Chapter Nine

 

She woke again, confused. Not her bed or even her room and a hard furnace of a man was spooned against her back. Her memory rushed in and she wanted to extricate herself and hide in the bathroom while she thought it through. Was he for real? Had she done the right thing or made a terrible mistake?

Maddox had tracked her down and come for her. The little things he’d said… He cared for her, about her, and his reference to a full apology… Regan decided to wait for that vaunted chat.

First things first, she slipped away from Maddox’s hold—possessive even in his sleep. She cast covetous glances back at his slumbering form, the sheet now loosely draped at his waist, his torso sculpted even in repose.

After quickly using the facilities and then freshening up, she tiptoed back and eased into bed, studying his resting face. Strong nose, sensuous lips, and a sweep of unfairly long lashes over high cheekbones complemented his firm jaw. His dark hair was tousled and she carefully smoothed it. Her own was still a mass of tangles, despite her efforts with a brush. All she could do was gather it into a clip.

His eyes fluttered open and she sucked in air. No muzziness for Maddox. He came awake with instant awareness, gaze fixing on her, tenderness and lust mingling in those dark depths.

“Morning.”

“Morning, baby.” He set a hand at the nape of her neck and drew her in for a kiss. The night before was definitely not a figment of her imagination. Regan gave over to his wordless expression.

His morning wood pulsed between them, against her belly, a damp kiss, and she had a sudden need to taste him. Tearing her lips from his, she squirmed down his body, his fingers still caught in her hair.

“Regan. You don’t have to—”

Whatever he felt she didn’t have to do was lost in a stifled groan when she closed her mouth around the head of his cock. Her experience might be lacking, but surely her interest more than made up for it. She tasted him at her leisure, a salty, spicy brine as she sucked and licked as much of his shaft as she could fit in her mouth.

His hands kneaded her scalp, their urgency increasing as she took him deeper into her throat. Another groan overtook him when she hummed her delight around his thickness, noting how he pulsed in response.

“Enough. Baby, enough.” He leaned toward her, a thumb inserted in the corner of her mouth to break the suction, and she pulled back.

“But I want to—”

With an apparently effortless move, he hauled her up and on top of him, his dark eyes raging with need. “I need to be inside you, Regan.” His forehead creased.

“What’s wrong?”

“Condom.”

“You only brought one?” Was there an indignant chicken in the room? She flushed upon hearing her own voice.

“Baby.” Maddox chuckled, despite his obvious state of lust. “I’m lucky to have had that one.”

Resting her head on her joined hands, she watched him. “Really.”

“I have an entire box at The Inn. Where you should be. I had these hopes…”

Her breasts were flattened against his chest, and she reveled in the closeness while she considered his comment. “You had … designs on me?”

He huffed a laugh. “Designs? Try extreme interest. Bordering on obsession I did my best to hide. I overstepped, kissing you that first freaking day. And The Inn was between us and I couldn’t figure out how to make that work without hurting you. I was waiting for the right time, but you didn’t fall in with my plans. No surprise.” He tweaked her nose.

“It might have been helpful if you’d let me in on them earlier.” Her earlier anger flared and rose up between them.

Soothing her with a stroke of his hands, he said, “I’m sure I’ll be making amends forever. But the place meant so much to you I had to give you the chance. You’re so determined, and talented, outside of the scope of any other woman I’ve known. All I could do was support you and hope you’d come to a conclusion where we could make it work. This work. Without me trying to influence you, unduly. I had too much respect for you to do that, hence the secret backup plan.”

He looked so apologetic, his tone so rueful, his confession so amazing that she softened. “Do we need a condom?”

His lids lowered and his nostrils flared. “I’m safe and I know you are.”

So she hadn’t had time for a relationship, let alone sex, for a long time—how did he know that? Likely the same way he knew most everything else. No secrets in a small town. She mustered a frown, then gave up on teasing him. “I’m on the Pill.” No need to bother him with the reasoning behind it, those darn female issues. He obviously knew she wasn’t in need of it to guard against conception.

His cock stirred beneath her, and she maneuvered over it. His hands came up to clutch her hips, kneading her flesh.

“Take your time, baby. I’ve waited for this forever, it seems. Knowing you were right next door in The Inn. You might as well have been on another planet. I suffered.”

She longed to hear everything of that nature, to learn his feelings for her and determine when they’d made themselves known, but the feel of him, uncovered, was more pressing. He pushed inside her tight channel as she lowered herself on his rigid cock. She felt herself stretch to accept his sensuous invasion and closed her eyes the better to savor it.

He shuddered at her efforts, a quiet moan escaping his lips, his head lifted and tilted so he could see where they were joined. When she’d accepted all of him, she lingered, tightening experimentally around him.

Maddox groaned. “Baby, I’m already far gone.”

