Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(68)

“Ami, huh?” he mumbled distractedly against my skin. “In California, eh? Crazy girl.”

This was a side of Adam I’d not yet seen, and though it frightened me, it also thrilled me. I knew I should make him stop, make him go—after all, what right did he have to break into this place?—but I couldn’t do it. The danger, the wrongness of it all with Julian just up the stairs. I had to admit, those things excited me.

I ran my hands along Adam’s bare skin, up his back, to his broad shoulders. God, I felt so small beneath him. He lifted up just enough to begin unbuttoning my pajama top—from the bottom up. Warm fingers grazed the skin of my abdomen, lighting tiny fires in their wake. Adam seemed more fixated on getting my clothes off than in discussing why Ami might be in LA. And at this point, so was I.

“How chivalrous of… Julian, is it?” Adam didn’t wait for an answer, though his fingers stilled at the second button from the top. “How chivalrous of Julian to rush all the way out here to my island to rescue you.”

“Adam,” I said, my breath quickening as he undid those last two buttons, “we both know I don’t need rescuing.”

“Oh, I beg to differ,” he murmured darkly.

My top gaped open and Adam pressed his chest to mine, skin to skin. He felt so good that I forgot about Julian sleeping upstairs, forgot about Ami and whatever she was up to. I just wanted Adam, all of Adam.

Arching up, our hips met, and I felt how very ready he was. “I want you, Adam, so much.”

For a moment I didn’t recognize my own lust-filled voice. But then a second of clarity made me say, “I don’t know if this is a good idea, though. What with Julian—”



“I happen to think it’s a great idea,” Adam rasped.

He reached down and grasped the waistband of my pajama bottoms. “Not to mention we have some unfinished business we never got to last night.” And with that he adeptly slid the bottoms—along with my panties—down my legs in one fluid movement.

Mmm, maybe for a moment, I thought.

Adam settled his full weight on me, and I wrapped my legs around him. Our lips met, the kisses sloppy and desperate. My hands explored the hard planes of his toned body, and though I was almost naked, his damn jeans were still on, and getting in the way. Groaning in lust and need, I clumsily sought the zipper, pulling at it until I was able to reach in and feel—Adam moaned—his thick and heavy shaft. “Oh God, Adam.” My words were jumbled and incoherent as he pumped into my hand, jeans sliding lower and lower with each thrust.

Adam’s fingers sought my own heat, and soon they were sliding along folds wet with desire. When his fingers entered me, my body moved and rocked with the frantic rhythm. Skin to skin, dampened with sweat, we twisted and grinded against one another. Raw and primal, this was no act of love. Adam was here to stake his claim, mark his territory. And I was all too willing to submit. Angling my body, I got close enough to rub my wetness against his hard shaft. With a sharp intake of breath, he stilled my hand. “Maddy,” he said, his voice low, his breaths ragged. “Slow down.”

Clarity came to me. Suddenly everything we were doing felt not wrong, but not right either. Feeling a sudden need to cover my nakedness—out of embarrassment or out of guilt, I wasn’t sure—I pushed Adam away from me. He complied, and I buttoned my pajama top, my fingers clumsy as I scanned the floor for the rest of my clothes. Adam, seemingly knowing what I was looking for, handed me my pajama bottoms from the other end of the sofa, the panties still tangled up in the mess of material.

“What were we thinking, Adam?” A lump rose in my throat. Blinking back tears, voice unsteady, I hissed, “God, my ex is just up the stairs. Do you realize how wrong this is?” I sat up and awkwardly tugged my panties and pajama bottoms on.



Adam moved away from me and adjusted himself back into his jeans. Quietly he said, “This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here tonight.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” I agreed. “Why did you? Why, Adam?” I’d gotten the tears under control, and now I was angry. “Did you come here to check up on me? Or are you here to make some kind of male territory-bullshit statement?”

Adam didn’t answer at first. But as he finished dressing, he said, “I’m sorry, Maddy. I guess I thought… Whatever I thought, I was wrong. It shouldn’t be like this.” He raked a hand through his already-mussed hair but said nothing more.

“Just go,” I said, disgusted. It was so obvious his reasons for coming here were rooted in nothing more than jealousy.

Adam left, but before he did, he slid the key he’d used to come in off the key ring and tossed it onto my coffee table—all without saying a single word. Whether that meant he was sorry for having broken in or that he wasn’t coming back, I had no idea.





I awoke early the next morning, and though Adam had left hours earlier, his scent—leather and just pure male—was all around me. I hurriedly dressed, throwing on the same leggings, sweater, and Chucks from the night before. Not wanting to revisit the events of last night, I rushed into the kitchen and toasted a couple of bagels, made some coffee, and waited for the inevitability of Julian making his way downstairs.

Just as I was pouring coffee into a cup, I heard a sleepy voice from the doorway, “’Morning, Maddy.”