She pushed him back. “Condom,” she said in her quiet voice. Then she rolled over to her bedside table and pulled out a box.
He waited while she got one out and got it open and then rolled it on him. He about lost it, right then and there—just like he had the last time when she’d done it. Feeling her fingers move down his dick, smoothing the condom out—God. This woman. His woman.
Then she leaned back and pulled her top off. She was bare before him. In the dark of the room, he couldn’t see much—but he could see enough. The palest of lights gleamed off her breasts, so full and soft that he just had to kiss them. The bed made an unholy kind of noise as he kneed his weight onto it. It hurt his ears, but she had her hands on his back and was pulling him down and he let her. He surrendered to her.
If he didn’t think about the bed squeaking or the walls around him—if he let himself get lost in her body—it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was pretty damn good.
He joined his body with hers with a hard thrust. Her gasp was small, for his ears only. The sound tickled over his ears, driving him forward again. And again.
She grabbed his butt, squeezing—digging her nails into his skin. Pushing him on harder and harder. “Oh, Nobody,” she whispered against his ear—so quiet he almost didn’t hear it. “Oh, God, Nobody,”
His name on her lips—not anyone else, just him. In that moment, he wasn’t a nobody who came from a nobody and would only be a nobody. He was a somebody in her eyes. He was somebody good.
He leaned up on his hands so he could thrust harder. Her nails bit deep—too deep—so he sat back on his heels just long enough that he could grab her hands and pin them over her head. Then he drove into her body again and again, living for the moment when their bodies were joined, when she moaned, “Oh, God, Nobody.”
She pushed against where he held her wrists. Doubt rushed in, just like it had when he’d smacked her bottom the first time. He didn’t want to hurt her. Not her. So he stopped and let go.
Her reaction was immediate. Her legs slid around his waist, holding him against her—in her. She cupped his face in her hands and pulled him low. “It’s okay,” she whispered in his ear. “I want you to hold me like that. I want you to.”
“Don’t want to hurt you,” he got out. Suddenly not moving was about to kill him. His dick wanted to keep going, to make her make those small noises again. To say his name.
“You weren’t. You won’t. I just …” She kissed him then, her teeth scraping over his lower lip before she sucked on his tongue. As she did that, her hips flexed up and she tightened around his dick. “I trust you. Now hold me down, Nobody. Ride me hard.”
Her body tightened around his again and he couldn’t control himself. She made him do these things—pin her wrists over her head, thrust in hard and then harder—she made him skim his teeth over her neck and down her shoulder until he bit down, trying to get a taste of her.
“God, Nobody—yes,” she hissed as he bore down on her. “Yes. Yes!”
He didn’t hold back. How could he? She’d told him not to, right? So he didn’t. He gave her everything he had, noise and walls and beds be damned. None of that mattered.
Only Melinda mattered.
“No—Nobody,” she got out in a short gasp before she bucked against him. Then her body tightened down on his with more force than he was expecting. He came—there was no controlling this. She made him do it.
He collapsed onto her, both of them panting. “Nobody,” she whispered again as her arms wrapped around his neck. And she held him. Just … held him.
He wasn’t sure he’d get used to that. But he sure wanted to try.
“Stay with me tonight.” Already, she sounded sleepy again. The tension drained out of her body and she was all soft and warm and inviting again.
This was how it was going to be, he realized. She was going to get that little house set up and bring Jamie home to it. He’d planned on keeping an eye on them, of course—but he’d thought he’d be watching from the shadows, hidden away so that if Lou Kills Deer tried anything, Nobody could take him unawares. And if he and Melinda got to have sex, he’d thought he’d pull her into the shadows.
That wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t going to pull her into the shadows—she was going to pull him into the light. Even if she turned the light off, she was going to want him to come to her in her bed—and stay there.
She disengaged and started to get up. “Where are you going?”
