Marlena assessed Maddie for a moment then gestured to the giant man next to her. “This here’s my man Darren.”
Their names were familiar—Marlena and Darren are at it again… In her dream, she’d walked past their trailer where they’d been having very noisy sex. Maddie’s cheeks warmed. “I…er…it’s nice to meet you both.”
She felt Adam’s gaze, and she worried he’d think she was judging Marlena and Darren, the way she had with Isis and Carl. She didn’t want him thinking she was a really awful person, so she drew herself up and held out her hand to briefly shake Darren’s.
Adam pushed the plate down in front of her. “Eat up. You must be starving.”
He’d made the plate for her, and for some stupid reason, it made Maddie deliriously happy.
She looked down at the scrambled eggs, more orange slices, and thick white peppered gravy over toast. The combined aroma made her mouth water and her stomach growl. Her hands shook at she picked up the fork next to the plate. “Thank you,” she said to Adam when she finally got the nerve to look at him.
Her heart raced when she saw the easy smile that lit his dark-blue eyes. The color of midnight… On impulse, she reached out and covered his hand with her own. The warmth of his skin sent a shock of tingles up her arm. He raised a questioning brow, but didn’t move his hand away. He didn’t have to. Maddie snatched her hand back as if she’d stuck it in a mess of hot coals.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, staring down into her plate of eggs, her appetite suddenly abated. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” Since she’d been at the carnival, she hadn’t wanted to leave. It was the first time in nearly six months that she didn’t feel the call of the road.
Adam lifted his hand and sniffed the back of it. “Cage,” he said absently. He smiled, ignoring her apology. “Where are you from, Madeline?”
“Maddie,” she corrected.
“Madeline is a very beautiful name. A woman’s name.”
Maddie’s woman parts all took notice of Adam. Her bits throbbed and her nipples perked. She definitely wanted him to see her as a grown-up. “I guess you can call me Madeline.”
He rewarded her with a sweet smile. A smile just for her and her alone. Maddie’s appetite returned. She happily dove into the pleasingly good meal.
*
Cage snarled as he waited for Adam to arrive at the tent to practice their routine. They’d thrown in a few new tricks that needed to be perfected. To kill time he did pull-ups on the lowered trapeze bar until his biceps burned. He let go, dropping the few feet to the center ring. That woman! His frustration grew with every minute Adam allowed her to stay.
He’d marked her palm with his scent! How could he so callously scent another woman who wasn’t Clary? He paced with aggressive energy. He needed a good work out. Something to take the piss and vinegar, as Marlena liked to say, out of him. He began jogging the rings, his mind racing with every step. The woman had felt so good in his arms, so vulnerable and sexy. When she’d stroked his face, his instinct took over as he’d rubbed himself against her hand. Her supple thigh, her curvy body pressed against his, had made his cock jerk to attention. It had also snapped him out of the spell she put him under.
Clary had been human, but she’d been an anomaly, like the rest of Pantheros & Company. She’d been a psychic—a real medium with the ability to foresee the future. His heart sank as he wished he could talk to her again. Hold her just one more time. Her death had left a hole in Cage, and it seemed nothing and no one could fill.
Except when he’d held the irritating woman. Why did he have these feelings for this stranger, this human female, so frail…so much like Clary? Why did Maddie feel so right in his arms? Anger exploded in Cage and he grabbed the nearest item, a small wooden stand. He threw it across the ring, roaring his rage and loss and grief, as it shattered against the hard dirt floor.
Adam ducked inside the tent before Cage could grab the next stand. “Calm yourself, brother.”
Cage sagged to his knees, the rage sputtering until it was no more than an ember in his gut. Adam wasted no time coming to his side. He squatted next to Cage and put his arms around him. “I think she’s meant to be ours, brother.”
“No,” Cage said with hollow denial. She felt like theirs already, but he couldn’t reconcile his new feelings for Maddie with his grief for Clary Sage.
“We shall see,” was all Adam said. “Let’s practice. Or are you too tired?”
“I’m ready.” Cage looked at Adam, holding back the unshed tears.
Adam placed his hand on the back of Cage’s neck, his fingers massaging into the tightly knotted muscles. “I know you are.”