Chapter 16
Sixteen
Light
What the hell am I doing?
I don't want this.
Fuck, I don't want this.
"You know, I was starting to think I was never going to hear from you again." Kayla giggles as she runs a hand over the dresser I have tucked in the far corner of the room in the back of my shop.
Every part of me knows this is wrong, but, fuck it. This is my way. How I get over things.
I was ready to go all in with Melissa, but she made it more than clear that I didn't mean anything to her. If she doesn't want me, I'll let someone else lick my wounds of rejection. Kayla is a wonderful choice.
At least, I think her name is Kayla. I didn't really bother to get much information when I sent her a text message telling her to come over.
I met Kayla back at one of the rallies. We never fucked, but she was more than happy to suck me off behind a port-a-potty. She knows who I am and what I want. No strings. One night.
At least that is who I was before Melissa.
I take another swig of beer, trying to drown the guilt I feel clawing at my chest. I have no reason to feel like an asshole right now, but I do.
Melissa was right, though. She isn't my responsibility. I tried to help her and Tyler, but all I managed to do was fuck shit up worse. I need to extract myself from the problem. Melissa is a big girl I'm sure she can take care of herself.
"Yeah, I've been busy. You're here now, though. Why don't you make the best of it." I tilt my head and give my best come fuck me smirk but it feels like a mask on my face.
Kayla laughs again, too high-pitched, too eager, as she walks toward the bed and flops down with practiced ease. Her tight little dress hikes up her thighs, and she pats the satin sheet beside her like it’s some kind of invitation I should be grateful for.
But my feet don’t move.
She shifts onto her knees, crawling toward me. Her perfume is strong and sweet, but underneath it, I still smell Melissa. That light, clean scent she left behind the last time we were tangled up in these sheets.
The last time I actually gave a damn.
Kayla reaches for my belt, and I don’t stop her. Not yet. I want to want this. I want to erase Melissa’s voice from my head, the way she looked at me in that hospital room.
I want to forget.
But I can’t.
Not here.
Not in this bed where Melissa gasped my name like it meant something. Not on these sheets that still feel warm with her memory.
“Kayla, I don’t think this is?—”
The sound of the front door slamming open cuts me off.
Fast footsteps. Coming hard through the shop.
Kayla blinks at me. “You expecting someone else?”
Before I can answer, the door to the room bursts open and Melissa storms in.
Her eyes fly around the space before locking on me, then Kayla, then the bed. The silk sheets. The beer bottle. Kayla’s hand still on my belt.
Pure rage.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Melissa—” I start, but it’s too late.
She charges.
Kayla barely has time to let out a yelp before Melissa grabs her by the hair and yanks her off the bed. They crash to the floor in a flurry of arms, high-pitched screams, and curse words.
“Get off me, you psycho bitch!”
“You want to crawl into my man sheets, you better be ready to bleed on them!”
“Melissa, stop!” I dive in and hook my arms around her waist, pulling her off Kayla just as her fist flies again. It misses, but only barely.
“Let me go!” she snarls, squirming in my grip. “I’m not done with her.”
Kayla scrambles to her feet, dress crooked and hair a mess. “You’re insane. I didn’t know this was your man.”
“I’m not her man,” I growl, still holding Melissa back.
“You sure?” Kayla spits, glaring at both of us. “Because your dick seemed confused.”
“That’s enough. Get out,” I snap.
Kayla hesitates, then grabs her purse from the floor and storms out, muttering under her breath.
The second the door slams behind her, Melissa goes still in my arms.
I loosen my grip, and she turns to face me.
“I should’ve known,” she says, her voice shaking but not with sadness. Not anymore. “You’re exactly what I thought you were.”
I bite down hard, jaw tight. “You walked away from me.”
“I was scared,” she fires back. “I needed space. That doesn’t mean I wanted to find you playing peekaboo with the first willing set of legs.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I snap. “Not yet. And don’t act like you didn’t make it clear I don’t belong in your life.”
“You think this is about what you deserve? I came here to show you something. Something important. But I guess I should’ve expected you’d be too busy unzipping your pants to care.”
“Melissa, that’s not fair.”
She laughs, bitter and raw. “Neither is life, Light.”
We stare at each other, both breathing hard, both waiting for the other to break.
"You think I wanted that? Her?" I step closer into Melissa's space, but she doesn't back away, doesn't back down. "There is nothing that she or any other woman could ever offer me that I want more than to just see you smile in my fucking direction. I want you, Melissa."
"For how long? Until shit gets too hard? Until you're no longer the center of attention? That's not how this shit works, Light." She sneers at me.
"I know that Melissa but I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do. You told me to get out of your life. I did, in the only way I knew how."
She scoffs and shakes her head, "So that's it? No fight. Honestly, how badly could you really want to be in my life if all it takes is one fight for you to throw up your hands and give up?"
