“Zeke, more. Please.”
He grunted in my ear again, pushing my legs out and up so every thrust sent him deeper and deeper until colorful fireworks went off behind my eyes. Every cry, every moan only seemed to push him further until the brass bed squeaked as he pounded into me, drove deeper and faster and harder until my whole body went tight. “Fuck, Maddie. You feel so good.”
His words were harsh as he tried to keep his own pleasure at bay, and I smiled, tightening my muscles around him. “So do you, Zeke.”
“Oh babe. Fuck!” He shivered and I did it again and again. Combined with his own powerful thrusts sent my orgasm from creeping to swamping. “Maddie, babe.”
“I’m right here with you,” I panted and wrapped my legs around him so every stroke sent shards of electricity through me starting at my clit. And then ultimate pleasure had arrived as our bodies continued moving together, slicked with sweat, wrenching out every ounce of pleasure we could find. “Zeke!” His name was the only word I could remember in the moment, repeating it over and over until all of the pleasure had been wrung out of me.
A few grunts and hard thrusts later, his own pleasure roared out of him and ended with his teeth sunk into my shoulder. “Fuck, Mads, you undo me woman.”
I laughed and it felt good to laugh in such a vulnerable, intimate moment. “Right back atcha, husband. Right back atcha.” We both froze at the sound of a bump above us and I groaned when I realized one of the kids was up.
“I’ll go.” His lips lingered on mine for a long time, soft but firm and so tantalizing that my legs tightened around him because I wanted him to stay right there. “You stay here. Like this.”
Like I could go anywhere else with his scent, his heat still lingering on my body. It was foolish, but even the simple act of having someone else to check on the kids was nice. And I couldn’t let myself feel anything nice for Zeke. Lust, yes. Heat, totally. But nice and affectionate and all those things fighting to get to the surface, I had to push them down.
Deep down.
Way down.
I was as composed as I could be after two earth shattering orgasms when Zeke returned, all smiles and bare chested.
“Norah was worried about Vivi, but I told her having a baby around was a tough business, and she had to rest so she’d have enough energy to help take care of the baby.” He grinned, but the way he shoved his hands into his low hanging jeans told of his nerves. “Because they cry and poop all the time.”
That teased a laugh out of me. “Good job, Zeke. You’re killing it at being a parent.”
“Wait until you see my skills as a husband.” He bent down to pick up my clothes and set them on the bed. “Now get dressed because there’s leftover pizza nuking in the microwave and we have kids roaming the house, so as much as I want to watch you eat pizza naked, it’ll have to wait for another time.”
“Another time?”
His smile flashed wide and sexy as he nodded, pushing those floppy curls off his face with one big hand. “Definitely. It’s going on the marriage bucket list. Watch Maddie eat pizza naked.”
Why did that sound so appealing? “Does that mean I get to watch you work out naked?”
His gaze darkened and he took a step backwards. “Anytime you want, Maddie.”
“Then why are you walking away from me?” It felt nice to have Zeke on the run for a change and I smiled.
“Because if I don’t, we’ll never get to that pizza, and I need my strength of I’m going to put you to sleep later.”
My back arched off the bed. “Why didn’t you say so?” On second thought, maybe I could get used to having Zeke around all the time.
“Can we do a fancy chair like we did for the baby party?” Norah looked up at me with big blue eyes, the exact replica of her father, waiting for me to give her the okay.
“Sure. Where do you keep your decorations?” Vivi and Nash had done plenty of reorganizing and redecorating since they downsized from two households to one and I didn’t have the lay of the land yet.
Norah took off from the kitchen, footsteps falling hard as she clomped her way through the big house. I stayed in the kitchen, manning the pots and pans on the stove as we prepared for Vivi’s arrival. There was enough food for a small army since Norah and I woke up with the sun and came over here to get everything ready. After a late night delivery and another day and a half of resting in the hospital, Vivi and Nash. Jr., were finally coming home.
“Found’em!” She ran back into the kitchen, arms filled with streamers and glitter and all kinds of things to make Vivi feel special. “What can we do?”
