Laying Down The Law (#4, Cowboy Way) (The Cowboy Way) (8 page)

Brock moaned, his lips spread and he slurped at her and Melanie’s inner walls pulsed in time.  He sucked her, her body went rigid and a scream built in her chest.  As his teeth nipped her labia all the way to her clit, it climbed up to her throat.  When he stopped at the swollen, throbbing nub at the top of her thighs, Melanie wasn’t breathing as she waited to feel the rasp, the nip or suck there, but it didn’t come.  With only a teasing brush over the swollen bud he moved on to nip his way back down the other side of her folds. 

Melanie’s fist clenched the sheets, she growled her frustration and his laugh tickled her folds.  He stopped to nuzzle his face against her inner thigh and it felt like sandpaper.  Waves of fire traveled up her leg to enflame her already hypersensitive folds.  When he suctioned his mouth there, and dragged it along her thigh, Melanie lost her mind. 

One whimper followed another, soft pleas for him to finish it followed and he finally did by slurping at her clit.  The sounds, the heat, his moans and the sensations all collided in a blinding flash of light behind her closed lids.  The scream escaped and carried his name as she was steamrolled by another orgasm ten times as strong as the last.  He held her as she shook, soothed her with gentle strokes across her belly. 

When he eased her back on the bed, Melanie lay there heaving breaths as she tried to find her mind.  She felt wrecked and raw inside, drunk on endorphins. Emotion shot up to her throat to close it off, so when he asked her if she was okay all she could do was nod.  He lifted her hips and Melanie’s body was like a limp noodle as he settled his cock at her opening.  His fingers dug into her ass as he pushed his hips toward her and embedded an inch of himself inside of her body.

Unbelievably her nipples hardened, the buzzing in her body grew louder and her inner muscles pulsed hard around him.  Melanie planted her heels, arched her back, pushed against him and the burning stretch as her body took him further inside sent incredible sensations zinging up her passage.   Brock’s fingers dug deeper and he groaned, but suddenly his whole body went rigid.

“
Holy
fuck, I am a
moron
,” he wheezed, pulling out so fast Melanie’s head spun. 

He scrambled away from her to sit on the edge of the bed and run a hand through his hair.   Melanie shot up to her knees and crawled over to him.  When she put a hand on his back he was shaking violently and fear sliced through her.

“Brock what’s wrong?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“I almost fucked you without a condom,” he said sounding sick, then shook his head. “I thought for sure Brady was a lesson I’d never forget.”

“Brock, I’m a doctor—I have an IUD and it’s good for another three years.  It wouldn’t have been the end of the world.”

His harsh laugh was like sandpaper inside her skull.  “Lucy said she was on the pill—I don’t trust any woman with that now.  Yeah, you’re a doctor, so you should know that pregnancy isn’t the only issue either.”

“You think she got pregnant on purpose don’t you?” Melanie asked angrily, wanting even more to go stomp that conniving woman’s ass on his behalf.  She’d have a fight on her hands for sure, but as mad as she was, she could definitely do it.

“I know for a fact she did,” he replied darkly.  “I knew the girl who worked at the pharmacy from school.  She looked it up and told me that Lucy was
not
on birth control pills.”

“Couldn’t she have gotten them filled somewhere else?” Melanie asked, not sure why she was defending Lucy Morris.  Probably because the unethical conduct of the girl at the pharmacy pissed her off.

“Lucy is lazy—she wouldn’t have driven fifty miles to the next town to fill a prescription.  She did it on purpose, and although I’m not sorry I have Brady, I feel pretty damned stupid for trusting her—hell, for sleeping with her.  Rowdy tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen.”

“I’m sorry,” Melanie said, dropping a kiss on his shoulder.  “Go get a condom, and I’ll wait.  I’m one up on you and we need to do something about that.”

When he shook his head and let out a shuddering sigh, Melanie knew it wasn’t happening.  She couldn’t blame him—considering his experiences that would have to be like a bucket of ice water poured straight on his cock to him. 

“I’m going to take a shower,” she said, moving around him to put her feet on the floor.  She stood and took a step toward the door.  “I’ll be in there thirty minutes or so, and you’re welcome to join me if you like.”

But she knew she wouldn’t be seeing him in there either. 

Melanie didn’t take it personally though.  Because of the number Lucy Morris had done on him, he was now wary of all women, and might never get over that blow.

Something needed to be done to stop that woman, and before she left here, Melanie was going to try to figure out what that was.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Forty-six minutes later, Melanie towel-dried her hair then put on the huge white t-shirt she’d found in the linen closet.  She held it to her nose and sniffed deeply, but didn’t smell Brock’s spicy, outdoorsy scent, just laundry detergent.  With a huffed breath, and not a little disappointment, she gave up on him coming to find her in the bathroom.  She thought maybe after he calmed down some, he would.  But he hadn’t.

