I Speak...Love (A Different Road #3) (27 page)

“I’ll be right back,” I tell Stephen.

I walk back to doe-eyes and take a seat next to her.

“I’m Maddy,” I tell her. “I have a photo shoot here in the park this afternoon at six. I’m in need of an assistant. Do you think that’s something you’d be interested in?” I ask. Doe-eyes excitedly nods her head
yes.
“Great! I’ll see you at five-thirty, and I’ll walk you through set up and how you can help me during the shoot.”

I stand up smiling at her, then start to walk toward Stephen.

“Maddy,” her soft voice calls. I turn back around and look at her, she stands, then walks to me. “I’m Doreen,” she says, extending her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Doreen,” I tell her, shaking her hand.

I will never be able to change my past. I don’t fully understand the reasons of why my life was how it was, but maybe . . . just maybe, I can help change the future of this young woman.

Maddy is practically dragging me back to her house, she’s so excited she got her signature. She puts the key in the door, then quickly runs into the house and disappears. I don’t follow Maddy inside. Instead, I remember it wasn’t that long ago that she used to pause before she could open this door. I asked her why she did that, and she told me the three questions she had to ask herself before she entered. She no longer asks herself those three questions about anything anymore. The ominous storm that used to swirl and darken in her eyes has been replaced with sparkle and light.

You’re good for her,
the voice in my head says
.

Yeah, I am good for her, and she’s good for me, in fact, we’re perfect for each other.

“What are you doing?” Maddy asks, rushing back to the front door. She grabs my hand and pulls me inside the house. “Do you want to see it?” she asks excitedly, clutching a photograph to her chest. “No, you don’t want to see, right?” she answers her own question. She lets go of my hand, then she walks backward into the kitchen. I close the front door, then I stalk toward her and feel like a tiger on the prowl. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks. I tip my chin down and stare at my prey. “Stephen?” she says, then giggles.

“Put the photo down, Maddy,” I tell her.

“Why?” she asks, clutching the photo tighter.

“Set the photo on the counter, Maddy,” I instruct her again.

Her mouth opens, and she inhales a slight gasp as I take another step toward to her.

“Stephen,” she whispers.

“Madelyn,” I reply, cocking an eyebrow at her.

She sets the photo on the counter, then I close the distance and crash my lips down on hers. I push her against the kitchen counter top, then slip the strap of her tank top down her shoulder. I kiss along the ridge of her shoulder as I pull her tank top down farther.

“Stephen,” she whispers breathily.

“One . . .” I say, then trace my tongue over a freckle. Two . . .” I say, then connect to the next freckle. “Three . . . Four . . . Five . . . Six,” I continue to count.

“What are you counting?” she whispers, tilting her head, exposing her neck.

“I’m playing connect the sexy freckles,” I reply.

Her chin tilts downward as she looks into my eyes.

“You think my freckles are sexy?” she asks.

“Mmmm . . . Every . . . single . . . last . . . one,” I reply, kissing a different freckle.

“Even the ones on my face,” she asks shocked.

“
Especially
the ones on your face,” I answer, then kiss the tip of her nose.

She smiles so brightly, her green eyes practically turn translucent. In their transparent state, I see her deep love shining back toward me. Her lips softly touch mine, and I feel her love radiating straight through me. I place my hands on her ribcage, then lift her off the ground, pressing her body to mine. She wraps her legs around me, then I run my hand in her hair behind her head. I press her lips to mine while I walk her down the hallway to her bedroom. Just inside the door, I press her back up against the wall, then slightly pull away from her and push her yoga pants down over her ass. She sets her feet on the floor, then I bend down in front of her and peel them down her legs. I grab the back of her sneakers and pull them off her feet, then remove her yoga pants and panties. On my knees, I lift one of her legs over my shoulder and take her sweet little nub between my lips. Her hands slap down on the wall at her sides as she sighs. As I continue to lick and suck, I slide my right hand up her leg and grip her thigh just under her ass cheek. With the other hand, I place my palm on her knee on my shoulder, then run it up the side of her thigh. I palm her firm ass with my hand, then slide it over to the crack of her ass. I firmly run the side of my forefinger and thumb along her slick entrances, then I insert my thumb inside her. I apply firm pressure behind my thumb with my finger, and her leg starts to quiver as she screams my name.

“Don’t stop!” she begs.

