Mellie's Submission [Men of McKenna Downs 4] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever)

by Zoey Marcel

  Heller smiled. “He married Shane Huntington like he wanted?”

  Jake shook his head sadly. “No. He married a woman.”

  Heller didn’t say anything for a moment, merely glanced downward like he was paying his respects to the dead. “It’s all that fucking Malachi Brodie’s fault. He beat it into those boys’ heads since childhood about how wrong it was and fucked them both up. Now Carsten is in denial and Heath is a self-righteous prick.”

  “Yeah, it sucks,” Jake agreed. “So you’re thinking of moving back here?”

  “Yeah, Kale and I are looking for Miss Right. What better place to find her than in a twisted place like this.”

  “Kale?” Mellie asked.

  “My brother,” Heller provided. “We have the same taste in women, but not in men. Kale likes twinks, and I prefer gay men who think they’re straight and need me to help them out.”

  Jake smirked. “Heath is straight.”

  Heller snorted. “Right, so if a man kissed you, what would you do?”

  Jake wrinkled his nose. “Punch him in the fucking face.”

  Heller grinned. “Of course you would. That’s ’cause you’re straight. You wouldn’t kiss him back and start moaning and getting hard for him and then later freak out and tell everyone that a gay man came onto you and then start insulting him in front of everyone and leave out the part where you came in your pants for him.”

  “No.” Jake turned squeamish and Mellie found him adorable.

  Heller smiled. “I’m not saying names like Heath for instance and I’m sure as hell not saying that’s what happened. All I’m saying is that straight men don’t do that, or look devastated when a certain former best friend—let’s call him Heller—leaves a town we’ll just refer to as Stone River for the hell of it. If he didn’t have all that guilt heaped on him by his angry preacher father, he would have gone after me.”

  “You mean in theory?” Jake teased.

  Heller grinned. “Yeah, in theory. On a lighter note, you know of any blonde, wholesome sluts that want to be compromised and then committed to for the long haul? Women that is.”

  Mellie couldn’t help but laugh.

  Jake got a quirky half grin on his face. “I’m not even sure I understand what it is you’re looking for.”

  “You know the type. I gave this blonde a ride to the airport about eleven or so years ago. She was from this town actually. You let me know if you see her.”

  Mellie tried not to laugh.

  Jake smirked. “What? How the hell am I supposed to know who the fuck you’re talking about when I wasn’t even there?”

  “I just described her to you.”

  “Yeah, blonde. You know how many blondes there are around here?”

  Heller grinned. “This one had an innocent, wholesome look to her, but she had this ‘I shouldn’t, but I might’ vibe going on. She was in tears at first when I drove her to the airport, so I never made a move. That would have been shitty under the circumstances. She’s in Chicago now, but that’s okay. Just let me know if anybody that looks kind of like her lives around here and wants to be fucked and bossed around.”

  Jake shook his head. “Yeah, let me get right on that.”

  Heller chuckled. “Well, I got to run. It was nice to meet you Mellie. Good to see you again…whatever your name is.”

  “You never asked. It’s Jake.”

  “Right, Jake. Good talk. See you guys.” Heller walked off. Even his wide, confident strides were macho.

  “Not that it’s any of my business,” Mellie began, “but as disagreeable as getting mocked is, shouldn’t he be over it by now?”

  “Well yeah, if that was all that happened, but it wasn’t. I was just a kid at the time, but I heard about it. Heath outed Heller. At first it was just harassment from some of the townspeople over in Stone River, but eventually it turned into violence.”

  “Heath?”

  “No. He had nothing to do with that. Other jerks beat Heller up. He wasn’t muscular back then, more an average build. Anyway, Kale’s bisexuality came out and he ended up in the hospital. The entire Enos family had to move away from that shithole town.”

  “That’s awful.”

  “It is. That town is the stark opposite of McKenna Downs. So I can see why Heller is more than a little pissed at Heath. Sure he had nothing to do with the violence, but Heath betrayed his best friend by exposing his secret instead of just having a heart-to-heart with Heller about what he was going through inside and how torn and confused he was.”