Walking to the door, she grabbed the unopened box of condoms she’d found in the medicine cabinet from the counter, opened the door and flicked off the light.  Striding down the hallway to the bedroom door, she stopped.  It was open a crack, but it was dark inside so she stood there for a second gnawing her lip, wondering if she should take the second bedroom she’d found beside the bathroom.  Or sleep on the sofa maybe?

No—she was going in that bedroom and she was sleeping in bed with him. 

She wasn’t that insecure girl anymore, and she was not going to let him throw up walls between them because he was scared.  And that’s what she figured out his problem was.  Yeah, forgetting to wear a condom was serious, but not to the degree that he freaked out.  It was almost as if he blamed her for tempting him, which was ridiculous.  He was a grown man and needed to face the fact that he fucked up, but then forgive himself for doing it too.

She was not a psychiatrist, but she’d thought about it in the shower and Brock should probably see someone to deal with those issues.  Maybe she would gently recommend that to him in the morning.  The other thing she was going to suggest was that he take his son with him to the cabin in the hills.  He loved Brady dearly, and it didn’t look like with the two jobs and all the other stressors in his life, Lucy in particular, that he had much one-on-one time with him.  It would probably do them both some good, and it would mean that he wouldn’t be worrying about Brady while he was trying to relax.

From her threat to sue for sole custody, Mel figured out they must share joint custody of him now.  That meant that she couldn’t legally stop him from taking Brady with him, especially since he was out of school for the weekend, as of three o’clock this afternoon.

Melanie huffed a breath as she went inside the bedroom, set the box on the dresser and padded to the bed where she heard soft, even breaths in the dark.  She sat on the edge, pushed back the covers and tried to be as quiet as possible as she tucked her legs under the cool sheets and laid her head on the pillow.  She gasped when strong arms jerked her back into a rock-hard body that was as hot as a blast furnace.  Brock squeezed her to him, held her tightly and his breath tickled her ear in the dark as he kissed the side of her head. 

“I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered, his voice gravelly with sleep.  His hand reached up to brush her hair back and Mel shivered when he dropped a butterfly light kiss behind her ear.  He tugged the cover up under her chin and nuzzled his face into her hair, dragging strands with his beard stubble.  With a sigh, she slid her hand down his lightly furred forearm to cover his hand where it rested on her belly.  Brock gave her a quick squeeze, heaved a deep sigh and again she wondered why this felt so damned right as sleep dragged her under. 

A delicious smell pulled Melanie to consciousness, pots and pans rattling brought her fully awake and her eyes popped.  They quickly squeezed shut though when blinding sunlight speared her brain.  A shiver racked her and she realized her backside was ice cold so she reached behind her blindly to pull the covers closer.  The other side of the bed was cold, which meant Brock had been up for a while. 

She kind of thought, hoped, he might wake her up this morning, but he must still be freaked out about last night, she thought, her eyes sliding to the dresser to see the still unopened condom box mocking her.   

Maybe last night would be all they’d ever have.  Sadness and frustration filled her, making her damned eyes burn.  Curling her legs closer, she snuggled under the covers. Mel closed her eyes and took deep breaths to clear her head.   There was zero sense getting upset over something she couldn’t control or change.  The smell of rich coffee mixed with the heavenly scent of frying bacon, and Melanie inhaled deeply.  She’d give her big toe for a cup of that right now.  Maybe that would help her coax the hardass UCLA-trained physician out of hiding.  The one everyone in the emergency room at that Texas hospital gave wide berth. 

Coming back to this town had been a huge mistake, the biggest she’d made in a long time.  She hadn’t had much choice since her sister was unavailable to help her mother, but as soon as she could get Merry and June back on their feet she was going back where she belonged.

“Morning, lazybones,” Brock drawled, and Melanie’s eyes flew to the door, then widened. 

Acres of smooth, tanned skin and a sexy grin appeared to be all he wore other than a white apron that covered his chest.  The sight sent a charge through her body to sizzle all the way to her toes.  Holding her gaze, his hand shot out to grab the box of condoms from the dresser and set them on the tray.  Her insides went molten at his determined look as he walked to the bed.  Melanie leaned up on her elbow and was a little disappointed to see he wore jeans too. 

When he stopped at the bed, she slid up to sit against the headboard and he carefully placed the cookie sheet serving as a breakfast tray on her lap then sat on the edge of the bed.   Reaching over the tray, he yanked the dishtowel from under the silverware, flicked it open and Melanie was stupefied when he leaned forward to tuck it into the collar of her t-shirt.  He stayed there for a second, his breath brushing her mouth in soft hot waves, then grabbed her chin, put his mouth to hers and gave her a toe-curling good morning kiss.

