His everything.

  In his arms, she seized up. Her pussy clamped down. Her long keen of satisfaction rang in his ears as his blood scorched him with a need that built and built until he couldn’t stop the rush of ecstasy. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The room spun. He anchored himself into her by clamping his teeth in her neck and gripping her thighs with all his might. The bite of pain seemed to send her even higher.

  And he lost it.

  Something between a growl and a cry escaped his fist-tight throat as he groaned against her skin, thrusting deeper and deeper, banging into her frantically as everything inside him poured into her until he didn’t have a goddamn thing left.

  Matt wasn’t sure how much time passed before he finally managed to catch his breath and steady his vision. Madison was looking up at him with tears running from the corners of her eyes above passion-red cheeks.

  She swallowed and cupped his face. “I love you. You don’t have to say it. You don’t have to say anything. I just…”

  There were a million reasons he shouldn’t confess his feelings to her, not the least of which was distracting her before they headed into whatever torture the Pershings had devised for them in DC. But with his heart thudding and his emotions screaming under his too-sensitive skin, he couldn’t remember a damn one. “I love you, too, Madison. When all this is over, I want you to marry me.”

  Chapter Four

  The private jet that had flown them in ridiculously overprivileged luxury from Lafayette to a private air strip outside of DC had landed mere minutes ago, and already Matt didn’t like it.

  As Madison emerged onto the air stairs, she became Madison Archer-Pershing. The cotton sundress and flip-flops she’d been wearing when she boarded had been replaced by a chic pantsuit in head-to-toe white, broken only by a trio of silver buttons at each sleeve and a silky silver blouse beneath. She’d exchanged her messy ponytail for loose waves. Her bare face was now made up in a subtle yet smoky look that accentuated her incredibly blue eyes.

  With nails coated in fresh red polish, she brushed an imaginary spec of lint from her jacket and followed Ethan down the air stairs gracefully. Her black heels with signature red soles and carefully chosen jewelry made her look like a million dollars—literally. No surprise since she’d spent most of the flight in the private jet’s master retreat transforming herself. Now, everything about her seemed untouchable. That didn’t keep Matt from wanting to fuck her again, especially since she had happily agreed to be his wife last night.

  It had been one of the best, most profound nights of his life. They’d talked for hours about the future, about their wedding, their plans, and their kids before he’d taken her in his arms again and sunk deep into her body. He’d drunk in her joy and done his fucking best to cement them together.

  Now she might as well be half a planet away.

  He settled a steadying hand at her elbow. “You all right?”

  “Fine.”

  Matt ground his teeth. She didn’t seem fine. He got it; she was wielding her bitch shield. She needed it to deal with the Pershings, and if he peeled away her armor, he’d leave her vulnerable. But he didn’t know this version of Madison at all. That unsettled him.

  Ethan shot him a concerned glance over his shoulder. So the little asswipe was cued into Madison’s mood, too. As much as Matt hated the way Garrison kept coming onto his woman, the guy’s concern eased the fears Matt had about her safety. Ethan might dislike him for unexplained reasons, but he would take care of her—or die trying.

  He nodded sharply at his fellow operative, urging Ethan forward again. He had Madison’s six.

  The DC afternoon was more than “warm,” as the captain had described it. The air felt like a hot, wet blanket, and the necessary head-to-toe black Matt wore to blend into Madison’s background was somewhere between stifling and suffocating. But what worried him most was the sleek limousine waiting for them a mere ten feet away, tinted windows rolled up tight as it idled impatiently.

  Madison caught sight of the vehicle and hesitated when the back door opened. Todd Pershing stepped out, a wide smile on his smarmy, Harvard-ass face.

  “There’s my wife. I can’t wait to show you exactly how much I’ve missed you.” Every word was sharp as a knife.

  Madison’s reply was equally serrated. “I’m eager to show you how much I missed you, too.”

  “Why don’t you come here?”

  It wasn’t a suggestion.

  As she stepped off the last stair, Ethan filed into position on her right. Matt hustled to flank her on the left, shooting her a quick glance, watching as she sent Todd a raised brow over the top of her three-hundred-dollar Versace sunglasses. “You know the family rules, husband. No PDA. Sorry.”