  “I’m really sad now,” Mellie said quietly.

  “Aw, baby, don’t be sad.” Jake put his arm around her. “Everybody makes choices and reaps the consequences.”

  “I don’t like it when people hurt or lose people they care about.”

  “It’s okay, Mellie. For all you know, they’ll get it all figured out and end up happy.”

  “I hope so.”

  * * * *

  Melanie stood in the kitchen making sandwiches, trying to act normal when Greyson walked into the room. Her attempt at keeping cool was foiled when a warm recollection stained her cheeks. She remembered being bound to that spiderweb Diego had rigged up in the stable. She recalled the awkwardness between her and Greyson when Diego had left them alone together—on purpose she had no doubt.

  Then there was that wild fire in Greyson’s eyes when he’d picked up the riding crop and used it all over her body. That dark gleam of wickedness had excited everything female inside of her as he’d put his hands on her naked body and touched her, brought her to orgasm despite his lack of familiarity with her unexplored body. Somehow he knew her anyway, had pleased her almost effortlessly.

  Now alone together like they were in the kitchen, she offered him a meager smile as he watched her without a trace of nonchalance in his eyes. He remembered. That heated, knowing look he tried and failed to withhold from her gave him away.

  “I’m making sandwiches for everybody if you want one,” she offered.

  “You know I do.”

  She had to look away quickly, biting her lip to keep from giving him a shy or heaven help her, giddy smile. Something about his suggestive words and the way he spoke them in that smoking, raspy voice of his made her hot and tingly.

  “Okay. I’ll make you one.”

  Her stomach clenched nervously when he walked toward her and then disappeared behind her to open the fridge. She didn’t hear the door open or close. Before she could give too much thought to what he was doing, she felt the harsh scrape of callused fingertips press gently to her back. He skimmed his fingers down her shoulder blade, causing her to shiver.

  “Diego flogged you.”

  She swallowed as Greyson traced a few of the marks on her flesh that was exposed from her black, strapless baby-doll style top.

  “Yeah, he did.”

  “Did you enjoy it?” Was he as turned on as he sounded?

  A warm wash of liquid seeped from her pussy. Her nipples pebbled in her bra.

  “Yes, Sir, I enjoyed it.”

  He didn’t rebuke her for calling him Sir this time. She wondered if they were making progress.

  “Do you like it when men mark you, Melanie?”

  He stepped closer, pinning her against the island without cramming his lower body against her. Not that she would have minded. She had her hands on the edge of the island, trembling over the savage rush of heat sweeping through her. His fingers traced the marks Diego had left on her upper thighs. To her amazement, she widened her stance a little when Greyson lifted the edge of her aquamarine-blue shorts to see how high up her thigh the marks went.

  “I like when Diego marks me…and you.” She waited, not knowing what his reaction would be.

  Greyson didn’t say anything for what seemed like a full minute. Finally he blew out a breath slowly as if admitting defeat. “I enjoyed marking you. Your flesh is the most beautiful canvas for discipline I’ve ever seen.”

  Her cunt throbbed and to her astonishment,
it ached. She responded that way with his brothers and Diego, but now her secret desire for Greyson as well seemed to be escalating out of control. She didn’t just get wet and needy around him anymore. Now she ached for him as well.

  Uh-oh.

  His remark about her skin, while a singular comment, was still rather flattering. “Thank you, Sir.”

  “Just Boss, Melanie.”

  Disappointment crashed into her like an idiot on a cell phone while driving. “You don’t want me?”

  Why the hell should I care when I have—count them, twit—four men to my name? Don’t be greedy.

  Mellie told herself she was trying to win Greyson over to their ménage plans for the sake of his brothers and Diego, but deep down she knew it was a little more than that.

  “You must be shitting me. I’ve wanted you since I first laid eyes on you.”

  This surprised her. She could tell he’d been attracted to her, but she thought that maybe he found her pretty, not irresistible.

