Red_Roses_and_Black_Dahlias_-_Macy_T

A strong hand came to rest on my waist and my breath hitched, eyes flying
open. A hard warmth emanated from my back, where the only things between
me and Maddox were our clothes. In the almost five years we’ve known each
other, this is the closest we’ve ever stood. My breaths were still coming out
ragged but for a totally different reason. A reason that scared me as much as
it excited me.
I was turned on.
Dios mio. What kind of woman was I for feeling this way when he was
only trying to help and reassure me? Guilt weighted in the pit of my stomach.
How could I feel something even akin to excitement while in that house?
“You got this.” He whispered encouragingly, his breath fanning my ear.
“It’s just a house. Nothing in it can harm you anymore.” Maddox drew circles
on the exposed skin where my top had ridden up. It was soothing, it was
intimate and felt familiar even though it was the first time he touched me this
way. Like he was always meant to do it “Say it.”
I gulped at the authority in his voice. I’d always had trouble respecting
figures of authority in my life, Maddox being maybe the only exception, but
something in me yearned to obey him whenever he used that tone.
“It’s just a house. Nothing in it can harm me anymore.” I whispered back.
“Good girl.” If I thought I’d been turned on earlier, it was nothing
compared to what these two words did to me.
I had given up denying how attracted I was to Maddox a long time ago, at
least to myself, but at that moment I was actually scared he’d see right
through me.
My fight or flight response kicked in and I all but ran to Valentina’s room.
“Ready to go?” Maddox’ voice startled me as I knelt next to my bed,
ready to retrieve the reason why I agreed to come here in the first place.
***