by Lacey Thorn
Skye and Deja shared a look before turning back to Melda. They both knew how she hated her name. Who named their kid after the color of her eyes? The kind of mother who then abandoned her baby that was who. The type of mother who left her child for other people to deal with and walked away.
“All of my letters from him are addressed to Emerald, instead of Melda. I made a point to sign them all Melda, thinking he’d get the hint, but he seems fixated on Emerald. He wrote a poem about my eyes and made my name seem romantic and beautiful.”
“You’re name is beautiful,” Skye said. “We’ve always told you that. Emerald or Melda, you’re still you.”
“You know I only go by Melda,” she reminded her sisters.
“And we’ve always told you that it didn’t matter. It’s just a name, Melda,” Deja reminded her.
They had told her more than once it didn’t matter, but Melda hated Emerald anyway and had gone with the shorter Melda instead. Emerald was the child, abandoned and unloved. Melda was the girl who’d found a family and made a place for herself in the world. Melda was the woman who knew love and wasn’t afraid to be alone because she knew her sisters were just a phone call away. Melda was who she was.
She’d never discussed her feelings about her name with anyone. Her sisters suspected, but they didn’t push her to talk about it. They just understood. You didn’t grow up in the foster care system without a few hang-ups. They were all just lucky none of them had been placed in homes where there had been physical or sexual abuse. They’d each heard or seen how lucky they were to have ended up where they did. And they were even luckier to have all been placed in the same home as preteens. They’d found permanence and family with each other, and though they weren’t related by blood, they were sisters.
“Melda?” Skye called, interrupting Melda’s musing. “You okay, hon?”
Melda nodded. “I’m fine. To be honest, I think I’m a little scared.”
“Then don’t do it!” Skye almost yelled.
“I don’t think she means that kind of scared,” Deja said.
“No, I’m not afraid of meeting him, or at least not that he’ll do anything when we meet. I think I’m afraid that I’ve built such a fantasy around him from his letters, that I might be disappointed when I do meet him. Does that make sense?”
“Absolutely,” Deja agreed. “But you might discover that he’s so much more than you ever imagined. So you just need to decide if it’s worth the risk.”
Skye leaned close and hugged Melda. “You are smart, beautiful, and worthy of love. You’re not your mother, whether you go by Emerald or Melda. You’re uniquely yourself. Any man would be a fool not to realize what a treasure you are. You need to quit avoiding life by burying yourself in your work. Be cautious. Be smart. But put yourself out there, Melda. Live.”
Deja snuggled in to her other side. “We’ll be here if you need us, no matter the day or time.”
“I love you guys,” Melda said, doing her best to hold back the tears that wanted to spill out. No one got her the way her sisters did.
“We love you, too,” Deja said.
“And if the guy turns out to be a creep, I’ll kick his ass all the way back to the Middle East for you,” Skye assured Melda, making her laugh.
“Okay.” Disentangling herself from her sisters, Melda walked over to the bar that separated her kitchen from the rest of the open concept dining/living room combo. She took her phone off the charger and accessed her text messages before she could talk herself out of it.
“I’m asking him to meet me at the diner next to the club,” Melda said. “What time will you be at work tomorrow?”
“I’ll be in to start going over tonight’s receipts by eleven,” Skye answered. “When are you having him meet you?”
“One,” Melda replied. “I have some buildings to inspect tomorrow morning, and I’m not sure if I’ll be back before noon.” Her phone beeped, and she swiped to see the return message. “He’ll be there. He’s looking forward to finally meeting me face-to-face.”
She put her phone down and looked up at them, revealing all her nerves. “Oh, God. What do I wear?”
“You said you were doing inspections in the morning,” Skye reminded her. “I’m guessing you’ll be in your jeans, t-shirt, and boots. I’d lose the tool belt though. Not sure if the look will be sexy on you.”
Deja laughed while Melda shook her head.
