Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch) (30 page)

“I suppose if you have to, go ahead.”

She expected him to lose control and strip her bare. Hurry them together for what would undoubtedly end with another fabulous rush of physical pleasure.

What she didn’t expect was for him to actually use the massage oil on her. He dribbled a line from her collarbone down the center of her body, past her bellybutton to stop just shy of her mound. Then he rubbed it in, so patient and thorough his touch sent her reeling the longer his fingers were in contact with her skin.

He eased along the side of her breast before sweeping inward, finger and thumb closing around her nipple for a brief, sharp pinch. He followed that with his palm, the even pressure of a liquid caress cascading her further into pleasure.

By the time he placed both hands on her hips to lift her to his mouth, she was ready to implode, arousal making every one of her senses more alert. More sensitive.

And then his lips were on her, his tongue dipping into her pussy. A tease and a promise, and oh-so-good she was on the edge of coming without ever feeling the build-up. Between one breath and the next she was gone. Her body responding like a well-trained instrument to his touch.

She was still spinning when he rose over her, pressing her legs apart with his broad hips and slipping his cock all the way in. The deep thrust that she was ready for, a connection and a promise.

There was no stopping this time. No teasing wait she needed to suffer through. Instead, with his gaze locked on hers, he continued to drive forward, rocking the bed with his thrusts.

Melody wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles at his lower back. Keeping them as tightly together as she could. She placed her hands on his shoulders, clutching the strong muscles as he held himself on his elbows over her, avoiding crushing her with his weight even as he used her hard. No slowing down, no treating her as if she were delicate, and yet…

She felt precious.

The distinction turned something inside sweet and eager as the passion in his eyes deepened.

“This is all about us,” Steve said softly, kissing her forehead. Kissing her cheek and the tip of her nose. “Whatever we want, whatever works for us, we do.”

“Feels so good,” she admitted.

He rocked his hips slower as they spoke, but never easing up completely. “Because it’s us. Because it’s what’s right for you and me. Beautiful, strong,
amazing
Melody. So unique, so what I need.”

As if he were serenading her, his words rang in her ears like the chorus of a song she’d been longing to hear. “We fit together.”

“Always.”

Another thrust, forcing a gasp from her. She held on tightly as he ground his hips against hers, providing the final bit of friction she needed to go off. He called her name as he came, still connected, their bodies one.

He never said it, but the words hovered between them. Like the perfect note at the end of the musical phrase, it
should
have been there, but neither of them was willing to risk it yet.

Always
and forever.

Not yet, but soon.

Chapter Twenty-One

It was good to have familiar places to go.

In this case,
more
than familiar. Heck, Traders Pub should have renamed itself and kept the doors open strictly to entertain the Colemans.

He laughed at his own joke. It was obvious from the crowd that the place was growing in popularity with a lot of the locals. He slipped an arm around Melody, loving that he was able to hold her so intimately in public without any consequences. Loving the way she settled against him even tighter, as if there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

They’d abandoned the pool hall and pub side, slipping over to where dance music echoed off the walls. Steve led her forward, jostling past bodies to grab one of the tall standing-room-only tables that surrounded the open wooden floor.

His mom was still out of town, but his dad had insisted they join the rest of the clan at their regular Friday gathering. Nothing was on fire that needed to be taken care of, and Melody had actually completed work at a decent time.

He was looking forward to getting her on the dance floor, but in the meantime he slid to his left, opening space for his brothers to join them. He waved across the room to get Mitch Thompson’s attention as he appeared through the crowd, Anna on his arm.

The family was changing, and Steve didn’t mind one bit.

“You want me to grab you another drink?” Melody asked, her lips brushing his ear. “I have to go to the washroom anyway.”

He nodded, slipping his wallet out of his back pocket to grab a couple twenties.

She laid a hand over his, tilting her head and giving him an evil look.

He shrugged. “Don’t try and change me that much,” he teased, the words coming out at a near shout to be heard over the blaring music.

“Don’t pull that macho shit,” she taunted back, giving him a wink before turning away.

Trevor put his empty beer bottle down on the table. “I hope you don’t mind, but I see someone new. I better go make the moves on her before she is devastated at the lack of virile man in the room.”

Steve and Lee exchanged a glance before bursting out laughing. Of course when Trevor walked up to a pretty redhead in the midst of a group of ladies and a moment later ended up with his arm around two of them, their laughter faded.

Steve shook his head. “Someday Casanova will strike out.”

“When he does, I’m taking a video and putting it up on YouTube.”

“It’ll go viral.”

“I’ll make sure it’s
extra
embarrassing. He deserves the best.” Lee lifted his drink to his mouth as Anna and Mitch joined them.

“Does it seem exceptionally crazy in here tonight, or is it my imagination?” Anna asked.

“It’s summer. Everybody’s enjoying a weekend break. Next Friday if the weather holds we’re meeting on the bluff,” Steve informed them, making eye contact with Mitch. “Tell your brothers if they want to join us, they’re welcome.”

Mitch’s dark gaze swept the room once before settling possessively on Anna. “We’ll be there.”

They chatted for a while, although Lee’s attention drifted. His gaze had just passed over the far corner of the pub when he froze, his smile vanishing.

“What’s wrong?” Steve demanded.

Lee blinked hard then refocused on Steve. “Nothing,” he lied, because it was obvious something had caught his attention.

He wasn’t about to drag it out of his brother though. He’d learned his lesson about that the hard way. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

Joe and Vicki joined them as Lee took off. Steve waited for Melody to return, soaking in the pleasure of being surrounded by family.

