LOGIN••~~MADDISON~~••"I have to get to school. I have to let Dean Blake know I'll be back this week. She needs to know I'm serious.""Damn it, woman. After what you just saw. Anyone else would want to take the day off. The week off.""I am not anyone else, Corian."He just watched me. Amused. As I tried to wriggle free from his grip.I finally sighed. Gave up. His arms were like handcuffs around my waist, and honestly? Part of me didn't want him to let go. But I'd never admit that out loud."Are you done?""You just love flexing those muscles, don't you?""Just letting you know that leaving my world would be impossible, Maddison Summers."Impossible? Corian can be so possessive… it's almost terrifying. But his eyes. His green orbs. They were enchanting. Spelling me. Drawing me in like a magnet. And the truth was I didn't want to leave his world either. Not really. Not when he looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered in his entire universe."I have to get to
••~~MADDISON~~••We got back home. Corian's Penthouse. Ausley had brought some things from the store. The pieces they could save.I sat on the floor. Started going through them. One by one. My heart hurt. But in a good way. And a sad way. Both at once.I heard Corian. Pacing back and forth behind me jabbing orders into his phone.I wanted to tell him to stop. That it was okay. That I was okay. But I wasn't sure if that was true.Still.I was grateful. So grateful to have him. To protect me. To care about me.Mom was still God knows where and I may be learning to cope without her but God I miss her.And without Corian. I'd be truly alone. For good this time. The thought scared me more than the broken store.I felt him beside me. Warm and big and safe.I was staring at a small piece. A wooden bird. Wings spread.Corian held me from behind. His arms wrapped around me.He sniffed my hair. My neck.Like he was breathing me in. Making sure I was real."Dad made this fo
••~~CORIAN~~••I drove to her store. My hands were tight on the wheel. My jaw was clenched. My whole body was shaking with rage.They trashed her store. They trashed her fucking store. They made her scared.And they did it right under my fucking nose.I pulled up outside the store. Got out of the car. The front window was smashed. Glass everywhere. The door was hanging off its hinges.I walked inside.And my chest got tight.Everything was destroyed.Shelves knocked over. Boxes torn open. Papers scattered everywhere.All of it. Ruined.Damn it.I should have seen this coming.Should have protected her better.Should have been a step ahead.But I wasn't.I dropped the ball."Oh Corian."She rushed to me. Her face was pale. Her eyes were red.I grabbed her. Pulled her tight against me.So tight.Like I could protect her from seeing this. From feeling this.Like I could shield her from everything bad in the world.I held her with one arm. Used my body to block her v
••~~CORIAN~~••I pulled it out.Maddison: WE MADE THE FRONT PAGES, BOYFRIEND.A picture of the magazine. Of us kissing.My lips curved.She really liked that word.Boyfriend.And even though it made me feel like a pathetic teenager with his first crush...I loved it.Loved how it made her smile. Loved how it made her trust me more.Loved how she kept saying it like she was testing it out. Like she couldn't believe it was real.My chest felt full. Warm. Like something inside me was expanding.Like I could breathe deeper.I typed back: THE MEDIA LIVES FOR THINGS LIKE THIS. ARE YOU OKAY?Her response came immediately: I'M PERFECT.ME: GOOD. STAY THAT WAY, TIGER. IF ANYONE HARASSES YOU CALL ME.MADDISON: SURE BOYFRIEND.There it was again.Boyfriend.My chest did that stupid thing again. That warm, full thing.Fuck. I was turning into a sap.I put the phone back in my pocket. Started running again.My body felt lighter. Stronger.Like I could run forever.Like I co
••~~CORIAN~~••I was out for a run.Rocky was beside me. His breath coming out in heavy puffs.The morning air was cold. It bit at my lungs but I liked it. Needed it.Because my body was still burning.Still on fire from this morning.From her.Maddison.My Tiger.I could still feel her hand on me. Moving down my stomach. Lower. Until she wrapped her fingers around my cock like she owned it.Like she owned me.Fuck.My cock twitched in my running pants just thinking about it.About the way she'd looked at me. Those hazel eyes. Heavy-lidded and hungry.I wanted to turn around right now. Run back. Pin her to that bed and make her say it again.Make her scream it."Boss. You good?" Rocky asked."Fine."But I wasn't fine.I was obsessed.With the smell of her skin. With the taste of her mouth. With the sounds she made when I was inside her.With the way she'd said she'd never get enough of me.Like she needed me.Like she was just as lost as I was."Good morning, hu
••~~MADDISON~~••"Don't think I'm forgiving you for ditching me last night because of a candy bar."Sydney took another bite of the chocolate bar I'd bought her. Her third one this morning."I've apologized like a million times. And Corian sorted you out, didn't he?"We were walking through the city. The sun was warm on my skin. The streets were busy with people rushing to work. Car horns blared. Someone shouted something about coffee two blocks down."Well, after getting back from a stressful journey of meeting my mom's fourth husband. I come home to a mess at my apartment. when I couldn't reach you, I may have reached him first at some point."I stopped walking. "You called Corian?""Yes. Your ass was MIA. And thanks to him, I didn't sleep in a pool of sewer water." She licked chocolate off her fingers. "That guest house he put me in? I'm pretty sure the towels cost more than my rent."Guilt twisted in my stomach. "I'm so sorry, Syd. Mark has to return your rent m







