SuddenHeat

by Denise A. Agnew

  Melanie winced and exchanged pained looks with Kathleen.

  Kathleen stepped into the dining area as well and added her two cents to the exchange. She grabbed a paper plate and said, “Cheer up, everyone. The wedding is soon!”

  An uncomfortable set of laughs went around the room. Danelle and Patrick ignored the atmosphere and after a while, as they ate from the Thanksgiving buffet, the topic turned to the mall event.

  Everyone had retired to the living room after washing dishes and Melanie absorbed the relaxation associated with sharing time with friends. She’d settled on the couch next to Lena, who had brightened considerably after the strain between her and Rick. She’d never heard Lena say anything that snarky to anyone among friends, so Lena’s reaction surprised her a little. When the conversation moved to the mall shooting, things didn’t tense up as badly as she would have expected.

  “Does anyone know if the police are going to require you guys to testify at a trial?” Danelle asked.

  “Probably.” Rick claimed a chair next to the couch. “I’m not looking forward to that.”

  “We don’t know for sure.” Matt sat on the other side of Melanie and put his arm on the back of the couch behind her. “They got statements from us the other night. We’ll have to play it by ear.”

  “All I want is to forget it happened.” Kathleen’s voice broke into the conversation.

  Jake took her hand. “We all do.”

  “Anyone else having nightmares about it?” Lena tucked strands of very short blonde hair behind her ears. Her face was pinched, eyes serious. “I have.”

  Rick was sitting across the room but he leaned forward and clasped his hands between his legs. Worry darkened his eyes. “You okay, Lena?”

  She swallowed hard. “Of course. It was just a dream.”

  Rick’s concerned expression deepened but he didn’t ask another question. Melanie couldn’t let it lie. “Everyone reacts to trauma differently. Give yourself some time.”

  “You can always talk to us, honey,” Danelle said.

  “Absolutely,” Melanie said.

  A grateful smile touched Lena’s lips. “I know. I’m sorry I brought it up though. All of you were in that mall. I was just there for a short while and then Rick and I made it outside.”

  “Yeah, but we knew all of them were in danger.” Rick was still looking at Lena. “There’s a lot of worry and fear in that. It’s still a trauma. Give yourself a break.”

  Lena smiled softly at him. “You’re right. I was so scared. Look at me being a mess. I’m the counselor here. I should be saying this to all of you.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t beat yourself up. I’m glad you weren’t in there and Rick got you out,” Kathleen said.

  Melanie touched Lena’s hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. But you can always talk with us. Anytime.”

  Lena returned Melanie’s reassuring smile. “Thanks. You guys are the best.”

  For the next few hours the conversation turned to other topics far more mundane and casual. Joking and laughing filled the house. Melanie plunged into the fun and wouldn’t allow herself to think of anything unpleasant.

  As darkness came, they filed out of Danelle and Patrick’s house. Danelle and Patrick’s parents were flying in from New Mexico and Florida tomorrow and they’d spend time with them most of the day. As Melanie and Matt drove back to Melanie’s apartment, she couldn’t hold back one statement.

  “Lena heard Rick say he never planned to get married,” Melanie said. “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. Ouch is right.” He shook his head. “Rick is a free spirit and hates to be tied down to things. But he doesn’t play games with women. I don’t think he’d hurt her intentionally.”

  “Lena definitely doesn’t play games.” She shrugged. “Oh well. It really isn’t our business, is it?”

  “Nope.”

  “Jake and Kathleen seemed pretty cozy.”

  He threw her a half grin, a look that said he didn’t want to talk about it. “More stuff that isn’t our business.”

  “Right. And you guys have hotel rooms to camp out in this week and none of you are using them?”

  “Not much.”

  She decided it was better to be blunt. “Where are you staying tonight?”

  He gave her a full-fledged grin. “With you, if you’ll allow it.”

  She returned his smile, a warm and cozy sensation filling her stomach. “Good.”