  “You have?”

  “You drive me crazy. I can’t get any work done. I considered firing you to make my life easier.”

  A raving lunatic of panic freaked inside her as she whirled around to gape up at him. “What?”

  “Relax.” He cocked an ego-saturated half smile, eyes dancing with amusement. “I’m not gonna fire you. My brothers like you too much.”

  She exhaled in relief. “Diego likes me, too.”

  His smile waned and his eyes turned cold with warning. “I know.”

  The look chilled her. Why was it okay for his brothers to be interested in her but not Diego? Was Greyson more of a keep-it-in-the-family kind of man?

  He turned, stopping when she touched his forearm to keep him from leaving. His hard gaze fell to her hand on his skin before his eyes rose and seared into hers.

  Shaking, she moved her hand from him. “I like some pain…when I…”

  “Fuck every man in this house?” he quipped dryly.

  His I-spy-a-ho implication grated on her nerves and there went her saintly tongue. “Not everyone in this house. I haven’t done your father, and you’re not getting any action.”

  Greyson’s brow popped up at this in an “Oh really, woman? Are you going to challenge me?” arch.

  She shriveled at the authoritative look, thrilling that his eyes silently threatened to punish her.

  “How do you know I’m not getting any action?”

  The insinuation bugged her. He was hers, damn it. He wasn’t really hers, but he sort of was or should be. Damn him.

  “Then you shouldn’t have cropped me in the barn.”

  “It’s a stable,” he corrected her.

  Her jaw flexed. “Whatever.”

  “Say stable, now.”

  She burst into laughter.

  His lips twitched with humor even if he did appear annoyed. “Are you laughing at me?”

  “What does it matter what I call your barn?”

  He stepped forward, chasing her merriment away and replacing it with devastating arousal at his closeness. “It’s a stable, Melanie Laurie.”

  Her pussy clenched and a spasm fluttered in her stomach when he cradled her jaw in his hand.

  “I know you’re a good woman.” His thumb slid over her bottom lip, making it tremble beneath his weightless touch. “And as such, I know you’ll obey me and say what I told you to say.”

  She went breathless, burned alive over his words. “Stable.”

  “Good. A barn is for livestock, equipment, and feed. A stable is geared more toward horses. It sounds classier anyway. The words are often used interchangeably, but they really shouldn’t be. It’s the difference between chaos and peace.”

  She almost laughed at him, but his sex appeal kept her quiet and obedient.

  “Now, make me a sandwich.” He gave her a teasing smile that said he knew how chauvinistic it sounded.

  Mellie didn’t mind fixing food for them. It was her job, after all, and being given orders by these men made her wet.

  Greyson let go of her chin and stepped back to watch her while she assembled the sandwiches. “Did you aspire to anything before this?”

  He didn’t look like he meant the question as an insult. It seemed more like he’d spent too much time around animals and not enough time around his classy mother.

  “You mean did I have dreams?”

  “Sure.”

  She smiled a little. “Well, I wanted to settle down and have a family.”

  Silence followed.

  “That’s it?”

  A familiar sense of plainness swooped in, reminding her that her life had been so simple and common. A few of her friends in California hadn’t understood her need to submit and the way she thrived on domestic duties. They had their careers, and all she’d ever wanted was to be a wife and mother. She’d felt out of place. Here she felt like she belonged.

  “I’m not afraid to work or anything,” Mellie replied. “I really only ever wanted to be a wife and mother. I feel my most content when I’m taking care of people’s needs and spending time with the ones I love.”

  Greyson just stared at her. The intense gaze probed her as much as it exposed his inner conflict. “You’re not like other women I’ve met outside of McKenna Downs.”

  Well, that comment was all fine and dandy, but it really could be taken either way. “How so?”

  “You’re wife material.”

  Her head flew up to make eye contact with him again. Was he interested in her beyond sex?

  He quickly cleared his throat and closed up again like a Venus flytrap that had what he wanted and refused to let anything else come out. “For my brothers.”

