Stolen Melody (Snow and Ash #2)

by Heather Knight

  I’m still awake when Axel finally joins me. In the dim light of his candle I watch as he strips out of his clothes, his muscles flexing with each movement. It fills me with awe, how strong he is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as powerful as he is.

  He wanted me, once.

  I want to speak, but I can’t think of anything to say.

  The bed shifts. For a moment Axel just sits there, and then he swings his legs up, settles onto his back, and pulls the covers over his long body.

  I’m in a small bed with a big man, and I’ve never felt so alone.

  “Melody?” His voice is soft, no more than a murmur. “You okay?”

  “Yes.”

  He rolls over and props himself up on an elbow. He strokes my hair again, and I lose it. I suck in a breath, and it’s so obviously a sob. Damn it. I clench my teeth, my muscles, my everything. I am not a wimp.

  Until he scooches over and spoons me. Now I’m done.

  “I’m sorry.” My stupid voice is thick.

  He goes still as a slab of concrete.

  “I know I messed up, and I know you feel like you’re stuck with me now, and I just—I’m really sorry.” My voice hitches.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m completely oblivious about how things work; you said so yourself. You had to kill that guy because I got mad and walked off.”

  He sits up. “What kind of shit is this? Hey, look at me.”

  I don’t want to, though, so he rolls me over and presses my hands to the sides of my head. “I’m not mad. How could I be mad?”

  “Well…” Because I acted like a jerk, and because of me a man is dead? Because I wouldn’t listen, didn’t believe you, and acted like a child?

  “Are you kidding me?” He’s looking at me like I’m being all crazy.

  Kind of pisses me off. “Well, it is strange. You have to admit. Right after that guy tried to…and you had to…and now you don’t even look at me.”

  He rakes his hand through the stubble on his head. “I remember giving you a very nice massage that night.”

  “You were being nice.”

  He leans in. “I am not a nice man. Wake up, Mel. I did it because you’re my girl and that bastard put his hands on you. I should have been there. I should have gone with you and I didn’t.”

  “He didn’t, you know, do it. He just smacked me around.”

  “I promised I’d protect you, and I meant it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “That’s it? Thanks?”

  “I guess. Clearly. I mean, before that, all you wanted was to get in my pants. Now I have the plague. Maybe being so repulsive hurts.”

  “You’re mad because I haven’t touched you?”

  “I’m not mad. I just don’t understand. You make me feel so alone…” My voice cracks. It’s painful to admit this, but the wound is deep. If you think about it, I’ve been alone since the day my parents signed that contract. Life on the road with no one my age, pretending to be someone I’m not, then all those years hiding in Sadie’s Bend, trying to be a nice, pure little thing and praying that no one would see the real me. Now even Axel doesn’t want me. I feel like I’m on the edge of this giant pit I didn’t notice until now, only it’s too late and I’m sliding in.

  “I was giving you time. You know. And…” He presses his fingers between his brow, like he’s getting a headache. “I wasn’t sure about you anymore.”

  “Great.” That’s just perfect.

  “You’re not exactly what I expected.”

  “Sorry to disappoint!” Fucker! I try to flip over, but he pulls me back.

  He takes up a lock of my hair and twists it around his finger, never taking his eyes off mine. “I thought you were some street slut who made it big, but you’re not. You’re a nice girl. I don’t know how to act around nice girls.”

  “How do you know I’m nice?”

  “The blood all over my dick, for one.”

  “I thought you liked me being a virgin.”

  He grins.

  What the fuck? “Okay, so, you didn’t mind taking my virginity, and you still liked it enough to bring me with you, but now that you’ve thought about it you don’t want me. Is that right?”

  “No!” He growls like a bear and flops back against his own pillow. “Guys like me grind girls like you between our teeth.”

  This makes no sense whatsoever.

  “You said you liked hurting me.”

  He nods, but he keeps his eyes fixed on the ceiling. “I don’t want to if it makes me like that son of a bitch. I don’t ever want to see you cry like that again.”

