Page 68 of Nikolai (Kansas City Reapers)

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” she whined, looking down at herself with open arms and utter exasperation.

“About what?” I asked, feigning ignorance with a smirk.

“Um, about this,” she sputtered, pointing down at her naked, dirt-covered form.

“Seems like a personal problem. Maybe next time you won’t strip down in my office.” I leveled her with a pointed look that turned into a bright smile. “At least not without permission next time.”

“Like you didn’t like it,” she spat, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Oh, I liked it plenty. But I think I might like your naked walk of shame back to the house more.” I crossed my arms over my chest, mirroring her own defiant stance. Little princess wasn’t going to win this round. At least not like that… or at least not yet.

“You wouldn’t dare.” The glare she pinned me with could have melted fucking metal.

I considered my options for all of two seconds, but stretched it out longer, just to give her some grief. She deserved it. Plus, she was cute as hell, all fired uplike this. After a moment, I grabbed her chin, leaning down to kiss her.

What began as a simple kiss turned into something much more consuming. Her body pulled in tight to mine as my hand held her close, moving up and down the curves of her back. Whether it lasted minutes or seconds, I could not have said. All I knew was that we parted some length of time later, breathless and aroused once more.

“Fine,” I finally relented, my hands releasing her to begin unbuttoning my shirt.

“What are you doing?” she asked, throwing me a distasteful and utterly adorable frown.

“Giving you something to wear, obviously.” I threw the shirt around her body, helping her as she slipped her arms into the shirt. It was about five times too big for her, draping around her form like a dress.I did up the buttons for her, swatting her hands away as she tried to do it herself.

“Let me.” It was a simple command, and thankfully, one she complied with. Finally. As I stood there, buttoning each button, looking down at her form, I could not stop the sudden swell of emotion that pooled in my belly and spread upward through my chest.

She was a mess—a dirty, disheveled, downright delectable mess. And I could not tear my eyes from her. She was exquisite. Completely raw and real, all of her flighty, party-girl demeanor stripped away, leaving nothing but pure Maddy in the aftermath. I’d never seen anything as beautiful as she was at that exact moment. I kept my gaze on her a moment longer, wanting to commit it to memory.

A moment later, I shook out of the feeling. I shifted her around, my arm slung over her shoulder as I pointed her back in the direction of the house.

“But we came from that way,” she muttered, pointing to our left as we began walking.

“True, but you led me on a wild goose chase around the property, and we wound up over by the garage in the end.” As soon as I finished speaking, the treeline came into view, with the garage just to the right of that.

“Come on, princess. Let’s go.”

We made our way out of the woods, through the treeline, and around the side of the garage. As soon as we had cleared the edge of the building, the sounds of clapping and cheering rang out from the open roll-up door.

We both stopped in our tracks for a moment, turning to look as Jax, Deacon, and Sully stood there on the pavement, making quite a scene.

“Nice going, you two!” Jax hollered.

“Way to give him hell, Maddy!” Sully joined in. Deacon, bless the man, kept his thoughts to himself as the other two threw salacious remarks back and forth. But I saw the sardonic smirk he threw in my direction.

“Enough, you three. Enough,” I threw back, turning Maddy and me back towards the house. But as soon as I did, laughter rang out with renewed vigor.

“I called it! I CALLED IT!” Sully all but screamed out. “She IS a wildcat! Look at those scratches.”

Sure enough, I realized my back was stinging slightly, the now-exposed scratch marks she’d left up and down my back not enjoying the sweat, dirt, and sun.

Before I could say anything to defend myself, Maddy looked over her shoulder, smiling back at the men as she turned away and out of my arms, lowering into a theatrical bow.

“Just doing my part to remind you sexless boy-wonders what a real woman does to a man who deserves it. You’re welcome.” And just like that, she spun back on her heel and waltzed her way back up towards the house like she owned the place, leaving me standing there for a moment, utterly enraptured with her audacity.

That’s my girl,I thought to myself. And this time, I truly meant it. She was mine. Whether I liked it or not.

Chapter 17

Maddy

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