Chapter 19
NINETEEN
The door closes and the tension immediately rises between Reis and I.
“Why do we always have to have these kinds of talks in private because you’ve said something stupid in public?” I cross my arms over my chest, putting up a barricade between us as much as I can. I love him, I really, honestly, truly do, but he’s making it so fucking hard to trust him.
And what’s a relationship without trust?
“Because I’m an idiot,” Reis says with a self-deprecating, humorless chuckle. “Let me explain, love. I swear, I didn’t mean it as cruelly as it came off. I was trying to help you, even if I went about it wrong.”
The way he calls me ‘love’ so effortlessly makes my heart soar.
Traitor.
“Okay, explain,” I say stubbornly, sitting on the bed and crossing my legs. Looking at him expectantly, I raise my eyebrows. “Get on with it.”
“God, okay,” he sighs, running his hand through his hair before starting to pace in front of me.
“Melody, I promise, when I told Louis to hire you, I was only looking for a way to keep you with us. I was, at that time, trying to force you to stay with us. Now, I’m begging you to stay with us.
” He slowly drops down to his knees, and my eyes widen.
What the fuck is happening? Reis Mathers, on his knees, for me? This control-freak, dominant man who does not like to be told no… on his knees begging for forgiveness?
“I swear, I’m going to start talking things through with you.
With the guys. It’s a hard habit to break after seven years of being the leader and doing what I think is best for us, but you’re right.
You’re our equal, but you’re so much more than that, love.
You’re our queen.” I uncross my legs and my foot slips to the floor as he reaches forward, sliding his hands along the tops of my thighs.
What. Is. Happening?
“You’re our queen. What you say, goes. I swear it.” Reis looks up at me so earnestly, so sincerely, that his amber eyes take my breath away. “ I’m so fucking sorry, and I swear on everything I’ve ever had that you can trust me. Believe me.”
“I want to, Reis. I do,” I whisper, cupping his cheek with my hand. He hasn’t shaved and his stubble is rough under my palm. “But you did all that without talking to me. Just like when you overheard what I said that day. You made a choice then too, and look where we are because of it.”
“Melody,” he says with a hint of desperation as he presses in closer to my shins.
“I… I just found my way back to you again. Tell me what you want the band to do about the UK tour. You tell me, and we’ll do it.
You’re in control of all our social media; you do whatever it is you think is best. I trust you.
I trust you with everything I’ve built because I built it all for you.
” My breath catches, and one of his hands comes to cover mine on his cheek.
“Why do we keep hurting each other?” I feel my heart stutter with fear. What if we just keep stuck in this stupid cycle?
“It stops right here,” he promises strongly, his fingers biting into the top of my thigh.
“I can promise you from here on out, I’ll do every single thing in my power to prove to you that I’m all in.
I can promise you until I’m blue in the face, but only my actions will prove to you how serious I am.
Just give me time, baby. Time to show you. ”
Gently, I rake my fingers through his hair and watch with rapt awe as his eyes flutter closed. The tension between us shifts.
Just slightly, but enough to have a big impact.
It’s no longer desperate for resolution, but now needy for each other. He’s on his knees in front of me. When has this man ever done that, period? And he’s doing it to beg me for forgiveness?
Reis got on his knees to prove to me he can change. To prove to me that he can give over the control when it calls for it.
It might bite me in the ass, but…I believe him. I can see that he understands why I freaked out, and he’s willing to change to make it so it doesn’t happen again.
“How are you going to make it up to me?” I say, my voice low and soft as I take one finger to tip his chin up so he’s looking at me. Reis' eyes darken and his mouth opens as he catches my meaning.
I bite my lip and touch my thigh.
There’s so much being said between us without a word being spoken.
Reis leans down slowly, and places an open mouth kiss on the spot I touched. He looks at me, mesmerized and waiting for me to tell him what to do next.
I pull up the shirt I’m wearing–Adam’s shirt–just enough to expose my stomach, and my hip bone. Silently, I tap right above the band of Markus' boxers that I commandeered as sleep shorts.
Reis leans in, staring at me until the last possible moment, and silently presses a hot kiss there.
Goddamn it. His lips … My eyes flutter closed at the contact. His soft lips, his hot tongue, his fingers gripping me tightly, the soft strands of his hair in between my fingers.
Reis Mathers, on his knees. For me.
It’s incredibly fucking hot. A kink I didn’t know I had until this exact moment.
