Adam suddenly found himself buried beneath Madison and enveloped in her tight embrace.
“This must be so hard for you, sweetheart,” she whispered and kissed his temple. “I know you were just coming to terms with him being out of your life for good. Do you want to talk about it?”
He drew a deep breath into his heavy, aching chest. “When it’s over.”
She rose up on her arms and gazed down at him, nodding in understanding. “Okay. Day or night, I’ll be here when you need me.”
This. This is why he loved her with every particle of his existence. What would he ever do without her? He wished he’d told her the instant his father had darkened his doorstep. He didn’t have to go through this alone. He had Madison. Madison who understood him. Madison who helped him find his way. He’d never had anyone to depend on before. It was both terrifying and a huge relief to realize that she was there for him when he needed her. “I love you,” he said. “How can I ever repay you for everything you’ve done for me?”
She kissed him gently and stroked his hair back from his eyes. “You already have. In just three words. It’s enough.”
He tugged her against him and pulled the tangled sheets to cover their entwined bodies. She switched off the lamp on her side of the bed and snuggled closer to his chest. “I love you,” she whispered in the darkness.
His heart swelled. If only he could hear those words from her every night before he closed his eyes. She was right—three words were enough. But as her hand stroked up and down the bare skin along his spine, he realized he’d hadn’t yet had enough of her body.
“That feels nice,” he said. “I hope you weren’t actually planning on getting any sleep.”
Chapter Fourteen
A loud banging pulled Adam from a deep sleep.
“Get the f**k out of bed,” Shade bellowed from the hallway. “We were supposed to leave an hour ago. Are you even in there?”
Adam reached for Madison’s sleeping body and tucked her against his chest. Nope, he thought. No one’s home.
“You didn’t have another f**king overdose, did you? If you don’t open this door, I’m calling an ambulance.”
“Go let him know you’re all right,” Madison murmured. “He’s worried about you.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”
He stumbled out of bed, his thighs, bu**ocks and lower back protesting their strenuous workouts from the night before. He stretched as he crossed the hotel suite, not bothering to find clothes on his way to the door.
He yanked it open. “Did you not see the do not disturb sign?”
“It’s after noon.”
“So?”
“So we’ve all been ready to leave for hours. Everyone is waiting for you. As usual.”
Adam supposed everyone but him was looking forward to spending a night at home in Austin. “Yeah, all right. I’ll be right down.” He closed the door and rubbed his face with both hands. He wasn’t sure what time he’d finally fallen asleep, but he remembered the orange glow of dawn seeping into the room from around the edges of the black-out curtains.
“Did he say it was after noon?” Madison said, bolting upright in the middle of the bed and trying to focus on the clock on the nightstand.
Hair tangled, ni**les red, lips swollen, marks on her chest from his sucking kisses, mascara in dark half-moons beneath each eye, Madison looked positively well-fucked. Adam was seriously considering adding another layer to that look.
“I’m going to be late for work,” she said as she collapsed in an exhausted sprawl on her back. Adam stepped on a half-eaten bag of chips. The wrapper crinkled, and the chips crunched beneath his foot as he returned to the bed.
“I’m not sure how my dick is even functional this morning, but it would very much like to show you a good morning.”
She groaned and threw a pillow at him. “I don’t think I can open my legs to accept its good morning.”
“I’ll just bend you over the back of the sofa then.”
She cringed. “We have to go.”
He knew she was right, but that didn’t mean he had to accept it was time for his interlude with Madison to end. He climbed onto the bed beside her and drew her against him. “Just let me hold you for a few more minutes,” he whispered into her hair.
She snuggled closer.
His eyes opened and closed lethargically.
A loud banging started Adam awake some time later. “What is taking you so long?” Shade yelled from the hallway. “There are other people on the planet too, you know. The entire world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“We fell asleep again?” Madison said in a slurred voice. “What time is it?”
Adam tilted his head back and squinted at the glowing numbers of the alarm clock. “One oh four.”
“Shit!” Madison struggled out of the tangle of his arms. He helped her free her legs from the knotted sheet and watched her stumble around the room looking for her clothes. He knew the hesitance in her steps was his doing. Rock on.
“Adam, get dressed.” She threw his jeans at his face.
She fought to get her bra in place and then slipped her dress over her head. It gaped open in the back.
“Where are my panties?” she said.
He grinned. Right where he’d put them.
Hands on her hips, challenging glare on her face, she pursed her lips at him. “I can’t wear this dress without panties. All it would take is a gust of wind and . . . ” She lifted her skirt, and he caught a glimpse of her mound.
His c**k twitched to life, drawing her attention.
“Don’t you dare get a hard-on, Adam Taylor. I’m supposed to be at work in forty-five minutes, and the entire band is waiting for you so they can leave.”
“What can I say?” He shrugged. “You’re a worthy distraction.”
The corner of her mouth twitched with the hint of a smile, and her cheeks pinked in a most beguiling blush.
Adam heard the suite’s door unlock.
“Thank you,” Shade said to a harassed-looking maid. “I think he’s dead in here or something.”
“I’m not dead,” he assured the maid, whose eyes widened when she noticed him lounging on the bed sporting a half a hard-on. “Just naked.”
The maid gasped, hurried from the room and shut the door.
“I’m so sorry, Shade,” Madison said, holding the front of her dress against her chest with one hand. “We accidentally fell back asleep.”