Bluestone Song (17 page)

He pressed his hand against the small of her
back so that her hips angled into his. He trailed his fingers up
her naked spine to her bra, unhooked it with a practiced snap,
lowering her to the bed. He levered himself over her, looking down
at her for a moment before he kissed her again, moving against her,
parting her legs, wishing she was naked, that he was naked.

“I want to be inside you,” he said against
her ear. “Now. Jesus. Why don’t you ever wear skirts?”

“Why don’t you?” she retorted.

“Take off your jeans.” Reluctant to leave the
warmth of her arms, he knelt and shoved his jeans down, watching as
she struggled out of hers, her knee coming perilously close to his
erection.

“Condom,” she urged, naked before he was
because of his damned boots.

He threw one boot against the rail of the
loft, then the other before he flipped over her. He reached past
her for the nightstand drawer, but once he had the packet in his
hand, she pressed her hands against his chest, pushing him onto his
back before taking the packet from him.

Holy God. The sight of her over him, naked
and gorgeous, knowing she was going to ride him—he had to close his
eyes for a minute and figure out song tabs in his head so he didn’t
blow right then. Just when he thought he was under control, she
rolled the condom onto him.

“A minute,” he rasped, but she didn’t listen,
rising over him, guiding him to her entrance, and with a false
start, sliding down the length of him and taking him deep inside.
The look on her face—eyes drifting closed, lips parting on a
sigh—was almost his undoing, and only supreme control kept him from
exploding inside her.

Hot and tight. She felt so good, and the
primitive part of his brain was overjoyed that she hadn’t had many
lovers. His. He closed his hands over her hips and guided her
movements. He wanted to surge up into her, but he was giving over
control, though it meant his own was on a tight leash.

She looked like a goddess, her back arched,
her eyes closed, her hair swaying with her movements that gained
more finesse with each stroke. He wanted to raise himself up and
take her breast in his mouth, but resisted. This was her seduction.
He allowed himself to caress the soft skin of her hips, to rest his
palm on her thigh to feel the flex of muscles.

“Beth. Look at me,” he urged, his voice
rough.

She opened her eyes, but then her skin
flushed and she slammed them shut again. “I can’t. You’re watching
me.”

“Because you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve
seen. Look at me, sweetheart.”

She did, though he could tell she was having
trouble. He trailed his fingertips up her sides and she bent over
to kiss him, her strokes becoming awkward with the angle. But her
hair drifted over his skin, just as he imagined, so sexy. He wanted
to let go, wanted to pulse inside her, but then it would be over
too soon for her.

He spread his palm over the small of her back
and held her still, just for a moment, as he calmed his raging
libido. She lifted her head to look into his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Really good,” he said, and kissed her
again.

She squirmed on top of him and he understood
she was close. Thank God. When she rose over him again to slam her
body against his, he added his touch to the equation, feeling her
swell and slicken against his thumb before—oh, man. Nothing could
be as beautiful as Beth coming, her whole body going tight, then
loose as shudders of pleasure ran through her.

And that was all he was able to register
before he finally let go and followed her, his orgasm coming from
every atom of his body, and pouring into her heat.

Sunlight warmed the foot of the bed and Beth
stretched toward it with a yawn, jolting awake when her toe caught
a bare, hairy leg beneath the sheets. Her eyes popped open to the
unfamiliar room with the two overhead skylights, the wooden walls,
and Maddox naked in the bed with her. Panicked, she twisted toward
the nightstand to see what time it was, but he didn’t have a clock.
It didn’t matter—it was clearly morning. In her haste to get out of
bed, she tangled the sheets tighter around herself before kicking
free.

Beside her, Maddox drew in a deep breath on a
yawn and stretched before opening his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“It’s morning. We fell asleep.”

He grunted and reached to loop an arm over
her hips, but she shoved it away. “You don’t understand. Linda will
be awake. Trinity will be there. They’ll know I didn’t come home
last night.”

“How? Aren’t you usually asleep when Linda
leaves anyway?”

