“Oh…my…God,” she said when she could catch her breath.
“Yeah.” He raised up onto his elbows and looked into her face.
“I don’t remember sex being that good.”
“It usually isn’t.” He pushed a few strands of her hair off her forehead. “In fact, I don’t think it’s ever been that good.”
“You’re welcome.”
He laughed, and his two dimples dented his cheeks. “Thank you.” When she didn’t reciprocate, he lifted one brow up his forehead.
She smiled and unwrapped her legs from around his waist. “Thank you.”
He pulled out of her and moved off the bed. “You’re welcome,” he said over his shoulder as he walked into the bathroom.
Maddie rolled on her side and closed her eyes. She sighed and settled within a nice comfy bubble of afterglow. She didn’t have a tense muscle in her body and couldn’t recall ever being so relaxed. She heard the toilet flush, and she wrapped her arms around the pillow under her head. She should probably have sex more often, as a sort of stress reducer.
“Who’s Carlos?”
Maddie opened her eyes and her afterglow bubble popped. “What?”
Mick sat on the bed and looked at her over his shoulder. “You called me Carlos.”
She didn’t remember that. “When?”
“When you were coming.”
“What did I say?”
A little scowl turned down the corners of his mouth. “‘Yes. Yes. Carlos.’”
Heat rose up her neck to her cheeks. “I did?”
“Yeah. I’ve never been called another man’s name.” He thought a moment, then added, “I don’t think I like it.”
She sat up. “Sorry.”
“Who’s Carlos?”
He obviously wasn’t going to let it drop and she was forced to confess, “Carlos isn’t a man.”
He blinked and stared at her for several moments. “Carlos is a woman?”
She laughed and pointed to the bedside dresser. “Open that top drawer.”
He leaned forward and pulled the drawer open. His brows lowered, then slowly rose up his forehead. “Is that a…?”
“Yes, that’s Carlos.”
He looked at her. “You named it?”
Maddie sat up. “I thought since we’re intimately acquainted he should have a name.”
“It’s purple.”
“And glows in the dark.”
He chuckled and shut the drawer. “It’s big.”
“Not as big as you.”
“Yeah, but I can’t…” He scratched his cheek. “What does it do?”
“It can pulse, vibrate, throb, and get hot.”
“All that and glows in the dark too?” He dropped his hand to the bed.
“You’re better than Carlos.” She moved to kneel behind him and slid her hands down his chest. “I’d much rather spend time with you.”
He looked up into her face. “I don’t glow in the dark.”
“No, but your eyes get all sexy, and I love the way you kiss and touch my body.” She pressed her breasts into his warm back. “You make me vibrate and you make me hot.”
He turned and pushed her down on the bed. “You make me feel like the last time I was in this room. Like I can’t get enough. Like I’m fifteen and can go at it all night.”
A lock of dark hair fell over his forehead and she reached up and smoothed it back. “Is this room a lot different from the last time you were here with…what was her name?”
“Brandy Green.” He glanced about the bedroom. At the mahogany dressers and bedside ta bles and lamps. “To tell you the truth, I don’t remember what it looked like.”
“Too long ago?”
He returned his gaze to her. “Too busy to notice.” Laugh lines creased the corners of his eyes. “Brandy was a senior and I was a sophomore and I was just trying to impress the hell out of her.”
“Did you?”
“Impress her?” He thought a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you’ve impressed me.”
“I know.” He moved over the top of her onto his back, then pulled her across his chest.
“How do you know?”
“You’re a moaner.”
She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I am?”
“Yeah. I like it.” He brushed his hand up and down her arm. “It lets me know you’re into what I’m doing to you.”
She shrugged. “I like sex. I’ve liked sex since my first time when I was a sophomore at UCLA and lost my virginity to my first boyfriend, Frankie Peterson.”
His hand stilled. “You waited until you were, what…twenty?”
“Well, I was Cincinnati Maddie, remember? But once I moved out of my aunt’s house and went away to college, I dropped sixty pounds by virtue of being so poor I didn’t have money to spend on food. In those days, I used to work out a lot too. So much so that I burned myself out, and now I refuse to work up a sweat on anything that is painful and boring.” She ran her fingers up the thin line of hair on his belly.
“You don’t need to work out.” He slid his hand down her back to her behind. “You’re perfect.”
“I’m too soft.”
“You’re a woman. You’re supposed to be soft.”
“But I’m—”
He rolled her onto her back and looked down at her. “I look at you and there isn’t anything I can tell myself that makes me not want to be with you.” His gaze moved over her face. “I’ve tried to stay away. Tried to keep my hands off you. I can’t.” He looked into her eyes. “Maybe after tonight I can.”
Maddie’s breath got caught in her chest. She didn’t want one night. She wanted several nights, but he was Mick Hennessy and she was Maddie Jones. She would have to tell him. Soon.
“We better make it good, then.” She slid her hand to the back of his head and ran her fingers through his short hair. “And tomorrow you can go back to being mad at me, and I’ll go back to be ing celibate. Everything will go back the way it was before tonight.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “You think?”
She nodded. “Neither of us is looking for love, nor even a commitment beyond this room. We both want the same thing, Mick.” She brought his mouth down to hers and whispered against his lips, “No strings. Just a one-night stand.” Since it was the last time she figured she’d have sex before she jumped back on the wagon, she made sure it was memorable.
She left him long enough to turn on the jetted tub and pour mango-scented bubble bath into the water. Then she took him by the hand and led him into the bathroom. They played within the foamy bubbles, and when it was time, she rode him like a seahorse. This time when she hit her peak, she made sure she called out his name.
Once it was over and Mick flushed the last condom, she fell asleep with her back pressed against his chest and his hand on her breast. He’d been talking to her about something, and she’d nestled her bottom against his groin and passed right out. She’d meant to put on a robe and walk him to the door, but it had been a long time since she’d let herself feel safe and secure and protected. It was an illusion, of course. It had always been an illusion.
No one except Maddie could keep her safe and secure and protected, but it had felt so good.
When she woke in the morning, she was alone. Just as she wanted. No strings. No commitment. No demands. He hadn’t even said good-bye.
She rolled onto her side and looked at the morning shadows playing across her wall. She placed her hand in the indent on the pillow next to hers and curled her fingers into a fist. It was better this way.
Even if she never told him who she was, if she just left town and never set eyes on him again, he’d find out eventually. He’d find out when the book hit the stores.