Gun Moll (25 page)

Mac wanted her to
be his. No one else’s. Just his.

He wanted to
breathe her air. He needed her like he needed the breath in his lungs.

It was still
strange.

“Yeah,” Mac said,
kissing her cheek softly. “Love you, doll.”

Melina’s lashes fluttered
closed as she trembled her way through a slow orgasm. “Oh, my God.”

“Best thing to
wake up and get, huh?”

“Keep giving me
that when I wake up and I’ll let you know.”

There was his
girl.

Without needing to
be told, Melina turned around and faced the shower wall. Mac crowded her back,
running his hands over her wet curves and the swell of her ass.

“Christ, you’re so
beautiful,” he said.

Melina smiled
coyly when Mac kissed the corner of her mouth. “Beautiful for you. Thank you
for the gift, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“The cross.”

Mac traced a line
from Melina’s shoulders to the small of her back. “It’s safer with you.”

“I’ll make sure it
stays that way.”

“I’ve never taken
it off, doll.”

“I wondered about
that. I think that’s how I knew.”

Mac found her
watching him, and smiled. “Knew what?”

“That you love me,
and that I love you.”

That word in her
mouth was enough to make Mac insane. He wanted her to say it again. Over and
over. In however many different ways she could spin it, Mac wanted to hear it.

He fitted himself
behind her, pushed her against the wall and up on her toes, and positioned his
cock right at the entrance to her heaven. With no forewarning, Mac pushed in.
Melina hadn’t been expecting it, but she was wet enough to take his bare length
with no trouble. In one hard thrust, he was seated deep in her pussy, and it
felt like a drug seeping straight through his skin to his bones.

“Fuck,” Mac
mumbled against her shoulder.

Melina whined.
“Yeah.”

“Fucking
fuck
.”

“You feel better
like this,” she said. “Bare. Just you. I can feel that.”

Mac’s teeth buried
into the junction of Melina’s shoulder with a gentle bite. She sighed, and
backed into him as he began to fuck her against the wet shower wall.

“Love me,” he
ground out.

Melina’s hands
fell from the wall and reached back to find his thighs. “Love you.”

“Again, doll.”

“Love you, Mac.”

His stress finally
floated away. He fucked her harder when she asked for more. His fingers raked
over her skin, imprinting her to memory, taking from her body, and forgetting
about the rest of the world still fucking them over.

She mattered.

They didn’t.

S
he, Melina Morgan,
was in love.

Completely.

With every burning
fiber of her being.

It scared the ever-loving
hell out of her.

The silk sheets
rustled against her bare skin, as she lay in bed naked. The past few days had
passed in a haze for her.

A haze of fucking,
lovemaking, and Mac.

Only Mac.

She bit her lip,
trying to fight the smile that came across her face as she thought of him. It
wasn’t in her nature to be like this—giddy with happiness. For the first time
since she could remember, hope for a real future bloomed hot and heavy inside
her. If anyone would have told her that she would fall in love, Melina would’ve
told them they’d lost their mind. It was amazing how everything had changed.

The sound of a key
turning in a lock drew her attention. Slowly, she eased open the drawer of the
nightstand beside her and pulled out a gun.

Her gun.

A Glock 19 Mac had
reluctantly procured for her after they’d almost been gunned down. With a firm
grip on her weapon, Melina calmly aimed it at the bedroom door. The handle
turned and the door swung open. Mac stood in the doorway, bags in hand, staring
at her.

“You can put the
gun down, doll.”

Melina smiled.
“Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t.”

“And why wouldn’t
you?”

“Because maybe I’m
thinking about ordering you to put those bags down, strip and please me in a
thousand different ways while I hold you at gunpoint.”

Mac moved closer
to the bed, setting down the two bags he’d been holding onto the nightstand.
There was a twinkle in his eye.

“Now, why does the
thought of that get my cock so damn hard?”

“Because you have
issues.”

