Chapter Fifteen
Madden
Madden woke up hungry. And horny. Again? No. There was no way after yesterday and last night with Linc that she could still be horny. He’d made her come so many times she’d lost count. Six? No, seven—seven times. He was as sexy as he was crazy. But what the hell was that last night? Running out of her house like a madman after he’d basically begged her to let him stay? He’d seemed spooked, scared even. He better not be catching feelings for her. Madden didn’t do feelings. She’d seen the worst love had to offer and she’d decided at a pretty early age that wouldn’t be her path. Ever. Plus, Linc was a player to the core. He didn’t have a single serious monogamous bone in his stimulating body.
She rolled over when she heard her phone ring. Madden couldn’t help the smirk that spread across her face when she saw that Linc was calling her. “Good morning, psycho.”
She heard his chuckle on the other end of the line. “Good morning, gorgeous. How did you sleep?”
“Good, after I got the sex-crazed maniac out of my bed.” She covered her yawn with the back of her hand. “Why are you calling me so early?”
“It’s noon, baby.”
“Don’t call me baby.” Madden put her cell on speaker and climbed out of bed, stretching her arms over her head. She rarely slept this late, but she’d be lying if she said Linc hadn’t worn her out yesterday.
“You didn’t seem to mind it last night.”
“Yeah well, I’m sure you know there are a lot of things women tolerate in the bedroom that they don’t tolerate otherwise.” She picked up her phone and headed into the bathroom to get ready for what was left of her day.
“Like me slapping your tight little ass and wrapping your silky hair around my fist.” His voice had dropped an octave. He was turned on. Madden was suddenly irritated that she knew the different tones of Linc’s voice. They were spending entirely too much time together. She needed to push him back a few steps. “Or how about when I tell you to fuck me harder, boss you around and make you do as I say?”
Well, hell. How was she supposed to push him away when he said things like that? His sexy talk alone had her core aching. “You’re cocky, you know that?”
He let out another deep chuckle. “Madden, I’ve heard you scream my name. I know you enjoy every second that I’m inside you. Just like I know that right now, I’m turning you on. I can practically hear you squeezing your thighs together to alleviate the ache.”
Damn it. “The front door is unlocked. And bring food.”
“I’m on my way. Baby.”
She hung up on him and flung her phone across the room. Lucky for her it landed on her bed before bouncing to the floor. He’d left her mere hours earlier, and now she was letting him come back? This wasn’t her. And her actions were starting to piss her off. What was Linc’s dick doing to her? It was like magic.
Now that stupid 50 Cent song was stuck in her head.
I got the magic stick
I know if I can hit once, I can hit it twice
Madden showered quickly, humming that damn song the whole time. She brushed her teeth, put on just a little makeup and pulled on leggings and a long-sleeve t-shirt. It was Sunday. And Sundays were for being lazy.
Well, they were now. When she was growing up, Sundays were for church, then her mother would spend hours in the kitchen preparing their dinner. She baked and fired and whisked all afternoon. The three of them would sit down in the fancy dining room and talk about their weeks. It became the only meal her father was never late for. She hated the memory, the lies that were pushed on her at that table. Now, she rarely left her house on Sunday, and she certainly never ate a home-cooked meal. Just another passive aggressive way of sticking it to her twisted parents. Much like all the other choices she made in her life.
Madden smiled when she heard her front door open. “Hey, Maddi? Are you awake?” Her smile fell.
Shit. Fuck. Damn.
“Yeah, preggo. I’ll be out in a second.” She grabbed her phone to send Linc a text letting him know not to come over, but the second she starting typing she heard her door open again.
“Linc? What the hell? You can’t just walk into someone’s house like you own the…wait. Why did you just walk in Maddi’s house like you’d…wait. Wait.”
That was fast. That little fucker was probably already halfway through town when he called. Madden came out of her room, wearing the snottiest look she could muster. She dug deep, back to her high school days mirroring the girls she and Corey had always detested. “Linc? What are you doing here?” She turned to Corey. “Did he come with you?”
“No. He just walked in.” Corey looked from Madden to Linc then back again. “What’s going on with you two? This is the second time I’ve seen Linc come to your house.”
“Um, uh, I um saw you walk over here. I was on my way to your house, with lunch.” Linc held up the takeout bags.
“Ooooo is that Chinese?”
Madden hid a giggle behind her hand at how easily distracted Corey was by food.
“Yes it is. I know it’s been your favorite lately. I, um, yeah I wanted to come hang with you and Dom for a bit and when I saw you walking over here…I figured I’d bring you your food. So. Uh, here’s your food.” He handed Corey the bag, winking at Madden while she put her head inside, breathing deeply and walking into the kitchen.
“Thanks, bud. That’s so sweet.” She shoved an eggroll in her mouth and kept walking. “You may as well hang here with us, though. Dom and Riley just left on a run up the mountains.” Corey sat down and started pulling out the white takeout containers.
