Page 19 of Cry Madness
Lie!
It's a struggle to resist the need to fall into his arms, to kiss him and see if he still tastes of cinnamon and sin. Perhaps if he'd changed over the years to be less...him. Perhaps if his skin wasn't still sun-bronzed, or the hint of mischief had faded from his eyes. Or if his crooked grin was full of wicked promise as he passes that lazy gaze over me. But he's still very much him, and god, I hate feeling vulnerable and small—and so very dull compared to the ever-dazzling Maddox Hathorne.
My heart does an odd little jump at how he still wears the top hat, reminding me of how Ihadto buy him for him. The moment I saw it, I knew he’d love it. His burnish-brown hair scrapes his shoulder in wild waves. His style has evolved from thrifted, mismatched pieces of found fashion to striking modern Gothic without being overly formal or too dramatic. The charcoal button-down with its rolled-up sleeves shows off tattooed hands and forearms and is the ideal contrast against the black brocade vest. Dark jeans and black boots pair well, but the gold chain hanging in a loop down his right thigh catches—and holds—my attention.He still wears that as well—the gift I gave him for his sixteenth birthday.
“Oh, no, Alice, believe me, you’ve made that abundantly clear.” Maddox gives me a familiar, careless shrug. “Thing is, I’ve simply stopped giving a shit.”
“See? And that’s the problem.” I stab a finger at him. “You need to respect my boundaries.”
His smirk is adorable. Devastatingly adorable. “I respected your precious boundaries for three fucking years.” He useshis fingers to count off each item as he barks out, “I didn’t call. Didn’t text. Didn’t show up at your fucking doorstep.” He grips the car door and leans in closer, crowding me behind the wheel. “I left you alone like you wanted, and we werebothmiserable.”
“I wasn’t miserable,” I whisper, the lie weak even to my ears.
Smoothly, Maddox moves even closer until all I see is him. All I smell is the vetiver scent of his cologne. Until the manic energy radiating from him seeps into me, making each breath shallow and strained. “Bull. Shit.”
Stubbornly, I shake my head and look away. “No, I wasn’t miserable, Maddox, and we’re done here. I need to go.”
His audacity to cup my chin and turn my head to make me face him is astounding, but not unexpected. “I’m not done with you.”
“Really? Too bad, because I’m not playing games with you.”
“No games.” His tone is suddenly far too serious, and his expression is pure evil. His touch, however, is a scorching flame. “Unless you ask me nicely. Then I’ll play with you all you want for as long as you need.”
I drag in a shuddering breath and pry his hand off my chin. “Stop,” I breathe. “Please, Maddox, stop.”
“No, I don’t think I will.” He invades all my space, grabbing me and twisting my whole body, shifting me so that my legs dangle out of the SUV. I try to close my legs, but he nudges them open and steps in closer. Close enough for the heat of his groin to seep past the flimsy barrier of my panties. “Admit you missed me, even if only a smidge.”
I shake my head again. “No, not even a smidge.” But the lie tastes like shit in my mouth.
“Sure you didn’t.” His lips graze the upper shell of my ear, sending a sublime wave of chills dancing over my flesh. “I’vemissed you, Malice, so fucking much it hurt more each day you were gone.”
That name—his name for me—does beautiful, terrible, treacherous things to me. It awakens emotions inside me that I wish would remain dormant. Sends diabolical currents rushing through my body that light me up in all the best—and worst—places.
I flatten my palms on his solid chest and try to shove Maddox away, but the tenacious man is a solid wall of immovable muscle. When he grins down at me in a way that has a whole horde of butterflies beating their wings around deep within my belly, I shoot backward as far as possible so I can suck in a breath that isn’t saturated with him.
“Nothing’s changed because I came home. Please, Maddox, leave me alone.”
Why can’t he understand how much it kills me to be around him?
The trace of his knuckle down the bridge of my nose is a knife across my heart, bleeding my soul dry at this man’s feet. “Still stubborn, even now.”
I slap his hand away and stitch myself back together. “Not stubborn. Determined to keep the past behind me.”
A flicker of…dare I call it betrayal…flashes across his exquisite face. “Is that what I am to you, Alice, your past?”
Before I can answer, the sky seems to respond with a distant crack of thunder despite there not being a single cloud overhead. It’s as if I’ve stirred the wrath of some ancient god by rejecting this man.
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” I stammer because, honestly, right now, with him this close, I want to get lost in him. Let him kiss away the last three years. I want to use his strength because I’vespent every ounce of my own. God, I’m so tired, so weary, of carrying my burdens alone. “We’re friends, okay? We began as friends, and we’ll always be friends. Now, please, Maddox, let me go. Youneedto let me go.”
For a man his size, Maddox is shockingly agile. Graceful. His movements are fluid when he steps out from between my legs. It’s odd how suddenly the air seems colder, ripe with impending rain. I’ve always enjoyed the sweet zing of ozone, but I’ve always loved the smell of Maddox more, and I resist the annoying urge to yank him back for one more sniff.
Maddox wags a finger at me with a playfultsk. “See, now that’s where you’re wrong. I have all the friends I need.” He moves me, shifting my legs again, sliding them back under the steering wheel. “You and I have always been a bit more, haven’t we, Malice? You can’t change that, no matter what lie you tell yourself. Drive safe.” His wink is positively devious. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Sooner than he thinks.
Because if Maddox wants to play, fine. I’ll play—but this time, it’ll be on my terms.
He closes the door, and I watch him through the rearview mirror as he saunters to his Dodge. I mentally prepare myself to bring his game to him, because if he wants to ambush me, I can ambush him right back. Saturday night, I’ll show up on his doorstep as bold as the devil herself. Get all up inside his head and spin him around, the same way he does to me. Two can play dirty ball—and he seems to have forgotten that he’s the one who taught me how to fight unfairly.