Madison's Quest (10 page)

The nightmare should have created a sense of urgency, to get
to the end of Bio-dad’s quest, to leave California so she could concentrate on
her music.

Instead she wanted to lie there, soaking Tyler in through
her skin, and when she was done with that, rouse him, absorbing his kisses and
touches.

Slowly, carefully, she slid away from Tyler and escaped to
the bathroom.

She braided her hair, tied it into a knot and got into the
shower, avoiding the mirror, not wanting to see if she looked changed by the
night with Tyler.

She closed her eyes, luxuriated beneath the spray of hot
water.

Everything was going to be okay.

She busied her mind with images of depositing the latest
check, of depositing more of them, getting home and paying off
all
the
bills before sitting her parents down and telling them what she’d done.

That’d be the way to do it. That’d eliminate the chance of
refusal and failure.

The shower door opened. The heat generated by Tyler’s
joining her penetrated in a way the hot water couldn’t.

His arms brushed hers as he reached around her, squirting
body wash into his palms.

Her nipples beaded. Her sex heated and tightened with need.

“Morning, doll,” he said, voice husky against her neck
before delivering a sucking kiss.

Worry melted away with his touch. Thoughts beyond the now
became impossible with the rub of her ass against his hard cock.

“Doll? Why am I getting the picture of one of those
inflatables that desperately horny guys buy from shops with XXX on the signage?”

He smiled against her neck, bit, sending a flash of heat
straight to nipples that longed to feel his mouth on them again.

“Maybe because you’ve picked up on the fact that I’m a
desperately horny guy.”

“Could be.”

She ground against his cock, loving the sharp catch of his
breath and jerk of his body, the moan before soap-slick hands covered her
breasts and she was the one to lose her breath, to shiver.

To lose herself as his hands moved from breasts to pussy,
stroking, teasing while his lips traveled from shoulder to neck to ear until
she was shaking with the need to have him inside her again.

“Tyler.”

It came out as helpless as she felt.

He turned her toward him, his face taut with desire, his
eyes burning with it.

Her mouth hurried to his, her tongue rushing to rub and
twine against his in one mindless kiss after another as their bodies pressed,
ground, craved.

She broke the kiss, whispered, “Please.”

“We didn’t talk about it last night, but I’m safe.”

“I am too.”

He lifted her. Her legs wrapped around him.

He pressed her back against the steamy shower wall. Filled
her. And if anything, it felt more intimate, more intense than when he’d
entered her without a condom the first time.

His mouth came down on hers. He began thrusting, the angle
of their bodies sending pleasure through her clit and into her sex with each
stroke.

Each slam of his pelvis, each plunge of his cock had her
rocketing higher and higher. Until there was no escape but total surrender.

The clamp of her inner muscles on his cock had his head going
back, his hot release filling her while the agonized expression of pleasure on
Tyler’s face touched her heart like a brand.

Slowly her legs unlocked and slid along his.

Her feet reached the floor.

“I might have to go back to bed now so I can recover from
that,” he murmured against her lips.

“We’ve got a clue to solve.” But her arms remained around
his neck, holding off reality.

“Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation might revive me,” he said.

“We can give it a try.”

His lips parted beneath hers, remaining that way until the
threat of cold water finally drove them from the shower.

“Meet you in the kitchen,” Tyler said, giving her one last,
lingering kiss before leaving.

She dealt with her hair, not taking the time to get it
completely dry. She got dressed, the pleasure of being with Tyler riding along
the edges of an ache centered in her chest that came with wanting more, with
knowing she couldn’t have it, not yet anyway.

When she stepped into the kitchen, Kiki and Daisy left Tyler
to greet her. They danced around her feet, their shining eyes and wagging tails
making it easy to cover the ache with a heartfelt smile, to live in the moment
the way they did.

Tyler’s arms went around her. “Tell me you’re not wearing
boy shorts.”

“I’d be lying. They’re light blue today, by the way.”

His laugh was part moan.

