“Me too, now get out of the kitchen.” Maddie shoos me away from the kitchen. “You cooked, I clean. House rules.”
“Oh, so we’re playing house now?” I raise an eyebrow, and Maddie laughs.
“Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times, Commander Abernathy.” She does this little salute before placing a firm hand on each of my shoulders, turning me around, and giving me a little shove towards the bathroom. “Go shower, take a load off. I’ve got the dishes.”
“Fine,” I resign with a smile, walking to my room to get clothes and toiletries.
When I get to the door, I look back to find Maddie still gazing down the hallway after me. Her gaze meets mine, and it’s soft and tender, full of conflicting emotions. Suddenly, all I see when I look at her are possibilities.
And that’s what set Maddie apart. Not her beauty or her brains but, rather, for the first time, I was willing to take a chance on more than just fun, try for something real. As much as it scared me, something about Maddie felt like it was worth the risk.
Maddie looks at me for a moment longer, then takes a small step forward. “For the record, I wanted you to make me breakfast in bed, too.”
I laugh at her sweet apology peppered with that smart-mouthed sass. I’m starting to realize one of the side effects of Maddie’s coping mechanism with stress is that she’s also one of those desperately sarcastic people when dealing with emotions.
The higher the stakes, the more sarcastic she gets. Though, the longer we spend together, the softer she seems to be towards me. I get it. She blocks the noises from the outside world for me as well. Which has me wondering how high the stakes are for her when it comes to me, how much she’s willing to bet on me.
She offers a little smile and a single shoulder shrug before turning to the kitchen, and part of me wants nothing more than to march up to her and take her hand, lead her to bed, spend the night tangled up in her, make her breakfast in the morning, then repeat for as long as she’ll let me. But I can’t.
I let out a long breath.This is going to be one heck of a test of my willpower.
* * *
Maddie
I groan in frustration, tossing around in my bed restlessly. I’ve been in a state of perpetual arousal for over twenty-four hours.
Apparently, being in a constant state of terror doesn’t tamp down desire when the object of your attraction is in the adjoining bedroom.
The worst part is that I’ve never had issues with self-gratification before. I’m particularly talented in scratching my own itches, but it seems this specific itch has only one solution, and that would be Sawyer. His large, calloused hands and teasing tongue, his soft, demanding lips, and that hard steel rod pressed inside me.
“Fuck.” Now I’m even hornier.
Cold shower. It’s really the only solution I can think of at this point, considering how reluctant Sawyer seems to be about acting on our attraction.
Of course, that may be a result of how reluctantI’vebeen so far. Now that I know what really happened, all I can think about is how much time I’ve missed out on with this man that seems to have possessed every part of my brain since that day at the gym.
I make my way to the shower as quietly as possible, pausing at Sawyer’s open bedroom door and listening to his soft breathing. I know the open door isn’t an invitation, just a safety measure, but God, am I tempted to pretend it is.
Instead, I continue my trek to the bathroom, turning on the water to a bit colder than tepid before stepping under the stream, standing there and letting it wash over me.
“Damn it.” It isn’t helping. Sawyer’s got me so jacked up my body is refusing to cool down. All I can think about is him walking in, seeing me through the glass, joining me in the shower and relieving some of this pent-up tension that’s refusing to leave my body.
I eye the showerhead, wondering if a little assistance will help get me off, when there’s a soft knock on the door.
“You okay in there, Maddie?”
“Um, yeah!” I call out, muttering a few choice words as I turn off the water and wrap myself in one of the big fluffy white bathrobes that came with the safe house. “I had trouble sleeping. Thought a shower might help.”
“Would you like me to make you tea or…” he trails off when I open the door, eyes following a drop of water rolling down my neck until it gets soaked by the lapel of my robe, then he lifts his gaze back to my face, clearing his throat. “Tea or warm milk. I can make you tea or warm milk.”
“That’s sweet, but I think I’ll go back to bed.” I smile, and Sawyer just nods, eyes intent on my face as his fingers flex and the vein in his neck throbs fast and strong.
A wave of anticipation rises inside me, my heart starting to beat erratically under his unwavering proximity. He does something to me, deep down in the recesses of my mind and heart, this man has managed to take root with all his undeniable presence.
I wait a couple of seconds for him to make a move, but when he doesn’t seem to be planning to budge, I shoot a look at his hands firmly planted on the doorframe, caging me in, trying to indicate that he needs to move for me to get out of the bathroom.
“Right.” He nods again, loosening his hold on the white polished wood and clearing the way for me to exit the bathroom. “Try and get some rest, and tomorrow we’ll get back to work.”