Setting her hands on his pectorals, she braced herself for the ride, taking in his tense features. He reached to cup her breasts, rolling the tips between his fingers.

Shifting her weight, she took long, measured moves to work him deeper, then shallower, owning the experience. Maddox flexed beneath her, his skin heating as she drove him higher. Tension coiled within her core and she grew wetter. His eyes darkened and his thumb found the straining nub at her apex.

Circling the bundle of nerves, he squeezed her nipple in concert and her orgasm shuddered over her. She clenched and bore down. Maddox shouted, his hips snapping upward as he released into her.

Regan collapsed in a welter of limbs and Maddox gathered her close, smoothing her hair off her brow. He muttered against her, nothing intelligible but easily interpreted as soothing and loving.

When she stirred, he eased her over to the bed. Oscar put his paws on the edge of the mattress and yowled right in her face. It didn’t do much for her post-coital glow.

“I’ll feed you in a minute,” she promised.

Maddox ran a hand down her back. “Let’s go out for breakfast. Someplace where we can get a decent cup of coffee and talk some more.”

Talking would definitely be a good idea. She nodded, and then clawed to a sitting position, her legs dangling over the side. What she really wanted was a nap.

“Where’s my morning person girl?” Maddox teased, his breath whispering against her shoulder.

“I have more energy when I haven’t expended it all, first thing,” she said. Though she wouldn’t object to such a thing every morning. And if they’d been together at The Inn, it was unlikely she’d have gotten anything done—but would she have come to accept the impossible task of refurbishing it in the end if they’d fallen together in the beginning?

He laughed quietly. “I doubt there’s enough room in that shower for both of us, but we can give it a try.”

“You go ahead. I’ll take care of the animal.”

He climbed out of bed, dropping a kiss on her hair as he headed for the bathroom. He looked as good going away, his back broad and muscular above a really nice backside, and she goggled until he disappeared.

After slipping into Maddox’s shirt, fixing Oscar his meal didn’t take long, and she hustled around to tidy up before setting out clothes for the day. She wished she had something pretty and sexy to wear to breakfast, but Maddox had seen her in near rags and didn’t seem to care.

“There weren’t many towels, but the ones you used last night should be dry enough.” The man of her dreams lounged in the doorway, clad only in a drape of terry towel around his hips. Moisture glistened on his shoulders and in his hair, and heavier, sexy stubble coated his jaw. Her mouth dried in response and she licked her lips.

“Don’t, woman. As much as I’d like to stay in this average room, in bed with you for the next conceivable while, we have to get past our libidos for a short time.”

What was she doing? She stared at him, confused, yet thinking some extra time in the motel room wasn’t the worst thing, especially when she was just getting used to the idea of him and her. Because she knew there was a him and her, and her heart rested easier.

“You can’t look at me like that, wearing only my shirt. It makes me crazy.”

She smoothed the material over her front, becoming aware she hadn’t buttoned it evenly. The fabric gaped over her breasts and flirted with her upper thighs.

“Pancakes. With a side order of bacon. Maybe French toast.”

The skin around his eyes wrinkled. “Excuse me?”

“I was going to have an apple and a muffin for breakfast. I’d rather have pancakes and bacon.”

He chuckled. “Then grab a shower. I’ll take stuff out to your car and bring my case in.”

“How did you get here?”

“I flew and then rented a car. I’ll turn it in and we’ll take yours back.”

“Um…”

Crossing to her in a couple of strides, he set his hands on her shoulders. “Let’s figure it out over breakfast.”

“Okay.” She slipped from his hold before she molested him, and hurried to the bathroom. Tugging his shirt over her head at the door, she tossed it to him, loving the way his face tightened with lust.

True to his word, Maddox had the room emptied, including her little cache of groceries, and presumably stored in her SUV by the time she emerged. The temptation reflected in his eyes as she got dressed, making the experience as teasing as possible, lifted her spirits impossibly high.

Oscar was pleased to be back in the vehicle and suffered his seat belt with aplomb when she finally left the room, followed closely by Maddox. They agreed to meet at a chain restaurant in case they lost track of one another, but in her heart, she knew he would be right behind her all the way.

She parked close to the wall of windows so she could keep an eye on her cat, cracked the windows, and climbed out just as Maddox drew up in his rental car—another Mercedes. They were so different, insofar as personal wealth was concerned… Regan chewed her bottom lip, a sudden uncertainty overtaking her.

He climbed out and strode over quickly, throwing an arm around her. “C’mon inside, baby. And quit thinking. It’ll be fine.”

He paid such close attention that she was surprised she’d been able to hide her angst—and her interest—from him before. Though maybe she hadn’t, in retrospect. He held the door open and she moved inside, where they were escorted to a booth overlooking the parking lot.