“Scoot over.”

  Automatically, she did, backing to the far edge of the bed so he wouldn’t have to touch her. She wished he would. She craved it. But his nearness would have to be enough.

  “What do you need?” he asked.

  Madison’s first instinct was to tell him that she needed safety. But she realized now that he couldn’t promise her what no longer existed in this world. And she couldn’t ask him for sex again, even if feeling him deep inside her would make her feel loved and complete. She’d already put him on the spot. “Comfort.”

  “Comfort?” He drew the covers back, slid in beside her stiffly. “Come here.”

  He was going to touch her?

  Her heartbeat surged as she slid into his embrace and laid her head on his chest. She was so grateful for the human contact, she nearly started sobbing. Her emotional leakage had to stop.

  Since shortly after she’d accepted that marrying Todd had been the biggest mistake of her life, she’d dried her tears and refused to shed more. She would not be weak because of her husband. She’d drawn lines between them and erected barriers. He hadn’t noticed or cared, which suited her. But Matt…one touch, and she was already falling apart.

  A shuddering cry slipped out before she could stop it. She bit her lip to hold in another, but it was too late. The dam had broken. Everything poured out in hot, anguished sobs. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll—”

  “Shh.” Against her, his rigid embrace softened as he stroked her naked back up and down with warm, soothing palms. “Get it out.”

  His tenderness hurt, especially since pity wasn’t what she wanted from him.

  “No.” She swallowed the tears that tightened her throat and pushed away from him. “We don’t have time for my weakness. You’re right; I need sleep. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

  “You can lie to yourself, but don’t lie to me. I know your body. It’s fucking July in a hot-as-hell swamp, and you’re trembling. Your nipples are hard as bullets. I smell your pussy. You’re wound too tight. You need to bleed off this adrenaline that’s making you a shaking goddamn wreck. In my line of work, everyone knows the fastest way to do that is orgasm. When was the last time you had one you didn’t give yourself?”

  Madison gaped in horror. How had he seen right through her? “Matt…”

  “Don’t squirm away from my question because you think I won’t like the answer. I’m not here to judge. Since your husband is obviously a sociopathic cockbag, I doubt many would blame you for having a something-something on the side. You don’t have to give me the details. I just want your honesty.”

  He’d put his life at risk simply by bringing her into his house. He was sheltering her and had promised to help her. He was finding her a place to hide and listening to her problems. It would hurt, but she would swallow her embarrassment to give him the one thing he’d asked in return. “I never cheated on Todd. Since we exchanged vows, there hasn’t been anyone else. And I haven’t had an orgasm that I haven’t given myself since the last time you touched me.”

  Madison’s plaintive, broken whisper hit Matt like a body blow. No man had given her satisfaction in over three fucking years? Her husband hadn’t even once given her climax?

  “Jesus…”

  “It’s fine. It’s not your problem.” She laughed so bitterly, it was nearly a sob. “It’s certainly not the most pressing problem in my life.”

  In theory, no. But how fucking alone must she feel? The family she’d married into had done their best to control her at every turn. They hadn’t even approved of the one friend she’d tried to make in DC, and she had probably realized that any lover she took would meet with some sort of mishap—potentially life-threatening. She’d given up her own comfort to protect others. Hell, even when she’d propositioned him, she had quickly rescinded the offer, as if she’d been afraid for him.

  Never mind what he wanted, what the fuck should he do? If he was smart, he would hold her platonically and hope she came down enough from her fear trip to drift off, then find a quilt, curl up in the chair, and watch over her while willing away his hard-on from hell until morning, when he would hand her to Nash.

  Matt wasn’t feeling smart. He couldn’t leave her to suffer.

  Since the announcement of Madison’s engagement, he’d never found himself without a woman’s bed to be in. Hannah had been a gateway to the party girls in Lafayette, and he’d built a reputation for giving a good time. But not one of those women had evoked the deliciously twisted need to make her surrender or stirred a fraction of what Madison made him feel. If this was his last chance to be with her, shouldn’t he take it and do his damnedest to fuck her out of his system?

