We’d called a truce on me attending the fights. I didn’t know if that was because he didn’t have one to work towards, or he’d given up on asking me to attend, but that didn’t shift Maddison’s focus. He’d become obsessed with working out and training. He was working around the clock and refused to listen to anyone. His stubborn streak had grown, along with his ego, and he didn’t care who saw.
But despite all of that, I still clung to the knowledge that we loved each other. Because when it was good between us, all the bad and the hurt faded into the background, and I didn’t care about anyone else but him.
“So, where are you taking me?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be called a surprise if I told you, right?” His smile was seductive and sent a beat of lust through my blood.
It was my twenty-first. A big birthday, apparently, and I’d been looking forward to this for weeks. Finally, some quality time with Maddison that didn’t involve us in bed—at least for the start of the night, anyway.
“What about a clue? Dress code, for example?” I wrapped my arms around his neck, enjoying the sparkle in his eyes.
“Wear something… sexy.” He twitched his eyebrows at me, and I giggled.
“Okay. That’s limited, but I’ll try my best.”
“Don’t be stupid. You’re impossibly sexy without even trying. A dress, wear a dress.”
“Okay. As you asked so nicely.”
He kissed me, his lips demanding as usual. The taste of salt with a hint of mint was so familiar now, our mouths so in tune with each other, it was intoxicating and hard to resist.
“You’ve got half an hour,” he murmured around more kisses and de-tangled my arms. “Go, or we’ll be late.”
The restaurant, the meal, Maddison in a shirt with his sleeves rolled to show his forearms… everything about the evening was perfect. Even my dress worked out. Maddison made me feel like I was the only girl in the room, and my heart expanded to the point that I was scared it might burst. I needed this. We needed this.
For the entire night, I had no worries about anything outside of our bubble, and it was the perfect birthday gift. It reminded me of when things were easier between us, and when we were still exploring each other as boyfriend and girlfriend—our new kind of adventure.
“I love you. You know that, right?” Mads rubbed circles on the back of my hand as we headed back towards the car.
“Of course. I love you, too.”
“Good. You’re all I’ve ever wanted. And now I have you, sometimes I worry you’re going to wake up and realise this is all a mistake.”
“No, no, that won’t happen.” I pulled him to a stop at the car and looked into his eyes. In these moments, I saw the vulnerability that was so raw within him. He’d been the same since he was a boy, with a tough exterior or mask to hide his soft spots. I thought I’d seen them all, but obviously not.
“God, I love you,” he declared, kissing me hungrily. It ignited a passion within me, and before I knew it, he’d bumped me up against the car. His lips persisted as if he was trying to show me just how much I meant to him, and it drugged me, sending me giddy in seconds.
His hands trailed down my sides and reached the hem of my dress, playing with the slide from material to skin.
“Hey, hey, slow down. Let’s go home.” I panted, acutely aware we were out in a public place.
“Fine. But once we’re home, all bets are off.” He smiled at me, the insecurity now gone and only replaced with his desire for me. It was a complete turn on, and the anticipation had me tensing my thighs and tapping my foot all the way home. He was ridiculously handsome with his dirty blonde hair tamed just enough, and smart shirt, pulled dangerously tight across his muscular arms. And the best part, I knew just how good he looked out of the clothes as well.
As soon as the front door was open, Maddison attacked.
My back hit the cold wall of the hallway as he pressed his body against mine. His fingers moved to the hem of my dress, and he slipped his hands under the material, caressing my legs until he ran them to cup my bum. The intensity, as he kept up the intoxicating kisses, bordered on overwhelming, but I was right there on the edge with him, wanting nothing more than to get lost in him.
“God, you drive me crazy,” he complained, running his lips over my jaw and up to the spot just behind my ear. “I used to hope that if I finally got to have you, that I’d stop feeling this out of control around you. But it’s just made it worse.”
His hands ran all over me, pushing my hair back, running over my chest, and back down to my legs. He was everywhere—the desperation seeping into me and making my chest hurt, and my stomach quiver.
He slipped his finger inside the edge of my knickers and ran the tip along my sensitive flesh, sending sparks of desire shooting around my body.
“Grace…” When he pleaded my name like that, it made me feel sexy and powerful, despite Maddison being the one in charge.
He manoeuvred us a few feet through into the front room where his hands twisted me at my waist to face away from him. His palm planted in the centre of my back and pressed me down. With nowhere to go, I braced against the table in front of me. The sudden and unfamiliar movement sent a shock of heartbeats through my body, quickening my pulse and my breathing. He eased me by working his fingers back inside my knickers. This time his touch was insistent, pushing inside of me in purposeful thrusts. I widened my stance, limited by the cut of my knickers to give him more room.
“Fuck, yeah.”
The sound of material and the clink of his belt filled in the blank spaces between us and joined my ragged breaths. He shoved my dress up over my hips before I felt the tip of his cock rub along at my entrance. He positioned, then pushed forward, hard, thrusting up inside of me. The invasion lifted me onto my toes, and I took a gasp of breath as I tried to lean farther forward on instinct.
We’d had sex plenty of times, and I’d learned that like everything else with Mads, he needed to control, and he liked things on the harsh side. Just like our first time, there was never slow or tender lovemaking. It was more desperate than that like he couldn’t quite control his need for me. And I’d always got off on it because it’d always been sexy as hell and left us both sated and sweaty.
But there was an edge to this that I’d not felt before. His palm stayed on my back, keeping me down while his other hand gripped at my hip, anchoring me in place. He punched his hips forward, jolting me and pushing my hips into the table, and his rhythm didn’t break.
“Mads… slow down.” I tried to move back, to ease the pressure that had shifted from pleasure to discomfort. But he didn’t hear me. He was rough and wild with his movements, which jarred against me. Harder and harder, he moved, and discomfort slid into pain. This wasn’t right, this didn’t feel good in any way, and panic flashed inside my chest as it welled up and threatened to overtake. The sound of our skin slapping together echoed around the room, punctuating the stark reality of what was happening.
I tried again to push up off of the table, but his hand kept me planted. I twisted my head to try and see him—to make him see me. “Mads!”
“Yes! Fuck, Grace.” He moved his hand from my back to grab both my hips and yanked me back into him as he spilt inside of me. He finished, pumping a few more times as the pressure on my skin released.