Chapter 45
AUSTIN
She was impossibly soft. I traced my tongue down the slope of her breast and drew her nipple into my mouth.
She bowed off the bed with a gasp that shot straight to my cock, her fingers twisting in my damp hair to hold me there.
I could feel her heartbeat under my lips.
It was fast. It matched the jackhammer pace of my own.
“Tell me what you want,” I rasped, switching to the other breast, giving it the same slow worship.
“You,” she breathed. “Just you.”
I loved that I was who she wanted. It made me feel like Superman. I didn’t know her past, but I knew there weren’t many men. I knew she was selective.
And she chose me. That was a feeling I would never really get used to. Women chose me all the time, but it was more about choosing me for sex or whatever my money or name could buy. Her choosing me, wanting me, that was something I cherished.
I kissed lower, tongue tracing the curve of her ribcage, dipping into the hollow of her navel.
Every inch I tasted ignited a new fire in my blood.
She was the only woman I had ever wanted to savor instead of devour, and it was torture in the sweetest way.
My hands slid beneath her, cupping the generous swell of her ass, lifting her so I could feather bites along the sensitive skin of her hips.
She squirmed, thighs falling open in invitation.
I had to squeeze my eyes shut for a second so I didn’t lose control like some frantic teenager.
The scent of her made my mouth water. I settled between her legs, spreading her wide so I could see every slick, pink inch of her. She whimpered when I blew a cool stream of air across her clit, hips jerking toward my mouth.
“Patience,” I murmured, dragging one finger through her folds, coating it. “I’ve been dreaming of this since the beach.”
“Then stop teasing,” she panted, nails scraping my shoulders.
I chuckled against her inner thigh, nipped the soft flesh, then flattened my tongue in one long, deliberate stroke.
Her taste exploded over my tongue. It was uniquely Melody and I was instantly addicted.
I licked again, slower, circling her entrance before pushing inside just enough to make her moan.
When I added a gentle suction to her clit, she cried out my name like a prayer.
I used my lips, my tongue, and the edge of my teeth to drive her higher.
Two fingers slipped into her snug heat, stroking in rhythm until her hips rolled greedily against my mouth.
She was soaking wet, the sound obscene and perfect in the candle-scented room.
Every time she gasped I felt it in my dick, throbbing against the sheet, but I ignored it.
Tonight was about her. I could wait—barely.
Her thighs trembled on either side of my head and her heels dug into my back. “Austin.” She dragged my name out through a groan.
I curled my fingers, found the spot that made her see stars, and sucked her clit hard. She came apart instantly, back arching, a broken sound tearing from her throat. I held her through the aftershocks, gentling my touch until she collapsed, chest heaving.
I crawled up her body and kissed her, letting her taste herself on my tongue. She responded with desperate hunger, yanking me down so our hips aligned. I groaned at the wet heat grinding against my length.
“Inside,” she demanded. “Now.”
I reached for the nightstand and fumbled out a condom from one of the two boxes I had brought on the trip. She watched me roll it on, eyes hooded, cheeks flushed. I had never seen anything sexier. When I nudged her entrance she opened her legs wider.
One smooth thrust and I was buried to the hilt, sheathed so tightly I saw spots. We both stilled, breathing hard, savoring the moment of connection.
“Jesus, Melody,” I gritted out. “You undo me.”
I had been inside her several times and it only got better.
She cupped my jaw with her thumb brushing my lower lip. “Show me.”
I withdrew slowly, then sank back in, setting a languid rhythm designed to drag this out until we were both mad with it.
She met every stroke, hips rolling, inner muscles rippling around me.
I shifted angles until her breath hitched and her nails scored my back.
I heard her gasp and knew I hit the right spot.
I stroked deeper. Slower. Again. And again.
Sweat slicked our skin. The headboard tapped a steady cadence against the wall, yacht rocking gently beneath us like the ocean itself urged us on. Her heels dug into my ass, urging me faster, harder. I gave it to her, pistoning deep until the bed creaked and her cries filled the cabin.
When I felt her tense a second time, I slipped a hand between us, thumbing her clit. She exploded, clenching around me so tight I lost control. I buried my face in her neck, groaning her name as I followed her over, coming so hard my vision blanked.
We floated back to earth wrapped around each other, limbs tangled, heartbeats syncing. I kissed the damp skin beneath her ear.
“Damn, baby girl, you might just kill me,” I groaned.
She smiled, eyes still closed, and tightened her arms around my neck. “Stay inside me a little longer.”
As if I could move even if I wanted to. “Not going anywhere, baby girl.”
She was mine. My woman. My future. And I was going to make damn sure she never forgot it.
