He paused. Then, “Everything.”
Emotion rushed into her eyes before it was gone in a flash. She slid off the bed and said, “You’ve got half an hour to get to work, and I have a busy day of errands ahead of me. I should probably go.” She fetched her clothing off the floor.
From his spot on the bed, he watched her round, sexy ass jiggle while she bent down and gathered her panties. Before, the distance was something he would’ve welcomed. Now, her running from him brought a sense of coldness he didn’t like. “Come here,” he said.
She turned to him, holding her clothes to her chest, and sat next to him on the bed. He started into her eyes, seeing that she had her emotions locked up tight. Not that he blamed her. He’d set up the rules, and he was the heartbreaker, after all. Regardless, he didn’t like it and intended to fix that coldness.
He sat up and slid his hand across her cheek, sealing his mouth over hers. While he’d started off kissing her slowly and sweetly, he soon threaded his hand in her hair, deepening the kiss until he felt her heavy breathing through her nose and sensed her body leaning into him.
Only then did he lean away, finding her eyes heated once again. “Now you can go,” he told her, regaining some of the control he’d just lost.
She chuckled softly and backed away. Her cheeks were flushed again, her lips puffy from his kiss. “Is it completely necessary to a) fuck me until I can’t walk and b) always send me off wanting more of you?”
“Absolutely, yes.” He grinned. “And I do it because a) I can and b) I want to.”
* * *
Later that morning, Joss had been doing laundry at home when a text pinged her cell phone: Meet me at Discovery Park at noon by the lighthouse. Since the park was twenty minutes from the station, she assumed Maddox had something else going on this afternoon, allowing for a longer lunch. Whatever the reason, she was glad for the interruption from chores she didn’t want to do anyway.
Once she tossed on a pair of jeans and a flowy, violet blouse and applied a little makeup, she drove the fifteen minutes to the park. When she reached the Visitor’s Center, she parked her car next to Maddox’s cherry-red Dodge Challenger with a black racing stripe on the hood before making the trek along the trail leading to the beach and the lighthouse.
By the time she reached the beach, her skin was flushed and sweaty, and she was only too glad that she’d worn her hair in a messy bun instead of putting in the curls she’d considered before leaving the house. But after this, she’d go back to chores, so why bother? That was the benefit of being with Maddox. She didn’t have to always impress him like she would a boyfriend, trying to look perfect for him. She knew she’d get sex again from Maddox, and she knew he was happy with her not having to worry about these things.
The warm sun beamed down on her when she stared out at the water, and she smiled, breathing in the fresh air. Resting along the edge of Elliott Bay, the West Point Lighthouse stood proud, with the white tower and a small cottage tucked beside it. As pretty as the view was, nothing looked better than Maddox sitting on the rocks, staring out at Puget Sound. She felt the pull to go to him, the warm touch his closeness always brought. As she approached, she noticed they weren’t alone here, telling her sexy times would have to wait. Though she also wouldn’t put it past him to have sex with her, not giving a shit who saw them. But she did have some hard limits, and that was one of them.
When she reached the rocky edge and carefully began to step from rock to rock, she was glad for her flats. Maddox had yet to notice her, obviously lost in his thoughts, so she tapped her foot against the rock, saying, “Shouldn’t you be working?”
He glanced sideways, the sun warming the color of his eyes. “I have a meeting at headquarters this afternoon so I booked it a little early.” He gave his sexy half-smile. “And you don’t need to worry. I looked around. There’s not a cop in sight.”
“Lucky us.” She laughed, glancing at the water, taking in the view. Off in the distance, a sailboat glided by with a couple of people sunbathing on the deck. “I forgot how beautiful this place is. I haven’t been here since I was a kid.”
“My dad and I spent a lot of time here,” he said, drawing her attention back to him.
She stared into his commanding eyes, realizing she’d never asked an important question about his father, but could only assume. “I’m guessing your dad is a cop?”
“He was, yeah,” Maddox replied, leaning back on his hands. “John Hunt. He used to work with Eric, so you might have heard of him, though you were probably pretty little when they were beat cops together.”