in her voice again.
“Do you know what’s crazy?” she asked after a while. “People are always advising dancers to plan for the future, to save their money or study part-time or something. I never did any of those things because I could never bear to think beyond the end of my career. I mean, I’ve got some money saved, but I have no idea what comes next. No idea.”
“Something will come,” he said. “You’re smart, disciplined, hardworking. Whatever you put your hand to you’ll succeed in.”
He could feel her smile against his chest.
“My own personal cheer squad.”
“Simply telling it like it is. Just because you can’t dance anymore doesn’t mean your life is over, Maddy.”
“I know that’s true. I do. But right now, when I try to project into the future, all I get is…nothing. Emptiness.”
He could hear the fear and uncertainty in her voice. At least when he had walked away from his career, he’d walked away for a reason—caring for his father. Even in his darkest moments of self-pity and regret he’d known that he was doing something worthwhile.
“You don’t have to make any decisions straightaway. Take some time out. Let yourself get used to the idea before you start making any plans,” he said.
“Yes.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze.
“I’m sorry about The Nutcracker,” she said.
He shrugged to show how irrelevant it was.
“I could have at least saved freaking out till the end of the performance instead of the beginning,” she said.
“Maddy. Forget it, okay?”
Her gaze dropped from his eyes to his mouth then flicked back to his eyes again.
“Have I ever told what a good man you are?” she asked. “You’ve never let me down. I bet you’ve never let your sister down or your father, either.”
She pressed a kiss to his mouth.
“Thank you. Thank you for always being there,” she said.
She hesitated a second, then leaned close to kiss him again. This time her lips lingered a fraction longer.
He could feel himself growing hard and he willed his body to calmness. The last thing Maddy needed right now was the knowledge that while she was seeking comfort, he was getting horny.
Then Maddy kissed him a third time and he felt the distinct wet roughness of her tongue sliding across his upper lip. Desire thumped low in his belly and his fingers curled into her back instinctively.
He pulled away.
“I don’t think that’s such a great idea, do you?”
Her eyes were heavy-lidded and smoky with need as she tried to kiss him a fourth time. He held back, refusing the temptation.
“Just for tonight, Max. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to think or feel,” she pleaded.
He hesitated. She closed the distance between them and he felt the tip of her tongue trace his lower lip.
She tasted of tears and need, and he was only human. He opened his mouth and her tongue swept inside, sliding along his own sensuously. As soon as he had one taste he wanted a whole lot more and he clamped his hand to the back of her neck and angled his mouth over hers.
She murmured her approval, her body straining toward his. His free hand slid down her shoulder and onto her breast. Her nipples were already hard and she arched into his hand.
His erection pulsed against her backside, eager to get in on the action. He flicked his thumb over her nipple again and again. She sucked hard on his tongue and dug her hands into his back, pulling him close. Then suddenly she was pushing him away and shifting in his lap so that she was straddling him as she reached for his fly.
Her hands were shaking, her breath coming fast. He tugged the straps of her dress down as she slid his zipper open. Her small, pert breasts fell free of her dress as he pushed it down and cupped her in his hands. Her hand snaked into his boxer-briefs and he closed his eyes as she gripped him.
He needed to taste her skin. With one hand behind her back, he urged her close and ducked his head to take a nipple in his mouth. She gasped, her body shuddering. He bit her gently then sucked hard. She groaned and started to pant.
“I need you, Max,” she breathed.
Her body arched forward as she rose up on her knees, and then her hands were guiding him into wet heat. The realization that she must have simply pushed her underwear to one side hit him even as she slid down onto his length, taking all of him at once.
“Maddy,” he groaned as she gripped him tight.
She started to ride him, her hips sinuous, one hand locked on his shoulder as she drove herself down to the hilt of him then slid up again. Her eyes were closed, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip, her face straining with need as she sought oblivion.
He felt himself starting to lose it. She was so wet and hot, so greedy for it. He’d never been with a woman who was so honest about her own needs. It was the biggest damned turnon in the world.
He ducked his head to her breasts again, laving them with the flat of his tongue. His hands gripped her hips and he pumped into her, grinding himself against her.
He felt her tighten around him. His own body tensed as his climax thundered toward him. She threw back her head. He felt her begin to pulse around him, her body milking his. And then he lost it, his orgasm hitting him like a wall. He thrust into her one last time, his fingers tightening on her hips, his teeth bared in a grimace of pleasurable pain.
As desire faded, reality crept in. Once again things had gotten out of control between them.
He should have stopped her. Should have been strong enough to resist temptation. But it was hard to feel sincere regret when he was still inside her and his hands still on her warm skin.
She opened her eyes and stared at him. She surprised him for the second time that night by pressing a kiss to his chin.
“No regrets. Not yet,” she said firmly.
He wasn’t sure if she was issuing an order or giving him an emotional weather report.
His gaze swept over her body, taking in the rosy color across her breasts, her still-aroused nipples, the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Her skirt was bunched around her thighs and he badly want to lift it to see where they were joined.
Before he could act on the impulse, Maddy shifted, rising off him. Sliding free of her tight heat felt like too great a loss and he grabbed her hips before she could move farther.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
She frowned, confused.
“I’m not done with you yet,” he said.
