Bearing Armen - Book Three Page 14

  He groaned, picturing her making that move when he was inside her. Melissa froze, her back arched, and her moan morphed into a full-throated scream of pleasure.

  Mack smiled, raising his head as her hands loosened. Her eyes were closed, her head thrown to the side. Her fingers stroked at his hair lazily. He laid a kiss on her clit, and her breathing hitched.

  Melissa extended one leg and stroked his hip, seemingly seeking his cock, though it was buried beneath him.

  “Yes?” he grumbled, fighting the urge to take her mindlessly.

  “You’re too low on the bed,” she replied in invitation.

  He crawled up between her thighs, planting his hands beside her head. “Too low for what?” If she was saying she wanted to lose her virginity tonight, in his bed, she’d have it.

  Melissa raised her head from the pillow and sealed her mouth to his. Mack sank over her, deepening the kiss. In moments, they’d progressed from slow and deep to frantic. She wound her legs around him and pressed her hips up.

  Mack pulled back slightly and thrust into her. Her ragged cry rumbled into his mouth, her hymen offering only minute resistance.

  She didn’t give him a chance to ask if she wanted time to recover. Her hips moved in that sinful roll, and her hands cupped his buttocks, encouraging him deeper.

  He obliged her, thrusting deep, again and again. Melissa met him fully, her tight body and swiveling hips a slice of Heaven on Earth.

  And then it washed over him. Mack shouted harshly, nestling his face in her hair as his climax went on and on, buried to the hilt in her still-circling body. Aftershocks wracked him, and Melissa gasped.

  They lay together, fully entwined, chest to chest, lips brushing lips. It was perfect, and yet...

  The niggling of unease coalesced into the solid reality that he’d screwed up. Mack raised his head, staring at her in guilty misery.

  Her smile faded. “What is it?”

  “We...uh...” Not inside her, bonehead! Mack rolled to the other side of the bed, sliding free of her body and drawing Melissa with him.

  “Made love?” she asked, seemingly lost and confused.

  “Well, yes. Of course, but we... I! I got carried away and didn’t...um...use...” He looked toward his blood-streaked and semi-erect cock.

  “Oh.” Melissa bit her lip lightly. “We should have, I guess.”

  “I’m safe,” he offered hastily. “AIDS-wise, I mean. It’s been about nine months, and my work physical requires a test. The last one was just last month, so I’m not...you know...infected or anything.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief, laying her head onto his shoulder. “And, we know I’m safe, so that’s okay.”

  “AIDS-wise, but—”

  Her brow furrowed. “You have reason to believe you aren’t in other ways?”

  “No! Of course not, but... Oh, hell. I’m mangling this.”

  Melissa turned, folding her arms on his chest and planting her chin on them, her eyes assessing him. “Take it one step at a time.”

  Mack forced his mind to function as her golden hair cascaded over his stomach. “Even if neither of us... We’ve covered that. Let’s move on.”

  “Agreed.”

  He took a deep breath, playing a curl between his fingertips. “Let’s forget about disease for a minute.”

  She glanced at his cock, then back to his face, darkening. “Oh. You’re worried about a baby,” she deduced.

  “You’re not?” He couldn’t picture Melissa taking birth control pills for no good reason, and she was smart enough not to jump blindly into something as important as motherhood.

  “I...never really thought about it.”

  “Which is why I should have.”

  Melissa looked away, seemingly disconcerted.

  Too late, he realized how that came out. “I mean, I don’t want to rush you into anything you’re not ready for.”

  She looked back at him, her mouth working as if she wanted to ask him something.

  Mack cupped her cheek in his hand. “You’ve never had to think about it. I have. I should have protected you.”

  “Go back a step,” she whispered.

  He tried to retrace his steps. “I have?” He shifted uncomfortably. “You knew I’d been with—”

  “No. Before that.”

  “What? What did I say?” The look on her face didn’t tell him if it was very right or very wrong, but whatever it was had struck her hard. He prayed it was good and not bad.

