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Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Did you have fun with Ruby?” I asked as I opened the car door for Maddie’s.

“Ruby couldn’t make it. I had lunch with Little Grandma instead.” She put a pink box in the foot well in front of her.

“You’ll have to tell me about it.” I closed her door and went around the nose of the Escalade to the driver’s side and got in.

“Have I told you lately that I love you?” Maddie asked with a smile as soon as my door was closed.

“What’s bringing this on?”

“Just answer the question.”

“You tell me in a lot of different ways, honey,” I said as I started the engine.

“Well, I love you. I think you’re wonderful. And I’m so glad you came back into my life.”

Maddie was wearing her heart on her sleeve. I leaned over the console, cupped her cheeks, and closed my mouth over hers. She parted her lush lips just a bit. Not too much. My girl didn’t want to make a scene here in the town square. I continued to caress her cheeks with my thumbs as I lifted my head. “I love and adore you, Maddie. You have given my life new meaning.”

I saw her eyes start to glisten. “Take me home,” she whispered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I pulled out of our parking spot and headed toward her house. My house was nice, but her house felt like a home.

“Why couldn’t Ruby make it?” I asked.

“There was a problem with a delivery. Not only were they late, but they also tried to short her. Apparently, it was a mess. Ruby had to stick to her guns and go head-to-head with the supplier.”

My lips quirked. Ruby wasn’t like Maddie’s sister, Evie, but she was no slouch when it came to getting what she wanted. I chalked it up to Ruby’s red hair.

I held her hand as we drove through the picturesque street of Maddie’s neighborhood. I parked out in the street in front of her house. Her Jeep and this Escalade would not fit under her carport. She handed me the Down Home Diner box as I helped her out of the big SUV.

“Leftovers?” I asked.

“Yeah, and something for you. Those ladies adore you.” Her eyes were twinkling.

“Well, I think they’re pretty wonderful.”

We walked up to her house. I unlocked her door, and we went inside. She immediately turned on the A/C and took off her sandals, then went to settle down on the couch. I frowned.

“You pushed it, didn’t you?”

“Maybe an eensie little bit,” she admitted. “But it was fun.” She yawned.

“Bedtime?”

“It’s not even four o’clock,” she protested.

“Sorry. Should I have said nap time?”

“Probably,” she agreed, as she yawned again.

“Let’s get you to bed.”

“’kay.”

I held out my hand and she took it. I pulled her off the couch and when she swayed, I swept her into my arms and walked toward the bedroom.

“I could have walked… but I do like it when you carry me.” She nuzzled her face into my neck.

“Then this works out, since I enjoy carrying you.”

I set her down so that she was sitting on the side of the bed. She pulled off her blouse, then went to work on her bra. I turned away and went to her dresser to get a set of pajamas. I still didn’t know why she felt uncomfortable being naked around me, but that was one thing I intended to get to the bottom of today.

When I turned around with the pajamas in my hand, she was standing up just in her panties. She waved her hand at me. “I don’t need those.” She gave me a weary smile. “When you’re here, panties or naked is good for me.”

I was happy as hell, but I didn’t understand. “What changed?”

She slipped under the covers. I went over and made sure they were adjusted the way she liked them.

“I’ll tell you what changed after my nap, ‘kay?”

Her pretty brown eyes were barely open. “Okay, love.” I brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “Sleep tight.”

She chuckled. “I won’t let the bedbugs bite.”

“Nut.” I kissed her again.

As I was turning off the light in her room, I heard her whisper. “Yeah, but I’m your nut.”

* * *

“That’s the captain for you,” Pete said. “He definitely understands family issues.”

“Yeah, Phillips is a good guy,” I agreed.

“So, are you thinking of leaving the Marines early?” Pete asked.

I was out in Maddie’s backyard. I’d weeded the whole thing before finally calling my best friend on my team. I knew he would ask the hard questions.

“I don’t want to. It’s not just because I want to wait for my twenty and early retirement. It’s also because I’m not ready to leave the team. You know?” I admitted. “But for her, I’d do anything.”

“Yeah, that’s how I feel about Darla,” Pete agreed. “She and my daughter have me wrapped around their little fingers.”

I laughed. “I knew that the day I came over and caught you wearing a tiara for Amy’s tea party.”

Pete started laughing, too. “I put up a mirror right beside the front door after that fiasco, so I could check for tiaras and the like. Also helps Darla makes one quick check to see how badly I’ve fucked up her lipstick.”

I heard the back door open and looked over my shoulder. Maddie was standing there, wearing one of my T-shirts, and probably just that pair of panties she’d slept in. “I’ve got to go, Maddie’s awake. It was good talking to you, Pete.”

“You, too.”

Maddie put her hand on my shoulder. “Was that your teammate? The man who you caught wearing a tiara?”

“The one and the same.”

“I loved that story.”

I got up off the ground from where I had finished weeding. “Yeah, Pete’s a good guy.”

“Wanna come in and eat some ice cream?” Her voice was laced with temptation.

I put my arm around her shoulders and hugged her close as we both walked back into the house. “Chunky Monkey?”

“What else? Somebody has been loading up my freezer with the stuff every time he goes to the supermarket.”

“Sounds like a smart man,” I teased. I steered her toward the couch. “Why don’t we sit down and talk first?”

“That sounds ominous.” Her brows pleated as she sat down.

I cuddled her close. “Nothing bad at all. I just wondered about your talk with Little Grandma. It seems to have done you a world of good.”

She looked up from where her head had been resting on my chest. “It did.” She let out a deep breath. “You know I’ve had a couple of hang-ups since you rescued me. I mean, it’s been kind of obvious.”