  When they reached her apartment, they didn’t waste time. He kissed her and all bets were off. Their kisses felt desperate to Melanie, as if they thought all they had was this one moment and nothing else ever again. She kissed him with ravenous attention, the passion and heat behind their actions full of emotion. They stopped only long enough to strip their coats off and toss them on the couch. Another kiss and another built up until her shirt was half-open. He unhooked the front of her bra and swept it aside. He tasted a nipple. Melanie gasped as hot pleasure stroked her from her breast to between her legs. He plucked one nipple while licking and sucking the other. She writhed in his arms, hardly able to stand the sensitivity and pleasure.

  “Matt, I can’t take it,” she managed to say in a whisper.

  “What do you need?”

  “You.”

  With a cocky smile he undid his belt and unzipped his jeans. He pulled out his cock, thick and ready. “Here I am.”

  With an equally teasing grin, she stroked him and marveled at the hardness encased in silken heat. He closed his eyes and hissed in a breath. She loved the fact she did this to him and reveled in the power. She was so damn hot already she couldn’t stand it. Yanking his pants down over his hips, she got on her knees and clasped his cock in her right hand. Before he could make a sound, she took him in her mouth.

  “Holy shit.” He gasped the curse, his eyes closing and head going back. “Melanie.”

  Her name on his lips sounded reverent. Beautiful. He made her feel more beautiful and needed than she’d felt at any time in her life and she wanted to give him more. With deliberately teasing strokes she licked him and used her hand to pump his long length. He groaned and that turned her on too. She loved the uninhibited way he expressed his pleasure. He just didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. Over and over she took him in her mouth and licked and sucked, enjoying how he clutched at her shoulders and pumped his hips in time with her movements.

  “Wait.” He pulled away from her. “I want to be inside you.”

  The idea excited her. “Yes.”

  They’d made it halfway down the hallway when he propped her up against the wall. With hot, drugging intensity he kissed her. His tongue stroked hers, the caress sending pinwheels of heat between her legs. A fire started in her only he could extinguish.

  “Condom.” She could barely get the word out. “Here. Now.”

  He left her against the wall and went into the bedroom to get a condom. She hurried to peel off all her clothes and when he came back into the hallway he was also naked except for his cock.

  Quickly he came to her, lifted her by the waist and murmured, “Legs around my waist.”

  A rush of pure heated excitement whirled like a tornado through her loins. She hung on as he lifted her and she anchored her legs about his waist. With incredible strength he held her up, wedged his cock between her folds and thrust. She gasped loudly as he speared deep inside her, bringing her down on his thickness in one stroke. The sensation of his cock spreading her open made her wriggle to get closer, make him go deeper.

  He locked eyes with her, the heat in his gaze undeniable. “Fuck, you are incredible.”

  So turned on she couldn’t stand it, she linked her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was so strong he held her against the wall with ease, his fingers digging into her ass as he moved inside her with long, slow, deep strokes. The tantalizing movements threatened to drive her insane but he wouldn’t speed up. Her body responded with subtle contractions and tingling sensations. She tightened around his cock and
shivered as orgasm threatened. When he drew out of her the pinnacle hovered out of reach. Again he thrust, and she kissed him with a frantic quality that signaled desperation.

  She was so close. So very close. “Please, Matt. Finish it. You’re driving me nuts.”

  “Good.” His voice was gravelly and rough but he did as she requested.

  With a growl he buried his face in her neck and thrust hard. She’d never been taken against a wall before and the forbidden quality of it, the raw sexuality, thrilled her. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as he thrust harder, and with one last stroke she came apart in his arms. Crying out, she exploded.

  Matt shoved inside her one last time. He was shaking, moaning, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs as if he’d competed in a marathon. With gentleness, he pulled out of her and gathered her into his arms.