Since all the timers were being used, including the two on my phone, I used the microwave for the boiling potatoes that would become potato salad and sifted through the craft goodies with Norah. “How about we use this stuff to create a throne with lots of pillows and maybe you can make her a crown?”
“I have a crown! We can decorate it.” Norah continued on like that, running around like a chicken with its head cut off in an effort to make everything perfect for the only mother she’d ever known. It was adorable, and it touched my heart in a way I couldn’t describe. I always wanted a little girl to spoil, and to do all those girly mother-daughter things Vivi and Norah shared like spa days, tearjerker movie nights and their shared love of writing. Not that I didn’t love Max, because I did, with all my heart. But sometimes I got a little sad about the fact that I would never have that little girl.
Once Norah was set up outside to decorate the chair, I went back to the food. And the lemonade. And the sweet tea because Vivi had a weird psychotic love for the enamel peeling drink.
It had taken all morning, but by the time Vivi and Nash arrived home with their little boy, the food was set on tables outside and the large umbrella was set over the table for everyone’s comfort. I sat back and looked at everything, feeling pleased.
And maybe a little bit like a fraud. I’d always wanted these types of family gatherings, but until Vivi returned to Belle Musique it had always been me and Max for most holidays. Sometimes Aunt Mae joined us, but that woman had a better social life than I did, which was pathetic. And kind of amazing. This wasn’t my family, but Vivi had been my best friend since we were two little girls with dreams bigger than our small southern town and I wanted to do this for her.
As if my mind wasn’t already going to a million places it shouldn’t, in walked Zeke with Max at his side. They talked and laughed like old friends. It was another moment that made those nice, soft feelings rise to the surface again. Dammit. I pushed them down, compartmentalizing like a solider off to war, because thinking about that was dangerous. Mostly to my well-being, but that was enough for me to keep those feelings buried deep. “Hey guys, what are you plotting over there?”
Max looked up with a mischievous grin, his glasses crooked. “Nothing!”
I fisted my hands at my hips, lips twitching as he tried his best to look the role of an innocent. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you are a very suspicious woman,” Zeke answered as he hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me in close. “Max and I were having a little guy talk, isn’t that right?”
Max gave an exaggerated nod, his toothy grin wide and happy. Really, truly happy and that meant the whole world to me. “That’s right, Mama. You don’t want to hear about monster trucks and video games.”
I glared at Zeke who did a much better impression of an innocent man, complete with an unassuming smile that was still somehow sexy. “Exactly.”
“Why don’t you go help Norah put the finishing touches on Vivi’s throne?”
“Like a king? All right!” He took off even before I could correct him and I just shrugged before turning to Zeke. “Causing trouble again?”
“Maybe.” His smile turned dark and hot as he closed the gap between us, hands on my hips as he pressed me between his hard body and the kitchen counter. Then his lips were on my neck, the delicate skin between my neck and shoulder, doing wic
ked things until my legs gave out. “Please tell me you’re wearing those little yellow panties under here?” His big hands grabbed my ass and squeezed.
I was, but I couldn’t tell him that. “Let’s just say I am wearing underwear.”
He groaned. “Now I can’t stop thinking about you, bare and wet under this dress. Gimme one little peek, Maddie. Please.”
This man could get me to do crazy, dirty things like that with nothing more than a honeyed request which was enough to make me rethink this whole marriage thing. I couldn’t afford to be crazy, to pull my dress up just enough to give him a peek of what he wanted so badly. I was a mom. A business owner. I had responsibilities. And needs, a voice echoed from somewhere deep in my mind. “Take your peek, Zeke.”
A laugh bubbled up out of him at my lame attempt at rhyming, but his eyes turned heated with desire and he grabbed my arm, pulling me down the hall and into the first empty room he found. The door shut with a quiet click and my back pressed against the cool wood the same moment his hot mouth crashed down on mine. His kiss was needy. Intense and greedy, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I fed off that intensity, and I kissed him with just as much desire. “You taste so good,” he pulled back, lowering himself to the floor in front of me.