“My car isn’t there,” she said, speaking
slowly before diving beneath the bed for her panties.

He swore and sat up, the significance finally
sinking in. “Okay. So just stay here. Don’t go home.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“It will just postpone the inevitable. God,
what kind of example am I setting for Linda? What if they think
something’s happened to me? What if they called the police?”

“Calm down.” He turned toward the other
nightstand and looked at his watch. “It’s not much after seven. I
don’t think they’ve called in the cavalry yet. Want me to go with
you?”

She made a strangled sound as she yanked up
her jeans. “That would only make it worse. Fourteen years. Fourteen
years I avoided this, and now, when I’m having the most trouble
with Linda, I give in. I’m sorry, Maddox. I’ve got to go.”

She couldn’t get to the car fast enough, but
once she turned onto her street she slowed. She had no idea what
she’d say to her sister, or to Trinity. While Trinity was dealing
with her own scandal-inducing pregnancy—her wedding was next
month—just one misspoken word would turn gossip in Beth’s
direction.

Adam’s car was in front of the house, behind
Trinity’s. Great. Just great. They’d called in reinforcements. She
dragged her hand through her hair, tied it back in a ponytail so it
didn’t quite resemble the rats’ nest it usually did when she woke,
and got out of the car.

The front door opened before she got halfway
up the sidewalk and Adam charged out. He gripped her arms and
looked her up and down, and all she could think was that she
smelled like Maddox.

“You’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

He looked past her to her car. “You weren’t
in an accident?”

“No. The car’s fine. Can we go inside?” But
even as she said it, she saw Trinity and Linda standing in the
doorway, looking out.

“Where the hell were you?”

“I’m sorry they called you. I’m sorry you
were worried.” She edged past him to ease up the sidewalk so she
could address all of them. “I just want to go inside.” Before all
the neighbors heard as well. She grabbed her brother’s sleeve and
pulled him with her, managing to step inside and close the door
before he opened his mouth again. “I was at Maddox’s,” she said on
a breath. “We fell asleep. I’m sorry.”

Silence hung in the room and she chanced a
look at the three of them. Surprise froze their faces in comical
expressions. Linda’s melted first, into smugness.

“I knew it. I knew you weren’t that
goody-goody.”

Trinity turned a scolding expression on the
girl. “It’s different when you’re in love. And your sister has
sacrificed a lot of her personal life for you and your brothers. I
think you can cut her some slack here.”

Beth wanted to protest the “in love” part of
that speech, but didn’t think it was wise just now, though lying to
her brother and sister didn’t sit well. Adam seemed embarrassed by
the information—clearly he hadn’t even considered that she’d be out
with someone, and he headed for the door.

“Well,” he said. “I’m just glad you’re all
right.”

“Hang on a second. Drop Linda off at school
on your way,” Beth said.

“What? No. I’m not going to school
today.”

“Why not?”

“I’m already late, for one.”

“I’m sure Adam can let the teachers know it
was a family emergency.”

Linda’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really want
them asking questions about this family emergency?”

Beth swallowed. She didn’t doubt that Linda
would announce to everyone that her sister had spent the night with
Maddox Bradley. But at the same time, she wasn’t going to let her
sister dictate the terms of her education.

“I always told you that for every action
there was a consequence. If you feel you have to explain why you’re
late, well, that’s a consequence I’ll have to face.” She wanted to
plead with her sister not to be vindictive, but she couldn’t bring
herself to do it.

Trinity, however, had no qualms. She stepped
in front of Linda.

“I know you think it would be funny to
humiliate and embarrass your sister to your friends and your
teachers, but I think you need to consider how it will
backfire.”

“How?” Linda asked with a stubborn jut of her
chin.

“Well, people might think it’s all exciting
and scandalous now. But they’ll think about you having a baby and
your sister being involved with Maddox, and you really don’t want
to try to recover from that reputation. And then since Maddox is a
celebrity, it might get blown out of proportion, and all your dirty
laundry will be all over the tabloids. You don’t really want
that.”

