Page 64 of Her Ex's Father
We move together through the house, barely breaking the kiss, until we find ourselves in my bedroom.Ourbedroom. Having her so close has been a comfort and a temptation, every goddamn night.
Clothes scatter without thought, but the urgency isn’t in stripping away barriers—it’s in holding on.
Maddie’s body is changing, and it’s obvious that she’s self-conscious about it. She covers her breasts with crossed arms, seems to want to shield her belly, but I smooth her hands away and follow her curves with mine.
“I made you a promise earlier,” I murmur before stealing her mouth once more. It’s hot, wet, and my hand delves between her legs, seeking the heat there. She’s more than ready for me as I tug her toward the bed.
When I finally sink into her, it isn’t about release. It’s about grounding. About reminding her—and myself—that this is real. That despite the gossip, despite the whispers, despite Derrick and our families and everything stacked against us—we chose this.
She clings to me as I thrust into her, eyes locked on mine, and for the first time since Georgiana’s death, I let someone see me stripped bare. No defenses. No legacy. No empire.
Just a man, and the woman he can’t imagine losing.
When she cries out, it isn’t loud—it’s quiet, shuddering, like a prayer. And when I follow, my forehead pressed to hers, it feels less like sin and more like salvation.
Afterward, tangled in sheets and silence, Maddie’s fingers trace lazy circles over my chest. Her eyes are heavy, but her voice is clear when she whispers, “I believe you.”
I kiss her hair, my throat too tight for words.
Because for once, the truth is simple.
I love her.
And no one—not Joseph, not Ann, not the past—will take that from me.
Chapter 23
Madeline
The air is warming up, everything shifting toward summer, and the woods behind the lodge smell of pine and damp earth. I walk slowly, arms folded over the swell of my stomach, letting the rhythm of my steps calm me. Ben is buried in meetings today, Caroline took Leo into town, and for once, the silence belongs only to me.
It should feel peaceful.
But it doesn’t.
I can’t shake the sense that someone’s watching. Hugh knows I’m out here, on one of the lesser trails—Bear’s Den—skirting the very edge of the tree line. He assured me, before I went out with just a water bottle and light jacket, that there are definitely no bears denning around here and the walk takes about 20 minutes at a normal pace. I’mmuchslower, crouching down to admire the mushrooms popping up at the base of oaks and the wood asters growing in the gaps.
But there’s something… else. Or someone else. The trees loom too close, every branch creaking like it’s whispering secrets. It isn’t the first time I’ve felt it—that prickling crawl along my neck, like unseen eyes on me. With the sun past noon, long shadows rope across the ground. I ease my anxiety bytelling myself that soon I’ll be sitting down to dinner with Ben. Maybe tempting him back to bed after…
I try to shake it off.Paranoia.That’s what it is. But my feet keep moving faster, crunching through leaves until I reach the narrow trail that winds toward the creek.
“Going for a stroll, Maddie?”
I freeze.
The voice slurs, familiar and unwelcome. My stomach drops before I even turn.
Derrick.
He steps from between two trees like he’s been waiting all along. His dark hair is unkempt, eyes glazed. The smell hits me first—whiskey, sharp and sour, bleeding through the crisp air despite it being barely past noon. His grin is crooked, smug.
“You scared me,” I manage, forcing my voice steady.
“That wasn’t my intention.” He sways slightly, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets. “Or maybe it was.”
My pulse pounds. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people. Especially not me.”
“Why not you?” His eyes slide down, blatant, lingering on the curve of my stomach before flicking back up. “You were mine first.”