“Zeke,” I grabbed the hem that he’d started to lift. “We don’t have time for this.”
“We’d have more if you quit interrupting me.” Then he pushed my hands away and slowly dragged the dress up my legs, growling when he caught sight of the sunflower yellow panties. They were silk, and the tiniest pair I owned, but his reaction had me thinking about stocking up on the entire rainbow collection.
His mouth was on me in a flash, licking and sucking through the scrap of fabric. The wet silk added a layer of friction that made it hard to think straight. Hell, it was hard to stand up straight when a dozen different sensations ricocheted through me. “Zeke,” I panted when I meant to scold him and push him away. But he knew, the smug bastard knew just how powerless I was against him under normal circumstances, but this was not normal. When his mouth was on me, I could no more resist him than I could a slice of German chocolate cake. “Zeke,” I panted again as I felt the first stirrings of my orgasm.
“Shhh,” he reminded me with a wicked smile as he slid my panties to the side and sucked my clit into his mouth.
“Oh!” I slapped a hand over my mouth as the rapid fire orgasm tore through me, shaking me until every last drop of pleasure had been wrung from me. “Jeez, you’re so bad.”
He stood, lips shiny from my juices, and smiled. “You love that about me.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “And maybe I just can’t wait for a little payback.” His blond brows rose in surprise and he let out a grin when I licked my lips. “Yeah, I think payback will be nice.”
Before he could say anything, I straightened my dress and exited the room just as Vivi and Nash walked in carrying baby Tyson. “Damn it smells amazing in here. Did you guys have a party?”
I nodded and wrapped Vivi in a hug, sneaking a peek at the blue bundle in Nash’s arms. “Now that the guest of honor is here, the party can officially begin.”
Just as expected, Vivi began to tear up. “You guys didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course we did. You only get to be a mama for the first time, once. How are you feeling?”
Vivi laughed and took my hand, letting me pull her out into the backyard. “Like I just pushed a watermelon out of my vajayjay, but he’s so cute I can’t find it in me to care.”
“That’s the twisted part of pregnancy they don’t tell you. How quickly you forget about the pain.”
“Mama! I made you a throne!” Norah stepped aside and did her best impression of a game show girl to show off her craft skills. “It’s for you to sit in. All day.”
Vivi was a ball of emotions. At least until the food came out and then she became a ravenous she-beast who forgot all of her good southern manners. “So good, Maddie. Thank you,” she offered around a mouthful of potato salad as she shoved a spoon heaping with baked beans right in also.
“No problem.” Nash and Zeke still manned the grill while they chatted, about who knew what. “What do you think they’re talking about?”
“You want the truth?” I nodded. “My guess is you. So you might as well tell me everything. Everything!”
“There’s nothing to tell that you don’t already know, Vivi. Your crazy aunt accidentally married us, and we’ve decided, mostly for the sake of Max, to see how things go. Whatever that means.” My voice sounded as shaky as I felt, uneasy talking about the feelings Zeke brought out in me.
“But you agreed to try…right?”
I nodded, wondering if some type of lunacy had come over me. “I did agree, but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. I agreed for Max, but won’t it be worse if he gets even more attached to Zeke and then he leaves?”
Vivi sat back with a gasp, and an overly dramatic hand to her chest. “And what if he doesn’t?”
That was a nice thought, one I’d entertained more than once since we made this agreement, but I couldn’t afford to think like that.
Not again.
Zeke
Days like this, where I was run off my feet made me appreciate Nate a hell of a lot more when he wasn’t at work. My manager, along with a prep cook and a waitress had all fallen with some late summer or early fall flu. I didn’t know what the hell it was, only that it had taken away my best employee.
And left me to deal with customers. It was something I was comfortable doing, but only when Zeke’s Joint was just a bar. Restaurant customers were picky bastards who could find something to bitch about even under the most perfect of circumstances. Their sole job was to test my patience, at least that’s how it felt tonight. And I was beat.
