Two Lives in Waltz Time Read online

  When her mouth reached the middle of his stomach, Maddy exhaled, letting her warm breath sweep down and around his long shaft. It jumped in response, his abdominal muscles tensing beneath her cheek. Sliding her hand farther down his cock, she pulled the skin taut, exposing the glistening head before closing the gap and sliding it between her lips.

  For seconds, she merely held it there, swirling her tongue along the ridge, beneath the skin, memorizing its shape and curve. Cash shuddered, and his fingers tightened in her hair, each pull sending tingles of pleasure down her spine. It goaded her into taking in a little bit more, and then a little more after that, until her lips were stretched and her mouth impossibly full. That was where she stopped, breathing deeply, savoring the velvet steel against her tongue.

  “Maddy…” His body vibrated from how tightly he controlled it. “Please…”

  She didn’t need to be told twice. Slowly, she pulled back, keeping the suction tight, swallowing down every drop of excitement along the way. He wasn’t the only one wanting more.

  As she settled into a slow, tantalizing rhythm, Maddy became aware of Cash’s hand slipping down her back again, grabbing the soft silk of her gown and pulling it up around her hips. She hadn’t worn underwear, an impulse whose origin she still didn’t understand, and when his fingers found the soft swell of her ass, she moaned around his cock.

  “Come here,” he said.

  He wasn’t taking no for an answer. A strong hand slid between her legs, brushing across her slit as he tugged her back across his chest. Breaking the seal on his cock, Maddy propped herself up on her hands in order to twist back and stare at him.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  His pupils had nearly swallowed the light green of his eyes. “You can’t do that without giving me the same privilege. Now get that beautiful ass up here so I can eat you properly.”

  A shot of electricity went straight to her clit at his blunt order. Slowly, almost as if she was hypnotized, Maddy eased her leg over his chest, allowing him to guide her back to his waiting mouth. Though she couldn’t see what he was doing, she felt every warm breath, and when Cash traced his finger between her outer lips, separating them enough to tease the wet flesh inside, she gasped in delight.

  “Do you have any idea how jealous I was of every wanker you ever went out with?” he said softly. His hand parted her even further, exposing her to the cooler air, and Maddy felt him delicately skim around her opening. “Then when they’d hurt you…”

  His voice trailed off, but before she could question his intent, his tongue flicked across her clit. She cried out at the contact, arching away instinctively, only to have Cash’s good arm come down like a steel band across the small of her back and pin her firmly to his chest. That was when he began the careful exploration with his tongue, foregoing fingers now to delve every slick fold, returning to her clit often enough to leave her aching to grind against his mouth.

  She didn’t, though. Shuddering from the pleasure wracking through her body, Maddy lowered herself and took his cock in hand, pumping it a few times before licking the fluid dripping from the tip.

  His moan made her pussy vibrate. Hunger made her swallow him down.

  The passage of time became meaningless as she drowned in the sensations of his cock sliding in and out of her mouth, his tongue and teeth devouring her clit. At one point, Cash’s free hand found the outer curve of her breast, driving between their bodies to reach her hard nipple. He pinched at the same time he bit her clit, and Maddy’s sudden orgasm crashed through her, making her writhe within his hold. Pulling free of his cock with a wet pop, she gasped for air as the room spun around her, her fingers clawing into his powerful thighs.

  The moment she began to come down, she returned to the temptation of his flesh. She was determined he would feel at least a fraction of the pleasure he had created in her.

  The taste of him spurred her to take him deeper, to quicken her strokes until the attention Cash was devoting to her pussy was torn away. His breathing grew ragged, but all Maddy cared about was driving him over the edge. Sliding a hand between his thighs, she cupped his balls, and when his legs parted even further, she knew what she had to do.

  He came as soon as her fingertip grazed over his ass, thrusting into her mouth as he shot, her name falling in adulation from his lips. Maddy swallowed it convulsively, setting off another trembling groan from Cash, and she closed her eyes to savor the musky scent of his skin. It lasted only for a second, though. All too soon, he pulled her away from his hips, tugging her back and up onto his chest so that his mouth could ravage hers in a passionate kiss.

