“Very,” she admitted.
“Not yet,” he murmured, taking her hand. “I have a surprise for you.”
He led her into his living room on the right, and the moment he stepped aside, letting her see the room, her breath became trapped in her throat. She scanned the space from left to right, finding candles atop every hard surface. Too many candles to count, and since the curtains were drawn, the flames lit the room in a beautiful, romantic glow.
“I gotta be honest here,” she said, glancing over the white taper candles, pillars, votives…amazed by what he’d done. “I’ve had a guy take me to dinner, buy me flowers, run me a bath even, but this…” She glanced at him, finding his expression soft and gentle, “…is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.”
He smiled, but that was his only answer.
Not that she’d expected him to comment on such a statement, and instantly, she reprimanded herself. That was emotional talk. She couldn’t go there. He didn’t want her to, and she didn’t want to either.
She pressed her lips tightly together and watched him as he moved to the stereo next to the fireplace. There, he turned on the power, blasting electronic music through the living room.
When he turned to her again, she found intensity in him that she’d never seen before, and somehow, the music matched his mood. Sure, he could’ve picked something sensual, but that didn’t seem to fix Maddox. The hard beats and rhythmic drums and deep bass sent goose bumps crawling over her flesh.
Though maybe it was simply the change in him causing that. Because now she saw something different there—something freer, more raw, more powerful. She saw him, without shields or concerns over her, and she felt something release within.
His strength, his care, his affection, she melted into it all.
He took a step forward and caught her chin in his grip. “What do you want tonight, Joss?”
“You.”
* * *
Something had changed in her. Maddox could feel it right down to his bones, and he sensed his reaction to the way she looked at him now, the softening of the barriers he kept up. Joss stood there, bared and available, a beauty waiting for him to do any filthy, dirty thing he wanted. There in her eyes, he saw the sweet and tender moment when she’d surrendered her body to him. That trust she’d hand-delivered him warmed something dead and cold within.
Locked into her request, he held out his hand to her, and she tangled her fingers with his. He led her to the table where he’d set out the tray of toys. “Any objections to what I’ve decided for you tonight?” he asked, glancing down at her next to him.
Her long hair slid along her shoulder when she glanced at the black leather flogger and the red-and-black leather cuffs before she shook her head at him. “No objections.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “What was that?”
“No objections, sir.” She gave a sweet smile.
He grinned and winked. “Very nice.” Drawn into her smile, he brushed his knuckles across her cheeks, enjoying the way her eyes lit up when he touched her—so full of life. Determined to let the games begin, he grabbed the hair elastic and hairbrush off the antique tray and then moved in behind her. “To your knees, sweetheart.”
She faced the fireplace and slowly slid to her knees. He got right to work, moving in behind her and placing the elastic between his lips as he began to brush her hair. She inhaled and exhaled with slow breaths, hands resting on her thighs. When he could easily run his fingers through her tresses, and all the knots were out, he began French braiding.
When he reached the end of Joss’s hair, he fastened the elastic then tucked the braid over her shoulder. He liked the little shiver she gave him as he dragged his fingers along the long line of her neck, and his dick throbbed in agreement. The heat between them couldn’t be ignored.
Ready to get started, he returned to her front, and she ran her hand down the braid, making him smile. “Surprised I can do such a thing?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh. “Very.”
He’d learned the skill from spending so much time with Grey’s sister, Riley, over the years. She’d always begged him to paint her nails and do all types of girly things. Something he’d never been able to refuse her. But now he only thought of one woman as he dragged his thumb across Joss’s bottom lip, realizing how much he liked surprising her. Most of all, he liked seeing her smile.
With those gorgeous, heated eyes of hers on him, she sucked the tip of his thumb into her mouth before he released her, moving back to the tray again. He reached for the dark red-and-black cuffs with the soft inner lining. “Tonight, I’d prefer silence,” he told her, stroking the softness of the skin on her inner arms then placing one cuff around her wrist and fastening the buckle. “The only words I want to hear from that pretty little mouth are ‘Yes, sir’ or our established safeword if something feels wrong. Clear?”