by Regina Wade
“So, are we going to need to operate?” I try to inject a little humor into the moment, but it falls flat. Maddie doesn’t even react to the joking tone of my voice.
“Mmm. No. The clinic is already closed, and like I said, I’m almost as well stocked as they are.”
Maddie shakes her head.
A few more minutes of work and one bandaged paw later and we’re done. I hand our patient over to his mother and stand up to stretch.
“Alright. Well, Officer Bell, thank you for your help. I’m sure you had more important things to do than help a crazy old cat-lady.” She says.
“Hey, that’s not true. You’re not old.” I say cheerfully.
Maddie squints at me, eyes flashing dangerously.
“So I am a crazy cat lady?” She asks, hands going to her hips.
I spread my arms, indicating our surroundings.
“If the collar fits, Maddie, wear it. I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. I like cats.”
One corner of her mouth quirks up, but there’s still heat in her eyes. They draw me in and loosen my tongue in a way six beers and three shots wouldn’t.
“What about crazy, Officer Bell?” Her voice is still quiet, but there’s an undertone that wasn’t there before. Something dark that I like.
I take a step forward, closing the distance between us. The air feels thicker, charged with the chemistry between us. The storm that has been brewing all day is threatening to break.
“I like crazy a lot, Maddie. More than I should.” I reach up and brush at her exposed shoulder, tracing the smooth skin there with the back of my hand.
“Haven’t you ever heard the rule about never getting involved with a crazy girl, officer?” Maddie’s words are a whisper. I feel them more than hear them, her lips drawing closer and closer to mine with each word.
“Rules, like crazy girls, are made to be broken,” I whisper against her lips as I finish closing the distance between us.
Our first kiss breaks the dam wide open. Every ounce of restraint I’ve been exercising all day goes right out the window — followed by her tank top. I skim it up and off of her in one motion, barely breaking our lip lock.
Maddie kisses me hungrily, a woman possessed. Her curves already feel good against me, even through layers of clothing. I sweep the table of her instruments, sending them scattering to the floor, grab her hips, and set her down on the edge of the table. Her legs instantly wrap around my waist, pulling me in closer as we come together with searing passion.
There’s frantic energy to her movements, a hunger I mirror. Her lips demand and I answer, our kiss growing deeper and deeper with every passing second. Her hands grasp my face, one on each cheek as she pulls me in closer and grinds against me. There’s need written large in each of her moans. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever felt, that raw, primal hunger for more of me.
So I give her more.
My hands are a blur as they peel my shirt off, then unbuckle my belt. My jeans hit the floor with a heavy thud, and the noise seems to bring Maddie back to her senses for her moment. I can sense her hesitation at war with her obvious desire.
“You still sure about this, Maddie? I want you, but I want you without reservation.” My voice is raw, ragged around the edges. There’s no way I could hide how much I want this woman.
She nods instantly, grabbing me and pulling me close again.
“I need this. I need you, Landon. Please.”
It’s the please that does it for me, the admission of need.
I’ve always been a sucker for a damsel in distress.
I give her my best grin as I pull away from her kiss, my hands going down to the waistband of her scrub bottoms to slip beneath and tug them down her legs.
I follow her pants and panties, dropping to my knees as they hit the floor. With Maddie sitting on the table, I’m eye level with the wettest, sexiest pussy I’ve ever laid eyes on. It’s hard not to stare, but I manage to wrench my eyes up to hers as I lean forward to press a kiss against the inside of her thigh.
Her eyes are wide as I drag my face against the soft skin, the slight stubble of my five o’clock shadow scratching at her sensitive flesh.
“Landon, please…” She whimpers, hands dropping to tangle in my hair in an attempt to guide me closer.
“Please what, Maddie?” I tease, my breath hot against her. Her tight pink lips are glistening, almost dripping with her blatant need.
