Melody Anne - Scorched

Shane’s head whipped back and forth between the two women as if he didn’t know what to do. Typical male.

The girl lifted her hand, grabbed the back of Shane’s neck and brought her painted red lips to his, kissing him hard and fast. “When you get sick of her, I’ll be over there,” she said, then released him and sauntered off.

Lia felt a real urge to chase after the skank, but Shane’s arm tightened around her as if he knew where her thoughts were going.

“Thanks for the rescue. I’ve been around some persistent females, but damn,” he said before giving forth an involuntary chuckle.

Lia’s gaze was drawn to the perfection of his lips, and as he caressed her lower back and the crowd pushed her even closer to him, she was forgetting why it was a bad idea for the two of them to make love again.

The reason had to be stupid.

“No problem. You’ve saved me enough times,” she said.

The bartender stepped over to them, breaking the spell Shane had her under, and Lia ordered a Long Island Iced Tea. She’d need the extra kick the drink would give her.

Neither of them said another word as her drink was mixed and set before her. Shane paid the man, giving him a healthy tip and encouraging him to come back when their glasses got low, then waited as Lia took a few long swallows.

She knew she should try to put some distance between her and Shane, but as the crowd surged, the music pulsed, and the drink warmed her blood, she decided that distance was vastly overrated.

Somehow she ended up fully on his lap, with his arm around her waist, his mouth within inches of her own.

She could blame it on the alcohol, blame it on the club — but the reality was that she wanted him, wanted him more than any other man in the universe. More than anything, period. She loved him, and no matter how much she fought it, she was always going to love him.

So why not have one more night together? Soon he’d be gone again, leaving her and going to parts unknown. Wouldn’t she regret it more if she didn’t have this memory of them together? What if the next mission ensured he never returned?

Surely it was better to have a piece of him than nothing at all.

When he leaned forward with the clear intention of kissing her, Lia didn’t hesitate. She met him halfway, groaning in celebration as their mouths joined together.

Yes, this was where she wanted to be. This was where she should have been all night. Who needed alcohol when she could get drunk from his touch?

Shane pulled back. “Do you want to leave, Lia? The choice is yours.” His lips grazed her ear as he spoke so she would be sure to hear him above the noise.

Lia paused for only a second. Could she do this and still stay strong?

Did it matter?

No. No, it didn’t.

“Yes, Shane.”

She didn’t have to say anything else. Shane threw another tip on the bar, lifted her from his lap and set her quickly on her feet. Taking her hand, he parted the crowd with the sheer size of his masculine frame, and they exited the club.

Shane knew he shouldn’t do this, knew she was feeling vulnerable and might regret her decision later, but he wanted her so badly. He wanted it all, but he’d take what he could get.

He also knew she cared about him. Yes, they’d both messed up, but he had come to claim her again, and he wasn’t leaving without doing just that. The only problem was that he wanted all of her — forever.

And he was going to make that happen.

First, though, they had to appease this hunger. Neither of them could think straight otherwise. He would show her, in the one way he was sure of, how much he loved and desired her.

They didn’t have any trouble in the bedroom and that was a step in the right direction.

Walking from the club, he moved swiftly down the street. His hotel was only two blocks away, and he was damn glad he hadn’t taken Adriane’s offer to stay in the palace.

Shane liked his own space, his privacy. Sure, the palace was luxurious, but this hotel was damn nice, too, and it was a hell of a lot closer right now than the palace was.

As his body throbbed, he adjusted his stride. It would be a miracle if the two of them made it back to his room in one piece.

It had just been too long since he’d sunk inside her body. He hoped and prayed she didn’t change her mind, that the cool night air didn’t somehow wake her up and let her think she was making a mistake.

When the two of them came together, it was never a mistake.

He reached the hotel, her hand gripped tightly in his, and he didn’t pause as he swept through the front doors and headed straight to the bank of elevators.

Lia’s step never faltered beside his.

When the elevator doors opened in invitation, they allowed the car to swallow them up and he delighted when the doors closed with just the two of them inside. Privacy was now theirs and Shane couldn’t wait any longer.

