I’ve also never been so sated.
When I bite my lip, struggling to keep my expression neutral, Maddox gently tugs it free from my teeth. “You’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t be careful.”
While rocking against him, I moan out the reply I was meant to keep in my head. “Too late.”
Something flares through Maddox’s eyes. It isn’t lust, covetousness, or any of those other things you’d expect to see while making love. It’s protective, materialistic, and proves, without a doubt, he doesn’t just want to save me from my uncle, he’s willing to become him if it’s the only way he can keep me safe.
15
Maddox
Have you ever smoked a joint laced with so much shit, the toxins have you believing your high will never end? You’re up there, lounging on a cloud, certain you’re destined for better things, then you start freefalling back to earth without warning. The crash is fucking brutal. It swears you off drugs for weeks and has you considering enrolling in Sunday school.
That’s kind of how I feel now.
Last night was—I don’t have words to explain it. It exceeded anything I could have imagined. We didn’t fuck until the spark between us simmered to a respectable level. We threw a ton of gasoline on it and turned it into an inferno. We made love. Kissed. Groped. Fucked. We did it all. Then, just as exhaustion started to hit, we went back for round two.
It was perfect. Demi was perfect, but now I’m sitting here, glaring at the landline phone, willing it to ring. Agent Moses said he needed until midday to work out a solution for Demi’s predicament. It’s now 1:14 p.m.
Since he’s as old school as they come, some shit about not being able to pinpoint landline calls as easily as cell phones, I’m in the living room of the cabin instead of catching up on missed sleep with Demi in my room.
I won’t lie. Not all my swollen chest is compliments to how well Demi and I meshed beneath the sheets. I’m also smug as fuck I exhausted her to the point she’s sleeping in today of all days. There’s a big-ass clock above her head. We only have hours until it detonates, yet she’s in my bed, faintly snoring like she has the world at her feet.
I love that I’ve given her that small moment of peace. I doubt she’s had one in a while.
“Still nothing?” Caidyn walks into the living room like he hasn’t been eyeballing me like a freak for the past hour and fifteen minutes.
I shake my head. “Do you think I should call him? Push him along?” This is just like Agent Moses. If you don’t constantly prod him, he gets nothing done.
“From what you’ve told me, it couldn’t hurt,” Caidyn answers with a shrug.
I tried to keep things basic between us when we spoke last night. I wanted his focus on Demi, not me, but Caidyn is smarter than he looks. He told me I was playing with fire, explicitly stated not to cry to him when I get burned, then shifted his focus back to Demi. He isn’t awardedallthe girls’ attention because he’s a tyrant. They love his sensitive side, and taking care of a beaten woman brings it out tenfold.
“What are you looking for?” he asks when my hunt for my phone and wallet comes up empty-handed. I could have sworn I left them on the side table next to the sofa.
“I don’t have Agent Moses’s number memorized. He changes it more often than Saint pulls his signature move.” I groan about how much of an idiot I am before I crank my neck to the hallway leading to my room. “I left my wallet in my trousers. His new number is in there.”
“I’ll grab it,” Caidyn says, believing he’s being helpful. “Then you can maintain your stalk of the landline.”
“Ah... that’s not a good idea.” I jump up from the single sofa. “Demiisn’t wearing any pants.” My last four words are barely whispers.
“What did you say?”
Caidyn’s death stare reveals he heard what I said. He just wants me to repeat it.
“I said Demiisn’t wearing any pants.” My second attempt isn’t any better than my first.
“Maddox—”
I cut him off only a second into one of his infamously long lectures. “It isn’t what you’re thinking. She came on to me.”
Not entirely true, but mainly.
Caidyn whacks me up the back of the head. It’s an old-style Dad move, and since my undercut was recently clipped, it makes the impressivecracknoise our father always sought after our mother trimmed our hair when we were kids. “That shouldn’t have mattered. Last night, Demi needed a friend, not a one-off fuck buddy.”
“It wasn’t a one-off.” I sure-fucking-hope it wasn’t. “And we’re both adults who consented toevery single thingwe did.”
My tone is way too cocky for Caidyn’s liking. He slaps me again, except this time, he puts someoomphinto his swing. “Go get your wallet, dickhead.” I charge for the hallway, more than eager to skip his three-hour-long lecture on treating ladies right. My brisk strides slow when he adds, “But don’t think this is the end of this. We’ll have words about this later.”