  “Stay here tonight,” he whispered against her lips. “Don’t go back to your room.”

  Maddy stiffened. She hadn’t given any thought about what would happen afterward. All she had considered was convincing Cash she wasn’t running away from the desire between them any more.

  She looked up to see his eyes intent on hers. “Don’t tell me you’re changing your mind again,” he said, his voice still rough. Now, though, she imagined it was growing irritation rather than passion that was affecting him so. “Because if you start tossing words around like ‘shouldn’t have happened’—”

  “I’m not,” she said quickly. “I just…” It was hard to formulate words with their mingling sweat adhering their torsos together. Every twitch of his skin reverberated against hers, and to say it was distracting was putting it mildly. “Do I look like a flake if I say I hadn’t thought that far ahead?”

  Cash paused, and then a brilliant grin split his features, rumbling laughter making his body shake. “There’s my Maddy.” He swatted playfully at her bare bottom, but didn’t fight when she rolled off to the side. His arm remained curled around her to keep her against him, and his eyes glowed as he gazed at her.

  “Let’s do this right then,” he said. “I’m asking you, please spend the night with me. Here, your room, in the bathtub, I don’t really care about the where. All I want is to wake up and have your beautiful face be the first thing I see. It’ll help me believe this actually happened.”

  She squelched the fear that suddenly arose within her. Trust had to start somewhere, and while she felt it, she knew Cash was the sort of man who needed something tangible to hold on to. After everything that had happened, he wasn’t willing to risk too much to chance any more.

  “We’ll sleep here,” she said quietly, and laid her head against his chest. She couldn’t help her smile. “That way, if you do something stupid and start bleeding again, it gets on your sheets, not mine.”

  His throaty laughter soothed away the rest of her worries.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Maddy was gone when Cash woke up. His sleep had been heavy, the dark dreams that had visited his other nights in the painting world surprisingly absent, but when he reached out to hold the reason why, he met an empty pillow.

  He opened his eyes and stared at the rumpled sheets. There was still a slight indentation where her body had rested all night, and if he concentrated, Cash could smell the scent of her skin lingering on the satin. Maddy had been the first to fall asleep, and he had lain awake for long after, waiting for her to disappear.

  It was more than he’d expected. Desired, yes. But his outbursts had been fuelled more by frustration than prospect, years of wanting to touch a single flame of Maddy’s fire coming to fruition. She had been more delicious than he’d imagined. Remembering the heat of her thighs against his cheeks while lapping at her juices was enough to leave Cash hard and aching. For him, it was the start down a path that both terrified and thrilled him, but without her presence, he could only wonder how Maddy would perceive their morning after.

  Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Cash sat up, testing his injured arm. It was sore, but the bandage was clean. As long as he didn’t overexert himself, it would be fine without any other medical intervention. He smiled. Maddy had been right not to let him be as aggressive as his instincts had suggested last nig
ht. He was not accustomed to playing such a passive role when it came to women. In the bedroom, Cash very much liked to be the one in control, and it had taken more fortitude than he thought he possessed to acquiesce to her wishes. He really should have known better. One of these days, he was going to realize Maddy was more often right than wrong.

  Cinching his robe around his waist, Cash opened the bedroom door and scanned the room for any sign of Maddy, but it looked like it always did. She had even put away the whiskey he had been drinking and closed up the liquor cabinet. Listening for her produced nothing as well. All that greeted him were the echoing silence of the apartment and the soft patter of raindrops against the windows.

  “Maddy?” he called out, crossing to her bedroom. When there was no reply, he tested the knob, twisting it easily to poke his head inside.

  Still no Maddy.