Pushing her up against the wall, he bent down, his mouth devouring hers, wordlessly pouring out his intentions. Lia clutched his shoulder; she moaned even as she was thrusting her tongue inside his mouth.

His knees nearly shaking from pure need, he slid his hands to her backside, holding her tightly in his palms and squeezing her rounded flesh. She responded by pressing up more tightly against him, encouraging him to continue his conquest.

Shane swept his hands down her thighs, and was exceedingly grateful for the high hem on her shorts. With the barest of efforts he lifted her, pulling her legs around his waist as he pushed his solid erection against her. Too many bloody clothes in the way.

“I want you so damn bad,” he groaned, lifting his head so he could trail his mouth down her throat.

“Mmm, you make me crazy with just your touch,” she admitted as she ground her hips against the ever impressive bulge in his pants.

The elevator chimed, and the doors swept open. No one was in the hallway, thank heavens. Particularly since Shane didn’t want to set Lia down.

“Hold on,” he told her as he strode down the hall with her clinging to him.

Pulling the key card from his back pocket, he unlocked his door, pushing it open before sliding inside the room and slamming the door shut with his foot. He pressed her back against the still-rattling door.

“Please, Shane,” she cried as her hips pressed into his. “Take me.”

“I plan to,” he replied, then captured her mouth again with his.

Lia cried out as his hands ran up her sides, then grasped her breasts and squeezed. Her breathing was rapid, her lips urgent, but soft. Her hands tangled in his hair, gripping him tightly, guiding him where she wanted him.

This was perfect — it was right — it was everything and more.

Shane was losing control too quickly. He had to rein it in. They hadn’t been together in a long time, and he wanted this night to be something she wouldn’t soon forget. He had to make her see that they were much better together than they were apart.

With a herculean effort, Shane ended the kiss, then pulled away from the door and moved over to his bed, where he gently set her down.

Lia reached for him, whimpering when he didn’t immediately fall on top of her. But he was resolute. Even if he died pleasing her, expired from holding his own fulfillment back, she would remember this night because he was going to make her ecstasy stretch out endlessly.

Kneeling at the foot of the bed, he pulled off her shoes, then kissed the soles of her feet, rubbing his tongue along the arch of her foot. She stopped struggling and moaned at his soft caress.

His hands rose slowly up her calves, massaging the firm muscles in her legs and making his tongue follow the path he was laying with his fingers. She quivered as his fingers moved higher, stroking the sensitive skin of her thighs while his tongue swirled around the underside of her knees.

Twisting beneath him, she wanted more.

His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her shorts, rising, slipping inside her tiny panties and plunging into her wet core.

“Shane!” she screamed.

He stroked her a few times, then pulled out. She began to protest, but she felt his hands at the clasp of her shorts, releasing the fabric, slipping inside the waistband and pulling them down.

Shane couldn’t get enough of Lia’s flesh. His mouth trailed kisses back down her thighs, and he tasted her sweet skin.

She writhed beneath him, calling his name and begging him for more — more of what, she didn’t even know, but the pleasurable sensation he awoke within her was turning her inside out.

Tossing her shorts aside, he began kissing her ankles, laving her heated flesh with his tongue, moving upward slowly, then sliding across her thighs until he reached the source of her heat. His tongue ran along the edges of her panties, her taste coming through the fabric and making him gasp in passion.

“You are perfect, Lia, absolutely perfect,” he moaned, overcome.

“Shane, please,” she cried, her voice urgent with need.

“I’ll please you, Lia. I’ll please you until the sun is rising in the sky, and then we will sleep in each other’s arms. When you wake, it will be to feel of my body surging inside of yours again. We won’t leave this bed for days, weeks, months. All I want to do is please you,” he said, and was surprised by how much he meant it.

She groaned as she reached for him. He obeyed her silent commands, sliding up her body, taking the hem of her shirt and lifting it, exposing her lacy bra to his view. Having discarded the shirt, he unhooked the clasp on the front of her bra, with a sharp inhale at the sight of her beautiful breasts. It had been so long.