Page 29 of Seduced in Ink

“Aaron?”

“I need to breathe.”

Madison got out and started to pace next to him, her hands in front of her as she stood still after a moment.

“I’m sorry about tonight. It didn’t work out the way it should have, did it?”

“Why? Why did that even happen? How could you just sit there and let your mother do that to you? And why did I do nothing and let it happen?”

Aaron had never been this angry before, nor had he ever felt so helpless.

He had tried to speak up during dinner, to defend her. Every time he moved to speak, Madison shook her head and pleaded with her eyes.

And he had done nothing.

He was just as complicit in her pain, and he hated himself for it.

“I’m sorry, Aaron. I’m so sorry.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? No, you don’t get to be sorry for this. It wasn’t you.”

“I know, but I’m used to it. If I let Mother do what she wants, it goes quicker, and we usually end up having a pleasant evening. It just didn’t turn out that way tonight because she was still trying to set me up with Guy—with my fiancé in the room.”

Madison looked down at her finger, the moonlight shining off the diamond. He just snorted.

“So, you let your mother treat you like shit. You let your father passively-aggressively do nothing to stop it. And you call that a pleasant evening?”

“They’re not always that bad.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“They’re not. She was being particularly icy tonight, probably because she’s not getting what she wants. But she’s not that bad. Not all the time.”

“I don’t know if I can believe it. Why does she continue to demean you? Why do you want her approval?”

“Because they’re my family.” Desperation filled Madison’s eyes. “Other than Lincoln, I have no one. I don’t have friends from middle school or high school or even college that I see anymore. People change, and it’s tough for me to make friends to begin with. I’m weird and awkward, and I’m sometimes so focused on work that I lose touch with people. But I’ve always had my family. Yes, they’ve gotten worse over time, but they’re still mine.”

“You’re better than this, Madison. You’re sexy as fuck. You’re smart. You’re sweet. And you would do anything for your friends. I just don’t understand why you don’t see that.”

Aaron’s chest heaved as he tried to get through his anger. But before he could say anything else, Madison rose to her tiptoes, her hand on his cleanly shaven face, and her lips on his.

Aaron didn’t stop to think. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, gripping her tightly against him, and deepened the kiss, her mouth parting for his. He ravaged her, needing her taste, her touch. Just needing her.

This was a mistake, but he didn’t fucking care.

He had her in his arms, her taste was imprinted on him, and yet he craved more.

When he pulled back, both of them breathing heavily, he swallowed hard.

Her lips were swollen from his kisses, the bruising force of the impact making his knees go weak. She looked up at him, blinking.

“Oh.”

“Oh,” Aaron echoed. “I actually didn’t mean to do that.”

“I think that’s my line.” She paused for a moment while Aaron tried to collect his thoughts. “You were standing up for me like that, and…I didn’t know what to do. Sorry.”

“Please don’t fucking say you’re sorry again tonight.”