by Bethany-Kris
Melina’s bitterness practically wafted off her.
Mac let it roll off him. He figured it made a hell of a lot of sense. “I get it, now.”
“Get what?” Melina asked sharply.
“Hey, none of that, doll.” Mac pressed the tips of his fingers into Melina’s back, just to let her know that he was still there, holding her. “Keep your attitude at bay for five minutes. Don’t turn it on me because you’re angry at the world. I’m not the world, Melina. I’m just one man looking out for you. That’s all.”
Melina glanced up at him with wetness coating her bottom lashes. Just as quickly as she’d looked up, she was hiding her face again. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. As I was saying, I get it. Your attitude, your distance, and your lack of approachability. It makes sense. You hate anyone with any ounce of authority. The ice queen persona is a hell of a lot easier to maintain than the poor little me one, right?”
“Ouch, Mac.”
“Sometimes the truth hurts, doll. Either way, you have a right to your feelings. You can protect your emotions however you want to. You might find it easier when you let some people in beyond your high walls. No one’s saying you need to break them all down and let the world in or anything.”
“Just the one man looking out for me, right?”
Mac grinned. “Why not?”
“Maybe I’m not used to having anyone look out for me, Mac.”
“Hmm. I figured that.”
Melina moved closer until all the curves of her body had molded to Mac’s. It was dangerous and wonderful at the same time. There was no hiding the hard ridge of his erection pressing against the toned contour of her stomach. Mac simply didn’t act on his wayward thoughts. Melina wasn’t finished talking, after all.
“What happened to your father?” he asked.
“Killed by a drunk driver.”
“Shit. That’s rough.”
Melina nodded once. “It was. I wanted him to get better. I was desperate enough to escort behind his back to make the kind of money we needed for his medical costs, right? He could be better, I knew it.”
“PTSD is hard to manage.”
“Yeah,” she said, “it is.”
“I’m sure he appreciated what you tried to do, doll. And he no doubt loved you. ”
Melina tipped her head lower, but Mac felt it all the same. Her tears. Wet and hot. They dropped from her cheeks and hit his bare chest. Melina tried to wipe the proof of her pain away, but it was already too late.
He’d felt it.
A tightness wrapped his chest, taking away his air and allowing a dull pain to settle in his middle. Mac couldn’t make the ache go away, no matter how hard he tried.
No woman should cry in bed with a man.
Melina, for that matter, should never cry with him.
“Don’t cry,” Mac whispered into her hair. “Not with me, doll. It cuts me up inside. Please.”
Melina’s hands wiped at her face again. Mac found her chin with his palms, tilted her head back, and used his thumbs to sweep her jaw line.
“I’m sorry,” Melina said quickly. “I’m not the kind of woman who cries. I didn’t mean to cry. It’s just that I’ve not talked about it and—”
“Don’t apologize. Let me help, all right?”
Melina said nothing as Mac wiped away her tears until her face was dry and her lashes fanned her cheeks. The natural pout of her lips drew in Mac’s gaze and he pressed a quick, soft kiss to her mouth.
Instantly, Melina’s eyes opened wide again.
“No tears when you’re in bed with me,” Mac said firmly. “Or I’ll be forced to make you stop by whatever means necessary.”
Melina smiled. “Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have to remember that.”
“Do,” Mac said.
“You were right, though,” Melina said quietly. “I am angry. I’m pissed off at everyone that turned their back on my father and left him to survive alone after all he did. It makes me fucking cold inside. Then I’m just numb from the anger and it’s all I ever seem to feel. It’s easier.”
“Cold enough to burn, doll.”
“Sometimes.”
“You do realize that you have to burn through yourself before you burn anyone else, right?”
Melina blinked up at him. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“Most people don’t realize it until it’s too late.”
“Should I thank you for letting me in on the little secret, then?”
Mac chuckled deeply. “Babe, if you’d like, I’ll make sure you have at least one thing to thank me for every single day, as long as you keep me around.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Good.”
Then, Mac rolled to his back and pulled Melina with him under the sheets. She gasped out a breathy laugh when she realized she was on top of him, straddling his waist. Grabbing her face in his palms again, Mac pulled Melina down so that he could kiss her hard. The moment her soft lips opened, he deepened the kiss until her fingers wrapped into his hair and her tongue answered him back in a sweet, tantalizing dance.
“What game are you playing tonight, Maccari?” Melina whispered against his mouth.
Mac smirked, let his hands travel down to her rounded ass, and grabbed tight. He pulled her into his groin, letting the softness between her thighs grind against his hard cock. “You’ve had a rough night. Why don’t you let me distract you for a little while?”
Melina sucked her lower lip in between her teeth. “Yeah?”
“Say the word.”
“Which word is that?”
“Please. But if you add my name into it as well, I’ll really make it worth your while, doll.”
“Do tell,” Melina teased, rolling her hips over his groin again.
Mac held back his groan. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll let you climb on top of my cock, and ride yourself straight to heaven, Melina. Just say the fuckin’ words.”
