Tanner opens his mouth to say more when Charlotte grabs his jaw and brings her mouth to his before whispering soft words.
Madison looks embarrassed and keeps her face turned away while she continues to play around with the food on her plate. I frown as I realize she hasn’t eaten anything, but just spent dinner moving it around her plate with her fork.
Dee wraps herself around my arm and I have to fight the urge to shove her away. She isn’t the one I want, and I hate having someone clinging to me. So very slowly, I untangle myself and get to my feet so there is no other choice but to let me go. She frowns, which I ignore.
“I have a few phone calls to make, so I hope you don’t mind me excusing myself.”
Dee is the only one to respond. “I’ll come with you,” she says smiling. “We need time to ourselves for a change.”
Inwardly wincing, my eyes immediately search out Madison who has gone pale under her light tan. I sigh heavily. “I’ll see you to your car.”
Not giving Dee much of a choice, and knowing I’m being extremely rude to a guest, I can’t stop myself from propelling the woman outside.
“Why are you always so keen to get rid of me, yet always asking me to come to dinner?” She digs her heels in.
“I’m sorry, Dee. My head is all over the place and I’m not sure I can do this—whatever it is—with you anymore.” I bend and kiss her cheek. “You’ll find someone else.” I awkwardly pat her on the shoulder, not feeling a thing for the woman in front of me.
My heart already belongs to the woman in my kitchen, who I can’t ever have.
Dee’s mouth tightens in anger, but then a false smile appears on her lips. “I don’t give up that easily.”
I’m left watching her drive away wondering how I got myself into this mess in the first place. In fact, I know how. Madison McKenzie. Her smile. The swirl of emotion in her gaze. How her long dark hair softly caresses her shoulders. The way her body moves, making my mouth water.
Madison McKenzie has a lot to answer for.
Feeling angry at myself and the woman for tempting me so damn much, I slam back into the house and up to my office, making sure the door is locked. I need to be alone even though I did sense Tanner wanting to talk to me. He’s my son and I’m always available for him, except tonight, I need to be alone to think.
I do know that I need to get over this obsession I have with Madison because it isn’t healthy for me or her. When I see her with Geary, all I want to do is sling her over my shoulder, carry her to my bedroom, and never let her leave. That certainly sounds good for a man who hasn’t had the touch of a woman in years.
If only the woman didn’t tempt me to so much, then maybe I’d be able to get on with my life the way I always have. I doubt I will ever be the same after knowing Madison. One day she will meet someone else and I’ll know all about it, with my son being married to her cousin.
Pouring bourbon into a glass, I swish it around before taking a deep drink, relishing the burn as it slips down my throat. I pause with the glass to my mouth for another drink, when thunder rolls through the room followed by the sound of pounding rain. I continue to sip my drink, until the glass is drained, and the humidity slightly drops with the downpour.
The rain is a welcome break from the weather we’ve been having, and as I walk out through my office doors onto the porch, I’m shocked, but can’t help the smile on my face when I spot Madison—dancing in the rain.
Her nightdress is plastered to her body, the large swell of her breasts clearly visible through the thin material. My heart pounds as I briefly glance up to Heaven, wondering why I’m being punished with this sexy beautiful nymph before me.
My eyes search out Madison and I want her with a passion I’ve never felt before. I shouldn’t even think the things I do, not about someone so young, but Madison is something else entirely.
Soulmate.
Shaking the thought from my mind, I step off the porch and move toward Madison with a purpose in m
y stride. She’s so beautiful that I can no longer resist her. I’m not sure I was ever meant to. I don’t even think about what I’m doing until I’m standing right in front of her, and she turns. When her eyes meet mine, her chest rises and falls with heavy breaths.
My eyes caress her body, soaked to the skin. Rain water runs down her thighs and legs into the boots she wears on her feet. The short nightdress clings to her curves, clearly showing a dark patch at her mound, and as my eyes trail higher, the hard nipples surrounded by dark areoles.
Neither of us speak, but as I reach out toward her, I find Madison in my arms. Her arms wrap tightly around my shoulders, her lips searching for and swiftly finding mine in a kiss so full of need that she nearly brings me to my knees. Her legs are wrapped around my waist as my hands find her bare bottom, pressing her against the hard throb in my groin.
“Please don’t stop,” she begs, running her lips along my jaw to my earlobe, which she bites, causing a reaction in my cock.
Turning with her in my arms, I press her up against the porch railing and pray like hell I don’t come like a teenager with the way she’s writhing against my lust filled body.
Her teeth nip at my neck, which distracts me as her hand quickly opens my jeans and then I feel her small hand wrap around my hard as steel flesh. I can’t help the quiver that runs through me at her touch, or when she slowly strokes me, working me up even more.
My head falls back on my shoulders as I let the rain pour over my face. At this point there are only a few brain cells still functioning, but enough to tell her, “I’m only offering tonight, Madison,” when I hold her gaze.
She searches my gaze and I hold myself still, not wanting her to know how much I wish I could offer her every night for the rest of my life.