Page 32 of The Cinnamon Spice Inn (Maple Falls #1)

TWENTY-FIVE

MADISON

The first brush of his mouth was maddeningly slow, barely a tease. But the second was deeper. Hotter. Demanding.

Madison let out a small whimper against his lips. She couldn’t think. Could barely breathe. It was really going to happen this time.

All she could do was feel.

The years fell away in a heartbeat.

There was no past or future, no hurt, no fear, no promises broken.

Only this. Only them.

She fisted his shirt, dragging him closer, opening to him. He groaned low in his throat, sliding his hands beneath her sweater—rough palms on bare skin, searing a trail up her ribs.

Her body pressed instinctively into his, desperate for more.

His tongue swept into her mouth, tasting of caramel and chocolate, like he’d stolen one of Gram’s cookies before finding her. She wanted to steal him.

In the small dark space they shared, surrounded by shelves of flour and spices, they could’ve been transported into another world.

Madison was hyperaware of Zach’s breath, of the need building through her body, of the desire pulsing in his veins.

One alleyway kiss would never be enough. She wanted more.

She wanted everything.

She wanted to forget that the last six years had ever happened and just stay here, in this secret world with him, forever.

Madison sighed against his lips as the searing heat of his touch lit her nerves on fire.

A low, guttural sound rumbled from Zach’s throat—a sound she felt more than heard, one that sent a thrill through her.

He wanted this just as badly as she did.

She smiled against his lips and her hands skimmed beneath his shirt, fingertips tracing the firm ridges of his stomach. His muscles twitched. God, it felt good to make him react this way.

There was no denying it. Madison wanted him. Bad. And Madison had never been one to hesitate. It was how she had taken the leap to New York in the first place, how she had built a career from nothing.

And right now, she wanted to take this all the way.

She knew all too well just how short life was, how the moments that defined it—the risks, the chance encounters, the reckless, passionate leaps—were what mattered.

This was it, right here. A moment to leap into the unknown. She wasn’t looking beyond the horizon. She only wanted what was in front of her right now.

She felt him everywhere—his thigh pressing between hers, his arm around her back, his breath ragged against her cheek as he lifted her against the wall.

Her legs locked around his hips and he pushed into her once, twice, grinding against her in a way that made her whimper and clutch at his shoulders.

Then his mouth left hers to trail down her neck, pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses against the hollow of her throat, the line of her collarbone. Every scrape of stubble, every exhale of his breath against her skin sent lightning bolts through her blood.

“Madison,” he growled. “Tell me to stop. If you don’t want this, you have to tell me now.”

“Never.” Madison cupped his face between her hands, dragging his mouth back to hers.

Zach shook his head, breaking the kiss. “I don’t have a condom,” he said, “but I can?—”

Madison didn’t let him finish the sentence. “I’m on the pill.”

“Good.”

Zach lifted her higher, pressing his hips against her again until she was clutching him tighter, feeling the heat spiral out of control.

“God, Mads,” he muttered against her mouth. “I missed you. I missed this.”

He leaned back just enough to reach the waistband of her jeans.

Madison tilted her hips, desperate for more.

He didn’t hesitate. With a roughness that sent another shiver down her spine, Zach popped the button on her jeans and slipped his hand inside, fingers sliding beneath the thin cotton of her panties.

Madison let out a sharp exhale. It was part shock, part pure pleasure when his fingers found her already wet and wanting.

God, she was already so ready for him. There was no hiding that now.

Zach swore softly against her neck, like he was wrecked too, like he was barely hanging on.

“You’re killing me,” he rasped.

Then he kissed her again, hard, while his fingers moved against her with maddening skill—stroking, teasing, circling just right.

She gasped into his mouth, one hand braced against the shelves behind her, the other clutching his shoulder so tightly her knuckles ached.

The world narrowed to the slow, devastating drag of his fingers, the slick heat of her need. He knew exactly how to touch her. It was like he remembered every inch of her, every secret, responding to every sound she made when she was about to fall apart.

And she was falling apart.

Right here, right now, in his arms.

She was about to shatter for him when?—

Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.

The vibration rattled through the tiny pantry.

Madison barely registered it. She could hardly hear anything beyond the blood rushing in her ears and the pleasure building in her body.

She wasn’t even sure what it was. Her cell phone? His cell phone? Did it even matter?

But it did.

For some god-awful reason it did.

Because one second she was about to come undone on Zach’s hand and the next he was pulling away.

“What?” Madison whispered, dazed, still breathless, still trembling from the edge he’d driven her to. How could this be happening?

Cut short again, just like in her dream. Like the gods of sex, if there were any, were just having a great big laugh at her expense.

Zach exhaled sharply, dropping his forehead against hers for a heartbeat before stepping back so fast she nearly stumbled without him.

His expression shut down. “I shouldn’t have—” His voice was rough, controlled, but she could hear the regret creeping in. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

Madison blinked, reality crashing into her.

“What?” she repeated, her mind still scrambling to process the shift—how only seconds ago, he had touched her like he needed her, like he couldn’t breathe without her, and now…

Now, he was moving away like he’d made a terrible mistake. Again.

“That was wrong,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he switched on the light on his phone, pointing it at the door and then trying to push it open.

Wrong. She felt the loss like a slap.

Her body still ached with the imprint of his hands, her lips still tingled from the way he’d taken her, like he’d wanted her so badly it physically hurt—and now he was going to act like it hadn’t happened? Like something this good could just be wrong?

Hell no.

Madison squared her shoulders, her heartbeat hammering faster, anger rushing to the surface. “Wrong?”

Zach didn’t meet her eyes, still shining his light and pushing at the door as if he couldn’t get out quickly enough. “Yeah.”

Madison laughed bitterly. “Funny. You didn’t seem to think it was wrong when you had your hand down my pants.” She pointed down to her unzipped jeans.

Zach clenched his jaw. “Mads.”

“No. Go ahead. Say it,” she snapped, arms crossed so tightly she couldn’t breathe. “Tell me you didn’t want it. Tell me you haven’t been thinking about this, about me, about what we had. Tell me it was just the heat of the moment, a mistake. Say it, Zach.”

His silence was answer enough.

“That’s what I thought.” Madison looked away.

She couldn’t believe this man.

Even worse, she hated how much she still wanted him, even as she wanted to shake him, scream at him, make him admit the truth.

But instead, he did what Zach always did. He shut down.

He turned, banging his fist against the pantry door. “Edith!” His voice sounded gruff, impatient. “Door’s stuck.”

Footsteps echoed on the other side of the door, and a second later, it opened.

Gram stood there, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Well, well. What do we have here?”

Madison barely heard her.

Zach was already grabbing his tools and brushing past, mumbling a “thanks” before disappearing through the kitchen.

Madison looked past her grandma and watched him go, unable to process all that had just happened.

“What did I miss?” Gram asked innocently.