“Take something with you and change at the office if you have time,” Deja said. “I know exactly what you should wear!”
Melda and Skye followed Deja down the hallway to Melda’s bedroom. Deja headed straight to the large walk-in closet Melda had converted from a smaller bedroom. She’d made lots of improvements on her house since she’d bought it three years ago. She’d made several connections as a property manager and had learned a lot along the way. She loved working on her house.
“This!” Deja cried out with delight as she pulled a short baby-doll style dress out of Melda’s closet. “I haven’t seen you wear it since you bought it. It’s beautiful, and the color is perfect for you.”
It was white with deep green vines tracing up the skirt, over her breasts, and then turned into the spaghetti straps that held the dress on her shoulders. She had a short sweater in the same green shade as the vines that hit just at her boobs and actually had long sleeves for contrast. It was cute and casual. Flirty and fun. It drew attention to her busty upper curves as well as accenting how toned her legs were. She had the perfect heels to wear with it that would add a couple of inches to her 5’4” frame.
“He won’t be able to keep his eyes off of you,” Deja swore.
“You’ll be lucky if he can keep his hands off you,” Skye offered with a snort. “You’re going to look incredible in that.”
“I’m doing this,” Melda whispered.
“You’re doing this,” Deja agreed with a grin.
“Let me see the shoes,” Skye demanded, getting into the spirit of things.
Melda grabbed the box off the built-in shoe shelves she’d installed. Her sisters oohed and aahed over them.
“Subtle make-up,” Skye advised. “Play up the eyes, accentuate the high cheek bones. Use a gloss on your lips if you remember to grab one. Do you have anything that might make them shimmer?”
“Just my Chapstick.” It was no secret Melda hated lipstick. She had no need for it anyways. Her lips were full and just needed a bit of moisture now and then to keep them soft.
“I have just the thing,” Deja said as she rushed down the hall. She came barreling back with her purse in her hand, head bent as she dug through it. “Aha!” she exclaimed and held something out to Melda.
Skye snatched it first. “That’s a lip plumper. Melda doesn’t need that. She doesn’t want to look like she had bad lip injections.”
“Crap, that’s the wrong one,” Deja muttered and dug in her purse again then pulled another tube out. “This is it.”
“Nice,” Skye said as she took it. She twisted the top and opened it just a bit. “Peaches. Great scent.” She handed it to Melda. “Take this and remember to use it. Chapstick is good for every day, but this is what you want when you meet your Marine. He’ll be thinking about your lips the whole time you have lunch.”
Melda shook her head. “What happened to ‘be myself’? I thought you guys would tell me to just go in my work clothes, and if he liked me, he liked me.”
“That’s always true,” Deja said. “You know how much I love to dress up. But you don’t have to. Take it with you and if you want to wear it, change. If you feel better going in your work clothes, then do.”
“Wear what makes you feel confident and sexy,” Skye told her. “If it’s your work clothes, fine. If it’s not, then slip into whatever makes you feel that way. You’re sexy and beautiful no matter what you wear.” She nodded at the tube of lip-gloss Melda held. “Or what you wear on your lips. I’m sure from looking at that stack of letters you have that he already knows that. Plus
, he’s seen you in a bikini.”
“He’s seen her when she first wakes up in the morning wearing nothing but a sheet,” Deja snorted. “Oh, Lord. You were wearing the sheet, weren’t you?”
“I didn’t send any nude pictures and that includes topless ones.”
“Okay, I was just checking. I’ve woken you up enough times to know you sleep naked, so I just thought I’d ask,” Deja admitted.
Melda grinned like a loon. “I’m having lunch with him tomorrow. He’s here.”
“You are, and he is,” Skye agreed.
“I wonder if he brought those friends he wants to share you with along as well,” Deja mused.
“Oh, God.” Melda gulped back her panic. Could she be as ballsy as Deja had been with her doctors if Davis had brought his buddies with him? Deja seemed happier than Melda had ever seen her. Melda felt a pull deep inside as the fantasy she’d wanted to share with him filled her mind.