“I have to use the bathroom.” She stood and gathered her top and panties. Then she walked toward the door. Even in the low light—even after just having had her—her body did things to him. She paused at the door. “Will you be here when I get back?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t know the answer. She gave him a little nod that seemed … resigned, maybe, and then she had the door open and was walking a short distance down the hall. He heard another door click.
Hurriedly, he took care of the condom. He was tired. Tired of watching Jamie and tired of not solving the problem by dealing with Lou Kills Deer directly. He was tired of assholes like Dwayne thinking they had to take Nobody out to prove how damn tough they were.
But, underneath that, there was another kind of exhaustion. It’d always been there, but he’d never been able to name what it was.
He was tired of being alone, of holding himself apart from everyone, even Rebel. He was damn tired of that chair in front of his fire.
He just hadn’t known it until he met Melinda.
But now he did. And knowing that only made things worse because, no matter how nice it might be to wake up with her in his arms, it didn’t change things.
Assholes like Dwayne, like Lou, would still be gunning for him. For Jamie, once they realized that the boy was important to him.
For Melinda.
She came back into the room. Her room, not his. “You’re still here?” She sounded like her sister, except there was something else to her voice. Something hopeful.
“I …” He hated to destroy that hope, but he couldn’t put her at risk. He couldn’t. Not her. “I’ll stay until you fall asleep.” That way, he’d get to hold her a while longer, but he could still go when he needed to. And he needed to, for her sake.
She stood in front of him and cupped his face in her hands. “Will you come back?”
He nodded, slipping his arms around her legs and resting his head against her belly. Soft. Warm. He could stay for just a little bit longer.
“Don’t disappear on me, Nobody.”
He pulled her down onto the bed and tucked her into his arms. She fit, like she’d always been there. Like she’d always be there. “I won’t,” he promised.
It’d be a damn hard promise to keep.
But he wouldn’t break it.
Chapter Seventeen
Melinda woke up when Nobody left. Not because he was loud—he was so silent that she could hardly hear the window shutting. He was doing his best to disappear into the night, a shadow moving with the moon, but he obviously hadn’t anticipated one thing.
She knew when his body pulled away from hers. What had been warm and secure and so, so right was suddenly cold and empty.
So, through half-lidded eyes, she watched as he slipped out of her room and back into the night. 4:43. He’d stayed for an hour and a half.
Melinda wrapped her arms around herself and drifted back to sleep.
He’d come for her. He’d stayed—not the whole night, but longer than she’d thought he would.
He would come back.
She knew he would.
*
Three days later, Nobody forced himself out of the shadows. He didn’t want to, but he needed to see her and he couldn’t have her look at him with that disappointment again.
Rebel and Melinda were sitting around the fire. Neither of them seemed terribly surprised to see him. “Welcome back,” Rebel said with a half-smile as he worked in his beads.
Nobody didn’t much care for that smile. It
was almost as if Rebel knew Nobody had been in his house for a few hours the other morning. Having people know his business was not something Nobody was going to get used to anytime soon.
Then Melinda stood and Nobody forgot all about Rebel and his beads. She was dressed like she normally was—little tank top with the bra straps peeking out, long hippie skirt—but he couldn’t remember her looking better. And the smile on her face? Yeah, that’s why he was here.
She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. He let her, even with Rebel watching. When Rebel caught his eye, he shot Nobody a thumbs-up.
This was a form of torture, plain and simple. Plus, if Rebel was sitting at the fire, Nobody really couldn’t pull Melinda off into the shadows. Even if he could disappear, she couldn’t.
He’d have to come later tomorrow.
Melinda ended the kiss. “You’re shocking me,” she said in a breathy whisper. But she didn’t pull away. If anything, she held on tighter.
“Sorry.” He hadn’t even realized he was doing it—must have been because he hadn’t wanted Rebel to see him kiss her. Too late for that. “I’ll stop.”
She led him toward the fire. “Everything okay?”
