spike, and she wasn’t at all sure that that wasn’t its exact position. It took her an abnormally long time but it was worth it once she was standing next to the bed almost free of him.
For a long while Maddie stood staring down at him unable to move away from him. He had this affect on her as long as she could remember. The white bed sheets framed every inch of his six foot four tanned frame. Even asleep as he was, he still managed exude both raw sex appeal and infinite power. In more than twenty years, she’d never known him to have a moment’s doubt about himself or his decisions. He said what he meant and meant what he said. He was a true throwback, a John Wayne without the funny walk, and with the real combat experience the Duke had distinctly lacked.
Before she knew it, she was shaking her head and smiling that frighteningly familiar soft, stupid smile down at him, until she wrenched herself back to her senses and crept to the bathroom. She walked backwards staring at him prepared at any moment to throw herself onto the floor to avoid detection just in case he should wake up. Maddie didn’t dare to close the door, fearing the soft click might awaken him, so she settled for just shy of closed and huddled in on herself in front of obscenely huge wrap around mirror that sent her scrambling for a towel Luckily there were several large, luxuriously plush towels in an étagère above the commode, one of which she proceeded to wrap around herself, covering all of her decidedly lumpy, forty-something-year old areas. Unfortunately, her quick sweep of the bedroom floor hadn’t revealed anything in the way of her clothing.
She was quietly thankful to the designers of that bathroom. The sight of herself from all sorts of appalling angles cleared her head in a way that nothing else could have. That man in there, who was still snoring softly from the depths of the king sized bed, was dangerous. One might say, pure evil incarnate. Hell, he was asleep and she’d been practically drooling down on him like some teenager in heat. She had to get out of here before the giant stirred or she’d be lost forever as she’d done so many time sin the past.
The idea of having to go into a public hallway with just a towel on was giving her pause, though. A quick scouring of the room yielded none of the coveted robes she had been hoping for. Maddie was no Cindy Crawford, and was naturally shy about her body. She took a few minutes to breathe deeply and gather her gumption, reminding herself vehemently that he was not what she wanted and if she wanted to escape undetected the time was now.
When she thought she’d convinced herself, or come as close as she was likely to get, Maddie turned and reached for the doorknob. Just as she swung the door open, she realized one excruciatingly fact, there was no longer any masculine snoring coming from the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked in his perpetually firm but more gravelly than usual morning voice, leaning his forearm against the doorjamb. He was so damned big that he occupied every inch of the doorway, effectively crushing Maddie’s hopes of ever getting by him.
She was stuck. Should she brave his ire and tell it to him straight? Or try to play up to him and disarm him, as much as that was possible, until she could spot another chance to get away? Deciding that she didn’t want to have to play up to him, since there was no telling where that might lead, she replied to his naked feet, which was where her gaze had settled, “Home. Now kindly move out of my way.” She put her hand out, but kept it well away from his skin. Touching him could have very detrimental effects, after all, just standing in his presence was making her senses riot almost uncontrollably.
The big lunk stood exactly where he was, not budging a millimeter. She knew he was staring down at her as if she was a particularly interesting bug he’d discovered, taking all of her in, she
For a long while Maddie stood staring down at him unable to move away from him. He had this affect on her as long as she could remember. The white bed sheets framed every inch of his six foot four tanned frame. Even asleep as he was, he still managed exude both raw sex appeal and infinite power. In more than twenty years, she’d never known him to have a moment’s doubt about himself or his decisions. He said what he meant and meant what he said. He was a true throwback, a John Wayne without the funny walk, and with the real combat experience the Duke had distinctly lacked.
Before she knew it, she was shaking her head and smiling that frighteningly familiar soft, stupid smile down at him, until she wrenched herself back to her senses and crept to the bathroom. She walked backwards staring at him prepared at any moment to throw herself onto the floor to avoid detection just in case he should wake up. Maddie didn’t dare to close the door, fearing the soft click might awaken him, so she settled for just shy of closed and huddled in on herself in front of obscenely huge wrap around mirror that sent her scrambling for a towel Luckily there were several large, luxuriously plush towels in an étagère above the commode, one of which she proceeded to wrap around herself, covering all of her decidedly lumpy, forty-something-year old areas. Unfortunately, her quick sweep of the bedroom floor hadn’t revealed anything in the way of her clothing.
She was quietly thankful to the designers of that bathroom. The sight of herself from all sorts of appalling angles cleared her head in a way that nothing else could have. That man in there, who was still snoring softly from the depths of the king sized bed, was dangerous. One might say, pure evil incarnate. Hell, he was asleep and she’d been practically drooling down on him like some teenager in heat. She had to get out of here before the giant stirred or she’d be lost forever as she’d done so many time sin the past.
The idea of having to go into a public hallway with just a towel on was giving her pause, though. A quick scouring of the room yielded none of the coveted robes she had been hoping for. Maddie was no Cindy Crawford, and was naturally shy about her body. She took a few minutes to breathe deeply and gather her gumption, reminding herself vehemently that he was not what she wanted and if she wanted to escape undetected the time was now.
When she thought she’d convinced herself, or come as close as she was likely to get, Maddie turned and reached for the doorknob. Just as she swung the door open, she realized one excruciatingly fact, there was no longer any masculine snoring coming from the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked in his perpetually firm but more gravelly than usual morning voice, leaning his forearm against the doorjamb. He was so damned big that he occupied every inch of the doorway, effectively crushing Maddie’s hopes of ever getting by him.
She was stuck. Should she brave his ire and tell it to him straight? Or try to play up to him and disarm him, as much as that was possible, until she could spot another chance to get away? Deciding that she didn’t want to have to play up to him, since there was no telling where that might lead, she replied to his naked feet, which was where her gaze had settled, “Home. Now kindly move out of my way.” She put her hand out, but kept it well away from his skin. Touching him could have very detrimental effects, after all, just standing in his presence was making her senses riot almost uncontrollably.
The big lunk stood exactly where he was, not budging a millimeter. She knew he was staring down at her as if she was a particularly interesting bug he’d discovered, taking all of her in, she
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