Taken by Storm (Give & Take) - By Kelli Maine Page 0,72
Did she flip a coin, or did he automatically take the sacrifice being born with a penis? Being disowned by your parents and raising a baby on your own that young—Gina Montgomery probably hated men thanks to Merrick and Enzo Rocha.
“Does Gina know you’re here?” Merrick asked.
“No,” she said, adamantly, but MJ noticed her eye twitch. It was her tell. She was lying.
MJ had enough. “I’m going upstairs.” He dodged the table and held his hand out to Merrick.
Merrick took it and pulled him in for a man-hug, back-pat, the kind Coach always gave him. “See you in the morning, kid,” Merrick said.
He’d see his dad in the morning. It was surreal. “ ’Night,” he said, and nodded to Rachael.
Mounting the stairs, MJ couldn’t help but feel bad for Nadia. Whatever her motive was for coming here, she wanted a relationship with him and Merrick, but she wouldn’t get one with either of them.
MJ found out he’d had what he’d wanted all along. His real sister, if that’s who Nadia actually was, felt like a stranger even though she was his twin. There was no magical connection, not even the blood-connection he’d felt with Merrick. But, Maddie was family. The bond they’d made over the years was stronger than anything he’d have with his real family.
MJ found himself racing up the steps to get to her. He’d been too hard on her. He had to fix everything between them before the storm ended and she left the island.
Twenty-Six
Maddie lay on her bed clutching her phone to her chest. She had to call Talan. If she’d learned one single thing from this mess, she’d tell him the truth, and the truth was that she’d always love MJ.
She dialed the number. It rang once before a soft knock sounded at her door. She hung up knowing who it was. She could feel his presence on the other side like an invisible band connected them through her center and his. “Come in,” she called.
The lit candle stub sitting on top of the chest of drawers did little to light the room, but she saw fatigue etched on his face, and his eyes always got glassy when he was overly tired.
Without a word, he climbed in bed behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, snuggling up close. He buried his nose in her hair, and kissed the back of her neck. “No matter who you’re with, you’ll always be mine, Mads.”
She set her phone on the nightstand and laced her fingers with his. She wouldn’t argue. Couldn’t argue. He was right.
“We’ll get past this,” he said. “I promise.”
Maddie turned her head, leaning it against his. “That’s what my dad said.”
“He’s never wrong.” MJ rose up on his elbow and gazed into her eyes.
With anyone else she ended up blinking or looking away after a few seconds, but with MJ, she could spend an entire night looking into the depths of his eyes. She could see right through them, right inside him. It was like being plugged in to the universe and knowing the answers to every question you never thought to ask.
“When we do get past this,” he whispered, “and you’re mine again, I’m going to make love to you like I never have before.”
Overtaken by emotion, her eyes fluttered closed. She felt his nose glide down the bridge of her own. Then his lips brushed against hers, feather-light. “There will never be a day in my life when I don’t love you, Madeline Simone Simcoe.”
A dam broke inside her, flooding her with relief she hadn’t known for over a year. It was finally over. The secret was out.
And MJ said he loved her.
She eased onto her back and welcomed his lips again, pushing her fingers through his hair and pulling him in. Maddie lifted her head off her pillow, deepening their kiss. She had to have MJ in her life. If her dad never woke up…
She couldn’t live without her father in her life, let alone both of the men she loved most in the world.
She pulled MJ down on top of her, and wrapped her legs around his hips. She wanted him, needed him to fill the emptiness deep inside.
In this bed far away from home, surrounded by shimmering candlelight and air charged with electricity and desire, she lost herself in his lips, his tongue, his hands gliding down her sides. “I love you, MJ,” she said, her voice deep and lusty. “I never stopped.”