Page 69 of Before the Encore

“Madison.” Bonnie widened her eyes and hissed, “This isn’t our floor.”

Madison glanced at the array of doors in the hallway, pulse thudding in her neck. “Oh.” She hopped back inside the lift, placing a possessive hand on Bonnie’s waist, looping her fingers through her belt loops and pulling her flush. Heat radiated off her.

Madison huffed when the man didn’t move. “Are you in or out?”

His lip twitched. “I think I’ll wait. Thank you.”

“For god’s sake.” Madison grumbled, jabbing the close-door button repeatedly until finally, the man’s stupid face disappeared behind the silver door. The lift whirred again, polite music barely hiding the whizzing mechanics.

Madison turned, one hand still firm on Bonnie’s waist, the other tipping her chin up. Bonnie’s cheeks bloomed with pink, her chest heaving.

“That was rude,” Bonnie said, and Madison watched every movement of that gorgeous, plump mouth.

“I agree. He should’ve knocked first.” The floor vibrated beneath her feet as they climbed higher.

Bonnie’s face cracked into a grin, and that wonderfully awful cackle filled Madison’s ears.

She traced Bonnie’s lip with her thumb. “I love your laugh.”

“Really?”

She nodded, and Bonnie’s irises sparkled. Then the mood shifted, like someone dimmed the background dials and heightened every sense. Soft skin under her fingertips, desire coiled tight in her belly, a tug behind her sternum. The hunger in Bonnie’s eyes tickled somewhere sensitive, reaching through her, deeper, to a place Madison rarely visited.

Bonnie kissed her thumb, teasing with a flick of her tongue. Madison’s eyes dipped, the warmth slipping between her legs and tightening around her clit. This woman…Madison wanted to kneel at her feet.

The motion of the lift slowed and stilled, announcing their arrival with a ding. Neither of them moved, locked in an intoxicating swirl. But the doors didn’t open either.

Madison pressed the ‘open’ button. Nothing. “You’ve got to be joking.” She raked a hand through her hair, the ache in her core suddenly unbearable. Lifts were fine for foreplay, but they weren’t cut out for the things she had in mind. “Is it broken? What is the point of having money if nothing works then either?”

“Here.” Bonnie’s mouth ticked up in amusement as she pressed her fingertip to a reader on the wall. A light lit up green, and the doors slid open.

“Welcome to the penthouse,” a tinny, automated voice declared.

Relief washed over Madison. “That’s more like it.”

“I thought a vein was going to burst at your temple.” Bonnie laughed. “Who knew Madison Moore was such a diva?”

Oh man. She got me there. Madison quickly squashed her grin. “I am not a diva.”

“A few more seconds and you’d have donned a Karen wig and asked to speak to a manag—” Bonnie squealed as Madison picked her up, threw her over her shoulder, and marched into the penthouse.

The space smelled expensive. Leather and wood, fresh and clean, tangled with Bonnie’s perfume.

But holy shit.

Madison nearly dropped Bonnie when she caught that view. A panoramic curved window spanned the property, showcasing London in its entirety. She recognised the Shard and the Gherkin as sunlight touched the tops of thousands of buildings, the mismatched architecture blurring back into the horizon. Madison could probably see her childhood home in Sheffield, even from one hundred and fifty miles away.

She walked further into the open plan, ignoring the extravagant diner and stepping into the living room to further gawk outside the windows. “That’s quite a view,” she murmured, Bonnie still hiked over her shoulder.

“All I can see is your arse.”

Madison laughed, setting her down on the wooden floor. Bonnie brushed her hair back from her face, cheeks and neck flushed. Their rendezvous in the lift flooded back to Madison, warmth coating her head to toe. Her clit pulsed with the reminder.

A knowing smile spread across Bonnie’s face, and she pressed a hand to Madison’s chest.

Madison leaned down to kiss her. Slow and soft. Every cell in her body set alight as their lips brushed, heat and desire tightening the tangle in her stomach. Madison cupped her chin, kissing her deeper, and Bonnie guided her back to the counter. Madison’s back pressed to the hard marble. Bonnie’s body chased hers, leaving no space between them. Hands caressed every curve and dip of Bonnie’s waist and thighs, mouths exploring with the same delicacy. No stone left unturned. No place untouched.

Every movement was slow and measured, like they were something that could easily break, and they needed to memorise every detail.