I sit up, about to throw my blanket off my legs and walk over to her room, when my door opens and Maddie appears there with the dull light of the bathroom behind her.
She looks so delicate, like a swift breeze could knock her right back toward her room, away from me. Her toes barely breach the precipice separating my room from the bathroom. Her arms are locked across her chest, a shield to keep me at bay. Her loose blonde hair hangs in messy waves, concealing the edges of her face.
I sit absolutely frozen.
Ensnared.
“I’m not happy with you,” she says, frowning at my bare chest. “For a million reasons. In fact, I’m not even sure I like you anymore.”
I toss the blanket aside, but she holds out her hands to stop me from standing.
“Don’t get up. Please. Just…”
It’s agony to do as I’m told. I don’t want to stay sitting on that bed. I don’t want to give her the chance to walk away from me again. I’m about to ignore her request and go to her when she suddenly starts to walk toward me.
Step by step, she inches closer. I fill my chest with a sharp inhale as she comes to stand between my thighs, hovering at the edge of the bed.
We stay like that, not touching, millimeters apart. I look up at her. She’s looking down at nothing in particular, lost in her own thoughts. My hands fist the blanket at my hips in desperation, and then she puts her hands on my shoulders and delicately moves to straddle me.
I’m so caught off guard, I can’t form a coherent thought as her lips descend toward mine.
“Just tonight, okay?”
The way she asks it, it’s like she can hardly muster the courage. Her hands shake on my shoulders. Her body feels so fragile as she molds herself against me. Her silky blue pajama set brushes across my skin, so tantalizing I can’t help but reach up to hold her against me, pressing my hand against her lower back.
“Tonight, Aiden,” she repeats.
I nod because what else am I supposed to do? Change the terms? She’ll bolt.
And then, she kisses me, pressing her lips to mine gently. I don’t kiss her back right away. I like what she’s doing, sitting on me, gripping my shoulders, doing the work.
It feels so good to know she wants me, to know she came to me tonight looking for something.
Apparently annoyed by my lack of initiative, she leans back and looks down at me, her face barely visible in the shallow light.
Her brows furrow, but I don’t move. I let her sit on me, loving the way she feels.
She reaches back to grab my hand from where it rests on her back and brings it around to the front of her body. With her free hand, she gathers the material of her tank top and starts to raise it up and over her belly. Then she presses my hand to her bared torso, just below her rib cage.
“Touch me,” she whispers.
I flatten my palm against her warm skin, feeling her nerves rack through her as I brush my hand upward, underneath her top. I watch her face, noticing the subtle changes as I gently move toward her breast. She’s looking down, watching me, mesmerized.
She feels like fire, like at any moment, this will start to burn.
My fingertips touch the underside of her breast and I pause there for a moment, driving us both crazy. Her lips fall open and I think she’s about to say my name with a plea, but then my hand covers her completely and her eyes flutter closed. I lean in to kiss her cheek, then the edge of her mouth. I cup her breast with my hand, and the weight of it stirs my blood. Heavy and full. The perfect fucking size in my hand. My cravings from before come back with full force and I finally connect our mouths, teasing her until she splits her lips open and lets me deepen the kiss.
I want to haul her up and off the bed, press her back against the wall, and rip her clothes off in one go. I’d sink into her in no time, deep and to the hilt, rocking my hips and making her cry out in agony. I almost want to hurt her, to share this burden of pain I’ve felt for so long. Shouldn’t she be forced to feel what it’s like to want someone forever? A mouth that’s been parched too long. Hands that have been empty and idle. Hips that want to thrust and pound and hurt and love.
But this is Maddie’s show and I don’t know when it will end, so I’ll play by her rules. I’ll lean back on the bed and let her feel like she’s the one in control. I let her hover over me, her sweet body sitting on top of mine, her thighs spread open.