Chapter 13
TYLER
Everything about Mel is perfect.
The softness of her lips, slightly damp from our kisses and tasting sweetly of the cake we ate at the party.
The silk of her hair as it brushes against my neck, carrying with it the faint aroma of coconut and vanilla.
The feel of her cradled in my arms and the swell of her curves pressed against me.
Her face as I look down upon it, more beautiful than any of the masterpieces I’ve seen.
And her eyes.
It’s not just the striking color, or the long sweep of her lashes above them. It’s what’s within that strikes a chord deep inside me. It’s everything she’s feeling, right there, on display.
It’s everything I’m feeling.
Anticipation. Desire. Need.
And hidden more deeply, a flicker of fear. Not of the physical act, but what it means.
I know that’s how Mel is feeling, because I’m a little scared, too.
It’s not that I don’t want this. I do. Desperately.
But it’s been a long time.
And very soon, I’m going to have to show Mel my leg. Or lack of it, more aptly. And no matter how many times I’ve told myself that she doesn’t care, that she likes me just as I am, it’s different in theory than it is in reality.
As I carry Melissa down the hallway to the bedroom, she clutches my shoulders and kisses my neck. Her breasts press temptingly against me. “I like this,” she murmurs, her breath a whisper across my skin.
“Like what?” I ask, while trying to shove my insecurities into a far-away compartment in my brain where I won’t have to deal with them.
She lifts her head so she can meet my gaze. Faint pink touches her cheeks. “You carrying me like this.”
“Oh?” I adjust my arms behind her back and under her legs, lifting her higher against my chest. “Do you?”
“Yes.” The pink deepens. “It’s really sexy. Like I’m the heroine in a romance movie and my hero just swooped in to rescue me.”
“A hero, hmm?” My chest swells with unexpected pride. Carrying Mel, who can’t weigh more than a buck twenty, isn’t exactly a major feat for me, not when I lift double that during my workouts. But hearing her say she likes it, that it makes her think of me as her hero…
It feels good. Really good.
“Is that silly?” she asks. “It probably is. I mean, you really are a hero, with everything you’ve done. Just carrying me down a hallway—”
I silence her with a kiss. Once it ends, I say, “It’s not silly. At all.” Picking up my pace, I hurry into the bedroom and over to the bed. But instead of putting Mel down, I just hold her for a moment.
She looks at me with those gorgeous sky-blue eyes, her gaze searching mine. “Is everything okay? If you’d rather not—”
“Everything’s fine.” I kiss her forehead, then the tip of her nose, and finally, her lips again. “More than fine. It’s perfect. And I’m just taking a second to appreciate it.”
“Oh.” Her lips curve up. “Well. I suppose that’s okay.” One small hand moves from my shoulder to my chest to rest above my racing heart. She bites her lip before blurting, “Are you nervous? About this?”
Lowering Mel to the bed, I sink onto the mattress beside her.
For just a moment, I consider saying no, I’m not nervous, though my heartbeat tells a different story.
But I haven’t lied to Mel yet, and I’m not starting now.
Even if the truth paints a picture of a man who isn’t quite as confident as I’d like to be.
“A little,” I admit. As she opens her mouth to respond, I hurry to explain, “Not about being with you. That’s not it at all. It’s just…”
Shit. This isn’t the kind of thing I want to talk about before having sex with Melissa.
I should be telling her how gorgeous she is and how much I want her.
I should be peeling off her sexy dress with the floaty skirt that gives a tempting glimpse of her thighs whenever the breeze hits it and discovering the color of her bra and panties before I remove them.
Not bringing up my prosthetic and how worried I am for Mel to see me without it.
But I owe Mel the truth. So I give it to her.
“You’ve never seen me without my prosthetic before,” I confess. My stomach twists into a knot as I add, “It’s not pretty. The scars, and it’s… it’s not normal. And I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
Mel jerks up into a seated position. Her expression turns fierce. Then she shoves me hard. “Don’t you ever say that, Tyler. Ever.”
“What?”
“That you’re not normal.” She rises onto her knees so our faces are level. Her gaze burns into mine. “And that I could ever be disappointed.”
“You haven’t seen—”
“Tyler.” It’s firm. Almost scolding. “I don’t care about your leg. I care—” She stops. “Actually, that’s not true. I do care. Because it’s something you struggle with. Because, years ago, you were hurt. Badly. And I hate to think of you in pain. But disappointed? In you?”
Melissa climbs onto my lap and cups my jaw with her small hand.
“I could never, ever be disappointed in you.” She leans in to kiss me, plunging her tongue inside my mouth and tangling with mine.
