I winked and unlocked my door. “That’s what I like to hear.” I held the door for her to go in first. “Here we are.”
As I closed the door behind me, I decided I needed to have her again as soon as possible. She’d woken something deep inside me. I decided the best way to see her au naturel was if I went first. I dropped my shirt and shoes near the door and my pants and boxer briefs a few feet away.
Her eyes widened as she stared at me and pressed her hand to her heart. “What are you doing?”
I winked, passed her, and stretched in front of my wide windows overlooking the park. “Walking around my house naked. Join me.”
She rocked on her feet and tensed. For a second, I thought I’d gone too far, but then she reached up and took off her shirt and bra. Her breasts were even more breathtaking in the afternoon sun. She slipped off her pants and cotton underwear, which fit her like tailored gloves.
I grew harder, but then she stepped back as if someone might see her and said, “Okay, I’ll go start making the tea.”
I followed her into my kitchen and moved her hair off her neck. Then I kissed it. “Tea can wait.”
She turned in my arms and kissed my cheek. “What else do you have in mind?”
She knew exactly what I wanted. I sucked on her neck and stole a kiss. She tasted sweeter than she had earlier. We broke for air, and I whispered, “I can’t get enough of you, Maddie.”
“Okay.” She took my hand. She didn’t lead me to the bedroom but instead went to the couch in my breakfast nook. I hoped she would let me have her there, as I couldn’t seem to get enough of her.
Maddie
Being with Arman the night before and that day showed me that sex was fun. I’d heard a lot of preachers who said I wasn’t supposed to feel that way, but after having sex with Arman, I knew they were wrong.
For most of my life, I’d believed and lived a lie. Arman’s gentleness mixed with hard sexiness stirred something deep inside me. And those muscles of his turned me on.
I realized how free I was, even if I wasn’t sure I was any good. I stood naked in front of him, though inside, the bubbles in my belly were because… well, because I was afraid. He was rich and had the world at his feet, while I’d spent my life being dictated to and hiding.
Then I smiled and said as he followed me, “So, I didn’t know you were an exhibitionist, Arman. That’s new.”
He glanced at my breasts. He’d tasted my nipples and my core. There was nothing he hadn’t felt at that point. “What can I say. I’m a different guy with you. And for the record, I wanted to take you at the beach where we first met.”
I tilted my head. I needed to prove to myself and to him that I was good at giving and receiving with him. I smiled and I raised an eyebrow. “With sand that could go… y’know?”
He leaned down. My skin tingled from his nearness. Then he kissed my cheek. “Fair enough. I’ll let you lead.”
Following his plan had been fun, but I wanted to tease him a little, so I winked. “You will?”
He bounced on his feet. “Yes.”
A silly thought passed through me. I crossed my arms to cover my chest. “Prove it.”
His brow furrowed. “How?”
I pointed to the window. He’d said no one could see him here. It was time to see if he believed that. “Dance naked… here. And that includes shaking your backside.”
He broke out into a laugh and then bowed like I was a queen who had given a commandment. “For you.”
He went to the window and started singing a pop song from a boy band I’d loved when we were kids. He used to make fun of it. Now, he shook his body to the catchy tune.
As he finished, I pointed to his couch off to the side, next to the window. “Adorable. Now, sit.”
He pointed to one of the spots. “Right here?”
I cracked a smile. “Yes.”
He sat there, and I walked up to him on my tiptoes. Then I ran my hands through his thick short hair and gazed into his brown eyes, which were molten hot. I’m doing it!
With him, I was someone new. So I climbed on his lap, and he asked, “Are you having fun?”
His manhood grew hard. He was ready for me, but I flipped my hair behind back. “Am I too heavy?”
He traced my sides. “Don’t be crazy.”
I pushed his hands down. This was my turn to decide what happened. I motioned toward the window, which wasn’t closed at all. “So, would you want me where people might see?”
He sucked in his lips and stared up at me like I was his goddess. “No one can see without binoculars, Maddie.”
I leaned closer and smelled his light cologne. “Don’t take the fun out of it.”
He let out a deep breath that almost sounded hungry. “Fair enough. I want you.”
“There.” I guided his penis inside me.
I needed him, and clearly, he needed me. He took over, setting the rhythm. I arched back and let him. Seconds later, my vision became hazy. My body was sweet and tender, and I’d lost all control. I was his, and it felt amazing.
Arman
I’d taken her twice since we came upstairs. I’d never been so driven for a woman as I was with Maddie. She was the one.
A few minutes earlier, we’d left for the shower together, and afterward, I stopped the water to take her beautiful naked body. While she was still in the shower, I’d picked out new clothes.
She came out of the bathroom with her hair wet from showering, almost dressed except for her pants. She was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen, and she had no idea.
I walked over and took her hands. “Thank you.”
Maddie let me go and pushed her hair to the side. “For…?”
My heart was practically coming out of my chest like I was one of those cartoon characters. “For trusting me.”
Her cheeks reddened, and she sighed. “That… this was fun.”
I’d been holding back, but I realized I needed to tell her. I motioned toward the bed to sit and said, “It’s more. You must know this isn’t just sex for me.”
