by Brook Wilder
She should have known better. She had just been so desperate, so hopeful for someone, anyone, that she could rely on.
“I guess you really can’t trust anyone, can you?”
Melody didn’t mean to ask the question out loud, but Christian answered her anyway. From the look on his face, he knew exactly what she was thinking of.
He leaned across the table and picked up one of her hands in his.
“You can trust me, Mel. I swear it. I won’t hurt you. Not ever. I would rather cut off my own arm than hurt you.”
Melody looked up at him, drowning in the blue ocean of his eyes. He meant the words; she could hear the honesty in his voice and she was surprised by how much she wanted to believe him.
The tension was so thick in the air that Melody felt like she could lean forward and take a bite out of it. That was if she could move at all. She was paralyzed by his touch and she breathed a sigh of relief mixed with regret when he finally pulled away.
They cleaned up after dinner together before feeding all the animals and Melody was surprised by how late it was by the time they were finished checking up on the last little fur ball.
“Come on, I’ll show you where the bedroom is,” Christian said.
His words filled her with an odd anticipation that flashed and sizzled in her stomach like a hot ember. He must have caught her feelings because he tossed her an embarrassed look over his shoulder as he pushed open the door.
“You’ll sleep in here and I’ll take the couch. The spare bedroom is full of rescues at the moment. I don’t think you’d be very comfortable in there.”
He let out an uncomfortable chuckle, his own anxiousness palpable, as he turned to pull down clean sheets and a blanket for her before making the bed.
“You don’t have to do that,” Melody protested.
But he waved away her words.
“It’s no problem. It’ll just take me a second.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” she said, drawing in a deep, steadying breath.
She had watched him all day, his kindness, his caring. She was so tired of being afraid. Of letting other people decide the direction of her life. If she was going to be strong, be as brave as she wanted, she would have to start right now. She was going to have to take exactly what she wanted.
“I mean, you don’t have to sleep on the couch. I…I want you to share the bed with me. We are married after all.”
Chapter 19
Christian froze. He was still bent over the bed, tucking in the last corner of the clean sheet. He wasn’t sure he’d even heard her right. And, damn it, after last night, he didn’t think he could go through another round of disappointment so soon. So, he did what anybody would in his shoes. He pretended he hadn’t heard her.
He finished making the bed without saying another word, trying to keep his body in check. But that plan went out the window as Melody walked close behind him, stopping only when she was standing a hair’s breadth away.
She reached up and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around to face her, and he couldn’t have stopped himself from moving if his life had depended on it.
“Mel, I…”
“Wait, Christian, just let me talk first, okay?” Melody waited for him to nod before going on. “At the hotel, when we were kissing…I know I freaked out a little bit, but I…I want you, Christian. Please, kiss me?”
“Are you sure you want this, Mel?” Christian couldn’t help but ask.
His voice was rough, his body already tightening painfully at her words. His body was more than ready, but his mind was still wary. He remembered all too well her reaction in the hotel room and he didn’t think there was enough cold showers in the world to help if that happened again.
“You want me?”
Melody bit her lower lip and it nearly pulled a groan of agony from him. But she was looking up at him with those big, dark, mysterious eyes of hers. Only now, it wasn’t a mystery. He could easily read the desire swirling in their depths.
“I’m sure. Please, Christian.”
He couldn’t hold back the shudder at the plea in her voice. It made him ache for her all over again. Only, this time, he didn’t try to ignore the need that rose up inside him like a tsunami. He let it crash over him as he took one step towards her. Melody met him halfway, rising up in the tips of her toes to lay her lips gently against his.
The sweetness of her kiss broke his heart and he tried to keep it soft, slow and steady, letting Melody set the pace as he clenched his hands into fists at his side to keep from grabbing her. He wasn’t going to rush her like last time. He was going to let her decide how fast. And it was god-damned torture.
Christian held himself as still as he could under her featherlight onslaught. She kissed him soft at first, timid and shy, exploring lightly across his cheek and jaw with one hand, while the other tangled in his hair.
His entire body felt like it was going up in flames, but still he stood there, not moving. Well, not moving as much as he could. There was a fine trembling that started from the very spot Melody had laid her lips, which travelled all the way down his spine and back up again. But there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about that.
Finally, Christian couldn’t take it anymore. His hands reached for Melody as he angled his head, deepening their kiss until her could taste all of her sweetness on his tongue.
Slowly, inch by inch, Christian tugged at the hem of her shirt, revealing creamy skin in a striptease that left him breathless.
Melody wasn’t nearly so patient, tearing at his clothes to try and get them off. But they ended up tangled together, his shirt half on and half off, and hers trapped in the hook of her bra.