“Put your mouth on my pussy, Landon. Please.” She whispers, the words wrenched from her with obvious difficulty. I grin up at her, enjoying feeling her squirm beneath my lips.
Then I press myself against her, tongue opening her up, parting her lips like the petals of a flower. Immediately her hands jerk in my hair, forcing me harder against her. I pull away, wrenching one hand out of my hair and then the other, gripping them tightly.
“Since you can’t behave, we’ll just have to do something about it.” I growl, pushing her hands beneath her. “Be a good girl and sit on your hands.”
Maddie glares down at me, but when I start to lean back away from her, she does as she’s told.
Then I bend down and begin to work her in earnest, long slow licks starting at the bottom and gaining speed until I’m flicking her clit with the tip of my tongue. Maddie writhes and swears, the table shaking beneath her as my hands pin her at the hips, her hands trapped beneath her.
Her legs work overtime, heels kicking a staccato rhythm against my back. Her thighs slam closed around me, but I don’t let up for a second.
“Landon, fuck, don’t stop —”
I know exactly what to do when I hear that. I don’t so much as breathe differently, maintaining the exact same tempo until her body freezes beneath me as Maddie’s first orgasm rips through her with all the force of a tsunami.
Panting, dripping, I stand up and pull her mouth against me, my need for her only stoked by her incredible response.
“Oh god, I— nobody’s ever done that before.” Maddie pants. She tries to duck her eyes as soon as the words leave her lips, but I tilt her chin, forcing her to look at me.
“Nobody’s ever put their mouth on your gorgeous pussy before? Are you kidding me?” I watch the flush climb to her cheeks.
“No,” she shakes her head. “Nobody’s ever done anything to me before. I’m a virgin, Landon.”
“I need you, Maddie. Now.” I growl.
Without waiting for a response, I scoop her up into my arms bridal style. Weak from her own orgasm, Maddie doesn’t even offer up token resistance, just turns her head to press her lips to mine.
“Take me to bed, Landon.” Maddie breaks our kiss to whisper against my ear as I carry her upstairs.
Her voice is clear, beautiful, and utterly filthy.
Chapter 6
Maddie
Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life. — The Beatles, ‘Blackbird’
Landon kicks the door to my bedroom open. Normally that kind of violence is abhorrent to me, but right now, it’s a huge turn on. Knowing this mountain of a man is so eager to be inside me that he can’t even slow down to nudge a door open with his shoulder?
Yes, please.
His hands, of course, are full of me. I never thought I’d be the kind of girl to enjoy being carried, but Landon does it so easily that he makes even my generous curves feel delicate.
“Take me, Landon. Make me a woman.” I moan against his ear as I sink my teeth into it. There’s something raw about my desire for this man, something undeniably primal.
Landon is just too perfect. The only man I’ve ever wanted like this. The only person I’ve ever trusted. The way he dropped everything to help me. His heart is definitely Texas-sized.
It’s not the only organ of his that is, either. Sudden trepidation floods me as I feel my back hit the mattress and look down to see Landon standing between my spread thighs, gorgeous cock already lined up with the slick heat between my thighs.
&n
bsp; He looks like a god or maybe an angel. The perfect symmetry of his muscles makes my heart race as he leans over me, mounting me, pressing himself against me. I lean up, tracing my fingers over every ridge and plane that I can find, my tongue slipping into his mouth once more.
Without a word, he begins to stretch me, the head of his cock pressing into me slowly. I whimper as he meets resistance, and then with one thrust of his hips, he destroys that resistance for good.
“Breathe, Maddie.” Landon looks down at me with a mixture of lust and concern, his smile gentle and the look in his eyes anything but.
I give him a brief nod, smiling. “I don’t mind a little pain, Landon. Not like this.”
There’s a spark of heat in his eyes at my words, but he just growls in response and thrusts into me deeper, making me squeal and tighten my grip on his shoulders.
