“I didn’t mean to.” His eyes were apologetic. “I covered you up,” he breathed out, shutting his eyes with the pleasure of my movement on him, “and went to get a shower. I’d planned on coming back down to wake you up, but by the time I got back, you were gone.”
All this time I thought he’d had his fun and just went up to bed, leaving me.
“I hate this f**king room,” he finished. His mouth closed but then opened again, looking like he wanted to tell me more but didn’t.
I grabbed the remote and turned on the stereo. Lorde’s “Team” came on, and I clutched the leather sofa behind him with both of my hands and lowered myself onto him slow enough to drive him crazy. “I’m going to make you love it again,” I promised.
He filled me up, and I dropped my head back at the feel of him inside of me.
He let out a low growl and hooded his eyes. “I’d like to see you try.”
CHAPTER 31
MADOC
“There you are,” a voice says behind me, and I tense.
Turning around, I see my stepmother, Patricia, and I don’t hide the frown at seeing her in her short white silk nightie.
Clutching the bottle of water, I slam the refrigerator door shut and try to keep my eyes averted. My head feels staticky from the liquor at the bonfire, but it doesn’t dull the awkwardness of this situation.
Her long blond hair hangs loose, but it looks freshly styled as does her makeup, and her posture isn’t modest. One hand on the kitchen island, another hand on her hip, she sways playfully and smiles.
“Where’s my dad?” I snip.
“Asleep,” she sighs. “In his room. Did you have a good night?”
Why was she being so nice lately?
“Yeah, up until now,” I answer flatly.
I’d just gotten back from a race and a hell of a win against Liam. And I got to see Tatum Brandt race for Jared. Along with the bonfire afterward, it had been an entertaining night.
But I am tired and not in the mood for whatever poison Patricia wants to spew.
I walk around the island, heading out, when she steps in front of me.
“Madoc.” She puts her hand on my chest, and I inch back. “You’ve gotten big with the working out. You look good.” She nods her approval and gives me innocent eyes. “Did you know that your dad’s having an affair?”
Jesus. What the hell?
She definitely isn’t hiding much in that nightie, either. I can see inches of her cle**age and the tan, smooth-looking skin of her arms, legs, and shoulders. Patricia works out a lot and takes care of herself very well with my father’s money. At forty, she looks much younger.
A ten-ton brick crashes in to my stomach when her lips inch in for my neck.
What. The. Fuck?
I push her hand away. “Are you for real?” I’m almost breathless with shock.
Walking past her, I stomp down the hallway and dive in to the theater room. The only place I want to be anymore. Slamming the door, I walk over and plop down on the couch—the one Fallon and I were last together on—and drop my head back, closing my eyes.
My heart is thundering in my chest, and my whole body is hot with anger.
I can’t believe it. My stepmother just came on to me.
With my head swimming, I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to get my head straight from my alcohol-induced blur. The cool leather at the back of my neck calms my breathing.
I don’t understand why, after all this time, I still end up sleeping in this room most nights.
Fallon left. She never really liked me, so why did I want to be reminded of her betrayal?
But still . . . this is the place where we spent the most time together, sometimes in silence and one time not-so-silent.
“Look at me,” Patricia says, and I snap my eyes open.
“Get out!” I shout, my lips tight in seeing her standing in front of me.
Why didn’t I lock the f**king door?
I stand up and get in her face. “This is my room. Get out.”
Her eyes flash with excitement. “You’re in a mood. I can see why Fallon feared you.”
I shake my head. “Fallon didn’t fear me. I don’t know what she told you, but—”
“She couldn’t handle you, Madoc.” She looks up at me, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. “She’s in your past. You need to move on. She certainly has.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s dating someone at her boarding school,” Patricia says, and my heart rings in my ears.
I barely register Patricia’s hands on my chest, rubbing me through my T-shirt.
“She doesn’t even talk about you or ask about you, Madoc. I ask her to come home for visits. She won’t. She doesn’t deserve the man you’ve become.” My eyes close, thinking about all of the time I spend in here, all of the nights thinking about her, and I know it’s a waste of time. I f**king know it. Sure, I dated, too. I hooked up—not as much as I bragged to Jared—but there had been girls. My heart never belonged to any of them, though.
Patricia’s whisper wafts across my neck. “I know what you crave. What will please you. And I can keep secrets.”
She closes the distance, wrapping her arms around my neck, and smashes her lips to mine.
She moans, and all of a sudden I can’t breathe.
No . . .
No.
No!
Grabbing her by the shoulders, I shove her away from me.
“Jesus Christ!” I yell. “What the f**k?”
Her skin is flushed, and she arches an eyebrow. “No?” she laughs. “I don’t think you mean that, Madoc.”
I want to hit her. I actually want to slam her into a wall and erase her from the planet. Most of all, I want her out of here.
“Out,” I order.
Smirking, she walks to the couch and lays down on it. “Make me,” she challenges. “But you’ll have to touch me to do it.”
I stare down at her, lying in the same place I’d last seen Fallon. Her hand rests above her head, and she looks hideous. Like something I never want to remember.
I straighten my expression and speak low. “Leave tomorrow, or I’ll tell my dad about this.”
I should tell him anyway.
But maybe I don’t feel like protecting my father right now. Maybe I want him to suffer in this marriage. Maybe I hate him for bringing both of these bitches into our house.
Or maybe if I lose Patricia, I fear losing Fallon for good.
I don’t know.
I walk out, leaving her on the couch and get out my phone.