His Temporary Wife (The Brides of Sunflower Falls #2)

Chapter 18

eighteen

Melody surfaced from the dream she’d been having. She’d been so warm, floating out in the sea with the sun shining above. The sense of peace she’d felt had been so profound.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d woken up feeling so rested.

Then she realized Tony was damn near wrapped around her. His breath puffed evenly against the back of her neck. Slowly reaching down so as not to disturb him, she confirmed that she’d slept on top of the bedcovers, and was still in the clothes she’d changed into after her shower yesterday.

Trying to think back to last night, all she could remember was patches after completely emotionally unloading on him. At least she hadn’t cried. She preferred to do that in the shower where the water washed away all evidence of it, thank you very much.

“Mmmmmm…” Tony hummed in his sleep, but then his hand started moving down her stomach to the waistband of the leggings she’d put on .

She placed her hand over his, tangling their fingers together. A flash of him trying to leave, and her telling him to hold her because she was growing his baby bloomed in her memory.

He’d stayed. He could have left easily after she’d fallen asleep. But he’d stayed. Even after everything she’d told him last night. The bloom of hope unfurled further.

She’d given him only the highlights of life with her father. But he’d stayed.

“Love you, Melody.”

She froze and turned her head to look at him. The angle was bad, but she could see enough that his eyes were still closed, and his breathing was still easy. He was asleep, or at least in that in-between stage between sleep and wakefulness, but he’d said he loved her.

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she gave voice to the secret she’d tried to keep buried even from herself. “I think I love you, too.”

Eyes still closed, he grinned and began nuzzling the back of her neck, pulling her in closer to him. She felt the stirring of his cock against her ass. Unable to help herself, she began grinding back against it.

His hand moved down again. Instead of stopping him, she guided him below the bands of her leggings and panties. He growled against her neck as their fingers hit her pussy.

He stroked her mound, slipping his fingers lower into her slit. She shifted her legs to make space for him. She felt his tongue against her neck, and she couldn’t help but let out a small sound of pleasure.

“Yes. Give me all your sounds.” He put his thumb against her clit, circling it as he moved two fingers into her.

“All your pleasure belongs to me. Even if you’ re getting yourself off when I’m not around, I want you to tell me all about it. Everything you do.”

The possessive words lit up parts of her brain she’d never experienced before.

“Tony.” Even she heard the trepidation as she whispered his name.

He moved his fingers deeper, pressing harder with his thumb. “You are mine to care for. Mine to give pleasure to. Mine. But I will never contain you. Never. Tell me what you need, Melody.”

Hearing the words broke something inside of her and the tears began flowing. “You. Give me you.”

He pulled her in tight to his body even as he began pumping his fingers, coaxing an orgasm from her. She cried out, but he moved so that his mouth covered hers.

When the waves of pleasure eased a bit, he pushed her leggings down to her knees. “Is your pussy ready for me? Like this? No condom. Because we don’t need one. We’ve already got a baby planted in you. I’ll keep planting as many babies in you as you want.”

Gods. Why was her brain lighting up like this? She pushed her ass back against him as he undid the fly of his jeans and pushed them down enough to bare his cock.

“That’s it, baby. Tell me how much you want your cock. It’s only for you. Use it however you want.”

Her brain was melting, the only thing she could think of was him getting inside of her and filling her up. With everything. “Inside me. Now.”

He lifted her upper leg so that her calf rested against his, giving him just enough space to enter her pussy. Her breath caught at the feeling. With all the constrictions, he felt bigger than he ever had before. She was wet from the orgasm, but he still had to work the head of his cock inside of her.

“You’re so tight like this. So tight. But I’m not going to come until I’m all the way inside of you. Just going to sit inside of you. Filling you up. Marking you so that you never forget what it feels like to have me there. With you. All the time.”

She reached down to her clit and began stroking it.

“That’s it, baby. Make yourself wetter.” He pushed in. It was like one of those post drivers they used on sites. Inexorable.

She started coming when he was maybe halfway in her, and she couldn’t stop it. He moved his hand so that his fingers continued stroking her clit. “Keep coming. Give me everything. You’re going to suck me dry aren’t you?”

Her head fell back, and he sucked on her neck. “You are the most beautiful person. Inside and out. Thorns and all. Never forget that. I. Am. Yours.”

He gave a short pump with each of the last three words, and she felt warmth flooding her as he came. Another orgasm hit her so hard that she curled in, gripping his wrist as she tried to process everything.

“Fuck, Melody.” His fingers dug into her skin and she thought he might leave bruises. The idea of being marked by him, in her most intimate area sent more sparks flooding her brain.

Unable to move after having her world rocked off its foundation, she laid there soaking in the connections both physical and the tiny golden threads of emotions she imagined winding around them.

Tony’s cock eventually softened a bit, and he pulled out of her with a groan. As he did so, he placed a kiss to the back of her neck. “You okay? ”

She let out a shuddering breath. “I will be. Just a lot of emotions.”