  When she shrugged like she wasn’t sorry in the least, he sent her a smile with more teeth than a great white. “That wasn’t what I had in mind. I have something for you, and I insist on giving it to you now.”

  Madison slid a quick, questioning glance Matt’s way. He shrugged almost imperceptibly. No, he had no idea what the douchebag wanted, but she needed to proceed carefully. He stayed glued to her side, giving Todd a warning glare the son of a bitch had better heed.

  She sauntered toward her husband, making it obvious that she was neither in a hurry to get close to him nor gave a shit if that pissed him off. And as much as Matt wished he could tell Todd to pound sand—among other things—he couldn’t get involved unless he raised a hand to her or in some physical way threatened her life. The bosses had been very clear on that. Matt fucking hated it.

  Finally, she stopped a couple of feet from Todd with a disdainful stare over her chic shades. “What?”

  Todd didn’t bother with words, just grabbed her left wrist and yanked her hand toward him. Then he slid a giant diamond onto her finger, smiling vengefully Matt’s way the whole while.

  Doing his best to breathe, Matt put a lid on his simmering rage. Madison was his fiancée, goddamn it. But he didn’t have the privilege of seeing her wear his ring and showing the world they were together. No, this asshat got to shove an oversized heirloom rock on her delicate hand to prove his stamp of ownership. Judging from Todd’s acidic smile, he knew it bugged the hell out of him.

  Worse, Pershing didn’t wear a wedding band of any sort. His left hand was completely bare. On his right, he wore a signet ring of sorts. But instead of a family crest, a university motto, or a shield representing a branch of the military, Todd’s ring was black and platinum and macabre. The face bore inlaid words he didn’t understand—Latin, maybe? Over that, the piece had been crafted with a bold I and three bars slashing over the letter to look like a cross of sorts. A skull protruded from the juncture with two gleaming red rubies for eyes that glared back at him. Matt bet the ring represented something. What the hell could it symbolize that was more important than a circle of gold telling the world he was fucking married?

  “There.” Todd made a show of kissing Madison’s cheek. “After that terrible night you were held up in the big-box store’s parking lot and your credit cards and wedding ring were stolen, we were thankfully able to recover them all. The perpetrator, a man with a rap sheet a mile long, is back behind bars. Unfortunately for him, he violated his parole, so once he’s convicted, he’ll be going away for a long, long time. His family is crushed. What a shame.”

  Madison paled, shock and disgust morphing her face before she tried to smooth away the telltale reaction. The same distress crashed through Matt. She had intentionally scattered those credit cards to confuse Todd’s family and hocked her wedding ring for traveling money to Louisiana. And the Pershings were pinning that “crime” on an innocent man to explain her actions away so it didn’t sound as if she’d intentionally left Todd?

  “You can’t do that,” she hissed.

  Todd shrugged like neither the unjustness nor her opinion mattered. “It’s already done.”

  “That’s wrong!”

  “Who cares? He’s a career criminal.”

  “He cares. His family cares. He’s innocent. You’re condemning that man for nothing.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t have left, wife. Now, grow the fuck up and get in the car.”

  When he shoved Madison toward the open door, sending her stumbling, Matt lurched between them, right in Todd’s face. “You don’t touch her again. Ever.”

  “You think she’s your woman because she spreads her legs for you and obeys you like a good girl? That only makes her your whore.” Todd grabbed Madison’s hand and held it up, showing off her wedding ring. “But for the next few months, she’s still my wife.”

  “In name only. I’m here to protect her from you, so when it comes to her, I make the rules. Number one, unless you’re in public and it’s absolutely necessary, you do not touch her.”

  “You want to unzip flies right here and compare?” Todd scoffed, gesturing to the otherwise empty air field.

  Matt shook his head. “I have other ways of humiliating you.”

  Todd scoffed. “You can try. You and your butt-fuck buddy with all the tattoos”—he pointed at Ethan—“can sit up front with the chauffeur.”

