He moaned into the pillow. 'I thought you just did. At least five times.'
'I said five
Groaning, he rolled off of her the best he could on such a narrow bed and draped an arm over his eyes. 'Okay, I'm game. Just… give me a minute. Or ten. To catch my breath.'
She snuggled against him with her head on his shoulder. 'And here I thought Rangers were tough.'
'Honey…' He lifted his arm to look at her. 'If I weren't, we never would have made it to the bed.'
'I'm not that heavy.'
'No, but you are that hot.' He kissed her forehead, stroking her hair. 'And that beautiful.'
Ducking her head, she bit her lip to hold back a rush of words. It was all so much, so fast. Was either one of them ready for where they might be headed?
Chapter 12
'I can't believe you talked me into this,' Joe grumbled as his butt grew chilled.
'It wasn't that hard.'
'Actually, at the time, it was very hard. That's how you caught me in a weak moment.' He felt ridiculous, lying facedown on Maddy's bed, bare-ass naked while she sat in the big armchair across the room drawing him.
'Trust me.' She laughed. 'You and the word 'weak' do not belong in the same sentence.'
With his weight on his elbows, he watched her over his shoulder. She'd closed the drapes and set candles on every conceivable surface 'for effect.' The play of light over her face and hair provided a nice distraction. An even better distraction was the fact that the red Chinese silk robe she'd put on barely covered the vital regions. With the way she sat, curled up in the chair, he had a good view of thoroughly female thighs. Plus, each time she reached for a different color in the box of pastels, the robe gaped down the front, teasing him with glimpses of her breasts.
'Maddy?'
'Yes?' She reached toward the box.
'You know that ten-minute rest I said I needed?'
'Um-hm?'
'I think we can safely say I'm fully rested.'
She went still, then dragged her gaze up his body to his face. 'Oh?'
'Ho-yeah.' He cocked a brow as he felt himself lengthen and harden against the mattress. 'So why don't you put down that sketch pad and come back over here?'
'I'm not done yet.' She changed colors again, frustrating him when the robe refused to gape enough to show a nipple. Then she sat back, tipped her head to study him. A grin played across her face as she went back to drawing.
'What is it you keep smiling at? You're not doing a caricature as a joke, are you?'
She laughed and blushed. 'Trust me, there is no exaggeration going on here.'
'Exaggeration?'
'A caricature is when you exaggerate the subject's natural features. Like if they have a big nose, you make it even bigger.'
'So, if I turned over, and you drew my other side-'
'No, don't move! I'm almost done.' She made a few more quick strokes, then looked around and fanned herself. 'Is it getting hot in here?'
'Maybe you should take off that robe.' He gave her a smoldering look.
'Hold that!' She grabbed another color. 'That look right there.'
'You mean you're drawing more than my ass?'
'Oh, baby, I'm drawing everything.' She grinned from ear to ear as she worked.
'Maddy,' he said in a low, even voice.
'Yes?' she answered, clearly distracted.
'Remember our agreement. You don't show this to anyone, right?'
She glanced up, blinked, and her silly grin shifted to something much deeper. Much hotter. 'I'm definitely not sharing this. With anyone.' She uncurled from the chair with seductive grace and headed for him with a sway to her hips that had his blood pumping.
When she reached the bed, she dropped the pad so it landed on the floor. As she moved to the foot of the bed, he looked down to see what she'd drawn. He expected to be embarrassed, but the sensuality of the image hit him at gut level. This was how she saw him: a hard masculine body covered in molten shades of skin glowing in candlelight, surrounded by rumpled sheets and dark shadows.
It was mesmerizing. And arousing.
He felt the mattress dip as she climbed onto the bed, then her hands on the backs of his calves. He dropped his head forward and closed his eyes as her hands slid up the backs of his legs. His body tightened as she cupped his butt, caressing the cheeks, then kissing them.
He went rock hard against the mattress and flexed his hips instinctively, which increased the pressure in that strange pleasure/pain of intense arousal. Straddling him, she explored his whole back, and he could feel the moist heat between her thighs resting at the juncture of his legs.
Need built until he clenched his jaw to keep from turning over and taking her. Her tongue ran up his spine, making him shiver. Then her breath warmed his neck.
Her lips touched the edge of his ear as she whispered, 'I want you. Now.'
He rolled onto his back and sucked in a breath at the heated look she gave him. Rising up on her knees, she opened her robe, let it drop against his thighs. Candlelight glowed oh her round shoulders, her full breasts. He ran his palms over her belly and thighs, enjoying the contrast of her pale softness beneath his strong, dark hands.
Her eyes shone with passion as she smiled down at him, then sank slowly, taking him inside. He savored every sensation, every touch, every sight and scent as she pleasured herself and him.
He knew he'd pay for this eventually- everything in life had a price-but for now there was only pleasure. Only joy. Only Maddy.
'Promise me something.'
The lazy rumble of Joe's voice roused Maddy enough for her to open her eyes. They must have drifted to sleep after crawling beneath the covers. Glancing over her shoulder, she didn't see any light seeping around the draperies and guessed that full night had fallen.
Yawning, she settled back against his chest and wondered if anyone had missed them at dinner. 'What was that?'
'I don't want there to be any lies this time.'
'Lies?' She struggled past the layers of sleep to make sense of his words. 'What are you talking about?'
'People say 'I love you' all the time, but rarely mean it. In fact, I think very few people even know what it means.'
Propping up on her elbow, she looked at him, his face mostly shadows in the darkness. 'You think I lied before, when we were dating and I told you I loved you?'
'I think you believed it at the time, because it gave you permission in your mind to sleep with me.' Faint light glinted in his eyes as he caressed her cheek. 'But we're adults now, and we don't need that. What we do in private is nobody's business but ours. The only thing I ask is that you don't say anything you don't truly mean.'
The words hit her like a punch. 'I can't believe you think I lied about loving you.'
'You cared for me, and you liked being with me, but it wasn't love, Maddy.' When she started to argue, his thumb moved over her lips. 'I know the difference.'
She pulled his hand away. 'Before I get mad, perhaps you can explain what the difference means to you.'
His eyelids lowered, shielding his eyes from her as he spoke. 'I was only six when the state took me away from my birth mother, but I can remember her. She used to tell me she loved me all the time-when she wasn't passed out with one of her druggie boyfriends. She even cried and made a big scene when Child Protective Services hauled me away.'
