She turned and they locked eyes.
“Do you trust me?” He inched toward her, his breath close enough that it made the hair on her neck stand up. He gazed at her smooth pale collarbone, exposed underneath her sweater and lab coat, chill bumps prickling her skin.
“I—I think the serum is helping you to be in your right mind again,” she said. Leave it to Dr. Averton to only refer to science instead of her actual feelings. She had to have felt what John felt. He forgot all about his awful situation when she was around him, like only the two of them existed and they were on their own island, not a dark cold lab surrounded by soldiers who barely trusted him, and a general out to hunt them all.
“Melissa.” He stepped closer to her and took her hand, sweeping his gaze across her neck and up to her lips. Her deep emerald eyes darkened with desire.
Dawson leaned down, inches from her face, and although he wanted to taste those rosy pink lips, he said, “Okay.”
“Huh?” Melissa’s eyebrows knit together as she swallowed hard again.
More than wanting to taste her, he wanted to force her to see how much she wanted him too. He took a small step back. “I’ll let you know if I need you.”
He sat at the table and picked up his book, leaving Melissa staring after him.
She quickly turned to head to the other end of the room, back to her experiments, her ankle boots clacking against the cement floor. Dawson smiled the smallest bit as he looked at the pages in front of him. He had wanted to get to her, wanted to know that she wanted him, too. And she’d just confirmed his hopes. She wanted him as much as he needed her.
Chapter 18
“John?”
He turned around, his book poised in the air. Melissa glanced at the floor, shifting, before looking back up at him. “Maybe I could take you upstairs for a proper shower, even let you shave? I know you’ve used the one down here but it’s so small, I mostly use it for lab equipment.”
He smiled and set his book on the table again. “A shower sounds nice.”
Melissa was on fire as she led Dawson through the mansion. Her heart had melted when she walked into the training facility and saw John playing with Faith. He was a great father, and in the lab just now she swore he was going to kiss her. But, he pulled away. She could hardly stand the torment; she had to get him out of there so they could be alone. She wanted him.
They passed through a doorway and into a three-story foyer, with a black-and-white checkered floor, polished white walls, and a curving grand staircase. John looked around every which way as they walked through the first floor to the stairs of the second. He was clearly stricken with this magnificent mansion, no doubt wondering how his team ended up here after leaving him to fend for himself with the general in the Middle East.
The pair ascended the staircase and reached the second story landing. Melissa turned left down a plush, carpeted hallway lined with tall, hand-carved, white doors on either side. She glanced behind her to make sure Dawson was still in tow.
“Here we are.” Melissa directed him into her bedroom. She gulped hard as she turned the knob and he entered behind her. Her breath hitched as she shut the door behind him.
It was all she could do not to picture him on her huge king bed in the middle of her crushed silk comforter.
She entered the bathroom and took out some toiletries that Dawson could use to clean himself with. A bar of soap, shampoo, a soft cotton towel, and a razor and shaving cream. The beard he had been sporting was actually pretty hot, but Melissa figured he might want to shave it. As silly as it seemed, maybe if Dawson started looking more like his old self, he’d start feeling like it too.
She turned to hand Dawson the supplies and was suddenly faced with his bare chest. He had stripped his shirt off right behind her and now stood so close she could smell the dirt and musk on his perfect golden skin.
“I—um—” Melissa stammered. “I should leave you to it.”
Dawson’s hand was on her hip. This was really happening…now. Her breath came in short rasps.
John leaned closer to her, his hot breath on her skin, desire in his hooded eyes. He wanted her—Melissa—the research scientist who was anything but sexy. And yet, the way he was looking at her…
“John…”
His mouth was hungrily on hers. She quickly pulled back. No matter how many times she had thought about this moment since treating Dawson, she didn't think it would ever happen. Nor did she think she could allow it to. She had to focus on the cure, she couldn't see Dawson as a lover. He was one of her test subjects, and one that needed the most care. But it felt so good.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, Melissa.” He gripped her waist as she broke the kiss. “You’re the only good thing in this huge place.” He tugged at the collar of her lab coat, letting it slip off her shoulders and pool around her ankles on the bathroom floor. “My team doesn't trust me yet.” He pulled at her sweater, drawing her closer, her breathing was wild. “My daughter hardly remembers me.” He grabbed her hip again, making her aware of how bony she must have felt to another person. She looked down. “But, you, you’re trying to save me, and you see me.” He closed the rest of the space between them until his hard-on was pressed against her stomach through his black military pants.
Melissa felt like she was suffocating. Steam rose from the shower room. She couldn't believe this was happening, but my God, she wanted it so badly. It had been years since she’d been with a man and none of them even came close to making her feel the way Dawson was making her feel right now. She might pass out if she didn't feel him on her.
She stood on her tiptoes, grabbed his shoulders, and pressed her mouth feverishly to his. He let out one loud raspy groan and forced his tongue inside her mouth like he was trying to devour her.
“My God, Melissa, you are so sexy,” he purred against her chin.
He almost made her believe it, despite the fact she had hardly eaten or slept in a year, that she was locked away with beautiful men like him but never felt anything toward them, and certainly never felt as glamorous as the girls they were with. But, the way Dawson was looking at her, working his tongue over her lips, pressing his cock into her abdomen, she’d never felt more turned on.