Melina’s eyes fluttered closed and a little moan escaped when Mac squeezed her backside again. “I’m not a good girl, Mac.”
“I might be a little biased where being good is concerned. And you know how I like your sass. Give me what I want, and then I’ll let you take what you need until you can’t feel anything else but my cock in your pussy and my name in your mouth.”
“God, that’s …”
“Wonderful. It is fucking wonderful. You know it will be, Melina. Give it to me, come on.”
Melina’s tongue swept her bottom lip before she breathed, “Please, Mac.”
That was all he wanted to hear.
Without warning, Mac let go of Melina’s backside, fisted her flimsy tank top, and pulled it from her body. He made quick work of yanking her shorts down over her thighs, and then pulling them from her smooth legs when she lifted off him enough to remove the clothes. She pushed the sheets away with shaking hands before she tugged his boxer-briefs down.
From that point, Mac let Melina take the lead.
She needed it. He could feel it in his bones.
To control. To take. To fuck.
Sometimes simply feeling was needed. Not talking, wondering, or explaining. Simply feeling.
Melina leaned over Mac’s form, dug into the bedside table, and pulled out a foil packet. He watched her through hooded eyes as she tore open the condom, and then quickly rolled it down his length with far steadier hands than before. Mac shuddered, groaning low at the sensation of her fingertips gliding down his length.
“Fuck,” he muttered heavily. “Do you know how beautiful you are above me?”
Melina laughed—a sexy sound—moving back over his body with the grace of a woman who knew that yes, she looked damn good. “I only have to look at you watching me, Mac, and I know.”
The wet heat of her pussy settled on his cock. Melina shifted her hips, letting her core rub against his length with every little movement of her body. Mac grabbed her hip
s and grinded his cock harder into Melina’s pussy, feeling the tip of his cock glide through the fleshy lips with each flex.
“Do you like that?” Melina asked, breathy and grinning. “Feeling me rubbing against you like this? Could you come like this, Mac?”
“I could, but I don’t want to. I’d rather be in you while you milked me dry, doll.”
“I think I can do that.”
Then, she was lifting just high enough to grab the base of his cock, and dropping back down before Mac could get another word out. The tight heat of her pussy engulfed his length and suddenly, Mac couldn’t fucking breathe.
He could feel.
God, could he ever.
Her wet walls flexed around him, shuddering and taking him deeper. Her pussy hugged him tight enough to make his cock throb and ache, while the air rushed out of Mac’s chest in a whoosh. Melina’s hands found his chest, her nails scored into his skin, and then she was lifting from his length to begin a rhythm that was as fast as it was punishing.
“Lean up,” Mac demanded, somehow managing to find his voice.
He sounded coarse and rough. Like he needed water and air.
Melina bit her lip and did as he demanded grabbing onto his thighs to brace herself. She kept her pace up, lifting and lowering her body onto his length. Mac had the perfect view of his cock disappearing into her pink, slippery sex. She took his cock in over and over, her juices coating his latex-covered length and her inner muscles fluttering around his cock harder with every thrust.
The sound of her sex taking him in, sucking him deeper, and their skin meeting in the darkness was music. Perfect, dirty music. It was fucking filthy and he loved it.
Melina’s quiet, rising cries were far better.
“Goddamn, look at you,” Mac ground out through clenched teeth. He grabbed her hips harder, pulling her into his cock with every lowering of her hips. “You look good on me, Melina, riding me like that. Do you feel it, doll? Is it right there?”
“Yes,” Melina whined.
“Get it for me, and then I want you to make me fucking come.”
“God.”
“Come on, you know you want it. Give it to me. Milk me fucking dry, doll.”
Melina’s fingernails scored another set of lines across his chest. Mac didn’t mind the sting. How could he, when all he could hear was his name in Melina’s mouth? Why did it matter when all he could see was her pussy riding his cock like she fucking needed it, her breasts swaying with each lift of her body, and the small shaking rocking her shoulders like she was getting ready to lose control?
“Make me come,” Melina demanded.
Mac didn’t know how to deny Melina a thing when she wanted something. His hand slipped between her thighs and found her clit, hot and hard under the pad of his thumb. He circled the little nub with fast strokes.
“Oh, my God, Mac.”
“Louder,” Mac demanded, loving his name in her mouth.
Melina choked out a cry and his name came out far more broken than before. She was right there. Her legs quaked and a sheen of perspiration dotted down her chest. Her eyes squeezed shut a second before her stomach muscles clenched and her body tensed all over.
Right there …
“Fuck.”
Mac pulled Melina down as she shattered around him. He brought her trembling lips to his, and kissed her through the orgasm.
Hot.
Soft.
Needy.
When Melina had calmed enough to ask Mac for more, he put her on her knees, made her ask again, and then gave her everything she wanted.
A good man didn’t deny his girl, after all.
Melina was his.
Mac decided.
