Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

BECCA

Sitting around the table with Madden and Mick at my sides, Donut at my feet is a dream I never thought would happen. Not when I thought about what my future was going to look like. It seemed like one of those things I only saw in the romance novels I read, but here I am. Everything I thought would never come true; is. Except for getting Trey to let me take care of Mick fully, while he can't.

"Did you see dad today?" Mick asks, after he swallows a large bite of chicken. "I heard you talking to Stephanie about it."

It will do no good to lie to him, so many others have already done that. What he needs is the truth. "I did."

"Did he mention me?" His voice so hopeful it crushes a piece of my chest.

"He did," I say carefully. Not in the way Mick is hoping, but he was definitely mentioned.

A smile spreads across his face. "Good. I miss him, and I was hoping he misses me too."

God, this breaks my heart. The love he has for Trey, and the way Trey wants to use him like a pawn in a game of chess. I hate it, but I don't want Mick's heart to break the same way mine is. "I'm sure he does." I smile, although it's wobbly, and not at all full of confidence.

When we finish, Madden clears the table, and encourages me to go take a bath. "You look like you could use it," he says, pushing my hair back from my face. "Depending on how long you take, I can get Mick into bed."

"He'll need a shower," I protest.

"There's another bathroom connected to the second bedroom. I'll take care of it. All you need to do is go relax."

No one has ever taken care of me like this, and I'm not sure how to react. "Thank you."

"That's all you have to say." He smiles, turning me toward what I assume is his room.

When I enter, I smell him. A mixture of the woods, and cologne. It's heady, and I want to have this scent in my nose all the time. At some point when we came in, he set my bag in here, and he must have taken Mick's to the room he'll be staying in. Entering the bathroom, I groan loudly, seeing the soaking tub that's probably wasted on that man out there. Five bucks says he takes a shower and he's in and out within ten minutes. There's no way he can appreciate this like I can, and I'm going to do a lot of appreciating for the next hour.

My body is jelly by the time I get out of the warm water and stumble into the living room. Madden's hair is wet from what I assume is a shower he took, and he's laying on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV, but I don't see anyone else.

"Where's Mick and Donut?"

"Mick is asleep in the other room, and that traitor Donut decided he wanted to sleep with him. So it's just me and the TV." He slaps the couch next to him. "Or I can scoot on over and you can join me."

I make a motion for him to move. "I'd love to."

He opens his arms, welcoming me into the circle of them. I sink down, and against him, inhaling deeply. He's got his shirt off, and I'm snuggling into the warmth. He drops a kiss onto my forehead. "Did you have a good bath?"

"Yes, it was exactly what I needed. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me. I did that for you because I want to. I like you a lot, Bec. I care about you in a way that I wasn't sure I would be able after my parents' fucked with my head," he says the words with a look of wonder on his face.

I'm beginning to care about him a lot too. "We're both trying to heal from the wounds of our childhoods, and what better way than to do that with each other?"

He tucks his face into my neck. "We can make the life we've always wanted to have. The dreams we've always been scared to imagine. They can be ours, Bec."

For the first time, I'm willing to believe it. Lifting my head up, I gaze down at him. "It can be." My eyes take in his entire body, running over his chest. The smile across my face falters slightly because I recognize something. The tattoo marking the upper part, going from one end of his collarbone to the other. I've seen it before, and the nipple ring. "Holy fucking shit, are you MadDog?" I gasp, my face flooding with heat.

He pushes up so that we're sitting against the back of the couch. "What would you say if I said I am?"

I'm speechless. I never imagined I would meet the person I've been lusting after for the past few months. "I would be amazed, and slightly giddy for a few minutes, and then I'd say are you fucking serious?"

He buries his face in his hands. "I never expected anyone in town to recognize me. I've made it a point to constantly keep my chest covered. You're the first person who's seen me without one on. Do you hate me?"

"No..." I shake my head, before a laugh bubbling up in my throat. "Oh my God, Madden. You're like internet famous."

"In a very small niche of the internet," he argues. "I won't do it anymore if you don't want me to. I've been doing it to save up money for a house, and I have enough for a down payment. I'm just trying to decide where I want to purchase. I don't have to keep doing it," he rushes, covering his mouth with his hand. "I never meant for anyone to know it was me."

Reaching out, I grab hold of him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Madden, it's okay. If you enjoy doing it, go ahead. The comments crack me up." Then something hits me. "Oh my God! Ruby has been commenting so much on them. What if Caleb finds out?"

"Exactly." He groans. "He's going to kick my ass, and heaven forbid Chief Harrison find out. He'll have my ass. I'm scared, honestly."

"You'll be fine," I laugh.

"You're laughing at my fear. I don't know if I like it." He reaches out, grabbing me around the waist.

He hauls me over to him, causing me to straddle his hips. When my eyes meet his, gone is the laughing from either of us. We're serious as can be. Madden shoves a hand through my hair, pressing his palm to the back of my head, and pulling my mouth to his. Tilting my head to the side, he takes my mouth with his, and blows my fucking mind.

The kiss he gives me knocks me off my feet. I haven't allowed myself to be swept away like this in way too long. The drought has gone on much longer than I should've allowed it to. Between my thighs, his cock is making itself known against my heat.

