Prologue
Madeline
I turn on my side and face my window, waiting for him to come into view. I feel so naughty. So needy. This is turning into a bad habit.
I bite my lip as he moves his curtains so he can see me.
Our eyes meet, and the hunger I see in his makes every doubt disappear. I want him, and he wants me. There’s nothing wrong about that.
His lips turn up into a sexy smirk as his eyes roam my body. He takes his shirt off, his corded muscles rippling with the movement. He’s the epitome of power and sex. His jeans are slung low, and the urge to lick the deep “V” at his hips makes my legs scissor. My hand dips down to my pussy and I love that he sees. I love that he watches me.
“Covers off,” he mouths, and I obey. I’m wearing a tank top and a skimpy lace thong. He tilts his head and tsks. A small laugh escapes my lips as a blush creeps into my cheeks. I knew he’d want them off. But tonight I want him to take them off of me.
A few weeks ago I would’ve given him the finger and yanked my curtains closed. But not tonight, not now that I’ve become addicted to the inked-up bad boy next door.
“Come over.” I whisper my plea, and his eyes heat with desire.
“Get wet for me, peaches.” I smile shyly at his command and slowly push my fingers against my clit, massaging small circles over my throbbing nub. My head falls back against my pillow, and a faint moan escapes from my parted mouth. I turn my head to the side and with my eyes half-lidded, I watch him watching me.
“More,” he says in a deep, rough voice that makes arousal pool in my core. I make my movements faster and hold his heated gaze. His breath comes in shallow pants, and his hand pushes against the bulge in his jeans. I know he wants me. I want him, too.
“Please,” the word tumbles from my mouth as I feel my back bow and a hot tingle take over my body. My eyes close as I almost fall and crash with an intense orgasm, but it escapes me. I’m on edge. I need him.
I open my eyes, and he’s gone. I bite down on my lip and slow my movements. He’ll be here soon. He’ll fill me, stretching my walls with his massive cock and thrusting his powerful hips until I’m writhing beneath him and screaming his name.
When did I turn into a slave to his lust? I don’t beg. I’m not that kind of girl, but he broke my walls down, and I’ve learned to love it.
He’s bad for me. I know he is, but I still crave him. And now that I’ve given in, I’m all his. Until he’s done with me, anyway. I know it’s coming.
This arrangement isn’t going to last, but I push the thoughts away and force myself to live in the moment.
For now, I belong to the inked-up bad boy next door.
Chapter 1
Madeline - One Month Ago…
“I’ve never seen so many hot guys in my life!” cries Katie Butler, my partner in crime and childhood friend. We’re standing in line outside of Club Dusk, the hottest nightclub in this town. As new residents to Grim Lake, a bustling town nestled in the lush Midwest, we’ve come to check out the nightlife scene on our last night of freedom. Not that the party scene is my scene.
Katie has been adamant all week that we go out and have a good time before we spend the next several years with our noses stuck in a book and stressing about exams. While I agree wholeheartedly with her, I’m just not sure if I want to spend the night with horny guys breathing down my neck.
I make a sour face as I survey the sea of young men standing in line in front of us. “Are you sure we’re looking at the same people?” I say loudly over the bass of the music coming from within the club.
Honestly, I don’t know what Katie’s smoking. I wouldn’t give a second glance to any of these dudes even if I was walking down the street, desperate to find a man. And the few that are good-looking, already have a chick on their arms.
Not to mention I’m not here to find a boyfriend, I think to myself. I’m just here to have a couple of drinks and unload some stress. That’s it.
Despite being the goal of maybe eighty percent of the women in attendance, I have no intention of getting sloppy-ass drunk and winding up in some strange asshole’s bed the next morning, not knowing how or why I wound up in it.
Besides, after the way my last relationship ended, a boyfriend is the last thing on my mind.
Just thinking about my ex, Zachery Haynes, makes my stomach tense with a mixture of anger and anxiety. We’d been high school sweethearts who thought we’d be spending the rest of our lives together. Our endgame goals were even aligned. College degrees. High-powered jobs. White picket fence. A full-sized family. The whole nine yards.
That dream shattered when I walked in on Zach getting a blowjob from my high school nemesis, Jenna Stout. Seeing her there on her knees, slurping my boyfriend’s dick felt like a spear piercing my heart.
Of course, being the egotistical, narcissistic asshole he was, Zachery tried to make it seem like HE was the victim. It was an accident, he claimed. He didn’t mean to do it. It was all Jenna’s fault for showing up on his doorstep looking hot as fuck in her cheerleader uniform.
She'd seduced him he said, she’d made his dick hard and made him take it out so she could slurp on it like a fucking cherry popsicle. The ridiculous explanation was more than I could take. I left him and Jenna right then and there to continue their oral session, and I never spoke to the bastard ever again.
I did suffer for it, though.
The whole trauma from Zach’s betrayal put me in a deep depression, causing my GPA to fall. And by mid-semester, I was close to failing several of my classes. Luckily, with the help of Katie and my father, I was able to pull myself out of my rut in time enough to get my grades back on track to allow me to qualify to go to one of the best universities in the nation.
It’s funny how things turn out.
There was one valuable lesson I learned from Zach’s betrayal, and that was you could never trust a man.
Fuck a boyfriend, I think to myself. I’ll only enter a relationship when I’m good and ready. And that won’t be for a very long time.
I don’t intend on dating until I’ve graduated and landed my dream job. Then, and only then, will I give the male species a second chance at regaining my trust. Besides, I certainly won’t find Mr. Right in a club full of horny guys just looking for the next girl to fuck.
“I must be blind then,” I say. “Or just plain stupid.”
Katie tears her eyes away from the object of her affection and scowls at me. I must say Miss Katie’s makeup is on point tonight, with false eyelashes that would make a drag queen jealous, rosy blush, glossy pink lipstick and dramatic eye shadow. Her hair isn’t too shabby, either, styled into a trendy shoulder-length side bob that shimmers under the street light. A tight red dress that hugs her pear-shaped frame completes her look. “You really need to lighten up, Maddy. We came here to have fun, remember?”
I hold Katie’s scowl for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh. “I know, I know, I’m just not looking forward to having a line of horny guys buying me drinks and reading me their lame pick-up lines in hopes that I’ll sleep with them.”
Katie looks at me like I’m crazy. “If you don’t want that, then why the hell did you agree to come in the first place?”