I couldn’t complain too much though since the restaurant had been packed all night with families, the after work crowd and those who didn’t mind enjoying a mountain of chili cheese fries with their booze. It was exactly what I wanted when I opened the place, except I planned to have Nate do most of the heavy lifting. As I locked the place up with a smile, I had a brief moment of dread as I thought about going to Maddie’s place. Not that I didn’t want to, just that I imagined a special kind of hell at coming home this tired to an energetic household.
I’d grown accustomed to being alone. Living alone. So far, there had been no issues with Max or Maddie, but as I made my way to the back of the parking lot, I wondered how it would feel to come home feeling this way.
That was another thing that got to me. Home. I hadn’t had a home since I left New York, not really anyway. I had places I crashed, where I laid my head, took a piss and cooked the occasional meal. But none of those places were home. Maddie’s place though, was a home. Everything about it from the colorful knit blanket that rested on the back of the sofa to the candid photos of her and Max, all screamed home in big capital letters and flashing neon lights.
I braced myself as I pushed the key inside the lock and turned, pushing the door open and holding my breath. But there was nothing. Well not nothing but there was no loud noise like there’d been the past few nights, just a calm quiet. “Hey,” Maddie said, smiling up at me from the sofa and looking sexy as fuck in a pair of sexy purple glasses perched on pert little nose.
“Hey back. I dig the glasses.”
She blushed prettily and took them off. “Thanks. I was just, ah, catching up on some bookkeeping. And inventory. How was your day?”
“Aw honey, I had a terrible day. How was yours?” I was joking but the way her brows crinkled in the middle told me she’d taken me seriously.
“Why, what happened?”
I sighed and kicked off my shoes before turning to shut the door. “Nothing happened but Nate was sick and I actually had to deal with the customers.”
She laughed and shifted her laptop to the cushion beside her as she shook her head. “You mean you actually had to work? You poor thing.”
I stared at he
r until her lips twitched, but to Maddie’s credit, her gaze never wavered. It dared me. Challenged me and I wanted more of it. “I knew my wife would get it.” Her honey brown eyes lit up when I leaned in to steal a taste of her plump lips and I savored that kiss, sank into it and reveled in it until she pulled back. “You don’t like my kisses?”
Her nose scrunched up and she leaned back. “I like your kisses plenty, but you stink.”
I took a whiff and nearly knocked myself out. “Damn! Not quite ready for all this man, are ya?” She rolled her eyes and that pulled a laugh out of me. “When I get back you can tell me all about your day.” It was still an experience, sharing more than a bed with someone else for more than a few hours. Inside the master bathroom my bodywash sat beside hers, my tooth brush crossed hers in the little cup on the sink. Stepping under the hot spray, I let the water wash over me for awhile as I thought about Maddie in those sexy librarian glasses, wondering if I could get her to dress the part for me.
Thinking about Maddie, as always, had my cock growing harder and thicker but I refused to jerk off, not when she looked at me like she wanted to devour me. I would convince her to do just that before bed. That thought propelled me out of the shower and into a pair of pajama pants and nothing else. “Okay honey, tell me about your day.”
She grinned but kept her glasses on this time. “Nothing too exciting, honestly. I ordered some new designs from a couple of my bestselling designers and I found some fabric for a dress idea I’ve been toying with.”
“Red? Because I’d love to see you in something red.”
Maddie rolled her eyes but she could do nothing to stop the smile that lit up her face. “And here I thought you wanted to see me in nothing at all.”
“Always,” I told her seriously. “How’s Max?”
When her smile lit up so all the threads of gold in her eyes shone like melted gold, I felt ten feet tall. Invincible. “He’s good. Sorry he missed you so prepare yourself for an onslaught over breakfast.” She waited for a response, probably a groan but there was none. I looked forward to conversations with Max. Sure the kid had entirely too much energy but I was pretty sure his IQ was higher than mine. “There’s a plate warming in the oven if you’re hungry.”
Accidentally On Purpose: An Accidental Marriage Boxset Page 27
