Chapter 72
MELODY
We extended our trip for an extra day. I never wanted to leave.
It felt like we had stumbled into our personal cocoon of pure joy.
Back home, real life awaited us. I wasn’t terribly thrilled to be rushing back to it.
I realized I was a little selfish. I wanted to keep Austin all to myself.
I liked monopolizing his time. I loved his undivided attention.
Although I was pretty sure I would have it when we went home. I planned on talking to him tonight about moving in with me. It was silly for him to live in a hotel.
And I really liked having him in my bed. It was probably too fast. I didn’t want to scare the man. He was just coming around to this monogamy and commitment thing. But he was already doing very well at it.
Our last night in the Hamptons felt bittersweet. Tomorrow we’d drive back to the city and face whatever aftermath remained from Summer’s failed scheme. But tonight? Tonight was ours.
And I had plans.
I stood in the master bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. My hair was loose and wild from a day spent at the beach. My skin was glowing. And I felt powerful. Confident. Completely in control in a way I’d never experienced before.
Austin did that for me. His love and desire and the way he looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen—it had unlocked something in me. Some part of myself I’d kept hidden, afraid that being too bold or too sexual or too much would somehow diminish me.
But with Austin, I could be all of those things and more. I could be soft and fierce, vulnerable and strong, playful and serious. I could be every version of myself without fear of judgment.
And tonight, I wanted to show him just how much his confidence in me had changed me.
I’d brought a few special pieces with me, things I’d packed on impulse, not sure if I would have the courage to wear them. But now, looking at my reflection, I felt nothing but anticipation. Tonight, Austin was about to get his own very personal Melody’s Secret fashion show.
I started with white lace that made my skin look even tanner than it was and my curves look absolutely sinful. The bra pushed everything up and together in the most flattering way, and the matching panties sat high on my hips, accentuating my waist.
Over that, I slipped on a silk robe that I left hanging open to reveal a glimpse of what was underneath. I took one last look in the mirror, practiced my walk in the heels I’d chosen, and smiled at my reflection.
Time to put on a show.
I found Austin exactly where he said he’d be, stretched out on the couch with a glass of scotch and his phone, probably checking in with Cash about the legal situation.
He looked up when he heard my heels clicking on the hardwood floor, and his expression shifted from casual to completely riveted in about half a second.
“Hi,” I said, stopping in the doorway.
He set down his phone and glass, his eyes never leaving me. “Hi, yourself.”
“I thought maybe I’d show you some of the pieces I’ve gotten recently. Ones I haven’t posted yet.”
He licked his lips. “Okay.”
“Unless you were busy,” I teased.
“Baby girl, I just canceled every plan I’ve ever made.”
I laughed, feeling a thrill of power at his reaction. “Good. Then sit back and enjoy the show.”
I’d connected my phone to the house’s sound system earlier, and now I started a playlist with a slow, sultry beat that made me want to move. I let the robe slip off one shoulder as I walked toward him, watched his eyes track the movement.
“This first piece,” I said, letting the robe fall completely, “is all about confidence.”
I stood there in just the lingerie and heels and watched Austin’s throat work as he swallowed hard.
“It’s working,” he managed.
I turned slowly, giving him the full view, and heard his sharp intake of breath. God, I loved that sound. Loved knowing I could affect him this way. The power that came from owning my sexuality in the body I was born into was like actually harnessing the moon.
“The key to good styling is knowing what works for your body type. What makes you feel powerful.”
“And does that make you feel powerful?” His voice was rough.
“Incredibly.” I stopped just out of his reach. “Want to know what else makes me feel powerful?”
“Tell me.”
“You. Looking at me like that. Like you can’t quite believe I’m real.”
“I can’t,” he admitted. “You’re too perfect.”
I moved closer, close enough that my legs brushed his knees. “I’m not perfect. But I am yours.”
His hands came up to my hips, pulling me onto his lap so I straddled him. “All mine?”
“Every inch.”
He groaned, his hands roaming over the lace, exploring. “This is killing me.”
“Good.” I leaned in, letting my lips brush his ear. “Because I’m just getting started.”
I stood up, and he made a sound of protest that made me smile. I wasn’t finished with my show yet. The music shifted to something with a deeper beat, and I let my body move with it.
Nothing too choreographed. I wasn’t a dancer by any means and you would never catch me trying one of those pole-dancing classes, but I let myself feel the rhythm. I let the music guide my movements. I unclasped the bra slowly, teasingly, watching Austin’s eyes darken with every move.
When I finally let it fall, his hands gripped the couch cushions like he was physically restraining himself from reaching for me.
“Melody,” he groaned.
“Not yet,” I said, turning away from him.
I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of my panties and slid them down slowly, stepping out of them with deliberate grace. Now I was completely naked except for the heels. I had never felt more powerful in my life.
I turned back to face him, and the look on his face was pure hunger mixed with awe. His expression made my breath catch.
“Come here,” he said, his voice commanding but pleading at the same time.
I walked to him slowly, savoring every second of this moment. When I was close enough, he pulled me down onto his lap again, his hands immediately going to my skin.
“You’re incredible,” he breathed. “So fucking incredible.”
“I feel incredible,” I admitted. “You make me feel like this. Like I can be anyone, do anything.”