Her face went white, and she stepped out of the bedroom. “Don’t say that.” I tugged on my sleep pants and caught up with her in the kitchen, and she said, “I should go. They’ll be back from the theater soon.”
Without pants, she wouldn’t go far. I reached for her hip and whispered in her ear, “Don’t.”
She stopped. “I can’t stay.”
I let her go, but my gut tightened. “Why? My mother will call. What happened that you’re shutting me out?”
She turned, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m… afraid of trusting.”
I swallowed. “What happened to you?”
She massaged her forehead and then passed me and headed into my private sitting room. I followed her, and she took a seat on the couch we’d made love on earlier. This time, she sat on her legs and waited till I sat beside her. Then she said, “I… when we met, I was homeless, really. I had no place to go, and that’s why I decided I’d have to brave out my mother’s house.”
This wasn’t new, but I hadn’t heard her talk much about her story. My heart thumped. “You have a job and a place to live and can follow your dreams now.”
She shook her head and glanced at me like I was the fool. “It’s hard to believe or trust that this will last, even if I want it to.”
My pulse raced. I had no idea how to help her believe in herself, but if I held back now, she might shut me out forever. “Why? I need to know, Maddie.”
Her face turned bright red, and she stared at the area rug at her feet. The minutes passed, and I wondered if she would stay silent. Then she said, as she hugged herself, “My husband, Bob, was abusive. He used to laugh and say I deserved the nightly beating because I wasn’t pure or good. He told me… that God put me there, and he was teaching me piety.”
My shoulders tensed. I wanted to protect her and strike anyone who hurt her. The pain in her eyes as she relived her old life struck me hard. I leaned closer. �
�That’s nonsense.”
She let out a laugh. “It’s easy for you to say. You’re not… broken.”
I lowered my head. The abuse she’d suffered had been obvious, but she’d never spoken about it. “I know tons of Christians, and they are good people. I’m quite sure Joel doesn’t do anything but love his wife.”
She let out a long sigh and dropped her shoulders. Then she stared at me. “All my life, I believed I deserved what I got because I was more bad than good.”
“That doesn’t make sense. You’re amazing.”
She shook her head like I’d insulted her and sat straighter. “What do I do that’s so amazing? Throw a party for you?”
I would have to show her how she helped make people better without being a jerk about it. I kept my voice low. “I made two deals that are over twenty million dollars apiece that night because of your party.”
She stood and headed back to the bedroom and grabbed her pants from the bathroom, and I followed. As she dressed on the bed, she said, “For you. It’s not for me or for the greater good. I’ve done nothing to get what I really want out of life.”
Her desires mattered. Maybe I hadn’t understood that before. “What’s that?”
She stood up and stared at me. Her eyes were big and sad at the same time. “I want a family like yours. I love your mother. I love how you and your brothers all work as a team even now, when you all live different lives, but I need to belong.”
My body heated as I approached her and whispered, “You do. You can have that.”
She turned away from me and stared out a window that faced the New York skyline. “No. All I do is take from you, and you don’t even know. We moved out when he left our trailer.” She jumped up and stared out the window. “I didn’t even tell you I lived in a trailer because you’d never understand what being broke or hurt or denied is like.”
My heart beat faster, and I placed my hand on her shoulder. “You’ll never experience that again.”
Her face held pain as she pressed her hands to her chest. “It’s part of who I am. I’m not… good.”
Only she would have the power to see that she was far more than her past. “You are. I have faith in you.”
Her brow wrinkled like I’d spoken to her in a different language. “To do what?”
Part of me didn’t understand why she felt bad about herself. When something bad happened in my life, I didn’t let it affect me personally. Mistakes were part of life. But she was right that our lives had been different.
I felt jumpy and alive as I said, “To be whoever you want to be and change so you can leave that mess behind. You already started. You’re divorced, living here, starting over.”
Her lips thinned. “I don’t know.”
I brushed her cheek. She was sweet and wonderful, and she needed to see that. “And I get now why you don’t want a relationship yet, but I have to have hope too.”
She pressed her hands on me. “What do you hope for?”
It was time to tell her my truth. I met her gaze. “You. I’ve fallen in love with you. I might always have been in love with you.”
Her blush grew as she stared at me. I was waiting for a reaction, but her phone beeped with a text. Maddie walked into the bathroom and read her message. “Look, come with me downstairs. Your mom will be there.”
I nodded. “We’ll finish this later.” Then I grabbed my shirt and walked with her to the door. I understood more now and knew she had the power to fix herself.
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie
Arman loves me?
My heart still beat too fast. Seriously, I wasn’t sure how to handle this. Telling him what was in my heart had been hard. I was tired, and it wasn’t from our day together. It was from exposing myself as a fraud with a black heart. I was absolutely not ready for a relationship with him. Or anyone.
Downstairs, my daughter rushed toward me and pulled me into a hug as Roxanne hugged her son. “Mom, can I stay with Grandma Roxanne for the weekend and go to the beach? Ruth Solomon is having her Bat Mitzvah, and she called me because the invitation wasn’t answered.”
The children she befriended at the beach. I said, “I didn’t get anything.”