  She had to be somewhere. Turning back to face the empty apartment, he remembered her shopping excursion the day before and walking out of his room to find her golden and radiant in the middle of the living room floor. He immediately relaxed. Of course. She didn’t want to be cooped up all day. Or she was hungry and decided to go get something to eat. Plenty of rational explanations. There was nothing for him to be worried about.

  He almost believed that.

  He found the note when he went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. She’d left it right on top of his mug, as if knowing he’d head for that first, and Cash smiled to himself as he read it over. It was oddly relieving to think she knew him that well already.

  According to her brief message, Maddy had decided to head down to the hospital and meet up with Ava upon her discharge. So she’d have a familiar face, Maddy said. She would be back after lunch.

  Cash hummed under his breath as he finished getting his tea ready. There were a lot of reasons to be physically attracted to Maddy, but it was the little things, like thinking of Ava when they were in the midst of chaos, that turned that attraction into something more.

  For the first time in a long time, that something more didn’t leave him feeling like running far, far away.

  The rain splashed into pools on the concrete, filling Maddy with the overwhelming desire to take a running jump into the nearest puddle. For whatever reason, she had been giddy all morning, racing through her shower, fighting the impulse to straddle Cash and wake him up with kisses. The peace in his face, however, had stopped her. Rest would do him good. And there would be other mornings where she could perfect her waking technique.

  Meeting up with Ava had seemed like the best way to get beyond the reach of temptation. Though she had no idea where Gino lived, it was simple enough to find out which hospital Ava was at, and Maddy hopped into a cab with a smile and her address written on a slip of paper inside her purse. The last thing she needed today was to get lost in this faux New York.

  Rather than miss them someplace within the hospital, Maddy settled in the front lobby, ready to pounce as soon as she saw them. Her heel tapped against the floor as the only visible evidence of her pent-up energy, and the moment she saw the pair emerge from the elevator, she leapt to her feet, rushing to close the distance.

  “Ava!” When she noticed the wheelchair, she ground to a halt, her gaze jumping to Gino pushing it. “What’s with the wheels? I thought you said she was fine.”

  “I am,” Ava cut in. “Standard hospital procedure. The nurses wouldn’t let me out of their sight unless I was in it.”

  When she rose to her feet, Gino was immediately at her side, his hand on her elbow. “You’re supposed to wait. You’re going to get us in dutch if they see you.”

  “I’m fine,” Ava reiterated. “Now, can we get out of here before they change their minds?”

  Gino’s disapproving frown made Maddy giggle, but she held her tongue while he picked up Ava’s bag. “Stay here,” he ordered. “I’ll bring the car around.”

  They followed him to the front door and watched as he pulled his jacket up around his ears, shielding his dark hair from the rain. When a distant roll of thunder rumbled, he visibly flinched but ducked his head anyway and ran toward the parking lot.

  “Beneath that boxer exterior lies the heart of a true little boy,” Maddy commented with a smile. Dismissing her amusement, she turned to Ava. “So. How big is your headache? Between finding yourself in this crazy place and ending up in the hospital overnight, I’ll bet you’ve got more than a few questions.”

  “Some,” Ava admitted. “But you said I had to get Cash to answer them, right? You think Gino would mind taking us there instead of taking me home?”

  “Didn’t the doctor put you on bed rest or something?”

  “Yeah, I should be so lucky.” She rolled her eyes. “Everything checks out, so if I want, I can go back to work tonight.”

  “You don’t sound too thrilled about that. Usually, you’re little miss workaholic.”

  Ava snorted. “Did you see the shoes I have to wear? And that costume? I’m Betty Boop, except in Technicolor.”

  Together, they laughed at the image it evoked, and Maddy poked her friend in the arm. “It could be worse. You could be on the roster.”

  Ava’s eyes went wide. “Oh, God, do I owe you for getting me out of that. I finally got Gino to tell me what it was. When I think I offered to give Lombardi a private demonstration…” Her voice trailed off, her face pale, and after a moment of contemplation, she frowned. “Gino said…you got off the roster because of Cash. That you two are engaged. Is that true?”

