Page 73 of Breathtaking

“No.” His wild eyes blaze with anger. “You don’t get to act hurt when you’re the one who made the call. You ended it. Now ask.”

“I don’t want to know.” I pace away from him, not sure how we went from the beauty of that proposal to this. “I never thought you’d be alone forever. I didn’t want that for you.” I spin back around as my anger wins over, my arms flung out to my side. “But my cousin? Did you have to sleep with my cousin? You could have had anyone else. My God, you probably hadeveryoneelse. But why her?”

Maddox’s blue eyes deepen as he slowly steps forward like an apex predator stalking his prey. “Do you remember when Elwyn hosted the Kings football team last year?” he asks, not showing an ounce of emotion.

“Of course I remember,” I seethe and look away. “I was forced to be there.”

I remember how pissed I was to be summoned like that and wishing I wasn’t in-between ballets, so I’d have an excuse to avoid it. I remember the way Monty wouldn’t keep his hands off me. Or his mouth. And when I look up at Maddox... I know.

Damn it.

“Yeah... now you remember,” he bites back, rage and hurt building behind his eyes and matching my own. “Imagine having to watch me kiss someone else. Imagine seeing their hands on me. Holding my face.”

I close my eyes, trying to block that thought from my brain.

“He kissed me. What was I supposed to do? Push him away with the camera in our faces?” I argue as indignation fuels me. “Are you saying he kissed me, so you fucked my cousin?”

“I’ve probably fucked a hundred women since you told me you were marrying him, princess. I didn’t care who they were. I didn’t even know most of them. I had no idea she was your cousin when I met her. And I didn’t care. Because she had your face. They all did. Every time I was with a woman, I only ever saw you. Wanted you.” He gets in my face, still unbelievably in control. “But I couldn’t have you. You made sure I knew that.”

I shake my head and push down the sob that’s hurtling up my throat. “How is that supposed to make me feel? You used them because you couldn’t have me?” I shove him back as pain tears through me. “Maddox...”

“I never said I was a saint, Lennon. But I loved you. I didn’t fuck Alex because I wanted her. I didn’t spend a night with her to hurt you. She reminded me of you, and when I closed my eyes, you were what I saw.” He wraps a hand around my head and holds my face in front of his. “You’re the only thing I ever see.”

“Maddox...”

“You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved, Lennon. You’ve got to forgive me because I was doing what you told me to. I was leaving you alone.”

“I hated pushing you away,” I pant and fist my fingers in his shirt. “All I wanted was you. All I ever wanted was you, and I got to have you for a little while. Pushing you away was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Anger and hurt war with love and lust until I don’t know what to say or do.

“Then stop doing it, Lennon.”

For a single heartbeat, I think about pushing one more time, but I can’t. I’ve never wanted anyone or anything the way I want him. Instead, I pull him closer and lick my lips. “I hate that you were with her.”

“Never again, princess. No one but you.” One strong hand skims down my trembling body and drags up my thigh as his lips brush that sweet spot where my shoulder meets my neck. One finger pushes inside me, then another. “Tell me this is okay. Tell me you want me. Tell me you forgive me.”

“Promise me it’s just me. I’m the only woman you touch. I’m the only one you see,” I pant.

“Only you,tesoro. Only ever you.”

Maddox lifts me up and sits me on the edge of the table, careful to take my weight before he unbuckles his belt.

My hands fly to his waist as I shove his jeans down below his incredible ass, and he pushes my panties aside, then thrusts inside me in one beautiful movement.

We both hiss with the sting. My swollen body stretching to take him deep inside.

“I’ll never want anyone but you,” he promises as he licks into my mouth.

Swallowing my moans.

Each slow snap of his hips is a measured movement meant to drag his cock along my walls, hitting every neglected nerve ending that’s been begging for attention for months.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve fucked my fist, imagining what it would feel like to be inside you again?” He pulls out and pushes back in again, even slower this time than I thought possible. One arm cradles my head while the other lifts my ass. “Just you.”

“Oh God, Maddox,” I breathe out on a barely audible whisper as I get lost in his touch and his taste. In us.

“Fuck, Lennon. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You deserve better,” he curses against my mouth as his hips finally pick up speed. “You deserved to be worshipped.”

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