Sweet Melody (Rock & Rodeo Romance #1) (6 page)

Our kiss is rough. My stubble scratches her face, but she never pulls back. Her tongue licks my top lip, and I suck her bottom lip, biting its plump mound. Something between a groan and a purr comes out of her, and it takes a Herculean effort not to rip off every stitch of her clothing.

We kiss until I lose all breath. Even as I try to pull away to recover, she increases the intensity of her attack, willing to suck all the life out of me.

If kissing Mel means death, then I’ll die happy, drowning in her.

K
issing Hunter is
like going to the county fair. My stomach quakes with butterflies at the anticipation. My mind crowds with all the possibilities and choices of what comes next like a kid on her first time, wanting to try it all. Instead of waiting for him to make his move, I’ve taken the hammer to swing for the win. I’m sure if I bang long and hard enough, I’ll ring his bell and win prize after prize.

The biggest thrill that sends my body on its own Tilt-A-Whirl comes from Hunter’s responses to me. He grunts every time my fingers run through his hair, grabbing his head and holding him close. His teeth nibble at my lips, and his tongue entwines with mine. His hunger for more equals mine. By the way we’re going at each other, we’re both starved.

If I push my body against his and walk him backwards a bit, he could land on the couch. Then I could straddle him. Or take off his shirt and lick those abs-for-days I know he has underneath his shirt. Or unzip his pants and kneel in front of him. Choice after delicious choice makes my drenched pussy clench more than once.

Occasionally, he tries to slow down and pull away, but my idea of never letting go is so much better. A change in angle and sucking on his bottom lip keeps him attached to me for a few seconds more. It takes his hands moving from my ass to my shoulders and a concerted effort on his part to pull his hips away from mine for me to concede and give us a break.

Our chests heave. The sound of our panting combats the silent room. My eyes close as my body enjoys the sweet ache building inside of me. Hunter rests his forehead against mine. His hand touches my face, his thumb tracing over my swollen lips.

“Holy Hell,” he exhales.

Satisfaction blooms inside of me. “Hey, Hunter.” My eyes open to find his still closed as he catches his breath. I lean into his neck and whisper in his ear, “You know, I could strip naked and take you right here on this couch.”

Hunter’s eyes fly open, and his breath hitches. The grip from his one hand on my shoulder tightens, and he pushes me back.

“That’s it. We’ve got to get out of here.”

“What? Not a good idea? I thought that’s where we were headed tonight.” My pout is just playful enough.

He lets me go and rakes his finger through his messed up hair. Hat on or off, the man looks fan-fucking-tastic. But I think I prefer no hat. It allows my fingers to run through his dark hair.

“I don’t know where we’re headed,” he starts. “I mean, I know where I want to go, if you’re willing. But not right now. Not on the couch. But, yeah. Maybe? Shit, I’m fucking this up.”

Hot damn, look at the effect I have on the domineering sexy singer. One second, he has me submitting. The next, I’ve got him flustered. When we finally come together, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.

“No worries. I wanted to thank you in the best way I knew how for tonight, and words didn’t seem like enough. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” I kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

His face softens, and his eyes finally meet mine. “The feeling’s more than mutual. And thank you for going with it. My God, woman, you can sing.”

My turn to feel self-conscious. “I didn’t know I could. Not like that at least. I think it’s the effect of a sexy man giving me commands.”

“And some bourbon,” Hunter adds. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

My snort surprises us both. His good lie breaks the spell surrounding us. “Yeah, right. This is my work uniform, and I’m a walking mass of sweat. Nothing beautiful or sexy about it.”

The space of the room swallows his genuine laugh. “I think we both have good reasons to be sweaty tonight. Being the front man of a band is hard work.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure being a sex god in front of all those screaming women works you
hard
, sir.”

My smartass remark earns me a light spank from him.

“Anyway, would you mind terribly if I took a quick shower in the locker room? I mean, if you need to go…you don’t have to stick around.” I give him a clear out—a last chance to stop things.

“That’s right. I forgot there are showers here. I could use one myself. Except I didn’t bring a change of clothes or even a clean T-shirt with me.”

I offer him my hand, and move us in the direction of the locker rooms. “We’ve got extra work shirts here.”

