Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Hot and cold flames engulfed his body, the sound of the music turning thin and distorted in his ears. His brain struggled through a violent tide of confusion to make sense of Eve having that scar. A kidney donor scar. He knew. He knew what they looked like, because he’d researched the process extensively, wanting to know what his donor had gone through. Why they thought him worthy. Wanting to understand why someone would save his bloody life and not come forward. Not give him the opportunity to say thank you.
Knowing this stubborn, complicated, and quietly generous woman as well as he did now . . . how in god’s name had he never guessed it was her?
His stomach was collapsing in on itself.
What if there had been a complication with the surgery?
She only had one kidney now, his Eve. What if something happened to the remaining one? What if she needed the one inside him?
Madden had no control over his actions and he must have taken a step into view, because suddenly the crowd was chanting his new, ridiculous nickname, but he couldn’t see anything or anyone but his wife, his savior. His hero. None of these people would ever know they’d been in the presence of someone who’d sought only to be selfless and gotten nothing but persecution in exchange.
In that moment, he wanted to burn the whole town down.
“No,” he heard himself saying, his fingertips tracing the air in the shape of her scar. “No, love. No.”
Eve stared back at him with an attempt at defiance, but her chin was wobbling, the blue light turning her eyes into lakes of moisture.
“Why? Why didn’t you tell me?” he said uselessly, because the music absorbed his voice, but she seemed to read his lips, nonetheless. Not that she responded. In fact, Eve seemed to come free of a trance in the moments that followed, looking out at the spread of faces and drawing into herself, the spell she’d woven now broken for her.
Madden stood there at a loss for what to do. How to keep breathing now that he knew what she’d sacrificed for him. How did someone live under the weight of so much love and gratitude for a person?
My god, the strain she would feel if he let it all show.
Just then, the love of his life was struggling, however. He could read her like a book and she’d been interrupted in the middle of making the point she felt compelled to make. Furthermore, it occurred to Madden that his sudden appearance had put a halt to the performance, and he looked disapproving, just as the media suggested he might be.
No, he wouldn’t be that. He’d never be that again.
And he wouldn’t stand in the way of her taking back her control.
Without examining his actions too closely, simply doing what felt right for Eve, Madden walked farther out onto the stage, moving closer to Eve until she had to tip her head back to look at him.
“Keep going, love,” he leaned down to say in her ear. “I’m right here with you.”
“You shouldn’t be here for this,” she whispered.
Madden tipped up her chin and gently notched their lips together. “Lose the skirt.”
Her lids fluttered, and he could sense her struggling between two options. What she needed to do and what she thought was best for him. But when he pressed his mouth more firmly to hers and let her feel a graze of his teeth, the former won.
Looking him in the eye, Eve started to sway her hips to the music once again, sending a ripple of cheers and shouts through the audience.
“You’re fucking beautiful,” he said, rolling their foreheads together. “Don’t stop.”
“Okay,” she said haltingly, but her confidence grew as she absorbed whatever was on his face, a little bit of mischief taking up the insecurity he’d seen moments earlier, and, lord, was he grateful to see it go. “Feel free to join me,” she murmured, turning him to face the rapt audience, before taking a slow lap around his body, stopping in front of him with a raised eyebrow.
Madden stripped off his shirt, tossing the garment out into the audience, who were absolutely roaring at this point. Eve wasn’t expecting it.
He’d cherish that spark that reentered her eyes afterward for the rest of his life.
With a challenging look, she gave Madden her back, pressing the curve of her butt into his lap and sliding all the way down to the floor, before working herself all the way back up. When the audience cheered their approval, Madden looked down to discover Eve had left her silver, tasseled skirt on the floor.
He swallowed hard.
Had he really earned the care of a woman this extraordinary? This beautiful?
Left in a pair of black low-cut bikini panties, the bra, and heels, Eve ran her hands up the front of Madden’s chest and okay, yeah, disgracing himself onstage became a distinct possibility, because goddamn. His wife was sexy and challenging. Unafraid. Especially when she looked up at him and the words “Take off my bra” came out of her mouth.