02 Madoc (5 page)

All he had to do was look out the window to know that it was still snowing, but the truth was that he wanted to put some distance between himself and his prisoner. Grabbing his coat from the back of the chair, he shrugged into it as he strode to the door.

Once outside, Madoc stood on the porch, staring out at the falling snow and trying not to think about the fact that Shayna Matthews was half naked on the other side of the door. His cock went hard again at the image, and he swore under his breath. What was it about Shayna Matthews that had him responding like this? Coming on to her back at the diner had been permissible when he thought she was just a waitress. But she was a wanted fugitive.

More than that, she was his prisoner, dammit!

Reaching into the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out his cell phone. He should call his boss, Madoc thought, and let the man know that he’d run into some bad weather and wouldn’t be able to get back to Denver until the roads were passable. He flipped open his phone, only to scowl.

“No signal,” Madoc muttered. “That’s just great.”

Snapping the phone closed, he shoved it back into his pocket and turned to go back inside. Shayna was just getting dressed when he walked into the cabin, and he came to an abrupt halt at the sight of her wiggling into her tight jeans. Damn, she had a great ass, he thought. The image of Shayna Matthews draped over his knee while he spanked her tight, little derriere immediately came to mind, and he had to stifle a groan.

As if just realizing that he had come back in, Shayna whirled around to face him. Her face coloring, she hastily did up the buttons on her jeans.

Closing the door, he took off his coat and put it on the back of a chair. “It’s still snowing just as hard as it was yesterday, so we’re stuck here,” he told her.

Shayna made no reply, but he saw the relief on her face. And why wouldn’t she be relieved? Madoc thought. It meant another day of freedom for her.

Abruptly the conversation he’d had with Shayna the night before came back to him, and he frowned. If she was to be believed, then it sounded like she had gotten a raw deal. If her attorney was worth the money he’d been getting paid, then the man would have looked into her story and mounted a defense instead of advising her to take a deal.

But that wasn’t his problem, Madoc told himself. Regardless of whether she was innocent or not, she had jumped bond, and it was his job was to bring her in.

Aware of Shayna’s gaze on him, Madoc crossed the room to the stove and began to make a fire. Once that was done, he opened a can of soup and poured it into a pot, then set it on the stove to heat. As he stood there waiting, he spotted movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head to see Shayna standing beside him. She didn’t say anything, but merely held out her hands to warm them by the stove.

Though Madoc did his best to ignore her, it was difficult, and he was glad when the soup started to bubble.

Grabbing two mugs off the shelf, he poured soup into each and carried them over to the table. Though she looked reluctant to do so, Shayna left her post by the stove and sat down opposite him.

They ate in silence, which suited Madoc just fine. The less interaction he had with his prisoner, the better. Shayna, however, didn’t seem to feel the same way, because after a few moments, she spoke.

“So,” she said. “Where did you go on vacation?”

Madoc frowned, caught off guard by the question. “What?” he said.

“Last night, you said that you had been on vacation,” she reminded him. “I just wondered where you went.”

Madoc said nothing for a moment. He didn’t usually discuss his personal life with prisoners when he was transporting them. Then again, he’d never gotten snowbound with one before. “I went out to Seattle for my brother’s wedding,” he said finally.

Across from him, Shayna smiled. “That must have been nice.”

From the expectant look on her face, Madoc knew she was waiting for him to say something in reply to her comment, and when he didn’t, she prompted him with another question.

“Are you originally from the Seattle area?” she said.

He shook his head. “Texas.”

She nodded. “Have you lived in Denver long?”

“Awhile,” he said, and he saw her frown at his noncommittal answer.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes.”

It was obvious from her expression that Shayna expected him to elaborate, but again, he didn’t, and Madoc hoped that would put an end to the conversation. But to his annoyance, she took his reluctance to talk about himself as her cue to tell him about herself.

At first, Madoc didn’t pay much attention to what Shayna was saying, but as the morning wore on, he found himself not only starting to listen to her, but actually joining in the conversation. To his surprise, he and Shayna had a lot more in common than he would have thought, including their love of cheesy horror flicks. Madoc almost fell off the chair when she admitted that she loved zombie movies.

“And I have the DVD collection to prove it,” she added with a grin.

That prompted a lively debate about the best zombie movie ever made, which had Madoc wondering where a woman like Shayna Matthews had been all his life. When he had suggested to any of the other women he’d gone out with that they spend the night in front of the television watching Night of the Living Dead, they had looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

From there, the conversation turned to Madoc and his life growing up in Texas. To his surprise, he found himself telling her not only about the close relationship he had with his family, but also about his job as a U.S. Marshal.

Sitting back in his chair, Madoc glanced out the cabin’s one small window and was stunned to see that it was getting dark outside. He couldn’t believe that he and Shayna had spent the whole day sitting and talking, but obviously, they had.