  The welling of emotion I feel is indescribable. There’s nothing more powerful than hope. “I want you to.”

  Still not looking at me, he shakes his head.

  “Please!” I put my hand against his naked skin, just over his heart. “Please hurt me. Please make love to me. Make me feel like it matters I’m here.”

  My whole body tenses up in one gigantic “please.” I bite my lip and beg him with my eyes, but still he hesitates. I’m sliding into that pit, and if I don’t do something now, I don’t know if I’ll ever claw my way out.

  Without taking my eyes off him, I shimmy out of the shirt and toss it to the floor. His eyes narrow and his nostrils flare, and that’s when I know I have him.

  His mouth covers mine. It’s like he’s consuming me. Firm, succulent lips part mine, and his tongue conquers me. He cups my breasts and rubs his thumbs over my nipples, and I get this dizzy tingle. Another pass over my breasts sends a jolt right to my cunt.

  His dick is hard, I can feel it, and even though I know it will hurt, I crave it. I need him to stuff that thing deep inside me. I won’t be complete until he does, so I curve a leg around him, pinning him to me.

  He tears his mouth from mine and latches on to the tip of my breast. He sucks hard, shooting licks of lightning to my womb. I moan as I run my fingers through his hair.

  “God, baby, these tits.” He cups them, shoves them together, latches on to the other nipple and gives it a nip. It’s so engorged that every scrape of his teeth shoots another drop of moisture to my swollen folds. “One day I’m going to fuck your tits and come all over your face.”

  Clenching at the image he gives me, I moan and I pretty much mash myself into him, desperate for him to suck me until it hurts. I need it. I need him. I need the pain, to be lost in him so completely that I’m nothing.

  He shoves his hands under my panties and through my thick bush. He closes his eyes and groans. “You’re already wet.”

  I spread my legs for him, and he sticks his finger inside my pussy. Then another. With his thumb he rubs my clit.

  I gasp and rock my hips to meet his assault.

  He kisses me again, his tongue teasing and exploring mine. “Tell me, baby, what do you want?”

  I take in the intensity of his gaze, those broad shoulders of his, that thick penis I feel pressed against my thigh. “I want to feel like you’re everywhere. I want you to make me come, and”—I lick my lips—“I want you to stuff that thing so far inside me I scream.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I want you to fuck me.”

  He latches on to my nipple and sucks me like his life depends on it, and yes. Oh yes.

  I lift my hips for him as he removes my panties. He leaves me for a moment, and then he too is naked. He gets down between my legs, and I spread for him. He grips my behind so I’m tilted up to meet him, and he begins tonguing me with slow, lazy swirls around my clit.

  Oh God.

  I spread wider as he licks me like a dog, then begins a series of rhythmic movements. My breasts beg to be sucked, and I use my fingers and thumbs to pinch and pull on them. Axel eases a finger into my cunt, then two. I had no idea anything could feel this good. He strokes that secret place inside me as he tongues me like a starved man. He gives my clit a gentle suck, and I lose my mind.

  My whole body shudder
s through my orgasm as I arch and buck against him. Waves of the most intense pleasure lick all through me.

  I collapse back against the bed, weak and helpless.

  Axel reaches down, and I can feel the engorged head of his cock at my opening. He breathes heavily, but he hesitates.

  I stare up at him through the haze of my pleasure and touch him again, both hands against the stubble of his cheeks. “I need you,” I tell him.

  He sucks in his breath and eases forward. The tip of his dick spreads me wide, wider, as he pushes against me. I feel the walls of my pussy tense, then open for him. It does not hurt.

  His eyes flutter shut and he stops. “You’re so tight, so wet.” He grits his teeth and ducks his head like the thought of not shoving himself balls-deep is unbearable. I feel him ease back.

  “No!” I wrap my legs around his waist. “Please don’t stop!”

  He shakes his head. “I’m hurting you.”

  “No! Oh God, Axel, do I have to beg?”

  I wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his; at the same time I tighten my legs, urging him deeper inside me.

