The Love Series Complete Box Set (57 page)

When she’s silent and still, I trail my fingertips lightly over her breasts and pull and tug on her nipples. Thumbing over them, they elongate and pucker beautifully. Hefting their full weight in my hand, I kiss circles around the globe of her breast, moving in ever-decreasing circles until I arrive at her impossibly hardened nipple.

I graze my teeth over it and pull the pink tip deep into my mouth. “Fuck, Reid!” she bellows and shrieks as I suckle her. Never removing my mouth from her breast, I reach up and place my other hand gently across her mouth to remind her to keep quiet. She nods her head briefly and I remove my hand, bringing it down to hold her other breast.

Nipples still firmly pinched between my thumbs and forefingers, I slink down her body, leaving a path of wet heat in my tongue’s wake. When I reach her pussy I release her breasts and use my hands to spread her legs open.

Kissing and nipping the tender, sensitive skin of her inner thighs, she begins rolling her hips, trying to push them up to my face. Holding her in place, I cup her hips in my hands. My thumbs trace along the V of her mound and she shakes at the anticipation of pleasure.

Nuzzling my nose along the juncture of her thighs, I inhale deeply. “Fuck, Maddy. You smell incredible. I bet you taste even better.”

“God, Reid. You’re killing me. I . . .” Her breathily whispered words fade into the moonlight when my tongue swipes over her drenched and dripping pussy.

I lap and lave every inch of her. She tastes heavenly and the feel of her slick and swollen lips against mine makes my cock pulse and twitch. I need to be inside of her, but not before she comes for me.

Flicking my tongue relentlessly over her hardened clit, I reach up to pinch her nipple again. With my other hand, I easily slide two fingers into her trembling core. Her hips roll and buck against my mouth, so I pull her clit into my mouth and suck on it mercilessly until she’s all but falling apart at the seams.

Lightly grazing my teeth over her sensitive nub, she comes against my lips—shaking, convulsing, bucking wildly and beautifully. I devour every last drop of her orgasm as she returns to this plane of existence.

Barely able to contain my own desire any longer, I kneel between her legs, my dick bobbing dangerously close to her slick entrance. I pause before sinking into her. Visions of me squishing the baby scramble in my head. Maddy senses my reluctance and she searches my eyes for some kind of answer. When I don’t say anything, she asks, “What’s wrong, baby?”

Shaking my head, I share my fears. “It’s the baby. I’m just worried about hurting it.” Maddy’s eyes sparkle with love as she says, “I’m fine, Reid and so is the baby. Please, make love to me.”

Well, who am I to argue with a request like that?

With my nerves calmed, I lay down on top of her so that every inch of our bodies touches. Cupping her cheek in my hand, I press my lips seductively over hers. I trace my tongue over her lips and dip into the corners of her mouth. She catches me off guard when she pulls my tongue into her mouth and sucks—hard. She bites and licks at my lips and when I pull away, she licks her own lips. “I love the taste of me on your mouth, Reid.”

I can’t control the rumble in my chest; the growl of pure male satisfaction knowing that this fucking beautiful and sexy-as-sin creature is all mine is a primitive and possessive noise.

Returning to kneeling between her legs, I hitch her calves up around my waist and plunge into her hot, wet channel. I move slowly—gliding easily inside of her.

I fall back on top of her and support my weight on my elbows. Dipping my tongue deeply into her mouth, I mimic the motion of our sex. Maddy wraps her legs around my waist even tighter and I feel her pull on her restraints.

When I feel her inner walls clamp down on my cock as her second orgasm begins to crest, I lose control. What started as a controlled and rhythmic love-making, spirals into a fast and furious fucking.

Her legs shake and tremble as she comes around me. With a few more deep strokes of my cock against her fluttering core, I come wildly, filling her and claiming her as mine and mine alone.

I reach above her head and untie her with one quick tug on the end of the belt. Almost instinctively, she wraps her body around mine, and when she places her hand above my heart and her lips to my chest, I pull her closer to my side.

Within a few minutes, her fingers stop tracing through my chest hair, and her breathing evens out. She’s so wrecked that she just passes out in my arms.

Inhaling the sweet and citrusy scent of her hair, I press my lips to her head and tell her that I love her. I know she can’t hear me, but I have to say it.

The alarm clock on her nightstand flashes that it’s nearly three thirty in the morning. As my eyelids start to close, I somehow find the strength to pull away from Maddy. We promised Momma that we wouldn’t share the same room, which seemed pretty pointless to me, but I don’t want to be rude in someone else’s house.

I chuckle at the realization that what Maddy and I just did was pretty fucking rude—and crude, and sexy, and fucking hot. Still, there’s no reason for Momma to know about it.

I slink out of her bed and get dressed. I make my way, as quietly as possible, back down to the den and try to get comfortable on the too-small couch.

I can still smell Maddy on my fingers, still taste her on my tongue. I can still feel her at my side and it is with those images, those feelings fresh in my mind that sleep claims me.

The next few nights follow in the same pattern—me sneaking into Maddy’s room to make love quietly but passionately.

On Christmas Eve morning, Momma and I wake before Mel and Maddy. Mel’s hasn’t stumbled in drunk again since Saturday night, but we’ve shared some uneasy stares at each other since then. With all of the last minute holiday shopping we’ve been doing, I haven’t had much of a chance to sit down and chat with her. I mentioned it to Maddy, not because I wanted to rat Melanie out or anything like that. I just thought she should know.

Momma slides me a cup of coffee and arches a suspicious eyebrow in my direction. Her glare makes me feel nervous. “What?” My voice is laced with guilt, like I’ve been caught with my hand in the cookie jar or something like that.

Your hand was in Maddy’s pants last night.

