The Education of Madeline (17 page)

Madeline knew she ought to be sleeping. Too many things were running through her head like the creek running behind her house. Flowing, moving, jumping. Her feet were moving back and forth like a metronome.

Finally she threw the covers back and gave up the fight. It was no use. She needed him. Madeline threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood. After she made her decision, it was as if a hundred pounds lifted from her shoulders. She snatched her robe from the chair by the fireplace and hurried to the door.

As she walked down the stairs, she pushed her arms into the sleeves, or at least tried to. The left arm would not go in; the sleeve was bunched funny or something. She came around the corner and realized there was someone in the kitchen sitting at the table.

She stopped short and stared at Micah. He was slouched on the chair looking even less tidy than usual. A bottle of amber liquid sat on the table, an empty glass next to it. Madeline realized she was half dressed and obviously on her way out the back door in the middle of the night.

“Evenin', Madeline.”

Madeline always loved the way Micah said her name—with the long “I” that hung in the air for a second. His drawl was refined and lazy, like hot honey on toast. Tonight that drawl was deeper, more pronounced.

She untangled her arm and succeeded in getting the robe completely on. As she buttoned it up, she thought about what to say to him.

Was she embarrassed? No.

Was she going back upstairs? Absolutely not.

“Good evening, Micah.”

He reached for the bottle and poured himself a healthy splash of the amber liquid. Madeline was surprised to see his hand shaking. Micah was one of the strongest men she knew. Something must have been very wrong that he would drink enough to make him shake.

“Are you all right?”

He shrugged and took a big swallow. He held up the glass in the candlelight and regarded it as if he were reading a crystal ball. “I will be. Don't worry about me, Madeline.”

Madeline sat down across from him and took his free hand. It was as cold as ice. She rubbed it between her hands to try to warm it up.

“I do worry about you. You're my friend.”

The corner of Micah's mouth kicked up. “You're the only person who does.”

“I find that hard to believe. Even if it is true, I will always be your friend.”

Micah took another gulp and then burped softly. “Pardon me. My manners seem to be absent this evening. You were going someplace, right?”

Madeline wanted to talk to Micah about what was bothering him, but his question rekindled her need to get to Teague. She felt torn between helping her friend and quenching her own thirst.

“You best get to him. I'm sure he's waiting.” Micah set his glass down and leaned forward to grab both her hands. He squeezed tightly enough to hurt just a bit. His eyes focused on her so intensely she felt the urge to pull back. He held fast and pulled her hands a bit closer.

“Seize it, Madeline. Seize it while you can. Don't let life go past without taking hold of it with both hands and running with it.” He pulled both hands to his mouth and gently kissed the back of each one. His mouth was dry and warm against her skin. It felt a bit like a minister kissing her at her wedding. “Do you love him?”

She smiled. “Yes, I love him.”

He smiled back at her. “Then don't keep him waiting.”

 

Teague stared out the window toward the creek. Missing Maddie. Needing Maddie.

When the hell had that happened?

It had been so long since he'd felt anything, or perhaps he'd been feeling everything for too long that he'd turned off his emotions. When Claire and Christopher had died, he'd felt so much agony life had been a giant gaping wound with a never-ending sting. A scab that constantly kept getting ripped off anew. To bleed.

As Teague listened to a pair of squirrels chattering in the top of an evergreen tree, he came to the startling realization that the pain was gone.

Gone.

It was Maddie. Being with her had somehow healed that scab until it was a smooth scar. He would never forget what he went through; however, he was ready to forgive.

He loved her. Holy shit. He really did love her.

The touch of a hand on his back did not startle him. He somehow sensed she was near, as if his imagination had conjured her up. He closed his eyes as her hands ran up and down his back.

“I'm sorry. I couldn't—”

He cut her off by spinning around and clasping her face in his hands.

“Don't ever,
ever
be sorry, Maddie.”

Her dark eyes were unreadable in the moonlight, but he thought he saw a tear in the corner. He couldn't stop himself from kissing her any more than he could stop the sun from rising.

“I love you, Maddie,” he whispered before his mouth closed on hers.

The first touch of lips was soft, like a butterfly. But it was as powerful as good whiskey. Intoxicating. The second kiss was firmer. Then the control was lost, and his arms wrapped around her and pulled her flush against him.

As his mouth and tongue danced and tangled with hers, he could feel her body heating. He could smell her. Intoxicating.

Her nipples were hard, pressing against his chest like small pebbles waiting for him to touch and taste. Her hands continued to move up and down his back; then, with no hesitancy, they landed on his ass and squeezed.

He smiled against her lips. Maddie was beginning to learn how to spread her wings and take what she wanted. Now she needed to learn how to let go of that control.

Teague backed her toward the bed, never letting go of her lips. When the back of her legs hit the frame, he stopped and, with one last kiss, pulled away. Looking into her eyes in the gloom, he saw everything he wanted. And more.

He ran his hands down her shoulders and felt the night-clothes.

“Take them off.”

With only a second of hesitation, she unbuttoned her bathrobe and dropped it to the ground. Her white nightdress shone brightly in the moonlight.

“I said take them off.”

Teague could see the points of her nipples straining against the cotton covering. His hands itched to touch them. His mouth ached to possess them.

Maddie's beautiful hands reached up and pulled off her nightdress. It floated to the ground beside them like a ghostly apparition fleeing into the darkness below.

Maddie was naked. Deliciously naked.