  Nice cover-up, Boss.

  She twiddled her thumbs and watched him walking away. “I’m not a masochist.”

  That stopped the sadist in his tracks. He turned to face her, expression cool and collected. “You mentioned that already. Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because even though we’re different, I have what you want the most.”

  And this confidence with Mr. Cranky Pants came from where?

  Greyson stalked toward her, appearing fascinated by her. “And what is it you think I want most?”

  “Complete submission.”

  He paused in front of her. “No one is submissive enough for two Doms, or perfect enough to hold five hearts in their hand.”

  “I have four.”

  Something in her words sent a flash of what almost resembled pain in his eyes. “Good for you.”

  His hush radiated with vulnerability, but she couldn’t leave it at that when he turned slowly on his heel to leave.

  “I can save you, Greyson.”

  He froze and hesitated before facing her again. “What makes you think I need saving?”

  “You were right when you said someone hurt me in the past. Looking at you is like seeing into a mirror for me. I know someone hurt you. I don’t know who or when or what they did, but I know I can save you.”

  “No one can save me, Melanie.”

  “I’d like to try. I really think I can give you what you need.”

  His eyes glimmered with hope and primitive yearning. “You have no idea what I need.”

  “You’re a sadist, and I’m submissive enough to take the pain.”

  His pupils dilated with hunger and depraved astonishment as she closed the short distance between them. “Be that as it may, you can’t handle me at my worst.”

  “You underestimate me.”

  Now he was the one that seemed defenseless with her standing so close to him. “Can you handle all my needs, Melanie? Do sickeningly weak men turn you on?”

  His question sounded rhetorical and like a challenge. It confused her. This man was one of the most virile she’d ever met. There was nothing weak or sickening about him.

  “I don’t follow.”

  “Can you have a relationship with me, knowing that I’ll never be capable of loving you or any woman no matter how badly I may
want to?” His eyes glistened with sadness.

  The words stung like crazy. “Am I not your type?”

  “You’re exactly my type, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not normal.” His strained, almost pleading whisper touched something sensitive and caring inside her.

  She took his hand in hers, stunned by the emotion he let slip in his gaze before he remembered to raise his mask. “Please let me help you.”

  Jake walked into the kitchen, and Greyson dropped Mellie’s hand and then walked out. A soft spot inside her ached for him. He needed help, and she was starting to think that maybe she needed him, too.

  Jake acted excited. “Emmett figured out who adopted your daughter.”

  * * * *

  The flight to Washington seemed endless. Mellie’s anticipation turned into a churning mixture of anxiety and excitement when she finally stood on the doorstep of the house where Katelyn lived with her adoptive parents.

  She knocked on the door, feeling a tug on her heart when she saw the balloons and streamers hanging outside along with a decorative banner that said, “Happy Birthday, Katelyn.” She hadn’t forgotten that it was her daughter’s eleventh birthday. Hopefully Katelyn liked the gift she brought her.

  A young preteen girl who was around the age Katelyn would be answered the door. Mellie’s heart nearly stopped. It had to be her. The girl had her light blue eyes, roughly the same shade of brown hair as Mellie, and some of her facial features resembled Katelyn’s biological father.

  “Hey, do I know you?” the girl asked.

  “Katelyn?” Mellie almost whispered.

  “That’s me.” Katelyn’s toothy smile got bigger when she saw the present Mellie held. “Are you one of my friend’s moms or something? I mean you have a gift, so you can totally come in.”

  Mellie breathed out a faint chortle, feeling her eyes well at the beautiful little girl who stood there, the girl she’d brought into the world. She’d missed out on so much with her.

  Katelyn grinned at her own jest.

  “Your mom is expecting me.”

  “Come on in. You’re really pretty for an older person.”

  Mellie laughed.

  “I didn’t mean you were old. Sorry. My mom says I’ve got to learn to think before I talk or I won’t have any friends. I’ve got plenty, so I must be doing something right. I hope I’m as pretty as you when I grow up.”