“Take me,” he growled, the heat in his eyes compelled her as much as his words. She positioned him and slowly lowered herself onto him. A.J. watched, his eyes focused on the point where their bodies joined. After everything they’d done before, this felt incredibly intimate. She felt exposed and raw before him.
He laced his fingers with hers and pulled her forward, then dipped his head and licked her nipple. He blew on it and she clenched around him. He shifted his hips, and Maddie moved on him while he sucked her breast into his mouth, nibbled, blew and repeated the process on her other breast. She came twice. A.J. still held back, but he was getting edgier.
He lifted her and turned her around. With her back to him, he draped her legs wide on either side of his and entered her. He moved his legs so that she slid up and down on him. Maddie let her head fall back on his shoulder, her hand curved around the back of his neck. Positioned the way they were, he was able to work her clit as they moved together.
“Again,” he said. Maddie honestly felt close to passing out, the sensations were that intense. “Stay with me,” he murmured against her ear.
“A.J.,” she breathed.
“I’ve got you,” he promised. She’d lost count of how many orgasms he’d given her, each one in unchartered territory as far as description went. This time after she came, he eased her to the bed, then entered her again and in two strokes, he came shouting her name.
If everyone in Hidden Harbor didn’t know Maddie Greene was back in town, they would now.
Hours later, Maddie was elbow deep in a box she’d pulled out of a closet in one of the spare bedrooms when she heard a buzzing sound outside. She’d lived in Manhattan for the past twenty years, but she could still recognize the sound of a weed eater. She walked over to a window and looked outside to find A.J. attacking the tangle of tall grass that had once been a lawn.
When she headed for the door at her usual fast pace, she had to slow down. The slight discomfort between her legs and the places on her thighs where his whiskers had abraded her skin came with visual images of the two of them together. She stood at the screen door off the back porch and just stared at him. He wore jeans faded to a soft blue, a black tank top under an open red-checked shirt, that backward ball cap, and dark aviators in place. A.J. Johnson was most definitely sigh-worthy.
She walked outside, standing far enough away to protect herself from the flying debris. “What are you doing?” she shouted loud enough to be heard above the noise.
He shut off the weed eater and turned. “I thought I’d help you clean up the yard.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
A.J. just smiled. “I know.”
What the hell? She didn’t want to owe him. Didn’t like how his doing something for her made her feel—like they were somehow connected. When they weren’t. “I can pay you,” she said in a weak attempt to make this seem less personal.
He moved close and pushed his glasses up to his cap. “Don’t do that,” he said softly.
“What?” she said, her tone matching his.
“Don’t feel uncomfortable around me.”
“I’m not uncomfortable.” She automatically denied the statement. “I just—I don’t—I mean, I don’t need your help.”
“I know.” He stood there, not speaking. Stood there like he was willing to wait as long as it took. But for what? What did he want from her? Finally, he leaned down and kissed her cheek, then turned, fired up the weed eater, and went back to what he’d been doing.
Maddie marched back into the house. If the man wanted to clean up the yard, he could clean up the yard. What did she care? The yard needed tending, and he seemed set on doing it. Fine.
She went back to the box she’d been unpacking in the back bedroom. She pulled out books, stacking them without really looking at the titles. Why was it men thought women couldn’t accomplish tasks that involved manual labor? Not that she’d have gotten out there and done the yard herself, but she was certainly capable of hiring someone.
The box emptied, Maddie looked at the stacks of books in the floor. She didn’t even know what she was doing. Why had she emptied the box in the first place? She picked up a couple of the books: encyclopedias. No use for those, so she put them back in the box. What a waste of time. Why had her grandmother boxed up encyclopedias and kept them? The better question was, why had her parents left her to deal with this?
After she’d repacked the box, Maddie stood and stretched. Her body, used to much more sedentary work, protested. A little voice reminded her that the aches weren’t just from the cleaning and pulling at boxes. She went through the rest of the boxes in the closet and under the bed, sorting what should be kept and what would be donated, and then she decided to take a break. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and walked outside to sit in the glider on the back porch.
A.J. had made good progress. He’d cleared a little more than half the yard leading down to the river. Tall trees shaded most of the area, and a riot of autumn colors reflected on the water as a sailboat glided past. A neighbor had come over to the fence pretending to trim a hedge to see what was going on. Maddie waved, and the older woman turned and walked away, making Maddie laugh. The cool breeze felt good on her heated skin.
It was an idyllic day. The kind that should have soothed her, but her gaze went to the boathouse and fixed on the faded structure. It hadn’t seen a paintbrush in years, but it looked sound. Solid. Maddie took a drink of the cold water. Why couldn’t it have collapsed and fallen into the river? Just looking at it made her feel out of control. She wasn’t a kid anymore. Why did it still bother her? She’d gotten out of this town, changed her life for the better. Maddie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was a strong, successful woman not defined by her past.
“Thanks,” A.J. said and took the water from her hand. Maddie felt like she jumped a foot. “Easy,” he said and downed most of the water in two drinks.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on a person like that.”
“Sorry,” he said and sat next to her. “I thought silencing the weed eater would get your attention.”
