Page 21 of Mad About Her Cowboys

“It’s okay. I just remind myself I have the opportunity to surround myself with the family I choose…like the Szuzmans. They’re as close to me as sisters would be.”

“I’m glad you have someone close,” Franklin told her. His hands smoothed along her arms, then his fingers linked through hers, holding them at her sides while he leaned in and kissed her neck.

“This okay?” he asked.

She tilted her head to the side to give him room. “Mm-hmm,” she hummed.

Connor cupped her nape and angled his mouth to hers. He didn’t ask if it was okay. He just took, but she parted her lips, moaning to let him know permission was granted.

“Madison,” he whispered against her lips. “Tell me what you want. I don’t want to go too far. Just tell us what you want.”

She started to lift her hands to curl them into his shirt, but found herself still restrained by Franklin. It didn’t bother her as she would have thought it might. Instead moisture flooded her core as her need ramped up. She was safe with them. If she said no, they’d stop right now. But God, she didn’t want them to stop.

“Everything,” she gasped. “I want everything. I know it’s new to you, but I want…” She dragged in a breath. “All of you. Everything.”

Chapter Ten

If Connor got any harder, his dick would bust through his pants. When Madison started questioning him about being in a ménage, he’d had to be truthful that he’d never done that. Sure, he knew about it. Of course, he did. What he hadn’t said was that he wanted one. It was exactly the relationship he desired but had been afraid to voice to his “brothers” who seemed content to go one-on-one with women. Connor was less vanilla. He wanted to share, in the same bed, together, he and his partner making their woman—one woman—scream with delight.

Franklin was his best friend. Connor probably should have discussed it with him.

Now, with Madison between them, it wasn’t the time for talk. It was time for action. He continued kissing her, still cradling the nape of her neck. He groaned as Madison responded just as hungrily. Thank God she’d decided not to make them wait for ages to get together.

“Are you sure?” he still asked.

“I want tonight,” she replied. “Let’s go from there?”

“We can do that,” Franklin said, from behind her. He met Connor’s eyes. “Can’t we, Connor?”

Connor wanted to say, hell, no, but restrained himself. “Yeah,” he replied, glad the tone hadn’t come out grudgingly. If she only wanted tonight, if she tried to walk away after this, he would do everything in his power to get her onboard with a hell of a lot longer—a hell of a lot longer than a one-night stand, that was.

Madison pinned him with a stare, obviously more attuned to him than he thought. Franklin sighed, cuing him in to the fact he’d been far more transparent than he’d thought.

“Don’t think like that,” she told him. “ I’m not suggesting a one off. I just…need to make decisions carefully. And maybe, it’s not my best decision to leap into this right now, but…” She let out a little moan as she rubbed against him, no doubt taking in the rigid length of his cock pressed to her belly. “I know without a doubt that I want this now. I could think about it for months and still come to the same conclusion.”

“Good,” Connor replied, his voice a dark rumble of need. “But just so you know…if you need more convincing, I’m the man to do it. I’ll give you tonight, but I’m not going to let you walk away easily. I’ll work so hard to make it difficult for you because you’ll want us so much—that’s not a threat,” he went on as he palmed her breast, feeling her hard nipple against his fingers. He slipped his hand to the center of her chest. “You’ll know here, just as clearly as I do, that we belong together.”

She swallowed hard, looking up at him, understanding and desire in her gaze. She might not want to admit that this was right, that it should be a done deal, that anything could happen this quickly, but she knew it. He saw the knowledge in her eyes. It was there inside her, just as it was inside him—they belonged together and it didn’t matter how quickly things had happened. He and the guys just had to cement that for her, before something happened to knock them off-course.

“Okay,” she breathed. “I…I need to tell you the rest of what happened. When I got pregnant, I mean. I… In case I freak out or something.”

A dark feeling akin to rage clawed at him. He’d felt it earlier when she’d been telling them about the situation and pushed it away…somewhat, anyway. It had edged in again when she’d been fearful heading to the room. And he knew. He had to tread carefully, or it could create a deal breaker—for her, not for them. If he and his foster brothers had to back off and wait, they would, because to his marrow, he knew. He knew, and he wanted to kill someone over it.

“He forced you?” he asked, leading her toward the bed. He sat on the edge then pulled her into his lap. She sat stiffly, and he slowly rubbed his palm up and down her back. Franklin sat beside them and took one of her hand in his.

“Yes,” she whispered. “That’s a pretty sanitized term for what he did, even though I didn’t want to admit it at the time.” Her head bowed, and he wanted to punch something—no, he wanted to punch someone. He wasn’t a violent man, per se, but some assholes deserved an unrelenting beating…or worse. “He came to my apartment, and I know I shouldn’t have let him in, but I did. He said he wanted to talk. He’d never apologized, so I thought he might want to do that finally. He started coming on to me, and I told him no. He didn’t listen…and he’s so much stronger than me. I…I…”

“Shh…” Connor said, gathering her close. “You don’t have to tell us.”

“I… For a long time, I thought it was my fault. I shouldn’t have let him in, you know. We knew each other. We’d been together many times, so it wasn’t…” She swallowed hard again, shaking so violently he was afraid she might fall off his lap. He wanted to hold her tighter, but didn’t want to frighten her. “Rape,” she finally whispered. “But it was. I was so confused… I didn’t report it. I didn’t think anyone would believe me. And we worked together, we had so much history, we have the same circle of peers…and he’s technically my superior—doctor to my nurse.”

“It’s okay, Mads,” Franklin murmured.

“But it’s not. I feel like I failed myself.”

“No,” Connor protested. “None of it is your fault. None of it.”

“And now, I’m afraid of him messing up the rest of my life. In here,” she tapped her temple, “not by doing something else. But with memories taking away who I am.”

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