When he pulls away, his hooded eyes are dark with passion. "Can I ask you a question?" He licks his lips.

"You can ask me anything."

A look of arrogance flashes across his face. "When you watch my videos, and I'm on my knees simulating sex, do you ever wonder what it feels like?"

Holy. Shit. This man is going to be too much for me. I've never lied to him though, and I'm not about to start now. "Yes, yes I imagine it. You're so slick the way you thrust your hips, and sometimes if I look close enough, I'm pretty sure you're barely hiding a hard on."

He reaches up, grabbing my jaw with his hand. "It's because I'm thinking about you. It's always been because I'm thinking about you."

I smash my lips into his, taking the kiss I want, grinding down on his erection. His free hand travels up my thigh, moving around to my ass, before skating up and under my shirt. His palm is warm against my back as it wanders up toward the latch of my bra. Those clever fingers of his unhook the latch without having to look. Pulling my mouth back, the edge of my lips lift. "You've had a lot of experience with that, haven't you?"

He chuckles. "Believe it or not, I have. Not the way you think, though. I was one of those guys who borrowed a bra from his girl best friend, put it around a pillow, and then practiced taking it off without having to look."

I laugh, throwing my head back. "You've been slick since the beginning, haven't you?"

Leaning forward, he buries his lips against my throat. "Why don't you let me get up under this shirt and then tell me what you think?" He smears his mouth down my neck until he encounters the collar of my t-shirt. "Fuck this thing," he growls.

I want it off of my body as much as he does, but I'm terrified Mick will come in here because he needs something. "Can we take this to a place that's more private?"

Grunting, he grasps my hips, before moving his hands back to my ass, hanging on tight. Then he stands, allowing me to wrap my legs around his waist. His biceps bulge as he carries me, and I'm close to swooning like the women in the books I read.

"This is one of the hottest things that's ever happened to me." I giggle, biting my lip. "No one has ever picked me up and carried me to bed, to fuck me. This is a definite check mark on my bucket list."

When we get to his bedroom, he pushes the door shut with his foot. "Do you want me to lock it? Will Mick knock before he barges in? I don't want him to see something he's not prepared to see."

I'm not either, and this is the first time I'm having sex since Mick came to live with me. "I don't know. I think we should lock it. We can make sure it's unlocked before we go to sleep." Hopefully, that's a good compromise.

"Whatever you're comfortable with."

I'm so thankful for this man. "What I'm comfortable with right now, is you throwing me on that bed and showing me what MadDog can do."

His eyes flare with a heat I've never seen before. My pussy clenches, with the hope it's going to be filled soon.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" He questions, holding onto my chin with a firm hand.

"Yes, I'm very sure."

He throws me onto the bed. I come up onto my elbows, looking at him between my spread knees. My eyes travel down his exposed chest and stomach to the erection lifting the material of his sweatpants. Licking my lips, I raise my eyes to his.

"Two questions," he says, trailing a hand down his stomach to where his cock is tenting. His palm covers the head, fingers grasping the hard length. "What are your boundaries, and what is your preferred form of protection?"

My gaze is now glued to his hand, where it's jacking up and down. "I don't have any boundaries that I've found yet, and I'm not on any type of birth control. I've been single a long time, so I'm requesting a condom."

"You got it." He turns and walks over to his dresser drawer. When he opens it, he reaches in, and pulls out a foil package, flashing it to me. "There's plenty more where that came from, too. I'm not the type of man to be one and done."

"Good, I'm not either."

He pushes the sweatpants and boxer briefs down his thighs, before crawling on top of me, his lips taking control of mine.

I don't know how much longer it's been when he's gotten me out of my clothes, and spread my thighs. The condom is on, and he's readied me with his fingers.

"Are you ready to see what MadDog can really do, sweetheart?"

My chest is heaving. Looking down, I see my nipples are tight and red from where he's worried the nubs. My pussy is aching, and all I want is to assuage that throb more than I want anything right now. "Yes, please."

He stands up for a moment, before he drops back on me, holding himself up on his forearms like he does in his videos. "Is this what you want?"

I nod, words failing me, as he braces his knees on the mattress. Reaching down, I hold the base of his cock as he feeds it slowly into my body. "Oh fuck." I tilt my head back against the bed.

Madden buries his face in my neck. "You're so fucking tight. Jesus Christ, I gotta move, are you okay with that?"

"Show me what you got."

My hands go under his arms, gripping his shoulders, holding on as he thrusts in and pulls out. He sets a blistering pace, one that I hook my legs around his waist to keep up with. "Don't stop, Madden, don't stop." I'm close, so close, and I haven't had this with a man in so long.

"Never, never fucking stopping."

Reaching down, he presses his thumb to my clit, worrying it as he plunges in. I push up to meet him, and when I do, I explode against him, one of my hands gripping the cover beside my head, the other covering my mouth to keep Mick from hearing what's happening in here.

Madden grunts, and that's when I feel the heat of him releasing into the condom. We're panting against each other, holding on tight as our heartbeats try to regulate.

I've never felt anything like this and I'm not sure I'll ever feel it again.