I rolled us onto our sides, keeping her close, not ready to let go of her. Maybe never ready to let go. She curled into me immediately, fitting against my body like she was made for this exact space. I rested my chin on top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair.
We lay there in the dim light of the stateroom, the yacht rocking gently beneath us, and I felt something shift in my understanding of the world. It was like having a pair of foggy glasses pulled away. I felt like I could see clearly.
All my brothers—the ones who had gotten married, settled down, traded their freedom for domesticity—were starting to make sense to me.
Was this the way they felt about their wives? Did they have this kind of connection and the certainty of just knowing you were with the right person?
I couldn’t blame them for walking away from the hard and fast lifestyle. I would never blame them for choosing stability over chaos. For wanting their woman in their bed every morning instead of a rotation of temporary distractions.
Because that’s what I felt with Melody in my arms. She was completely relaxed against me. The absolute rightness of having her in my arms was better than any party or club. It was better than any wild night I ever had.
I was home. Not the yacht or the luxury or the destination. Just her. Just us.
“What are you thinking about?” she murmured, her hand resting against my chest.
“My brothers.”
She lifted her head to look at me with surprise on her face. “That’s a weird thing to think about right now.”
I laughed. “Not like that. I’m just—I’m starting to understand them. Kent and Sylvie. Isaac and Mina. All of them.”
“Understand what?”
“Why they gave up everything else for this. For their person.” I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I used to think they were crazy. That they’d lost themselves. But now I think maybe they found themselves. In their partners.”
“That’s very philosophical for post-sex Austin.”
“Post-sex Austin is apparently deep.” I kissed her forehead. “But seriously. I get it now. Why Kent looks at Sylvie like she hung the moon. Why Isaac rearranged his entire life for Mina. Why they all act like complete saps around their wives.”
“Are you saying you’re a sap now?”
“The biggest sap. Completely gone for you.”
She smiled against my chest. “Good. Because I’m completely gone for you too.”
“How did this happen?” I wondered aloud. “How did we go from a fake arrangement to this?”
“I don’t know. It just did.” She propped herself up on one elbow. “Does it matter how?”
“No. I guess it doesn’t.” I pulled her down for a kiss. “All that matters is that it did. That you’re here. That this is real.”
“It’s very real.” She yawned, snuggling back against me. “Sorry. That was incredibly rude to yawn right after sex.”
“You’re exhausted. Sun, beach, emotional conversations, bath, sex. That’s a full day.”
“We fit a lot in.”
“We did. And we have five more days to fit in even more.”
“Five more days,” she repeated, sounding wistful. “Then back to reality.”
“Reality won’t be so bad. Not if we’re in it together.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” And I meant it. “Did you check in with Cleo? I don’t want to wake up with pirates storming the yacht.”
“I texted her. Are you afraid of her?”
“Yep. Do you blame me?”
“She’s terrifying when she wants to be.”
“Tomorrow, I’m tying you to this bed and not letting you up until noon.”
Melody snorted, her breath warm against my collarbone. “One-track mind, Bancroft.”
“Guilty.” I tightened my arm around her. “But I’m serious. No seven a.m. sunrise yoga. No eager-beaver crew member packing us a picnic. Sleep in. The world can rotate without us until we’re good and ready.”
She lifted her head just far enough to prod my chest. “Isn’t that just a normal morning for you?”
“That was the old Austin. New Austin wants pillow creases on his face and a gorgeous woman who smells like coconuts using me as her personal mattress.”
She smiled. “I can work with that. Except I want the beach version of sunrise yoga. Beach makes everything better.”
“Debatable.” I brushed a knuckle over the pink patch on her shoulder. “And this needs another lather of aloe before you turn into a lobster.”
“It’s fine,” she said with another yawn.
“Tomorrow’s schedule is simple: sleep, repeat, maybe a champagne brunch in bed.”
She propped herself up on an elbow. “We could snorkel the reef. You promised earlier.”
“We can do that.”
She lay back down beside me. Her face rested against my chest. Her lashes tickled my skin. “You really think you’ll want five whole days of nothing but me?”
I swallowed. I didn’t want to sound like some pathetic lovesick teenager. “The only reason I’m limiting it to five is that Cleo will actually hire those pirates if we’re gone longer.”
She giggled. “True.”
She snuggled closer. Her breathing evened and I felt her body falling into sleep.
I tightened my arms, feeling the crazy, impossible certainty settle in my bones.
Tomorrow and the next tomorrow, and the one after—I would get to wake up with Melody in my arms. No family meetings, no PR clean-ups, no walls of phone notifications. Just her.
“Sleep, baby girl,” I whispered against her hair.
My brothers had it right. Having your person in your arms, knowing she’d be there tomorrow, was worth everything. Worth changing for. Worth fighting for. Worth protecting. And I would.
She was worth it.