Aurora smiled to reassure me that I was fine. My daughter thought she took care of me, and sometimes, our roles were reversed. “She sent it to Grandma Catherine, and it’s tomorrow.”
It was important to me that Aurora had friends. I needed her life to be different from mine in every way. “I don’t know. Will you have to miss school on Monday?”
Roxanne added fast, “No. We’ll be home tomorrow night once the party ends, so she can get a full night’s rest. I’ll get her back on the helicopter if the traffic is too bad.”
The Norouzi family took care of each other and looked after us these days, too, so I nodded. “Okay… have fun.”
She hugged me. “Thanks, Mom.”
Then she disappeared into her room and walked out a minute later with a dress I hadn’t seen before, a blue beaded designer dress. She would look stunning in it. She handed it to Roxanne. They’d probably picked it out when they were out earlier.
As Aurora hugged me goodbye, she said to the man behind me who’d taken my breath away earlier, “Arman, watch out for her while I’m gone.”
“Always.”
She hugged him. I was speechless. Her father had never once even held her or hugged her, and now, she was acting like Arman was part of her family. Tears formed in my eyes. She, too, saw the Nourozis as the ideal.
Aurora quipped to Arman, “That’s why I like you for my mom.”
He glanced at me. “We’ll talk more about that later.”
We walked Aurora and Roxanne to the door, and once they left, my apartment fell silent. I have to tell him my truth. Now.
I turned to tell Arman that I would have to stop everything, but my lips quivered. He would think I wanted a kiss, which I did. My gut twisted.
So I waved to him to follow me. “Arman, please sit for tea.”
I then headed into the kitchen and boiled water with my electric kettle. My stomach hurt at the idea I’d never be near Arman again. I’d become addicted to his nearness. Telling him to go was impossible.
The water boiled, and I made the tea and brought it out on a tray. I placed it between our seats, and he took a cup. “Okay, what’s going on?”
I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to tell him, but I forced myself. He had to know that I wasn’t the one for him. My eyes moistened. “I’m not capable of loving you or anyone right now.”
He didn’t even blink. “I can wait.”
My pulse sped up. This was harder than leaving Bob. “I… I can’t have you wait in hope. I want you physically, but… I don’t know if I can love you or give you a heart I’m not even sure exists inside me anymore.”
My eyes closed as he leaned closer, and my lips opened. A moment later, we kissed, and my heart stirred. I ached for him.
The kiss ended, and he said, “You’re caring and full of… heart. I can wait.”
I felt a new hope that one day I might be ready. I wanted Arman. I gulped my tea and saw he’d already finished his.
I didn’t offer a refill. I stood and walked over for him. If we continued on without love, then maybe this would be okay.
I reached out and brushed his warm body. My fingers felt an energy that rushed to my soul. I met his brown eyes and melted a little.
I needed him. He stood, and I lifted his shirt. He helped me and then tossed it, and once again, his muscular frame blew me away. He lowered his head and kissed me again. I sucked on his lips, and the stirring inside me grew.
I was his, but I couldn’t give him the part of me that was dead. I removed my shirt and bra so he would know I offered him my body. It was all I had to give.
His eyes widened, and his gaze went to my nipples. My skin tingled. He lifted me onto the table and sucked on my breasts. I ran my hands through his hair as he lavished attention on m
e. My body was on fire as he worshiped my buds.
When he finished, all I could do was sigh. He kissed me. I held him tight. In that moment, I wondered if loving him might change me for the better. Part of me hoped that could happen, and part of me didn’t believe in fairy tales.
I reached for his pants. If I proved that at least I could focus on him, maybe I would stop dreaming of the impossible and settle on the idea of forever being on my own.
I ached for him. I tugged on his sides for him to get on the table. Luckily, it was solid wood and sturdy, just like Arman. He sat, and I removed his clothes entirely and the rest of mine.
I was ready for him now. I needed to beat back my insecurity and focus on my core and how I needed him between my thighs. I touched him everywhere and felt the zaps in my skin and another feeling that wasn’t just physical. It might be too late for me, but I hoped not. I locked lips with him again.
As the kiss ended, he pushed my hair out of my face. He was a sweetheart and all mine for the moment. I decided to give him the pleasure he’d given me.
I lowered myself and played with his bulging manhood. He grew harder, and my mouth watered. I tasted him and kissed his dick. He grew hard as a rock as I sucked. He moaned, but then he stopped me.
Did I do something wrong? I climbed onto the table with him, determined to please him. I reached underneath myself and guided his penis into me.
Sweet oblivion was close, and I needed it. I quickened the pace. I was ready.
I rode him hard and fast, and my ability to think dissipated into nothing. Then I lost control and peaked. The only thought that hit me in my oblivion was how I’d failed Arman by taking all the pleasure for myself. I was too broken.
Arman
I’d taken Maddie more times that day than most couples did in a month. We were like newlyweds, or at least how I imagined married life started.
Her eyes closed, and I knew she was spent. I kissed her forehead and hoped she’d let me stay. I wanted to hold her in my arms for a little while longer. “Let’s go to the bed.”
Honey Bun: Virgin Cove Trillionaire Single Brothers Page 12
