Stone Cold Surrender - Brenda Jackson [50]
Madison reached out and hugged her mother. “Yes, Mom, I understand and I’m happy for you. If marrying Corey Westmoreland makes you happy, then I am happy.”
Abby’s arms tightened around her daughter. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
Stone Westmoreland glanced at the clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It was after midnight and he couldn’t sleep. He had Madison on his mind. She and her mother had joined him and Uncle Corey on the porch and she had congratulated his uncle on his upcoming marriage to her mother and had even gone a step further and hugged Uncle Corey and welcomed him to the family. Uncle Corey had done likewise and welcomed her to his. Then Madison had indicated to all that she was tired and would be going to bed early. He of all people knew of her overabundance of energy and figured that it wasn’t exhaustion that had made her escape to her room. She was trying to come to terms with her mother’s marriage announcement.
Getting out of bed he slipped into his jeans. Quietly opening the door he entered the darkened hallway. He had walked this hallway many times and knew his way around, even in the dark. The room Madison had been given was only a couple of doors from his. He wondered how she felt knowing his uncle and her mother were probably sharing a bed tonight. He doubted they would change their routine because of their unexpected guests, especially since they intended to marry.
He opened the door and quietly slipped into Madison’s bedroom. As soon as he entered and closed the door behind him, he saw her. She was standing across the room gazing out of the window. From where he stood he saw she was wearing a nightgown and the light from the moon that shone through the window silhouetted how the sleepwear sensuously draped her figure.
He breathed in deeply. As much as he wanted her, he hadn’t come to her for that. He wanted to hold her in his arms because whether she admitted it or not, she was having a problem coming to terms with her mother’s upcoming marriage to his uncle.
“Madison.” He whispered the name softly and she quickly turned around.
“Stone?”
Without answering, he quickly crossed the room and pulled her into his arms and kissed her, needing the taste of her and wanting to give her the taste of him. Her response made him deepen the kiss and when his tongue took control of hers, the soft moans that flowed from deep within her throat nearly pushed him over the edge.
He gently broke off the kiss. “You were quiet after dinner. Are you all right?”
She nodded against his chest and his arms around her tightened. “They are happy together, Madison,” he said, trying to reassure her.
She pulled back from him and glanced up. “I know that, Stone, and that’s what’s so sad. They went all those years loving each other but not being able to be together.”
Stone nodded. “Yeah, my uncle told me.”
Madison sighed. “They fell in love from the first. According to Mom, she fell in love with your uncle the first time she saw him although she knew her life was destined to be with someone else.”
Stone stared down at her for a moment then asked, “And how do you feel about that, Madison?”
She knew why he was asking. The man her mother had married instead of Corey Westmoreland had been her father. “My heart aches for the three of them. What if there was someone who my father would have preferred to love. I think it’s ridiculous for parents to plan their children’s future that way. I won’t ever do that to my kids.”
Stone had been rubbing her back. He suddenly paused. “Kids? You plan to have kids?”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Yes, one day.”
He