He sits back, lips wet, and waits for me again. His eyes are wild and I’m sure mine match. I pull the collar of my shirt down, exposing my collarbone.
“Kiss me, here,” I whisper.
Reis reaches up as I lean down, and he seals his lips to my skin, kissing and nipping, pulling the skin into his mouth as he sucks and laps at my skin.
The way he’s groaning as he works my body… My own breathy moans leave my lips as my head falls back. Reis' hand comes up to my neck and he presses the sides just enough to send a thrill through me.
When he releases my collarbone with a pop, I open my eyes to look at him.
And what a sight to see.
He’s breathing just as unsteadily as I am, waiting to see what the next move is, what I want next.
He’s not taking, he’s showing me that he can wait, that he can listen.
Reis' hands move to my hips, dragging me forward so that our chests barely touch. Our breaths intermingle as the tension between us grows so thick I nearly can’t breathe.
My gaze is locked on his lips. I’m dying to taste them again, but I want to see where this goes.
How far Reis will take this.
I press my hand to my boxers-covered pussy.
Reis watches me, his stare intense and so fucking sexy, as I move my hand lower.
I drag one finger over my lips and when I see him bite his lip, I know he can see the small wet patch there.
Reis' throat bobs as he swallows, before he looks up at me through his long, dark eyelashes.
“Are you sure?” he whispers huskily.
“Don’t you want to make it up to me?” I tilt my head with a bratty smirk, leaning back on my hands expectantly.
“I do. Fuck, I do,” he growls. Reis slips his hands gently up the outsides of my thighs, causing goosebumps to break out after his fingers. He moves under the boxers I stole, and he makes this grunt-groan when he finds out I’m not wearing anything underneath.
I want to hear that sound again.
Lifting my hips so he can pull everything off me, leaving me naked except for Adam’s shirt.
Reis sits back on his heels, looking at me – at the most sensitive part of me; open and wet for him, with reverence.
His reaction makes me feel confident, so I fan my legs out and spread myself so that he can see everything .
As I do that, his shoulders dip so low it looks like he’s going to fall to the ground.
“Oh my god,” he groans.
“Show me how sorry you are,” I lift my chin as I speak. Talk about feeling fucking empowered.
Reis nods excitedly and wraps his arms around my thighs, lifting me up so my back hits the mattress and I’m folded in half.
“I’ve been thinking about this since I was seventeen,” he whispers against my pussy.
“Well then,” I say with a catch in my breath, breaking the facade that I’m not affected by him at all because, my fucking god, I’m about to melt. “Show me exactly what you thought about.”
“Gladly,” he says, and dives in. His lips on my pussy make me jump before I fall back against the bed with a moan leaving my lips.
Reis' bending me in half–knees to my chest–and I can see every expression on his face, every flicker of his eyes as he drinks in the view of me spread before him.
My fingers hold his around my thighs, and I help him keep my thighs up while digging my nails into the back of his hands.
I washed off before I left Markus' room this morning, but if he can taste anything but me, Reis doesn’t comment. And that thought makes my eyes roll back further.
“Fuck, Melody, sing for me, come on, baby girl,” he groans, slipping in tongue into my opening so deeply and licking upwards inside so his tongue finds that perfect spot. What the hell? My eyes roll back and I moan loudly.
“Don’t stop, Reis, right there,” I cry out his name and my walls clench around his tongue. Reis' growl vibrates against my clit and I buck into his hold.
He leans back just enough for me to see his eyes, dark and hungry, as his chin shines in the light. He’s covered in me and looks… fucking predatory.
Deliriously hot.
“You’re going to listen to me and do what I say, understand?” he commands, voice lowering incredibly deep. His voice is so dark, I almost don’t recognize it. But when one of his eyebrows lifts like he’s challenging me not to question him, I melt.
“Yes,” I squeak, nodding.
“Lay back, hands touch the headboard, legs stay open. I’m going to fuck you so hard you’re never going to think of leaving us,” Reis growls, pulling his shirt off over his head in one smooth motion.
“I wasn’t–” Thank fuck I have a birth control implant. It's definitely getting a workout today.
“Now,” he snaps and I jump into action, scrambling backwards until my head hits the pillow. Reaching back, I find the hard wood of the headboard and wrap my fingers around the top. “Look at you. Good girl.”
My eyes close as I try to minimize my reaction to those words, but he catches it.
Of course he does.