“You’re funny, Maddy.” She scoffs lightly. “Where do you think he should stay?” I take a seat at the table and she slides up next to me. I weigh the options of her test here.
It’s not the answer I want to say, but it’s what I know I have to say. “He can sleep in the den. I don’t want to be disrespectful.” She leans forward across the table and takes my hands in hers. Patting the top of my hands lightly, she says, “Good choice, Maddy. Good choice. Now, go get him some linens and let him know that dinner is almost done.”
As I walk into the den, sheets in hand, Reid eyes me suspiciously. I shrug my shoulders and say, “So it looks like you’re on the couch tonight.” I hand him the sheets and pull a spare blanket and pillow out of the hope chest.
Handing them to him, he arches an eyebrow, and says, “Sure, no problem. I’ll sleep out here.” When he emphasizes the word sleep, I get the distinct feeling that he’s got something up his sleeve.
Before I have the chance to ask him what’s going on in his head, Momma calls us back into the kitchen for dinner. As I’m pulling plates out of the cabinet, Momma tells us that Mel won’t be joining us. She’s out again and as much as I want to say “it’s no big deal”, I can’t help but worry about my best friend.
Over the course of dinner, the three of us talk about everything – the upcoming holiday, the doctor’s appointment, the possible apartment. I’m not surprised that Momma’s reaction to the apartment is a mixture of joy and sadness.
By nine o’clock, Momma leaves us in the den as we finish watching some syndicated sitcom. By ten p.m., I can no longer keep my eyes open. I kiss Reid goodnight, and even though I want to feel disappointed that he won’t be sleeping next to me tonight, I feel ecstatic knowing that at least he’s under the same roof.
A loud thud at the front door makes me jolt off the couch at around two in the morning. I hear keys jangling and someone saying “shhh” over and over again. The coat rack topples over and I hear, “Oh, shit!”
It’s Melanie and she’s piss-ass drunk, stumbling all over the place. She can barely keep herself up. I meet her at the end of the entry way and she gasps in shock. I guess she forgot I was staying here.
“You scared the shit out me, Reid,” she slurs. This is so not like Melanie. Maddy is right; something is going on with this girl, but now is not the time to figure out what.
I wrap my arm around her waist to support her drunken weight and help her up the stairs. She loses her balance a few times, but we manage to make it to her room in one piece. When she sits down on the bed, almost instantly, she flops backwards. She’s out cold.
I take her shoes off and somehow get her coat off as well. I throw a blanket on her and leave her a glass of water and a few Advil on her nightstand. She’s going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow, and if Maddy has anything to say about it, Mel is going to have lots of explaining to do as well.
Exiting Mel’s room, I softly close the door behind me and stand in the middle of the quiet hallway. Miraculously, no one else woke up. Hmm, if Momma can sleep through that…
I open Maddy’s door as quietly as possible and hope to God that I don’t trip over anything as I make my way to her bed. She’s curled on her side, hands tucked under her cheek. Her hair is all over the place and her face looks so peaceful. She is so fucking beautiful. It’s moments like these that I really can’t believe she’s all mine. I tuck a piece of hair that’s draped across her cheek behind her ear. She stirs slightly and mumbles my name.
She’s dreaming about me. My face splits with a wide smile knowing that she’s thinking about me.
I rid myself of my clothes – flannel pants and a T-shirt – and climb into the bed behind her. She reacts to the movement in the bed, but not enough to wake up completely. When I’m spooned up against her from behind, my desire blooms.
I want her.
Now.
I slip the thin strap of her tank-top down her shoulder a little and trace my fingers lightly over her skin. Needing to taste her, to lick her soft skin, I press my lips where my fingers just traced. She leans into my kiss, but she’s still not entirely awake. I’m curious to see what it will take to wake her up at this point.
Moving up from her shoulder, I kiss and nip along her neck. When I get to her ear, I pull the lobe between my teeth and bite at it tenderly. Laving over the same spot, I then kiss the outer shell of her ear. Goosebumps spread like wildfire across her skin and she shimmies her ass into my groin.
Pulling her tightly to me, I splay my hand out over her belly and melt a little when I realize it’s softer and a tiny bit rounded where it used to be flat and hard.
I trace the elastic at the top of her panties, and when I have them pulled down a few inches, she comes to and realizes that I’m behind her. She gasps in shock and I lean into her ear again. “Shh. Be quiet,” I coo softly and her body relaxes instantly from its momentary panic.
She gladly assists me in sliding her panties the rest of the way over her hips and down her legs. She rolls over to face me and I pull both of the straps from her tank top down to expose her breasts, which have grown noticeably larger in the last few weeks.
Maddy arches her back, pressing her tender tips into my calloused palms. “Please, touch me, Reid. God, I’ve missed you.” Her voice is pitched low – a sultry whisper that makes my length harden and pulse.
I push her flat on her back and let my hands explore her body. My thumbs brush over her nipples and she convulses beneath me. Needing to taste more of her, I let my tongue dart out at her collar bone. Licking hot, wet, circles, I follow a path across to the other side of her body and when she seems like she can’t take any more of my tongue’s delicious torture, I descend lower to the upper curve of her breast. She pushes up into my face, trying to get some relief from the tightening and puckering of her sensitive buds, and I shake my head admonishingly.
I shift so that I’m now straddling her hips. Holding her in place, I whisper into her ear, “You’re mine, Maddy. Now, stop moving, or I’m going to have to tie you to this bed to keep you in place.” I haven’t been able to shake the image of her bound to the bed while I lick every inch of her body out of my head since she teased about it the other day.
It’s too dark in the room to see her face react to my threat, but when she bucks her pelvis up into mine, Itskat her and bounce off the bed.
Her robe is hanging on the back of her door. I pull the belt from its loops and straddle Maddy once more. I pull her up to sit before me and drag her tank over her head. We lock eyes momentarily and we silently ask and answer the question about this – me tying her up and her trusting me. Her breathing has changed and her body feels hot, scorching really, under my touch. She willingly lies back down and bares her naked body to me.
Clouds move in the sky and the bright moonlight shines through the window next to her bed. The bluish glow illuminates her skin and she looks more beautiful than ever as her skin shimmers and sparkles for me.
I pull her arms above her head, and looping the belt through the wrought-iron headboard, I bind her wrists so that she can no longer move. I slip my finger between her skin and the soft, cotton fabric of the belt to make sure nothing is pinching her.
