Bad Boy's Bridesmaid (54 page)

Fireworks and sprinkles and a crash of desire.

It had been so
long
since anything felt as good as
his invasive, dominating, and skillful fingers. I’d humiliate myself by coming
before my jeans were even kicked off or I could reprimand him for his behavior.

Before I could tell him
no
.

“You’ve always been mine,” Maddox whispered, as if he
could read the unspoken words falling from my parted lips. “You
promised
me, Josie.”

“So much has changed…”

“We’ll change it back.”

Like it was that easy. My voice trembled. He pinched and
rolled and flicked my clit, doing everything he could to weaken me before I
could push him away. I wasn’t strong enough to oppose him, but a single whisper
would bring him to his knees.

“We can’t.” I shuddered as his finger dipped into my
wetness. “We broke up. You went to jail…”

“I was
innocent
.”

What was more torturous—his adamant denial or his harsh
strikes against my sensitive, overwhelmed clit?

“It’s complicated, Maddox.”

His voice dropped. “Is there someone else?”

Just the thought destroyed me. “
No
. Never.”

And that truth declared my complete submission to him.
Maddox always loved that he was the first and only man who’d ever touched me.
He’d taken my innocence, trained my body to accept his fierce desires, and
celebrated as my arousal turned to addiction. I wasn’t myself when I shared his
bed. I became someone passionate, raw, wild. Whipped with lust.

I only escaped once the world crashed around us in
violence and frightening flames. Without him in my life…my head cleared, but my
heart broke. It wasn’t a trade I would have ever made. Now I suffocated once
more and betrayed my newfound independence with the slick promise inviting him
between my legs.

Maddox lifted me, breaking my protests with a harsh kiss.
He slammed me against the wall and forced my legs over his waist. I clung to
him as his lips nibbled mine. My mind swirled. Everything tempted shivers, even
when his teeth bit hard into my neck.

His cock swelled within his jeans, pressed against the
part of me that craved it the most. We used to fuck like this—so wild and
overwhelmed by each other we had no choice but to surrender to our instincts
wherever we were. Everything in his arms felt so natural then.

So why was I punishing myself now? What did I protect—my
heart from breaking or Maddox from…everything?

He freed himself from the jeans as he silenced me with an
invading tongue. His inescapable grip on my hips would bruise. I’d heal. It
didn’t matter. I panted against him.

I was appallingly wet.

He loved it.

“We planned a life together…” Maddox broke the kiss. His
words lost the edge as he ground against me. His touch wasn’t soft, but his
arms were always so safe. They’d protect me from everything but my own lust.
“I’ve never wanted anyone but you, Sweets.”

“I know.”

“Say it.”

I whimpered over his kiss. “There’s never been anyone
else.”

My admission strengthened him. He growled, low and deep.
“We’re gonna start again, Josie. You and me. Right now.” His breath tickled my
ear. Was I supposed to fight him or surrender to a fantasy I thought was all
but lost? “I’ve already planned our life together. Imagined it every day.”

“We have to talk.”

He shifted me, and my slit struck against bare cock—hard
and thick and throbbing for me.

“No talking,” he said. “We don’t need words now.”

“It’s too complicated. Everything’s changed.”

“Only because we let it change.”

“That’s not how life works.”

“Bullshit. Of course it is. If you want something, you
take
it.” His eyes burned, hot and feral. The corners of his lips twisted into a
dangerous smile. “If I want you, I take you. If I want a life with you, I make
it.”

“Wait—”

“We planned for it before. Don’t pretend like it meant
nothing to you.”

“It meant everything to me, but…”

“Then I’ll give it to you. I’ll get you the life you
wanted.” His kiss was a bluff. I knew he shifted my hips. I held my breath as
he whispered his promises. “We’ll be together, Sweets. Share a life. A house.
Your store.”

“Maddox—”

His grip tightened. “And we’re finally going to have a
baby.”

My eyes widened as his cock thrust into me.

Completely
.

And nothing had ever compared to
him
.

That thick, impossibly large cock was made to punish me
in a dangerous game of pleasure, dominance, and lust. Maddox always overwhelmed
me. Tonight was no different.

He pounded me, burying deep, deep, deep until I could
only cling to him and beg to wait, to stop, and to give me everything he had
promised.

He filled me completely, bottoming out until we were skin
to skin. It had been a year since I last felt him, and I had no idea how I
survived the separation.