“I should go get some more wood before it gets dark,” he said, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet.

Shayna pushed her chair back from the table as well. “I’ll go with you,” she said. “We need more snow to melt so that we have some water.”

It wasn’t snowing nearly as hard outside as it had been earlier, Madoc noticed as they stepped onto the porch.

Pulling on his gloves, he walked over to the stack of logs while Shayna went to fill the pot with fresh snow.

Madoc was just leaning down to pick up the first log when a huge pile of snow slid off the roof of the cabin and fell directly on top of him. Swearing under his breath as freezing-cold snow went down the collar of his coat, he reached up to brush it off when he heard the sound of feminine laughter coming from behind him.

Still brushing the snow from his coat, he turned to give Shayna a scowl. “You thought that was funny, did you?”

She was trying hard not to laugh as she shook her head. “No,” she said, and then giggled. “Well, maybe just a little.”

“Really?” Madoc drawled, scooping up a handful of snow and forming it into a ball. “Let’s see how funny you think it is now.”

Shayna’s dark eyes went wide as she realized exactly what he intended to do with the handful of snow. With a squeal, she sidestepped wildly to avoid the snowball he threw her way, laughing when it missed her and fell harmlessly to the ground.

With a grin, Madoc immediately bent down to scoop up another handful of snow, only to get smacked squarely in the chest with one himself when he straightened.

“That’s a point for me!” Shayna shouted triumphantly even as she tried to sidestep the second snowball he threw at her. She wasn’t fast enough to avoid the projectile this time, however, and she squealed as it made a splat on her coat.

Madoc chuckled. “Guess that means we’re tied!”

Apparently taking that as a challenge, Shayna quickly bent to make another snowball. Madoc did the same, and they spent the next ten minutes laughing and hurling snowballs at each other like two kids. Having grown up in Texas, Madoc had never taken part in a snowball fight before, and he had to admit that it was fun. Or maybe it was just Shayna that made it fun, he thought.

Which was why he agreed rather reluctantly to a truce when she called for one. Once back inside the warmth of the cabin, she turned to him with a laugh.

“I haven’t had a snowball fight in years,” she said. “I forgot how much fun they are.”

Shayna’s face was aglow and flushed from being outside, and almost against his will, Madoc found his gaze drawn to her mouth. Her lips were full and pink and slightly parted, as if they were waiting to be kissed. And God help him, for some reason he couldn’t explain, he wanted to kiss her. Hell, he’d wanted to taste her lips since he’d first seen her behind the counter at that diner.

Don’t do it, he warned himself. But it was too late; he had already bent his head to kiss her.

He really, really shouldn’t be doing this, Madoc thought. But while his head was telling him to do one thing, his body was telling him to do another, and as Shayna’s soft, luscious lips parted beneath his, he felt himself listening less and less to what his head was telling him to do, and more and more to what his body was saying.

With a low groan, he slid his hand into her long, dark hair and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. God, her mouth tasted so sweet. Like fresh peaches, he thought. He told himself that it was probably because they had eaten some fruit earlier, but he knew that almost all of that sweetness was Shayna herself.

She melted against him with a sigh, her hands sliding up his chest to grip the edges of his coat so that she could pull him even closer, and in that moment, he knew he was lost. Even so, a very small voice in the back of his head whispered again that he should stop before things went too far, but Madoc thrust the thought aside. After being trapped in a cabin with a woman as sexy as Shayna, he knew there was no way he was going to listen to reason.

He wanted Shayna Matthews, and he wanted her now!

Still kissing her, Madoc pushed Shayna’s coat off her shoulders and down her arms. Tossing it aside, he found the hem of her shirt and began to push it up, taking his mouth from hers only long enough so that he could lift it over her head. He went to work on her jeans next, hastily undoing the buttons so that he could push them down her long, shapely legs.

Despite his eagerness to see Shayna completely naked, however, Madoc couldn’t resist pausing for a moment to gaze down at her. Though he had seen her in a bra and panties the night before, he’d been too focused on getting her warmed up to allow himself more than a quick look, but now, he stood there breathing hard as he drank in the sight of her.

He would have loved to have taken his time removing her bra and teasing the nipples that were already hardening beneath his gaze, but he was too excited for that. He moved to take off her lacy bra, but she was already pushing his coat from his shoulders and down his arms. There was something very sexy about Shayna undressing him, he decided, especially when she pushed his hands away as he tried to help. She was so eager that she almost ripped the buttons from his shirt taking it off him. Man, was that hot!

Tossing the garment aside, Shayna let her gaze run over his bare chest admiringly for a long moment before reaching for his belt. Pulling him closer, she used one hand to tug him down for a kiss while she undid his belt with the other. He decided she was quite talented to still keep kissing him while being able to get his jeans down at the same time. As he stepped out of them, he felt her close her hand around his hard cock and caress him firmly as she moved her mouth passionately over his.

