by A. D. Ryan
“I won’t,” I assured him before he could finish his threat. “I couldn’t.”
Brandon took another drag and flicked the ashes off the end. “The way Dane treated her … She’s been hurt, and I won’t stand for it again.”
I couldn’t believe the heavy implications that came with his words. Clearly he had no idea just how deep my feelings for Madison were, and just as I was about to voice them, he cut me off—
“Can she trust you?”
Mirroring his pose over the railing in hopes that he’d see my body language as anything but defensive, I allowed my head to bob up and down once more. “With her life,” I assured him. “I’ve been nothing but forthcoming with her, and I’d never do anything to hurt her …” Pausing, I smiled at the memory of telling Madison for the first time what I was about to tell one of her closest friends. “I love her.”
Given the situation Madison and I currently found ourselves in, Brandon didn’t seem too shocked by my admission. Even if we’d only been together a short time.
Through the glass of the patio door, we heard the girls return, and a smile crept across my lips as I turned to find Madison staring at us from the other side of the sliding patio door. She looked confused as she sat next to Kyle and grabbed the other controller, and it amused me to see that she might be panicking over what we might be talking about. She had no reason to feel that way, of course, but it didn’t make it any less adorable.
“Will and I just want what’s best for her, Jensen. I’m sure you can understand that.”
“Yeah,” I told him, smiling at Madison and making her blush. “I know. She’s all I can see for my future.” Fresh images of Madison and me in our house with several little blond and brown-haired children milling around us filtered through my head, and I smiled just a little wider. “I’ll do everything I can to do right by her.”
It was a promise I intended to keep, and while my first proposal didn’t turn out exactly as I’d thought, I could understand where Madison had been coming from. So much had happened to us in such a short span of time, and the truth was, we weren’t allowing time for the dust to settle after the last obstacle before another came along—unexpectedly or not. Jumping head first into so much so fast could only set us up for major fallout, and I wasn’t willing to let that happen.
I knew how I felt about Madison—how she felt about me in return—and we’d recently learned a lot about how to communicate with each other. Honestly, I’d like to say that we’d come a long way in our relationship given we were now able to talk about marriage and when we both saw it happening.
Her wanting to wait until we weren’t pregnant made sense … to a degree. Deep down, I knew that it wouldn’t matter if she were pregnant or if our child was five years old; people were going to talk. It was inevitable. We wouldn’t let that rattle us, though. While our relationship didn’t exactly fall into step with the more traditional ones, we were able to adapt accordingly, and this would be no different.
“A while back, Madi mentioned that Dane showed up at the house.” Unable to keep the rage from my eyes, I looked down toward the street. “Has he come back since?”
I shook my head. “No. But the dude’s lost his fucking mind. Did she tell you what happened?”
Brandon nodded. “She told Will, who told me. Took everything in me not to hunt him down myself. I hope you kicked his ass.”
“Honestly,” I said, not proud of how I acted that day, but also happy I was there to stop him from following through before he hurt Madison irreparably. “I did. I could feel myself beginning to lose control—I mean, he broke into our house while Madison was just getting out of the shower. When I came across them, he was on top of her … holding her down. I can still hear the sound of him slapping her.” I closed my eyes, hoping to black out the memory, but it only got worse. It was all I could see. All I could hear.
“What the fuck stopped you from killing him?” Brandon asked, extinguishing his smoke.
“Madison,” I replied quietly, opening my eyes and turning around to see her laughing while she played video games with Kyle and Lilah. “I just couldn’t let her see me like that.” With a sigh, I decided to be completely honest with Brandon. “I’m not sure how much Madi has told you or Willow, but I’ve been that person before, and I’m not proud of where it got me. So her seeing me like that … it would have scared her even more than she already was.”
Furrowing his eyebrows, Brandon shook his head. “I doubt it. I bet she’d have been cheering you on the entire time. Trust me, that one’s got a bite about as lethal as a rattlesnake’s. Venom and all.”
The more I thought about it, Brandon was probably right. Madison was plenty feisty, and I knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but when I walked into the house that day to find Dane with his hands all over her, I lost my ever-loving mind.
“Well, we got a restraining order—not that that’s going to stop him if he really wants to get near her, but at least if he breeches it, the cops’ll have something to arrest him on,” I explained. “But he hasn’t shown his face in months. I’m almost afraid to allow myself to be comfortable again. I feel like if I let my guard down, that’s when shit will hit the fan.”
“Well, I’m sure it makes me sound like a lunatic, but in a way, I hope he tries. He apparently needs to be taught a lesson,” Brandon said.
While I couldn’t agree more, I just wanted the little prick to leave us the hell alone. He fucked up his relationship with her and needed to move on. I knew I was acting like a possessive asshole, but I couldn’t help it. In just the few short months that we had known each other, she’d become the sun my entire world revolved around. Her pull over me grew stronger the closer I got.
“Hey, we’re back!” Willow announced as the patio door slid open, bringing our conversation to an end. “We got new clothes for tonight!”
“Hey, darlin’,” Brandon said, turning around and crossing the balcony to welcome Willow home.