  “You don’t want to rush me into having a baby?”

  “I don’t want to rush you into anything.” He’d done his level best not to do that so far.

  “But...you’ve thought about it already. About me having a baby with you.” She didn’t question it. Neither did the concept seem to scare her off.

  “Oh, yeah.” He’d thought of everything from the wedding and honeymoon to children and retirement, and there was no other woman he could picture sharing it with. “When you’re ready.”

  Melissa kissed his chest as she’d done in his car a few nights earlier. Mack closed his eyes on a groan. That move cut through him, and she knew it. Her hand circled his cock, and she kissed again. He hardened with just that little provocation.

  He opened his eyes, lost in pleasure and in her expression of awe. She stroked him, her breathing hitching in response to his.

  “You’re not rushing me into anything,” she breathed. “I’m just where I want to be.”

  With that, she straddled him and took him in. Melissa rocked over him, crying out as he started bucking into her.

  “Oh, God,” he grumbled. I’m doing it again. I’m letting her risk—

  “I can deal with that.”

  “Deal with...” He ground his teeth, holding back release, trying to make it last this time.

  Melissa arched her back, fitting her body tight to his. “Making you see God.”

  Mack wrapped his hands around her hips, driving into her with a renewed sense of purpose. “Your turn,” he promised.

  Little cries of passion left her lips with each thrust into her, growing louder and less restrained. She ground against him, taking him to the root, forcing him to the limits of endurance.

  The sweet contractions of her climax nearly sent him over again. Mack stared at her, drunk on her expression. “What does He look like?” he teased.

  “Divine,” she whispered.

  That was the end of his control. He thrust up, releasing wave after wave of come into her, shivering as she screamed his name.

  Mack pulled her down over him, parting her lips, tangling his fingers in her hair. She was right. It was divine...and she’d said this was just where she wanted to be.

  * * * *

  Melissa sauntered into the manor, swinging her arms at her sides, smiling at the memories of her evening. She bit back a giggle at how crazy she’d been, but somehow crazy seemed right with Mack. Gods, the man was hot. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason she wanted him. He was funny, playful, considerate...and used the worst come-on lines to his best advantage.

  “Hey, Baby Doll,” Tyler called out.

  She scowled at the pet name. Michelle had been Princess, and Melissa had been Baby Doll. It was probably the only thing she’d ever envied her big sister, the nickname their father had given Michelle within an hour of meeting them.

  Her younger brother didn’t seem to notice her irritation. He scooped Melissa up in a hug and twirled her around, planting a kiss on her cheek. He stopped short, his smile disappearing and his eyes narrowing.

  Melissa’s heart pounded in terror, but she feigned confusion, laughing lightly. “Let me down, Tyler. You’re rumpling the suede.”

  “Who is he?” he asked through clenched teeth.

  “Who is who?” Oh, come on! That isn’t going to work.

  “Whatever man took your maidenhead and gave you a good topping off tonight. Name, please.” It wasn’t really a request. More of a veiled threat, actually.

  She felt h
er cheeks burn at his crass description of her beautiful evening. “I have autonomy, Tyler. That’s none of your business.”

  “Fine. Then answer when Dad asks.” He set her on her feet and turned Melissa toward James’s office door.

  “Little brother, you are going too far,” she warned, but she marched to the door and knocked. The only way to knock Tyler on his arse was to have their father or Michelle do it, and she fully intended to.

  “Come in.”

  Tyler opened the door for her and waved Melissa in. Their father’s smile at seeing her faded, and he looked back and forth between them.

  Melissa crossed the room and settled in one of the interview chairs, crossing one leg smoothly over the other, still acutely aware of the pleasurable ache of making love for the first time. “Well, go on then,” she invited her brother.

  “I believe I will. Melissa has...” He stopped, his face darkening as she’d known it would. Tyler was accustomed to censoring himself around Melissa, though he could vent any foul comment around Michelle.