Simple as that.
She couldn’t figure him out.
And that scared the ever-loving hell out of her.
Lying beside him in bed as the sun’s rays peaked in through the blinds, Melina could only wonder what to expect next. Ever since the moment she’d laid eyes on Mac, her entire world had been shaken so much that it would never be normal.
At least, never be normal for her.
Melina had a lot to figure out, but she had a measure of comfort that for once she wouldn’t have to figure it out alone.
Mac was there.
For her.
For whatever went down.
And she was strangely happy about that.
“How long are you going to lay here frowning?”
The deep timbre of his voice made her body tremble, startling her. She swallowed hard.
“Have you been watching me?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Because I like watching you. Because in those rare moments when you think no one is watching you, you let down your guard and I get to appreciate just how beautiful you really are. Inside and out.”
His hand reached for her chin, tilting her head to look up at him. His eyes were soft and clear. The faintest hint of stubble was visible along his jawline and he’d never looked more appealing to her.
“Somebody taught you how to do this romantic stuff well,” she teased.
Mac frowned for a second, before it disappeared. “It sure as hell wasn’t my father.”
He shifted in the bed and pulled her closer. Picking up on the visible tension in her lover’s face, she used the tip of her finger to draw lazy circles on his chest.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said softly.
“For what?”
“For reminding you of things you’d rather forget.”
“You didn’t. Actually, you just reminded me of how happy I am to not be like him.”
He brushed his thumb over her lips and she sighed as a dull ache started between her legs. What was supposed to be a night of cuddling and sleep had turned into a night of full-on fucking.
And she’d loved every second of it.
His eyes watched her, darkening as she opened her mouth, subtly giving him permission to ease his thumb into her mouth. Mac chuckled before pulling his hand away.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“So you do wake up like a sweet kitten in the morning. At what time do you turn into a lioness again?”
Melina rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’ve got jokes now, huh? I see it didn’t take you long to go from Mr. Romance back to Mr. Arrogant.”
Mac shrugged. “It’s how I am and I embrace it. Now, as much as I would love to stay in bed all day—fucking you properly all over again—business waits for no one.”
Melina tensed. “What kind of business?”
“Why don’t you come with me and find out?”
She sat up and pulled the top of the sheet around her breasts. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
Mac leaned against the headboard. “Why not? We’re supposed to be a couple who can’t stay away from one another. What better way to show that, than by having you by my side? Besides, it’s time you got an inside view on how I make my money.”
“So you want me to be your side kick?”
Mac shook his head. “My gun moll.”
“How do you know I don’t have something planned today?”
He cupped her chin in his hand, staring deep in her eyes. “If, after last night, I can’t convince you to spend more time with me today, then I didn’t do something right. Looks like I’ll have to rectify that immediately.”
His mouth covered hers with a slow, sensual kiss that nearly stole her breath away. Mac nibbled at her lips before slipping his tongue inside and kissing her deeply. Melina shuddered as his tongue rolled slowly across hers. She couldn’t help moaning against his mouth as she grew wet for him. Melina pushed Mac away.
“I can’t trust myself around you,” she said.
Mac cocked a brow. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“For a person used to being in control, it is.”
“Sometimes we all need to let go, especially you, doll. Now get up and get dressed before I change my mind and keep you here
all day.”
He leered at her and Melina quickly took the opportunity to head towards the shower. She needed a chance to get her head together. There was no telling what kind of work she would be doing with Mac today.
She looked good.
Damn good.
Mac hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her or his hands, for that matter. As she watched him driving, barely holding the steering wheel, his right hand rested possessively on her leg. The black leather mini-skirt and thigh-high matching spiked-heel boots made her feel powerful.
And very aware of her own sensual femininity.
Christ.
What the fuck was wrong with her?
Lifting the long, thin silver chain that hung between her breasts, she twirled it between her fingers.
“Are you purposely trying to drive me to distraction, doll?”
Melina bit her lip, glancing at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He rubbed her thigh before he slowly slid his fingers underneath her skirt.
“Yeah, the fuck you don’t. Leather looks good on you and those boots … don’t get me started on your red lipstick and the cleavage you’re showing. If I didn’t have men waiting, I’d pull this car over and give you the ride of your life.”
Melina gasped when he rubbed her clit through the soft silkiness of her panties. “Mmm. You never play fair, Mac.”
He flashed her a grin. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“You’re too much, Maccari. Too much.”
“But that’s exactly why I keep you interested …” he trailed off.
The winsome smile he’d just given her was gone and replaced by the blank mask and cold-eyed expression she’d seen him adopt at the Pivetti mansion. When he stopped touching her and parked the car, she grew faintly alarmed.
“Is something wrong?”
He faced her and shook his head. “No. I just need to make a few things clear. I brought you with me to observe. I don’t want you participating in any of this shit. If something goes down you see nothing, you hear nothing, and you know nothing. Got it?”
“I’m not some wilting wallflower, you know? I can handle myself.”