He raised an
eyebrow as he reached for the sheet that was wrapped around Melina. “I have
issues, huh?” he asked.

Melina’s breath
caught in her throat as he eased the sheet away from her body. Cool air and
Mac’s hot gaze met her body. Unhurriedly, his hand cupped her breast, toying
with her nipple.

“Now, what man in
his right mind wouldn’t have issues, knowing he had perfection like this
waiting for him when he got home?”

Melina’s tongue
touched her lips. “Home?”

Sitting down on
the bed bedside her, Mac offered a smile and a shrug. “Yeah. Home. It’s
wherever you are, doll.”

She turned away
and fanned her face with one hand, while putting the gun away with the other.
Tears were threatening to come, but she refused to give in to them.

“I hate you, Maccari.
You’re making me all mushy and weepy-eyed. I’m not that kind of girl.”

She faced him and
he placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “And that’s
one of the things I love about you the most.”

Before she could
answer, his lips were on hers. His kiss was hot, demanding, and all consuming.
Melina leaned closer, easing her tongue into Mac’s mouth. He groaned against
her lips as he grabbed her waist. Why did he have the power to make her feel
like this? Regretfully, she pushed him away.

“What’s wrong?
Can’t handle the fire?” Mac teased.

“Hardly. I just
don’t need you having a heart attack from too much excitement.”

Mac snorted. “A
heart attack? I’m in the best condition of my life. You know that from much
personal experience.”

Melina shook her
head and laughed before pointing at the bags Mac had set down. “Enough
distractions. Give me my food. I’m starving.”

“Bossy today,
aren’t we?”

Mac reached for
the bags and began removing containers of food.

“Always, but what
do you expect? You’ve been keeping me captive in this bed for days. I love sex
much as the next person, but there is other sustenance you need to keep the
engine running.”

“You know, you
constantly surprise me,” Mac said.

He opened a
container of shrimp lo mein and handed it to Melina.

She smiled. “That
means you’ll never get bored with me.”

“I’m looking
forward to a lifetime filled with surprises then.”

Melina took a bite
of the Chinese food and chewed thoughtfully. A lifetime. Was Mac hinting at
something? Sometimes, she couldn’t really tell with him. One minute, he was an
open book with his full intentions right out there in the open. The next, he wore
a mask that gave away nothing.

Putting down her
chopsticks, she regarded him from beneath lowered lashes. “Did you mean something
by that last remark?”

Popping open a
Coke, he handed it to Melina before taking a long, healthy swallow of his
Mountain Dew. “And if I did?”

Melina could feel
her pulse beating in her neck like a steady drum.

“Don’t you think
it’s a little soon to be thinking long-term?” she asked. “I mean, people are
trying to kill us and the cops are on our asses. We’re not exactly the
Cleavers.”

Mac laughed, but
when he noticed she wasn’t, he stopped and grabbed her hand.

“When it comes to
something I want, I play for keeps. I never thought I’d find a woman who could
hold my interest for more than a quick fuck, and then you came along and showed
me differently. That’s a big deal to me. When I told you I loved you, I didn’t
mean it just for right now. When I love someone, it’s more than a passing
moment.” He leaned close and kissed her softly on the lips before pulling away.
“Do you get where I’m coming from?”

She nodded.
Looking in his eyes, she could see his sincerity. The depth of his real
feelings for her and suddenly she was afraid.

“This is going to
sound really stupid but the thought of forever with someone scares me to death.
Dying in a barrage of bullets … not so much.”

“That’s because
you are a rare woman,” Mac said, smiling. “You were made for this kind of lifestyle.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. Someone
shoots at you and you don’t even bat an eyelash while you shoot back. I mention
things getting even more serious with us, and you’re ready to run out of here.
That is definitely different from your average woman.”

Melina took
another few bites of her food before she spoke again. “That’s because I’ve
never been the girl who believed in a happily ever after … until you came along.
Realizing we could possibly have one, that a man would be crazy enough to want
to have one with me? That takes some getting used to.”

