That Night with You (32 page)

“
There she is, the
confident woman I dreamed you could be.” He kissed her lips. “Do
you want me, Madison?”

“
Yes, Hayden.”

“
Mr. Parr.” His hand
gripped her hair, pulling her head back. “Say I want you, Mr.
Parr.”

The gesture made the warmth between
her legs balloon into an undeniable inferno. “I want you…Mr.
Parr.”

She tossed her arms about his neck,
fiercely kissing him. Her hunger was insatiable, and her hands went
to the zipper of his trousers, almost clawing at them. With Hayden
covering her chest and neck with kisses, she pushed his pants below
his hips. Hayden clutched her hips and spun her around in his arms,
pinning her on all fours to the bottom step.

Madison gripped the edge of the step
in front of her, fighting against his weight. He pushed her head
down and she raised her hips higher, waiting for him. She heard the
familiar sound of a foil package ripping open, and knew he was
preparing to take her.

He spread her folds apart and rammed
into her, propelling her forward. “Tell me you like this.” He
pulled out and slammed into her flesh.

“
God, yes,” she whimpered,
her insides burning.

His hands gripped her hips as he
shoved into her again. “You like it when I’m in charge, don’t you,
Madison?”

“
Yes, Mr. Parr.”

Her words excited him. Hayden began
driving into her with all of his might again and again. Madison
cried out as he forced her flesh apart, penetrating her to the
deepest depths. She clawed the wooden step as he rutted behind her,
rocking her forward and obliterating all thought.

“
That’s it,” he moaned,
pounding into her even harder than before. “You’re gonna take every
inch of me.”

Her body became weak, and her mind
spun out of control as she was besieged by his intense thrusting.
It felt as if he were splitting her apart. When her orgasm gained
momentum, sapping every ounce of her strength, his arms came around
her, holding her in place. Her body tensed as his relentless
assault brought her closer to climax. When the tension inside of
her finally snapped, she arched her back, opened her mouth, and
screamed.

Everything became lost behind a veil
of fog as she collapsed on the step. She could hear Hayden
grunting, feel him slamming into her, she even noted the tickle of
the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead, but she could not
move as that blissful ripple of satisfaction pervaded her
muscles.

With one final long groan, he fell on
top of her, panting into the back of her neck. Letting go of the
edge of the step, Madison flexed her fingers, waiting for the
stiffness to go away.

Throwing his arms about her, he pulled
her to him. Curled up on her side and satiated beyond belief,
Madison had never felt like this. Suddenly, she wanted him to take
her in any way he desired. She loved the idea of handing her body
over to him. What was happening to her?

He kissed the back of her neck. “Don’t
ever run away from me again.”

“
I’m not going anywhere,
Hayden.”

“
Did your fantasy live up
to your expectations?”

“
It was much better than I
imagined.” A thought occurred to her and she tilted her head to the
side. “What about you? Do you have any fantasies?”

He rolled back on the step. “We might
have to work up to those.”

Interested, she sat up. “Why? Are they
weird or something?”

He stood from the step and removed the
condom. “No, just different. There are things I want you to do to
me. Ways I want you to tie me up and take control. But you’re not
ready for that yet.” He tied a knot in the condom and dropped it to
the step.

She waited as he zipped up his
trousers. “Will you teach me…teach me to be the kind of experienced
lover you fantasize about?”

Hayden cupped his hands about her
face. “Is that what you want?”

“
Yes. I want to please you,
Hayden.”

His smile melted her heart. “You
already have, Madison.”

***

The following Friday afternoon,
Madison left work early to meet Charlie for her final dress fitting
before the wedding. The Mockingbird Bridal Boutique was not far
from their apartment, but by the time Madison fought the traffic
from the city and parked her car outside of the upscale store, she
knew she was going to get an earful from her friend for being
late.

Rushing to the glass entrance, she
peered inside, hoping to spot a familiar face. After she smoothed
the wrinkles in her black skirt and white silk blouse, she pushed
the door open and was greeted by the soft strains of a harp.
Looking up, she spotted the small speaker by the door, and then her
eyes traveled to the sweeping pleated gold drapes and crystal
chandeliers strewn about the ceiling. Positioned about the gold
carpet were headless, black mannequins donning an array of fitted
and beaded white wedding gowns. The air was thick with rose
air-freshener, and when Madison turned to her right, racks of white
wedding dresses housed in thick clear plastic bags could be seen
lining each of the three walls in the long showroom. In the
distance, she thought she heard the sound of women’s laughter, but
she could not see a doorway or entrance to the rear of the
shop.

“
Are you here for the
Tonti-Peevy nuptials?” an older woman with blonde hair and big
brown eyes inquired as she emerged from behind a mirrored door
hidden by the rack of dresses.

Madison nodded. “Ah, yes, I’m one of
the bridesmaids.”

“
Then you’re just in time.”
The attendant gestured to the mirrored door. “The bride is trying
on her gown. Follow me.”

After being ushered to the rear
fitting area, decorated with gold velvet sofas and white plastic
flower arrangements, Madison was confronted by three severe looking
women with sour faces. All three were middle-aged, had
sallow-complexions, thick twists of black hair pulled behind their
heads, and large dark circles beneath their black eyes. They were
dressed in similar dowdy dark pantsuits that far from flattered
their stout figures.

Swallowing back a rush of nerves,
Madison smiled and held out her hand. “I’m Madison Barnett, one of
Charlie’s bridesmaids.”

The tallest of the women came forward,
attempting a slight smile. “Yes, Charlie mentioned you were coming.
I’m Nelson’s mother, Caroline Peevy.” Taking her hand, Caroline
Peevy nodded to the other two women. “These are my sisters. We’ve
been waiting to see—”

A barrage of curse words cut off the
mother of the groom.

