His to Claim (13 page)

His gaze lingered on her perfectly round, exposed cheeks.

“I assume you want to punish me, Mr. Ranier.” She gazed around at him. “For making
you late for your meeting the other day.”

*   *   *

Melanie didn’t know why she needed it so bad, but there was something about the idea
of totally giving up control. Of being taken care of. She knew Rafe would never hurt
her, so it was a safe fantasy to put herself totally in his hands. Let him decide
what she did. Because, God knew, she couldn’t seem to make good decisions in her real
life right now. Submitting totally to him in their lovemaking just felt right. Somehow,
she knew it would make this disaster of a day better. It would make her feel that
her life wasn’t a total mess.

Because under Rafe’s guidance, somehow she would find her way.

But a struggle ensued in his eyes at her simple request. Why didn’t he just smack
her behind? He seemed to naturally take control when they made love. He had when they’d
had sex against the tree the very first time, and then—her body quivered at the memory—in
his office he’d rammed her against the wall, holding her hands helpless above her
head.

With him, she could just relax and be his bitch.

She lowered her head and arched her back, enticing him.

“Melanie.”

At his serious tone, she glanced over her shoulder again and gazed into his sky blue
eyes.

“Look, I know you want to try new things, and I’m all for it, but…” He shook his head.
“I’m not comfortable with controlling you. Or punishing you.”

She stood up and turned to face him. “But it’s just in fun. I know you’d never really
hurt me. And you seem to naturally step into a controlling role.”

He shook his head, as if denying it.

“Sure. Remember how you held my wrists above my head?” She picked up her robe from
the floor and pulled it on, feeling exposed and vulnerable. “I found that very sexy.”

“But I don’t want that in our relationship.” His jaw clenched. “To tell the truth,
I’m not comfortable with how I acted in the office.”

“But—”

He drew her into his arms and kissed her firmly on the lips. “When I make love to
you, I want it to be sweet and loving.”

She drew back, crossing her arms over her chest. “What about what I want? I like it
when you take control. It’s sexy and turns me on.” The tears she’d tried to hide when
Karen had fired her, welled to the surface. “It makes me feel cared for.”

“Cared for?” He shook his head. “I don’t get that.”

“I don’t care if you get it.” She turned and marched away, not wanting him to see
her tears. “Why isn’t it enough that it’s what I want?”

“Melanie.” He stepped behind her and rested his warm hand on her shoulder. “What’s
this all about?”

He drew her around to look at him. She wiped away an errant tear. “I got fired today.
I just wanted to give myself up to you. To know you would take care of me.”

“By smacking you?”

She shook her head. “It’s a sign of trust, I guess. Of knowing I can give myself up
to you totally and you’ll give me what I need.” She slid her hands over the fine wool
of his lapels, aware of the solid chest beneath.

“So if I don’t spank you, I’m not meeting your needs?”

“No, it’s more that when you take control, and there are consequences if I don’t obey,
it gives me a sense of you taking care of me. Sometimes it feels good to let go completely.
But only if I have someone I trust watching out for me.”

He sighed deeply. “We’ll need to find another way, because I’m not comfortable with
taking control of you. Especially with my abusive background.”

She frowned. “But I know you would never abuse me.”

He gripped her shoulders gently, his jaw twitching. “Look, it’s not the time to discuss
this right now. You said you just got fired. Do you want to talk about it?”

She shrugged. “It was the end of my three-month probation period. The manager decided
not to keep me on.”

“She’s an idiot.” He hugged her close and she felt warm and protected in his arms.
“Do you know what you’re going to do now?”

She shook her head, but not for the first time, thoughts of Travis’ offer skittered
through her brain.

“You know you can always come back as my secretary.” He kissed the top of her head.
“And imagine how fun that would be now?”

She gazed up at his smiling face and laughed. “Yeah. It would be so much fun we’d
never get any work done.”

She eased away from him and sat on the couch.

“Remember when I asked you why you didn’t go out on the road with the band?” she asked.

