Free Bad Boy's Revenge: A Small-Town Romantic Suspense by Sosie Frost

the most protection. And now that he’d humiliated Nolan, I’d never save him from his own impulsive destruction.
    I was out of time. I had no choice. I had to prove it was Nolan who targeted me, who set fire to my shop. The sooner he was behind bars, the easier I could protect the man I loved.
    If I wasn’t already too late.
    Someone was going to get hurt, but I’d do everything in my power to ensure it wasn’t Maddox.
     
     

Chapter Six – Maddox
     
    That bastard put his hands on her. He was lucky I didn’t put him through the window.
    Josie struggled until she realized how bad it looked for her. How bad it looked for me.
    I had no idea why Nolan wanted her this time or why she would even meet with that son of a bitch. Then again, it wasn’t like she had been very forthcoming the last time I saw her.
    Any other woman was better off opening her legs than her mouth. But it’d never been that way with Josie. I wanted in her heart. In her head. I had to know why she’d endanger herself in Nolan’s presence, or if she even realized how dangerous that man was.
    How the fuck did she survive without me for a year?
    How did I survive without knowing she was safe?
    Her apartment was close enough, but everybody watched me drag her away. Where the hell did they all come from? One raised voice, and the damn church bells rang to alert the village that Andrew Maddox had returned, and he’d claimed the virtuous again, ready to steal innocence and draw blood.
    Josie was generally optimistic, but even she questioned me as we reached her apartment. I locked the door while she squealed some bullshit chastisement. I wasn’t listening. As long as I had her safe, as long as I had her in my arms, she could call me every name in the book and I’d still teach her more and dirtier profanity.
    “Are you out of your mind?” Josie collapsed against the wall. “Maddox, you can’t act like this! If Nolan decides to press charges—”
    I didn’t let her finish. She was already pinned to the wall. Something inside me snapped.
    When I was in jail I counted the hours until I saw her, and when I was with her I memorized every blessed second I held her in my arms. She had kicked me out the other night, and part of my mind shredded itself. It was forged together now, glued with testosterone and stitched with adrenaline.
    I kissed her, silenced her every protest of my lips and captured her within my arms. That didn’t mean she quieted. Her mew of indignation treaded a thin line between anger and submission.
    I missed her submission.
    Josie was always beautiful, but she destroyed me when she turned feisty. That’s when her almond eyes turned vibrant, a dancing darkness. Her lips, pouty and full, begged to be kissed.
    I needed her, and I wouldn’t rest until I knew she was mine. I’d give my life to know she wasn’t hurt, scared, or trapped with that fucking bastard who wanted her as a prize, not because she was the most amazing woman in the world.
    And so I kissed her until she softened in my hands.
    Then I took control.
    She fit with me. Or I crowded around her. I never knew the answer to that.
    Josie was tiny. I was big.
    She surrendered. I took.
    My girl wanted. I delivered.
    Her lips trembled. Why was she so afraid? I planned to give her body more pleasure than she could handle. I broke the kiss, but my nip to her neck silenced her next argument. I bit exactly where I knew she was vulnerable. Her groan was music, her hushed breath just a prelude to what I’d awaken in her desire.
    “You can’t…” Josie shuddered as my attention trailed down. Her eyes closed. I knelt before her. “Maddox, we have to talk.”
    “Later.” My fingers worked quickly, unbuttoning her jeans. They trembled too. I ignored it. The only thing that mattered was how goddamned much I ached to see her, taste her, feel her. “We can talk later. Let me have you now.”
    “But we can’t do this.”
    What stopped us? I was done denying myself.
    But she hid