Page 80 of Bossy Hero

“Alan, no onekneadsbanana bread. And no, we’re not having sex in my kitchen. That’s disgusting.”

Another of his hot as hell laughs tweaks my nipples, drawing a schoolgirl giggle from me.

After all this tension, sadness, and confusing rage, I need a moment of levity. He must too. And I love that I can be that for him after the torture I’ve put him through.

For so many years.

My mood threatens to sour with that bitter thought. As if he can sense where my mind is headed, he eats up the slight space between us and recaptures my lips.

In a breath, I’m swept right back under his spell.

Once in my room, he backs me toward the bed until the backs of my knees hit the mattress. Both his strong hands cup my face, tilting my head to the side so he can deepen the kiss.

Operating on instinct, I lower my hands from his sturdy shoulders down to his waistband to untuck his shirt. Working like a woman possessed, I quickly unbuckle his belt and start on the fly of his jeans. If I don’t get my hands on him soon, I won’t survive it.

A little dramatic? Perhaps. But it’s beensodamn long. I’m burning from head to toe, and the flames of desire are engulfing my entire body.

After I unzip his fly, I start to lower his pants over his trim hips, but he stops me, encircling my wrists with his rough hands.

“Slow down, Maddie.”

“Go faster, Alan,” I quip back at him.

“No, I meant you come first.”

“Better yet, both of us come together,” I counter, shaking my hands free and shucking his pants down. “I need you inside me.Now. I can’t wait.”

“Stubborn woman.” He shimmies out of his pants the rest of the way, raising one leg and then the next. “I think I got you a little too comfortable with fighting.”

I shrug, then rise to my tiptoes to offer him my lips. “If you didn’t want me to be a monster on the loose, you should have left me in my cage.”

“Not a fucking chance, baby.”

He kisses the cheeky smile right off my lips.

His roaming hands dive under my robe and toss it over my shoulders. They skim their way back along my bare arms, leaving a trail of sparks in their wake. Once he gets to the spaghetti straps of my nightgown, he breaks the kiss, locking me in his gaze. I couldn’t look away if I wanted to.

And I don’t want to. I could die in his eyes. Happily.

With one finger sneaking under the strap, he gives it a tiny tug and breathes across my lips. “I’m gonna show you what you’ve been missing all this time. I hope you’re ready for me.”

“Bring it on.” Despite my jackhammering pulse, I manage to come across as confident.

I think. Well, Ihope.

His grin turns devious as he slams our mouths together again, making my toes curl. At the same time, he absolutely shreds the nightgown off my shoulders. I’m unsure if it evaporated from the heat of this kiss or if he’s some type of clothing-removal wizard.

Regardless of how he did it, my nightgown is pooled at my feet, and I’m standing before him in nothing but my panties.

Thank goodness they aren’t the plain white cotton ones I favor. Since I was on a date tonight, I wore a fancy-ishsilk pair. Even though I knew there was absolutely no chance of my creepy date seeing them. I think it was a mental thing. Like I would feel more attractive if I wasn’t in granny panties. It’s dumb. Don’t judge me. What type of underwear do you have on right now?

Alan drops to his knees, catapulting me from my internal underwear monologue. My hands fall to his head, fingertips swirling through his silky brown hair. It’s so much softer than it looks. Thicker too.

As the wordthickercrosses my mind, a memory of his third leg from that photo all those years ago goes slicing through my brain, bringing with it a glimmer of fear.

Oh boy. That might hurt.

It’s been far too long to go right to that. Perhaps Ishouldcome first, as he so eloquently put it.

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