He didn’t fuck me. He claimed me. He sheathed in me to
prove my body was made for him. He embedded himself to remind me that he was
the only man who I ever let take me. He thrust to ensure I heeded his every
word.

He wanted me to be his again.

Except…he’d never lost me. What I did, I did because I’d
loved him.

And he could never know.

“I missed you…” His words rasped as he withdrew his cock.
He teased me, watching as I whined, wiggled, and begged for him once more. He
slammed inside me, and I rocked against the wall. My core clenched,
surrendering to a pleasure only he could give. “I needed you.”

“I’m here,” I whispered.

“You’re mine.”

His cock stretched me too much, too deep, too hard, too
fast. So why did my body shudder in wicked delight with another aggressive
grind?

“I want all of you.” Maddox grunted. “
Everything
,
Sweets. I have to be a part of your life again.”

“We
can’t
.”

“I don’t believe you.”

My fingers tightened on his arms. His strokes stole my
breath, hitched with each crazed slam against the wall. I couldn’t think, but I
could feel. My heart told me I was doing the right thing. My body ordered me to
obey him.

“We have to stop.”

He only moved faster, harder. “I already have you,
Josie.”

I bit my lip.

“I’m fucking you,” he said.

I whimpered.

“I’m in your head. Your heart. You and me are made for
each other.”

I cried out as he sliced inside me, completely sealed
within me. Every fierce and unyielding stroke of his thick cock whipped me into
a shameful pleasure.

“We aren’t good for each other,” I whispered. “Not
anymore.”

“You’re lying to me.” His fingers tightened. “Tell me you
haven’t imagined this moment every minute of every day since I was locked up.”

Of course I had imagined it. His body and touch and
fierceness lived an endless fantasy in my mind. In the darkest moments of the
night, I longed for nothing more than to be pinned under him again, to be taken
as his obsession and his prize.

He read my expression. Knew my thoughts. Felt what was in
my heart.

His conquering smile sealed our fate.

“Hold on, Sweets,” Maddox growled. “I’ll give you
everything you’ve been missing and more.”

He positioned my hips and forced me to take all of his
ravenous cock. I groaned as he lifted me. Maddox didn’t need a wall or bed to
fuck me. His biceps tensed, flushed with sweat. He used his own strength to
drive me onto his cock again and again. Full, harsh, intimidating thrusts that
punished and loved my wanting slickness.

I buried my head in his neck as his motions turned primal
and animalistic. That ache built in my core. It was too much. I sweated,
trembled, begged. I bit his shoulder to keep from screaming. That only made him
fuck me harder, deeper into my core.

He was too strong. Too big.

Too unbelievably wrong for me.

Everything about Maddox screamed
danger
, including
how easily he plucked me up, imbedded me with his bare cock, and fucked me like
I was a little rag-doll for his pleasure. He was the one man I never should
have wanted, a dark and threatening force in my life. He owned my body,
controlled my desire, and welcomed my surrender.

Those feelings hadn’t diminished after a year. I’d do
anything for this man.
Anything
. And if I wasn’t careful, it would damn
us and ruin the justice I demanded for him.

“Josie…” His words clipped over an aggressive profanity.
“Come for me.”

He didn’t need to order it. I was already there, bucking
and groaning and
dying
as my heart shredded itself in both relief and
agony. I tensed and arched, crying out for him as the pleasure shattered my
will. A furious heat burst into my core, so intense I feared the fire trapped
us once more. 

It wasn’t flames.

It was him—bare and thick, shooting his heated jet inside
me. His words growled nonsense, and he slammed me harder against his pumping
cock.

His roar should have terrified me. Instead it curled my
toes and earned him my second surrender. He filled me completely, unwaveringly,
and carried me imbedded on his cock to the couch. Maddox dropped me onto my
back, and my legs fell open. He slapped away my hands as I tried to hide what he
had already taken.

It was no use. We weren’t strangers. We weren’t awkward
lovers.

And we weren’t yet satisfied.

He fell over me, hands tangled in my hair, his hand
tickling the slick, dark petals of my slit. I twisted and groaned, too
sensitive from his fucking to endure any more.

He didn’t care.

His cock thrust inside me again, his seed slickening me
for a rougher claiming.

“
More
…” He grunted, stealing my hesitations with a
kiss. “I’m not letting you go, Sweets. Not until I know you’re mine.”

“How?”

“When you’re spent. Exhausted. Coming uncontrollably.” He
grinned, biting that sensitive spot on my neck once more. “Once I know you’re
carrying my baby.”

