He heaved a sigh, but didn’t acknowledge her sarcasm. “Well, now that you’re back, maybe we could set up a date,” he said as he followed her up to her front door. “You still owe me a dinner.”
I don’t owe you anything, you insensitive jackass. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I’m not really thinking straight right now. I’ll get back to you.”
He grabbed her elbow as she unlocked her door and tried to make her escape. “Mel, what in the world happened? Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”
Her spine went rigid at both his touch and his flip attitude. She fixed him with a dark look. “Not that bad?”
“Yeah,” he said with a shrug and a snort. “Not worth all the female drama anyway.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and dared to smile.
The douche bag actually smiled.
Like it was all just a freaking joke.
Anger surged over the top of her sorrow, and she planted her palm on his chest, pushing him back down the porch steps. “Well, I’m sorry that the death of my parents is so insignificant to you, but I’m pretty sure you can’t even relate to something of that magnitude since the only thing you’ve ever lost that was remotely important to you was your favorite pair of sunglasses when they fell off of your empty head while you were in your fishing boat. By all means, remove yourself from my ‘female drama.’ I’m more than okay with that since every time I see you lately, I imagine ripping off various parts of your body and beating you senseless with them. Get off my property and get away from me. I can’t even begin to deal with you right now. All I want to do is play my piano, and all you’re succeeding in doing is pissing me off!”
She left him standing there and all but took the door off the hinges trying to seek refuge within her home. She slammed it behind her, and the tears started again as soon as she knew she was alone. Only, this time, it was less quiet grief and more hysterical sobs.
She felt lost and out of control. The pain was all-consuming, choking her and making rational thought impossible.
She went to her piano and sat down, not bothering with anything in her house. She didn’t want to be there. She wanted to be in Liron’s arms. It was the only place she felt contentment. And he was the only person who could offer her solace and sanity.
It was difficult to play the notes with the tears gushing out of her eyes and obscuring her vision, and it was hard to concentrate when her mind was nothing but a muddled mess, but somehow, she managed to blunder through Liron’s score. And maybe because her loneliness was so great, the emotion that seemed to be the driving force of the piece of music, it didn’t take as long for the gateway to open.
She felt the shift in the room temperature and the way the sounds resonated around her, and she stopped playing abruptly. She looked over her shoulder to see Liron’s living room beckoning her. The fire was smoldering in the fireplace with only enough light coming from the embers to make everything look eerie. Was it really only later in the same night that she had left? When it had been a whole day in her world?
Who cared? It didn’t matter. Time, the laws of physics, the universe, nature—none of it meant jack squat to her at the moment. All that mattered was that she could escape this hellhole her life in the human world had become.
Crossing over into Liron’s room, she didn’t bother to call out, didn’t bother to say anything. She merely went over to the fireplace, sat down in front of it, pulled her knees to her chest and sobbed like a lost little girl. She felt colder, darker, and more alone than she had since the day she’d watched her parents’ caskets lowered into the ground.
“Melody?”
His voice made shudders course through her body, and she looked up into his blue eyes, full of concern and sincere compassion. It was the final straw. She collapsed into his arms, burying her face in his chest and crying dry, wracking sobs that robbed her of breath.
His arms enveloped her, held her close, and his fingers buried in her hair as he pressed soft kisses to the top of her head. “Lovely, what happened?” he whispered.
“Th-they’re gone!” she cried, as if that would explain everything.
Somehow, it seemed to do exactly that. He didn’t ask her anything else, just lifted her effortlessly into his arms and carried her out of the room.
She clung to him, to his strength, solidity, and his warmth as he carried her down the staircase to his bedroom. He set her on the edge of his bed and bent to take off her shoes. Then, skimming his fingers up her calves in the process, he stood and gently eased her down so she was lying on her side. She curled her knees up and shivered.
Liron went around to the other side of the bed and pulled a blanket over her. He retreated for a moment to build a fire in the hearth in his room, then climbed onto the bed beside her and pulled her into his soothing embrace.
“I’m sorry for just showing up in the middle of the night,” she murmured.
“Shhh.” He brushed his lips across her hair and pulled her tighter. “Don’t ever apologize for coming to me. You are welcome here forever and always.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as a few more rogue tears escaped and she nestled against him, turning in his arms so she could bury her face against his shirt, breathe in his scent, and listen to the rhythm of his heartbeat. She sniffled, her torrential emotions abating to dismal sadness. “I went to see a friend of mine conduct for a music festival tonight,” she said. “I was fine until they played the song that was played at my parents’ funeral.” He smoothed her hair back and she sighed. “It’s a beautiful piece. It was their favorite, but I can’t handle hearing it. It’s like it rips my heart open all over again.” He pressed gentle kisses to her forehead and face, letting her speak, but showing her he was there, and listening. “I don’t know if the pain will ever go away.”
“Of course it won’t.” His voice was tender, melodic and wonderful. “They were your parents, Melody. You loved them, and you miss them. The pain and sorrow of missing them is never going to go away, and you shouldn’t expect it to.”