“You can.” His lips found my neck, my collarbone, trailing fire everywhere they touched. “God, Melody, you light me on fire.”
I silenced him with a kiss, taking control, showing him exactly what I wanted. His hands roamed my body while I worked on getting his shirt off, both of us moving with urgent need now.
In the back of my mind, I thought about the other two lingerie outfits I wanted to show him. Screw it. They could wait. I needed him too much. There would be time in the future to put on another show for him. Hell, I was actually looking forward to it.
“Bedroom,” I said against his mouth.
We didn’t make it to the bedroom right away. Austin pinned me against the hallway wall first, his mouth consuming mine like he’d been starving for it.
I moaned into his kiss. I could feel the hard line of him through the shorts he was wearing. I ground against his cock shamelessly because I knew it would undo him.
“Bedroom,” I panted again, even though I was already rocking against him, already so lost that it felt like we were in orbit instead of stuck in a hallway.
He growled, “Two seconds,” and the two seconds turned into stumbling steps, kisses traded between us.
We were clumsy and struggling to touch every part of one another while also trying to walk.
We finally made it to the bed, tumbling onto cool sheets that smelled faintly of ocean salt from the open windows.
He yanked off his shirt, shucked his shorts, and stood before me gloriously naked. I let my gaze travel over him, tracing every line of muscle, every fine hair, every small detail I’d memorized and filed away under Austin, Things That Make Me Lose My Mind.
I reached out and wrapped my hand around him, stroked once, twice, and he jolted like he’d been shocked. I loved that I could do that to him. I loved that his next sound came out as my name. “Melody, yes, but hang on,” he said, voice ragged. “Condom. Let me—”
I caught his wrist before he could pull away. “Wait.”
He stilled and his gaze locked with mine.
I shifted onto my knees, heart thundering against my ribs. There was a swell of butterflies just beneath my skin, but they were excitement, not nerves. “I don’t want one tonight.” My fingers skimmed down his forearm. “I’m on the pill. And we’re only with each other, right?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Right. Only each other.” The words felt like a vow. His hand slid up my throat and cupped my jaw, thumb brushing across my lower lip. “You sure?”
I nodded. I was surer of this than I’d ever been of anything. I wanted to feel him, just him, nothing between us, no barriers. I wanted that intimacy so badly it was a pulse low in my belly. “I want you, all of you.”
His groan was low and broken. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back like he was thanking the heavens.
Gently, he lowered me onto the mattress, lowering himself over me like I was something sacred. My knees fell open for him and he settled between them. When he moved his hips, that first slide of him against my slick folds had us both gasping. I dug my nails into his shoulders just to anchor myself.
“Slowly,” he breathed against my neck. “I want this to last, and without a condom, all bets are off. I don’t think I’m going to last more than five seconds being inside you.”
I touched his cheek. “We have all night.”
Slow was agony; slow was heaven. He brushed along me teasingly until I was writhing, tiny pleas falling out of me. His hand replaced the glide, two fingers sinking deep, and I nearly exploded. I felt the tension spiraling, already coiling tight.
“Please, Austin, I want you inside me.”
He withdrew his fingers slowly and then it was him.
One deliberate push, and he was sliding into me bare for the first time.
The feeling was overwhelming. It was more intimate than anything we had shared before.
I felt every pulse, every ridge, felt the stretch and the fullness like it was brand new.
My nails scored down his back. He growled against my collarbone, hips rolling forward until we were flush, until there was nowhere left to go.
We stayed like that for a heartbeat, just breathing and feeling. Then he started to move. His forehead touched mine and his breaths rasped against my lips between kisses.
“God, you feel like… mine,” he whispered, voice breaking.
“I am,” I answered, tilting my hips to meet every thrust, biting my lip when the angle had him hitting that perfect spot. “Only yours.”
His rhythm built, steady at first, then rolling into waves that crashed harder, faster.
Pleasure sizzled under my skin. I felt it gathering low and urgent.
The soundtrack I had selected for my little runway show was still playing, barely audible over the sound of our bodies slapping against each other.
I felt the orgasm coming on fast and hard. There would be no stopping it. I shattered into a million pieces, pulsing around him, pulling him deeper as he buried himself to the hilt.
He stilled, eyes squeezed shut, jaw clenched so tight I could see the tension in the fine line of muscle in his neck. “Melody. Oh fuck, I’m not gonna last after that.”
I curled my fingers into his hair and kissed him roughly.
“Then don’t. Let go with me.” I clenched deliberately around him and watched his control unravel.
His hips jerked forward twice, three times, and then he was spilling inside me with a guttural groan that was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.
The heat of his release inside me sent me fluttering into aftershocks.
Tiny tremors made us both twitch and sigh.
He lowered himself until his weight was half pinning me, half blanketing me.
After a moment he rolled to the side, gathering me against him so we were chest to chest, legs tangled.
I could feel his heart still racing. I pressed my palm over it like I could hold on to the beat forever.
Austin tugged a sheet over us and pressed kisses across my shoulder, my neck, the spot just behind my ear that made me sigh. “I love you,” he whispered against my skin. “Every day, in every possible way.”
I tugged his face to mine and kissed him softly. “I love you too,” I said. “So much it terrifies me. Like my heart decided to walk around outside my body. I love who I am when I’m with you.”
“Same, baby girl. Same.”