“Yeah, but you told me you weren’t sexually assaulted or touched that way…”

“No, I wasn’t,” she assured me. “But I’d gotten mixed up after the stuff with Grizz…”

“Okay, what stuff, honey?” I waited for her to continue. It was tough, but I kept myself relaxed with a calm look on my face. I knew I wasn’t going to like this.

She looked me straight in the eye. “Grizz threatened me. That he and Bishop would…” She looked down, then up again. “Then somehow seeing Lana doing… that with the men. It got mixed up in my head and I ended up feeling dirty.”

I didn’t quite understand how she ended up feeling dirty, but I definitely had friends who had PTSD, and I knew the mind was tricky. The ultimate trickster, in fact.

“Honey, do you need to talk to someone? A professional, maybe?”

She gave a little laugh. “I did one better. I talked to Little Grandma. I don’t know how but just talking it through with her unlocked and unloaded it. Just like it sometimes does with the kids I work with.” Her hands moved, and I felt her fingers lifting the hem of my shirt.

“Maddie,” I protested. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”

She looked up at me with sparkling eyes. “Stay here, stud. I’m going to get the ice cream.”

I caught her before she could get up off the couch. I wasn’t in the mood to play. I was in the mood to make love with Maddie. Make slow, tender, gentle love with the woman I adored. And I was going to start with a kiss.

I pulled her onto my lap and smoothed back her hair, pulling out the scrunchie that kept her hair in a ponytail. Then I threaded my fingers through her dark, silky hair.

“Mmm,” she murmured. “I like that.”

“I’m glad.”

I kissed her temple and jaw. The bruise was gone, but I remembered the green and yellow colors that had marred her flesh. Even now, the thought of it made me hurt. I kissed down until I finally reached Maddie’s irresistible lips. I licked along her bottom lip, tasting a hint of lemon. I took my time, licking and tasting, while she slowly opened for a deeper kiss. I dipped my tongue into the honeyed cavern of her mouth and dueled with her tongue. We caressed one another in a sensuous slide that seemed to go on forever. Our strokes matched my fingers that were sliding through the thick curls of her hair.

Maddie whimpered, and inside, I smiled.

She writhed against me, but I chose not to move my hands, even though she was now caressing my abs. She was killing me in the most incredible way possible, but she didn’t understand. This was all about her. She might have said she was feeling all right, but it was my job—it was my duty and my pleasure—to ensure that she felt only joy as we came together.

I changed my methods just a little. Instead of just stroking through her hair, I began to massage her scalp in soft circles. As I did, her hands relaxed. She was no longer frantically trying to unbutton my jeans. Instead, she went back to stroking my abs. I broke into a sweat.

This woman was going to be the death of me.

I pushed up off the couch with Maddie in my arms and carried her into the bedroom. Before setting her on the bed, I pulled back the duvet and sheet, then laid her down. I gathered all the pillows and put them behind her head so that she was in a reclining position.

Maddie’s eyes were almost black, and her lips were swollen. She held out her arms for me to join her.

I shook my head. I needed a moment.

Finally, I looked up at her and I gave her a semblance of a smile as I fingered the T-shirt she was wearing. “Can I take off this shirt?” I asked hesitantly.

She frowned. “Of course you can. Beau, are you okay? I’m not fragile, you know.”

I sat down on the side of the bed and dipped down for a long, languorous kiss. When I finally sat back up, I spoke. “I know you’re not fragile, Maddie. You’re an Amazon, a Valkyrie, a warrior princess. But right now, you’re Maddie, my woman, my lover, the woman I love. I have this need to lavish you with love and care.”

She searched my face.

How could I explain this, except for… “I need this,” I choked out.

She cupped my right cheek. “Whatever you need, Beau. Always.”

I gathered her close, my face buried into her neck, then felt myself convulse.

What the hell?

But I couldn’t stop my emotions from storming through me.

I’d had so many nightmares, thinking about that moment when I saw all that blood, when she wasn’t responding, and I didn’t know if the chopper would make it in time.

“I’m here, Beau,” she whispered into my hair. “You saved me.”

She spent forever massaging my back, crooning soothing words until I could finally feel her with me.

Safe.

Whole.

Mine.

This time when I kissed her, it was hungry and needy. I held nothing back and Maddie met me kiss for kiss. When we broke apart, I pulled her sleep shirt over her head, kissing every fading cut along her arms. She was no longer wearing a bandage, but her surgery scar was still angry and red. I brushed it with gentle kisses.

Then I took my time teasing her naval with my tongue. Something I had found drove my woman insane, and today was no exception.

“Beau, stop that,” she said as she squirmed.

“Make me.”

She grabbed at my hair, and I redoubled my efforts. I pulled off her panties and put her legs over my shoulders. I teased the lips of her sex with kisses.

She stopped pulling my hair and dropped back against the pillows.

“You don’t have to stop doing that,” she admitted with a sigh.

“Good to know.”

She was already wet, but I was feeling greedy. I wanted more. I gently latched onto her clit with my teeth and Maddie whined my name. I swept my tongue against her swollen nub as I eased two fingers into her sex, intent on finding that spot that would drive her crazy. I didn’t have long to wait.

“S-so good. P-please, I need more.”

So did I. But first, I was going to give her the orgasm of her life. I nibbled at her clit as I rubbed my fingers inside her sheath.

“F-fuck. Beau!” she yelled.

Her muscles locked tight around my fingers as she released more honey for me to taste. She was right, it was so good. Maddie continued to tremble for long moments, then her body relaxed back into the pillows, her breathing beginning to even out.

I pulled my fingers out of her sex and drove my tongue inside her.

“Beau?” she shouted.

I began circling her clit with my thumb, slow and steady.

“Beau!”

I lifted my head. “You’re strong. You can take it. I want another orgasm.”

I bent down and went back to the best job of my life, driving Maddie Avery crazy.