“What about your clothes?” she whispered.

He placed his finger against her soft lips.

“Shhhh…no talking. You listen tonight and obey. Can you do that?”

A shudder ran through her from top to bottom. Her generous breasts shook with it. His cock grew another inch inside his tight pants.

Maddie.

She nodded, and his chest swelled with the breath he sucked in, albeit shakily. This was too important to make any mistakes. It had to be perfect. He had to earn Maddie's trust again.

 

Madeline's heart was singing the song of ages.
He loved her
. Nothing could ever be as perfect as that.

She nodded at his question. Control was his tonight.

“Lesson seven.”

She was shaking inside and out. She had come to Teague because she had no other choice. Whatever it was between them had drawn her here, with or without the situation between her and the town.

Teague was like the other half of herself. The half that had been missing her entire life. She had always felt…incomplete. Until now. Until Teague.

The first touch of his calloused hands on her skin forced another shudder through her. She was already wet for him, ready and willing. Yes, she was willing. Ready to give him control.

“Sit,” he said.

Madeline immediately sat on the bed, which put her at eye level with his cock. Even though it was dark, she could clearly see the length and width of his erection. She felt herself pulse deep inside at the anticipation of his hardness plunging into her softness.

He pulled his shirt up and off in one swift movement. She wanted to reach up and caress his chest, but she waited. Impatient as she was, she waited.

“Take off my trousers, Maddie.”

With a big grin deep inside, she reached for him. Her fingers trembled a bit, but she ignored them in favor of her hunger. As the last button was undone, she thought she heard him groan. She was happy to note he wasn't wearing drawers. His erection sprang free, literally into her hands. She immediately started caressing him, but he grabbed her wrists.

“Not yet, honey. Finish taking them off.”

Madeline was surprised to find herself obeying him. She pushed his trousers down to his feet. She could feel the heat from his erection near her cheek. All she had to do was turn her head, and she would be able to kiss it. The thought should have shocked her, but it didn't. It excited her.

She leaned slightly as he lifted his foot to step out of the pants, and her cheek brushed him. He sucked in a breath. As he stepped out of the other leg, she brushed against him again.

“You're playing a game, but you don't know the rules, Maddie.”

She didn't answer him. She just continued to rub her cheek against his velvet steel.

“Take down your hair.”

Madeline immediately took apart the braid she'd made when she went to bed. She was aching to touch him, but she knew he would let her. Would tell her to. Oh, God, she wanted him to.

Teague's fingers threaded through her hair, and he tugged on it slightly. Her scalp tingled at the sensation. “Do you want to touch me, Maddie?”

She nodded against his hands, eager to touch him.

“Do you want to touch me with your mouth?”

Her imagination was running wild at the question. He'd touched her with his mouth on her pussy. Now he was asking her if she wanted to do the same.

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.

He tilted her chin up with his hand and looked down into her eyes. “Are you sure, honey?”

Her answer was to lean forward and kiss him on the hard part of him that was waiting for her. It jumped about a foot and smacked her in the cheek. He groaned, and she laughed.

Madeline wrapped one hand around his shaft and felt the breadth of him. Impressive, nearly the size of her wrist. He pulsed against her, and she kissed him again. This time she stuck out her tongue and tasted him, too.

“Jeeeesus,” he mumbled.

She decided the taste of him was as intoxicating as the smell and feel of him. Her tongue and lips took over, following her instincts honed by thousands of years of women pleasuring men. The more she licked and suckled him, the more he groaned.

Finally he pushed her away forcibly with her shoulders.

“Hang on, I don't want to finish so soon.”

“I—” She started to protest that she wasn't finished but stayed silent. He had said to obey him, so she did. Madeline wanted to take control, but Maddie knocked her aside and relinquished control to Teague.

“Kneel on the bed.”

She did so in a few seconds. Her tail was up in the air like a bitch waiting for her hound. She could even smell her own arousal. The bed creaked under Teague's weight as he climbed behind her.

His large hands cupped her ass, and, to her surprise, he spanked her once. Hard. Instead of anger, she felt…well, she felt excited. Her nipples rubbed against the wool blanket beneath her, the cloth lightly scraping the hard peaks.

“I've wanted to do that for a month. Your ass is made for spanking.”

Madeline thrust her fanny even farther in the air, waiting, hoping for more. Instead his hands dipped lower, and his fingers delved into her wetness, teasing her. She moaned and leaned into his hand, needing more.

He pulled his fingers out and rubbed up and down from her behind to her pleasure nubbin. She couldn't help it—she gasped but bit her tongue to keep the command to touch her more from escaping.

Teague replaced his fingers with his cock. He rubbed up and down, over and over. Before she even knew it had happened, he had entered her and withdrawn. Then he did the same thing on her other hole, the one in her fanny.

“What—?”

Teague slapped her skin again, and she moaned at the sensation that shot through her like a bullet.

“You are not to speak. Just feel and obey.”

Madeline nodded, knowing he couldn't see her, but she figured he understood her silence for consent.

He teased her again in her other hole, this time a bit farther. In and out, in and out. Again. And again. She didn't understand it, but she began to crave it. Different pleasure, but equally exciting.

Yes.

He plunged into her without warning, right up as far as he could go. She was full, full, full…and incredibly close to having an orgasm. He withdrew and plunged again into the forbidden. His talented fingers started pinching her clit, pushing her pleasure even higher.