Leo Maddox (18 page)

She nodded, surprising me by brushing a quick kiss against my lips, and then she hurried for the garage.

CHAPTER 16:

M
y father called me…yelling. The man had a frosty, mean, stoic way about him, but he never yelled. Or I guess I should say, he
rarely
yelled. It had taken him a few hours to notice that I wasn’t in the correct city and that I wasn’t doing the job I was supposed to be doing. He used words like disgrace, disappointment, unworthy—all of it trying to rattle me. And it very nearly worked.

My name and my legacy meant a lot to me. And as much as I would have loved to disappoint my father on purpose, to rub his own bullshit back in his face, I also had some jacked-up need to please him.

“I’m in fucking Blue Creek, Virginia,” I told him over the phone. “It’s not like I’m on a month-long drinking binge in Mexico! Christ, I never take time off. I’ll be back soon enough. Maybe in a week.”
God, Clara’s hair appointment was taking forever.
I wished she was here to distract me away from everything else in my life.

“A week! I’d rather you be in Mexico. Don’t be ungrateful, Leonardo. Just get back here.”

I sighed. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean
you can’t?
Take the jet.”

Even if I tried to explain that I was following my heart for once in my damn life, I don’t think he would have understood. Or he’d call me stupid and naïve for it. Maybe I was stupid and naïve. But still…I wasn’t about to leave just because he told me to.

“Have you ever wanted something so much that nothing else seems to matter?” I asked him, genuinely curious as to how he might answer. “Something you’d do almost anything for?”

“Yes,” he answered quickly. “I want your grandfather to retire so that I can take over this company. But wishful thinking is for the weak and the poor. Neither of which are we. You can have a week to do whatever you need to do, Leo. Then come home.”

I gritted my teeth. “Fine.”

“Fine,” he answered.

Then we both hung up.

Defeated and tired, I plopped down on the sofa in my den. Before my father had called, I’d been sorting through junk in this room—figuring out what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to get rid of. I’d been meaning to clear out and renovate this house ever since I bought it from him. But it occurred to me now…the reason none of that had been done was because I was never in Blue Creek long enough to do it.

At some point after that thrilling phone conversation, I must have fallen asleep on that uncomfortable sofa in the den. Clara woke me. My eyes opened and I found her hovering over me in the darkened room. The sun had set during my cat-nap.

No words were exchanged, but she reached out her hand. I took it. She tugged, expecting me to follow her wherever. And so I followed her. She led me around piles of clutter and junk, toward the staircase. She wanted me upstairs.

Each step upward felt like a mile and my heart drummed so hard it beat in my ears. My bedroom sat directly off the top of the stairs and it was clear that was exactly where she was leading me. Even a blind person could have sensed Clara’s motives in this moment. A hell of a lot more than kissing was about to happen next.

Once inside my room with the door shut firmly behind us, Clara planted both of her hands on my chest and gave me a small shove toward my bed. I didn’t budge for her, and when she tried a second shove, I caught her wrists against my chest. Clara stuck her lip out and gave me a small pout.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“You,” she said, taking a deep breath.

Fuck me. Was she serious?

I wanted to push her down onto my bed, strip her naked, and do things to her I’d always dreamt of doing to her. But I didn’t want to jeopardize anything either. “I don't want to rush this,” I explained.

She tried to wiggle her hands free from where I still clutched them tightly to my chest. I couldn’t let her go. Because if I did then I wasn’t sure what would happen next.

“Who cares if we rush this?” she asked softly, as if she were trying to put all my nerves at ease. “I don't. You shouldn't either. I'm not ready to say certain words out loud, but I can give you something else. I can show you how I'm feeling. Please, Leo. Let me show you. You told me on the subway to stop over-thinking and now you're doing the same exact thing. So, stop it.”

How could I argue with that? I couldn’t. I couldn’t do a damn thing but let her pull free from my grip. She wanted me. It was painfully obvious. And there was no stopping a determined Clara.

Standing on her toes, she pressed her lips to mine and kissed me. I went through the motions of returning her kiss, but to be completely honest, I was scared out of my damn mind. It had been over two years since I’d last had sex. What if I messed something up? Or forgot how to do it right? Not to mention, I don’t think I’d ever once had sober sex. Shit, what if I ruined this by not living up to her expectations? Because in the past, girls always had high expectations of my sexual abilities. I was confident and cocky with clothes on—they expected me to be even more so without them.

One of her hands moved under my shirt, her fingers tracing over my abs. Her breathing turned heavy as she did this—as if merely touching my stomach was turning the girl on. Her eyes glanced shyly up at mine. Then she grabbed the edges of my shirt and surprised the hell out of me by yanking it up over my head.

Slow down, Clara,
I thought. But my body wasn’t in tune with my head anymore. I’d grown dangerously hard, letting Clara do whatever she wanted with me. I couldn’t find the words or the strength to stop her. Watching her was fun and exciting. How far would she go with this? I stood perfectly still because a big part of me wanted to find out.

Next she went for my belt buckle, unhooking it, and then my shorts. My clothing dropped unceremoniously to the ground,
leaving nothing left!
And I’d forgotten underwear this morning…so yeah, I was naked.

Clara’s eyes traced up and down my naked form. She studied me…my tattoos, my arms, my chest, my abs…even my dick. And suddenly I grew angry.

The thing about picking up girls, flying them to New York, and screwing them in my penthouse suite…the thing was…they all were using
me
just as much as I used them. And my heart broke because it seemed Clara was about to do the same exact thing. On the porch I’d been so confident of her feelings—knowing with all my heart that she felt what I felt. Suddenly that confidence shattered. And it pissed me the hell off.