Eager for Shayna to be as naked as he now was, Madoc stripped off her bra and panties with the same urgency as he had the rest of her clothing. Pulling her into his arms, he trailed hot kisses over her jaw and down her neck until he came to her breasts. Cupping the sweetly curved mounds in his hands, he took one turgid nipple into his mouth to suckle on it before going to her other breast and lavishing the same attention on the hardened peak he found there. Still cupping her creamy breasts in his hands, he slowly kissed his way back up to her ear.

Shayna’s head fell back, giving him easy access to her neck, and Madoc took that as an invitation to kiss and nibble at the sensitive spot just below her ear. She moaned softly, only to gasp out loud a moment later as he took the pale pink buds of her nipples between his fingers and firmly squeezed them.

Madoc was about to bend his head to take one of those hard, little peaks into his mouth again when he felt Shayna’s hands on his arms, tugging him toward the bed. He went willingly, letting his gaze run over her naked form appreciatively as she lay back on the bed. He took in her perfectly-formed breasts, slender waist, and long, shapely legs. She was perfect, he thought.

“God, you’re absolutely gorgeous,” he breathed.

Shayna blushed at his words, but before she could say anything in reply, Madoc leaned down and slowly began kissing his way from one slender ankle all the way up her leg to her inner thigh. As he neared her pussy, he heard her moan, and he couldn’t help but grin at the urgency in the sound. She was just as excited as he was. He lifted his head to meet her gaze as he reached the downy hair at the juncture of her thighs. Holding Shayna’s gaze with his own, he ran his tongue teasingly over her plump, little clit. She threw her head back with a moan and lifted her hips, begging him for more, and he gave her more, licking her clit in a way he knew would drive her wild.

But as he ran his tongue up and down the slick folds of her pussy, she grew more and more excited, and the urge to be inside her became uncontrollable. With a low growl, he climbed onto the bed and, settling himself between her legs, he entered her fully in one deep thrust.

Shayna wrapped her long legs around him, taking him even deeper, and Madoc groaned at how incredibly hot and tight she felt around him. It was like their bodies had been made to fit together, he thought.

Lowering himself onto his forearms, Madoc covered Shayna’s mouth with his own, his tongue finding hers as he slowly began to move inside her. Beneath him, Shayna lifted her hips to meet his thrusts, and together, they found the perfect rhythm.

A part of him wanted to go slowly, but he was so turned on that he knew that wouldn’t be possible. And from the way Shayna was digging her nails into his shoulders, it was likely that she was already close to the pinnacle as well. With a groan, he began to thrust even harder, driving into her more deeply each time. She met him thrust for thrust, her legs squeezing even more tightly around him.

Madoc had never felt so out of control with a woman in his life, but Shayna made him feel as if he were about to explode as any moment. Somehow, he managed to keep his orgasm at bay until Shayna threw back her head and screamed out with her own pleasure. Only then, did he let go, exploding inside of her in a soul-shattering release.

Afterward, as they lay together gently kissing and caressing each other, Madoc was surprised to feel himself begin to harden again. He would have thought that it would take hours to recover from such an intense orgasm, but apparently, Shayna had that kind of effect on him. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her. But as he began to trail kisses down her neck to her breasts again, he decided that this time, they would go slower.

Much later, as he lay in bed with Shayna curled up asleep in his arms, Madoc tried to tell himself that it had been a mistake to sleep with her, but he couldn’t, not when it had felt so incredibly right.

Shayna awoke the next morning to find herself alone in the small bed. Sleepily brushing her hair back from her face, she pushed herself up on her elbow and looked around for Madoc, but the cabin was empty. He had probably just gone outside for more wood, she thought. Then again, she thought wryly, maybe the sex with her had been so good that the Marshal had changed his mind about bringing her in and decided to let her go. No, she couldn’t be that lucky, she thought as she lay back down. Besides, he wouldn’t have just left her stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Thinking of the sex they had had brought all the memories of last night rushing back to her. Amazing was the only word she could think of to describe it. Then again, the word, unexpected, came to mind as well.

To say she had been surprised when Madoc had kissed her was an understatement. Shayna had been just as surprised to find herself kissing him back. But at the first touch of his mouth on hers, all reason and doubt had fled her mind. She had never lost herself to passion like that before.

But now, in the light of day, a small part of her wondered if she had slept with him in the hopes that he would let her go. Just as quickly, however, she realized that though it would be nice if he did let her go because of it, that hadn’t been the reason at all. The passion that had erupted between them had been real. And it had been magical as well. Madoc had awakened something in her that she hadn’t known existed.

But what about Madoc? What was his reason for making love to her? Back at the diner, he had made it no secret that he was attracted to her. Had he finally just acted on that attraction, or was there more to it than that? Part of her wanted to believe that it had been more. She couldn’t deny she and Madoc definitely had chemistry together.

