I let out a sharp laugh, her reaction the polar opposite from what I was prepared for. “And I’d do it again every time. No one should talk to you that way, Maddie. Especially not a man who claims to love you. Both he and Bauer are pricks.”
She nods, more like she’s trying to appease me than like she actually believes it. I lift her chin. “I’m serious, Maddie. You deserve to be in that program as much as anybody. Maybe even more so because your dad has been battling against you the whole time. Whatever you choose, please do not let the opinions of those bastards affect it.”
“Roman, there’s something I want to tell you.” Maddie presses her lips together. “I’m not going to go to LA.”
What?LA sounds like a dream come true for her and despite our initial argument, I thought we’d come to a compromise about the whole thing. Her sudden change of heart takes me by surprise.
“Are you sure? If it’s because—”
Maddie holds her hand up. “Before you say anything, my choice has nothing to do with you and Ty. Or I guess in a way it does, but only because you showed me that there’s more to life than just chasing after titles and records and trying to be the best. We could break up tomorrow and I’d still be happy with my choice. I was in a hurry to fast track everything because I wanted to prove myself to my dad, but that’s not important to me anymore. What’s important is being great at what I decideto do, and a few years here in general surgery will help me do that. I’m a good doctor, but like you said, part of that is because I take the time to get to know my patients and to make them comfortable. I think for a while I forgot that medicine is about helping people. It’s not about checking off boxes and hitting the numbers rushing through things to make a name for myself.”
Once done, she lets out a long breath, as if she’d been holding it the entire time she was talking. She bites her lip as she looks at me, waiting for my reaction.
An unabating grin spreads across my face, so wide that my cheeks ache as I wrap her into a hug. “I’m so goddamn proud of you, you know that? I know how hard it is to shift your dreams, but I think you’re right. What’s important is that you’re happy and that you’re doing something you love. And that it’s for you. No one else.”
“And that I get to see you and Ty every day is a nice plus.” She smiles.
“You know I would have done whatever I needed to in order to make LA work.”
“I do.” She nods. “But that made my decision even easier. I’ve never had someone believe in me the way you do, Roman. Someone willing to inconvenience themselves to make my dreams come true, and I just…I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
Cupping her chin, I slant her face up so I can capture her mouth in a kiss. Maddie melts into me, her tongue sliding through my lips for a quick taste before pulling away with a sweet moan.
“You’re not the only one getting something out of this relationship, Maddie. You’ve completely changed Ty’s and my life for the better, and I’ll never be able to thank you enough. I can’t imagine a life without you in it.”
On her tiptoes, Maddie kisses me again, her hands slipping into the back pockets of my pants. “Me too.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
TheneedforMaddiehits me like a freight train. It’s blinding. It’s consuming. And I know there is no chance in hell that I can wait long enough to get up the stairs.
Instead, I slide my arm underneath her, lifting her up onto the kitchen counter.
“Roman…” she whines, draping her neck back as I leave a scorching trail of kisses along her bare skin. “We should go upstairs.”
“No one is home. I want you right here.” I grunt, my hands covering every inch of lace covering her body. It’s the fight of my life not to rip it to shreds. Instead, my fingers fumble with the zipper, slowly inching it down until the dress loosens and her full, perfect tits come spilling out. Jesus fucking Christ. She hasn’t had a bra on this whole time?
Maddie must read my mind, because she blushes, inching forward with her hands holding onto the counter in a way that pushes her breasts up. “Then get to it.”
Her encouragement is nice, but I don’t need it, because I’m about to fucking explode with anticipation. There will be nothing gentle about tonight. Nothing soft. Nothing slow. And as I lay Maddie against the cool granite, she knows it.
Her teeth sink into her lower lip and she lets her arms fall to the side, laying in front of me like a fucking masterpiece. Like a painting that belongs in the Louvre. A piece of art sculpted by God himself.
Those gorgeous tits bounce in front of me as she arches her back, every bit as desperate as I am as she tilts into me. My lips drag down her jawline to her neck and across her collarbone. When my tongue swipes against the smooth, creamy skin of her breast, Maddie trembles, parting her lips.
“That feels good?” I ask.
She gives me a gentle whimper and I take that as my answer. Catching her nipple with my mouth, I flick my tongue against her as I massage her other breast in my hand. The peak hardens, and Maddie wriggles beneath me. I grab her hips, bracing her against the counter so she stays in place. With every suck, her moans grow louder and more intense, while her nails dig deeper into my back.
“Oh god, Roman,” she whines as I switch sides.
I peel the rest of Maddie’s dress off, piling it on the floor. The only thing that shields her naked body from my gaze is a pair of gauzy panties that rip with one swift tug.
“Roman!” she squeals, playfully squirming in my hold as I work the fabric off of her. Ignoring her half-hearted protests, I throw my jacket to the side, buttons popping off of my shirt as she tears it away.
There’s a familiar thirst in her eyes as she runs her fingernails down my bare chest. “God, you’re so hot, Roman.”
She says my name like it’s a dirty word and I love the sound of it.
