by J. S. Scott
Sam reached out his hand and captured one of the tears on her cheek with his finger and brought it to his lips. “Jesus, Maddie. I can’t imagine any man letting you get away.”
“Except you.” She smiled sadly.
“You haven’t gotten away from me yet, and this time you won’t,” he answered harshly. “I want you to marry me. You never gave me an answer.
Sam looked at the agonized expression on her face and it nearly brought him to his knees. He needed her to say yes. Desperately. His sanity was beginning to depend on it.
“We don’t even know each other anymore. I don’t know what to say right now,” she told him honestly.
“Say yes.”
Oh, fuck yeah. Saying no was not an option. Sam moved her onto his lap. He needed to hold her right now, had to have her softness in his arms.
She squealed and tried to squirm away, but he didn’t let her. “Either sit quietly or I’ll have you on your back and moaning within a few seconds,” he warned her ominously. “I can’t handle much of that delicious ass squirming on my cock before I tear those sexy clothes from your body and taste every inch of you.”
She stilled immediately and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What happened to Kate?” she asked curiously, resting her head on his shoulder.
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. I never saw her again after the investigation. She was married. Happily married with two kids. She had no desire to mess with me. I was a dumb kid to her. It was all a ruse that she executed to force me to cut things off with you.” He thrust a hand into her hair, massaging her scalp. “So, what’s your answer, Maddie?”
“Sam, I haven’t even digested the information you just told me. You can’t expect me to agree to marry you.” She pulled back and shot him a disgruntled look.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Simon. He doesn’t know about us, but he can verify everything else,” he told her, disappointed that she might not believe him after he had bared his soul to her.
“It isn’t that. I just need time.” She sighed. “It’s been years, Sam. We’ve changed. We don’t know each other now.”
“We’ve always known each other, Sunshine. My soul recognized yours the moment I saw you.” And it was the truth. It hadn’t taken him more than a moment to see her value, to know that she was special. “Fine, tell me yes tomorrow then.” He was feeling magnanimous now that he had her exactly where he wanted her.
Maddie snorted. “That’s very kind of you, but I think I may need a little longer than that.”
Tilting her face, he speared her with a possessive glance. “How much longer?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered, her eyes sad.
Dammit! He didn’t want her dejected. He wanted her to want him. No…he needed her to want him. “I’ll seduce you. Then I’ll fuck you until you don’t have the strength to say anything except yes. No one is planting their seed inside you except me.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “Nobody has ever planted their seed inside me. Lance used a condom and I haven’t had anything but my vibrator since.”
Something raw and carnal nailed Sam in the gut, the thought of Maddie pleasuring herself making his already-rigid cock jump, feral instinct making him want to be the first to release himself into her womb. He had never had sex without a condom. In that way, Maddie would be his first, his only since he never planned on being with any other woman again. “And how’s the vibrator?” he choked out, barely able to form the words.
She shrugged, giving him a sweet smile. “Batteries are probably dead. It’s been a while.”
Christ! She was fucking killing him. “You won’t need it,” he rasped, burying his face in the silken skin of her neck.
She tilted her head, giving him better access as she murmured, “Is it true that you didn’t go to bed with all those women?”
“What I said is true. I know what the gossip columns say and what people think, but it’s not true. The women people see me with are nothing more than friends or acquaintances, women who want to attend the parties. I won’t claim to be a saint, Maddie. I’ve fucked. But none of them were you,” he answered, his voice husky against her skin.
“I missed you. I missed you so much,” she replied, her voice filled with pain and sadness.
Unable to stop himself, Sam slipped Maddie off his lap and under him, covering her petite body with his larger frame. She felt so sweet, so soft beneath him that he groaned as she opened her thighs to welcome him, and he felt like he was finally home, exactly where he was supposed to be. The feel of her body, her enticing fragrance surrounded him, sinking into his every pore. “I missed you too, Sunshine. More than you can possible imagine,” he answered gruffly, lowering his body to hers while keeping most of his weight off her with his elbows, needing all of her softness. He buried his face in her silky curls, letting himself completely absorb her, breathing her in over and over again until every part of him was filled with her scent.