She grinned. “I guess I could always go commando.”

“Trying to work and knowing that would be worse.”

“Really?”

“You have to ask?”

“Girls need their ego strokes too.”

He kissed her, long and slow and deep.

“I’ll remember that,” he said, staring into her eyes and
creating a swell of panic.

What was she going to do about him? About this? About Shane?

He released her.

“I’m not much of a cook,” he said. “But I know for a fact I’ve
got cereal, milk, eggs, and bread.”

“You like French toast?”

His smile smothered the panic.

“Are you offering to cook?”

“Least I can do considering the great hospitality.”

“I definitely aim to please at
Casa
Tyler.”

“Is that a hint that boys also need their egos stroked?”

His eyes were like sunlight dancing on the ocean. “Boy egos
are a lot easier to stroke.”

She laughed, tempted to open his jeans and do just that. “If
you want me to cook breakfast, you’d better show me the goods, and by that, I
mean the stuff I need to slave over a hot stove for you, not the stuff I’ve
already seen.”

“Spoilsport.” But he showed her where to find what she
needed then moved on to feed the dogs and start the coffee.

Her phone rang with an unfamiliar ringtone.

Her blood converged and turned cold in the vicinity of her
heart.

She pulled her cellphone from a pocket and looked at the
screen. The area code was the same she’d dialed yesterday when she called
Bulldog.

Relief swept in. She answered. Shane said, “You ready to get
back to work?”

Her hand tightened on the phone, a shiver of nervousness
going through her now that the moment of truth as to whether or not Shane was
really okay with her sleeping with Tyler was imminent.

“Anytime. I’m making breakfast.”

“Be right there.”

She slid the phone back into her pocket, called herself a
coward for not looking at Tyler when she said, “Shane’s on his way.”

The sound of a key going into the front door lock served as
punctuation.

She traced the scooped neckline of her tank top and decided
to let Tyler’s behavior around Shane guide hers.

“I take it he’s got a key,” she said to mask the uncertainty
of what she was going to do about him, about them.

“We’ve all got keys to each other’s places, just in case. Not
that Shane, Lyric or Braden actually
need
keys.”

Shane caught the comment as he stepped into Tyler’s house.

“True,” he said, joining them in the kitchen, realization
slamming into him with Tyler’s attempt at a poker face and Madison’s quick
smile and even quicker attention to her cooking.

Fuck. They’d slept together.

He’d known it might happen. He’d wanted it to happen.

So why did he feel a gut-twisting burn of jealousy?

Maybe because he wasn’t the first to have Madison. Maybe because
she’d had Tyler first. Maybe because they’d been together while he was at home
with his hand.

It was like a multiple-choice question. He’d hated them in
school. He hated them now.

The only possible answer was act normal, act cool.

Hard to do when he noticed her hair was wet and so was Tyler’s,
when he imagined them doing it in the shower and that sent raw need surging to
his dick.

He crouched to greet the girls wriggling at his feet. Took a
minute to get his shit together.

He was the one on the outside of this. He needed to be the
one to make it easy for them to let him inside.

Heat seared through him with the thought of joining the two
of them in bed, but at the same time, his heart felt like it wanted to burst
through his chest wall and run for the door.

It was one thing to tell himself Grandma Maguire had probably
orchestrated this, and the three of them were meant to be together. It was a
whole other thing to actually come out of the closet. There’d be no going back
if Tyler was straight and figured out that the boner wasn’t just for Madison.

He couldn’t trust himself to be with her at the same time
Tyler was. All he had to do was remember that last time in Vegas, shooting his
load and moaning Tyler’s name.

What he needed to do was throttle back. Wait until he got
her alone, or until she touched him first before picking up where they’d left
off. And if she did that, with Tyler there, then he’d have to pretend Tyler was
Braden and work up some brotherly feelings.

He huffed out a breath.
Right.

But he could do this. He had to. He needed to let the hand
play out a little bit before raising the stakes.

