Page 75 of Cold As Ice

Did I?

I’d tried that with Fallon, and it hadn’t ended well. But Madison wasn’t Fallon. And things weren’t the same between us.

“No, thanks.” She scoffed. “I’ve got more self-worth than to be just another girl in your long line of puck bunnies.”

Madison went to walk off, but I snagged her wrist, tugging her back to me. “Exclusivefriends with benefits.”

Fuck, did I really just say that?

“Why?” Her eyes flashed to mine, full of fire and wrath. She was pissed, and rightly so. But I wasn’t good at this.

“Because we’re good together,” I said. “Because you make me feel good. And I think I make you feel good, too.”

If I pushed too hard, I would lose her. But I didn’t want to keep dancing around the electric chemistry between us. Pretending that I didn’t want to touch or kiss her every time we were close.

I wanted Madison.

And I’d made up my mind I would have her any way I could get her.

Even if it was on her terms.

“I can’t give you more than that, Austin. I have responsibilities, and Imogen will always come first. Always.”

I nodded. “As she should.”

Madison chewed her bottom lip, glancing around at the nearest tables. “I need to get back to work.”

“Later, then?” I asked, hoping I didn’t come off as an overeager idiot.

But the prospect of having her again…

I inhaled a shaky breath, trying to rein in the lust firing off around my body.

“Later,” she whispered as she walked away so quietly I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly.

Until she looked over at me, and I saw it then.

The longing in her eyes.

She wanted what I was offering.

But was she brave enough to take it?

* * *

“God, I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Madison murmured as I licked a path down her jaw, sucking and nipping along her collarbone.

We’d barely made it into her apartment before we crashed together.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” I ran my hand down her spine, curving it over her hip to drag her closer. More, I needed more.

“Yes, so good. So— Ah,” she cried when I rolled my hips against her, letting her feel exactly what she did to me.

I’d been hard for most of the night, my gaze following her as she worked the floor. Every time our eyes caught across the room, it was like lightning in my veins.

Madison Reynolds was my kryptonite, and I was a weak, weak man around her.

“I want to feel you,” she rasped, snaking her hand between our bodies to find my belt. She worked it open and popped the button before dipping her hand inside.

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