  Jesus, he sounded selfish. Madison had been through so much. Her whole damn world had imploded. She was afraid, run down, and felt so, so alone. She teetered at her breaking point. Sure, his subversive side itched to wring every last drop of pleasure from her for his own deviant thrill. He knew how delicious her surrender was. Even being near her kindled a dangerous arousal. But using her to forget her? He couldn’t. Todd Pershing had been a thoughtless, motherfucking asshole. Matt refused to be the same.

  “Do you want me to give you privacy?” He closed his eyes. His gut twisted with desire. “Or do you want me to bleed off your adrenaline for you?”

  “You’ve already done so much.” She sounded half a breath from sobbing again.

  “That wasn’t the question. Do you need me?

  “Matt…” Her voice said yes, even if her stubborn words wouldn’t.

  “Turn over and face the door,” he commanded softly.

  Fresh tears spilled as she flipped onto her other side, putting her back to him. Closing his eyes, he lost himself in her scent and wrapped his arm around her middle, pulling her against his chest. She wriggled until her body fit perfectly against his, her pert ass pressing against his cock and making him grit his teeth. He was already so hard he was sweating.

  He gripped her hip, stilling her. “Hold still, damn it.”

  She did. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I’ll stop if you want me to.”

  Madison didn’t say a word.

  “That’s what I thought. Close your eyes.”

  In the dark, he couldn’t tell if she did. Honestly, it didn’t matter. But he closed his, just for a moment, just to breathe her in and try to get control of himself.

  Instantly, he was back in their shared suite three years ago, his legs rubbery from repeated climax, even as the need for more Madison strung him out like a junkie. His skin flared. His blood thrummed. Longing carved his gut hollow, engorged his cock, and dissolved all thoughts except those about her.

  “They’re closed,” she whispered.

  “Now breathe.”

  “Okay.” She let out a shuddering exhalation.

  It didn’t help. “Relax.”

  “I’m trying.”

  Madison might be, but she was on adrenaline overload, every muscle in her body pinging. He hardly blamed her for struggling to comply. But she’d never sleep if she couldn’t let go of the tension.

  He flattened his hand across her abdomen, then skimmed his fingers down as he used his feet to spread her legs. He settled his fingers into her furrow. He tried to ignore the searing rush as he melted her against him, but it was no use. As if the last three years had been no more than the blink of an eye, he was back in that headspace where nothing mattered more than unraveling her in every perverse way possible.

  “Matt!” She trembled.

  “I’m here.” And fuck, was she wet. “I’m going to give you what you need.” He slid his free hand beneath her ribs up to her breast. As he pulled on her tight nipple, he began circling her distended clit.

  “But…I’ve already asked you for too much,” she panted in protest.

  “Stop arguing and come for me.”

  Her body jolted. Her back bowed. A loud moan left her lips. The rustling of the sheets mingled with the thunder of his heartbeats to fill his ears. The tip of her breast turned even more rigid. A new gush of her wetness coated his fingers. Madison was restless and on edge, her body strung so tightly Matt doubted she would last another thirty seconds.

  He wished he could wrap his arms around her forever.

  “I want to touch you,” she keened.

  “Later,” he lied. Then he got straight-up honest. “I’ve waited three years to get my hands on you.”

  “Yes…” Madison gasped out. “I’ve waited, too. I’ve wished I could feel you so many times…”

  Did she mean that or was she simply caught up in the moment? Since they only had until the sun rose, it didn’t matter. As soon as he gave her what he suspected would be a monster, sheet-clawing, throat-rawing climax, she’d fall straight off. Then he could hand her to Nash in the morning. He’d be aching and hard as hell after a miserable fucking night. He’d hate having to let her go again. But he would have the satisfaction of knowing she was safe and rested—at least for now.

  Then he would start dealing with a long-term strategy to keep her alive.