It takes no time to rummage one of the old logo shirts from a box in the storage room.

“You bad girl,” he rumbles in my ear after I give it to him.

“Damn straight.”

“Meet you at my truck in 10.”

And he’s back to being bossy again.

“Give me like 15, and I’ll see you there,
sir
.” With a short salute, I leave to take my shower.

Moving on from the Tilt-A-Whirl to the Zipper. My stomach flips at the rush of adrenaline of what comes after the next fifteen minutes.

T
he shower offers more
than a chance to clean myself up. It refreshes me, and gives me the space to clear my head. No point in denying that Hunter’s still dangerous. But if I play my cards right, the two of us can have an incredible time tonight and maybe into tomorrow. Then he can go on his merry way to Nashville, and my body can go back to its deliberate celibacy having rebooted itself with a little booty.

Walking out of the club, my hand checks the placement of the red bandana one more time, making sure it still holds my hairstyle, looser now after my shower, in place for now. The bag full of condoms, thanks to Bee, rests on my shoulder. Each step toward Hunter solidifies my choice for tonight.

It doesn’t take me long to see his huge black Ford F-150. The motor runs while he waits for me, so he doesn’t hear me approach. When I knock on the window, he jumps a bit, dropping his cell phone into his lap.

“Caught me off guard,” he says as he steps out of his truck with a sheepish grin.

“You were expecting someone else? Okay, goodbye.” I turn on my heel, but he catches my elbow.

He pulls me in for a strong but quick kiss. “Not so fast. No turning back now. And look. I’ve got something to show you.” He hands me his cell phone. “Somebody already posted a video of us singing the last song.”

There we are on a shaky but clear video singing to each other a musical foreplay, oblivious to the world. The playback lasts until the final kiss, but I don’t want to watch the dull copy. I want to experience the real thing.

I hand him his phone back. “We’re not bad together, you and I.”

Hunter takes the phone and my hand. He lifts my warm hand to his lips. “No, ma’am. What we are is definitely not bad.” Even the lightest touch from him reignites the fire inside of me.

He twists my hand and plants light kisses on my palm and wrist. For someone I took to be a true Dominant, his sweet side confuses me. But it also touches the inner parts of me not meant to be accessed.

Yanking my hand away from his lips with gentle force, I reach for his face and pull it into mine. As soon as our lips touch, the inferno we started before flares back to life, and we lose ourselves to the rhythm of our tongues and other parts of our body we can merge together.

Hunter’s massive hard on presses against me, reminding me of how much he has to offer. Determined to reach my goal, my hand moves down the length of his torso toward his bulging pants. My brain barely registers his hard, cut muscles underneath his shirt before my hand reaches its target. His erection twitches underneath my palm slowly running up and down his hard length. A guttural groan escapes his throat as he matches my raw craving, and deepens the kiss.

Without warning, Hunter grabs both my hands and pushes me off his body. “Damn it, Mel. Slow down.” Both of our chests heave.

Puzzled, I try to move out of his grasp, but he holds on fast. Unwilling to give up, I challenge, “What if I don’t want to?”

“Then I’m going to have to tie you up to make you behave. And I really don’t want to do that with you. At least, not tonight.”

No talk of anything beyond what we have right now allowed. Changing tactics, I lick my lips to capture his attention. “I don’t mind being tied up. In fact, there are a lot of things I wouldn’t mind doing with you. Or to you.” My body leans forward against him, but he shifts his hold to my shoulders and pushes me back.

Rejection replaces the hunger coursing through me, and I jerk away from him. “If you don’t want me, just say so.” He’s wound me up so tight all night long that any more waiting will cause an explosion. And for all the fun and games, the flirting and the play, I deserve the payoff of hot sex, not mind fucks.

I turn to leave. “I’ll see if I can catch a ride home with Trey.”

That last parting shot is mean and uncalled for, but Hunter drives me crazy. If we aren’t going to fuck, then I want to go home to at least give myself some release with my Battery Operated Boyfriend. One way or another, an explosion is imminent—by his hand or by my own.

Before I take more than three steps, Hunter’s voice bounces off the brick walls of the club and empty parking lot. “Stop.”

My damn feet obey, exactly like before. I stand, waiting for the next command, a little pissed at myself for not moving and a lot more excited for the possibilities. My mind races to anticipate his next move.