Mine. Need her. She’ll never have another man as long as I’m breathing.
A low, incoherent sound left his throat, feral and unrestrained. “I’ll never let you go. You can say yes today or tomorrow, but you’ll always be mine.”
He lowered his mouth to hers before she could reply, swallowing any protest she might have made. He didn’t give a shit what words left her mouth, he was taking what should have been his years ago. Maybe he should have confessed everything the first time he had seen her again last year, but he hadn’t gotten close to her, afraid that she had a man in her life, a man who was better for her than him. Now that he knew the truth, that she had never been cherished as she should have been, he wasn’t letting her go.
She tasted of sweet coffee and raw temptation, and it nearly drove him mad. He covered her mouth over and over, trying to brand her as his, needing her to forget every man in the world except him. His cock pulsated and he thrust his pelvis into her core, groaning into her mouth as he was greeted with nothing but heat and the promise of ecstasy. He snaked his forearms under her back, trying to pull her closer, her breasts tighter against his chest. Fuck! He needed more. More of her, more of her heat. She moaned into his mouth as he plundered again, sweeping his tongue into the wet, warm cavity, greedy for her sweetness, wallowing in her essence.
Pulling his mouth from hers, he rasped, “Have to get closer. Naked. Now.”
“Sam, someone is at the door. I heard the doorbell,” Maddie panted softly.
Shit! Simon.
He looked at the clock and then back at Maddie, so damn tempted to ignore the penetrating ring of the doorbell again.
Maddie looked so warm, so soft, so ready to be fucked that he raked his hand through his hair in frustration. “Christ. It’s Simon.” He gave her a heated stare. “We finish this later.”
Maddie sat up, pushing him off her gently. “Not happening. They’re staying until Saturday, right?”
“Yeah. So?” Sam didn’t care if they stayed, as long as he had Maddie with him.
“I’m not sleeping in your bedroom while they’re here.” Maddie scowled at him. “This is their wedding, Sam. I’m not doing anything that will cause talk. They deserve this time. And I know I need some time to think.” She ran a hand through her hair, but it only made her curls wilder.
Sam’s eyes raked over her disheveled appearance with male satisfaction. She looked like a woman who had just been ravished. “You don’t need to think. You just need to say yes,” he replied belligerently.
Maddie jumped up from the couch and gathered her hair in a ponytail. “I need my rubber.”
Sam looked at her sardonically. “That just doesn’t sound right coming out a woman’s mouth. In the kitchen. I’ll get it.”
“No. I’ll get it. You get the door. Poor Simon and Kara are standing on the doorstep, probably wondering where you are.”
“I was about to get luckier than I’ve ever been in my entire fucking life. Perfect timing, bro,” Sam grumbled, heading for the door.
Maddie giggled, covering h
er mouth to stifle the sound. “I do need a few things from my house. And some fresh batteries,” she told him as she sashayed across the room.
Sam groaned, watching her prance to the kitchen, that sweet ass wiggling enticingly as she went, in a pair of jeans he never should have asked David to buy. They were too provocative, cupped her ass too perfectly.
Batteries? Why did she need-?”
Oh shit. How screwed could one man get? He smirked as he moved toward the front door. Point scored by Maddie. And he would give her this one. Because, in the end, he planned on winning by a landslide.
He put his hand on the doorknob, trying to adjust his throbbing erection before he opened it, and attempting to banish visions of Maddie pleasuring herself with her vibrator.
“You’ll pay for this one, Sunshine,” he whispered to himself with a small smile as he pulled open the door.
Sam had waited forever for Maddie, but suddenly, he just couldn’t wait any longer. He was being given a second chance, and this time he wasn’t letting her go, because nobody else in the world needed her as much as he did. And nobody would treasure her as much as he would.
His resolve and his cock hard as steel, he smiled broadly as he greeted Simon and Kara.
