Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 116

“Why are you so good for me?”

Letting him devour her mouth with zero resistance.

She was so dangerously compliant that he had nearly lost control and taken her right there, terrified only of scaring her off.

“Hmm?”

Nora blinked up at him, dazed and thoroughly confused.

Hudson's lips curved into a soft smile as he smoothly changed the subject. “What do you want for dinner tonight? Let's go out.”

“Whatever... you want.”

“Perfect.” His smile deepened, unable to resist leaning in to steal one last, lingering kiss from the corner of her mouth.

She was truly too perfect.

So impossibly perfect that he wanted to chain her to his side for the rest of their lives.

...

For the next few days, Nora saw no sign of Edmond.

It seemed he had finally accepted defeat and crawled back to Northampton when he realized she wasn't coming out to see him.

While a heavy burden lifted from Nora's shoulders, she couldn't help but find the whole thing incredibly ironic.

She used to believe she would never survive without that man in her life. Yet here she was, fully removed from his toxic orbit, and the sky hadn't fallen. The world hadn't ended. The sun still rose, and life went on just fine.

In fact... it was infinitely better than before.

Right before quitting time on Friday, Nora sat at her desk reviewing her schedule for the upcoming week.

Leo sauntered into her office, leaning casually against the doorframe. He spun his car keys on his finger, wearing a smug, knowing smirk.

“See you tomorrow, Agent Reed.”

Nora looked up, thoroughly confused.

See him tomorrow?

Tomorrow was Saturday.

They didn't have work.

She swiped on a muted, rosy lipstick, but after checking the mirror, decided it lacked punch. She swapped it out for a rich, luscious peach gloss instead.

She let her hair fall naturally, the soft waves cascading over her shoulders and exposing the delicate lines of her neck.

Doing a final twirl in front of the full-length mirror, she gave a satisfied nod.

But when she turned around, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Hudson was leaning lazily against the closet doorway.

He was dressed in a sleek, charcoal-gray silk button-down, the top two buttons left undone to flash a hint of his toned chest. Tailored black slacks hugged his powerful legs, giving him a dangerous, undeniably aristocratic aura of casual luxury.

His heavy gaze tracked over her, dragging methodically from her collarbones to her waist, down past the silk hem to her bare legs. It was a slow, agonizingly thorough appraisal.

The darkness in his eyes intensified completely.

Nora shifted awkwardly under his intense scrutiny, nervously smoothing out her skirt. “What is it? Does it look bad?”

Hudson didn't say a word. He just stalked toward her with slow, measured steps.

He towered over her, his massive frame completely eclipsing the light and casting her entirely in his imposing shadow.

Nora tilted her head back to look at him, but before she could speak, his powerful arm snaked around her waist, hauling her flush against his body.