Warnings and Wildfires

“I don’t feel compelled to wear a bag over my head or anything—”

Demonstrations have always worked better for me than words, so I cut her off with a kiss. She falls right into it, reaching up to stroke my face. “You’re the sexy one,” she murmurs against my mouth.

I’m breathing hard when I pull away, touching my forehead to hers.

“Yes,” she continues, running her fingers under the edge of my T-shirt. “That shirt you wore today was really sexy. I felt a little guilty for wanting to pop all the buttons loose and maul you at the fair.”

I like this bolder-says-what’s-on-her-mind version of Aubrey. A lot. “Tell me more.”

She swoops in, kissing along my jaw. “I would’ve like to ride the Ferris Wheel and do some over-the-pants stuff while we—”

My mouth crashing into hers cuts off the rest of her sentence. We tangle together under the blanket and I shove my hand down her yoga pants, slipping into her underwear.

“Sully,” she whispers against my lips. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh.”

“Madison’s right—”

“That’s why the…shhh.” I pick my head up and stare down the hall. “We’ll hear her stirring. Trust me.”

She lets out a soft whispery laugh and kisses my chin.

Even though she said she was cold earlier, her skin burns hot under my roaming fingers. Silky and warm. I slip my hand between her thighs, teasing and playing with her.

“Sully,” she gasps as I thrust two fingers inside her. Her eyes close, head falling against the back of the couch, leaving her neck vulnerable to my mouth.

“Can you come nice and quiet for me?” I whisper in her ear.

“Not…if you…not if you keep doing that.”

I grin. “Doing what?” I push in a little deeper, curling my fingers to graze over her G-spot over and over. “What am I doing, Aubrey?”

Her head rolls from side to side, but she can’t seem to find any words. Twisting my wrist, I grind the heel of my hand against her clit.

Her mouth forms this perfect O and she sputters. “Oh, shit. That’s good. Right there.”

“Quiet, remember?”

In response, she reaches down and grabs my cock. Even through my jeans, her touch burns and without thinking, my hips jerk.

I push my fingers into her again, rubbing and grinding. On a mission to make her breath catch and her eyes roll back in her head. Her thighs tremble and her other hand clutches my shirt. Her back arches and her entire body jerks against me.

“That’s it.” The agony and joy on her face has me grinning like an idiot. Her orgasm is long and steady. Her whimpers faint.

After a minute I withdraw my hand from her pants and she blinks. Big brown eyes stare up at me, soft and hazy. “You’re dangerous,” she whispers.

Down the hall, Maddy’s door opens, reminding me we’re absolutely not alone. “Give me a second.” I press a quick kiss to her cheek before hurrying in the kitchen to wash up and calm down.

Aubrey’s still alone in the living room when I return. She scans me head to toe, stopping on my crotch. Her mouth quirks. “Come here.”

“Did she go back in her room?”

“I think she’s in the bathroom.”

I sit next to her and she tosses half the blanket over my lap. “Thank you,” she whispers against my ear. “Next time’s all about you.”

“I plan to collect.”

The bathroom door opens and a few seconds later, Maddy pads into the living room. “I’m hungry,” she announces.

“Do you feel better?” I ask.

Instead of getting pissed like before, this time she just looks tired. Her gaze strays to Aubrey. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Her eyes narrow at how close Aubrey and I are on the couch and I brace myself for another meltdown.

Aubrey flips the blanket off her lap and moves over, patting the space between us. “Come. Sit.”

To my surprise, she snuggles up to Aubrey. I think Aubrey’s shocked too because it takes her a second to adjust and slip an arm around Maddy.

“I wrapped your steak up. You want to eat it out here and watch your movie?” I ask.

She turns and stares at me for a few seconds, fingers tapping against her leg. “Are you going to make fun of Jareth again?”

I raise my right hand. “Nope. I swear there will be no King Tightpants jokes.”

“Daaaad.” Finally, she cracks a smile.