Chapter 6
Maddie cried at the wedding. She couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t possible to watch Simon and Kara exchange vows without tears of joy cascading from her eyes, her happiness for her friend nearly painful. As the couple faced each other, Maddie watched Simon’s face, Kara’s back to her as she recited her vows to her almost-husband. Every emotion was raw and unguarded on Simon’s face as he repeated his vows gruffly, but with tender emotion.
She and Sam were the only attendants, the small audience made up of friends and family. The weather had cooperated so everything had been set up outdoors, and the decorations were exquisite. Kara had opted for a small ceremony, although there was a lavish reception planned for after the wedding when hundreds of people would gather in Sam’s elegant home to give their best wishes to the happy couple.
Kara looked like a princess in her ivory Victorian gown of silk and the finest lace. The style suited Kara, who was tall and svelte; the gown was fitted until it reached her hips and then flared in a bell to the floor.
Maddie adored her own emerald green, tea-length dress with its off-the-shoulder, short bell-sleeves and plunging neckline, a daring bodice that had made her shudder when she’d first seen it. But after she had tried it on, she’d fallen in love with the fitted waist and billowy skirt that hit her below the knee. The outfit was accented with a black silky tie belt that floated behind her in shimmering waves. The ensemble was finished with black, strappy heels, and Maddie knew she looked as good as she could manage when standing next to a tall and stunning woman like Kara.
Maddie looked across the happy couple at Sam, who was absolutely breathtaking. Simon was in an identical black tux, but Simon was wearing a bow tie. Sam was wearing a thin black tie with tiny stripes of emerald green that matched her dress...and his gorgeous eyes. Everything about him looked urbane and sophisticated, right down to his stance and expression, a man obviously completely comfortable in his surroundings and attire.
Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from Sam, Maddie returned her gaze to Simon, watching him pledge himself to Kara.
When the minister reached the part of the ceremony where he asked if anyone had any objections, Simon scowled.
Turning his head briefly toward the man of the cloth, Simon informed the minister irritably, “She’s mine. Move on.”
Maddie bit her lip to keep from giggling. Simon Hudson was far from subtle about his possessiveness of Kara. Her eyes met Sam’s and her heart skittered. She could tell he was stifling a grin and his eyes were dancing with amusement. Their eyes locked and held, sharing a brief moment of silent communication, of shared mirth.
Finally, as she wrenched her gaze from Sam, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine, the sense of another set of eyes on her. She was at a wedding with at least fifty guests. People were watching. But she turned her head and her eyes clashed with a man in the first row, a dangerous-looking man in an expensive suit staring directly at her, his eyes never leaving her face. The man was handsome in a rugged, intense sort of way, with auburn hair and laser-sharp eyes, eyes that bored into her with a look of intense concentration. Unable to look away, compelled to keep her eyes on him, Maddie was startled when his lips suddenly broke into a grin and he winked, actually winked…at her. Really, there was something so magnetic about him that she couldn’t help smiling back.
Turning her attention back to Simon and Kara, she watched through eyes blurred with tears as the minister pronounced them man and wife. Simon kissed his bride…and kissed his bride again…and finally stopped when Sam slapped him on the back in congratulations, but Maddie knew it was really to keep Simon from devouring his new wife in front of the guests. Kara’s eyes were sparkling with tears as she hugged Maddie and took back her bouquet. Sam offered his arm and Maddie clenched it, following the newly-married couple down the aisle.
“I saw Max fucking you with his eyes. Don’t even think about it,” Sam rumbled under his breath, smiling broadly for the crowd while he said it.
“Who’s Max?” she asked, confused, as she took his escort behind Kara and Simon.
“Maxwell Hamilton. The bastard who was checking you out in the front row. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. Not that I blame him. But he better stay the fuck away from you or I’ll kill him,” Sam growled as they reached the end of the aisle. He wrapped a possessive arm around her waist, pulling her into his body.
Maddie had never met him, but she’d heard of him. Max Hamilton was another man who showed up in the gossip pages far too often because of his wealth and power. “You’re obviously friends. He’s here.”
“Yeah, he’s a friend, but right now I don’t like him. I don’t like the way he was eyeing you,” he answered briskly. “We do a lot of business deals together.”