  “Ahhhh.” He twists his neck as his member stretches and tugs at my walls. It stings a little, but not like before. There is no pain, just an exquisite fullness.

  “More,” I beg.

  He shakes his head, and I pull him tighter with my legs. I feel him inch deeper, deeper, and the sensation is powerful. Unbearable. God, I can’t believe it.

  He ducks his head and grunts. Another surge forward pushes his balls against my bottom and the tip of his penis against my womb.

  I part my lips and shudder.

  “Am I hurting you?”

  I shake my head. He feels good. So good.

  He takes my hand and places it on my belly. There’s a hardness there.

  “That’s my cock inside you.”

  God help me, I quiver all around his dick and I think I’ll come any second. I’ve never felt closer to anyone in my life. We’re joined, Axel and me. I can feel him inside and out, and it’s unbelievably sexy.

  He begins a rocking motion, and I gasp. He cups my face in his hands and kisses my forehead, my cheeks, my lips.

  I moan. “You feel so good.”

  It’s then that the fucking begins.

  Axel grinds himself against me, that huge rod of his spreading me so wide it’s like being fucked with a fence post. Each thrust rubs my aching cunt and sends thrills of oh God yes throughout my body. What he’s doing to me—it’s sublime. He’s everywhere—inside me, out, all over me. He rides me hard, and beads of his sweat drip onto me. I arch up to collect them. I want all he has to give.

  The force of his thrusts tugs my clit, and I feel the pressure build again.

  He’s so big. God, is this what heaven is? My walls twitch around him as he seizes my hips and pumps me full and hard, almost brutally. My breasts bounce in perfect rhythm, and they kind of hurt until he leans forward to cup them. The scrape of his pubic hair against my clit is too much. I want it. I want—

  Fuck! I open my mouth, clamp my thighs around him, and scream as I come. My convulsions seem endless. He’s completely taken me over, body and mind, and I can’t stop coming. The walls of my pussy suck him deeper, deeper. He gives a guttural shout as he shoots deep inside me and my cunt milks him, desperate for every drop.

  At last he collapses on top of me. I’m so small, and he’s so heavy, but it feels right. So right. He kisses me, and I can taste myself on his lips. His tongue enters my mouth and scoops out my soul.

  He groans. His cock is still inside me, like he can’t bear to separate himself from me. He gathers me in his arms and rolls so I’m settled on top of him. He’s still wrapped in my cunt, and our juices mix.

  It’s perfect. I feel like a dirty girl filled with cum, and I want more.

  More.

  “I belong to you,” I whisper in his ear. I drift into asleep.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  There’s something to be said for civilization, or what passes for it these days, shoveled walkways and road paths being some of it. Still, I slip on a patch of ice just outside the exchange and have to grab on to the rail to keep from falling flat on my butt. The rush of adrenaline is not enough to kill the glow of being fucked all night by a guy who wields a cock that could make a girl lose her mind. After the wounds from losing her virginity heal, that is. I’m exhausted. I’m also wonderfully glowy.

  Inside, Mia is leaning against the counter. She looks like she’s just sucked on a lemon as she nods at the clock, then looks pointedly at me. She already has her coat on and her boots tied up.

  My glow fades ever so slightly. “Am I late?”

  “Yeah, like fifteen minutes.” She jams on her gloves. “Just because you’re young and cute doesn’t mean you can take advantage of other people.”

  I squeeze past her and hang my coat on a hook. As I do, she wrinkles her nose.

  “You were having sex with that man!”

  Shock tingles my chest. “I was not.”

  She gives another sniff, and I shrink back. “I can smell it. He’s all over you.”

  My whole body blushes. I feel like a whore. I didn’t think you could smell sex on someone after they’d changed their clothes. Right as I was getting ready to leave, Axel got this look in his eye. He bent me over the arm of the couch, took my pants down, and played with my tits until I begged him to fuck me. Which he did. Just now, a drop of his cum drips out onto my fresh panties. Oh man. But I’ve had years of pretending to be normal.

