Page 13

Chapter 12

Someday

Maddie

E ither I’m in a fever dream, or I’ve finally lost it.

Those are the only reasonable explanations for how I got here.

Where is here ?

I’m honestly unsure.

Physically, I’m somewhere inside my house. My back is pressed against something very hard. A door or a wall, perhaps.

And the most decadent lips are sealed to mine.

Emotionally, I’m rapidly spiraling from a nervous breakdown to full-blown arousal unlike any I’ve ever felt before while Alan kisses me into sweet oblivion.

Later, I’ll panic and regret everything I dumped on him tonight.

For now, I’m holding on to him with both hands, my nails digging into the firm expanse of his shoulders. My drive to resist him went up in smoke when he asked for popcorn. And then burned it because he really didn’t want popcorn and only wanted to piss me off.

Mission accomplished.

At the thought, my teeth crimp onto his plump lower lip, giving him a punishing nip. Hand to God, the man growls into my mouth, clearly undaunted by my supposed punishment. The sound might as well be a spicy audiobook read by Aiden Snow.

Good lord, that was hot.

His tongue dives past my lips, demanding my submission, which I eagerly give him. Damn , this man can kiss like a porn star.

Or so I assume.

For three long years, I’d convinced myself he wasn’t as skilled a kisser as I made him out to be. Cue the buzzer sound.

We break for air, and I toss my head back. He drags his mouth along my neck, placing kisses on my tender flesh. An embarrassingly brazen moan escapes my mouth.

“Alan, you’re a better kisser than I remember. And I wouldn’t have thought that possible a few minutes ago.”

He kisses his way up my neck to my jaw. “That’s not all I’m good at, Maddie. And I plan to demonstrate some of my other talents all night long.”

My eyes roll into the back of my head as he reclaims my lips, kissing me like it’s going out of style.

Or, more accurately, like he’s been waiting years to do it.

“Take me to my room.” My eyes spring open. “Unless we’re there already. Where are we?”

The warm vibrato of his laugh goes right to my nipples. “We’re still in the kitchen.” Another kiss, more insistent this time, like he’s losing his patience. “I’m about to change that, though. Unless you want me to eat your sweet pussy where you make your banana bread.”

First, gulp.

Second, gross.

Third, gulp again.

His hand sinks into my ass, squeezing and caressing me in a mix of tenderness and harshness that could leave a bruise and heal it in one fell swoop.

Growing needier by the second, I break the kiss and tug him toward my bedroom. All my resistance has fled, and I’m done denying us what we’ve wanted for so damn long.

He licks his lips as he studies me, watching me back away. The smile on his face is positively lascivious. “ Sooo not where you knead your bread?”

“Alan, no one kneads banana bread. And no, we’re not having sex in my kitchen. That’s disgusting.”

Another of his hot as hell laughs tweaks my nipples, drawing a schoolgirl giggle from me.

After all this tension, sadness, and confusing rage, I need a moment of levity. He must too. And I love that I can be that for him after the torture I’ve put him through.

For so many years.

My mood threatens to sour with that bitter thought. As if he can sense where my mind is headed, he eats up the slight space between us and recaptures my lips.

In a breath, I’m swept right back under his spell.

Once in my room, he backs me toward the bed until the backs of my knees hit the mattress. Both his strong hands cup my face, tilting my head to the side so he can deepen the kiss.

Operating on instinct, I lower my hands from his sturdy shoulders down to his waistband to untuck his shirt. Working like a woman possessed, I quickly unbuckle his belt and start on the fly of his jeans. If I don’t get my hands on him soon, I won’t survive it.

A little dramatic? Perhaps. But it’s been so damn long. I’m burning from head to toe, and the flames of desire are engulfing my entire body.

After I unzip his fly, I start to lower his pants over his trim hips, but he stops me, encircling my wrists with his rough hands.

“Slow down, Maddie.”

“Go faster, Alan,” I quip back at him.

“No, I meant you come first.”

“Better yet, both of us come together,” I counter, shaking my hands free and shucking his pants down. “I need you inside me. Now . I can’t wait.”

“Stubborn woman.” He shimmies out of his pants the rest of the way, raising one leg and then the next. “I think I got you a little too comfortable with fighting.”

I shrug, then rise to my tiptoes to offer him my lips. “If you didn’t want me to be a monster on the loose, you should have left me in my cage.”

“Not a fucking chance, baby.”

He kisses the cheeky smile right off my lips.

His roaming hands dive under my robe and toss it over my shoulders. They skim their way back along my bare arms, leaving a trail of sparks in their wake. Once he gets to the spaghetti straps of my nightgown, he breaks the kiss, locking me in his gaze. I couldn’t look away if I wanted to.

And I don’t want to. I could die in his eyes. Happily.

With one finger sneaking under the strap, he gives it a tiny tug and breathes across my lips. “I’m gonna show you what you’ve been missing all this time. I hope you’re ready for me.”