“Yeah, and I told you I needed to be here.” He sat down beside her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?”

He frowned. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Well…” She fiddled with the sash of her robe. “When I was talking to Travis the other
day…”

Rafe’s frown deepened. “The day you went to get a gift for Jess, or did you see him
again?”

Her teeth clenched at the implication that she was sneaking around behind his back,
and she refused to allow this to turn into an argument.

“I’m not even going to answer that.” But annoyance edged her words, despite her best
efforts to hide it. “He told me that they could use another roadie.” She gazed into
Rafe’s piercing blue eyes. “And he suggested I take the position.”

She frowned at the flash of annoyance in his eyes.

“I’m sure that’s not the only
position
he’ll suggest you take.”

Her chest tightened. “Are you implying he’s only inviting me to tour with the band
so he can get into my pants?”

“I told you he likes to steal women from me.”

Her nostrils flared. “First of all, he can’t
steal
me. That assumes I have no mind of my own and can’t make valid decisions about who
I want to be with.”

His eyebrows arched in challenge. “And who do you want to be with?”

She sighed. “You, of course, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to take him up on
his offer. It would be a great opportunity to travel, and to really shake loose some
of my ideas of who I am and what I should be.” She took his hand. “And as I’ve said
before, it would be wonderful if you would come back on tour. Then we could travel
together.” She gazed at him hopefully. “It would be a great experience.”

“No,” he said firmly.

Disappointment washed through her. “No, you won’t come?”

“I’ve already told you I won’t be joining the band again, and why.”

She stared into his penetrating blue eyes and realized that wasn’t the question he’d
been answering.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “So you’re saying that you don’t think I’m capable
of hauling equipment on and off trucks and setting up speakers?”

“I’m saying you’re not going.” His dominating tone set her teeth on edge.

She scowled at him. “You don’t have the right to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

“But that’s exactly what you just told me you wanted me to do.”

“That’s different. That’s role-playing in the bedroom.”

He sent her a hard-edged glare. “It’s as real as you want it to be.” He tugged her
into his arms and his lips came down on hers. Hard. He possessed her mouth, claiming
her as his tongue delved deep. “You are mine and I intend to keep it that way. You
will
not
go on tour with the band.”

She gazed up at him in a daze, fighting her blatant desire to melt against him and
obey every command he gave her.

But she knew neither one of them would respect her if she just caved in to his demands.
She steeled herself against her weakness, and with defiance in her eyes, she flattened
her hands on his chest and pressed him back.

“Think again.”

Wild Ones

Melanie watched the scenery whiz by, mostly dense trees, as the bus sped along the
highway. Once she’d agreed to go on tour with the band, things had moved pretty fast.
They had been scheduled to leave the following week, so she’d had to hustle to get
packed and tie up loose ends. Jessica had offered to handle subletting the apartment
and had helped her pack up all her stuff and put it in storage.

All the activity had kept her mind off the fact she was walking away from her dream
relationship with Rafe. At least, what she’d thought would be a dream come true, but
had quickly come to a nightmarish halt.

She had refused to speak to Storm after their falling out, but now, with miles of
road passing her by and little else to think about, she wondered how she had let it
come to this.

“Hey, there.” Diego dropped into the seat beside her. “You look deep in thought.”

He and the other members of the band had been sitting at the back of the bus kicking
around ideas for the upcoming show tonight in Washington.

“Not really. Just watching the scenery go by.”

“And maybe thinking about a certain guitarist you left behind in Philly?”

She shrugged. She didn’t want to talk about Storm. She didn’t want to think about
him.

She didn’t want to
miss
him so badly.

“I thought you’d be sketching or something like that.”

She gazed sideways at him. With his lips curled up in that charming smile of his,
her heart began to thump loudly. Damn, she shouldn’t be so affected by other men when
she’d just ended it with Storm. Her heart clenched at the thought.

