Page 12 of Heart of a Defender

“Then what do you mean, because whatever it is, it isn’t looking so great from where I’m standing.”

I push back the memory of how her smile lit me up less than an hour ago. How she felt in my arms the night of the charity auction. The kiss that soothed a fissure I’ve carried in my heart since I was seven years old.

Her brow wrinkles as she steps closer, her toes even with mine. She’s so close her body heat seeps into my veins. The urge to scoop her into my arms is so great that I have to mentally restrain myself.

“I can’t be impartial because I’m feeling things I swore I’d never allow myself to feel again.” Her eyes soften to a muted greenish-gray, mystical and magical. “You aren’t who I thought you were at all. I like you more than I should, Zach. Feeling this way scares the living daylights out of me. Admitting it aloud terrifies me.”

It takes me a second to let her words soak in. When my thick-headed brain finally catches up, I drag her forward to my chest, wrap an arm around her waist and clutch the back of her neck with my palm. I capture her lips, unleashing the desire building in my veins since the first time we squared off.

I ravage her lips like a dying man who’s been granted his last meal, feasting on her with primitive lust circulating through my veins. Her tongue darts across mine, igniting the fuse coiled in my gut. My stomach tightens as my heart beats out a static rhythm, hard and fast against my ribs. My fingers weave through her silky hair, ruffling the perfumed scent of her shampoo. I breathe her in, allowing it to settle in my lungs, heady and sweet.

She breaks the kiss and leans her forehead to my chin. Her fingertips clutch my arms as her shoulders rise and fall with her labored breath. My body’s a furnace, roaring and ready to combust.

I lift her chin with my fingertip. Her eyelids flutter as if awakening from a deep, drunken slumber, the darkened center dilated and sheltered in warm greens, flaxen golds, and rich ambers. She isn’t a chameleon. She’s magical. A balm to my soul. Something...someone...I never thought possible for the likes of me.

“We can be scared, or we can trust each other.” I stare into her beautiful eyes, wishing I had a crystal ball to foretell the future, but all I have is a gut feeling and the secrets of my whispering heart that spur me to take a chance. Take a chance on Madison. Take a chance on love. “What do you say we get out of here? Go someplace private?”

“Your place or mine.” Madison doesn’t miss a beat.

CHAPTER 6

FAST AND FURIOUS

***

Madison

Zach drives, hitting every red light in town while I sit in the passenger seat, getting more nervous by the second. There’s no doubt what Zach has in mind because I’m thinking the same thing, too. I’ve been on a sex starvation diet longer than a woman in the prime of her life should. All because of a no-good man who took a wrecking ball to my self-esteem, then stuck the knife in deep with his dirty dick, cheating ways.

Still, a niggle of doubt worms its way into my brain, asking questions meant for one purpose only–to shame and guilt me into second-guessing myself.

Good girls don’t run off with virtual strangers to have sex. Zach isn’t exactly a stranger.

Good girls don’t put out until at least the third date or after the three magic words are spoken over a romantic candlelight dinner with the right music, mood lighting and wine. I’m not looking for a marriage proposal.

Good girls should play hard to get. I want to get off without the help of batteries and a vivid imagination for a change. I want the real deal. A man. I want Zach, like yesterday.

Good girls don’t like sex. Nope. Not falling for it. Shut up, brain. I like it, I want it, and I’m getting some.

Grr...damn red lights.

By the time we pull into Zach’s driveway, my nerves are shot and I’m tired of silently arguing with my conscience. Zach turns off the engine and pulls the key from the ignition. When he flashes me his baby blues, I’m a goner.

I throw off the seatbelt, climb over the center console onto his lap, and plant my lips on his. He wraps his hands around my ass as I awkwardly fold myself around his body, with one knee leaning heavily against the door and the other weirdly sticking through the space between our seats. My body spontaneously combusts when his tongue swipes over mine. I finger through his hair, digging into his scalp as he pulls me toward his groin.

“We should go inside,” he murmurs against my lips. “More comfortable.”

“Yeah, sure,” I gasp. “Inside.”

He pops open the door, and I lose my balance when my knee suddenly goes sideways with nothing to support it. Thank goodness Zach is still wearing his seatbelt, otherwise we’d both be on the ground, rolling around like weirdos who’ve tossed dignity into the wind.

“Got ya.” My arms flail, and I let out a miniature scream as Zach catches me, saving me just in time before my head cracks against the glass. “If we don’t get inside, someone’s calling the cops on us.”

His chuckle ripples through my body like a bumpy roller coaster with lots of twists and turns. Maybe I should be embarrassed at my total lack of cool, but I’m an eager beaver hankering for a thick slab of meat. Geez, throw me a bone, and suddenly, I’m a ravenous wolf chomping at the bit.

“Then hurry it up, man. We’re wasting daylight.” I snicker, surprising myself with my cheeky bravado.

Luckily, Zach isn’t put off one bit by it. In fact, by the gleam in his eyes, I think he’s enjoying my playful side. He growls as I straighten my skirt, then lunges at me in full attack mode. My heart explodes with a sudden burst of excitement as he grabs my waist and knees and hauls me over his shoulder.

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