My ultimate fantasy? I can’t believe I’m sharing this, but what the hell, right? I’m in charge of every aspect of my life, and I wouldn’t change that for anything or anyone. But in the bedroom, or whatever room I happen to find myself in with my fantasy man, I want him in charge. I want to hear him command me, to make demands of me. I want to trust him enough to know he’d never do anything to hurt me and that my pleasure is his. Does that even make sense? Let me explain it this way.
I walk in the room and he’s sitting there, watching me. He commands me to stop and then has me slowly strip naked while he sits and watches, fully clothed. When I’m completely naked, he tells me to come to him. When I’m close enough, he pulls me between his legs and runs his hands over my body, touching and tempting me with nothing more than the caress of his fingers and the promise in his eyes.
He’ll feel how aroused I am, how hot and wet. Then he’ll pull me onto his lap and use his mouth to inflame me further. Sucking, biting, and licking as he kisses every part of me he can reach. Then, when I can barely hold myself together, when I’m so close to coming I feel like I might die with the need, he’ll flip me over his lap so my ass is in the air. He’ll rub it, smoothing his hands over my skin, tracing the curves before he begins spanking me. The heat of every smack will sink in, making my pussy hotter, wetter. He’ll make my ass blush, make it burn before pressing my legs apart and pushing two fingers inside my pussy.
I’ll fly apart, coming so hard my whole body shakes with the release.
Then he’ll help me slide to my knees. While I’m sitting there, panting to catch my breath, my thighs slick with my release, he’ll shove to his feet. Those wicked fingers will release his cock and wrap around the swollen shaft as he points it toward my mouth. He won’t let me use my hands, just my mouth, as he fucks it with his cock. I’ll do everything I can to accept every inch he pushes in my mouth. I’ll suck and lick and show him how much I want him.
But he won’t give me his cum, not then. He’ll turn me around, pushing me down to my hands and knees and taking me from behind. I’ll feel the slap of his muscled abdomen against the heat of my well-spanked ass. And he’ll fuck me until I scream with another release before he lets himself come.
And when we’re done, when we’re both sated and relaxed…he’ll hold me close…and tell me he loves me. He loves me and won’t ever leave me.
But that was a letter she’d never sent. She’d shared a basic fantasy, the logistics of what would happen without any of the emotional things she’d be feeling from it.
God, she’d told him she wanted to be spanked, wanted to be tied up and even expressed interest in combining their fantasies. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t been, at least not in the long term. She’d not once thought of what might happen if he came home and wanted to hook up. Now, she couldn’t think of anything else.
He was home, and tomorrow, she’d discover if there was a physical attraction between them that might lead to fulfilling their fantasies.
She bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath. “I’m wearing the dress,” she told her sisters. “I want to wow him.”
“He won’t know what hit him,” Deja crooned.
“Hell, he may not even be able to speak once he gets a look at you,” Skye said. “He might just swallow his tongue.”
“No.” Melda shook her head. “I’ll swallow it for him.”
Chapter Two
Melda sat in her truck for a moment collecting herself. It was still ten minutes until her one o’clock lunch date with Davis, and she needed the extra time to calm her racing heart. She’d gone on the needed inspections this morning and come back to an uproar in the office. The new girl had quit and walked out. Mr. Hines wasn’t saying why, but Melda had her suspicions. The old lecher had scared another one off. He’d be lucky if he didn’t end up with a lawsuit filed against him some day.
He’d tried his stuff on her, still did occasionally. But she always put him in his place, despite what her sisters worried about. She wouldn’t tell them, but she’d even broken his finger once when he’d tried to “accidentally” brush across her chest. Since then, he generally kept his hands to himself when it came to her. But any new office help seemed to be up for grabs. Literally. She’d have to talk to him again. She wished the girlfriend was still around. He’d been so much more bearable while he was with her.