I slipped past them and into the apartment, leaning over and kissing the top of Madison’s head so as not to break her focus. “I missed you.”
“Right back at you,” she replied, forfeiting her game and standing up to kiss me properly.
“Forfeiting is the same as losing,” Kyle goaded, turning the machine off. Madison just shook her head.
“Did you ladies have fun?” I asked.
“We did,” Madison exclaimed with a nod. “Willow found us some great outfits for tonight, and at a reasonable price.” She turned to Willow as she and Brandon came back inside. “My savings account thanks you, Will.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she admitted honestly, plunking down onto the couch next to Brandon, draping a leg over his. “But you’re welcome.”
After an incredible dinner that Madison offered to cook, the six of us got ready and piled into Brandon’s oversized SUV. A short while later, we rolled to a stop outside a nightclub that had a line-up halfway around the block. At first, I was skeptical we’d even get in until Willow spoke up.
“Georgia’s brother owns the place, I had her get us on the list for tonight. We won’t even have to wait in that ridiculous line,” she explained as we all hopped out of the vehicle.
True to her word, once we reached the line-up, Willow traipsed up to the doorman and motioned for him to lean in. After a brief exchange, he moved aside and nodded us in. Once we were through the doors, it was wall-to-wall bodies—which explained the slow-moving line outside.
As we made our way through the crowd, following Willow since she seemed to know where she was headed, almost every guy turned and checked out Madison. My over-protective nature kicked in, and I grabbed her around the waist, pulling her against my body as I made a point to make eye contact with every creep who looked at her like he had a chance.
In truth, I couldn’t blame them for looking, of course. She did look fucking incredible in her tight as fuck jeans and a shirt with a neckline that plunged so low it showed of
f an ample amount of Madison’s cleavage—which, I might add, was looking even more fan-fucking-tastic in the early weeks of her pregnancy. I often wanted to shove my face between her boobs, which usually led to me losing all ability to form coherent thoughts or statements.
Madison raised a hand and caressed the side of my face, turning to place a kiss on my cheek. “Is someone feeling a little threatened?”
We continued to walk, having fallen into step since I was holding her body flush against mine, and I tried to brush off her suspicions. “Baby, please.”
We stopped abruptly to avoid a collision with a drunk girl, Madison’s ass pushing back into me and awakening my dick. Madison turned around, despite my arm around her, and she pulled away, taking my hands in hers, and smirked. “Easy, tiger. Let’s not get too excited just yet.”
I was about to say something witty back—well, I was trying to think of something witty to say. Sadly, my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders as I got caught up in her cleavage again and focused on the fact that my jeans felt like they were shrinking.
“Come on, guys, Georgia’s got a table saved!” Willow shouted excitedly, jumping excitedly and waving at a woman about ten feet away.
When we arrived at our destination, Willow introduced Georgia to Kyle, Lilah, and me. Madison went on to further explain that Georgia was responsible for her hair and makeup the day of Lilah’s wedding—which excited Lilah, because apparently she loved Madison’s hairstyle that day.
“Hey!” Kyle called over the loud music, bumping my arm with his elbow. “I’m going to get drinks. What do you want?”
“Uh, just a Pepsi … or Coke? Whatever they have will be fine.” I turned to Madison to find her staring at me wide-eyed. “What?”
She smiled. “Jensen, have a drink. It’s fine. I want you to have a good time.”
I pulled her to me, letting my fingers trail up her back again. “I don’t need to drink to have a good time.”
Kyle clapped me on the back—hard. “Yes, you do,” he announced with a loud laugh before taking off toward the bar.
“You realize what he’s going to do, right?” I asked, looking down at a very devious-looking Madison.
“Maybe.” Bringing her hands to my waist, her fingers hooked into my belt loops, and she pulled my hips toward her. “Look, just because I can’t drink tonight, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let loose. Let me worry about you for once.”
“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” I teased, leaning down to kiss her.
“Well,” she said softly against my lips, her eyes opening and locking on mine. “Maybe it’s time I find out.”
Kyle returned a little while later with several beers in his hands, and when I looked behind him, I saw a female server was close behind, holding a tray with what looked like a glass of water and quite a few shot glasses.
“Thanks,” Kyle said, setting the bottles on the table before taking the tray from the woman. “Uh, you could probably come back with another round in about”—he looked around at each of us before grinning—“fifteen to twenty.”
It didn’t take me long to realize that Kyle planned on all of us getting just a tiny bit drunk.
Possibly a little too enthusiastically, Kyle handed out the beers before reaching for the tall glass in the center of the tray. “Here ya go, Madikins. Water for you. Unless you wanted something else? Soda? Sweet tea? I can go back?”
Laughing, Madison reached for the glass. “No, Kyle. It’s fine. Thank you.”
Before I could even take a swig of the beer now in my hands, Kyle thrust one of the shots at me and then handed them to everyone else as well. We all tipped the one-ounce glasses back, the tequila burning a little as it coated my throat.
“There,” Madison said, chewing on the end of her straw as she smirked around it. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
She was right; it wasn’t so bad. The next four—or was it five?—however … Oh, then there were the three or four beers I consumed. While I wanted to believe I was more sober than anyone else, I knew better than that. My arms and legs felt warm and weightless (par for the course), and I found myself laughing at anything and everything, no matter how ridiculous.