Oh, God. It shouldn’t have thrilled me, but the Josie of
a year ago who cared only about cookies and cakes and starting a family
screamed at me to just let him in once more, to accept him, to take everything
he offered.

“I need to know you’re safe,” Maddox said. His motions
stilled. “I’ll protect you, Josie. I swear to God, I’ll find the man who
separated us, who tried to hurt you, who destroyed your store…and I’ll take my
revenge.”

His body slammed into mine, again and again, fierce and…

Frightened?

Like he thought he’d lose me?

Like he thought
I
was the one in danger?

My heart thudded, too hard and too desperate. I forced
him to slow, only so I could touch his face. I kissed his perfect lips, ones
that only knew how to curse and threaten to prove his love.

I could stay safe on my own, but I couldn’t protect
Maddox from himself.

The man I loved was in danger, and I’d do everything in
my power to keep him alive.

Even if it meant breaking his heart.

Chapter Three – Maddox

Josie Davis belonged to me.

She was the only woman I ever loved, and she had been
taken from me. Or I was taken from her. It didn’t matter. Every hour I spent
apart from her razed into meaningless eternity. Without her touch, without her
beautiful almond eyes, I was lost. Empty. I didn’t live my life for her. She
was my life, and I was an idiot for taking that gift for granted.

Injustice separated us for an entire year, and I’d be
damned if I let anything keep me from her now. Not the law. Not the town. Not
even layers of clothing. 

I didn’t know what time it was. Hell if I even knew the
day. In the darkness, Josie writhed in pleasure. It was the least I could offer
her. Christ only knew if she had been scared without me. While I was jailed,
the monster who burned down her shop might have returned to harm her, steal
from her, and threaten her. I went insane imagining horrible and heart-shattering
visions of her in danger.

Somebody wanted me gone, and I knew exactly who framed
me.

I’d get my revenge. I’d protect the one thing that
mattered most to me.

And then I’d give her the life she deserved.

Josie was petite, pint-size—half a scoop of chocolate ice
cream. Her dark skin tasted just as sweet. Luxurious. The first time I saw her,
I made the mistake of labeling her as
brown sugar
. She wasn’t insulted,
just thought I was causing trouble and trying to steal some of her desserts
from her shop. She even accused me of plotting to take her
chocolate-covered
cherry.

It had been my plan—and a dirty one at that. But then I
had a sample of that softness. A single kiss and I was hers. I knew then I
wanted all of her. Body. Heart. Future.

Josie Davis would right every mistake I’d ever made,
forgive every sin I’d committed, and heal me from every punishment of my past.

If she took me back.

If not, I’d fuck the doubt from her mind until she
realized she was mine, and we were meant to survive this life together.

Her legs wrapped around me as I taught her, and she knew
better than to move her arms from her sides or above her head. I rutted into
her, hard and unforgiving, savoring her tightness.

No other man had taken her but me. No one had touched her
but me. Her innocence and body were mine and mine alone, and I lost myself in
that simple desire.

Her breasts bounced with every thrust—a handful of
perfection that tempted me more than any sugar she baked or icing she licked
off her finger. I clasped her dark nipple between my teeth. She liked that,
especially when I bit on that sensitive, taut—

“Maddox!” Her voice shrilled. A ripple of pleasure bound
through her, trapping her within her own orgasm and my relentless thrusts. “Oh,
I can’t…I just keep…”

“Don’t stop coming for me…” I gripped her hips and
tortured myself with her tightness. “You owe me a year’s worth of orgasms.”

She liked the sound of that. Or her body did. Josie was
too sweet, still too damn innocent to admit to wanting to be fucked hard, fast,
and without mercy. Not that I’d ever show her any, and not that she ever needed
it. That slick little pussy accepted everything I did, and together we crested
into every promised pleasure the world had denied us.

Josie’s soft voice whispered my name.

Her timid lips kissed me when she feared to speak the
truth.

She submitted to my cock, so obedient and loving I didn’t
know which one of us was in control.

I’d fuck her. Flip her onto the bed, pound her against
the wall, and yet it was me,
every damn time
, losing my mind to her and
her alone.

No other woman compared. No other person in the
world
understood me like Josie. She saved me from a life of darkness, crime, and
violence. I owed everything to her.

She arched under me, offering more of her to slam and seize.
After a full-night of fucking, my body ached and my balls swelled and yet I
wanted only to bury myself deeper in her.