She chuckles lightly as she sips her coffee. “Oh, nothing. But I bet you two think you’re pulling one over on me, huh? I hear you tiptoeing back and forth from the den to her room every night.” She mockingly points back and forth between the den and the stairs leading up to Maddy’s room. Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything else about what else she hears. Thank God she’s being light-hearted. I’d hate to have really pissed her off.

I don’t know what to say, so I take a large gulp of my coffee. Somehow, apologizing for sneaking into Maddy’s room to be with her is foolish. There’s no way on Earth that I would ever be sorry for that. She’s pregnant and hopefully we’ll be living together soon enough, after all.

Before I can think of something intelligible and worthwhile to say, Momma chimes in. “I guess it was pretty silly of me to think you two would stay away from each other.” She leans forward in her chair and props her chin up on her folded-together hands. “You don’t have to sneak in there tonight. It’s okay with me, really. Consider it one of your presents, okay?”

I sit there still wordless. Sex aside, there was no way I was not going to sleep next to her tonight. I’ve been alone for the last four years, and waking on Christmas to cold and alone is the last thing I want, especially when I know Maddy is just down the hall.

Momma walks past me and stops behind me. She places a hand on my shoulder and I look up at her. She smiles warmly down at me and I can see that ‘letting’ me stay with Maddy is not a huge concession on her part. “You two are having a baby and talking about moving in together. I should be mad at your sneaking around, but you’re only young once. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to get her
more
pregnant than she already is.” At her last words, I nearly choke on my coffee.

Momma smiles and laughs at me as I wipe my spit-out coffee up from the table. “I’m so happy that you’re here with us, Reid. And I’m thrilled that you and Maddy are learning to make things work.”

I place my hand on top of hers and squeeze gently. “Thanks, Mrs. Crane. That means a lot to me, to both of us.”

She ruffles my hair like I’m a little boy and says, “Enough with that Mrs. Crane stuff. You either call me Lucy or Momma. Got it?” I nod my agreement and she smiles down at me one last time.

“Okay, then. I’m going to grab a shower and then head out to the fish market. The line is always a mile long there on Christmas Eve.” I stand from my chair and block her exit from the kitchen.

“Why don’t you let me take care of that? I’m not going to be much help later with the cooking and everything, so it’s the least I can do. Besides, the driveway needs to be shoveled and it’s still snowing out. You don’t have to go out in that. Just write down what you need me to get and I’ll take care of it.”

A huge grin appears on her face. “That’s very sweet of you, Reid.” She pulls a notepad and pen out of the junk drawer and jots down the list and directions. Handing me some money that I try to refuse, but she won’t let me, she just says, “Here you go.”

To say that the rest of the day passes by in a flash would be a huge understatement. Momma, Mel and Maddy busy themselves getting dinner ready and when we sit at the meticulously decorated table, I’m overwhelmed by Momma’s words. “I have never been as happy as I am tonight. Seeing the three of you . . .” She looks softly at Melanie, then Maddy and then me. “Seeing you all around my table, I just . . . I love this little family we’ve got here. I’m so looking forward to having to put another chair around it next year.” Her smile brightens when she looks at Maddy on that last line.

Melanie raises her glass and we all follow suit. Clinking them together, we share a toast and enjoy the meal. The entire evening plays out like a scene in a movie. We laugh and watch old Christmas movies. It feels like everything I’ve been missing out in my life is right here in front of me. And even though they’re not here, we called the rest of the gang and chatted for a while on the phone. It was so good to catch up with everyone.

Sometime around eleven o’clock, Momma and Mel excuse themselves through their yawns. They go to bed and leave Maddy and I alone. Rather than immediately retreating to her room, we stay down in the den and watch the fire dance and flare in the fireplace before us. There’s a calm air of peace surrounding us in this bubble. We know that when the week is up, we’ll have to deal with the struggles of not seeing each other every day. But right here and now, we bask in the comfort of each other’s embrace.

After the clock strikes midnight, I rouse Maddy from her sleep. She’s out cold even though she just nodded off a few minutes ago. Stretching her arms over her head, she rubs her eyes and smiles up at me.

I kiss her forehead and let my lips linger a second longer than is necessary. “Can I give you your gift now?” I can’t hide the excitement in my words.

She lazily crosses her legs underneath her and I walk over to the tree. Reaching behind all of the other presents, I pull out a small simply wrapped box. Anyone with half a brain can tell that it’s a jewelry box, so when I turn back to Maddy and she catches sight of the gift in my hand, her eyes widen in shock and she gasps.

I sink back down onto the couch next to her and place the box in her trembling hands. She doesn’t say anything; honestly, it looks like her brain has stopped functioning for a moment.

“Reid . . . I . . . I don’t know what to say.” She starts picking at the silver ribbon that sits atop the box and I realize she must be thinking that it’s an entirely different piece of jewelry.

Before I can say anything to calm her down, her breath hitches in her throat and she says, “Reid, I love you so much and there will never be anyone for me other than you.” Her sweet lips curl up at the corners and she puts the gift on the coffee table before taking my hands in hers. “I want to be with you, please believe me, but this is kind of out of nowhere, don’t you think?”

She’s so damn cute. I pull our hands up to my lips and kiss her knuckles.

“Let me start by saying, I love you.” I break the contact of our hands and pull her on my lap. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I look into her deep, emerald eyes, which are shining with what I hope are happy tears. “I won’t lie; I thought about proposing. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. There will always be just you, Maddy. There has never been anyone else, but you’re right. It is too soon. We still have a mountain of issues that we’ve just started working out.”

Maddy leans her head onto my shoulder and nuzzles into the crook of my neck. Pressing her lips there sweetly, she says, “I love you.”

“I love you too, babe. And I promise that
when
I propose, there won’t be a doubt in either of our minds, or any other outside issue in our way.” I reach across to the table and hand her the gift again.