“No.” Shit, what if he’s right? What if that’s all this is? “It isn’t like that,” she denied hotly, but even as she said it she wasn’t sure. “I—” She stopped there.
“Yes?”
Nothing. Nothing that makes sense. She closed her eyes for a painful moment and said, “Why can’t you be nice?”
“What’s the matter, Princess, not used to people being honest with you?”
“Don’t call me that.”
Leaning back against the driver’s door, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “Who do you live with?”
Between gritted teeth, Maddy admitted, “My parents.”
“Do you have a job?”
“No.”
“BMW or Mercedes for graduation?”
“A 1980 Boeing 747 jet. I like vintage.”
“Go home, Princess. I’m not interested.”
“Then stop kissing me,” she said angrily. “I’m getting pretty tired of you judging me. You don’t know me. And you don’t have to. Gino is probably on his way. You can go back to eating your way around France for all I care.”
He sat back and sighed. “Did that analogy sound as ridiculous when I used it last night?”
Maddy crossed her arms over her chest and said, “Worse.”
“I’m sorry.” Those dark eyes seared through her.
I did not see that coming. “It’s okay, you were being honest.”
He turned toward her. “No, I wasn’t. I was trying to keep you out of my bed.”
She lowered her arms, undid her seatbelt, turned to face him, and whispered, “Why?”
“Because of this.” He threaded his hand through her hair and pulled her into a plundering kiss. There was no teasing, no tempting, just a bold claiming of her mouth. His tongue plunged and withdrew, leaving her feeling shaken and yearning to be filled again. She opened her mouth wider for him in an invitation he took greedily.
When he broke the kiss off and rested his forehead on hers, their heavy breathing blended. Eyes still closed, Maddy said shakily, “I’m no expert, but what’s wrong with it? It feels pretty damn good to me.”
Taking her face in both hands, he kissed her open lips hungry then said, “Too good. Being with you, taking you to my bed and tasting every inch of you is all I can think about.”
Maddy opened her eyes and met his. “And that’s a problem because you’ll eventually want to eat at other restaurants?”
He shook his head and frowned with impatience. “Forget that stupid analogy.”
“I can’t promise that, I’m only human.” She shot him a cheeky smile.
“You drive me crazy, do you know that?” he growled and nipped softly at her neck. “I’ve been telling myself all day that if you weren’t at my house when I returned it would be for the best. Now that I know who you are, I’m even more convinced that you don’t belong here.”
“Because my family has money?”
“Because I had to fight for everything I have. I have no respect for those who take the easy road.”
Maddy pulled away from him and sat back. “What happened to make you so defensive? First you’re upset because you think I’m after money, now you’re upset because I have it. I don’t have a problem with money. You do.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “You’re right.”
Maddy sat straighter in surprise. “Really? Which part? I mean, of course I am.”
In the silence that followed, the air was charged with the sizzle of their attraction, but also with a connection that defied explanation. It didn’t matter if it made sense or not. It simply was.
“Money ruins more lives than it saves. I’m not interested in having more than I need to pay the bills. Until you, I didn’t realize how strongly I felt on the subject.”
In his eyes, she saw how an old pain still tormented him. “Why?”
He looked out the car window as if he were looking back in time. “My mother put money before the welfare of her children. Alyson and I were accessories she packed and moved into the mansion of each new husband she had. One fake family after the next. I learned not to care, not to get attached. I wanted a family, but what I got was a new car every year. I’m afraid her lifestyle left me with a disgust for the wealthy.”
Maddy thought of her family and knew, despite their present issues, that wasn’t the life they’d given her. “She may have been trying to provide for her children the only way she knew how.”
His face twisted with disdain. “No, we were not her priority. Her third husband tried to force himself on Alyson when she was seventeen. She ran away to escape him. My mother took her husband’s side. I believe she wanted to ride out the time limit in the prenuptial.”
With a gasp, Maddy covered her mouth and asked, “What did you do?”
Looking past her as he remembered, he said, “I nearly killed him when I found out. Then I followed Alyson. She’d come here, to Sablet, looking for our real father.”
“Did you find him?”
“No, but we found his old house. They say he died here, practically penniless after my mother left him. In a house that was mortgaged to the hilt. The locals say during their marriage he took out loans in an attempt to appease her, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more.”
“That’s so sad. And then you bought the house?”
“In the beginning Alyson wanted to live here. Eventually, she made friends in town and moved out.”
“But you stayed.”
“Sablet was as good a place as any to open a restaurant.”
She put her hand on his clenched one. “I think it was more than that.”
He shrugged like he was dismissing her claim, but then he admitted, “I barely remember my father. I was five years old when we left. There is something here I haven’t been able to let go of.”
Family. The only one he’d ever known. Maddy’s heart broke a bit for him. She didn’t know what to say, so she leaned across the divide and kissed him with an urgency that surprised both of them. She wanted to kiss away his pain, kiss away her doubts and whatever else stood between them.