I grunted, steadying myself hilt-deep until we were flesh
against flesh. She tensed. Her words crashed with a soft agony, and her body
betrayed her into another crackling and uncompromising orgasm that racked her
in utter surrender to me.

Nothing looked so beautiful.

I would take her. Ruin her. Possess her.

Start a life with her.

Create a life within her.

This was my chance to take back what was mine, and it
began and ended with her. Too much time wasted while I served my sentence. I
wouldn’t lose another moment before beginning that journey with Josie.

She fell limp against the bed, panting my name. I erupted
inside her. I growled too harsh and frightening for a woman who deserved none
of my aggression but endured every punishing strike. I let the desire overwhelm
me, and I filled her with my every hope, secret fantasy, everything I wanted in
life.

Our life.

Together.

I collapsed over her, rolling to her side to avoid
crushing the woman who offered her body for my delights. In prison, I
remembered her scent. Her eyes. Her heat. But I’d forgotten how much she loved
me
.
I wasn’t insecure, just realistic. Josie Davis had no reason to want me.

But she did. She hadn’t said it, but she couldn’t hide
it. Not from me.

I’d fucked her for hours, but the softness of her cheek
against my chest was the real pleasure. Her breathing lengthened, and her eyes
fluttered closed. Either I fucked her too good, or she felt safe enough to pass
out beside me. I hoped it was both. Problem was, I shouldn’t have stayed.
Shouldn’t have even come to her.

I had nothing to offer her. Hell, I
was
nothing.
The only thing I promised her was a night of animalistic fucking, and I did my
only deed well. But I wasn’t looking to win her back. I only wanted to prove
she hadn’t made a shitty mistake falling for me in the first place.

And these days, I wasn’t so sure.

She rolled away first.

I didn’t expect that.

Usually she was quiet after sex—a polite word for
subdued
.
I never cuddled, but Josie didn’t fuck like a rented whore. When we were
dating, after I took her, I kept her against my muscle. Made sure she knew how
much I loved her, even if I couldn’t show it beyond rutting her into senseless
oblivion.

The sheet fluttered over her body. She tried to wrap it
around her curves. Failed. Sometime during the night we tangled every blanket
inside the other. She fought with the fitted sheet and lost as it snapped over
the mattress.

Why the hell did she cover herself? I’d already memorized
every part of her body—petite, slim, dark, and sexy. She tripped over her
unsteady feet and lunged for a pair of panties. In a rush, she tugged them up.
Backwards. She might have tried again, but instead she tossed a shirt over her
head and attempted to cover the mistake.

What the hell was she doing?

“Get in bed,” I ordered.

I’d have dressed too, but I hadn’t come that much in a
year. For all I knew, my heart would explode in exhaustion or relief.

Josie ignored me.

“It’s late,” I said.

She brushed her hair from her face. Without her usual
headband or scrunchies or pretty little scarves, the curls bounced everywhere.
She smoothed them down. Didn’t work. They bounded and teased, as playful as
ever.

“It’s not late…” She wagged her phone at me. “It’s
early.”

Like I could read the numbers. No blood stayed in my
head. “All the more reason to sleep.”

“I can’t.”

“Sure, you can. Get in bed. Pull the covers up. Rest your
head right here.” I pointed to my chest. “You used to do it all the time,
Sweets.”

“No, really, I—”

“It’s
me
, Josie.” My voice lowered.

Her gaze snapped to meet mine, but I didn’t trust how far
she moved from the bed.

Was it the scars? They were ugly, only a year to heal the
burns. The flames ruined my tattoos, but at least they’d disfigured me and not
her.

“It’s me,” I said again. “Come to bed.”

She didn’t hesitate, not even a fake reluctance. “You
shouldn’t be here.”

“Where else would I go?”

She nibbled on her bottom lip. Anxious?

“I don’t know,” she said. “I had no idea you were out. I
thought…you shouldn’t be here.”

“Why?”

Her voice hardened. “It’s my apartment. Do I have to
explain why?”

I snorted. Where the hell was this firecracker coming
from? My girl wasn’t confrontational, she was resourceful and adaptive. Two
years ago, Josie couldn’t even return a bucket of the wrong colored icing for
her cupcake orders. Valentine’s Day turned blue, and everyone in Saint Christie
kissed each other with indigo-tinted lips.

I moved from the bed. Pride got me to my feet, but
stupidity opened my mouth.