He moved from behind her, and she flopped to her back. He propped himself on his elbows so he hovered over her. “Was that too much?”

She reached up and pushed his hair off his forehead. It fell back down immediately. Tenderness she didn’t realize she was capable of had her caressing his face. “No. It was just right. I…”

When she couldn’t continue, he bent his head down and kissed her. Another tear leaked from her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him to her.

“I’m sorry, Melody.”

She shook her head against his chest. She had to get the words out. “No. No.” Swallowing, she fought against the vault door in her mind that wanted to keep her safe. “That was amazing. I never thought I would have liked the whole ‘I’m going to get you pregnant with all the babies’ vibe. But I did. A lot.”

He shifted them again until he was on his back and she was curled up onto his chest. It felt awkward with her leggings still halfway down her legs, but he stroked up and down her back. “I liked it, too. It’s not something I’ve done with anyone else.”

She traced a pattern in the hollow at the base of his neck. “So it’s just ours.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Looks like. If you’re good with it.”

She nodded. As she opened her mouth to tell him she was really good with it and wanted to maybe try it again, there was a knock on the door.

“Breakfast’s ready. Your mom’s threatening to come get you herself, so get moving if you don’t want her barging in on you.” Zach’s voice faded away with the last few words.

Melody lifted her head to look at Tony. “Would your mom really do that?”

He grimaced, but nodded. “Mom’s got boundaries. And I bet she sent Zach up with that message not intending to follow through, but she would absolutely do her best to embarrass me if she thought it would serve her greater plan.”

Not wanting to get the bedspread any dirtier than it already was, Melody did her best to scooch over to the side and get off the bed without touching it. Having her leggings at her knees did not help at all. “What greater plan?”

“I don’t know. Maybe just feed us breakfast?” Tony sat up and swung his legs off the bed before helping her to get her leggings back on in a walkable manner because no way was she free balling it into the bathroom in this particular post-sex state.

When she was finally somewhat back in order, Tony stood up, got his own jeans done up, and kissed her. “Take your time. I’ll run to my room for a shower, and then go down and placate her.” He cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes. “When we’re done with breakfast, we’ll kick my parents out for the day and talk. Okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

He bent down so that his forehead rested against hers. “I love you, Melody. I know you’re not there yet, but we’ve got something good even beyond the Peanut between us.”

She wrapped her arms around him again and hugged him. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not getting pissed off at me. For not leaving. I know I’ve got a lot of baggage. It’s not for everyone. ”

He hugged her back and then leaned back and tipped up her chin so she was looking into his eyes. “Everyone’s got baggage. Thank you for finally letting me in on how much you’ve got. We’ll do what we have to figure out how to carry the load together.”

She bit her lip. “And, maybe, after we talk, we can do some more, uh, playing around?”

He waggled his brows. “Playing around? We can definitely do some more playing around. I’ll drink a protein shake with breakfast.”

Surprised she could laugh after everything, she smacked his arm. “Go get a shower. We do not need your mom barging in here.”

He kissed her again and then left the room. Melody locked the door behind him, though she had a feeling Vicky really wouldn’t barge into her room. Tony’s probably, but she had the sense that Vicky was doing her best to make sure Melody understood she was welcome in their circle.

Letting the shower sand down the rest of the rough emotional burrs in her mind, she remembered she needed to text Ana and her mom. She should also touch base with Greer before the meeting with Triple H tomorrow.

At first, she’d thought the meeting was a convenient excuse to see Tony. But now? With their relationship feeling like it was moving in a solid direction, she was ready to take on the big ass media company and take no prisoners. She and Eric had a vision, and if Triple H wasn’t the right place for them, they would find someone else to partner with.

Revved up for the day, she turned off the shower and wrapped herself in one of the luxurious towels that Tony put out for guests. It made her wonder what he had in his own shower.

After getting dressed, she found her phone on one of the side tables. Tony must have plugged it in to charge because she certainly didn’t remember doing so. There were notifications from Ana, Libby, and her mother. The ones from Ana were more photos of Button to a group chat, and Libby’s were replies to that. The one from her mom just said “Call me when you’re up.”

She opened her contacts and called the motel’s number. After a few rings, her mom answered. “Sunflower Falls Motel.”

“Hey, Mom. I’m up.”

“Melody.”

Relief colored her name, and she frowned.

“Can you hold? I have a guest checking in.”

“Sure.”

The motel’s hold music filled her ear. She got up and went into the bathroom to grab her clothes. They’d have to be laundered before she packed them. She wondered where the laundry room was hidden in this house.

“Melody, are you still there?”

“Still here, Mom.” She dropped the clothes on top of her suitcase. “What’s up?”

“Your father called yesterday. He mentioned how you’d gone to California.”

Melody’s gut clenched and then anger burned through her veins. “He did, did he?”