She hadn’t even noticed. “Sorry,” she said. She glanced over at the boathouse. “Guess I was somewhere else.”
He looked at the boathouse as well. “Good memories or bad?”
“Both,” she said honestly. It stood there mocking her—a symbol of the mistakes she’d made when she’d been too young to know better or to care. She took the water back and finished it off. “Funny how the bad can outweigh the good.”
A.J. just nodded. And waited. God, he was good at waiting. “Want to talk about it?”
“No.” The water bottle made a crinkling sound as she crushed it.
“I got access to a bulldozer,” he said calmly. Maddie looked at him, surprised. His blue eyes were steady on hers. “I could show you how to use it, and you could do it yourself.”
“Bulldoze the boathouse?” she clarified.
A.J. just nodded. Maddie gave that some thought. The thought of pushing the thing over made her smile. “I’d probably need a permit.”
“Or just pay the fine,” he offered.
“Or that,” she said, still smiling.
A.J. took Maddie’s hand and kissed it. He hadn’t known Billy Ray Carter before or during his marriage to Maddie. But he knew about him now. He had a different woman every few years. All shockingly young, most of whom he’d beat the hell out of one too many times, always getting away with it. He was the kind of scum that made gun control seem like a bad idea. The thought of him hurting Maddie made A.J.’s blood run cold. It didn’t take a therapist to know something had happened to her in that boathouse. The next logical conclusion was that something had involved Billy Ray.
“I could have it delivered tonight.”
“What?” she asked, squinting her eyes against the afternoon sunlight as she looked over at him.
“The bulldozer.”
“Oh. Right,” she said. “I’ll think about i
t.”
He was beginning to understand her a little. With some decisions, she took her time. With others, like doing it with him in a bar bathroom and spending the night here last night without power or water, she jumped in. It was like she saw a problem and attacked it. But maybe she avoided problems without a clean solution. He knew something about that.
“Didn’t you have something more interesting to do today?” she asked. She stretched out her legs. A.J. couldn’t resist putting a hand on her knee.
“What could be better than working outside on a fall day in Hidden Harbor? Aren’t the trees beautiful?” He massaged his way up her thigh. “The way the red and gold leaves float on wind currents. It’s mesmerizing.”
“Right,” she said. “Wouldn’t you rather be riding your bike while you enjoy the weather and the scenery?”
He glanced back at her. “Can’t fault the scenery right here.”
She shook her head, but he had her smiling. “You always were a charmer, A.J.”
“How would you know?” he teased. “You hardly remembered me being your lab partner in Chemistry.”
“I noticed you,” she said. “All the girls noticed you, and you know it.” She nudged his shoulder. “They still notice you. Look at the turnout you had this morning at the diner.”
A.J. grinned, not about to deny it. “Don’t deflect. You just said you noticed me. I want to hear more.”
She stood and stepped away from his touch. “Do you always get what you want?”
“Usually,” he admitted without apology.
Maddie leaned against the porch railing. She looked incredible, even in that form-fitting t-shirt and too big, faded skirt. Gold highlights in her red hair glistened in the sunlight. “You weren’t my type,” she said.
“What type was I?”
“Good guy. Boy next door.” He laughed, but she added. “You’ve changed outwardly, but you’re still that same guy inside. The guy who drops what he’s doing to lend a hand.”
A.J. stood and had her trapped before she realized what he was about. He put his hands on the railing on either side of her hips. “And good guys weren’t your thing.”
“No.” She tilted her head and added. “The bad boys did it for me—still do. But the problem with bad boys is they do bad things.”
He got it. “And women think they can reform them?” She nodded. The sadness in her eyes caused that funny tightness in the region of his heart. “And when they can’t, the bad just gets worse, doesn’t it?” A less observant man would have missed the way she bit the inside of her lip.
She swallowed, then said, “Usually.”
A.J. pulled Maddie into his arms because he had to hold her. He wished he could erase her bad memories along with the pain she’d endured at the hands of someone who should have loved and cherished her. She pushed against his chest, then grabbed his shirt along with some skin. But then she tucked her head under his chin and let him hold her.
“You’re better than me, Maddie Greene. Hell,” he laughed, “you’re better than most of the people I know.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she mumbled against his chest.
“I’d have shot the bastard and not had a moment of remorse while I spent the rest of my life behind bars.”
She sighed as she relaxed into him. “I would have run him down with Grandmom’s Cadillac, but as she pointed out, that would have been a waste of a perfectly good car.” A.J. laughed and squeezed her tighter. “Plus,” she said softly, “I had children at home who needed their mother.” She pulled back and looked up at him. He could feel the steel in her spine when she said, “He didn’t win. I got out. I got my degree, founded a successful business that makes a difference in women’s lives, and raised two amazing kids.” She paused. “I was lucky. So many women aren’t.”
“The wounds heal,” he agreed. “But the scars remain.” He focused on the boathouse, but she raised his shirt. He looked down to see her fingers tracing the scars hidden in the lines of his tattoos.
“I’m not the only one with scars,” she said.
