I was not Maddie.
He was not Flame.
But then my heart swelled when I remembered it truly was us. The hand on my face was his, and the mouth taking mine so devotedly, was Flame's.
My Flame.
Another groan came from his mouth, the sound shooting straight between my legs. I clenched my thighs, trying to stave off the heat. But it did not go, and out of breath and completely confused, I broke my mouth from Flame’s on a gasp.
Inhaling deep, Flame’s eyes opened. His focus latched on me. Nothing was said as we stared into each other’s eyes. Our hands never moved. And we never stopped touching.
Then my heart shattered, and utterly surrendered itself to this man, when he rasped in awe, “Maddie… I can touch you… I can…”
On a quick groan, Flame slipped his hand behind my neck, and brought me to his chest. I could hear his moan of pain, of him fighting his abhorrence of my touch as our flesh collided. He wrapped his arms around me and held on tight. He was fighting his repulsion to touch. He was fighting it so he could hold me in his arms.
Flame’s large frame encompassed mine, his strong hold crushing me so fiercely. My cheek was flush against his skin, and with shaking hands, I moved my arms and wrapped them around his waist, holding him too. He stiffened as my arms connected with his bare skin, but thankfully he held me harder and breathed long calming breaths into my hair.
We lay in silence.
Just as I feared my heart would burst from happiness, from this liberation of what we had both just accomplished, Flame whispered, “Just like your picture, Maddie. I’m holding you just like your sketch.”
Chapter Eighteen
Flame
I was holding her.
I’d kissed her.
She was in my fucking arms.
And I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that the flames hadn’t hurt her. I’d counted to eleven when my hand had been in hers, when her finger had touched my cheek, and when I’d brought her to my lips.
But nothing. She was alive. She was in my arms and she was alive.
Taking in a deep breath, Maddie’s hands moved on the skin of my waist. I groaned, both a mixture of my body trying to throw off her touch, but also wanting her closer.
Needing more.
My cock was pushing against my leathers at the feel of Maddie on top of me. Her tiny fucking fingers were stroking along my skin and I had to grit my teeth against the need to roll over and take her.
But I didn’t know how I could do that. Touching her and kissing her was one thing, but actually fucking her?
I wasn’t sure either of us could do it.
Maddie sighed, and rubbing her cheek against my chest said, “I never… I never thought this could happen. To us… with us…” Maddie lifted her head and she looked directly into my eyes. Her cheeks were red. Lifting a hand from her back, I slowly brought it to the side of her face. Maddie’s green eyes fluttered to a close when I eventually pressed my palm to her skin.
And then she smiled, cooling the flames in my blood and replacing their heat with nothing. I wanted nothing. I didn’t want to feel anything under my skin.
Maddie’s cheek nuzzled my palm and I couldn’t stop staring at what she looked like above me. How soft her small cheek felt in my large hand.
“You like this?” I asked, knowing it was true because of the flush to her cheek.
“Yes,” she whispered back, and stilled. My heart stopped in panic. I thought something was wrong, but then Maddie slowly lowered and brushed her lips against mine. She quickly pulled back, and kept her head low. “But I liked that more.”
My cock jerked in my leathers and I knew she felt it against her leg. Maddie shook her head. “I… I do not think… I d-do n-not know… if…” she stuttered and added, “if I can go that far.”
My body relaxed, and I replied, “Me too.”
Maddie lifted her gaze to meet mine and nodded her head. “But I like you touching me. You make me feel safe.”
“You cool my blood,” I replied.
Maddie’s hand met my cheek and her fingers began running through my beard. “Your beard is softer than I imagined. And your skin is smoother.” Her head tilted to the side. “When I sketch I try to imagine how it feels under my touch. I would spend hours looking out of my window just trying to imagine the feel and what it looked like up close. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would ever get to do this. My drawings have always been things that I imagined myself doing but believed were impossible. Now… now I am all a fluster that it has become a reality.”
I thought of her black and white sketches, thought of the one of her and I standing with my arms wrapped around her and her head to my chest. “I like your drawings.” I said and felt my forehead crease. “I never know what people are feeling until they tell me. I never know what it means when their expressions change, until they tell me what they are thinking. It’s the same with you too, but I knew what you wanted from me with those drawings. I could see what you wanted from life. I could see that you wanted to touch me, and that you wanted to walk outside without fear. That you want to stand next to me, holding my hand, outside.”
I brought Maddie closer with my hand on her face and said, “I want to understand you, Maddie. I want to understand your world.”
Maddie’s eyes searched mine, and she said, “It is simple, really. There is me. There is my love for sketching, the love I have for my sisters…” she swallowed and dipped her head, “and the way I feel about you.” She whispered the last part so quietly I almost didn’t hear it.