He pulled her to him in a crushing embrace, pulling her shirt free of her slacks so his rough hands slid beneath and spanned her small back. Between kisses he said, “I’ll never be a wealthy man.”
She pulled his shirt free and began to unbutton it. “I don’t care.”
He groaned and kissed her deeply, running a hand around beneath her shirt to cup one of her breasts possessively. “I hope you mean that because I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you. Once you’re mine, I may have to keep you.”
Feeling giddy with passion, Maddy jokingly warned, “Sample my cooking and there’s no more eating out.”
His chest rumbled with laughter even as he unclipped her bra with one hand and gave her bared nipple a light pinch with his other. It hardened beneath his touch and heat spread through Maddy all the way to the tips of her curling toes. “I want more than a sample, Madison. I want it all. Tell me you want it, too.”
She breathed her answer against his lips, “I do.”
“Let’s go inside,” he growled and kissed her one last time before sprinting around the car to open her door. She’d barely had time to step out of the car before he swung her up in his arms.
After a brief pause while he opened the door, the trip was a sprint down the hall and up the stairs to his bedroom. He slowed only as he laid her across his bed. She was breathing as heavily as he was when their eyes met and held.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his eye burning with need for her.
She swallowed hard and nodded.
He sat beside her on the bed. “Have you ever had an orgasm?”
She blushed and shook her head.
“Not even one you gave yourself?”
Her cheeks warmed more and she looked away.
He pulled her to her feet and undressed her slowly. When she was standing naked and exposed before him, he slid his hand down her stomach and cupped her sex. “You will come again an
d again until you are begging to feel me inside you. A woman’s first time is one she remembers her whole life. It should be one worth remembering, non?”
Oh, God, yes. Maddy nodded and licked her lips.
“Turn around,” he ordered.
She did.
“Kneel on the bed.”
When she hesitated, he put his hand on her back and guided her forward to the edge of the bed and whispered hotly in her ear from behind. “Trust me.”
She crawled on the bed, facing away from him and waited, as excited as she was nervous. He applied pressure to her back again until she was bent before him on all fours. He whispered to her to lower herself down onto her elbows. She would have twisted herself like a pretzel had he asked her with that seductive French accent. He sunk to his knees behind her. His hands came around the front of her thighs and spread them. Then he brought his up and under her and opened her lower lips. His tongue plunged inside her. She gasped and instinctively tried to pull away from the surprise, but he held her in place. He stilled and she relaxed.
Gripping the sheets in front of her, she bit her lip when his tongue plunged again and withdrew. He lapped her exposed clit and blew on it then drove his tongue inside her again. She shuddered and pushed eagerly back against his mouth.
With the same talent that he’d claimed her mouth earlier, he teased and pleasured her inside and out with his tongue until she was crying from the intensity of it. Only then did he thrust a finger into her soaked opening and pump while he suckled her clit.
Heat spread and exploded within her, and she cried out with the intensity of her first orgasm. She was still shaking from it when he withdrew his finger and ordered, “That’s only the beginning. Roll onto your back for me, ma puce.”
She did and he pulled her forward until her feet were almost touching the floor beside his knees. His hands cupped her breasts, circling her, lightly pinching her nipples until they were both throbbing painfully and begging for the hot, wet attention of his mouth. He pushed her back, holding her in place with one firm hand on her stomach and blew on her dripping sex until she parted her legs wider and whimpered.
He nipped her quivering thigh. “You taste so damn good,” he growled and sank his tongue back into her, this time grazing a spot that sent her nearly into a convulsion of pleasure. His hands slid beneath her buttocks and raised her to give himself better access. Once again his tongue delved and lapped. His teeth teased her excited nub until she gripped his head and held him to her as she neared her second orgasm. He rolled her clit between his thumb and finger then started to rub it with a speed that had her throwing back her head and begging him not to stop.
Thankfully he didn’t, and she came for the second time in her life.
As her breathing returned to normal, she asked shakily, “At which point do you get naked?” She peered up at him. He was still fully dressed between her bare legs.
His smile was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. “When you tell me to.”
Two could play this game. She smiled impishly up at him. “And if I never do?”
He stood, took both of her hands in his, and hauled her to her feet. Without saying a word, he put her hands behind her back and held them with one of his. The action arched her breasts, something he immediately took advantage of. He kissed one, then the other. His hot breath warmed her skin and sent shivers of pleasure through her. Then his teeth closed gently on one of her nipples and tugged softly. He said, “Some women can come just from this. Let’s see if you’re one of those women.” He suckled her, lapped her, sent her into a shuddering mess while his free hand claimed one of her buttocks possessively.
She writhed against his mouth and whimpered with need. The brush of his clothed legs against her bare legs reminded her he was in control. It was time to change that. Held immobile before him, she used what she had to excite him—her words. “I want you, Richard. Inside me. Take me, Richard. Now.”
He didn’t need to be told twice.
He stepped back and shed his clothing. His hand shook a bit as he sheathed himself in a condom. Kissing wildly, they fell back on the bed together and he braced himself above her. Their eyes met and held as he positioned himself between her legs. “I’ll be gentle,” he promised.