“Okay. No more jokes.”

“Can I have steak and eggs?” She wrinkles her nose. “Instead of whatever vegetables you probably made?”

“Sure.”

She follows me out to the kitchen and leans her hip against the counter, watching me pull items from the fridge.

“I talked to your mom.”

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. At first, it looks like a defensive posture. Until I notice her bottom lip quivering. “Did you tell her I went all hormonal teenager on you?”

Shit. My plan was to tell her about Thanksgiving, not have her think I called her mom to complain about her.

“No. Not at all. I did have some questions for her, though.” I see no point in lying about it.

Maddy rolls her eyes. “Did she tell you I’m dramatic and complain too much?”

“Uh, not exactly.”

“Yeah right,” she grumbles. There’s the bottom lip wobble again. And now her eyes shine too.

“Come here.” I pull her in for a hug and at first, she’s resistant, but finally, she relents and hugs me back just as tight. “I love you no matter what, Maddy. You know that, right?”

She slides her cheek against my shirt, in what I think is a yes.

“Your mom loves you too—”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Madison. You know that’s not true.”

A strangled sob comes out of her and I keep rocking her back and forth. A lot like what I used to when she was little and hurt herself.

“I know you’re going through a lot of changes—”

“Please, not the changes speech.”

“But,” I continue, ignoring that. “You can always talk to me.”

“Fine,” she says, louder this time. “I hate this and don’t want any of it. It sucks.”

Yes, yes it does.

“And,” she continues, really on a roll now. “I’m the first one in my class who got it. Mom sent me with a pad in my pocket one day. And I was so scared it would fall out that I kept touching it to check it was there. So my teacher thought I had a bomb or something on me and made me hand over what was in my pocket. She kept badgering me in front of everyone. So I slapped the pad in her hand and everyone saw it and made fun of me for like a week!”

Well. That was a lot to absorb.

How bad do

I want to fly to Florida right now and have a chat with this teacher for embarrassing Maddy like that?

“That does suck. I’m sorry, Maddy.”

“Mom went and yelled at Mrs. Smith. I’m so happy I don’t have to see her at school anymore.”

“That’s good.”

“Mom keeps lecturing me about babies and staying away from boys so I don’t get pregnant while I’m in high school like she did.”

Ouch. That’s an uncomfortable topic.

I’ve spent a lot of time being pissed at Lauren for not telling me she was pregnant. But listening to Maddy now, I get a small glimpse of how Lauren probably felt. Alone and afraid. I would’ve helped her, but I was still a kid myself and she was so far away.

I hug Maddy a little tighter.

When she quiets, I glance down at her red, tear-streaked face and silently lead her to the sink to wash her face.

“Better?”

She sniffle-hiccups.

“Still hungry?”

“Yes.” Her gaze slides to the freezer. “Aubrey said there was ice cream.”

“After dinner.”

A dramatic sigh accompanies her eye-roll. “Fine.”

“Your mom and I talked about Thanksgiving,” I try again.

“Ugh. I don’t wanna go skiing—”

“Right. You’re going to come here instead.”

“Really?” she asks with a note of caution in her voice. Again she sniffles. “But doesn’t that mean I won’t get to come for Christmas again?”

“No. You’ll still come for Christmas.”

Finally, something makes her smile. She bounces and clasps her hands like she’s praying. “Please, please let it snow this year!”

“I thought you didn’t like snow?”

“I love snow. Doesn’t mean I want to slide down a mountain of it with nothing between my butt and the ground except some skinny sticks strapped to my feet.”

I chuckle at her description.

“I want to build a snowman, roll around in the snow for a few minutes, then come inside and drink hot chocolate.”

Now I’m laughing even harder. “I’ll do my best to make that happen.”

“Oh, no Sarah! Don’t do it. One mistake’s gonna lead you on a journey of suffering and confusion!” Maddy shouts at the television, giggling through every word.