“Bring it on.” Despite my jackhammering pulse, I manage to come across as confident.

I think. Well, I hope .

His grin turns devious as he slams our mouths together again, making my toes curl. At the same time, he absolutely shreds the nightgown off my shoulders. I’m unsure if it evaporated from the heat of this kiss or if he’s some type of clothing-removal wizard.

Regardless of how he did it, my nightgown is pooled at my feet, and I’m standing before him in nothing but my panties.

Thank goodness they aren’t the plain white cotton ones I favor. Since I was on a date tonight, I wore a fancy- ish silk pair. Even though I knew there was absolutely no chance of my creepy date seeing them. I think it was a mental thing. Like I would feel more attractive if I wasn’t in granny panties. It’s dumb. Don’t judge me. What type of underwear do you have on right now?

Alan drops to his knees, catapulting me from my internal underwear monologue. My hands fall to his head, fingertips swirling through his silky brown hair. It’s so much softer than it looks. Thicker too.

As the word thicker crosses my mind, a memory of his third leg from that photo all those years ago goes slicing through my brain, bringing with it a glimmer of fear.

Oh boy. That might hurt.

It’s been far too long to go right to that. Perhaps I should come first, as he so eloquently put it.

I didn’t peek down there while I was undressing him since he couldn’t keep his lips off mine. Not complaining about that, by the way. My mouth is quite happy with all the attention he’s given it since we finally decided to give in to our carnal urges.

But now? I’m dying to know what’s about to happen to my downstairs area. And is it weird that I sort of want it to hurt?

I’ll unpack that later.

As for now, all my attention is diverted to where he’s sniffing me through my silk panties. Literally sniffing me.

Alan’s buried his face between my legs, inhaling me like he’s found the secret to eternal youth, if only he can snort it out of me. “Dammit, Maddie. You smell like heaven. I’m gonna be down here all fucking night.”

My low belly tightens, arousal flooding my core. Words completely fail me. I can’t even manage a grunt or sigh.

“Lay down on the bed and spread your legs for me, gorgeous,” he orders, his voice rough and sexy as hell.

Pardon my French, but fuck me sideways.

I’ll do anything he says if he uses that luscious voice. Positively anything. And not because I’m scared of him or doing it to capitulate to someone else’s whims while forsaking my own. But because my body craves surrendering to his. And his voice is a leash, bringing me to heel.

Yet I’ve never felt so desired and cherished.

Following his command, I lower to the bed and scoot backward. He watches my every move, save for the moment when his shirt passes by his face as he removes it.

I gulp as I gaze at him in all his glory.

Holy shit.

I’m suddenly extremely self-conscious, especially now that I see so much of him and have become painfully aware of how drastically we contrast each other. The big light isn’t on, but the bedside lamp is, and it provides plenty of light.

A bit too much.

I’ve had three babies. I’m fifty-three. I’ve got wrinkles, age spots, saggy skin, scars, stretch marks, and a belly pouch that could hide one of my bottles of wine like it’s a joey kangaroo.

As for him? He’s... stunning.

Not as chiseled as he was in the few photos he shared from his Army days. But a fine male specimen all the same. Softer now, more of a belly, but still with the virile strength of a man. Broad shoulders, defined pectorals, corded forearms covered with a dusting of black hair, and sporadic tattoos that seem to accentuate his strength in the best way.

The only one that stands out as somewhat unfitting of his masculinity is the ink on the underside of his right forearm, approaching his wrist.

It’s a flower.

It’s always struck me as odd. But now that I see him in nothing but his boxers, it stands out even more.

Fortunately, I don’t have time to consider why it’s simultaneously so familiar and foreign because he’s crawling toward me with eyes so heated they might burn my sheets.

I’m fumbling for words, wishing I could say something that could get him to stop studying me so closely without sounding like I’m fishing for compliments. If not that, I wish I could utter some keyword that would cut off the lights. I’ve been meaning to hook those up to the voice-activated thing Leo installed for the security system.

Damn you, hindsight and past procrastination.

Darkness would feel really good right about now.

What can I say to break him from this intense scrutiny? Something sexy? Flirty? Coy?

Anything?

I gulp as he hovers over me, one strong arm on one side near my waist and the other arm by my hips. His gaze alternates between my waist and my neck, with occasional treks down my body to my lower half.

“Alan,” I say, as if that means something profound.

All this time and that’s the best I could come up with.

He drags one of his big palms up my outer thigh, caressing my hip and settling it around my waist. “Maddie, I’m about to devour you.”

I blink four times, which is honestly the best response I have at this point.

I’ve never been devoured before. And I honestly haven’t the foggiest clue what that means.

Nonetheless, I’m into it. As long as he’s the one doing the devouring.

When I don’t answer, his gaze locks on my eyes, and he arches his brows. “Are you ready?”

