Caged (The Defiant Kings Book 1)

I’ve always known I lived a charmed life. But nothing has ever driven that fact home the way Maddie did earlier tonight. I lie awake for hours, watching her sleep. Knowing without a shred of doubt this is where she belongs. Next to me. In my bed. In my arms.

It’s funny the way things snapped into focus.

Like somehow, I’ve always known and only just accepted it.

Is this what it was like for my dad each time he thought he fell in love?

Just as that thought pushes it’s way to the forefront of my mind, she tucks herself in closer and presses her lips to my chest.

And suddenly, that’s it.

I know I’m done fighting this.

She’s it.

As if sensing my warring thoughts, she moves her lips up my body until they’re pressed against my jaw. Her arm slides across my chest, and her legs tangle with mine.

She might not be the most comfortable with touching by day, but she has no problem doing it while she sleeps. When her thumb grazes my nipple and her teeth graze my chin, I pull away.

No way is it going down like this. Maddie half asleep after she just bared her fucking soul is not going to be how we remember our first time together.

“Sunshine,” I whisper against her soft skin. “You’re driving me crazy, baby.”

“Mmm,” she hums. “Make me feel something, Hudson,” her sleepy voice begs. “I want to feel you. I want you to replace those memories with something else. Something better.”

My fingers dig into the warm skin of her waist and flip us over, leaving me hovering above her.

Maddie’s heavy eyes flare with desire. She doesn’t flinch. There’s no pulling away. “I want to replace those memories with you, Hudson.” Her nails skim gently over my chest, sending chills racing down my spine. “I want your hands on me.”

“Are you sure about this, Madison? Because once we cross this line, there’s no going back. You’ll be mine, and I won’t let you go.” I hold myself above her, refusing to let go of her eyes until she answers me.

She reaches up and frames my face as her warm breath fans my jaw. “I’m already yours, Hudson. I think I have been for a while now.”

And that’s it.

That’s all I need to hear.

My restraint shatters, and I crash my mouth to hers, swallowing her moan. There’s nothing slow or soft about this kiss as I fight myself to stay controlled. We’re a clash of teeth and tongues, while my hands skim down her body and Maddie pulls me closer to her, leaving no distance between us and sending every sense into hyperdrive.

I drag my tongue down her graceful neck and smooth my hands up her rib cage, cupping her breast. My calloused thumb traces her nipple, and her back bows off the bed with a sexy little catch in her breath.

“Are you wet for me, Madison?”

She moans when I tug her nipple between my thumb and forefinger. “Yes,” she pants.

“Good.” I tug at her shirt, ripping it over her head and dropping it to the floor. My eyes trail over her gorgeous body, over her long and toned muscles, covered with creamy, flawless skin I ache to mark. To claim.

My fingers skim over a tiny tattoo at the top of her rib cage I’ve never seen in any of the skimpy yoga clothes she’s worn before. “What’s this?” I ask as I bring my lips to the intricate dragonfly inked on her skin.

Something about seeing this ink on her skin drives me fucking insane.

“My dragonfly,” she moans as my lips close around her breast.

Whimpering, Maddie’s hips lock around me, and she grinds herself against me, looking for relief. “Hud . . .” she begs.

“Tell me what you want,” I growl against her skin. “Let me give you what you need.” I look down at her, need coursing through my blood, and I run my thumb over her other nipple, loving the way she arches into my palm.

“Make me come, please.” She hooks her thigh over my hip and grinds her pussy against my hard cock. Her heat scorches me through her panties while I suck her pale pink nipple into my mouth, tugging it between my teeth.

Maddie’s hands slide down my back and over my ass as she lifts her hips against me again and gasps. “What the fuck, Hudson?”

“Madison . . .” I sit up, shocked at the f-bomb she just dropped. “You cursed.”

She ignores me as her hand slides around my waist and down the front of my pants until she’s wrapping her fingers around my dick through the jersey cotton of my pants. Her big blue eyes grow wide as she bites down on her lip and looks up at me through her thick lashes. “What’s this?” she asks quietly with a nervous energy vibrating through her.

I lean back a bit and cover her hand with mine, moving it up and down my shaft. “It’s a Jacob’s ladder.”

Maddie’s wild eyes drop down to where are hands are joined as her smile grows. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. It’s gonna feel so good, baby.” I shake my head, not sure if she’s going to run screaming or rip my pants off me just to see if I’m telling the truth. Every time I think I know what this woman is thinking, she proves me wrong.

I nip at the soft skin by her tattoo, then slowly work my way down her body. “But don’t worry about that yet.” My tongue slides over toned abs I’ve spent years watching as she taught class, then traces lazy circles around her belly button as her stomach quivers before stopping at the edge of her little silk panties.

She smells like the sweetest sin I’ll ever commit, and I’m desperate for a taste.