  “It is in the world according to Monet. Live together and the whole shebang.”

  “And…you’re okay with that?”

  Maddy smiled. Remembering the soft set of Cash’s mouth when she had woken up that morning made her answer easy. “Yeah. Getting stuck here together kind of forced us to put away the boxing gloves for a while. He’s…not so bad.”

  It was Ava’s turn to poke playfully at her friend. “I told you he was sweet if you would just give him half a chance.”

  In spite of her newfound bliss, Maddy wasn’t ready to have this conversation with her friend. It was still too new, too fresh, too raw. It wasn’t ready to be dissected by the best friend brigade. “Not as sweet as a certain bouncer,” she said, changing the subject. “Have you figured out what the deal is between you two yet?”

  Ava’s gaze strayed to the glass, peering out into the rain as if in search of Gino’s car. “Friends. Except I’m pretty sure he wishes it was something else.” All of a sudden, she turned back to Maddy. “Do you know he spent the entire night at the hospital? He told me he was going, but he didn’t. He slept down here in one of those little tiny chairs because he didn’t want me to know he was hanging around.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “One of the nurses told me. And then, when he came by this morning, he kept going on about how he slept so well when I could see perfectly well how funny he was walking from being cramped all night.” When a dark car pulled up to the curb, she stiffened. “Here he comes. He doesn’t know that I know, so don’t let on that you know, okay?”

  They pushed open the door, stepping out into the rain at the same time Gino emerged from the car with a large, black umbrella. Spotting them, he hurried to cut them off, blocking the rain from hitting them. “You sure you’re jake?” he asked Ava, his dark eyes sweeping over her yet again. He flushed at her direct stare and nodded. “Right. Let’s go then.”

  Maddy hung back slightly as they rushed to the car, smiling when Gino ensured he was the first to reach it in order to open the door. Sliding in beside Ava, she brushed the rain from her hair while they waited for Gino to get in the front seat.

  “Oh, before I forget,” he said as he settled his bulk behind the steering wheel. “Mr. Lombardi gave Pauline the boot this morning. Thought you’d like to hear that.”

  It took a moment for Maddy to remember who Pauline was. Though she was disappointed that the woman hadn’t been turned into the police, she knew it was partially her own fault Lom
bardi was playing it so close to the vest. She was the one who’d planted the bug in his ear about getting cops involved.

  “Good riddance to bad trash, I say.” Gino was still talking, turning the key in the ignition. “I might not have been around when she and Cash were mixed up together, but I see the way he is with you. Pauline saw it too. Bad news, all around.”

  In the rush of everything—treating Cash, their ensuing passion—she had forgotten about questioning just why he had been shot in the first place. A sharp pang in her stomach drew her gaze back forward, searching for Gino’s in the rearview mirror. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know,” he said, pulling away from the curb. “Cash and Pauline’s thing. From the way I hear it, she thought he was going to marry her. But then again, I hear Cash has been a player for a long time.” Realizing what he’d said, his eyes jumped to the mirror, catching Maddy’s shocked expression. “Before you, of course.”

  Logic told her this was all history made up by the painting, but it wasn’t rational thought that guided her emotions at the moment. All Maddy could think about was Cash saying all the right things, making all the right moves, to get what he wanted. It was an opinion she’d had back in their world, and to see it thrown back in her face—with blonde proof to go with it—stung more deeply than she would have imagined.

  “I got other good news,” Gino said. “Mr. Lombardi told me to tell you two girls that you could have tonight off. Since Cash is still out for the count and all.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you I’m fine?” Ava argued, then flushed. “Not that I’m saying I want to go to work, but why would Mr. Lombardi give me time off after everything he said last night?”

  “Well…” Gino’s knuckles tightened around the steering wheel, white knobs against the ebony. “He thinks…well, I told him…the doc said you needed another day off.” He glanced into his mirror, dark eyes pleading with Ava this time. “Resting won’t do you no harm. Take advantage of it.”