Hunter walks up behind me, his body temperature warming my back. Instead of commanding me to turn and look at him, he wraps himself around me and gives me a hard squeeze. He holds onto me long enough for me to relax into his embrace. His breath tickles my neck from where he nuzzles into me, his stubble scratching my skin.

When I start to speak, he places his finger gently over my mouth. “Don’t speak. Give me a chance to process things and explain.”

Before he continues, he nestles further into my neck, inhaling me and brushing his lips lightly over my sensitive skin. If he thinks I can live in this erotic limbo for long, the fact that I may burst into flames will prove him wrong.

“I do want you, Melody,” he starts.

When I protest his use of my full name, he lightly nips my neck with his teeth.

“I will call you that, and you’ll let me. Not because it reminds you of things you don’t have to tell me about, but because it’s exactly what you are—my Melody. And after we just sang together tonight, I don’t know how you could even deny that what we have is worth more than a quick fuck.”

To any other girl, his words would calm her, maybe even get her excited about the possibility of more. My heart instead of my pussy throbs too hard, and my body tenses against his.

He doesn’t let go. “When I came into the club and heard you singing, I thought about how amazing you are. That you should be singing in front of crowds and admired for your raw talent. Well, that and your smoking hot curves.”

Hunter bites my earlobe as he chuckles, and my own stupid giggle breaks the tension between us.

He continues, still holding onto me. “But when I crouched down next to you and saw the beautiful woman that went with that incredible voice, I knew I wanted you all to myself. Not just to bang up against a wall, although that thought did fill my brain and travel down to other parts of me, but because I wanted to figure you out. Like I do with our songs. One note at a time. You’re a song in progress for me, and until I work you out, you’ll be in my system.”

His words confirm that he feels something more than the sexual connection between us. That statement both excites and terrifies me. My body leans against his hold to break away.

“Uh-uh, Mel. Don’t overthink this. Don’t overthink us. I’m not talking about forever, so relax for me.” Hunter’s fingers trace circles on my skin. “Know that whatever happens between us tonight, you already mean more to me than just a quick fuck and duck. And if that’s going to make you run, then I’ll let you go.”

With those words, he squeezes and releases me. My feet stay glued in place while my brain revs into overdrive to figure out what to do next.

Most of the time, men serve to get me off—no more, no less. And the few times I let one of them even part way in, it never ends well. But if I walk away from Hunter in this moment, I may hate myself for the rest of the month, the year, maybe even my life.
Besides, he’s moving to Nashville soon anyway.

I turn to face him. My fear dissipates into acceptance of deeper desires when his lips break into that boyish smile with that dimple I have to lick sometime soon.

I tip my head to the side and give him one long look until my eyes meet his. “So if we’re not going to use each other just to come, then what are we going to do?”

Hunter holds out his hand. “Oh, you’re going to
come
, Melody.” He escorts me to his truck and helps me into the passenger seat, buckling me in. With a confident grin, he finishes. “And if you’ll trust me enough to give in a little like you did before, I’ll guarantee multiple times.”

He touches the bandana in my hair and looks to me for permission. Before my rational side can talk me out of it, I nod and untie the red fabric from around my hair. Soft curls drop down my shoulders in waves as my hairstyle comes undone.

Hunter fingers my hair and takes the bandana from me. “Lean forward a bit,” he directs.

The soft fabric covers my eyes. He ties it behind my head, and checks twice to make sure of its tightness. “I don’t want you guessing what’s coming up next,” he says in one ear. His finger traces a path from my cheek, down my neck and to my cleavage, causing chills to break over my skin. In my other ear, he exhales warm air and whispers, “I just want you to experience.”

His tongue licks my earlobe and sucks it in. The inability to see him heightens his tactile explorations. His lips and teeth nip and nibble their way down my neck. Unable to hold back, I moan.

The door closes, making me jump. I hear his chuckle as he walks around to his side. The cab moves a bit as he climbs in. A slight breeze tickles my nose when the A/C turns on with the truck.

“You sure you can’t see?”

“Nope. I’m at your mercy.”

“And I promise you won’t regret it.” Hunter revs the engine, backs out, and drives out of the parking lot to a destination unknown to me.