Stone Cold Surrender (30 page)

up
a
notch.
And
whenever
she
had
leaned
into
his
aroused
body
while
they
kissed,
it
always
amazed
her
that
he
had

wanted
her.
And
she
would
have
to
admit
she
had
spent
the
last
couple
of
nights
in
bed
wondering
how
it
would
feel
if

he
were
to
make
love
to
her;
for
him
to
climb
on
top
of
her
and—

“Are
you
cold,
Madison?”

She
was
jerked
out
of
her
racy
thoughts.
She
cleared
her
throat.
“No,
why
do
you
ask?”

“Because
you
were
shivering
a
few
moments
ago.”

“Oh.”
She
met
his
gaze
when
he
looked
down
at
her.
She
hoped
he
didn’t
have
a
clue
as
to
why
she
had
been

trembling.

“What
about
you
and
your
fiancé?”
Stone
asked,
pulling
her
closer
so
that
her
cheek
rested
on
his
shoulder.

“What
about
us?”

“I
know
you
said
the
two
of
you
weren’t
intimate
often,
but
did
you
do
a
lot
of
touching?”

She
sighed
deeply.
There
was
an
inner
urgency
within
her
to
share
with
Stone
how
things
had
been
with
her
and

Cedric.
She’d
already
told
him
that
they
had
slept
together
only
a
couple
of
times
but
now
he
needed
to
hear
the
rest.

“Cedric
and
I
didn’t
do
a
whole
lot
of
anything,
Stone.
I

mentioned
earlier
today
that
we
were
intimate
two
times,
but
even
then
it
wasn’t
for
enjoyment.
It
was
done
only
to
make
sure
we
were
compatible.”

Stone
shook
his
head,
not
sure
he’d
heard
her
right.
They’d
been
intimate
a
couple
of
times
not
for
enjoyment
but
just
to
make
sure
they
were
compatible?
Now
he
had
heard
it
all.
How
in
the
world
could
you
be
compatible
without

enjoyment?
“What
about
passion?”

She
shrugged.
“What
about
it?”

Nothing,
if
you
have
to
ask,
he
thought.
But
then
he
decided
that
he
needed
to
appease
his
curiosity
anyway.
“Weren’t
there
ever
times
when
the
two
of
you
lost
control?”

She
chuckled
as
if
the
thought
of
his
question
was

ridiculous.
“No,
and
to
be
quite
honest,
I
never
experienced
real
physical
attraction
until
I
met
you.”

Damn,
Stone
thought.
He
wished
she
hadn’t
told
him
that
mainly
because
it
was
the
same
way
with
him.
He,
too,
had
never
experienced
real
physical
attraction
until
he
had
met
her.
Oh,
sure,
he’d
felt
lust
for
a
woman
before
but
for
some
reason
the
attraction
with
Madison
was
totally
different.
He
thought
about
her
during
some
of
the
oddest
times
and,

whenever
he
did,
unexplainable
warmth
would
flood
his

insides.
He
never,
ever
remembered
actually
hungering
for

a
woman
until
he
had
met
her.
And
now
she
was
a
constant
craving
and
that
didn’t
bode
well.

After
a
few
moments,
he
said,
“I
guess
we’re
going
to
have
to
come
up
with
some
ground
rules
once
we
leave
here
and
head
up
into
the
mountains.”

It
took
Madison
a
moment
to
realize
what
he
meant.
But
she
decided
to
pretend
otherwise
and
ask
just
to
make
sure.
“Ground
rules?”

“Yes,
about
us,
Madison.
About
this
attraction
we
can
both
honestly
admit
that
we
have
for
each
other.
About
these

hormones
of
mine
that
don’t
want
to
behave
worth
a
damn.
And
about
the
fact
you
haven’t
told
me
what
decisions

you’ve
made.”

Madison
forced
a
lump
down
her
throat.
She
quickly

remembered
the
decisions
she
had
made
overnight;
the
ones
she’d
been
determined
to
stick
to
when
she’d
woken
that
morning.
She
knew
that
doing
things
her
way
was
for
the
best.

She
released
a
long,
resigned
sigh
and
said,
“I
think
we

should
only
concentrate
on
the
situation
with
your
uncle
and
my
mother.
At
the
present
time
my
mind
isn’t
free
to
dwell

on
anything
else.
I’m
not
sure
how
you
may
feel
about
it
but
I
prefer
that
any
thoughts
about
anything
between
us
be

placed
on
the
back
burner
to
be
analyzed
and
discussed

later,
after
I
see
my
mother.”

Stone
shook
his
head.
Back
burner,
hell!
Did
she
think

things
would
be
that
easy?
Did
she
actually
think
two

people
could
turn
off
sexual
chemistry
like
it
flowed
from
a
faucet
or
tuck
it
away
like
an
agenda
item
to
be
looked
at
and
discussed
later?
Didn’t
she
realize
how
difficult
it
would
be
for
them
once
they
were
alone
together
in
the

mountains,
in
constant
close
proximity
to
each
other?

No,
he
quickly
concluded.
She
didn’t
know.
She
didn’t
have
a
clue
because,
from
what
he’d
gathered
tonight
from
their
conversation,
her
parents
had
not
been
passionate
beings.
And,
to
make
matters
worse,
her
fiancé
had
been
a
damn
poor
excuse
for
a
man.
Instead
of
introducing
the
woman
he
was
engaged
to
marry
to
fiery
passion
and
red-hot

desire,
the
bastard
had
been
too
busy
doing
it
with
a

model.

A
part
of
Stone
was
glad
he
had
discovered
the
reason

behind
Madison’s
irrational
thoughts
on
the
situation

involving
his
uncle
and
her
mother.
She
couldn’t
see

passion
and
desire
for
what
they
were
if
she
had
never

experienced
them
before.
It
was
obvious
that
she
had
never
felt
toe-curling,
scream-til-your-throat-becomes-raw

passion.
Those
sensations
were
something
everyone

should
experience
at
some
point
in
their
lives.
He
couldn’t
imagine
anything
worse
than
having
to
suppress
your

desires—especially
for
a
long
period
of
time.