“Alan, I can barely think, let alone speak.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he rumbles across my lips as he dives in for an abrupt kiss.

With our tongues teasing and swirling, I spread my thighs to cushion his lower body. As we kiss, a natural grinding motion happens. I’m unsure if I start it or he does, but either way, it’s heavenly. We pulse and writhe together. Each graze of his erection against my clit sparks parts of me long withered to life.

Although words have abandoned me, other sounds emanate from me loud enough to drive out the remaining silence.

Raspy breaths, sultry moans, and husky whimpers fill the air, along with the nipping and pecking sounds of our increasingly passionate kisses.

“Inside me. Get in,” I mutter nonsensically, bucking my hips up against his erection. He’s so damn thick and so hard.

“Not yet,” he insists, driving himself against my clit twice before retreating and leaving me a quivering mess of need.

He skims his mouth down my body, placing licks and nips along my neck, chest, and on each breast. He sucks one nipple into his mouth, causing my back to arch and my moans to spike. And when he rolls my pebbled nipple between those sexy lips, I come unglued.

“Dammit, Alan. Shit. Argh .”

“Getting angry, I see,” he teases, flashing a wink as he continues his trek down my body. “We can’t have you all upset now, can we?”

He nips at my mound, still hidden by the dark silk. Then he dives in, pressing his nose and chin roughly against my sweet spot, spreading my pussy open like he used both hands. But those are pinning my thighs out and to the side.

Oh god. He is going to devour me. Panties and all.

Oh well . I can get another pair.

I shake myself out of my head and manic thoughts, focusing on the heavenly feel of him between my legs, teasing me through my panties.

Soon enough, my patience runs thin, and I end up channeling some of the fighter he claims to see in me. “Alan, if you don’t take my panties off and put your mouth to work, I’m going to snatch your hair out. Get to devouring already. I’m dying.”

“Impatient.” He clicks his tongue. “It’s almost as if you’ve been the one waiting all these years.”

“I was,” I insist, forking my fingers through his hair and giving it a tug. “We both were.”

Without taking his eyes off mine, he divests me of my panties and quickly returns his face to my weeping center. Like he did earlier, he inhales deeply, and his eyes roll back, eyelids fluttering closed.

“Fucking hell,” he rumbles right before he spears his tongue through my slick flesh, licking up my seam until he homes in on my clit.

I can’t tell if he loves it more than me, but his appreciative sounds fill the air, mingling with mine in an erotic symphony.

My entire body is aching for him. Every cell is electrified, jolting me with each swipe of his tongue. From how he holds my lower body, he’s able to reach from my belly downward with one hand to spread me open, giving him better access to my clit. And he makes perfect use of his positioning, fastening his mouth to the sensitive bud and rolling the tip of his tongue over it while alternating pulses of delicious suction.

If this is what it’s like to be devoured, I won’t survive long.

Proving that point, my climax catches me off guard. “Alan, oh my god, Alan,” I chant. “Yes, yes, yes.” Tingles start low in my belly, coiling tightly until they spread like wildfire.

My hips buck uncontrollably, driving me against his mouth more vigorously than I’ve ever done before. Not that I’ve had a ton of experience with this particular act, but the few times I’ve been pleasured this way were nothing like this. Nothing .

I’ve never been this wild and wanton with desire.

I try to hold myself back, but he seems to enjoy it, sucking me harder and wobbling his head in tiny, rapid shakes to drive me rougher against him. His moans and grunts pick up in volume.

So I go with it, following his enthusiastic lead and grinding myself all over his face. It prolongs the delicious sensations of my climax, ratcheting me to new heights.

After I crest the peak, my hips slow, and my breathing grows even more ragged as I struggle to fill my lungs with oxygen.

When I come back to awareness, he’s still there, gazing up at me with those haunting eyes.

“You’re fucking beautiful when you come for me. Just like I knew you’d be. Dreamed of it so many damn times.”

My cheeks warm from how he’s looking at me. And from between my thighs, no less, his face an inch from my still-quivering pussy. I fling one arm over my face to shield myself from his view.

It’s too intense. Too much.

He kisses the insides of my thighs, one then the other.

I peek at him from under my arm, catching him making hungry eyes at my... clit?

“I’ll be back for you in a few minutes,” he mutters, then gives it a chaste kiss.

Yes. It .

He’s addressing my pussy, saying goodbye to it like it’s his favorite house cat.

By the time he’s repositioned himself on top of me with his hips over mine, I’m in all-out hysterics. Either from the endorphin rush of the orgasm or his unexpectedly adorable conversation with my naughty bits. Unsure which.

Or maybe... just maybe , it’s because I’m happy.

Nah . That can’t be it, can it?

As he presses his thick cock inside me a few moments later, all thoughts are shoved from me, making way for nothing but euphoria.

And to be fair, there’s no room for anything inside me now since he’s filling up every last inch.