  Chapter Eight

  Fragrant black tea lifted Melanie’s spirits as she sat with Danelle, Lena and Kathleen at Templeton’s Tea House on the main drag through Constitution on Friday. Matt had left her apartment early this morning to run errands and head back to the hotel. He hadn’t said anything about seeing her tonight, and maybe that was a good thing. Too much togetherness could prove as bad as not enough. Her mood, though, had soured to the point she faked having a good time. It bothered her because she never became depressed without a reason and usually could pull herself up from any funk that colored her mood. Even the laughter of her friends at the table, the delicious baked goods and tea couldn’t lift her spirits.

  “You okay, Melanie? You’re so quiet,” Danelle said.

  Melanie snapped back to the present. “Sorry. I guess this week rattled me more than I realized.” When she glanced around the table she saw various stages of concern on everyone’s face, along with curiosity. “Don’t worry about me.”

  Kathleen poured more tea for herself from a little teapot nearby. “Hard to do when you have a frown a mile wide.”

  Melanie groaned. “I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to bring down the festivities.”

  “Hey, it matters to us if you’re not feeling up to this. Is there anything we can do?” Kathleen asked.

  Melanie shrugged. “It’s one of those weird moods that seems to have no definition. You’ve all had that feeling before, right?”

  Lena nodded and rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “I certainly have.”

  “Like I said right after the mall shooting, we’re screwed, ladies.” Kathleen gave them a smile. “These men have us wrapped around their fingers.”

  Danelle’s teacup clinked as she pushed it aside. “Ladies, I think it’s time for some serious assessment here about what you all want. The guys leave Sunday. What are you going to do about it?”

  Melanie didn’t know, and by the looks on Kathleen’s and Lena’s faces they didn’t have a clue.

  “If we tell them how we feel they’ll freak,” Kathleen said. “At least that’s how it always works for me.”

  A chorus of chuckles went up around the table. Melanie snatched another scone from the tea stand in front of her.

  “How do we feel, ladies?” Melanie asked.

  Silence greeted her.

  “Are we letting these guys go?” Melanie asked.

  “What choice do we have?” Kathleen asked her own question. “It’s just sex. That’s all it ever was for me.”

  Part of Melanie was sorry to hear it but she’d also said the very same thing in her mind. She couldn’t hold Kathleen to a different standard. “We care about them but we’ve got our lives and careers.”

  Lena fiddled with her paper napkin, crumpling it and placing it next to her empty plate. “We aren’t giving up the independence and lives we’ve built for men in the military.”

  “What happened this week gave us a deeper connection.” Melanie didn’t know where she was going with this but she rolled with it. “The Frasier brothers are hot, awesome, very nice guys. We hooked up with them but now…”

  “Now it’s over.” Kathleen looked from one of her friends to the next.

  Danelle sighed. “Well, I guess that is that.”

  Melanie saw the sad looks on everyone’s faces and realized they were all kidding themselves.

  * * * * *

  Matt looked around at the wedding attendees filing into the small country church Saturday and realized time had run out. Tomorrow morning he’d jump in his SUV and begin the long drive to California and Twenty-Nine Palms. He didn’t have many more years in the military and he’d already resolved to continue as a civil servant in some capacity with the government when he left. Yet something had felt off since he’d arrived in this small town. Maybe it was this whole wedding scene fucking with his mind. It couldn’t be almost getting capped in the ass at the mall. He’d suffered worse in the marines.

  The church was filling with at least a hundred people ready to celebrate Patrick and Danelle’s union. Matt knew he should concentrate on that rather than what could have happened to him, his brothers and the women. It was a time to feel good and cherish life but this week had done something to him he didn’t understand. He returned to the back room where his brothers and Patrick finished getting ready. Patrick didn’t look as nervous as one might expect. After all, a man didn’t walk down the aisle every day ready to marry the woman he loved. Patrick looked damn happy, and it made Matt think. Before this week in Constitution he’d never imagined feeling that good, that content. Spending time with Melanie had changed his perspective quickly, had made him long for a deeper connection with a partner. But he couldn’t. She lived here, he lived in California and couldn’t change that. A dark cloud hung over his head when he thought of leaving Arizona, and he hated that.