Still, there was no use fretting over it now. She’d had enough time to change clothes and put a little make-up on to enhance her eyes. Mr. Hines’ face had lit up when she walked out. She’d made a point of telling him she was meeting her boyfriend. He’d just snorted and watched her like a hawk. She’d mentioned her boyfriend more than once in front of him. Not that she needed anyone to protect her, it was more in case Skye ever lived up to the threat to send one of her bouncers over.
But today she did have a date, and she was nervous enough without having to deal with office bullshit because the lecher couldn’t understand the meaning of keeping his hands to himself. She needed to quit. She thought about it often. But the bottom line was she loved her job. She might have started out as a secretary, but she ran his business now, and they both knew it. She was the property manager. The sign might still read Hines Property Management, but Melda was the one people asked for.
Still, she’d have to talk to him again when she got back to the office. She needed an assistant. She couldn’t keep doing everything by herself. She was running herself ragged trying to do it all.
Her attention was drawn to the Jeep across the street and the three men who stepped out of it. Her breath caught. She’d recognize them anywhere. She certainly had enough pictures of them. Pictures that she couldn’t stop looking at night after night, and the three men had spent more than one night in her dreams. They were all here. Which of her sisters had wondered if he would bring his buddies with him? Deja. Was he planning to see if she wanted to just jump in and sleep with all three of them before she’d even gotten a chance to know him? Obviously, she’d given him a certain impression of herself. And why hadn’t he warned her that all three of them were showing up for lunch today?
Now she was pissed. She wasn’t a prude. If she wanted to have sex with all of them, she would. But first she wanted to meet Davis. His letters over the past eighteen months had made her fall in love with him. She’d been waiting for this lunch, knowing she’d finally see which one of the soldiers in the picture was him. But all three of them were here.
She slammed the door and walked across the street toward them. One by one, they looked up and saw her. She could feel the heat of their gazes across the distance. The short dress and sweater were definitely the right choice. She stopped in front of them.
“Davis?”
They all three just looked at her.
“You’re even more beautiful than your pictures.” The tallest one spoke up, drawing her eyes to him. He was even better looking as well. His skin glistened like rich chocolate, and she wanted to lick him to see if he’d taste as sweet. His hair was still military short, but his brown eyes twinkled with
appreciation.
“Are you Davis?” She wanted him to be Davis.
“Well…” He cleared his throat and glanced at his buddies.
“You look gorgeous, Emerald.” Her name had an exotic flare when the shortest of the group spoke. He was incredibly good looking. His hair was a warm brown, as were his eyes, which swept over her from head to toe. He obviously had some Hispanic or Latino blood in him somewhere. He made her think of salsa dancing for some reason. Maybe it was the way he seemed to ooze sex appeal while just standing there.
“Davis?” she asked.
“Hello, Emerald.” Her gaze turned to the last man. He had sandy brown hair and ocean blue eyes. He was tan, but still not even close to the natural skin tones of his friends. His body language screamed alpha male, and a shudder went through her at the thought of him ordering her to her knees and feeding her his cock.
“Emerald?” he asked, and she blinked her dirty thoughts away.
“Melda,” she corrected him. He’d obviously not made the connection to call her Melda, even though she’d signed all of her letters that way.
He just smiled. “We’ve been looking forward to meeting you since the first letter.”
“We?” She shook her head, not wanting to get into the fact that Davis had apparently been sharing her letters with his buddies. “Which one of you is Davis?”
“Maybe we should go in first,” the Latino charmer said, reaching for her hand and pulling her close to him. “We can talk once we’re all settled and have something cool to drink.”
She nodded her head and let him lead her toward the diner. It wasn’t a dive, but it wasn’t upscale and pricey either. It was simply a nice place to have lunch that offered private tables for those who wanted it. She really wanted one.
“Melda, good to see you.” The hostess was one she’d seen many times before when she’d come here to meet her sisters for a quick bite or when talking with contractors.