He nodded. “I’ll check on him after I leave here.”
“I’m glad you came, even if it’s just for a little bit.”
And the funny thing was, he was pretty glad too.
*
They fell into a routine of sorts, which Nobody didn’t particularly like because routines were, by definition, predictable, and predictable meant it’d be easier to track him.
So it was almost against his will that he and Melinda settled into a routine. Jamie spent the day with her at the center. On the nights he went home to his parents’ house, Nobody would be watching, making sure Lou kept his fists to himself until he passed out. Then he’d go back to the clinic and do his job. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, he’d tap on Melinda’s window and heft himself into her room—and her bed.
He was pretty sure Rebel knew he was there, but if Dr. Mitchell was aware that he was breaking into her house on a regular basis, she didn’t say anything and Nobody wasn’t about to tell her.
But sometimes, Melinda took Jamie back to Rebel’s house with her after she closed the center up so he could help work on the house site. Nobody would clean the clinic as fast as he could and then hurry to be with them.
It was still awkward, what with Rebel and Dr. Mitchell watching them, but Nobody found himself hoping more and more that they could get Jamie out here. The boy was still uncertain about the whole thing, but he was getting more comfortable around Melinda and even Rebel. He still didn’t care for Dr. Mitchell, but that seemed to suit the good doctor just fine.
And then there were the nights when he got there early enough that Melinda was still outside, but late enough that Rebel had gone in to his own woman in his own bed.
Those were the nights when Nobody would finally, finally pull Melinda into the shadows of the tree line, push her up against a tree trunk, and make damn good and sure she cried out his name.
He went to his knees in front of her one night and worked his mouth over her body until she couldn’t even say his name.
Another night, he held her up against a tree, her legs anchored around his waist, and rode her until they both collapsed onto the ground, spent and happy.
He was happy.
What a weird thing to be.
*
Melinda heard the phone from a long way off. She snuggled down into the strong arms around her waist a little more, pushing back against consciousness. Nobody was still here, so it wasn’t time to get up yet. He never stayed long, but when he was here …
The phone rang some more. She didn’t like it. Who would call at … she pried her eyelid open. Who would call at 2:16 in the morning?
Against her back, Nobody stretched. “Hmm?” he murmured in her ear.
“Phone’s ringing. Madeline’ll get it.” She rolled over in his arms and buried her face the crook of his neck.
He sighed and held her tighter. Yeah, she was going to go back to sleep.
Then she heard it. “Rebel? Tim’s on the phone!”
Even through the fog of sleep, Melinda heard the panic in her voice. “Nobody?” she whispered. Tim—the sheriff. Something was wrong.
Nobody got up so fast that he almost threw her out of bed. He already had his pants on when Madeline knocked on the door. “Mellie?”
Oh, yeah—panic. This was bad.
“One sec,” she said as she threw on the shirt and yoga pants she should have been sleeping in. She looked back at Nobody, who had his shirt on. Any other time, this would have felt like she was getting busted back in high school with a boy. But Madeline’s panic was seeping into the room.
She opened the door to see Madeline standing there in nothing but an oversized t-shirt, her curly hair springing out in every single possible direction. “What’s wrong?”
“Normally I wouldn’t want to know—but please, please tell me you’ve got a man in there with you.” She tried to look around Melinda. “Nobody? Are you here?”
“What’s wrong?” Melinda demanded again as Nobody came to stand behind her.
Madeline made an uncharacteristic squeak at his sudden appearance. “Tim—he’s got Jamie. It looks like Lou shot his wife and then blew his own head off.”
Behind her, she felt a surge of pure electricity pour off Nobody. It made her jump, it was so strong. Madeline made that nervous squeak again. “What the hell was that?”
“Just the thing he does.” She snapped her fingers, drawing Madeline’s attention back to her. “What do you mean Tim’s got Jamie?”
“Come on.” She turned and headed back to where Rebel was pacing a three-step circle as he talked on the phone.