I flatten my tongue and drag it up her sex over the silk, burying my face in her pussy and scraping my teeth against her clit. Her body shakes as she claws at the sheets. “Has anyone ever done this before, Madison?”

“No,” she whimpers, and her hips press against my face.

“Good. Because no one else ever will,” I growl.

Maddie

Those possessive words are intoxicating.

They caress my skin the same way his strong hands do. And dear God, my entire body lights up like the Fourth of July as he utters them, with his fingers digging into my hips before he rips my panties from my body and buries his tongue in my pussy.

Hudson’s strong hands slide to the backs of my thighs as he works my body to heights I didn’t know existed. Edging me closer to the brink of an orgasm like nothing I’ve ever given myself.

I whine when his lips leave my core to trail over my thighs, draping them over his shoulders. Kissing. Licking. Biting. “Hudson,” I sob.

Frantic.

For anything.

For everything.

For the oblivion to drag me under.

I’m desperate for him.

“You have such a pretty pussy, sunshine.” Cobalt blue eyes hold mine hostage, watching me carefully, cataloging my reactions. A flicker of a smile pulls at his lips as his thick fingers dance circles around my clit. Close, but not enough. Teasing me until I’m writhing beneath him. Begging him. Moaning for him.

He trails his finger down to my drenched sex, circling my entrance and dragging it back up to my clit, nice and lubed. Then he raises his finger to his mouth and sucks. “Fuck, you taste good.”

His filthy words pull at something deep and tenuous inside me.

Like a thin thread of spun sugar.

Delicate and fragile and on the verge of shattering.

Hudson pushes his callused finger inside me, curling it against a spot I never knew existed, while he flattens his tongue against my clit and hums. Long, slow strokes of his tongue grow faster. Each one ending with a nip and suck to my clit.

My hands go to his head and tug him closer. Needing more.

I yank his hair, and he groans a long sexy sound that vibrates through my body. “Jesus, baby. You’re so fucking tight on my finger.” He slips a second one inside me and looks up, his pupils blown wide as I squirm. “You like that, Maddie? Imagine how good it’s gonna feel when it’s my cock inside you.”

Desperation turns to ecstasy as my walls clamp down on his fingers, and I soar. Stars explode behind my eyes, and convulsions rack my body, then he pushes me past any limit I ever thought I’d have. Sucking. Licking. Until he’s wrung every last breath from my limp body.

He sits up, and my eyes lock on his before he runs his finger up and down my sex one more time. When I moan, those fingers dip back inside me, then up to my face to trace my lips. “Taste yourself, Madison.” He pushes them in my mouth, and I swirl my tongue around the tips, then suck them deep into my throat. My body still hot and needy. Loving what we’re doing and ready for more. Eager to please. “That’s it,” he groans. “Such a good fucking girl.”

Hudson’s groan of pleasure is the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.

Knowing I did that makes me brave, and I trail the tips of my fingers down his chest, over his stacked muscles and cut lines, then underneath the waist band of his pajama bottoms. Ready to return the favor.

But his hand catches mine by the wrist, and in one smooth move, we’re turned around on the bed. My back soaks in the warmth against Hudson’s chest. One arm is tucked under my head, the other wrapped around me, while his face is buried in my neck. Goosebumps break out over my heated flesh even before his lips press against my skin.

I tilt my head back, disappointed. This feels like heaven, but I want more . . .

As if reading my mind, he whispers against my ear, “Tonight’s for you, sunshine. I’ve got a fight in a few days, and as much as I want to . . . and trust me when I say I really, really want to . . . I can’t throw away all the rules.” He presses his lips to mine, and I relax. “But don’t worry. I’m not done with you yet.”

I roll over in his arms and wrap myself around him.

Loving the fact that I can.

That this feels right.

“If you have to withhold, then so do I, King. You just said you’ve got a fight in three days.” I kiss him again, slower this time. Cupping his face in my hands. Lightly kissing the outer corner of his lips, his jaw, his forehead. I kiss all the places I’ve dreamed of kissing on this man. Excitement courses through me that I’m finally able to feel his body relax under my touch. It’s a heady feeling. “You need your beauty sleep for your last big day in the gym before the fight.” I don’t give him a chance to argue and lay my head in the crook of his neck, breathing him in.

Hudson laughs but doesn’t argue.

Though I’ve got a feeling he wants to. His breath evens out, and his arms grow heavy around my body as he drifts off to sleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts on tonight. On this past week. Even the past three years.

Evaluating your life is a nerve-racking thing. Really trying to look at it with a different lens than the one you typically use. A new perspective. It’s intimidating. And for me, change is scary. But this change feels like it’s for the better. Like it’s meant to be.

I’m not sure how much time passes in the silence of the night, while I’m lost in my thoughts, before I gently press my lips to Hudson’s neck and quietly whisper, “I think I was waiting for you to fix me.”

His heavy arms tighten around me. “You were never broken, Maddie. And I would have waited forever for you.”