He gently picked her up, she wrapped her legs around his back. He walked her through the bathroom door back to her bedroom and set her on the comforter.
He trailed his kisses down her neck, to her chest, across her collarbone. She moaned against his ear. He stepped back and removed his shirt, revealing hard abs and muscles rippling. Then, he moved back to her on the bed and pulled her on top of him. His fingers found the bottom of her sweater and he pulled it over her head, urging her back down to his mouth. He continued his kisses along her collarbone, her breath on his neck. He flipped them both back over so that he was on top again, gently running his tongue along her chest.
When he reached her breasts, he ripped her bra down, breaking his slow pace. She was thrashing now, dying to touch him everywhere as he went back to lightly kissing her skin and teasing her nipples.
She was so wet she thought for sure she was soaking her pants through. Dawson continued to take his time, like he wanted to study every last inch of her body, a thought that made her insecure, but also thrilled her. He lapped his tongue back and forth over her dark nipple, then he did the same to her other breast.
“John,” she cried out, ready to burst. “Please.”
He made his way back up to her mouth and cupped her face. “Melissa, I might die if I can’t have you right now,” he whispered against her lips, his body making small convulsions.
“Take me,” she said, breathlessly. It seemed like all the confirmation he needed. He quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, yanking them to the floor. He did the same with Melissa’s and had them off her in one swift movement.
When he removed his briefs, Melissa’s mouth went completely dry and the muscles in her groin throbbed. His cock was huge and erect and she wanted it inside her so badly it hurt.
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John grabbed her underneath her arms and pushed her farther back so her head was against the pillows. He sucked on her neck while shoving her panties to the side at the same time. “Baby, you feel so good,” he said between kisses.
“I need you,” she said, urgently, digging her nails into his back.
He hooked his fingers around her panties and slid them down her legs before diving back in and kissing her. He took her legs and wrapped them around his back, positioning himself at her entrance. Her chest heaved.
He thrust inside her suddenly. Melissa’s skin was already slick and hot.
“Oh, John!” she screamed out as he filled her to her core. She let her head loll back in ecstasy as he stretched her wider.
He slowly pulled out of her before ramming into her a few more times, the pleasure more and more intense with each thrust. Melissa didn't think she could hold onto him with her legs anymore, he was turning her weak already. She let them fall on either side of him on the mattress as he continued to move against her, grunting above her. He latched onto her mouth and bit her bottom lip as he rocked against her pussy.
“Fuck, Melissa, I can’t hold on much longer,” he breathed. His eyes rolled to the back of his head until only the whites showed. The sight of what she was doing to him mixed with his perfectly defined body and the pressure of his dick against her sent her spiraling into the most intense orgasm she’d ever felt. She screamed out against his jaw.
He picked up his pace, his groin smacking against her thighs faster and faster until one final grunt left him collapsing on top of her.
“Jesus,” he breathed. “Maybe I really do need that shower now. Make it a cold one.”
“Or maybe we could just keep heating up,” Melissa whispered against his cheek. The seduction in her voice practically made him hard all over again when he’d only come just seconds ago.
They were lying in a hot, sticky mess on Melissa’s bed. John couldn't believe this was the reserved scientist he had come to know. Granted, he only knew her briefly before being captured by his team but ever since the first time he’d laid eyes on her he thought she was one of the sexiest women he’d ever seen. It was her intellect that drew him to her then, but then he’d practically died and become Rainier’s bodyguard. Now, he was back here and felt like a rabid dog when he was around her. Her brains were sexy, but so were her perfectly round ass, plump lips, bright green eyes, and smooth skin.
Dawson was so thankful that what he’d been feeling was reciprocated. It was all he could do to keep his hands off Melissa the second they were in the bathroom together. She was like a worse drug than the serum she’d been injecting him with, and he surely thought he’d die without feeling himself inside her.
After their breathing slowed down and they picked themselves up off the bed, they both entered the huge shower stall together. While they were soaping up under the heavy stream of water it was all Dawson could do not to shove himself inside her again.
Melissa left him alone in the bathroom to shave once they had dried off, and he nearly cut himself five times as he relived the most amazing sex he’d ever had.
When he came out of the bathroom, freshly cleaned, shaven, dried, and changed into the new clothes Melissa had left for him—a variation of the same outfit he’d been wearing since he entered Project Mayhem—he found her propped up on the many throw pillows on her bed. She was still sitting in a towel.
John immediately took this as an invitation and climbed next to her.
“John,” Melissa said. “I have to tell you something.”
Her serious tone stopped him mid-reach for the towel around her. “What is it?”
“I’ve been giving you daily injections since you came here.”
“Right. Just like the rest of the team.”
She took his hand and held it in her lap. “No, not like the rest of the team.” She paused. “I only give them injections once a week.”
A trickle of unease slid down his spine. “I don’t understand.”
She took a deep breath, absently stroking his arm with her free hand. “Your body is eating through the serum at an abnormal rate. And when I do administer your dose, you’re not recovering fully.”
“Okay, so give me a stronger dose.”