I was trying really hard to focus on something Willow was telling us, but she was talking so fast. It was a little difficult to follow given she’d had almost as much to drink as me, and I found my mind soon drifting and thinking about other things—but still looking at her like I was following.
Then, my entire body relaxed into the sensation of Madison wrapping her arms around my waist, and I allowed my head to fall to the side where she had tucked herself up next to me. When I was finally able to focus, I found myself getting lost in the depths of her expressive hazel eyes. And then her boobs. God, her boobs were fantastic …
“How are you feeling?” she asked, clearly knowing the answer to that already.
Even though I was sure she already knew just how drunk I was, I shrugged. “I’m all right.”
She laughed. “Babe, the fact that you just said ‘I’m ah’ite’ might just be an indication that you’re not actually ‘ah’ite’.”
Fuck. I was slurring. Fantastic.
“Are you having fun?” I nodded, my brain knowing that saying anything else would just come out sounding like a toddler learning to speak. “Good.”
I hadn’t intended to, but I felt my forehead wrinkle into a frown. “I still feel terribly guilty.” I couldn’t be sure that came out entirely articulate. I sure hoped it was close.
Rolling her eyes, Madison laughed again. “That’s ridiculous. Is there maybe something I can do to alleviate your guilt?” My brain took a detour away from the conversation, and soon I was thinking about Madison alleviating so much more than just my guilt. She must have seen something in the deep, perverted recesses of my mind, because she was quick to elaborate. “Something that won’t get us arrested for public indecency?”
Damn. As I tried to think of something, our group left the table and headed to the dance floor. Seeing them out there, dancing to the loud music made me smile, and I turned to Madison, excited. “Dance with me.”
“Maybe later,” she replied, but even in my current state of inebriation, I could tell that she wanted to, and that it probably wouldn’t be too hard to convince her.
“Come on,” I pleaded, giving her my best puppy-dog eyes as I turned her to face me fully, bending at the knees until I was almost eye-level with her. Slowly, my hands moved down to the swell of her ass, and I squeezed—fuck, she’s got a great ass—eliciting a tiny squeak that I only heard over the booming bass because of how close we were. “Don’t make me make you.”
She sighed, her fingers weaving into the hair at the nape of my neck and tugging lightly once they found purchase. My scalp tingled, and I groaned. “What are you going to do? Spank me? Because I might like that.”
I didn’t even know how to respond to that in my current state-of-mind. All I could think about was how the palm of my hand stung after it connected, sending a similar tingle through my body until it rested in my cock. I was so fucking horny. Maybe there was a bathroom around here somewh—
My perverted inner ramblings were suddenly cut off because Madison was pulling me out onto the dance floor as a new song started. Once we were in a small area of the dance floor, Madison pressed her body to mine and began moving sensually in time to the rhythm. Mirroring her movements, we fell into sync with one another, our eyes locked intensely. There was no use trying to tame my growing arousal as we continued to dance in a way that was probably illegal in some states. Ever the keen observer, my sweet girl noticed and smiled devilishly, doing this fucking hip-swivel thing that almost sent me careening over the edge.
Even though I knew I ran the risk of losing complete control, I moved my hands from her back, sliding them over her ribs before trailing down her sides and allowing my thumbs to lightly graze the sides of her amazing fucking tits on their descent. Only one thought remained in my
head, and that was getting Madison somewhere private and fucking her.
I was completely lost to my dirty thoughts when Madison turned around until her shapely fucking ass was pressed firmly against my groin. Unable to think anymore—and not just because of the alcohol that had replaced my blood—I grabbed Madison’s hips and pulled her back into me as my mouth descended on her neck, sucking and nipping in a way I knew would result in a hickey. Or three. The way she responded with a backward thrust of her hips and her fingers gripping my hair told me she didn’t really give a shit, though.
Leaving a trail of love bites up the length of her neck, I stopped at her ear, kissing the shell of it before leaning in to speak. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me right now?” My hands moved around her body, lying flat against her hipbones and holding her firmly against me.
“I think I have a pretty good idea,” she replied, craning her neck to look at me as our mouths collided in a frantic kiss. Our mouths opened slightly, but our lips still remained in contact as our tongues reached out and explored each other’s in a kiss so fucking hot it left me feeling even dizzier.
“Fuck,” I gasped against her ravenous lips. “We need to get out of here.”
Madison agreed with a whimper, biting my bottom lip before directing her gaze to the dance floor. “They don’t look ready to leave, though.”
As my hazy eyes followed hers, I found Willow and Brandon dancing together before I shifted my head to the right to find my sister and Kyle—oh, shit. Clenching my eyes shut, I quickly averted my gaze from the sight of my baby sister and her husband acting like they were two seconds away from having sex on the dance floor. Then I realized that’s probably what people thought about Madison and me.
“Oh, Will’s waving me over,” Madison said, tugging me behind her as we crossed the dance floor. I may or may not have stumbled a bit, reminding me that I was still pretty fucking wasted.
