Page 30 of Possession

Chapter 18

Nathaniel

I knewthe second Madeline entered the kitchen. My body buzzed with her presence. I cast a glance over my shoulder. Fuck, she was beautiful.

She paused a second when she caught my eye. “Can I help you with anything?”

I waved her off and gestured for her to sit down at the table. “Thanks, but everything is ready. Have a seat.”

I plated the hot breakfast I’d made and walked over to where she sat sipping from one of the glasses of orange juice I’d already set out. I laid the plate down in front of her and smiled when she glanced up at me.

“Scrambled eggs and bacon are about the only things I know how to make that won’t kill you.” When I made to turn back to make my own plate, she laid her hand on my arm.

“I missed waking up to you this morning.”

I caught the hurt in her words. “I’m sorry. I had some work to take care of and I didn’t want to disturb your sleep. You looked so peaceful lying in bed.”

“Thank you for taking such good care of me.” The look in her eyes seemed to say that it had been a long time since someone had really taken care of her. It made me curious about the last Dom she’d been with. Even though she hadn’t confirmed he was one of the reasons she’d moved here, I knew it was true given the information she’d provided us at the beginning of this case.

I threaded my fingers through her hair and palmed the back of her head before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You’re an easy woman to take care of.”

Once my plate was full I returned to sit next to her. She took a few bites, but then pushed her food around on her plate.

“Food not to your liking?”

She jerked her head up and her eyes widened. “Oh no, I’m sorry. It’s delicious. I was just thinking.”

“Want to talk about it?” I set my fork down and looked at her with an expression I hope conveyed my genuine interest, because I really did want to know what was going on inside her head. Joseph was the patient and gentler one. Not that he was soft by any means, but he was better equipped to deal with… emotions. Emotions usually made me twitchy. But with Madeline, I was different. Or at least I wanted to be. I wanted to be the one she opened up to. To share her thoughts with. Her heart with.

When she hesitated, a single word spilled from my lips. A word I couldn’t remember the last time I spoke. “Please.”

“I was thinking about Vince actually.”

Ouch. I guess I should be careful what I ask for.

She must have sensed my hurt, because she rushed on. “Not like that. It’s just that when you said I was easy to take care of, it just reminded me of how hard Vince worked to take care of me and it always seemed like I was never satisfied, which makes me sound like such a selfish person. He did everything for me, was the perfect Dom, but it didn’t seem to ever be enough.”

“I don’t think you sound selfish. I think you tried everything to make your relationship with him work. Sometimes, though, no matter how hard you care or how hard you try, it just isn’t meant to happen. Some people are circles and some people are squares and no matter how hard you work to fit them together, it doesn’t match up. Circles have to find other circles and squares other squares.”

Madeline blinked and her tinkling laughter flitted through the room sounding like the sweetest song to my ears. “Really? That’s your analogy of why my relationship didn’t work with Vince? Because he’s a circle and I’m a square?”

“Actually, you’re not a square.”

“So I’m a circle.”

I reached for her hand and brought it up to my cheek. I turned my head and dropped a kiss into her palm. “You’re not a circle either.”

She swallowed and her voice was soft and questioning. “What am I then?”

“You’re a diamond. Flawless and perfect. Strong. Crafted and molded specifically for Joseph and me. Besides, you said it yourself. He couldn’t give you what you needed because he wasn’t us.”

Her eyes grew misty. Romance didn’t come easy for me and normally I’d feel awkward and insincere spouting crap like that, but in this case I meant every word. Joseph was right, Madeline was meant to be ours from the moment we saw her. It didn’t matter that we hadn’t known her. She possessed an inner spark that ignited every fuse inside us.

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

I nodded. “Sure.”

“I’ve seen you in work mode. You’re… intense. Brusque. Terrifying at times. You give off this ‘I hate the world’ vibe. The only person who doesn’t walk on eggshells around you is Joseph. That first night at Black Light I saw the darkness inside you, and I just wondered what makes you so angry all the time.”

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