She dropped to her knees. All her clothes were still on for fuck’s sake. She reached out and took me in her hand. My mind was undergoing an internal battle. Because having Clara touch me and stare up at me from her knees was sexy as hell. I was desperate to see what she’d do next. And that desperation trumped the sense of dread in my chest.

Her hand moved carefully over my skin, stroking toward the base of my length and then back toward the tip. Her fingers traced with the lightest of touches. A groan slipped from my throat. It sounded guttural and primitive. And I couldn’t help it. I dropped my head back, my mouth falling open, succumbing to Clara. Fine. If she wanted to have her way with me then I suppose I’d let her. What the fuck ever. I’d enjoy the moment and go to war with her later. So be it.

My eyes drifted closed as I relished the feel of her hand. But they snapped open in the very next moment…because her mouth replaced her hand.

“Whoa, killer. You don't have to do anything you don't....”

My sentence went unfinished. I couldn't get the rest of my words out because she didn't let me. She dug her fingernails into my ass and sucked me deeper into her mouth. I said every curse word known to man, knotted my fingers through her hair, and even started moving my hips to match her rhythm…was it shaky? Her eyes flickered up to mine and that was when it occurred to me—Clara didn’t have a clue what she was doing. Her tongue moved too fast; her pressure was too light; her confidence seemed to be forced. God, my dick was in her mouth, so obviously I enjoyed the view and the feel of her mouth immensely. But was this her first time giving head? Damn, what if it was? What if she was a virgin too?

From the way she stared up at me, looking for
my
approval, I think I’d just figured her out.

Holy shit.

Just as Clara had started to find a decent rhythm, I moved myself out of her mouth, grabbed the sides of her arms, and pulled her fully clothed body up against my naked one. And I kissed her. I kissed her with all the passion that was growing and expanding inside my chest. It had now become clear to me that she
was
inexperienced. How could I not see this before?

I couldn’t help but fall a little deeper in love with her. Shivers shot through my heart. I’d seen the intensity and the care in her eyes earlier when we’d sat on her porch. And I felt it now in her kiss. She didn’t want to just use me for my body like I’d feared minutes before. Someone without experience wouldn’t do that. And if she really was a virgin…then knowing that she wanted to give it up to
me
...well, that made my heart swell with pride, and an arrogance I’d been missing for quite some time returned.

I kissed her until we were both completely breathless. I rested my forehead against her forehead and stared fiercely into her pretty gray eyes. A smile came to my lips. If Clara wanted me then she was going to get me.

“I need to be inside you,” I whispered in a husky growl. I pushed gently at her shoulders, so that she fell backward onto my unmade bed. Clara stared back at me, challenging me.

The first things that I had to get rid of were her shoes and socks. Then her pants went next. Jesus Christ, rational thought had left me and I hardly cared. Sex or no sex, I’d still feel the same way about her tomorrow. The sex would only magnify everything, so it suddenly became my only focus.

Now that those annoying articles of clothing were out of the way, my pace slowed because I didn’t want her first time—
still assuming this was her first time
—to be rushed in anyway. I inched the fabric of her tank top upward, planting a trail of kisses and little licks over her newly exposed skin. I reached her bare breasts and kissed each one in turn, my mouth moving slow and lingering in all the best places. Clara’s back arched off the bed and she pressed into me, loving what I was doing to her. I could get used to this.

“Leo...” she half begged, half moaned. “I need... I need...”

“I know what you need, baby,” I told her, breathing in the scent of her skin. “And I'm going to give it to you. Soon.”

Yanking her tank top off the rest of the way, I tossed it aside. Taking hold of her wrists, I positioned both her arms above her head. I needed her still and at my mercy for what I had planned next. If this was her first time, then I would make it special. I wanted her to compare every other moment with any other man to her moments with me. Although, hopefully, there would never be a chance for her to compare. Hopefully, I was about to set the bar so high—she’d only ever need me between her legs.

Rocking back on my knees, I went for her panties. Slowly, I slipped them down her legs, leaving her completely exposed. Now that I had her very naked and practically squirming underneath me, I paused to study her for another moment. She tried to move her hands to cover her body, but I caught her wrists and placed them back above her head. “You're so damn beautiful. I always knew you would be. Let me just look for another moment,” I whispered.

She let me look, her cheeks flushing under my stare. I meant to keep dragging my eyes over her body, but couldn’t pull my gaze away from her face.

Heat seared across my flesh. Leaning closer to her, I kissed her cheek and whispered against her ear. “You're blushing. Are you sure you want to do this? We can go play Monopoly or watch a movie or argue about something stupid. Whatever you want. I'll be just as happy.”

“Do I look like I want to play Monopoly right now?” she groaned.

I smiled. “No, you don't.”

“This is what I want,” she assured me, her voice breathy. “I don't think I've ever wanted anything more.”

“Good. I needed to hear you say that. Are you on birth control?”

Her face turned an even darker shade of red. I hadn’t meant to embarrass her, but I didn’t have a condom so I needed to know. “Yes. Dad made us both go on it when he found Maggie and Robby in bed together that one time.”

“Thank you, Robby,” I muttered, placing both of my palms on her bare, beautiful stomach. With my knees, I nudged her legs apart. Clara laying on my bed, opened up like this for me, was nearly my undoing. I swear, I almost came right then and there. But I somehow managed to contain myself. It was my turn now to show her exactly how good sex could be.

I grabbed my length in my hand, positioning myself so close to where she was ready and waiting. Only a jerk forward…and I could be inside her. But I didn’t move inside her.

Not yet, at least.

“I don't want to wear a condom with you,” I explained. “I don't want anything between us. I promise I'm okay. It's been well over two years since I last had sex, and I've been checked since then.”