Holy fucking hell.
Between her legs was the brightest, most blindingly pink thing I’d ever seen. It looked like a neon highlighter on steroids. And it was buzzing.
She hadn’t seen me yet. Her mouth open, her head rolling back and forth on the pillow, and the sounds she was making—soft, jagged little whimpers of frustration—were going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.
I should have backed out. Left. But my feet were anchored to the floor. My blood roaring as I watched her pleasuring herself.
“Maddie.” My voice was a rough growl that didn’t sound like mine.
Maddie’s eyes flew open. She let out a shriek that probably startled every animal within three miles, jerking upright so fast she knocked her head against the headboard. I winced at the sound. In her panic, the pink dildo went flying across the room.
Directly at my head.
I ducked on instinct. It hit the wall behind me with a thud and fell to the floor, still buzzing. I would have found this funny, if I’d been capable of finding anything funny right now.
“Oh my God.” Maddie scrabbled for a pillow, clutching it to her chest like a shield, as she clenched her thighs together. Her face turned a shade of red I didn’t know was humanly possible. “What are you—why are you—knock much?”
I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I was looking at the flush on her face, the way her nipples peaked through the thin cotton of her top, and the dampness on her inner thighs that she was trying to hide behind the pillow.
“I heard a noise. Thought something was wrong.” I stepped into the room, kicked the door shut behind me and reached down to pick up the device. It was warm and wet from her body. The vibration hummed through my palm and settled straight into my groin.
As if I needed any help with that.
“Something was very right until thirty seconds ago,” she hissed, holding out her hand. “Now, give. It. Back.” She looked like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.
“This?” I held it up, looking at the vibrating tip before clicking it off. Silence rushed back into the room. “I don’t think you’re going to need this anymore, Maddie.”
Her eyes went wide. “What?”
I didn’t move right away. I just looked at her — flushed and furious and trying to hide behind a pillow, her hair everywhere, her eyes doing that thing where they gave her away completely. She was embarrassed. She was also still wanting. Both things were written all over her face and she had no idea.
Something decisive settled in my chest.
I set the pink thing on the dresser and walked to the bed and sat on the edge.
The mattress dipped significantly under my weight, the movement forcing her to slide toward me. I looked at her mouth, then back to her eyes, which were currently down cast.
Her breath hitched. “Thorne—”
“We’re married,” I said, my voice dropping into that low, territorial register where I was more instinct than man. I climbed onto the mattress, forcing her to lay back and caged her in with my arms. “We’ve been dancing around this for days. And you’re here, alone, taking care of yourself when I’m right next door going crazy because I want you so badly that I can’t breathe.”
She bit her lip, and I wanted to bite it too. “I didn’t want to assume… I didn’t know if you actually… I mean, you’re always so grumpy.”
“Because I want you, baby.” I leaned down, crushing her mouth beneath mine. “And assume everything.”
She kissed me back with a desperation that caught me off guard. The pillow fell away, and I finally—finally—got my handson her. She was all soft skin and dangerous curves I’d been dying to explore. I ran my hand over the swell of her hip, my fingers tangling in the hem of her top. Every little gasp she made was like fuel on a fire.
I trailed my lips down her neck, biting gently at the spot where her shoulder met her throat. She let out a jagged, broken moan that nearly ended me right then and there.
“Wait,” she whispered against my skin. Her hand came up, bracing against my shoulder, stopping my momentum.
I went still, my heart a drum in my chest. “If you want me to stop, tell me right now. Because in about thirty seconds, I don’t know if I can.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes searching mine. She looked terrified and electrified all at once. “I’m... Thorne, I’m a virgin.”
The words hung in the air between us, and something exploded inside me—the raw, animal lust didn’t go away, but a massive, heavy layer of protectiveness slammed down on top of it.
“You’re...” I couldn’t even get the word out.