  When he shoved at Madison again, Matt reached for Todd’s outstretched hand, grabbed his thumb, then wrenched it upside down, forcing Todd to twist his body to avoid broken bones. Matt shoved a knuckle into the flesh above and bared his teeth. “I’ve got your median nerve. If I press hard enough, I can paralyze half your fucking hand. You. Don’t. Touch. Her. Are we clear?”

  She laid a soft hand on his forearm. “It’s all right, Matt.”

  “It’s not. He invaded our personal space in the swamp, tossing around his demands. But we’ve got some of our own. No time like the present for him to hear them.” Matt yanked on Todd’s thumb and relished his hiss of pain. “Not only do you not touch Madison, you are never alone with her. Ethan or I are always protecting her, even in the back seat.”

  “Whatever.”

  Todd acted like he didn’t care, but Matt felt his irritation. “Her bedroom is off limits.”

  “Great. I haven’t wanted to spend any time there in well over a year.”

  “You turn the surveillance off in her personal space.”

  “Fuck off.” Todd tried to wriggle free from Matt’s grip, but he held strong, compressing the jackass’s nerve even harder. “Jesus! I can’t, even if I wanted to. My grandfather pays for the service. The security in my apartment is set up to his specifications.”

  But the little shit’s bedroom wasn’t surveilled? Matt wasn’t sure whether Winston had offered his overindulged grandson privacy or the annoying asshole had demanded it. Either way, Matt was hitting a dead end, so he switched tactics. “You don’t search her personal belongings. You don’t track her when she leaves your place for her single day of freedom each week. Basically, unless you need her for a campaign rally or event, she doesn’t exist for you.”

  “And maybe if I move aside, you could lift your leg and pee on her, too. It might be more effective than barking at me. Of course, I guess she prefers being controlled and devalued by losers like you. No doubt, you learned well from your father.”

  Matt let the remark slide off his back. So Todd had looked into his background. No shock there. And unless he put an end to this pissing contest, they would stand out in the heat and exchange barbs until everyone roasted. He released Todd’s thumb.

  The sniveling bastard shook his aggrieved hand, hate spewing from his eyes. But Matt had zero illusions. Madison’s husband might act like he wasn’t intimidated, but Pershing was half a foot shorter and far less solid. The shitbag, like all bullies, wouldn’t take his ire out on the person who’d pissed him off, but one least able to fight back.

  Madison.

  “Let’s get in the car, huh?” Ethan suggested, sidling closer. “This location is wide open. There are trees everywhere. If anyone wanted to build a sniper’s nest, they’d have a billion choices.”

  As far as anyone knew, neither Todd nor Madison had received external threats, but Ethan was right. Matt didn’t want to take a chance with his fiancée’s safety. And sadly, he’d never get lucky enough for someone with an ax to grind to do the world a favor and off her husband.

  “Good idea.” Madison ducked into the idling limo, scooting to the far side.

  Once she was safely tucked away, Ethan turned and plopped down in the front seat next to the driver.

  “Get in.” Matt barked, elbow bracing the door open so Todd couldn’t slam it in his face.

  “Don’t ever touch me again.” Todd disappeared into the back seat, sitting across from Madison with a glower.

  “Then don’t make me need to,” Matt threatened as he climbed in and positioned himself beside her. He resisted the urge to touch and reassure her. She didn’t look rattled, but anxiety poured off her. He couldn’t let that fester.

  Across from him, Todd sneered as he nursed a scotch, despite the fact it was well before five o’clock.

  “Is dinner at six, like usual?” Madison asked as the limo rolled forward, probably more to cut the tension than because she actually cared.

  “Yes. You can expect the whole crew tonight, even Montrose and Genie.”

  Madison sucked in a breath. “The Westbrooks will actually have dinner with you after what you did to their son?”

  Todd lunged from his seat and snarled in her face. “He stabbed me first.”

  “Figuratively, not literally.”

  “Are you really that stupid? The end result would have been the same.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Todd grabbed her jaw and squeezed. “Don’t fucking stick your nose in my business.”

  Matt lurched between them and rammed Todd against the leather seat. “Back off.”

  “I barely touched her.”