“
Charlie is not very happy
with the dress I helped her pick out.” Caroline Peevy leaned over
to Madison, and lowering her voice she added, “I think the stress
of everything is getting to her.” She pointed to a line of dark
green shutter doors to the side of the fitting room. “She’s in the
first dressing room and won’t listen to anything I have to say, but
she might listen to you.” The woman’s lower lip determinedly
flattened out, reminding Madison of Nelson. He always got the same
stubborn look when Charlie was insisting on having her
way.

“
Let me talk to her,”
Madison offered, tugging at the black strap of her
purse.

Stepping away from Caroline Peevy,
Madison went to the first door she came to.

“
Charlie, it’s Mads…you
okay?”

“
No.” Charlie’s voice was
faint and childlike, hardly the Charlie she knew and
loved.

“
Can I come in?”

The door crept open, and when Madison
saw Charlie’s tearstained blue eyes, she dashed inside the dressing
room and pulled the door shut behind her.

“
What is it?”

Charlie pouted and waved her hand down
her long white dress. “It’s hideous!”

Madison’s eyes settled on the
off-the-shoulder, crystal-beaded gown. A tight bodice cinched
around Charlie’s slender waist, and the shiny, silky fabric flared
out into a wide skirt with a short train tapering behind. Round
crystals were sewn into the bodice in a teardrop design, and then
scattered intermittently along the skirt. The overall impression
was far from hideous…if anything, Madison believed her friend
looked like a princess.

“
Charlie, you look
absolutely breathtaking.”

“
Really?” Charlie’s lips
curled into the smallest, hope-filled smile. “You don’t think it’s
too much?” She rolled her blue eyes. “Caroline insisted on it and I
went along because Nelson said I should, but now I’m afraid I made
a huge mistake.”

“
No, Charlie, it’s really
beautiful. It’s not a mistake. Nelson’s gonna hit the floor when he
sees you coming down the aisle in that.”

“
Yeah?” Charlie
sniffled.

“
Yeah!” Madison assertively
replied.

Taking in a deep breath, Charlie
nodded and then wiped her hands over her face, smudging away her
tears. “Okay, I can do this.”

“
Of course you can,”
Madison encouraged.

“
You met Caroline?” Charlie
motioned to the shutter door. “What did you think?
Monster-in-law?”

“
She’s nice, Charlie. You
need to cut her some slack.” She waved her hand down the dress.
“The woman’s got taste. You look stunning in that
dress.”

“
Yeah, well,” Charlie
turned to the mirrored wall behind her, “I’m not entirely
convinced.” She ran her hands over the fabric in the skirt as she
glanced back through the mirror at Madison. “I thought you were
going to take off work early.”

“
I did. I got held up in
traffic.” Madison dropped her black purse on the small wooden bench
built into the wall next to her.

“
How’s the hottie boss? You
two still an item?”

“
Things are good, but….”
Madison sunk down on the bench, sighing. “Is it supposed to be this
exhausting?”

Charlie rested her hands on her hips.
“What do you mean?”

“
I don’t know.” Madison sat
back against the wall. “I spend all day at work, working on these
damned plans for the Martins. After that I race home, grab some
clothes, and head over to Hayden’s. Then at night…well, I haven’t
been getting a whole lot of sleep.”

“
Girl,” Charlie clucked,
“look at you! A regular slut like me.”

Madison laughed. “I know relationships
are hard work, but this is like another full-time job.”

Nodding, Charlie turned around. “I
know what you mean. That first year with Nelson wore me out. If we
hadn’t spent so much time dining out, I might have actually lost
weight and not gained it.”

“
At least you get to go
out. Hayden and I always stay in. Dinner is usually take out, and
even then I never get to finish my meal, if you know what I
mean.”

Charlie’s blue eyes clouded over with
concern. “He never takes you out?”

“
He just wants to keep it
low-key for now. His ex is trying to go after him for a chunk of
his assets, and he doesn’t want to anger her by flaunting our
relationship—”

“
Horseshit!” Charlie
shouted. “He’s divorced. He can see whomever he wants, and his ex
can’t say squat. He knows that.”

Madison scrambled to come up with
something in Hayden’s defense. “You don’t know his ex,
Charlie.”

“
No, but I know the law,
Madison, and the law says once they are legally divorced he’s free
to see other people. Being with you has no bearing whatsoever on
his division of assets.”

“
Yes, but it has a bearing
on his business. I’m an employee, and if any of his other staff
knew—”

“
Aw, come on, Mads…you
don’t buy that, do you? The guy never struck me as someone who gave
a shit what anyone thinks. He seemed like he always got what he
wanted, no matter the consequences.” She paused and eyed her friend
thoughtfully. “Do you like being with him?”

Madison slowly nodded. “Yeah, I really
do. I don’t know how to describe it, but when I’m with him I
feel…good. He makes me feel safe and protected.”

“
And the sex? Still
hot?”

Madison blushed. “It’s
satisfying.”

Charlie frowned and gathered up the
skirt of her dress. “So is this just for the sex, or are you hoping
for more?”

“
We haven’t really talked
about the future, but he makes me feel like he wants
one.”

“
Feel like?” Charlie went
back to the mirror. “Start insisting you two go out. A man who is
crazy about a woman wants to show her off. If he cares, he won’t
treat you like some kind of sex toy.”

“
He’s going to be my date
at the wedding, Charlie, so it’s not like we aren’t going out. We
just haven’t done it yet. We’re taking time to build a solid
foundation.”

The dubious smirk on Charlie’s lips
concerned Madison. “It’s a relationship, not a building, Mads.” She
sighed, sounding fed-up with the topic of Hayden Parr. “I guess if
he’s stepping up to the plate and being your date for my wedding,
he might have some good intentions.”