  “Made love? Taken release? Had sex?” she taunted him. She stopped short of ‘fucked.’ What she and Mack did wasn’t fucking. “You’re a Warrior, Tyler. You know the words. Just so you know, I prefer the first option. It has the right sound to me.”

  James chuckled, shooting a look that promised his sisters were about to best him again at Tyler. “And the problem is?” he asked, though he’d surely guessed closely enough to the fact.

  “Your son.”

  “Ah... I see. You know Melissa has autonomy. We went through this with Michelle when she was eighteen, if you recall. I believe your oldest sister commented that she’d have taken care of her virginity before you’d started training if she’d realized how intolerable you’d be when she did.” He picked up his pen, dismissing the complaint that simply, as she’d known he would. It was a good thing that Warriors were so predictable.

  “Thank you, Daddy,” she called out brightly. Her push to her feet was cut short when Tyler raised his protest of the matter.

  “We haven’t been through this before.”

  Melissa rolled her eyes and settled into the chair again with a sigh.

  James glanced at him, then at the file on his desk. “How so? Michelle—”

  “At least provided a name when asked.”

  Melissa snapped. “Michelle has never had a relationship that lasted longer than a week. She’s never had to worry about you waltzing in and screwing up a good thing, and you would.”

  Too late, she realized she’d said too much. She grimaced as both Warriors’ heads swung around to her. Release they could handle. If she planned to marry Mack, they’d want to do all the usual checks. There was too much chance of someone getting overzealous and ruining what she had developing with Mack. As it was, it was a miracle that she’d been seeing him for more than three months without Tyler barreling in.

  They stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

  Melissa groaned. “Blood in the water.”

  “You see?” Tyler asked.

  Their father tapped his pen on the desk calendar. He didn’t demand Mack’s name; that was a surprise. Of course, as long as he wasn’t demanding it, Melissa was free not to offer it. They stared at each other in silence.

  “Aren’t you going to tell us, Melissa?” Tyler asked.

  “No. I’m not.”

  James raised an eyebrow.

  “At least until I know if he’s serious,” she qualified, praying that would be enough to convince her father to wait.

  “Fair enough,” he decided. “Of course, if you don’t prepare him for what we are, it may go badly when he learns it.”

  She sighed, voicing her greatest fear. “If I tell him too soon, he’ll think I’m nuts.”

  “Maybe we should meet him,” Tyler suggested.

  James motioned for him to stand down. “When Melissa is ready.”

  Chapter Twenty

  February 29, 2002

  “What’s your sign, baby?”

  Melissa laughed in spite of herself, easing back into Mack’s body. Gods, but I wonder where he gets so many lame lines. Research. He has to do research on the subject to keep me laughing. “Certainly not ‘stop.’”

  He groaned. “I was hoping you’d say that.” His arms wrapped around her. “Dinner tonight?”

  “Let’s order in.” She wiggled against his rising cock.

  His voice went rough in response. “Pizza in bed? My favorite meal...besides you.”

  She turned to him, staring into his green eyes, her heart quickening. “Guess that means you can have both.”

  Mack lowered his face and kissed her, winding his hands in her hair. It was a slow kiss, patient, blooming into something more, a mirror of the way he’d taken her virginity.

  He pulled away, his eyes opening, hot in need. “You know I—”

  “So, this is him,” Tyler drawled.

  Melissa glared at him. “I am going to report you,” she threatened. “You were warned off, if memory serves.”

  Her brother hopped up on the low walkway wall, making himself comfortable. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” he hinted.

  “In a word, no!”

  Mack recovered his senses and eased Melissa behind him. She snuggled to his back, taunting Tyler. Tyler tensed slightly, most likely affected by the sight of another man, an outsider, protecting Melissa this way.

  “Goth boy a problem?” Mack asked.

  Tyler mouthed the ‘Goth boy’ back to her as a question, incredulous.

