Stone Cold Surrender - Brenda Jackson [51]
He saw awareness flash in her eyes when she suddenly realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. “I’ll only get into bed if you get in with me.”
He shook his head. “With your mother and Uncle Corey at the end of the hall, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He didn’t want to bring up the fact that he doubted he could lie beside her for any period of time without wanting to make love to her, and their lovemaking tended to be rather noisy.
“Please. I promise to behave. Just stay with me for a little while.”
He looked down at her and knew she had no intention of behaving. He would stay but would somehow dredge up enough control to behave for the both of them. “All right, into bed you go. I’ll stay with you for a little while.”
“Thanks, Stone.”
He walked her over to the bed and pushed the covers aside. She slid in and he slid in beside her and pulled her into his arms. She automatically shifted her body in a spoon position against him and he knew she felt his arousal through his jeans. “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable if you were to take off your pants?” she asked in a soft voice.
He tightened his arms around her. “Go to sleep, Madison,” he growled in her ear.
“Are you sure you want me to do that?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Now go to sleep.” He knew he didn’t want her to do that but under the circumstances he had no choice. He hadn’t missed the looks his uncle had given him at dinner. Corey and Abby were curious about his relationship with Madison. Although they hadn’t asked anything, they had gone quiet when Madison had innocently mentioned they had stayed at the Quinns’ cabin for two days.
A few hours later, the only sounds Stone heard were Madison’s soft even breathing and a coyote that was howling in the distance. He leaned over and kissed her lips then slipped from the bed to return to his room. Before opening the door he glanced back over to look at her and knew that, if he had been in his uncle’s shoes thirty some years ago and Madison had been her mother, there was no way he would have let her go and marry another man.
There was no way on God’s green earth that he would have allowed that to happen.
Nine
T he next two weeks flew by and Madison’s heart swelled each and every time she saw her mother and Corey Westmoreland interacting together. It was quite obvious the two were in love and were making up for lost time. She had never seen her mother smile so much and it seemed that Corey had brought out a totally different woman in Abby Winters. Her mother enjoyed cooking, baking and thought nothing of helping Corey do chores around the ranch.
The days of the prim-and-proper Abby Winters were over—but not completely. She still set the table like she was expecting guests for dinner and occasionally Madison would hear classical music on the disc player. Madison liked the change in her mother and more and more she was accepting Corey’s role in her life.
Madison then thought about her own love life or lack of it. Stone still came to her room every night and held her until she went off to sleep. In respect for her mother and his uncle, he refused to make love to her although she always tried tempting him into doing so.
She had looked forward to today. Her mother and Corey had mentioned a few days ago that they would be gone from the ranch most of the day to visit another rancher who lived on the other side of the mountain. That meant that she and Stone would have the entire house to themselves and she intended to make good use of it.
She was aware that it had been hard for him to keep his hands off her and it had been just as hard for her to keep her hands off him. All it took was a look across the table into his dark eyes to see the longing and desire, and to know what he was thinking and feel the sexual currents that radiated from his gaze.
He stayed away from the house most of the day helping his uncle do various chores around the ranch. Corey had decided