Chapter 11: Games 011

Maddox POV

Damn. I'm not even going to lie, Maddie looked hot as hell up there. The music was hitting low, the lights were red, and she was moving like the whole damn world existed just to watch her.

And yeah… I felt it. The attraction, the temptation, the heat and the burn she planned on let me feeling. But who was I? Maddox. So, I just sat back like I didn’t give a single damn.

Tsk. She thought she could flip the script on me and dancing like that was gonna make me lose control. But watching her bite her lip, roll her hips, that little smirk she threw at me like a weapon… God, it tested me.

My fists stayed on the armrests, but I was two seconds away from breaking that cool I’m famous for. I caught myself thinking how good she would look under me with those sultry look whispering my name instead of taunting me from that stage.

That’s the problem I've always noticed with Maddie, she has got claws and she really knows how to use them. But me? I’ve got teeth and I guess I'm patient.

She walked off the stage like she had just won something. She probably thought she had won this little games she was playing.

Cute. Damn cute.

I pulled out my phone before the haze could swallow me whole. My thumb hovered over Ethan’s name.

“Ethan, pick me up from the club,” I said, my voice low, even though my heart was still racing from her little performance.

“Yes, boss” came his quick answer.

I shoved the phone back in my pocket and leaned back in the plush chair, still feeling the atmosphere she had left behind. It felt like her scent was everywhere. My eyes drifted to the door she had just disappeared through, and a smug grin tugged at my lips.

I know Maddie was going thinking she had danced her way out, like I was some random dude she could tease and leave hanging. She knew she had lit a fire, and now she was in my smoke. She knew I could read her so she tries to hide her feelings but I guess she's too sloppy.

Tsk. "I will make sure you regret dancing sensually to me like that." I will make sure she remembers exactly who she was messing with.

I stood straightening my shirt that had now turned a bit rumpled from her little play. I fixed my buttons.

By the time Ethan arrived, I rolled up to the back entrance, I had already mapped out how I was gonna play this. I wasn't going to rush, I was just going to take it slow until it gets under her skin.

I swung the club’s back door open, and the night air wrapped around me. Ethan was already waiting at the curb, one of his hand resting on the black car.

He straightened up as soon as he saw me. “Boss,” he said with a small nod but his lips were curled into that annoying little grin he always wore when he thought he knew something. He pulled the door open, a smooth little gesture that looked halfway respectful and playful at the same time.

I slowly walked up to the car. “Maddox,” Ethan said as I got closer, his voice light but with that teasing tone only he dared to use with me. “You never get tired, huh? Still clinging to her like she is a magnet.”

I froze for a split second, a smirk pulling at my mouth. Tsk, this guy. “Watch your mouth, Ethan,” I muttered, sliding into the back seat. “You talk too much.”

He chuckled low, shutting the door behind me, then slid behind the wheel himself. “Taking you to the mansion, right?”

I leaned back, stretching my legs out, staring through the tinted window at the glowing streetlights. “Yeah, the mansion.” My voice came out low, still rough from me turned on.

Ethan pulled out smoothly, the engine humming like a predator. He glanced at me through the rearview mirror, that grin still there. “Man I swear, Maddox, you act like she is just another girl, but the way you’re looking right now? Damn. She really got you.”

I dragged my hand over my face, my jaw tightening. “She hasn’t got anything,” I said quietly. “She thinks she is in control but she's obviously not.”

“Sure,” Ethan said, that smirk still glued to his face. “Keep telling yourself that.”

I shot him a look that made him drop his eyes back to the road. “Don’t push it.”

We drove in silence for a minute. I could feel the leather under my palms, still smelling Maddie’s perfume in my head. My brain replayed every flick of her hips, every glance she threw at me. Damn. I hated how it refused to leave my head.

Ethan finally broke the quiet. “So what’s the plan this time?”

I tilted my head back against the seat, my eyes in a half lidded smile. “I’m not rushing, she thinks she’s playing me, let her. She will run herself into a corner and when she does…” I let the sentence hang.

Ethan gave a low whistle. Then he sighed a exasperated sigh. "Cold and classic. That's Maddox.”

I smirked, staring out the window. “Not cold. It's called patience. There is a big difference.”

The car rolled on toward the mansion, the glow of the city shrinking behind us. I let my fingers drum on my knee, feeling the slow feeling of excitement building in again.

The car rolled up the long drive, the headlights cutting across the stone pillars of the gate. Ethan eased the car to a stop at the entrance and turned off the engine.

He slipped out first and opened my door like always. “We are home. Or should I say sweet home?” he said with a smirk. “Planning to sleep or scheme?”

I stepped out, straightening my shirt again. “Why not do both,” I muttered. "That would be entertaining right?"

Ethan shaked his head with a smile. "That's the Maddox you are, always know how to scheme."