With each slide of my hand, I apply more pressure with the tip of my forefinger. The more I play, the louder she gets. Her hands come to the top of my shoulder for support as I continue to lick and suck her. I watch as her eyes roll in the back of her head, then her shoulders shake against the wall as she comes. She loudly inhales a gasp of pleasure, then her hands come to her face as she comes down from her high. Before she can open her eyes, I remove my thumb, grab her around her hips and move her to the bed. I bend her over the mattress, then slide my workout shorts down to my ankles. I bend my knees, then run the tip of my cock over her sensitive nub, then sink inside her. I grab her hipbones and pull her firmly to me with each inward thrust. She grabs a fist full of comforter in her hands, then she pushes all of her weight into me as I slam into her. I rub my palm over her ass cheek, then give it a firm slap. The crack echoes in the room, sending a jolt straight to my dick.

“Again,” she whispers, then turns her head to the side so she can watch me.

I rub the last place my palm touched, then I give her a squeeze and another firm smack. Her mouth opens in the shape of an O and before my hand can even leave her ass, she starts to come again. Her back arches off the bed, and she plants her forehead on the comforter. I wrap my arm around her waist, pull her tight, then let go with a low groan.

I lean forward and kiss the center of her back, then pull out. I see the slightest shade of pink from my handprint on her ass cheek, I bend down and kiss each fingerprint mark. Maddy again turns her head and looks at me with a wicked smile. She turns around, runs her hand down the stubble on my jaw, then kisses me. She walks to the wall and picks up her clothes from the floor, and she walks into the bathroom with a sway in her hips and closes the door behind her.

I turn around, pull up my shorts, then sit on her bed. I look at the closed bathroom door and smile. Maddy’s come so far. We both have. She’s more like the butterfly now than the chameleon. Everything won’t always go as planned and there are sure to be bumps in the road, but my butterfly will
always
fly,
especially
in the rain. She’ll never live in fear of drowning ever again.

I get up, then head outside to my car. I remove a small box from the glove box, then go back in the house. I spot the photograph Maddy had clutched to her chest sitting face down on the counter. I pick it up, flip it over, and it takes my breath away. The woman sitting on the bench, though clearly going through one of the hardest times in her life is stunningly beautiful. I now see why it was so important for Maddy to enter this photo.

“What do you think?” Maddy asks, wrapping her arms around me, pressing her cheek against my upper arm.

“It’s hauntingly beautiful. You’re an amazing photographer,” I tell her, placing it back on the counter.

“She’s an amazing person,” Maddy says.

I pick up the box from the counter, turn around, and hand it to Maddy.

“I think you’re a pretty amazing person,” I tell her, placing it in her hand.

“What’s this?” she asks, looking at it shocked.

“It’s you,” I tell her.

She lifts the lid from the box and gasps.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispers, removing the platinum butterfly necklace from the box. I knew the second I saw it that it was Maddy. The edge of the butterfly wings is lined with crystal clear diamonds, but inside that are four large green diamonds. Depending on how the light hits them just like Maddy’s eyes, they change color.

“I’d love to stand here and promise you that the rest of your life will be nothing but sunshine and roses, but I’ll never lie to you. What I can promise you is that I’ll always be here for you, and no matter what happens, I’ll make damn sure that you always fly, even when it rains.”

A small tear falls from the outer crease of her eye and runs down her cheek. She raises her hand and gently wipes it away, then rolls up on her tiptoes, and kisses me. She rolls back down, then holds out the necklace for me. She turns around and lifts up her hair. I unclasp the ends, put it on her, then softly kiss the back of her neck. She turns around again to face me and runs her hand over the top of the butterfly, then smiles at me.

“Are you ready for yoga?” I ask.

“Almost, I just need to put this in an envelope and address it,” she replies, turning back around to the photo. She picks up the photo, then sighs, “Do you think this is . . .” she starts.

“Don’t even doubt it for one second. It’s that good,” I tell her.

She puts it in the envelope along with the signed consent form and the entry, then seals it, and places a stamp on it.

“I’m ready,” she says, lacing her hand in mind.

Maddy and I slip into yoga class five minutes late, and Kate gives us the eye.

After yoga, we go back to the house for a quick shower. As I dress in a three-piece suit, Maddy sits in the chair in the corner looking at me like I’m her prey now. As I snap the cuffs out from my suit coat, she bites her bottom lip.

“You keep looking at me like that and I’m not going to make it to work,” I tell her.

“That’s kind of the point,” she answers with a wicked smile.

I walk into my photo studio and immediately see the stunningly beautiful photo of Joss wearing a cream colored, wispy floor length dress with her arms tenderly wrapped around her beautiful baby bump. The peaceful look on her face and the love in her eyes as she looks down adoringly at her belly exactly matches how I saw Courtney look at her two daughters. Next to that photo sits a photo of Joss laying down against a completely black background with only her bare, rounded belly in focus with two tiny, pink, baby booties resting on top.