Masquerade

Slowly, I push inside and it’s everything it always was to be inside her and even more. It’s where I belong.

My thrusts are fast and hard. Her nails bite deeper into me, making me need to be deeper inside her.

“Oh, God,” she gasps. It’s sexy as hell, the breathlessness in her voice.

“You feel so good.”

Leaning forward, I kiss her again. Take her mouth the same way I’m taking her body. I’m already close, so fucking close to losing it that I know I need to hurry up and get her there too.

Again, I let my tongue tease her nipples as I pump inside her.

“Maddox… holy shit… I’m…”

And then she does. Her body spasms around me and it’s all I need to fall over the ledge with her.

Rolling to the side, I toss the condom in the trash can before I pull her into my arms. She comes easily. There will be no walking away anymore. No pretending this isn’t what it is. No walls up when we really want to hold each other.

“That was incredible.” Bee buries her face in my neck.

“You’re incredible.”

She turns a hand through my hair, tightening her grip there. “I love you.”

Pride swells inside me—that she feels that way about me. That I’m worth it.

“I love you, too, baby.”

Deleted Scene from Chapter 29: Maddox and Laney talk. This scene takes place after Maddox and Bee leave Kansas to go back to Virginia.

“Hey.” I close the hotel door behind me. Bee and I just got back from Kansas today. Laney pla

“Hi.” She’s sitting on the edge of the bed but scoots over, which is my sign to sit next to her, which I do.

“Listen, I’m sorry you had to do this on your own. I know it sucks that I wasn’t here but I had to go.” I shrug my shoulder. “I need her.”

“You know I wanted you to go. It’s the first thing you’ve done for yourself since I can remember. I’m glad it worked out. I’m glad you have her and I’m trying really hard not to say I told you so right now.”

Her response makes me chuckle. “You’d deserve to say it. I’ve known for a long time she meant a lot to me. It was a lot easier to be an asshole than admit it, though.”

“Eh, you were good at being an asshole. Gotta go with what works, right?”

I nudge her. “Smart-ass.” We’re both stalling and we both know it. The truth is, I know there are things I need to say but that doesn’t make saying the words any easier. People can’t change overnight no matter how much we might want to.

Finally it’s Laney who opens the discussion. “Why didn’t you tell me, Maddy? All that time you were dealing with that misplaced guilt. You should have told me you blamed yourself for that day.”

I sigh. “There are a lot of things I should have done over the years. There’s no excuse for why I didn’t and… fuck, I don’t even want to try to come up with one. Nothing’s going to change it. I think we’ve all spent too much time living in the past. It’s time to move forward.”

“I agree. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Me too.” Glancing over, I see her hand sitting on her leg. Reaching over, I grab it. Laney’s hold is loose at first as though she can’t believe my hand is really there and then she tightens her grip.

How fucked up is it that my own sister is shocked that I’m not tensing away from her? That I reached for her first? We’ve always been best friends and I always would have done anything for her but hell, I never even hugged her first. Those are the kinds of things she needs—to know someone is there for her and I was too big a prick to support her.

“I’m sorry for everything, Laney. You were always the best of all of us and all I did was give you shit about it. I know there’s nothing I can do to make up for it. All I can do is promise to try a whole hell of a lot harder now.”

With her other hand, she wipes a tear from her face. “There’s nothing to make up for. We were all hurt and none of us knew how to deal with it… but we’re better now. And no matter what, you’ve always been there for me. I always knew I could count on you.”

Giving her hand a squeeze, I say, “You couldn’t always count on me. You’ll be able to now, though. No more trying to protect you. Hell, little sister, I might be coming to you for help now. I have no idea how to do this relationship thing.”

Laney laughs. “You’ll be great. You love her. That’s what matters.”

“I do.” I pause for a minute before continuing. “How’s Adrian? I dropped a fucking bomb in his lap. He has every right to hate me.”

“But you know he doesn’t.”

Nope. Not him. He’s too good a guy for that. “I know. He’s dealing okay?”

She sighs. “It didn’t change anything, Maddy. There’s no way you could have known what would happen any more than Adrian could. And you couldn’t have stopped it either. He still misses Ash just like he always has but… he wants to move forward too. Like we said, we’ve all spent too much time living in the past.”

“Good.” I nod. “Bee too. She’s had a hard time. After we say good-bye to Mom, I’m going home with her. I don’t know how long it’ll take—”

“What about your job?”

“She’s more important. She needs to see her family, to talk about stuff she held in too long just like I did. As long as she wants me there, that’s where I’ll be.”

Laney gets this huge-ass smile on her face. “You will have no problems being a good boyfriend to her, Maddy.”

I roll my eyes even though I think it’s honorable the way she looks at the world. The way she’s positive and looks for the good. Everyone would be a lot better off if more of us were like my sister.

“It’s getting close. We should probably go.”

I stand and then she does the same thing. On reflex, I grab her and pull her into my arms—hugging her in a way I should have done a long time ago. “I love you, little sister.”

“I love you, too, Maddy.”

I take her hand and we go out to meet Bee and Adrian—go to say good-bye to our mom, with the two people we love by our sides.

About the Author

From a very young age, Nyrae Dawn dreamed of growing up and writing stories. It always felt as if publication were out of her grasp—one of those things that could never happen, so she put her dream on hold.

Nyrae worked in a hospital emergency room and soon fell in love and married one of her best friends from high school. In 2004, Nyrae, her husband, and their new baby girl made a move from Oregon to Southern California and that’s when everything changed. As a stay-at-home mom for the first time, her passion for writing flared to life again.

She hasn’t stopped writing since.

Nyrae has a love of character-driven stories and emotional journeys. She feels honored to be able to explore those things on a daily basis and get to call it work.

With two incredible daughters, an awesome husband, and her days spent writing what she loves, Nyrae considers herself the luckiest girl in the world. She still resides in su

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