  “You don’t even get close.”

  “Or what? I’m humoring you. If you lay another finger on me, my family will have you arrested, and they’ll make sure the supposedly American right to a speedy and fair jury trial of your peers doesn’t apply to you. And if you think I can’t make that happen, you haven’t been paying attention.”

  Matt knew he could, so he had to tread carefully or he’d leave Madison unprotected. But that hardly meant he was going to roll over. “I’m curious… Do you lean on your grandpa to save your ass so often because you don’t know how to fight your own battles? Or because you don’t have any balls?”

  Todd ground his teeth. “Keep it up, asshole. You’ll get yours.”

  “I’m so scared,” Matt deadpanned. At least if he kept Todd’s attention on himself, the douche wouldn’t be messing with Madison. As far as Matt was concerned, that would be half the battle between now and the midterms.

  Silence fell. He scanned Madison, and it took everything he had not to reach out and soothe her tension. First, he didn’t want to lie to her and tell her everything would be all right. Second, in case the car was surveilled, he didn’t want to give Todd any ammunition to use against them in public, even something as innocent as squeezing her fingers. Besides, the asshole’s ring winked on her finger, mocking him. He’d rather not touch it or touch her again until she took it off.

  For now, he let his eyes transmit calm for him. He and Madison were so in sync that she got the message and blew out a tense breath, her body slowly relaxing.

  Todd watched them with unblinking curiosity. “I’ve seen roofied chicks who are more responsive in bed than my wife, so⁠—”

  “Seen them or fucked them?” Matt asked.

  “Both. It’s fun the first time, then…” The asshole shrugged before he gestured to Madison. “I seriously don’t know how you got this frigid bumpkin to react to you, much less beg. ‘Fuck me, please, sir,’” he imitated in an exaggerated twangy falsetto.

  “I only beg for a cock big enough to see,” she shot back.

  Todd swiveled his glare at her. “You’re a cunt.”

  “So you’ve said.” She sounded bored. “Is that the best you’ve got?”

  The entitled prick grumbled under his breath but mercifully fell silent for the rest of the drive.

  To Matt’s surprise, they didn’t pull up in front of the swanky apartment Todd shared with Madison in Alexandria. Instead, the limo disappeared through a pair of heavy iron gates and cruised down a long, secluded drive sheltered by stately trees, before stopping in front of a sprawling estate much farther from the capital.

  Matt turned to him with a questioning glare. “Why are we at your grandparents’ place? Dinner isn’t for two hours.”

  “If we’d gone home, we would have had to double back in an hour, and I’d rather not be alone with you lovebirds any longer than necessary. God, you look like a well-used whore. Your lips are bruised. You have that heavy-lidded, over-fucked look.” He wrinkled his nose. “You even smell like him—and that godawful swamp. Did you even take a shower?”

  Madison pressed her lips together, muzzling her mute rage as the driver opened the door and held out a hand to assist her. Before she reached for it, Matt stayed her, then gestured at Todd. “Get the fuck out.”

  He sniffed their way, then wrinkled his nose. “Gladly.”

  Once he exited, Ethan appeared beside the limo driver, whose hand was still outstretched to Madison, and elbowed Todd aside. When she looked to Matt for direction, both the operative and the Dom in him was gratified.

  “Go ahead.”

  She did, allowing the driver to assist her. Matt followed, taking in the expansive, well-manicured lawn, surrounded by a thick copse of trees. As Todd approached the giant front door, a stone-faced butler opened it, admitting them into an estate that more closely resembled a museum.

  The entryway was nothing but opulent marble inlays, a spiral staircase with a gilded Juliet balcony, and gold moldings and embellishments along each wall and every step. A shiny black antique hall table held a pair of ostentatious lamps. On the other side of the circular room stood a giant wooden pedestal with shiny affixed bric-a-brac and a fresh bouquet of flowers so big, it bloomed halfway to the heavy crystal chandelier above. At the back of the space, an archway led to other rooms, flanked by a pair of standing vases taller than Madison. Matt would bet every dime he had that they, like most everything in this room, were antique and worth a small fortune.