  “What I do in my own house is my business.”

  “House?” She blinks. I’ve surprised her, apparently. “You don’t live in the apartments?”

  I shake my head, but I’m confused. Why does she look upset about this?

  “So.” The lemon face returns. “That criminal claimed you.”

  I narrow my eyes. “He has a name. Axel. If it weren’t for him, you’d be feeding the cannibals right now.”

  “You, playing all innocent back in Sadie’s Bend.” She snorts. “I wonder what Pastor North would say if he saw you now.”

  I clench my hands into fists. “He was there when Axel claimed me in front of the whole congregation. So back off!”

  She draws in a breath. Defeated? I think not. Probably preparing another line of attack.

  “Store’s yours,” she says with a smirk, and she slides something into her pocket.

  “Hey, is that a calculator?”

  The corners of her lips curve. “It’s my calculator. Have fun.”

  Mia sashays out the door like she knows she’s just ruined my day.

  Well, she didn’t. I throw the long tan apron that’s supposed to protect my clothes over my head and tie the strings. I give my pits a sniff. Will everybody be able to tell what I’ve been doing?

  I’m straightening a table of hats when the bell over the door jingles. My shoulders sag a little. It’s probably someone who’ll want something obvious, and I’ll have no idea what it is or where it’s kept. You know, I never was one of those girls who wanted to work someplace cool like H&M. I’m so completely unsuited to selling anything, let alone mauls, socks, and jerky.

  “Hello!” a voice calls out.

  I grimace. “Be right there.” I straighten the last of the hats and round the corner. A sick jolt of shock stops me dead in my tracks. Sweet baby Jesus, it’s Randy, one of my former bodyguards.

  He barely glances at me. Instead he inspects a wall of home-canned fruits and vegetables. “I’m in the mood for peaches. You got any?”

  He doesn’t seem to recognize me. Or is he toying with me? God, please let him leave without realizing who I am.

  He turns to me with raised brows.

  “Peaches.” I stare at him like a freaking idiot. “Um.”

  He sighs and shakes his head. “Never mind. I’ll just look.”

  I nod like that’s the best idea ever, and I practically bolt for the back room.

  I shake and I bend over
double in an attempt to bring blood back to my head. Randy was one of the bodyguards that used to go on tour with me. He’s huge—muscle huge—and he was great at shoving the crowds back. One bark from him sent the timid fleeing. He never made a move on me, but then none of them did. I was jailbait then.

  My manager let all my bodyguards go the third day after Yellowstone blew. I’m not sure why. I guess he was trying to give them at least a chance to get back to their families. Randy never made me feel unsafe in his presence, but things are different now. I’m different. Has he gone savage like the rest of the world?

  More importantly, will he rat me out to the others? Will he be the first to challenge Axel? I’m not saying I’m beautiful, but for real, clever marketing made me the poster girl for hot sex. Things could get ugly for me real fast.

  For Axel too.

  “Hey!” It’s him again. Why couldn’t he die like the other two-thirds of the planet? I close my eyes against the shame that eats at my chest. Who’s the savage now?

  “You still here?” Uncertainty laces his voice.

  Okay. Okay. I should go back out there. I should do my job. I should not draw attention to myself.

  For a moment I hear nothing. Then footsteps squeak against the wooden floor. The front door open.

  Closes.

  Again I bend over double. I think I’m going to faint.

  What a bloody wuss I am. I should have braved it out. I could have laughed and said I’ve heard I look like her—isn’t it funny? That would have solved the whole problem. Now I’ve gone and drawn attention to myself. What is wrong with me?

  When Axel shows up several hours later, he takes one look at my face and loses his swagger. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ll be with you in a sec.” I smile at him, and it’s so plastic my face feels like it’s going to crack. There’s a customer at the counter, the final one of the day. As soon as I figure out his exchange points, I shove his goods into his hands and shoo him out the door. I slam it shut behind him, lock it tight, and turn to face my lover.