She opened herself wider for him and gasped as his tip entered her.
“You’re so tight,” he groaned.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. He slowly entered her with gentle thrusts, each time going a bit deeper. Twinges of discomfort were quickly replaced by the wonder of how good he felt inside her. He took his time, letting her adjust to his size. Then he began to move inside her with a rhythm as old as time. It was better, so much better than she’d ever imagined. He kissed her neck, whispering things in French to her that, although she couldn’t understand, sent her into a hot frenzy.
His hands were everywhere, exploring and guiding hers. She felt a warmth spread through her stomach and began to sob from the pleasure. His pace increased until he was pounding into her and she was crying out his name wildly.
Spent, he collapsed onto her, bracing himself above her so his weight didn’t crush her. He buried his face in her neck and she gloried in the feel of him still inside her and the loud beat of his heart. A beat that grew louder and louder until she realized that it wasn’t his heartbeat at all, but someone knocking on the downstairs main door. Banging, actually—angrily and with increasing force.
Richard raised his head as he, too, heard it. He rolled off her and swore in French. In all his naked glory he walked to the window and cursed again. “Does your cousin drive a limousine?”
Wrapping a sheet hastily around her, Maddy went to the window and stood beside him. She doubted anyone below could see them, but there was a chance. She gasped when she saw two couples outlined in the dim light of the driveway. “Oh, my God, Gino brought my parents. And Aunt Katrine and Uncle Vic, too.”
Misunderstanding the distress in her voice, Richard pulled her into his arms and said, “I won’t let them hurt you.”
Looking from Richard back to her family and then back to Richard, Maddy groaned nervously. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”
Chapter Five
Maddy scrambled into her clothing. Richard rushed to dress, not because he was intimidated by whoever was testing the strength of his front door, but because he didn’t want Maddy to face them alone. They flew down the stairs side by side.
In the main hall of his house, Madison stopped and looked up at him with concern he wished he had time to kiss away. She took him by the hand and said, “It’s probably better if I go out there alone.”
He wasn’t used to anyone worrying about him. He kissed her lightly on the lips. “I can take care of myself.”
Her eyes rounded with real worry. “My father can be—intimidating.”
He didn’t like the way that sounded. “Are you afraid of him?”
She shook her head adamantly. “No. Of course not. But if he thinks he needs to protect me, he won’t be kind to you. He has old-world views on family. This could get ugly.”
Tucking a loose curl behind Madison’s ear, Richard assured her, “It’ll be fine.”
Drawing in a fortifying breath, Madison nodded and opened the door.
Gino practically fell forward into the hall. Ranting in Italian, he swung her up into a bone-crushing hug. When he put her down, he chastised her as one would a child. “You stole ten years off my life, Maddy, when you did not call me. Never do that again.”
It was not the exchange Richard had expected to see. His surprise increased when Madison’s response to his angry tone was to wrap her arms around the giant’s waist and hug him back. “I’m so sorry, Gino. It was a spontaneous decision and one that I now wish I had handled differently”
Real love shone in the older man’s eyes as he smoothed her hair. “You’re safe. That’s what matters. But next time you have a crazy idea let me in on it. I’d rather face your father’s wrath than
worry that you’ve been taken.”
“Is he angry with me?” Madison asked.
“Livid,” Gino answered and referenced Richard. “He should stay inside.”
Madison looked over her shoulder at Richard, wordlessly offering him the option one last time. Richard stepped forward and offered his hand to Gino in greeting. “Richard D’Argenson. I am looking forward to meeting Madison’s parents.”
Gino looked back and forth between them then shook Richard’s hand. “You’re one brave bastard.”
“Not really, but I would never send her out there alone.”
Releasing Richard’s hand, Gino nodded in approval. “That might save you.” He turned and led the way out onto the steps.
A brown-haired, short woman came rushing forward and threw her arms tearfully around Madison. She searched Madison’s face and said, “I was so worried. When we received your text and Gino admitted he didn’t know where you were, I imagined all sorts of scenarios.”
“Mom, I told you I was okay.”
“Anyone could have sent that message to stall us from coming to find you. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
And I’ve never been so sorry. Tears began to run down Maddy’s cheeks. “I didn’t consider how awful it would be for you. I needed time away from everyone to think.” Her mother kept hugging her, tighter and tighter until Maddy said, “Mom, are you okay?”
With a prolonged, pained laugh, her mother released her. “I want to kill you, but I love you so I can’t. I’m hugging you, but I’d like to strangle you a little. I mean that in the most loving, you’d-better-never-do-anything-like-this-again way.” Then she started crying.
A tall, expensively dressed Italian man in his early sixties stepped toward the emotional pair. His voice boomed. “Thinking is all you’d better have been doing here.” His disgust for Richard rang clear in his tone.
Madison stepped away from her mother and moved to stand next to Richard. She took his hand in hers and faced her father defiantly. “You told me to grow up, Dad, and that’s what I did.”
With a snarl, her father reached for Richard. “I’ll kill him.”
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