Grief squeezed her chest again and she chewed on her bottom lip. “But everyone always says, ‘time heals’ and blah blah blah. It’s been a year and it still hurts like it happened yesterday.”
“The pain will lessen over time, and you will learn to accept the ache of it, to live with it, but I would never expect you to get over it. The loss is too great.”
She sniffed again. “I think everyone else thinks I should get over it. I don’t know how they could if they were in my position.”
“They care about you. They don’t want to see you hurt, but sometimes humans lack the ability to formulate words in a way that is productive.” He sighed and rolled onto his back, tugging her over on top of him so she was lying with her body flush against his. He held her close, and she snuggled against his chest.
They lay there in silence for several long moments and, slowly, his comforting presence started to replace the cold emptiness that had taken over her. He wasn’t using his talent to its full extent. There were no symphonies in her mind, only the softest sounds of nature as he ran his fingers in long strokes through her hair. She marveled over how well he knew her in such a short time. He knew she wouldn’t be able to handle the orchestral sensation at the moment, but that music, even in its most natural setting—the wind in the treetops, crickets on a summer night—was the one thing that could calm her. That and his persistent, kind touch.
The dark, gaping hole she had sworn was in her heart an hour ago began to be filled with Liron’s tender light, and she heaved a sigh as the coiled tension within her slipped away. “Liron,” she whispered.
“Yes, lovely.”
She smiled at his term of endearment and closed her eyes as she listened to the steady beat of his beautiful heart. The words came easily to her now. So did the choice. “I want to stay in this world…with you.”
His hands in her hair stilled for a second before he shifted them so that she was on her side, cradled in his arms, and he could look dow
n at her. His brow was furrowed and his eyes mirrored mild surprise. “Melody….”
She let out a little, irritated sigh. “Liron, I’m not out of my mind, okay? So don’t look at me like that. I’m a big girl, capable of making big girl choices. This is not my grief talking. I’m not running from anything. I was seriously considering this before tonight, and all of the stuff that happened just solidified my decision.” She ran her palm up his chest, feeling the lines of muscle beneath his shirt, and desperately wanted to see and touch those lines without the fabric in the way.
She studied his expression and a smidgen of uneasy doubt crept into her. “Oh…unless….” She averted her gaze, feeling stupid and presumptuous. “Unless you don’t want―”
He cut off her words with a tender kiss to her lips that took her breath away and inflamed her even as it soothed and comforted. “Melody, I told you, I am yours. Whatever you decide. I just don’t want you to make a hasty decision that you will later regret.”
The care and compassion reflected in his eyes made her heart flutter, and she pressed closer to him. “My world doesn’t offer me anything anymore, Liron,” she murmured. She closed her eyes as he held her and his fingers drew patterns across her back. “When I’m here, I don’t feel that suffocating emptiness that I feel when I’m in my world. Your world is full of life and beauty, of music and art and creation. And…you.”
A strange expression crossed his face. Something that looked like it started out as joy, but was chased away by worry. His hands on her back stilled and he looked away. “And…you’re certain that you…want me? Choosing me means staying here, with me, for a very long time. You could get tired of it all after awhile.”
His uncertainty tugged at her heart, and she pushed herself up into a sitting position so she could look at him fully. Her intention had been to boldly set the record straight, but her bravery fizzled and she looked down at her lap while she played with her fingers. All of this was so foreign to her. She felt so sure of her feelings in one moment, but then doubt crept in. Doubt caused by what she’d been taught was “rational” her whole life. And nothing about Liron or inter-dimensional travel came anywhere near “rational.”
“Is it strange that…?” She cleared her throat and tried again. “Is it strange that you can love someone so quickly?”
He sat up with a start and was in front of her before she could even blink. There was so much intensity radiating from his blue eyes it made her shiver. He took her gently by the shoulders, and the notes that filled her mind were disjointed and seemed unintentional, chaotic, like several musicians had knocked over all their equipment. It tugged a smile from her lips, and she reached out to smooth his silky hair.
“What did you just say?” he whispered.
She sighed and continued to study the texture of his hair between her fingers. She gave a little, self-conscious shrug, feeling like a naive teenager telling a boy she liked him for the first time. If her emotions got anymore out of whack tonight….. She’d never felt so many across-the-board things in one night in her life.
“Melody…” He took her face between his hands, and she closed her eyes. His palms were warm and velvet soft. His voice mirrored his touch perfectly. “Don’t feel embarrassed. I need to hear what you said again. Please….” He rested his forehead against hers.
“It doesn’t make sense, but…you feel right to me, Liron. You fit. You fill the empty place inside of me. I thought music was the only thing that could touch me so profoundly. It has always been my love, my anchor, my passion. How can I not love you the same way? You are music. Is that strange? That I have felt so connected to you from the moment I played your music? That I feel like we just make sense somehow?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not strange. That is the way of things in my realm. Muses are much more emotional creatures. We are ruled by passion and feelings much more than logic, the way humans are taught. From the moment you came wandering into my home, my heart has been tied to you. It was instantaneous. You are very easy to love.”