He works himself into an easy rhythm, each stroke making my body shudder with waves of pleasure. I dig my nails into his back, raking them down, marking him with my claws.
“Maddie, fuck, I’m going to come.” Landon’s voice is hoarse, strained with the effort of holding back.
I feel the overwhelming urge to feel him come undone inside of me, because of me. I wrap my legs tighter, pulling him in deeper, pressing myself against him as hard as I can.
Landon comes with a roar. Even as he does I feel my body tighten, my pussy flaring again as another bone-shattering orgasm hits me.
For a long few minutes, we both collapse, spent, panting. Landon rolls to one side of me, onto his back, and I curl myself against his chest. Soon the room is full of just the slow, deep sound of Landon breathing. For a moment I think he’s already drifted off; my own eyelids are heavy.
“Do you believe in love at first sight, Maddie?” Landon’s voice is soft and languid in the darkness of my room. The ceiling fan spins slowly, lazily casting shadows across the room. He’s even more beautiful washed in pale moonlight and outlined in inky black midnight.
“With people? No. I love most of my animals at first sight. I thought with people, it was more…” I brush a hand down low, my fingers teasingly close to his dick.
“Lust at first sight?” Landon responds, and I can hear the amusement in his tone even as his body reacts to my touch.
I nod against him, my attention suddenly refocused on his perfect body.
“I thought if we did this, I’d work you out of my system, but I still can’t stop thinking about you.” I murmur against him, pressing my lips against his collarbone.
He chuckles, and I feel it more than hear it. The deep bass vibrations of his amusement send shivers racing up my spine, making me break out in goosebumps from head to toe.
“I don’t think I’ll ever work you outta my system, Maddie. This is it. At least for me. I was yours the moment you walked into the station.”
He says it so plainly, without fear or reservation. I can’t help but be swept up in him, caught up in the wake of his passage.
“I love you, Maddie,” He whispers against me. Despite the craziness of it all, I press myself against him closer.
“I love you too, Landon,” I whisper back. I begin to kiss my way down his chest, making my way lower and lower.
“The animals are part of the package, you know. All of the ones I have and so many more.” I place a kiss directly to the side of his belly button, looking up at him with a grin.
“Just how many animals can one person look after, Maddie?” He asks, his voice already rough with barely restrained lust.
“Well, I’ve always wanted to buy up a few dozen acres and open a sanctuary,” I answer as I kiss my way down one sharp line of the vee of his hips and back up the other.
“I’ll need some convincing,” he answers with a grin of his own.
“Way ahead of you,” I answer as I reach my goal.
In the end, Landon gives me everything I ask for. I’m not surprised.
I make a very persuasive argument.
Chapter 7
Epilogue One
Landon
I scan the assembled throng of people. My eyes sweep around the large room, singling out the biggest potential threats to my most important mission to date.
Momma: safely ensconced with her sister, nowhere near the biggest potential problem.
Dad: seated as far as possible from Momma, his newest, youngest girlfriend glaring daggers at the rest of the family. No overt hostilities, at least not yet. Then again, the booze wouldn’t start flowing until the reception.
“We’re all clear, Jax. Perimeter secure. Well, as secure as it can be.” I turn to glance at my little brother with a smile, pulling him in for a rough hug.
“It’s not too late to pull out, you know.” I give him a teasing grin.
“It’s too late for both of us and you know it. I’m just not a coward like you.” Jax gives me a big shit-eating grin, ruffling up my hair. I let him. It is, after all, his special day.
“Just because you’re in a rush to get settled down doesn’t mean all of us are.” I snort derisively, but Jax rolls his eyes.
“Please. I’ve seen you and Maddie. She’s got you wound around her finger tighter than a mosquito’s ass.” Jax steps away, straightening his tie.
I reach over and brush some lint from the shoulders of his tuxedo.
“As if your bride to be doesn’t have you just as whipped.” I give my brother another saucy grin, clapping him on the shoulder.