“I am.”
Her fingers were driving him to distraction. He trapped her hand on his arm, forcing her to look up at him. “And that’s bad, right?”
Her expression told him the answer before she verbally confirmed. “Yes.”
“How bad?”
“If I don’t figure out how to slow the rate of deterioration…” her words trailed off.
“I’ll revert to a monster.” He finished, the trickle of dread in his spine turning to concrete in his blood.
She shook her head. “No. You’ll die.”
Her words didn’t process fully. Die? No. Turn into an inhumane killing machine in need of putting down? More likely. And then another thought slammed home and he shot off the bed. “So this was just a pity fuck? One last hoorah for the poor guy dying?”
Her dark brows shot up. “Wait, what?”
“You felt sorry for me, Melissa. It’s becoming very clear,” he ground out through gritted teeth.
She jumped to her feet, gripping the towel to her chest with white knuckles. “No!”
He stalked away, unable to face her disheveled beauty and think. The painful tentacles of a migraine started to grip his temples and he pressed tight fists to his head. Not now. Not here. How could he have thought she’d ever truly want a monster like him?
Bile rose up his throat.
“John.” She stepped in front of him, grabbing his arms. “That is not why I told you.”
He twisted from her scalding touch. “Of course it is. I may be a bit slow, but even I can put two and two together.”
She sidestepped, cutting off his retreat. She made a grab for him again, but he took a quick step back.
“Listen,” she began, closing the distance between them.
“You’ve said enough.” And God help him he still wanted her. He ached for her. And he was just a sad soul she’d felt sorry for.
“Dammit, no I haven’t.” This time she did reach him, and she held on tight. “I told you that because you deserve to know the truth.”
He tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling, clenching his jaw, aware of every soft inch of her flesh pressed against him even as his head throbbed with tension.
“Look at me.”
Her demanding tone drew his gaze.
“I told you because I think I may have found a cure.”
He blinked, processing her info. “A cure?”
“Will you sit down? Please?” She gestured to the bed.
Fatigue hit him hard and he slumped down, massaging his temples. She slid in behind him, bracketing his hips with her thighs, and moved his hands out of the way to take over the massage. Her gentle, soft touch immediately soothed him, chasing away the pain.
“It’s a new mixture. Totally experimental. It could work. It could do nothing.” She paused her massage, her hands falling to his shoulders, and turning him to face her. “Or it could finish the transformation started initially by Rainier’s team.”
“Who else knows?”
“Only Caroline and Reaper. He doesn't want anyone else knowing until I’m ready to test it. He doesn't want to get anyone’s hopes up.” Her hands tensed on his shoulders. “I had to use their daughter’s blood to create the serum.”
He searched her gaze for any hint of dishonesty. He found none. “So, whoever takes the first dose may not survive?”
“Yes,” she breathed out.
He reached around and dragged her across his lap. “Then use me.”
“But, you’ve already been overdosed and tested on so much. You’ve suffered more than anyone. Even Quantum.”
“I need to do this. For me.” He paused, holding her gaze. “And for them.” This was how he could prove to them he was trustworthy.
“John, I don’t want to hurt you.” She cupped his face and he tilted his head into her touch.
“You’re not hurting me. You’re saving me.” He turned to press a kiss to her palm, his insides melting for her. “You’re the reason I’m here.” Dawson slowly pulled her towel away until she lay completely naked in his lap. He laid her back on the bed, leaning back to savor the sight of her stretched out beneath him. “God, you’re gorgeous.” She trembled.
Dawson moved to straddle her hips and leaned down to kiss her. He began inching his way lower. “You mean everything to me, Melissa.” He kissed her collarbone.
Then, he kissed her breast. She shook, the chill bumps across her body getting more severe. He kept working his way down. He ran his tongue from the base of her breasts to her belly button.
“John,” she breathed.
He trailed the tip of his tongue to the top of her pubic hair.
Melissa clawed at the bedframe behind her, arching her back up as Dawson kept working his tongue lower. The muscles in her thighs were weak; she quivered under the light touch of his wet tongue.
She writhed below him. Her moans and panting drove him on. When he got to her thighs he laid a soft kiss on the inside of one, then the other, before very slowly working his way back up.
“John, please!” Melissa screamed, her nails digging into the mattress.
It took all his restraint not to go faster, to manhandle her, to shove himself inside her again. He very gently kissed along the top of her pubic hair, from hip to hip.
He trailed one finger up the inside of her leg as he continued to kiss and suck at her waist. Her moans and screams got louder. Finally, he stroked his index finger between her legs, working it back and forth over her wet pussy. Her body seized and spasmed with each swipe of his long finger.
She kept arching her hips higher, rocking back and forth against his finger, growing wetter and wetter.
He pulled his finger away suddenly, causing Melissa to whimper like she’d been robbed. He worked his kisses lower again and planted his lips to her clit, causing her to scream his name again. He flicked his tongue back and forth across her clit before using it to make slow circles. She was so wet he thought he might come just from how good it felt to have his tongue on her. He was still fully clothed and she wasn't even touching him.
Mayhem's Betrayal: Operation Mayhem Book 5 Page 9