  Matt shortened his circles around her clit. Her breathing roughened. The female musk of her cunt blended with the scent of her sugary skin and went straight to his head.

  “God, the way you feel...” He nipped at her ear before skimming his lips down her neck. “Soft and wet and begging me with those little moans.”

  “Matt! I want you inside me. Please.”

  Desire contorted him like a torture rack. She had no idea how badly he wanted to fuck his nobility and bury himself inside her. Not just with his cock but in a way that went far deeper. He hurt without Madison. Despite the years and miles, he still felt connected to her, like some invisible thread necessary for him to live and breathe attached them together. Instead of fighting the sensation, for once he gave in, pressing her even tighter to his chest and exhaling across her sensitive skin. She rewarded him with a shuddering cry that told him she was close.

  “Don’t you hold back,” he growled in her ear. “Give me that orgasm.”

  “But—”

  “No, you don’t get to ask me for help, then tell me how to give it to you. I told you to come,” he insisted, eating up every second of her helpless surrender. “Do it!”

  Madison shook her head, but her breaths picked up speed…then stopped. Every part of her body went tense seconds before a cry ripped from her throat and zinged around his room. It seemed endless and excruciating. Matt tried to hold himself back—this was for her—but he was dying to roll her to her back and shove his aching cock inside her, meld them together, and fuck her like he had three years ago—as if he owned her.

  An agonizing minute later, she let out a final shuddering sigh and fell limp against him. It was done. And he wasn’t getting any other satisfaction tonight.

  “Oh, my god,” she breathed. “Matt—”

  “Shh.” If she started talking—if she even looked at him with those big, beseeching eyes—he couldn’t guarantee he’d maintain his self-control or his possessive compulsion to lose himself inside her. “Don’t say anything.”

  “I just wanted to thank you,” she whimpered.

  She was corking her need to cry. Fuck. He might have bled away her tension, but he’d done nothing to make her feel less alone or more cared about. And he couldn’t tackle that now. Hell, he wasn’t convinced repairing the chasm between them was possible—or wise—and he refused to give her false assurances. All he could do now was hope her exhaustion won out over her emotional overload so she could find some temporary peace.

  “You can thank me by going to sleep. I’ll watch over you. I’ll keep you safe.”

  And he would. That was true. But the debauched side of him that was fixated on Madison alone worried him. He’d better get some distance between them soon, or nothing and no one could keep her safe from him.

  Chapter Seven

  The following morning, Matt stifled a groan as he glanced at the clock. Five twenty. The hellish night pressed against Madison, his nose full of her scent and his body strung fucking tight without relief, was almost over…but so was his time with her. Exhausted and pissed as hell, he rose.

  In the last six sleepless hours and multiple views of the video on her USB drive, he’d come to a few inescapable conclusions. First, shuffling her to Nash was a short-term solution. She would never be safe until she was free of the Pershings, and he feared a mere divorce wouldn’t accomplish that. She needed not just protection, but iron-clad insurance.

  Second, he didn’t know a lot about how political minds worked. Give him a good terrorist any day, and he could figure out their motives and methods—usually optimal damage for minimal effort. But people in the public eye weren’t about a cause, just appearances. They never forgot a grudge, and they could wait patiently to extract revenge. They would leave no stone unturned and spare no expense to inflict their destruction if that meant covering their asses. And whatever tactic they chose, Madison wouldn’t see it coming. Sure, she’d been swimming with the barracudas since marrying Todd Pershing, but she wasn’t one. She didn’t have it in her.

  That led Matt to his third—and shittiest—realization. Not only was Madison outnumbered, so was he. If he was going to keep her safe beyond a day or two, he had to bring in a small army of big guns.

  He closed his eyes and breathed her in one last time before he forced himself to stand. She hadn’t moved all night. Clearly, she’d been exhausted. For her sake, he hoped she woke rested, with the fortitude to face today. She was going to need it. From here on out, nothing would be easy.