Linda’s stubborn chin persisted, but Beth
could see her deflate a little. “It’d be better than being a
nobody.”

“I think you’ve seen enough tabloid TV to
know that isn’t true. Now. Get ready for school,” Trinity said.

Linda relented, jerked her backpack up from
its place by the door, and followed Adam outside.

Beth dropped to the couch and let her head
fall back. “I don’t know how it is you manage her better than I
do.”

Trinity sat beside her. “I don’t let her get
away with nearly as much garbage. You feel guilty about the way you
raised her, so you coddle. I don’t have to worry about that.”

“Do I? Coddle?”

“Maybe that’s not the right word. It’s just
that you seem to feel you have something to make up for, when you
have no such worries. Your father, on the other hand…”

“Well, he’s never going to make anything up
to anyone.” No, he just made everything harder. “So if she’s ever
going to catch a break, it has to come from me.”

“Nobody promised breaks. You didn’t get one,
did you?”

“All the more reason for her to.”

“Which is fine. As long as she appreciates
it. She doesn’t seem to appreciate much right now. So I’m thinking
tough love.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me about
Maddox?”

“Did you ever ask me about Leo? No. If you
feel like sharing, fine, but I’m not going to press.”

When was the last time she had someone close
to her own age to talk to? The temptation was great. “I’m not in
love with him.”

Trinity waved a dismissive hand. “Of course
not. He’s only gorgeous, rich, and has returned from your past. He
followed you home every night to make sure you got home all right.
What’s to love?”

Beth stared at the ceiling. Those were only
the tips of the iceberg, and she had to push away the warmth
flowing through her at the memory of how they’d made love. How it
had felt to wake beside him. Something she couldn’t allow herself
to repeat. “And he’ll be leaving in a few days. He has a concert
the Fourth of July.”

“He can come back. We don’t close the door to
Bluestone.”

“Maybe. I don’t want him to feel he has to.
So we’re keeping it…casual.”

Trinity propped her elbow on the back of the
couch and rested her head against it. “And how’s that working for
you?”

Beth rolled her eyes at Trinity’s insight. “I
can’t let it be anything else. Which is why I didn’t want my
brother and sister knowing about it.”

“Fate had other plans.”

The sound of a car driving up drew their
attention and Beth stood to go to the window. Maddox was getting
out of his truck. Her heart gave a big thud and a tingle ran
through her body, the pleasure chased away by irritation. She
opened the door and headed down the sidewalk.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded,
wanting to shove him back in the truck at the same time she wanted
to feel his arms around her.

He stroked his knuckles down her cheek. “I
came to see if everything’s okay.”

She stepped back, breaking contact, which
made her feel naked. “Well, they hadn’t called the cops, but it was
a near thing. They called Adam. So my brother and sister both know
what went on last night, and Linda’s not above using it.”

He pursued, the instep of his boot against
the outside of her shoe. “You want me to talk to her?”

“She’s gone to school with Adam. And Trinity
talked to her. But who knows if she’ll listen to Trinity any more
than she listens to me. I feel helpless.”

He reached to put his arms around her, and
she wanted more than anything to lean her head against his chest,
but was aware the neighbors might be watching. She stepped back and
saw the flash of regret cross his face.

“You should go. If she starts talking, it may
cause trouble for you.”

He didn’t give up, trailing his fingers down
her arm. “I’ve weathered trouble before. I can handle a little
gossip.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“Beth. It was worth it.”

That surprised her enough that she lifted her
gaze to his, but that half-smile, the warmth in his eyes, had her
retreating again. She couldn’t let herself be charmed so
easily.

“People already think badly of me because
Linda runs wild. Now if they think I am, too, they might take her
and Jonas away. Don’t you see?”

“Beth, no one in the world is going to fault
you for trying to find happiness.”

“They’ll think I’m sleeping with you for your
money, and—”

He straightened. “Are you worried about legal
action here, or your reputation?”