He gave Daisy and Kiki a final rub behind their ears then
rose from the crouch.

“You want French toast?” Madison asked.

“Yeah, sure. I’d love some.”

What he really wanted was the same fit they’d had yesterday.

“First batch is almost ready. You guys might want to get the
drinks on and the table set.”

Her voice sounded like she was trying for normal too. It
helped.

He gave his hands a quick wash then went to the fridge. He opened
it and pulled out a carton of OJ and the tub of butter, putting them on the
table then snagging glasses.

Tyler took care of the napkins and silverware, then got the
coffee while he found the syrup, and finally the laptop and clue.

Madison served the food, and didn’t it feel like they were a
little family unit?

His heart spasmed with the same longing he’d had the night
before, watching big brother with Renata.

The first bite of French toast melted on his tongue.

“I could get used to this,” Tyler said, and Shane heard so
many meanings there that the ache deepened.

He dragged the clue closer. Read it between bites of the
best French toast he’d ever tasted.

From coast to coast, 2903 miles mark the distance. By
air, by train, or on asphalt highways, the bounty of the San Joaquin travels.
Two thirds of it is hidden from sight, but offer the first and the rest is
revealed.

He groaned. “This makes my brain hurt. I’d rather have a
hangover.”

Madison laughed and Tyler said, “I’d rather you didn’t.
You’re miserable to be around when you’ve got one.”

And just like that, the easiness slotted back into place.
The last of the tightness left his chest.

Madison lifted a glass of OJ to her mouth, the movement of
her throat mesmerizing him, taking him in a direction that made the jeans more
uncomfortable.

It was going to be a long, hard day.

“Either of you come up with anything new?” he asked.

“Let’s ignore the first line,” Tyler said. “It’s safe to say
Bio-dad doesn’t want Madison to go on a coast-to-coast road trip, so let’s
assume the only thing important is the number.”

Shane looked at the clue.
By air, by train, or on asphalt
highways
. “An airport? A train station? Totally not helpful. The days of
lockers you can stash your belongings in are gone.”

Madison’s fork clattered onto her plate. “I can’t believe I
didn’t think of this last night. A post office. Or one of those places where
you can rent a box.”

Shane was gratified to see a mystified expression on Tyler’s
face, and have him be the one to say, “Right. It’s totally obvious. Mind
explaining?”

Madison’s laugh had them both smiling, both leaning toward
her.

“Okay, maybe it’s not exactly a stretch that none of us came
up with it last night. But planes, trains, trucks traveling, carrying something
that needs to be delivered. Right? And delivered made me think—”

“Mail going from post office to post office,” Tyler said.
“And even without a key, if you have the box number and ID, and you’re listed
on the paperwork, you could gain access.”

“I doubt I’ll need more than my name.
Offer the first and
the rest is revealed
.”

Shane felt the buzz of being on the right track. His gut
said it wouldn’t be an official box. “It’s going to be a private rental, not
the USPS. A lot less complicated to arrange, especially if you want to hide the
name of the person who actually rented it.”

“Maybe the 2903 ties into the address, or the box number,”
Tyler said. “If we’re talking Bay Area, or maybe the San Joaquin, there are
going to be hundreds of those private mailbox rental places. It’d make sense
that the rest of the clue is meant to help narrow the search.”

Shane popped the last bite of French toast into his mouth.
It was as good as the first. “If Bio-dad went to all the trouble to make it
easy to get into the school, he’s not going to want Madison to lose days
looking for the right box.”

Madison spun her orange juice glass on the table. “So maybe
the location of this box is tied into the bounty of the San Joaquin. Nuts.
Fruits. Vegetables.”

“Ultimately going to market,” Tyler said, triumph in his
voice. “Market Street, probably in San Francisco.”

“Score!” Shane pumped his fist then pulled the laptop over.

A few minutes later he had five possibilities.

“You coming with us?” he asked Tyler, heat rushing through
him as he forced himself to meet Tyler’s gaze as if nothing had changed between
last night and this morning.