  Melissa cracked a smile. “He’s harmless,” she stated with confidence.

  “Harmless?” both men asked in unison.

  “Mostly. More like a couple of flies than a swarm of bees.”

  “Are you calling me annoying?” Tyler demanded.

  “If the boots fit...”

  He scowled at her.

  “I think I’d like that introduction,” Mack hinted.

  No time like the present. “This is my little brother, Tyler.”

  “Little? Yeah. I can see that.” Mack eyed Tyler’s six feet four warily.

  “This is my younger brother, Tyler...the vampire hunter.”

  Mack didn’t miss a beat. “Oh. I see. Dark clothes. Dyed black hair.”

  “That’s natural, actually,” she inserted.

  Tyler looked up at the curls over his eyes in disbelief.

  Mack shrugged. “How convenient for him. Type casting. Crosses and ash stakes are his thing, huh?”

  “Not quite. Those stories aren’t true. It actually takes a sacred weapon, sanctified and honed in the blue flame of the Stone, to kill one.”

  Tyler clenched his teeth, and she shrugged at him. This crash course wouldn’t be necessary if she didn’t need to cover for him in the first place.

  Mack nodded. “Riiiight. Well, sure. Everyone knows that.”

  Tyler made a move as if to pull the weapon and show it to him.

  Melissa shot him a look of warning. “Sorry, Tyler. We have a date to get to.”

  Mack nodded to him and turned, taking Melissa’s arm and leaving her brother behind. He got her settled into his Protégé and headed away from campus.

  She sighed at the sight of Tyler at the curb. He’d gotten the license plate number; that meant he’d know everything there was to know about Mack within hours.

  * * * *

  Mack breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Just fine. As I said, my brother is annoying, but he won’t hurt either of us.”

  “You’re sure about that?” He didn’t need to state that he wasn’t. Melissa was quick enough to catch that without the explanation.

  “I’m sure.” She smiled brightly. “I should thank you for gallantly trying to save me, though.”

  Mack found himself smiling in return. “You know I love you.”

  Melissa gasped. “You mean that?”

  “Hell, yes.” After waiting for her for the last three mont
hs, how could she doubt it? He’d have waited twice as long...three times as long, at least.

  “If you weren’t driving, I’d kiss you.”

  Mack pulled into a parking space and slammed the car into park.

  She knelt on the passenger seat and brought her mouth down on his. Her long, blonde hair cascaded around him, cool satin against his skin. Her mouth was a sweet promise that he desperately wanted to take her up on. Melissa backed away, breathing raggedly against his lips.

  For once, even his pick-up lines deserted him. “I’m going to take you home and make love to you now,” he whispered.

  “That’s a good idea. Yes.” She eased back into the seat and put the seatbelt on.

  Mack shook his head, trying to clear his mind enough to drive. It took a minute, but then they were on their way again.

  At his apartment, the feast of touching started at the door. Clothing littered the floor from there to the bedroom.

  He lowered her onto the bed, staring at her. Melissa was nude save the medallion at her throat—beautiful, trusting, in his bed, his for the taking. Mack couldn’t begin to imagine how he’d gotten so lucky.

  She reached for him, and Mack groaned. God, she made him crazy.

  He joined her on the bed, searching for something to say, anything at all. She scattered him. It had always been like this, reducing an articulate man to lame come-ons that made her laugh.

  “Come here often?” He had no clue where that one had come from; he hadn’t used it before.

  Melissa smiled, her chest shaking in silent laughter and her face darkening to deep pink. “Twice so far. I’d like to go for three, now.”

  “Definitely.”

  * * * *

  Melissa trailed her fingers through the line of strawberry blond curls running down his chest, stroking his erect cock, spurring him to motion.

  “Now,” he rasped.

  Mack settled over her, parting her labia and easing inside. She moaned, arching to invite him deeper.

  He stopped, concerned. “Feel good?”