Not that Nate was complaining. He would use all the excuses he could to be near this woman.
“So how was your week?” she basically breathed into his ear, sending a shiver down his neck.
“Extremely busy and I’m glad it’s over.”
Madison laughed, nodding her head in commiseration. “Boy, isn’t that the truth. I thought I was going to die halfway through,” she said as she placed a hand lightly on his upper arm to steady herself as she spoke to him.
It was all his body needed to respond to her, his arm moving before he knew what he was doing, reaching around her waist and pulling her close to his side.
And there it was. Her sweet floral scent, spiked with vanilla.
He couldn’t help but remember the last time they’d been in something resembling an outing, the after-party for his basketball match, how things could be so different now but in a way exactly the same.
Yes, the music was different, their timeline changed, their faces slightly more lined. But everything she was and everything he felt was unaltered. That night he’d promised himself that he wasn’t letting her go.
And it was time he made good on his promise.
“Dance with me, Mads.”
thirty-six
"Dance with me, Mads.”
Those words felt like plunging into warm water while holding her breath. Her limps turned loose and relaxed while her heart sped up from the lack of air. She knew all she had to do was resurface and take a deep breath. After all, the soft smile that graced Nate’s lips told her everything she needed to know; whether she chose to sink in deeper waters or reach for the surface, she wouldn’t be doing it alone.
“Are you sure?” she said, repeating the same words she’d said before, in another time.
His eyes were blazing as his lips moved.
“I’ve never been surer.”
This time, it was she who threaded her fingers with his and pulled him towards the throng of people who were already moving languidly to the beat. Maddy walked slowly backwards, which was why she was able to see Nate’s wolfish grin. Then her gaze was powerless not to roam down his body and the sinful picture he painted tonight.
He was all dark breathlessness, the neon lights of the club hitting the angles of his face in a way that should have been illegal.
Her blatant ogling halted when her back almost bumped against someone, Nate tightening his hold on her hand and pulling her against the front of his body to prevent it.
And suddenly there was only him.
No people. No friends. No distractions. Only the low, thrumming bass that guided their movements.
This was nothing like the way they’d danced at that high-school party.
They were moving together as if it was all they could do. As if stopping was unimaginable.
Time was blurring, blending past and present.
And through it all, Maddy couldn’t tear her eyes off him. She wanted to close her eyes, to let herself be carried away by the onslaught of sensation, but he held her prisoner in his intense gaze.
Her hands moved of her own volition, brushing against his front, feeling his chest reach for her palm with his rapid breathing. She laced her fingers behind his neck, a move that brought her body almost flush against his. A moment later, she felt Nate’s scorching touch as his left arm enveloped her almost entirely, while his other cupped her favorite spot, the juncture between her bare shoulder and her nape.
They moved in sync like one body while the beat pulsed and throbbed, and all there was was heat, and sweat, and shallow breaths.
Maddy felt more than heard his next words.
“I’ve never wished for privacy more in my life.” His voice was rough, like he’d been parched for days with no water in sight.
“Is that what you want?” she asked, her own voice unrecognizable even to her own ears.