“I have to tell you my t-shirt never looked so sexy,” he said, licking his lips while focused on hers, making them tingle, as he sat on the edge of the bed.

He’d obviously showered, because his thick, dark hair was wavy and wet.  Melanie wanted to run her fingers through it, to lick the water droplets that still clung to his neck.  The delicious smell of the pancakes on the tray, the rich maple scent of the syrup, was overtaken by the even more delicious smell of his woodsy cologne which made her want to eat him up instead.

“You keep looking at me like that and you’re not going to get to eat your breakfast,” he growled, and Melanie’s eyes met his heated blue gaze.

“You’re a confusing man,” she said, really put off by his passive-aggressive sexual desires.  With the hot then cold last night, now the hotter this morning she had no idea how to interact with him.

His smile slipped, he looked away and his face flushed.  “I know and I’m sorry about that…my only excuse is I’m confused too.  You coming back to town has turned my world upside down—woke me up from the coma I’ve been in for six years.  I’ve been trying to uncomplicate my life, but with every hour I’m with you it becomes more complicated.”

Was he blaming her again?
  Anger bristled under her skin, and her hands tightened around the coffee cup. 

“I can leave if you’d like,” she said shortly, setting her cup on the tray.  “I’ll just stay out of your way, do what I came here to do—get my mother back on her feet and I’ll leave. You won’t see me again.”  Her stomach burned, and she put her hand there.

His head snapped around so fast the plate rattled on the tray and she caught it before it slid off her lap.  “Hell
no
, I don’t want you to leave,” he growled, his eyes angry.  “You’re the best damned thing that’s happened to me in six fucking years.  The shakeup has been a good thing—for me and for Brady.”  He shoved a hand through his hair, then sighed. “Those old wounds run deep, and the unfortunate side-effect is that you’ve dredged them up too.”

“You’re blaming me?” she asked, and his eyes flew to hers.

“
No
—I’m
not
blaming you—I’m trying to explain that I don’t want to hurt you or lead you on.  A relationship is a complication I can’t afford.”

Melanie shook her head.  “Did I say anything about a relationship?” she asked.

“We are heading hell bent for leather right into one, and it scares the hell out of me.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, then motioned it between them. “If it’s not a relationship in the making, what is this?”

“It’s two people getting to know each other without expectations.  Friends with benefits, because I’m going back to Texas too, Brock.  You don’t have to worry about me pressuring you for more.”
Especially now that I know where we stand
.

Melanie glanced at the buttery, syrupy pancakes and her stomach rolled.  She picked up her coffee cup and let the fiery liquid scald her throat until the cup was empty.  Hopefully the caffeine kicked in before she did something stupid in her sleep-drugged haze like tell this man he was ten kinds of fool for letting her walk away.  He’d be damned lucky to have her in his life—as fucked up as his life was, she should be the one scared.

She lifted the tray and held it out to him.  “I don’t usually eat breakfast, but thank you for cooking.” 
And I don’t eat it in bed when it’s served to me by a sexy, shirtless man who says he doesn’t want a relationship, but puts condoms on my breakfast tray
.

“Eat it,” he said frowning, not making a move to take it from her.  “You’re a damned doctor, so you know it’s the most important meal of the day.”

“What time is it?” she asked shortly. “How long have you been up?” 
Long enough to decide you aren’t worth complicating his life over.  Stop it! 
“Take the tray, Brock—I have to go to the bathroom.”  He lifted it from her lap, and Melanie swung her legs over the bed.  “We’ve got things to do before I take you to the cabin, so I’m going to get dressed too.”

“I’m not going to the cabin,” he said, as he walked to put the tray on the dresser.   “Brady has been worse lately, and I can’t just go off the grid.”

“Take him with you,” Melanie replied, and Brock turned to face her.

“After last night, Lucy is never going to let that happen.”

“Has she let you before?  How much one-on-one time does that manipulative bitch let you have with your son?” she asked, knowing what the answer would likely be.  “There’s no letting, Brock—you have joint custody and I think that means you get to make decisions about your son too, right?”

“What are you saying you think I should do?” he asked, his brows drawn together.  “Kidnap him?”

“I’m saying you should exert your parental
right
to spend quality time with your son, away from his overbearing mother.  Maybe you can talk to him and get a clue about what might be going on with him.  Sometimes illness isn’t just a physical thing.”

Brock’s face relaxed, and Melanie’s insides unclenched.  “I think I’m going to teach my son to fish this weekend,” he said with a broad smile that lit up his blue eyes as he walked over to pull her into a tight hug. 

Melanie inhaled deeply of his scent, enjoyed the feel of the silk-covered steel of his muscles pressed to her face.  Committed every feeling she was experiencing at the moment to memory, because in five weeks, that’s all she’d have left of him.