Through her dress, I can feel her nipples pebbling into hard peaks.
Her legs wrap around my waist, pressing her core against me.
My dick swells. Throbs. It strains at the fabric of my pants, instinctively reaching for Melissa’s welcoming heat.
“Never,” Mel repeats once we break apart. “Never, Tyler. Don’t even think it.” She trails her hand from my chest, to my abs, and down below my waist. Then she cups my erection through my pants. “Do you know what I thought when I first saw you?”
I lift her skirt so it reveals her thighs and stroke my hand across her satiny skin. “What?”
“I thought you were handsome, of course.” Melissa kisses me again. “I thought you had the most gorgeous eyes, like a forest at sunset.”
“Like a forest at sunset?” I ask. Finding the lacy film of her panties, I slip my finger beneath it. She’s hot and slick with excitement, and as I experimentally stroke her sensitive skin, her legs fall open, inviting me in.
“Yes,” Melissa replies. “When the sun is setting, casting its golden glow over the trees. That’s what your eyes reminded me of. And—”
She gasps as I slide one finger partly inside her. “Is that okay?” I ask.
“Yes.” She sucks in another quick breath when my finger sinks deeper. “Oh, yes.”
I begin to slowly pump my finger in and out, loving the feel of how hot and tight she is. Her inner muscles clutch at me as I move. When I curl my finger so it hits that soft spot deep inside her, she moans softly. Her head falls back, exposing the slender column of her throat.
Lowering my head, I suck gently at Mel’s neck, not hard enough to bruise, but enough to leave a faint mark. At the same time, I add a second finger to the first, gently stretching her.
“Ty—” she gasps, once both my fingers are deep inside her. “That feels so… Oh…”
“I want to make sure you’re ready for me,” I tell her. “So. Tell me. What else did you think when you first saw me?”
Melissa gazes at me with lust-glazed eyes. “I thought you had a great body. With your clothes all wet and sticking to your muscles… I told myself I shouldn’t be thinking about how a stranger looked at a time like that. But I couldn’t help it.”
My chest puffs up even more. “You liked my muscles?”
Mel shoots me an are you kidding look. “You mean these?” She lightly squeezes my biceps. “And these?” Her hand drops to my thigh. “These muscles? Yes. I did.”
While I keep pumping my fingers inside her, I rub her sensitive bud with my thumb. Her arousal slicks my skin, signaling me that she’s getting closer to being ready.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” I tell her. “Being with you. Feeling your sweet body wrapped around me. Filling you.”
“You have?” she asks breathlessly. Her hips thrust in an uncoordinated rhythm against my hand. Her fingers move to my zipper and tug at it.
“I have. Every day.” With my free hand, I pull Mel’s dress up and over her head, then toss it off to the side. Now she’s only wearing a pink lacy bra and matching panties, the fabric so sheer I can see right through them.
And now that I’m getting a full look at her body—shit. It’s beyond incredible. I’ve seen Mel in shorts and tank tops, and the other night, even with her shirt off. But to see her like this, wearing just a few bits of lace…
“You’re beautiful,” I say, my voice going rough with desire. “So damn beautiful.”
A flush spreads above the swell of her breasts. “I’m not sure… My boobs aren’t as perky as they used to be.”
“What?” I lay my hand over her flushed skin and gently press her back to the mattress. Then I get onto my knees and lean over her. “They’re perfect.” Dipping my head to her breast, I suck her nipple into my mouth, laving my tongue across the engorged tip and the fabric covering it.
As I lavish attention to one breast, then the other, Mel’s stomach quivers. Her back arches as she thrusts into my mouth. Her fingers find their way into my pants and wrap around my dick, stroking it tentatively at first, and then more boldly.
Arousal is leaking steadily from me, and the urge to be inside her is almost too much to bear. My leg is a faraway thought. What matters is the woman beneath me.
“Ty…” Melissa makes this soft, sultry sound that’s half moan, half whimper.
Releasing her nipple from my mouth with a little pop, I meet her gaze and ask, “What, baby?”
“I love this,” she says. “What you’re doing. But I want more.”
“More of what? This?” I curl my fingers inside her again, and her hips jerk. “Or this?” I take her nipple in my mouth, but this time I graze my teeth across it. “Tell me what you like, and I’ll do it.”
Or maybe she’s uncomfortable telling me, I think a beat later.
Just because Mel is usually pretty forthcoming about what she wants, that doesn’t necessarily extend to the bedroom.
And with it being so long since she’s been with anyone, maybe she’s nervous.
“Or,” I add quickly, “we can try some different things. And you can tell me what you like, so I know.”