Tears filled her eyes, but they had a different origin than her volatile ones from earlier. These were born of her heart feeling so safe and so full in that moment, so wrapped in wonderful warmth that she couldn’t contain them. And it seemed that, now that they had let loose, they were going to come out at every given moment.
Liron touched her tears with his fingertips, then leaned in to kiss them away. She shivered and sniffed, then reached up to wipe at the remaining ones. “You know, I haven’t cried since my parents died?”
He frowned. “No?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t. I don’t know why. Tonight, they just…came out of nowhere. My emotions were so strong, I couldn’t help it.” She analyzed herself for a moment, and realized that she didn’t feel quite as hollow as she had before. Her heart still ached at the absence of her loved ones, but it wasn’t so overwhelming that it threatened to consume her. “It’s weird, but…I feel a little better.”
He nodded. “That makes sense. You finally released all of that pain.”
She looked up into his eyes, finding the compassion and understanding there the most desirable things she’d ever seen. Her heart gave a little sigh of surrender. “I really do think I’m falling in love with you,” she murmured. “Or, maybe I already have fallen. I’m not sure.”
He closed his eyes and an expression of serene bliss passed over his features. “There is no way for me to describe how hearing those words from you makes me feel,” he said softly. “I only know one way to express it to you.”
She smiled and cupped his strong jaw in her palm. “Show me.”
Chapter Thirteen
Liron was so hopelessly lost to this woman.
His fingers flew over the piano keys, producing joyful, yet sensual sounds that perfectly portrayed the feelings Melody ignited within him. She was the light streaming back into his world, touching all the dismal places Elizabeth and her treachery had left behind. She was his muse, awakening music within him like he had never heard or felt before.
He didn’t have to think about the notes he played, didn’t have to open his eyes to look at the keys. The music flowed through him freely, and he basked in the rapture of it.
It had been so long since he’d heard such rich melodies. She brought the most amazing music to him, along with the most amazing light and beauty. She made every corner of his previous dreary existence radiant.
His fingers faltered on the keys as he felt her hands stroke through his hair. He stilled his playing and sighed, smiling at how intimate and comfortable her touch was.
“This is how I affect you?” she murmured. “This music?” Her breath against his ear made his body ache with the need to touch and kiss her.
“It’s the closest thing,” he answered. “But even the music cannot do the feelings justice.” He leaned back against her, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Keep playing,” she said.
He grinned. “How do you expect me to do that when you’re distracting me the way you are?”
She laughed softly and moved around to sit beside him on the piano bench. His eyes took in her navy blue dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and gave him the most marvelous view of her chest. Because of her emotional state when she’d arrived, he had not noticed the lovely garment before now. His heart leaped and rolled, and he smiled. “That is an extraordinary dress, Melody.”
The grin she dazzled him with let him know that she had originally hoped to receive that reaction, despite the way her evening had turned out.
She glanced deliberately at the piano keys. “Play,” she demanded.
He leaned over and feathered several soft kisses along her jaw. “What would you like?” he whispered, delighting in the shiver he felt work through her.
“Play what this sounds like.” She turned her head to capture his lips with hers. The kiss was gentle, but tinged with something much more intense. It made him recall the kisse
s they’d shared down by the cliffs, and his body came alive with fire and aching hunger.
He deepened the kiss, taking control and wanting to taste her beauty the same way he heard it and felt it. He wanted all of his senses filled with Melody until there was nothing else. He’d never wanted a woman more than he wanted this one. It was all-consuming, drowning out even his passion and love for music. She was a symphony all in her own, and the only song he ever wanted to hear for the rest of his days.
She laughed softly against his lips, but her voice came out breathy. “You’re supposed to be playing the piano, not playing with my mouth,” she teased.
A low growl was torn from his throat, and he reached down to grasp her around the waist. “You want to know what your kiss sounds like?” She squeaked in surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her off of the piano bench and set her down on top of the keys. The result was a cacophonous menagerie of everything at once.
The row of keys was not wide enough for her to stay seated on and she slid down until her feet touched the floor, creating more disjointed, random sound. He kept her there, leaning back against the keys, and he stared down into her eyes, feeling primal and out of control. He was, by nature, a gentle person. But this woman was invading him in such a way that all he wanted to do was possess her, claim her, make her his for all time. The music in his mind was jumbled and confusing. It was so much more than he’d ever felt before. Was this how it was supposed to be? Had he found his perfect inspiration in a human woman who’d accidentally wandered into his life?
She reached up to thread her fingers through his hair and his lips descended onto hers again. He ravaged her mouth, pushing her back against the piano keys until she was forced to arch her back because of the angle. He slipped his arm around her lower back and pulled her up against him, tearing his lips away from hers and trailing deliberate, smoldering kisses down the column of her throat.
She sighed and let her head fall back as he nibbled and teased her skin, following the low cut line of her dress. He felt her heart thundering, and he reached up to unclasp and remove her necklace, then trailed his tongue lazily across one side of her collarbone and back up her neck to nip her earlobe. He delved his fingers into her thick, lustrous hair and played his lips along her jaw a little longer before finding her mouth again.
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