“You don’t have to explain.” I grunted. “Just figured
you’d miss me or something. Been a year, Sweets.”

“Yeah. A long year.”

She reached over a laundry basket filled with spare bags
of flour to search for clothes. Something to hide her delicates. Josie and
lingerie didn’t mix—not around open flame and splattering bacon and pancake
breakfasts. That was fine. I preferred her padding in the bedroom wearing only
my shirt.

Josie wrapped herself in a robe instead, a frustratingly
oversized puff ball that hid everything I took beneath a force-field of a
fuzzy, knotted belt.

Point taken.

I followed her to the kitchen though I tugged on my jeans
before I bobbed cock-first after her. I wasn’t some lovesick puppy, but I
deserved more than shifting from the heat between her legs to enduring a cold
shoulder.

She aimed for the flour—her usual stress relief. I
preferred working out, hitting a punching bag until my fists bled. Josie
kneaded instead. Piping bags and sugar crowded her countertops. She didn’t have
enough room for a rolling pin between the wall and the sink. A tower of
unevenly stacked baking sheets threatened to topple.

This wasn’t a good apartment for her. Hell, even her oven
door came with a bungie cord.

I pointed at the make-shift solution. “Broken? I can fix
it for you.”

Josie didn’t look at me. “It’s not big enough for a
standard cookie sheet. I bungie the door closed when I bake.”

“You’re shitting me.”

She studied her ingredients. “I don’t have an industrial
kitchen anymore.”

I asked the question that burned me since I got to town.
“Why didn’t you rebuild the shop?”

“No money.”

“Insurance?”

This apparently wasn’t her favorite subject. She turned,
clutching a bag of sugar. “Do you want the long or short version?”

“It’s just a question, Sweets.”

“Granddad got hurt in the fire. Bad. By the time the fire
marshal was done with the investigation and the insurance paid out for the
arson…” She swallowed. “We had medical bills. You know how it is.”

No. I didn’t. She was lying to me. Josie never fibbed
because she couldn’t pull it off. A year away hadn’t changed that.

She set a mixing bowl on the counter and measured her
flour. Her hand trembled as she dumped more ingredients into the bowl.

Why was she
scared
?

I thought a year separated from her would kill me. This
was worse. I hated to bring up the fire, but I had no idea what else might have
frightened her so much. I folded my arms. Didn’t help. Now my scars flexed, raw
and ugly. They gave me cred in jail, but I wasn’t looking for confrontation
now.

I just wanted my girl in my arms.

“What do you remember from that night?” I regretted the
question as soon as I asked it.

She answered immediately, like a reflex. “Nothing. I woke
up in the hospital after the fire. Can you please pass me the egg beaters?
They’re on top of the fridge.”

She was no bigger than half a bite of cookie, but she
could damn well reach. She meant to change the subject.

She was lying again.

What the hell.

“What are you making?” I asked.

“Cookies.”

“Why?”

“The pay is good.”

This wasn’t my Josie. My girl never shut up. She rambled
about recipes and imported chocolates and ideas for her newest creations.
Before her, I never gave a shit about the girls I slept with. Wouldn’t have
talked to them, and they had nothing worthy to say. But once I fell for Josie,
I gained five pounds and a new appreciation for the Belgians and their cocoa
powder.

She tugged at her robe. Her lip trembled. It took a lot
to make Josie cry, not when she had enough ideas and ambition to exhaust every
plan before letting a tear escape. In her kitchen, crying was for spilled milk.
And shattered sugar sculptures. And the DeAngelos dropped wedding cake.

I’d only ask it once. “What’s wrong?”

She stared at her bowl of flour. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Want me to go?”

That she hedged. “We broke up, Maddox. Remember? Before
the fire? You were…” She hugged herself. “You got so mad.”

“Because I knew what we had. I knew we were wrong to let
it go. I wanted to make it work.”

“Me too. I
tried
. But you’re…”

“What?”

“No one in the town trusted you. They said you were
dangerous. And then you got arrested…”

“I was
innocent
.”

“Not to the town. Or the judge.”

“What about you?”

She didn’t answer. The silence was like a punch to the
gut.

“You didn’t come to see me in jail,” I said. “You didn’t
write. Didn’t call. You didn’t even say goodbye after the trial.”

“What was I supposed to do? You were
convicted
.”

“I was
innocent
. You fucking know that.”

She dropped the egg. It cracked over the counter. She
swore, forgetting our argument to count the rest of the eggs in the carton.