Free First Rapture (The Rapture Series) by Alexandra Ivy

Madison with a growing concern. “Maddy…” She abruptly grimaced. “Sorry, I meant—”
    “Maddy’s fine,” she assured her friend. She’d ridiculously thought that insisting on being called Madison would somehow separate her from the naïve girl who’d so eagerly invited Luc into her bed.
    The truth was that she would never be able to rid herself of Maddy.
    Her past was simply a part of her.
    “What happened?” Kristen prompted.
    “It went just as I planned.” Madison grimaced as she was forced to relive her latest humiliation. “I met Luc at the party and less than a half hour later he was in my hotel room.”
    “Not surprising,” Kristen murmured, her gaze closely studying Madison’s pale face. “No man could resist a night with Madison Philips.”
    Madison shook her head. There were some men who would be attracted to her because she was a famous model, but that wasn’t why Luc had been so eager.
    “Luc couldn’t resist a night with any woman willing to spread her legs,” she said in dry tones.
    Kristen arched a brow. “I told you earlier that the rumor around Vegas is that Luc has become very particular in his choice of companions. I heard one of his friends say that he’d become a monk over the past couple of years.”
    Madison ignored her friend’s words. Just as she’d ignored Luc’s claim that he’d changed from the shallow flirt he’d been when she’d known him.
    “More likely he became more discreet.”
    “That’s possible, I suppose,” Kristen slowly agreed, frowning as if troubled by Madison’s stark refusal to believe that Luc could change. “What happened when you got to the hotel room?”
    Madison felt her cheeks heat. She told herself it was embarrassment. She wasn’t the sort of woman who enjoyed sharing the details of her sexual encounters with anyone, not even her best friend. But deep inside she knew that it was the remembered pleasure that made her face flush.
    God. She ached in places that she’d never realized could ache.
    The delectable ache of a woman who’d been well loved.
    Her blush deepened as Kristen raised a questioning brow.
    “I would think that was pretty obvious,” she mumbled.
    Kristen chuckled. “So you did the deed?”
    Madison nodded, although she’d never, ever call what happened between her and Luc ‘doing the deed.’
    That implied a casual hookup. What happened last night was…
    Anything but casual.
    At least for her.
    “We were together…yes,” she confessed.
    Kristen leaned forward. “And how was it?”
    “Mind-blowing.”
    Kristen flashed a teasing smile. “Good for you, girlfriend.”
    “No,” Madison growled, shoving away the coffee as her stomach twisted with a sick sense of inevitability. “Not good for me.”
    Kristen’s smile faltered. “You wanted it to be a failure?”
    “I wanted…” She made a sound of disgust at the memory of her smug confidence when she’d planned her trip to Vegas. She’d been so certain she wanted nothing more than revenge. It’d never occurred to her that she was using any excuse, no matter how pathetic, just to be with Luc Angeli. “Shit.” She rubbed her temples, the headache better, but still a dull throb behind her eyes. “I’m losing my mind.”
    “I’m sorry, Maddy.” Kristen grimaced with regret. “If you don’t want to talk about this—”
    “He claimed that I’m still in love with him,” Madison broke into her friend’s apology, abruptly revealing the truth.
    Why not?
    Kristen would worm it out of her one way or another.
    Kristen abruptly frowned, her eyes searching Madison’s pale face. “You told me—”
    “I know what I said.” Madison heaved a resigned sigh. “But I think I must have been in denial.”
    Silence.
    At last, Kristen cleared her throat. “Denial?”
    “I wanted to believe I hated him.” Madison gave a helpless lift of her hands. “It was certainly better than accepting I couldn’t grow past my childish, schoolgirl crush.”
    “What are