But the man had a point about sketching. It would be a great way to keep busy. Odd
that she had no inclination at all to grab her sketch pad.

“I’m not really inspired.”

“Well,
belleza,
anytime you want inspiration, I would be quite willing to pose for you.”

With his dark, expressive eyes and his killer smile, a portrait of him could be very
dramatic … or playful, depending on how she chose to approach it. But she could tell
by his teasing tone that he was talking about posing nude.

She tingled inside. That could be inspiring in many ways.

She grinned. “It’s nice to know I have a willing subject if I need one.”

He took her hand and brushed his lips against it. “Yes, indeed. Do let me know.”

Taking in the sexy glint of his eyes, she almost wished they were at the hotel they’d
be staying at tonight so she could take him up on his offer. But once he got his clothes
off, she wouldn’t be sketching him.

Damn it, what was wrong with her?

Of course, she knew what was wrong. She knew as soon as she was alone in her hotel
room, she’d start to miss Storm with a vengeance and then she’d question the wisdom
of this move and begin to berate herself. And worse, reconsider her choice and think
about returning home.

She wouldn’t allow herself to wimp out like that. This trip was the opportunity of
a lifetime. She’d spent her entire life allowing the people she loved to hold her
back, and if she and Storm were meant to be together, then he needed to give her room
to grow.

Diego reached under his denim vest and pulled something from an interior pocket. “I
almost forgot. I have something for you.”

He handed her a small package wrapped neatly in a red bandana, with a twisted blue
bandana tied around it in a bow, like a ribbon. She pulled open the bow and unfurled
the fabric to reveal a stack of small, white sheets of paper, a little larger than
business cards, tied with a thin red ribbon. The paper was a good-quality, heavyweight
artist paper with a vellum finish.

“Those are called ATCs—artist trading cards. You know about those?” Diego asked.

“I know the idea is that artists create original art on these cards and trade them
with other artists, but I’ve never done it.”

“I understand that the point of them is for artists to meet and exchange not only
cards, but personal experiences. I think with you being on this journey of self-discovery,
it would be good for you to meet with other artists. Find out what they’ve done, how
they pursue their art. Maybe get ideas to help you develop as an artist.”

She smiled at him and had to blink back a tear. He was so sweet trying to help her
find her way.

“With us going through so many cities, I’m sure you’ll get the opportunity to trade
many cards and connect with a lot of fellow artists. I know that on the day we’re
in Savannah, that there is a trading session.”

She smiled tremulously. “You checked that out for me?”

He shrugged. “You’re a beautiful woman who is an artist. How could I not?”

He flashed her that stupendous smile again and her heart melted. Damn, she really
was becoming a true addict when it came to these musicians. She never realized how
soulful and intense they could be.

“Hey, Diego. We’re going to do some jamming. You in?” Jimmy said.

Diego brushed his lips against her hand again. “As much as I would love to sit with
you all afternoon,
belleza,
duty calls.” Then he winked. “And I think this is a good opportunity for you to start
creating some cards.”

He stood up and walked toward the back of the bus. Melanie grabbed her bag from under
the seat and pulled out her small sketch pad and pencil, then pulled one of the blank
cards from the stack and set it atop the pad so she had a hard surface to work on.
With pencil in hand, she stared at the blank card.

And stared.

But all she could think of was Storm.

*   *   *

When the bus arrived in Washington, Melanie grabbed her backpack and followed the
others to check-in, then they headed to the the Fillmore Silver Spring, where the
band would be playing tonight, and she helped set up the equipment. As the band practiced,
she set up a table with merchandise to sell during the show. She donned one of the
band T-shirts, then with S
AVAGE
K
ISS
emblazoned across her chest in frenetic red and gold letters, she sat at the table
ready for the crowd about to flood in.

It was exciting being part of the show, even if it was sitting on the sidelines selling
T-shirts. Afterward, the band joined her at the table to autograph CDs. When they
finally closed up shop, it was pretty late, but they were all hungry so they headed
to a restaurant for some food.