God, why couldn’t she have met him before this whole mess?

Shayna was just daydreaming about how things might have been between her and the Marshal had they met under different circumstances when the door to the cabin opened. Holding the blanket to her breasts, she pushed herself up on her elbow as Madoc came in. Not sure exactly what to say to him after their romp in bed last night, she nervously chewed on her lower lip and waited for him to take the lead.

To her dismay, Madoc didn’t say anything right away, however, but just stood there, his expression unreadable, and as the silence between them lengthened, Shayna grew more and more uncomfortable. Maybe last night had been a mistake, she thought. She was just about speak when Madoc cleared his throat.

“It’s stopped snowing and I can hear snow plows off in the distance. We’re not that far from the highway,” he told her stiffly. “We can leave as soon as you get dressed.”

Shayna told herself that she shouldn’t be surprised by Madoc’s words. She hadn’t honestly expected him to let her go simply because they had slept together. And if she hadn’t been so caught up her own thoughts when he’d walked in, then she would have realized that the man she had made love with last night was gone, and in his place was the no-nonsense U.S. Marshal that had taken her into custody. But she had at least expected him to acknowledge that they had slept together. Then again, maybe he was already regretting it.

Swallowing hard, Shayna started to push back the blanket, only to pause when she noticed Madoc turn away so that his back was to her. Considering that she and the Marshal had just spent the night together, what he probably perceived as a gentlemanly gesture actually hurt her for some reason, and she found herself blinking back tears as she reached for her clothes.

It didn’t take Shayna very long to get dressed, and it wasn’t like they had any bags to pack, so they were ready to leave within minutes. Madoc left some money on the table to pay for the damage to the window as well as the food they had eaten. And then, without a backward glance, they left the small cabin.

They made the walk back to Madoc’s truck in silence. Shayna had been surprised that he hadn’t handcuffed her before they’d left the cabin. Maybe he figured that after she’d nearly frozen to death the last time she’d tried to escape, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to do it again, she thought. That didn’t stop him from taking her arm once they got back to his truck, she noticed. What did he think, that she was going to try to flag down a passing trucker? she wondered. But then she saw the Montana State Trooper’s car parked behind Madoc’s SUV, and her stomach knotted.

“You folks need some help?” the officer asked as they trudged through the snow to the SUV.

Shayna held her breath as she waited for Madoc to identify himself and explain to the other man that she was a wanted fugitive he had captured. Since Madoc had wanted to dump her off with the locals in the first place, he was probably going to ask the state trooper to escort her the rest of the way to Billings, she thought.

Madoc gave her a sidelong glance before turning his attention back to the trooper. “My wife and I were caught in the snow,” he told the other man. “We had to hole up in a cabin about a mile in.”

Shayna stared at Madoc in disbelief. What was he saying?

The state trooper nodded. “You two were lucky you found a cabin,” he said. “You would have frozen to death if you’d been out here in your truck. You need any help getting back out on the road?”

Madoc shook his head. “I don’t think so, but if you wouldn’t mind waiting for just a few until we get started, I’d appreciate it.”

Shayna’s head was spinning as Madoc helped her into the passenger seat. She sat there trying to understand what had just happened while he cleaned the rest of the truck off. Was he going to let her go after all? she wondered. Or did he just want to turn her in himself? If that were the case, then why had he told the state trooper she was his wife?

Desperately wanting to know the answer to that, but afraid to come right out and ask for fear of what Madoc would say, Shayna was silent as he got into the truck and they pulled onto the highway. With a wave of thanks to the trooper, they were on their way with Shayna feeling more confused than ever. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but as they were driving down the highway toward Billings, however, her curiosity finally got the better of her.

“Why didn’t you turn me over to that state trooper back there?” she asked quietly. It was the first time either of them had spoken since they’d left the cabin.

The muscle in Madoc’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t look at her. “Because it’s just as easy for me to take you back to Denver,” he said.

Shayna felt her heart sink at his words, the small hope she had been holding onto collapsing. Blinking back tears, she turned to stare blindly out the side window. After last night, and then with what he had said to the trooper, she had truly begun to think Madoc might actually let her go. But apparently the fact that they’d slept together didn’t mean anything to him. He probably thought it was a mistake. She didn’t know what hurt more. That he didn’t believe she was innocent, or that he could still turn her in after they had had such amazing sex. Maybe it hadn’t been as good for him as it had for her, she thought bitterly.

They made the rest of the drive in silence, and Shayna found herself wishing that Madoc would turn on the radio or something. Anything to distract her from thoughts of what awaited her back in Denver. In a couple of hours, she would be back in jail. The one night she’d spent there after she had been arrested had been awful enough, and the thought of going back made fresh tears well in her eyes. Because this time, she didn’t think she would be getting back out.