Christian let out a flustered laugh. He couldn’t believe how nervous he felt. Like a teenager fumbling around in the back seat with his first girlfriend. Hell, he’d never even been that nervous back then.
It was Melody. Something about her set him off, pushed all of his buttons in the best way. Lust slammed into him hard and mercilessly and he let out a deep, gruff groan as her fingers teased the zipper of his jeans.
“Jesus, Mel. You’re killing me here.”
“Not yet,” she joked, letting gout a breathy, enchanting laugh as they both tumbled towards the bed.
Melody was still laughing as she fell backwards, landing with a bounce before crawling into the middle of the bed and looking at him like she was about to eat him alive. He was more than happy to let her. She was naked and luscious and heaven and hell all wrapped up into one, just lying there, waiting for him to knock at the gates.
With a growl of need, Christian hurriedly stripped off the rest of his clothes, tripping over his jeans in his rush to get them off. He left them in a messy pile at his feet, unnoticed.
Christian’s hands were shaking as he reached towards Melody. He moved over her body, and he felt the exact moment she froze like statue beneath him.
He gazed down into her eyes and saw the same look of fear and panic start to glaze her dark eyes. Already trying to force his body into some semblance of control and fighting to keep the disappointment from his own gaze, Christian started to pull back.
“Melody, I…”
“Wait,” she whispered, drawing in a deep breath before speaking again, “Just…Please, Christian. I meant what I said. I want you. Please, don’t go.”
He turned back to her, saw the expression on her gorgeous face, and he knew in that moment that he would never able to deny her anything, not when she was looking at him like that. Like he was the only man in the whole world that could give her what she wanted.
Chapter 20
Melody held Christian’s intense blue stare, fighting the panic and the tinge of embarrassment at her reaction. But she wasn’t going to back down. Not tonight.
She held out her hand, pulling him back onto the bed when he took it. His tall frame stretched out next to her.
She didn’t let go of his hand, bringing it back to her body instead, guiding his fingers to
glide over her skin. Neither spoke as he just touched her.
Christian swept his hand across her body, exploring every peak and valley, learning all the secret places that made her gasp or moan or cry out his name. All the while, he was careful not to rush her.
It felt like her whole body was on fire for him, but he kept the same torturously slow pace, never pushing her, never pressuring or taking. Just giving. Not asking anything for himself.
It made something shift inside her, and that place that had been filled with panic was now filled with something else. Need. Pure need. It filled her up until there was no room for anything else. No fear. No doubt. Nothing but a lust so sharp she could cut herself on it. And rising up from that lust was a determination to take what she wanted. To not let Enrique take control from her a second longer than he already had.
Melody tilted her body, angling her head up so her lips were just a bare inch from his.
“Kiss me,” she demanded.
No more teasing. No sweetly spoken whispers then. She was way past soft words and feather light touches. She needed him.
Christian’s eyes darkened like twin oceans, deep and glorious, and he did exactly as she asked and kissed her. It was so intense that it stole the little bit of breath she had left, leaving her gasping and grasping for him at the same time.
They kissed like they were the only two people left on earth, and at first Melody didn’t even notice as his body moved over hers. But it came to her with the force of a blow to the cheek. She sucked in a breath, fighting the panic, fighting the urge to freeze, her blood turning to ice.
Christian moved back with a sigh and frustration and embarrassment filled her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, closing her eyes because she couldn’t bear to see the disappointment or accusation in his gaze.
“I’m not. I’m not sorry at all.”
Christian whispered the words roughly against her ear and her eyes popped open in surprise. He just looked down at her for a long moment, his brows furrowed in thought.
“I have an idea.”
Christian rolled onto his back, pulling Melody with him at the same time, until she was kneeling, straddling his thighs.
He shot her a pirate’s grin.
“How’s this?”
His voice was hoarse with desire and she drew in a deep breath. No panic. No fear. Just lust and need and a wild dark fire that was burning her from the inside out.
“Perfect,” Melody purred as she rocked her hips forward, once more losing herself in him.
But he stopped her, his hands digging into her thighs.
“Hold on, sugar.” Christian whispered roughly, “Let me grab a condom.”
“I’m on the pill,” she answered breathlessly.
Enrique had always made her take it. She moved impatiently over him, craving him like a drug in her system.
“Still, darling, I’m clean but…holy fuck!”
He didn’t have the chance to finish his sentence. She was already rocking forward, taking him deep inside her as she moved her hips to bring them even closer.
“Me too.”
She ground out the words on a gasp as her mind turned into a haze. He filled her to the brim. They fit so perfectly together it made her want to cry as pleasure arced through her frantic body.