  He padded to the kitchen and flipped on the coffeepot. After checking the perimeter one more time, he slipped into the bathroom to brush his teeth, his thoughts still tangled up in Madison.

  Twenty-four hours ago, he would have told anyone who asked that he didn’t care if he saw her again. He would have been lying, too—especially to himself. Hell, he had been for the past three years, mentally rewriting their history into a hot but meaningless fling, which he’d sworn left him with memories of Madison that were far better than the reality.

  But in a handful of hours, she had reminded him just how alive he felt with her. And now that he had to let her go again, apprehension raged. Fury clogged his throat. He choked on bitter regret.

  After stashing his toothbrush, he stomped back to the kitchen and scowled at the drip-drip-drip of the slow-ass coffeemaker and paced the kitchen. If he didn’t, Matt swore he’d climb the walls or crawl out of his goddamn skin. God, he’d do almost anything to stop this plan he’d put in motion.

  If he wanted Madison to live, he couldn’t.

  In his pocket, his phone buzzed. Matt tensed and withdrew it. He expected the name he saw on his screen, but his gut still clenched. “Nash.”

  “Hey.” His buddy’s voice was rough from use and lack of sleep.

  “You okay? Sounds like Casey worked you over.”

  “Jesus, how do you keep up with her? All she wants is dick.”

  “All the time. And don’t talk to her, either.”

  “She made that real clear. But I wasn’t hooking up with her for her sparkling personality—”

  “That’s a good thing, because she doesn’t have one.”

  “She really doesn’t. Great tits, though. I appreciate you being cool that I hooked up with her, but I’m tapping out. She’s not for me.”

  “The sex wasn’t good?” That surprised Matt. Casey was both indefatigable and a champion cocksucker.

  “It was fine, just…impersonal.”

  Funny, that’s what he’d always appreciated about her. They had nothing but sex, and she made no bones about it. Apparently, that wasn’t Nash’s speed. Then again, the big guy was hung up on Haisley, who gave him a wide berth every time they ran into each other.

  “That’s Casey. But you didn’t call to chat about your sex life.”

  “God, no. I love you, man, but…” He laughed. “I was checking in to see if you’re awake. I’m on my way over…and hoping I could use your shower. Casey didn’t want me in hers. Too personal.”

  Matt shoved down his denial and poured a hot mug of java. “Sure. I’ve also got coffee and eggs, if you’re interested.”

  “You’re a life saver. Be there in ten.” Nash hung up.

  Matt pocketed his phone with a curse. He didn’t have the luxury of putting off the inevitable. Last night, he’d washed Madison’s clothes, so he pulled them from the dryer and draped them across the chair in his bedroom, then gathered her stuff and packed it, along with her USB drive—which he’d copied to both his cloud and an external drive. Then he tucked a few necessities into her gray backpack and zipped it up.

  The next ten minutes alternately seemed like the longest and shortest of his life, but when Nash pulled up, Matt opened the front door. They needed to exchange a few words before Madison woke.

  “Morning.” His massive friend ducked as he entered with a grimace, still wearing yesterday’s clothes and carrying a gym bag that hopefully contained clean ones. “Thanks for bailing me out.”

  Matt shrugged. “I’m about to ask you for a huge-ass favor, so a shower and some food is the least I can do.”

  “I’ll pass on the food, but I really need to get clean since Casey is such a dirty girl.” He grimaced. “So, what do you need?”

  “Why don’t I pour you a coffee and explain?”

  Nash quirked a brow. “Buttering me up? You’re usually straightforward, so whatever you want must be enormous.”

  Matt nodded. “Follow me.”

  He led the way to the kitchen. Nash’s footfalls were surprisingly light for such a big man, but that was part of his effectiveness. Like his older brother, the guy was great with tech. But unlike Trees, he had fucking aptitude as both a sniper and a hand-to-hand combatant. Matt pitied anyone who found themselves on Nash’s bad side in a dark alley.