The wedding had broken up and people were making their way to the lovely tents that were set up at the waterfront with tables of food, a bar and a monstrous cake. The sun was beginning to set and the reception area took on a fairytale appearance. Maddie took a deep breath of the salty, humid air, enjoying the mild evening. “Everything looks so beautiful,” she sighed.
“Yeah. Everything. You look breathtaking, Maddie. Did I tell you that?” Sam’s gaze was trained on her, his eyes moving over her, lingering at the plunging neckline of her dress.
“Once or twice,” she answered, blushing as he continued to stare. Actually, he’d told her at least five times since she had come down the stairs to make her way to the area where the ceremony was being held, and her face had flushed every damn time. It wasn’t the words that Sam said, it was the way he said them. He might as well have told her that he needed to fuck her or die, so needy was his tone, the timbre of his voice sending chills down her spine and moisture to her pussy.
“How do you wear a bra with this dress?” he asked, his voice husky and desperate as he fingered the delicate sleeve.
“I don’t,” she whispered back to him, giving him a look of feigned innocence. “It’s not possible.”
A deep, vibrating groan came from his throat, sending a thrill to her core. Only with Sam had she ever felt this kind of feminine power, and it was heady.
“Jesus, Maddie. I’m already tied in knots from the last few days. I don’t know if I can take much more.” His jaw was clenched tight. “For God’s sake, don’t bend over. Every male at the reception will be salivating. Fuck! I need a drink.”
He took her hand, his grasp completely encapsulating her smaller one, and twined his fingers through hers in a proprietary way that had her heart leaping with joy. Every one of the wedding preparations had gone incredibly smoothly, everything perfectly planned. All the wedding party had to do was enjoy the festivities. Watching Simon and Kara together for the last few days had been achingly poignant, but satisfy
ing. Maddie had no doubt that her friend would be happy with Simon. The two of them were like two parts of a whole, so happy together that it was almost painful to watch. Kara had been through so much, suffered for so much of her life alone. Maddie was grateful that Kara finally had a man who would make her ecstatically happy. Her friend was pregnant, but not enough to be showing yet. Although Maddie hadn’t thought it possible, it had made Simon even more protective and nurturing with Kara. They would both make good parents. Any child born to the two of them would be blessed.
Sam tugged her hand, leading her toward the luxurious silk tent closest to the water. “Sam, slow down. Heels,” she reminded him as she yanked on his hand, pointing at her feet when he turned. They were walking across the lawn, and she wasn’t used to stiletto heels. If he didn’t slow it down she was going to turn her damn ankle.
He looked at her remorsefully. “Sorry, Sunshine. I forgot how petite you are.” He scooped her up in his arms and cradled her close to his chest. “Problem solved,” he said, shooting her a wicked grin. “I like this better anyway.”
“Put me down,” she hissed, mortified. “Everyone is watching.” Swatting Sam was completely useless. Her hand bounced off the powerful muscles of his arms like she was smacking at solid rock. It hurt her palm more than it bothered him.
He strode toward the tent, ignoring her. “Let them watch,” he answered, unconcerned.
“Damn it, Sam. Are you trying to cop a feel?” she asked, her expression admonishing, but she could barely contain a smile. One muscular arm was under her knees, but it encircled her legs, his palm caressing her thigh under the flimsy skirt of her dress.
“Yep. I’m trying to get a look down that skimpy bodice too. A guy takes what he can get when he’s desperate.” He shot her a cocky look and then returned to leering at her breasts in a proprietary way that had her whole body tingling.
Maddie sighed, inhaling deeply, letting his masculine scent drift over her senses. God, he smells so good. Closing her eyes for just a moment, she let the impact of Sam seep into her being, her arms closing around his shoulders and fingering his silky curls at the nape of his neck. Being close to him again, feeling his rock hard body against hers was completely decadent. Everything about Sam drew her to him, made her want to sink into him, be joined to him. It was a carnal feeling, and one that she never felt with any other man. As if Sam were emitting male pheromones, and she wasn’t capable of ignoring the masculine, enticing beckoning of her senses.
