and pressed his erection directly against my ass as he gyrated his hips against mine.
“Punishing you wouldn’t be enough,” he said. His trousers fell to his feet, and soon my panties were the only fabric in between me and the entire length of his cock.
“What do you want to do to me then?” I asked and tried pressing against him.
He pushed me back toward the counter. A hand slipped beneath my bra strap, but instead of simply undoing it, he grunted as his muscles flexed around me and ripped the strap from my back. I gasped as the straps of my bra fell down my shoulders and my breasts were released. Cold air blew past them before his hands slid over each and he squeezed roughly.
His moan was loud beside my ear as he leaned over me.
“I want to make you hurt,” he said as a hand slid toward my panties. With the same force as before, he ripped them and threw them on the other side of the counter. With one breast still in one of his hands, he guided his erection to my entrance and didn’t wait a moment before slamming inside of me.
I had already been wet from his advances, but I was still tight. He didn’t make it very far the first thrust, but he only grew more determined the more I panted beneath him. His knees locked as he grabbed a fistful of my hair in one hand and pulled as he pushed into me.
I cried as he slid in all the way, and he hesitated for a single moment. There I stood, with my ass pressed against his hips and breasts against the countertop, with him deep inside of me as he took shallow breaths. The pressure of his cock swelled with every second he remained still, and that coupled with the fact that it had been so long since any man had been inside of me had already brought me close to release. I gyrated against him, trying to feel him move in and out, but he grabbed a hip and forced me to stop.
“Is that what you want?” he asked with a husky tone. “For me to fuck you slowly, moving in and out while you come?”
I nodded. “Please,” I begged. “I need it. Do it.”
He nipped at my neck first, then my shoulder, until he bit the middle of my back hard. I cried with a sudden wave of pleasure, but he wasn’t happy with it.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” he reminded me and started thrusting hard. His body slammed against mine as mine hit the counter, and with each thrust came an even harder push as he took out all of his anger and frustration on me. The sound of skin hitting skin was loud but not as loud as his moans of pleasure as he yelled behind me and pulled my hair. It almost felt as if I didn’t exist to him anymore. As if the only thing he wanted was his own pleasure, and there was something exciting about it.
Despite him only caring about himself, it still gave me the same pleasure I had been looking for, and I came hard in between several deep thrusts. It was like a flood had erupted over me, wave after wave of never ending pin needles that scraped my skin until it felt raw and sensitive to every small pressure.
He finished shortly after I did, not bothering to pull out but instead filling me with himself with several deep thrusts. I felt every squirt, and it wasn’t until after, when he was breathing heavily against my body while pulling out, that I was grateful I had opted for birth control.
“You sleep on the couch,” he said and left abruptly.
I pushed myself off of the bar and ran a hand over my face. I couldn’t believe what had just happened, how he had made me feel in such a short time.
I found the same restroom that he had shown me the night of the first dinner and cleaned myself. When I returned to the living room, there was a blanket and a pillow waiting at the edge, and I smiled. At least he showed a tiny bit of affection, if that’s what it could be called.
I lied down and pressed my hand over my chest. My heart was beating quickly, far harder than it ever had after a night of passion, and I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face. He was amazing. Every little thing about Gavin Hayward was just simply amazing.
Chapter Fifteen
Gavin
I woke with the worst hangover in my adult life. My head felt as if it was stabbed over and over a million times as I slowly forced myself out of bed. Memories of the night before came back to me in a rush. Maddie’s body, hot, pressed against mine as I touched her and spanked her and bit her. I pressed a finger to my lips. I hadn’t given her an opportunity to experience the same pleasure that I had. Should I have felt guilty for it? I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel. She had enjoyed every moment of it, though. From her moaning to her screaming. My cock stirred as I remembered how she screamed as I moved behind her. I recalled how her body had felt as my hands were against the wall and hips were pushing against hers.