Madden winced; they really shouldn’t be eating on this table. Linc must have been thinking the same thing because he chuckled quietly as he grabbed her ass on his way into the kitchen.
Corey took out some chopsticks and started in on the lo mein. She narrowed her eyes at Linc when he reached into the bag and handed Madden an egg roll.
Linc snorted. “Corey there is enough food in there for four people. Madden can have an egg roll.”
“She can have some of that rice too. I can’t eat shrimp.” Corey watched Linc like a hawk, making sure he dished out only the stuff she didn’t want on their plates. “How was your date last night?”
“It was good. She was good. Feisty, just how I like ‘em.”
Madden reached under the table and palmed his dick. She’d give him feisty. She grinned when he accidentally let out a little moan. Seemed he was just as horny as she was. What was wrong with the two of them? Would they ever get enough? And how the hell was she supposed to drop him like a bad habit? She was almost positive the cocky prick had ruined her for all other men.
Corey pointed at Linc with her chopsticks. “You keep your whoring ways to yourself. What we said last year still goes—you set a better example for those kids.”
Linc held his hands up in mock surrender. “I promise. No one will ever know.”
“What about you, Maddi? You and Baze gone out yet?” Corey waggled her eyebrows.
Madden glanced at Linc and then met Corey’s gaze. “Uh, no not yet. I haven’t really seen him since Moon Bar on Friday. I’ve been busy unpacking.”
Corey looked past Madden into the living room. “You have been busy. It looks like almost all your boxes are unpacked.”
Madden frowned and looked over her shoulder—were they? Had Linc done all that last night while she slept?
“Well he’ll be at the house tonight for dinner. You can get your flirt on then.” Corey was oblivious to Linc’s death stare. But Madden sure as hell felt its heat.
“Dinner?” She hadn’t attended any kind of Sunday dinner in over ten years.
Corey nodded. “Yeah we try to do dinner together every Sunday. Molly cooks or the guys barbecue and we just hang out. That’s why I came over, to invite you. You’ll come, won’t you?”
A whole evening pretending she didn’t want Linc to nail her in the kitchen, while she half-heartedly flirted with Baze to keep up appearances? Sounded like a great fucking time. “Uh, well—”
“Please?” Corey grabbed Madden’s hand. Damn. Corey was strong for a pregnant chick. “Maddi. Plllllease? I know how you feel about things like this, but I promise its super laid back. And I haven’t really gotten to spend much time with you since you got here. I miss you.”
She hadn’t gotten to spend time with one of her oldest friends because she’d been lying to her face and fucking Linc behind her back. It was Madden’s guilt, and her guilt alone, that finally made her agree to dinner. “Fine.”
Corey clapped her hands together. “Okay. Good. Now that’s settled, I’m going to take my food and go home. It’s nap time.” Corey stood and gathered all the food in her hands. “Y’all don’t mind if I take this, right?”
Madden was starving and she was really hoping Corey was going to leave the rest of the takeout. But far be it from her to take food from a pregnant woman. “Nope. It’s all you, preggo.”
“Linc, you coming home with me? Dom and Riley should be back soon.” Corey called over her shoulder as she waddled to the door.
He came up behind Madden and whispered in her ear. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, baby.” Then louder so Corey could hear. “Nah. I’ve got some things that need to be taken care of.” He threw a wink over his shoulder on his way out the door.
Madden cleaned up the mess from Corey’s lunch then shot Linc a text.
Madden: Don’t come back without more food.
She wandered into her living room and sure enough, almost everything was unpacked. The deal was that Linc would unpack her kitchen, yet he’d gone above and beyond. And he hadn’t even stayed the night. Madden plopped down on her couch, pulling her legs up underneath her, looking around her new home. This house could fit in the entryway of the large Victorian she’d grown up in.
Old Southern money had provided Madden every opportunity in life. She’d never known what it meant to want for anything. But the more the learned about her father, the more she saw the way he treated her mom, the more the gifts and fancy clothes made her sick.
Madden’s parents always seemed so happy, so in love. But just like a lot of things in life, she came to realize it was all a lie. When Madden caught her father cheating, she’d felt sick for days. She couldn’t eat. She was heartbroken, and she was so sad for her mother. It took her a long time to work up the courage to tell her mom what she’d seen. When her mom blew her off, like she was a silly child who didn’t understand the way the world worked, it hurt. It rocked her to the core. She felt like the rug had been pulled from under her. Nothing had made sense anymore. Her parents were strangers. She’d lost trust in them, in the love she thought they shared. From that moment on Madden had decided that marriage, forever, wasn’t worth it.
Why dream for something that never really existed in the first place?
She did everything in her power to make sure that she never became like her parents.
And she always would.