They moved together in the dark as she took him deeper and deeper, riding him until they were both moaning and covered in sweat. Melody glanced down and saw Christian grimace in ecstasy, could see the spell she’d cast over him. She felt more feminine and powerful than she ever had in her life.
She tangled her body with his, both of them lost in one another as the sound of their panting breaths filled the darkened room. Melody wanted to stay like that, just like that, poised on the edge, but then Christian was grasping her hips, moving faster and faster inside her and she was spiraling out of control.
Her body shuddered like a leaf in a storm as she came, and she could feel Christian stiffen underneath her as they both climaxed together. After an eternity of pleasure that was over far too soon, Melody collapsed against him, breathing hard, full of awe and wonder.
“Thank you,” she said, whispering the words roughly against his sweat-slicked chest.
She could feel it against her ear when he let out a rumbling chuckle.
“Aw hell. I should be the one thanking you.”
She leaned up, giving him one last kiss before he wrapped her in his arms, pulling him tight against his body as if he was afraid she would run away from him. Melody snorted to herself. Not going to happen.
She blinked heavy eyelids, her body still ringing with pleasure as she fell asleep in his arms, a deep sleep without nightmares for the first time in almost a year.
Chapter 21
Christian rolled over, marveling at the sweet, satiated lethargy that flooded through his body. His legs were tangled in the sheets and blankets and Melody’s limbs, his arms were wrapped around her, holding her tight in his embrace. The morning sun dawned bright and cheery outside, streaming in through the cracks in the blinds with fingers of light that made him squint and blink rapidly.
He knew he should get up. Hub had another job for him today, but he didn’t want to leave her. A part of him wanted to just stay there, wrapped up in Melody, forever. The other part of him knew that both of their futures depended on him getting those jobs done so they could get the hell out of there.
Even still, Christian laid there for long moment, just watching her sleep. He couldn’t help the awe that filled him as he traced the gentle curve of her cheek. There were freckles there that he’d never noticed before.
Her lashes lay like a dark fringe against her soft and silky skin and a faint blush stole across her cheekbone as he watched. He wondered what she was dreaming about.
It had been weeks since their hurried wedding, but he still couldn’t believe how fast his life had changed. He felt like everything had been tumbled and flipped around and now he had a new center of his universe, a new sun to revolve around.
He’d been working for the gang on every odd job he could get his hands on. They’d been saving every single penny, but it still wasn’t enough for them to leave and get a new place out of town. Hell, out of the god-damned state would be better.
Christian could admit, at least to himself, that he’d been reluctant to hurry things along. She was still unsure about him, and he had no idea how to tell one end of his feelings for her from the other. But he knew that he didn’t want this – whatever ‘this’ was – to end.
Over the past weeks, they had fallen into an odd sort of routine. He would get up and go to work, and Mel had taken over caring for the animals while he was gone. She’d even nursed Luna back from the brink of death and now she was one of the most rambunctious kittens of the group.
He would come home, they would eat dinner together, talk about everything and nothing, watch a movie or catch up on the local news. And then go to bed.
Christian felt a flush of heat as his thoughts turned towards their nighttime habits. Ever since that first night, she hadn’t frozen up on him once. He hoped she was even starting to trust him a little bit. Enough to sleep peacefully in his arms night after night, at least.
Their desire and appetite for each other was undeniable, and he knew that a part of him didn’t want to give her up. Every day it became a little bit harder to tell himself that they would just go their separate ways. It was becoming harder to convince himself that he would just be able to forget all about her and live out his own dreams alone. Without her.
He’d even started fantasizing about finding a little place together, maybe out East or farther North, far away from Hightower Texas. So far that no one would be able to find them again.
Getting a house together, starting a practice together where they could take care of strays and rescues during the day. And at night…
Christian cut off the thought abruptly. He knew it was just foolish dreaming, but it didn’t stop his heart from
aching for it or his pulse from pounding even harder in his chest at the images it conjured.
He was becoming complacent. Lulled into contentment from the easy routine between them. Hub had been giving him easy jobs, mostly driving, a few pick-ups. But it was only a matter of time before the jobs got more dangerous, more violent. They always did.
Christian knew how the gang worked. He knew he would get sucked deeper and deeper until there really was no way out. And then where would that leave Melody?
He hated the fact that Enrique lived so close. He was just on the other side of town. But, with the safe house compromised, there was nowhere else for her to go. She hadn’t told him everything that had happened during the last year that she’d lived with him, but he knew enough to be god-damned certain that he wasn’t going to let that asshole anywhere near Melody again.