“Well, get used to
it, because I’m not going anywhere. Every time you feel that cross around your
neck, I want you to remember that.”

Reflexively,
Melina fingered Mac’s cross. It was strange how it felt as if it had always
been there, lying over her heart. A silent reminder of how he felt for her and
according to him, would always feel.

A whole new world.

She cleared her
throat. “And what about this mob stuff?”

“One thing we have
in our favor is that it’s not Pivetti. That means it’s someone lower on the
food chain and since I have his blessing to take out whoever it is, I’d say
we’re going to be okay.”

“Don’t forget, I
was shot at, too. What makes you think I shouldn’t be the one to take out
whoever is coming after us?”

Mac closed his
empty carton of beef and broccoli. “Because lately you’ve been the one doing
all the shooting lately. Leave something for me.”

Melina shook her
head. “Selfish.”

“Hardly, doll. A
man protects his woman, and besides that, this kill is just what it might take
to advance me up the ladder.”

“Why am I not
surprised you’re working an angle?”

“Because you’re
starting to learn how I operate. Tomorrow, I’ll start putting some feelers
out.”

“What’s so special
about tomorrow?” Melina asked.

“I’m going back to
work. I figure I’ve more than overextended whatever good graces Guido might
have towards me.”

“So what time are
we leaving?”

“We aren’t.”

Melina disposed of
her empty carton and scowled at Mac. “And what the hell is that supposed to
mean?”

“It means I want
you to stay here. Out of sight. Out of mind.”

“That’s not going
to fly with me. I am not the little woman who waits at home. I won’t play the
housewife, Mac.”

“I’m not saying
you are, but until we get things sorted out right now it will ease my mind to
know that you’re here. To know that when I am out there handling business, I
can spend every second of my time working on who is out to get you and me. I
can’t do that if my only thoughts are of keeping you safe.”

“I don’t need you
to keep my safe. I was protecting myself long before you sauntered your
arrogant ass into my life.”

Melina got out of
the bed, unbothered by the fact that she was stark naked. She couldn’t believe
Mac. Did he really not know by now what kind of woman she was? Melina had never
been and would never be a damsel in distress. If Mac didn’t understand that
quick, fast, and in a hurry, then their new relationship was headed towards its
first major problem. Stomping towards the bathroom door, her hand had barely closed
around the knob before Mac was spinning her around to face him.

“Doll, listen to
me.”

His eyes sought
hers, silently begging him for a chance to further explain.

“You’ve got two
minutes.”

“You may not need
me, but I need you and if that means I have to make decisions that you don’t
like in order to ensure that I always have you, then I’m going to do just
that.”

She swallowed
hard. “I’ve already proven that I can help you and that I don’t need
protecting. I don’t like this.”

“I don’t expect
you to. I’m just asking you to give me some time. After the dust settles, you
can come to work with me every damn day, if you want. Please, Melina.”

She glared at him.
The last thing she wanted to do was stay home, waiting and watching the door
like some good little housewife, waiting for her man. The thought of it made
her skin crawl in disgust. She was a go-getter, a doer. Sitting around had
never been her style.

“And what am I
supposed to do with myself all day while you’re out having all the fun?”

Mac’s hands slowly
settled around her waist as his gaze lowered. He licked his lips as he stared
at her bare body and Melina tried to ignore the rush of heat she felt beneath
his gaze.

“Be here to remind
me of everything good in this world and how lucky I am to have you to come home
to.”

With a smirk, he
maneuvered them back over to the bed until the back of her legs were touching
the edge. Slowly he pressed her down on the bed and got on his knees.

“This isn’t over,
Mac.”

He grinned at her
as he eased her thighs open. “It is now, doll.”

His tongue touched
her clit and Melina’s retort died on her lips.

The bastard.

He licked her
pussy from back to front and Melina knew it was truly over. She’d lost, but
this was one battle she didn’t mind not being the victor.