Six
Madison
Paralyzed by sex. Was that even a thing? I made a mental note to Google it if I ever regained the ability to pick up my phone.
“Are you okay?” Nathan asked from beside me.
If I blinked twice would he know that meant yes? I was pretty sure I was incapable of forming actual words. And to think that I almost hadn’t slept with him. In that parallel universe I might have been able to move, but I would have gone my entire life without having sex like that. That was the kind of sex I’d heard about, read about, but never experienced.
“Madison?” he asked and pushed up on one arm. I bet my mascara was running down my face and my hair was standing up on end. Nathan on the other hand looked relaxed and sexy. But that seemed to be his permanent look. He definitely wasn’t suffering from sex paralysis. He was made even sexier by sex, if that was possible.
I managed a small nod and he chuckled.
“Shall I call an ambulance?” he asked, flopping back on the bed. “For both of us, I think.”
“You need to get out of here before you kill me,” I managed to say with a groan. He needed to leave so I could drag myself out of bed and into the bath. God knows what time it was, but I needed to soak my entire body in warm water if I had any chance of leading a normal life again. And the last thing I wanted to do was fall asleep in his arms and wake up with him gone. I didn’t want tonight to end with a disappointment. Not when it had been anything but so far.
“Meeting you made this hands down the best wedding I’ve ever been to. Full stop.” He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The muscles in his back bunched and released and I remembered the way they felt under my hands. I shivered and silently cursed my body. How could I still be reacting to him like this when I was so thoroughly exhausted?
“Seriously, get out of here.” He was dangerous and he needed to leave before I could want something he couldn’t give me. The languorous churn in my stomach and my tightening nipples were proof that if he stayed another ten minutes, I’d be straddling him again. And although my body clearly liked that idea, it wasn’t a good one.
He shot me a look from over his shoulder—that relaxed, sexy smirk that told me he could never imagine a woman would seriously want his naked self to leave her. And he had a point. Damn him.
Maybe just one final kiss.
At the thought, energy pulsed down my limbs, giving me a fresh surge of power. I sat up, circled my hands around his neck, and pulled him over me. My body instantly molded to his, to the weight of him above me, as if we’d been doing this for years and our bodies knew each other, knew how they fit together, how they worked, what they needed.
I swept my fingers over his cheeks, trying to commit him and those beautiful eyelashes to memory, trying to freeze this moment in time. I traced his lips with my thumb and then pulled his face closer, enjoying the sensation of his mouth meeting mine. Our tongues crashed into each other, almost as if we both knew we were running out of time, as if we had to make the most of each second.
I knew it was just physical, just sex. But the kissing felt like more than that. Tonight had been some kind of watershed; when I walked out of my hotel room after being with him, the world would be a slightly different place than it had been when I entered.
I smoothed my hands down his muscular back, savoring the feel of his skin, and he groaned against me. I had to put a stop to this or I’d want him to stay forever.
“Nathan,” I said, pulling away. “You really need to go.”
He pushed himself up, caging me with his arms. “That was a goodbye kiss?” I wasn’t sure if it was confusion or disappointment I saw on his face.
I smiled at him. “Yeah. It was a thank-you-for-making-this-the-best-wedding-I’ve-ever-been-to-now-get-out-of-here kiss.”
“That’s not the kind of kiss I was hoping for,” he replied, moving away and shifting off the bed. “But fair enough, you’re a woman of your word. And if I stayed . . .” He didn’t finish his thought. Part of me wanted him to and the other part of me needed him not to say anything that would make me want him to stay. “You’re a great kisser,” he said. “Great company.”
“Back at you,” I replied, getting up and heading to the bathroom. I didn’t like goodbyes.