The three of them stood there as Rebel listened. Melinda held Nobody’s hand to try and reassure him it’d be okay, but on the inside?
She wasn’t cleared by social services to be a foster parent yet. She didn’t think the state would release Jamie to her custody. She was a non-family, non-tribal member who wasn’t approved.
“Yeah—yeah. Okay. No—no. Tim, listen—” Rebel looked at Nobody. “He’s here—has been for three hours. Yeah, I’m willing to swear to that in a court of law. So will my wife and sister-in-law. Yeah, okay.” He hung up.
“What?” All three of them—even Nobody—said in unison.
“As best Tim can tell, Lou and Myra had a fight at a bar off the rez, he went out to his truck and got his gun, shot her and then shot himself in the middle of the parking lot. There were witnesses. Tim wanted to be certain that Nobody didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Melinda clung to Nobody’s arm. “He’s been here since eleven.”
“You know,” Madeline said in a put-upon voice, “you guys don’t have to sneak around.”
Another burst of electricity zapped her. “It’s okay,” she murmured to Nobody as Madeline gave them both the side eye. “So what about Jamie?”
“Because it happened off the rez, the state’s involved already.” Rebel sighed. “We can’t take the boy.”
Nobody’s hand crushed down on hers so hard she yelped. He immediately let go of her and stepped away. The energy he was putting off was almost blinding. She knew good and well that if they were outside he’d be gone already, nothing more than a shadow.
“Where?” Nobody growled at Rebel.
“Easy.” Rebel held his hands up. “Tim’s got the boy down at the police station. They’re waiting for social services.”
Nobody moved so fast that Melinda barely got her hands on him. “Nobody? Nobody!” She managed to grab his arm and spin him around.
Moving almost as fast, Rebel got between Melinda and Nobody and the door. “Listen to the woman, Nobody.” His voice was low and calm, but it carried more authority than Melinda normally heard.
Nobody dropped his hands to his side in loose fists. “I want outside. N
ow.”
Jesus, the last thing any of them needed was for a freaking brawl to break out. “Look at me,” she told Nobody, grabbing his face and hauling it down until she could look him in the eye. He let her, so that was something. “We’re going to get him back.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Now?”
She took a deep breath. “No.” He tried to pull away from her, but she refused to let him go. “You listen to me, Nobody Bodine. We have to do this the right way. You go busting up into that police station, the sheriff might not just arrest you—he might shoot you. You might fight back and if you hurt a cop, you’ll never see the moon again.”
Nobody growled at her.
She wasn’t done with him, not yet. “And if you get Jamie? Then what? You disappear into the back country? They will come looking for you—you can’t hide from infrared cameras.” She thought. Actually, that wasn’t proven yet, but she wasn’t going to hedge her bets. “They will find you and they will take that child away. You will never see him again. Is that what you want?”
The muscles in his face didn’t move, but his eyes—God, so much pain. She hated having to threaten him like this, but he left her no choice.
“She’s right,” Rebel helpfully added from his post at the door. “I’ll go down to the station and wait with him.”
“I’ll go too,” Melinda added.
“I’m coming.” Nobody tried to stand up, but she still wouldn’t let him go.
“No, you won’t.” Rebel at least had the decency to sound regretful about this. “Tim will arrest you. He said he would.”
A look of anguish pulled on Nobody’s face until he looked like he was going to collapse. “But he’ll be scared. What if the sheriff’s got him in a cell? What if …”
Melinda honestly didn’t know if he was talking about himself or about Jamie. “I know, babe. But he won’t be alone. Rebel and I will wait for social services and get the info we need.”
“But—”
“No buts, Nobody. You are absolutely not to come to the police station. You are not to cause a scene or a fight or anything that will jeopardize our chances of getting him back. You will not screw this up. You will do what I say. Do I make myself clear?”
Nobody (Men of the White Sandy) (Volume 3) Page 22