  His mind kept returning to the marathon lovemaking he’d experienced with Melanie Thursday night. After fucking Melanie against the wall he’d picked her up and carried her to the bed. To his astonishment he’d found he didn’t need to wait to get it up again, and when he’d turned her over on her hands and knees and made love to her, he’d never felt more powerful. But it was more than power he’d felt. He’d wanted her happiness, her fulfillment, more than his own. Giving her the best sex of her life was his number-one goal. He would have given her anything she’d asked for. Hell, if she’d asked him to stand on his head and recite the Bill of Rights he would have.

  Friday had been a whirlwind of getting things ready for the wedding—as best man it seemed like there was a hell of a lot to do. The girls stayed over at Danelle’s and Patrick was relegated to a hotel room in the same place Matt and his brothers stayed during the week. Patrick had grumbled about that but Danelle said she wanted that one old-fashioned idea of the bride and groom staying apart the night before the wedding. The guys had spent the evening playing video games and drinking, but not drinking enough to impair them for today’s festivities. Matt had made sure Patrick got to the church on time.

  Jake slapped Matt on the back, startling him. “Hey, man, you look like the groom at a shotgun wedding.”

  Matt perked up. “Gee, thanks.”

  “Watch out boys, he’s got a case of the ass,” Rick said with a smile.

  Matt smirked at Rick, wondering at his younger brother’s expression. Something had changed in him. “What’s with you?”

  Rick’s grin widened. “None of your business.”

  Matt’s eyes narrowed. “Does it have something to do with a certain petite, blonde young woman?”

  Rick looked like a little boy who’d just discovered there was one more cookie in the cookie jar. “Yeah. But that’s for later. Today is about Patrick.”

  Matt rubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “Sorry, man.” He walked up to Patrick. “This is your day. Don’t let me mess this up for you.”

  Patrick clapped Matt on the shoulder. “No chance of that. Not a chance. I’m the happiest man in the world.”

  The wedding went off without a hitch. Matt walked Melanie down the aisle and they watched Patrick and Danelle take their vows. Rick and Lena had dreamy looks, if they
could be called that. Yep, something had definitely changed between those two, and he couldn’t understand it. Considering the way they’d parted on Thanksgiving Day he figured any chance of those two hooking up had gone right into the crapper.

  He’d made it through the toughest part of the ceremony—making sure he didn’t lose the ring. To him the ceremony zipped along, and the limo trip over to the reception at the old Sandberg Hotel went fast too.

  “Hey, everyone,” the DJ said as Danelle and Patrick finished a dance. “Time for the bridal party to get on the floor.”

  As the man put on an old seventies love song, Melanie met Matt on the dance floor. She placed her hand in his and his fingers swallowed hers up. A long, deep shiver racked him. God, she affected him way too much. How the hell could he ignore this attraction? He couldn’t while she looked at him with those dark chocolate eyes filled with interest and…what? Admiration? He wondered if his eyes held the same. She looked magnificent in shimmering blue. Unlike many bridesmaid dresses, this one was cut with a flattering fit over Melanie’s nicely curved body. It clung to her breasts and hips but wasn’t too tight, the design simple and not too frilly. Long sleeved and cut just below the knees, it flattered her without taking anything away from the bride’s beautiful off-the-shoulder dress. Lena and Kathleen wore the same dress as Melanie but in a pink color. Rick and Jake had already started dancing with Lena and Kathleen.

  Matt didn’t draw Melanie as close as he wanted. He was already getting hot just watching her walk across the dance floor.

  “Well, we survived that,” she said as the music smoothed around them.

  “It was a beautiful wedding.”

  Her gaze snapped to his and her delicate brows came together. “It was. The week’s almost over.”

  She sounded down and he understood the feeling. He’d tried to shake the mood himself and so far hadn’t succeeded.

  “Yeah.” What else could he say? A thousand thoughts ran through his head and none of them would form into a coherent sentence.