Fight? Is she serious? What the hell did she think I was doing this whole time? I nearly ripped Semi's head off. I've been keeping shit from my President. Staying faithful to a woman that won't even admit she's mine. And she has the nerve to say that I won't fight.
Her words strike something deep inside me. Not anger. Not even hurt.
Desperation.
“You want to see fight?” I growl, stepping into her space until our chests almost touch. “You want me to prove how fucking much you mean to me? Fine.”
Before she can say anything, I grab her face with both hands and crush my mouth to hers.
There’s nothing soft about the kiss. It’s all teeth and heat and fury. She gasps, shocked, but she doesn’t pull away. Her hands fist in my shirt and pull me closer. Her nails bite into my chest and I don’t care. I want more. I want all of her.
The tension between us breaks like a dam and suddenly we’re moving, bodies tangled, mouths clashing, limbs desperate. Her jacket hits the floor. My shirt follows. Our lips only break apart long enough to breathe before they crash again, harder, deeper.
She shoves me back toward the bed and I let her.
I don't stop moving until I feel my knees hitting the edge.
I drag her shirt over her head and toss it somewhere behind me.
Her bra is next, and then her jeans. I pull her close, my hands running rough along her waist, memorizing the shape of her like it might all disappear.
She pushes me back and climbs over me, straddling my hips. Her hair is wild, her eyes burning with something fierce.
There's no time to make sure she's ready.
I don't need to. Her eyes are focused on mine and in that gaze I can see everything I need to see.
She wants this as badly as I do. I watch in awe for a second as she lifts her body, grabs hold of my cock and lines it up with her sweet slit.
My eyes roll back as she rubs the head against her opening a few times just to lube me up.
It feels like heaven. I force myself to focus my eyes back on her as she slowly sinks down onto me.
“No one compares to you,” I pant, watching her as she rocks her hips against mine. “You hear me, Melissa? No one. I’ve never wanted anyone like this.”
She leans in close, our noses nearly touching.
“Then stop pretending you don’t.”
And I do. I stop pretending.
I flip her under me and press her into the satin sheets. Her gasp fuels something in me, I’ve been trying to bury. I kiss her again, slower this time, but still with that same hunger. My hands roam over every inch of her skin, greedy for the contact I thought I’d lost forever.
When she moans my name, I swear it shatters something inside me. She’s gasping, clinging to me like I’m the only thing holding her together.
I want to be. I want to be the one that keeps her afloat.
We don’t make love. We crash into each other like a storm. It’s frantic and messy and full of everything we haven’t said. Every thrust, every kiss, every broken sound between us is a fight and a promise wrapped into one.
I take her hard and fast. I can't slow down if I wanted to, and I don't. I need this, and from the way she's moaning I can tell that she needs this too.
I pound into her so furiously that the headboard bangs against the wall. It shouldn't be doing that. I secured it to the wall. We must be breaking the bed. None of that matters.
Nothing but Melissa.
"Light, Oh fuck." She squirms and tosses her head from side to side as her body clenches down hard on me. Lights flash in front of my eyes and I hear myself groaning loud. My muscles bunch up so tight, I'm surprised they don't rip off my bones.
I suck in one last breath as my entire body feels like it is falling. Warmth. Love. I feel all of it. If this were any other time I'd just think it was some good sex. Five stars. But I know that's not the case. It's Melissa.
"You're mine. All fucking mine." I growl right before I bury my face in her neck and explode deep inside of her.
I don't know where my orgasm starts and hers ends. All I know is we're so connected right now it feels like we're one. This is what life should always feel like. What I've been missing. I refuse to miss out on it anymore.
Finally, when it's over. I roll over onto my back and drape my arm over my eyes. Talk about wiped out.
"Light..." Melissa whispers through her panting breaths.
"Yeah."
"If I ever find another woman in your lap again, I'll make sure the next one doesn't have anything to find."
My eyes pop open and I slowly turn my head in her direction. "Did you just threaten to cut my dick off?"
"Not a threat. A promise." She smiles at me as if she were the sweetest most innocent woman in the world. I'm not sure what I'm more turned on by. The fact that she's willing to do that or the fact that she's claiming me.
"Gotcha, no women. Check." I chuckle.
Once my breathing is finally under control, my mind starts replaying the conversation we had before we wound up rolling around in the sheets.
She said she came over here to show me something. Something important.
"Mel, what happened before all this? Is Tyler okay?"
She sits up grabbing the sheet to cover her gorgeous breast. Such a shame.
"Yes, Tyler is stable. It's not about that. It's about Deke. I think I figured out what he's after." She jumps out of the bed and rushes to her pants. After finally getting them facing the right way, she reaches into the pocket and pulls out a paper. She brings it back over to me.
I grab it out of her hand and unfold it. I'm not sure what I'm reading but it looks like a bill of sale. Is this really all he wants? Whatever this property is must be important. If it's important to him, it'll definitely be a way for me to flush him out.
This is how I bring Deke down.
I need a plan, but more importantly I'm going to need my brother's to back me up on this.