The blissful mood lasted all of five minutes before a ruckus broke out in the corner of the room. They turned to see what was going on. Anna swore under her breath as she abandoned the table and headed toward the trouble.

A faint flash of a familiar face and swinging fists was enough to have Steve following hard on her heels.

“Lee. What the hell are you doing?” Anna caught their brother’s arm in mid-swing and used his momentum to twist him into a pretzel, his arm jammed behind him as he glared at the man on the floor.

Steve glanced down in confusion. Since when did Lee have a beef with Gary Ricardo?

“Are you fucking crazy, asshole?” Gary shouted, scrabbling back as far as he could in the limited space. He caught hold of the edge of a stool and used it to bring himself back to vertical, the woman he was with hiding behind him in the dark corner. Gary gestured wildly at the people around them. “I didn’t do anything. This lunatic attacked me out of nowhere.”

Lee’s fists were clenched, even as he was held immobile. But he didn’t say anything. Not to Gary, not to Anna in defense.

Anna shook her head, shoving Lee toward the door. “Go home,” she ordered.

She turned her glare on Gary. Steve expected the man to rant and rave, or demand Lee get more in punishment than a slap on the wrist.

Instead, he grabbed his coat and shuffled from the bar as fast as he could, his woman in tow as he headed out the door on the opposite side to where Lee had exited.

What the hell was that about?

“Anything I need to worry about?” Steve asked Anna as they made their way back to their table.

“I can’t talk about it.” Which meant it involved something that had been reported down at the police station.

How Lee was involved, Steve had no idea.

Melody was back at the table, waiting for them along with Mitch.

The man’s cool composure confused Steve. “I thought for sure I’d see you go in there, guns blazing.”

His future brother-in-law tilted his head toward Anna. “She’s sat me down a few times and explained jurisdiction, and while I’ll still beat the crap out of anyone who threatens to hurt her, she’s got a pretty good handle on taking care of herself. And you guys.”

“I swear I’m not coming into Traders anymore on the nights you boys are around.” Anna shook her head. “It’s bad enough I have to listen to people tell me to make the Colemans behave when I’m not out on the town.”

Then the fight was forgotten, because Melody had him by the hand and out on the dance floor, wrapping herself around him. She planted one leg on either side of his, casually bumping his thigh as they rocked together, their closeness explained by the crowded dance floor.

The honest truth was they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

The sexual energy between them was doing more than driving him crazy. With her so close, he could smell the scent of her skin. He got harder as the dance got hotter, the top button on her blouse coming loose to give him a perfect view of the top of her breasts.

The dancing ratcheted up a notch, and the music rang a little louder, and Steve thought he was just about in paradise. Especially since after they were done enjoying themselves on the dance floor, he was taking her home. That made all of this even better, like extended public foreplay.

He put his lips near her ear because it had to be said. “So, have we gotten kinky enough for you? Or are we still walking on the vanilla side?”

She answered by slipping her hands into his back pockets and digging in her nails, easing her hips against him in a move calculated to blow his mind.

It took every ounce of control he possessed to ignore the urge telling him to pick her up so they could go fuck each other blind in his truck. “Playing with fire, sweetheart. Because I have no objections to taking you in the parking lot.”

She eased back, draping her hands around his neck and staring into his eyes with her most innocent expression. “Why, sir, what
ever
do you mean? Surely not something naughty?”

When she bit her bottom lip and fluttered her lashes, he couldn’t stop the laugh that rocketed forth. Her
Little Miss Innocent
act was too perfect, especially when he contrasted it with what he knew to be true. “Don’t tempt me…” he warned.

“I’m an angel,” she insisted

An angel with a dirty mind. Just the way Steve liked her.

One more week. Even as she and Steve drove each other crazy on the dance floor, an underlying beat rang with those words repeating themselves over and over.

Next Saturday Mathis would get home, and they would deal with all the issues that had come up during his time away.

She shouldn’t waste time thinking about it, not when Steve was staring at her with those sexy eyes, but her worries were at the forefront of every waking thought.

Was Mathis going to be disappointed with her? She hoped not. God, she hoped not.

She took a deep breath and deliberately pushed her concerns aside, focusing on the man in front of her who’d discovered far too many ways to make her tingle with excitement.

Life wasn’t perfect, and they still had things to learn, but right now she was feeling pretty pleased with their whole situation. In fact, she planned to tell him that.

Maybe even tonight.

They left the dance floor to cool off, sliding back into the group with Joel and Vicki, standing on the opposite side of the tall table from Anna and Mitch. Easy conversation and lots of laughter followed.

Steve gave her a kiss on the cheek before whispering in her ear. “I’ll be right back.”

He’d barely left when someone on the dance floor stumbled, sending people careening, struggling for balance. Joel stepped in front of her and Vicki. Another man appeared out of nowhere, he and Joel forming a rock solid wall between them and the tangled mess of bodies bouncing off their broad backs.

Melody lifted her head in time to see Jesse come face-to-face with Vicki, barely a hand span between them. For one second, Melody thought she saw something like longing in his eyes before a cocky grin twisted his lips.

As the floor cleared, and they regained room to move, Vicki curled against Joel, offering Jesse a hesitant smile. “Thanks. You want to have a drink with us?”

His response was far more arrogant than she’d expected. “Hell, no. I’ve got far more interesting plans for tonight than hanging out with you.”