“That she does. I’m just saying, Landon, your day will come.”
I shrug. “Well, when it does, I’ll make sure it doesn’t end up like this. Honestly, Jax, this is a nightmare. I know you’re a small-town cop, but still. There’s no way to keep something like this secure. Can you imagine how many scumbags would be eager to crash my wedding?”
He chuckles. “Can’t be worse than Momma, Dad, and Dad’s girlfriend. Speaking of which, you didn’t hear it from me, but we’re about to have a new baby brother.”
I groan. “Surely not. Dad’s way too old to be raising kids. He didn’t exactly win father of the year with us.”
Jax shrugs. “Maybe he’s mellowed out. Either way, I expect their wedding will be the next, not yours. Won’t that be a fun little shindig?”
My brother usually isn’t this talkative, but I can tell that the stress of being a groom is actually getting to him. I give his shoulder a smack.
“Come on, man. It’s time for you to take one last perp walk as a free man. Don’t make me drag you.” I give him a grin, jangling the handcuffs in my pocket.
“Landon, please tell me you don’t actually have cuffs on you right now.” Jax squints at me, but I shrug helplessly, pulling them out to spin around before pocketing them again.
“Sage insisted. Now, are you going to go quietly, or am I going to have to charge you with resisting arrest and behavior likely to cause a breach of the peace?”
Jackson chuckles. “I don’t think you could make that fly, big brother, no matter who the judge was.”
I shake my head, grinning widely. “Disagree. If you don't get out there soon, Momma and Dad are bound to actually start talking and that’s halfway to a riot. Let alone what Sage will do to us both if you don’t get a move on, big bro.”
Jax nods once, takes a deep breath, and squares his shoulders.
“Alright. How do I look?”
“Like that time you sent a home-run ball through Old Man Jenkins’ window. Scared shitless.”
He smiles. “I was, and I am, but I faced the music then and I will now.” He turns to go, pushing open the doors and stepping down the aisle, my laughter trailing after him.
The ceremony is short and sweet. I keep my eyes scanning the crowd the entire time, my fingers itching. Our differences aside, Jackson asked me to be his best man, and I take that job just as seriously as I take every one of my responsibilities.
The only hiccup in my constant vigilance is Maddie. Every time my gaze sweeps past her, her eyes draw me in. As if through magic, she’s alway
s gazing back at me each time I catch her eyes, her soft smile and wild eyes making my heart quicken.
The mental image of her curves packed into a white wedding dress makes my cock twitch in my slacks, but I rein myself in.
Stay focused, Landon.
It’s a full hour later before I get a chance to steal my girl away from the crowd. The reception is well underway, the alcohol flowing, the happy couple tearing it up on the dance floor. Maddie is standing off to the side, chatting with one of the bridesmaids, when I slide up behind her and whisper into her ear.
“Follow me.”
I don’t stick around to see Maddie making her excuses to her new friend. I just exit the reception hall into the cool night air.
“Alright, Landon. This better be good.” Maddie fixes me with a glare as she slips out onto the balcony with me. Her blue dress is simple and gorgeous, showing off just enough cleavage to make every man save Jackson notice her.
I reach over and pull her close, tugging her off-balance. Her palms hit my chest, bracing herself against me.
“Fuck, Landon. I’m in heels, you can’t just yank me around like a rag-doll.” Maddie murmurs against my chest.
I just tilt her face up and lean down, pressing my lips against hers.
Kissing Maddie is just as intoxicating now as it was the first time. Her mouth opens for mine instantly, and we pass right by sweet and chaste and end up locked in a deep, hungry kiss. Her body melts against mine, all pretense of irritation wiped away by the chemistry between us.
I slip my hand into my pocket, fishing out the cuffs, and close them around her conveniently presented wrists. Her eyes slam open, a heady mixture of arousal and horror.
“Landon!” The one-word hiss is condemnation, outrage, and need, all wrapped up in my name.
