Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Would I be angry right now if you hadn’t? She clenched her teeth, refusing to answer, fearing she’d say something that revealed how completely she still loved him.
“Let me rephrase that. Am I hurting you right now? Is the way I’m holding you down causing you physical pain?”
“No.” She spit the word at him.
“Good. I won’t touch you in any other way until we have this out and you beg me to.”
“I won’t.” But Madison could feel herself weakening. His nearness was getting to her. His scent. His intensity. His hot stare. Against her will, tears seeped from the corners of her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I love you, and because we matter.” He straddled her thighs and settled his weight on his knees. His body heat blasted her, pooling between her legs and making her ache in ways she struggled to fight. “You’re not mad that I want you to eat tonight, so don’t bring that shit up again. You’re picking a fight about it so we don’t have to address the past.”
“I don’t want to talk anymore about your wandering dick.”
His eyes narrowed as his grip on her chin tightened. “Let’s be clear; no part of me has wandered since you came back into my life. I want you and only you. Did I fuck up? Yes. Should I have walked away from you after our weekend together? No. Should I have claimed you the second you tapped on my window and asked for my help? Fuck yes. Should I have told you how I passed my time after you got engaged to Todd?” He shrugged. “How would that conversation have gone? ‘Hey, honey, while you were away, I got busy a lot, but I was really thinking of you.’ Until a few days ago, I wasn’t even convinced I mattered to you. And if I had puked the truth all over you, the little bit of melting you’d done toward me would have frozen right back over.”
“Oh, perfect. So if I don’t like what you’re going to say, then just hide it from me? That totally works.”
“That’s not what I’m saying, and I’m going to spank the sarcasm out of you if you don’t start listening.”
She sent him a defiant glare, but his steely expression told her he was absolutely serious. She swallowed down her acidic comeback.
Matt grunted. “Good. Right now, I’ll take your angry silence over your sharp tongue. At least maybe you’re listening. Honey? None of those women meant a damn thing to me.”
“Of course they did, or why would you have bothered? They’re beautiful, smart, funny, amazing—”
“Maybe, but they’re not you. You’re all of that and more. You’re my everything. I tell you all the time that you’re mine, but do you need to hear that I’m yours, too? I am. Totally. Always. Forever.”
His words went straight to Madison’s heart. She ached to believe him. But what if he hurt her again? Left her? She would survive…but would she ever truly recover?
“Just drop it.”
“No. You’ve had a couple of days to stew and assume the worst. You were the one who told me that Todd would do his best to separate us. You’re letting him succeed. Congratulations.”
His words were the slap Madison needed. She had warned Matt that the snake she’d married would find their weaknesses and use those ruthlessly to tear them apart. Even knowing that, she’d walked right into Todd’s trap. Still, just because her husband was horrible and manipulative didn’t make Matt’s behavior all right.
“What the hell do you want from me?”
“What I wanted before we came to this fucking city. You. Your desire. Your submission. Your love. Our future. I can’t take back what happened after you got engaged. I can only tell you that if I knew then what I know now, I would have driven to DC that weekend and kept after you until you ended things with Todd and came back to me.”
How the hell was she supposed to fight that? And if she was honest, had her decisions really been much better? In the face of what she’d perceived to be his kiss-off after their amazing weekend together, she hadn’t just tumbled into bed with another guy. She’d committed her life to him. Matt had taken other women to bed, but he’d never sought anything that lasted beyond a few orgasms. She, on the other hand, had genuinely tried to love Todd, tried to make him her Prince Charming and the hero of their love story—at least until she’d learned that everything about him was a mirage.
“I’m scared,” she choked.
His face softened. “Don’t let him crawl in your head. I know that’s easier said than done, but we both made mistakes. They’re in the past. Focus on our tomorrows. All that matters is our love.”