8
“Did you get these in the war?” she asked, unable to imagine the horrors he must have experienced fighting overseas.
“Some,” he said.
She continued to trace the thin, pink lines. “And the others?”
After a moment, he supplied, “Shrapnel from a roadside bomb got me and my crew.” Her hand flattened on his abdomen and tears filled her eyes. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t pity me. I’m fine.” His hands flexed on her waist. “I’m alive.”
“Thank God,” she said softly. “But there can be pain in that, too.”
Yeah. He knew something about survivor’s guilt. Too much, in fact.
“And don’t mistake my emotion for pity, A.J.,” she said, her words firm, almost harsh. “I wasn’t in New York on 9/11, but I have many friends who were. They battle every day to go into work and get on an elevator, wondering if it could happen again.” After a moment, she continued. “The people who made us feel that fear needed to be punished. You had the courage to see that happened. Thank you.”
“It feels like nothing America has done since that day has even made a dent. Terrorists are still out there, killing and terrifying innocent people.” He shook his head. “Sometimes it all seems useless.”
“It’s a process,” Maddie said. “The important thing is they know we’ll fight back; that they won’t go unchecked.”
“Maybe,” he conceded.
She touched his face, wondering at how they both had changed since high school. They’d lived through so much since then. Their struggles felt like a thin, strong cord connecting them. “Have you been back?” she said quietly.
“Back?”
“To New York.”
He released her and stepped away. A cool wind blowing off the lake gave her a chill. A.J. dropped his glasses back into place. “No.” One word that said so much.
“The memorial is a moving tribute.” A vein ticked in his jaw, and Maddie knew she shouldn’t press.
“It’s getting late,” he said. “I want to finish before it gets dark.”
She watched him walk off the porch and across the yard. The weed eater roared to life, and A.J. attacked the yard work with a bit more urgency than what she’d seen him use before. They both deserved a big dose of normal. A.J. had found his in the familiar small town where he’d grown up; Maddie had found hers in New York. Her demons lived in the place he called home; his lived in hers.
She took one more look at the boathouse and walked back inside.
“I feel like I should do something,” Maddie said, “to thank you for doing the yard.”
“You already thanked me.”
“Did I?”
A.J. smiled, and that’s all it took for her pulse to kick up a notch. “You didn’t stop me,” he explained.
“Like I could have.”
“We’ll never know.” He stepped close. “Your company is all the thanks I need.” He paused and then added. “But you could let me take you to dinner.”
“You mean, dinner . . . as in a date?”
“Yeah. A date. There’s a new place outside of town with live music and dancing. I hear the food’s pretty good.”
“I think I should treat you after all the hard work you did here today.”
“You paid for dinner last night. And besides, call me old-fashioned, but I’m the kind of man who pays when he takes a woman on a date,” he said firmly. Everything about him screamed alpha, so this did not surprise her. “You gonna leave me hanging?” he prompted.
Maddie considered. A laid-back evening with A.J., wine, dinner, dancing. She was already in the danger zone with him, and this might just put her over the edge. The last thing she needed to do was fall for a guy from her past who lived in the one place on Earth she couldn’t. The fact that she was even thinking about falling for a guy should scare the hell out of her. She hadn’t been emotionally involved with anyone since Billy Ray, and ev
en then, she wasn’t sure she’d ever really given him her heart.
“You do wonders for a guy’s ego,” A.J. said.
“I’m sorry,” she said. Clear your thoughts, she cautioned herself. Keep it casual. She could do that, couldn’t she? “Yes. I’ll have dinner with you.”
“Great.” He looked her over. “You gonna pick up another fetching outfit from Marvin’s?”
Maddie laughed. “I called my assistant this morning. She should be here any minute with some of my things.”
“How long are you staying?”
“For a few days,” she confirmed, still surprised at her decision to take care of this herself. She could have easily hired someone to pack up the house and get it ready to put on the market, but for some reason, she wasn’t ready to let go.
A.J. pulled her into his arms. Being there felt natural—right. “I like the sound of that,” he said. “We could get into a lot of trouble given a few days.”
“Don’t you have other obligations?” she probed.
“I can take care of business and you, too,” he said and pressed his lips to the sensitive spot behind her ear.
She caressed the back of his neck and closed her eyes, powerless against the feelings he stirred in her. God. Feeling like this was addictive.
A knock on the door startled her. “Madeline?” her assistant called out, then walked into the living room. Maddie pushed out of A.J.’s arms.
“Alayna, hi,” she said as she chased a stray hair back to her stubby ponytail.
“Hello,” her assistant said, eyes wide and devouring A.J.
Maddie made the introductions. “Alayna, this is A.J. Johnson. A.J., Alayna Mullen, my assistant.”
“Hello,” Alayna said, and then gave Maddie a meaningful look.
A.J. nodded, then said to Maddie, “Pick you up in an hour?”
“How about an hour and a half?” Maddie said, knowing Alayna would have questions.
“Sure,” he said. When he passed Alayna on the way to the door, A.J. said, “Nice to meet you.”
Ridden (Scandalous Moves Book 3) Page 6
