Into the Fire (Flame in the Shadows Trilogy #1)

24. Mel

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

MEL

Heat floods my core and pools between my legs as Tommy runs his hands down my ribs, trailing feather-light kisses from my collarbone to my sternum, then over my shoulder. My skin pebbles, and I shiver, arching off the comforter again, desperate to have those lips on my aching breasts.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he sighs, nose skimming back up my neck. Chills follow, and I run my fingers over the hard lines of his back, his shoulders, memorizing every dip, every curve, the way the bands of muscle ripple as he moves. He’s kissing that spot under my ear now, slow and languid and oh, so hot, the autumn-and-pine scent of his skin wrapping around me like an embrace.

I roll my hips against the hard length of him, and my hands skim up to wind into his hair and pull his lips back to mine. Pleasure streaks through my stomach and down my thighs, pulsing with the pressure. Tommy hisses into my mouth.

He breaks the kiss and leans up on his elbows to stare down at me, beautiful eyes dark. The dim light of the dying fire gilds his skin and lines his sharp features in shadow. His flawless lips part.

“Tommy,” I say, and it’s half a plea. I flex my hips again.

He closes his eyes, a soft groan low his throat. “Mel.” His voice is ragged. Husky. It flames my blood almost as much as his moans.

I drop my hands from his hair, running them over his carved chest, careful not to touch the deep purple stain above his heart. This gorgeous man is here. With me.

I can’t believe I almost lost him forever.

My own heart twists, and I pull him to me again, kissing him deeply. Hot shivers wrack my body, the molten knot at my core winding tighter as our tongues slide against each other. Tommy sucks my lower lip into his mouth and gently tugs, his warm hands gliding up to cup my breasts. His thumbs stroke over my nipples, and I moan at the pleasure that radiates out in waves.

“Please.”

Tommy breaks our kiss to smirk down at me. “Not yet.”

He dips his head, that mouth closing over my left nipple, and flicks with his tongue. I cry out, the pleasure sharp and oh so good.

He keeps going, licking, sucking until he drags another moan from a carnal place deep inside me. My fingers tangle in his hair, and he skims kisses down my center, over my abdomen, kneeling between my legs with his hands splayed on my hips. Trails of sparks singe my skin.

I’m shaking as he traces the line of my panties with his nose, the warmth of his breath soaking through the thin material. Ah, I need him, need that touch … everywhere. He glances up at me, and the pure lust in his darkened eyes scorches my very marrow. I want to push him down on the bed, to give him everything I have. But more than that, I want his mouth there , where the ache is pooling, deep and insistent.

Tommy slowly, so slowly, drags my panties off. Tingles follow his touch, spreading up my thighs to buzz between my legs. He tosses the panties on the floor, and I lean up on my elbows to keep him in my sight, fully bare before him. The cool air of the caves stings my flushed skin.

“So. Fucking. Beautiful,” he whispers.

I nearly convulse from the words alone. He nips his way up my sensitive inner thigh, and I fall back onto the bed, breath sawing out of me.

The first stroke of his tongue up my slick center sends jagged bliss arcing up my spine. Tommy doesn’t let up, hands biting into my thighs as he winds the need in my core tighter, hotter until it’s torching me alive.

“Please,” I gasp. He drags his tongue over me again and lightning flashes behind my lids. I writhe under him, desperate for release. For him. I need him more than I need air to breathe. “I want you.”

Tommy stops his slow torture, sex-hazed eyes meeting mine. The sight of him, between my legs, looking like that…

Holy fuck.

“Now.”

I sit up, pushing him back with a hand on his chest so he’s sitting in the middle of the bed, with me straddling his lap. His length strains against me through his boxers, and need flares in my stomach, makes my toes curl. His hands run over my hips and up my back as we sit nose to nose, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Mel,” he sighs, and it’s so much more than a word. It’s an adoration. He claims my mouth again, our kiss wild, all tongues and teeth and searing need. My fingers drop from his chest, follow the defined lines of his stomach toward his waistband. I stroke him through the cotton.

He moans into my mouth. It’s sexy as hell.

“Take these off.”

I snap the elastic and he pulls back, pure fire in his darkened eyes. Everything in me tightens.

“You’re really sure?”

“Want me to show you how sure I am?” I slip my hand underneath the fabric and he gasps, shuddering as I work him. His eyes close, his breath turns harsh. Suddenly, he pushes me off his lap and loses the boxers.

Then his lips are on mine, urgent as he guides me onto my back and hovers between my legs. I reach down to line him up, and he breaks the kiss to stare into my eyes. The adoration I heard in his voice earlier shines deep in his heated gaze.

Slowly, reverently, he slides in. Electricity crackles up my spine, and an untamed sound breaks from me at the fullness, the exquisite pressure. Holy fucking hell, yes .

Tommy gently kisses the corner of my mouth. “Mel … you’re important to me too.”

Shimmering warmth blooms in my heart and sharp pleasure spirals through my stomach, building, coiling tighter as we find our rhythm. Tommy’s hands are in my hair, his lips skimming my neck while he whispers my name over and over like a supplication. Like a prayer. Like I’m all that’s ever mattered.

It's the most sublime torment, like nothing I’ve experienced before. My eyes sting at the unity of it, of being together like this with him. Being cherished like this.

Pleasure sizzles through me, and I scream his name as lightning forks at the edges of my mind and stars burst behind my lids. I shatter around him, again and again, waves of iridescent bliss rocking the very foundation of my world.

“Fuck,” Tommy groans, pumping into me twice more, then going still.

We stay like that for a few minutes, joined in silence. When our breathing slows, he lifts onto his elbows to stare down at me, his gaze tender and full of quiet joy. I stroke his hair, my heart glowing with a wholesome warmth that lights everything I am and knocks the breath from my lungs.

I am in so much trouble.

Tommy kisses me once, soft and sweet, then slides to the side and pulls me into his arms. I smile, tracing his beautiful lips, his cheek, the bruise on his chest. The luminous feeling swells, and I close my eyes to hide the pricking behind my lids.

He kisses the top of my head.

I’m not sure how things will change between us after this, but I don’t want to think about it now. I only want to live in this moment, to melt into his warmth and listen to his soft breath and count the beats of his heart and know he’s alive. We’re alive.

And we’re together.