Defying the Odds (25 page)

She gripped his shoulders, part of her mind measuring the wide breadth of them. Her center literally throbbed from the knowledge that he was hers. It was the first time they’d been together where Melody wasn’t half-dazed with exhaustion. Clarity brought the realization of just how beautiful Clay was. He was the perfect specimen of male power and strength. Every inch of him hard and commanding, his form was a massive work of art. Melody felt sexual and feminine having him hot and hungry beneath her.

She broke the kiss long enough to tug on the back of his shirt. She wanted all those beautiful muscles on display. She wanted to see them under the lights of Las Vegas. With Clay’s help, they pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the marble floor.

Bare-chested, he leaned forward, cupping Melody’s face in his large palms, and kissed her again. He was just as hungry, just as needy for closer contact. Melody let him own her mouth, savoring him. It was easy to give herself to Clay when being with him made her
feel
nothing but cherished. It was even sweeter because she knew she owned him too. They belonged to each other, and the realization made the moment all the more poignant.

Clay yanked at her shawl, fighting with the knot, until finally she broke the kiss to tug it over her head and toss it to the floor. The struggle with the shawl loosened her headband, and she pulled that off too, throwing it on top of her shawl. Her glasses ended up on the bench next to Clay’s hat, because she couldn’t afford to step on them later.

Clay groaned as he brushed her hair away from her face. His palms were warm and calloused against her cheeks. His dark eyes studied her, and Melody really wished she wasn’t half-blind without her glasses.

“You’re so beautiful, Mel,” Clay whispered, his low voice almost aching with emotion. “I love you.”

Melody sucked in a sharp breath. Icy-hot pleasure spiraled through her bloodstream. Her chest actually hurt with the feelings welling up inside her, making her feel like she might shatter in his arms. It was too much; the emotions overran every thought, leaving her shaking from the onslaught. This was crazy. Things like this didn’t happen—not to her. It felt too good to be true. She didn’t want to trust it, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

She leaned into him and buried her face in the curve of his neck to inhale his scent. It gave her strength to finally say, “I love you too—more than anything.”

Clay gasped. Melody felt him quivering also. It was a surreal moment, almost dreamlike with the bright glow of Las Vegas glittering around them in the dark room. Neither of them could find anything to say more powerful than what they’d already confessed. When Clay pulled at the zipper on the back of her dress, she heaved a sigh of relief. She couldn’t say more than she already had, but her body throbbed with the demand for an outlet from the rise of emotions choking both of them.

The price of the dress forgotten, she struggled to be free from it. She slid off
Clay,
her high heels clicking against the marble as she pushed the dress down her body, then kicked it aside to lay with the rest of his discarded clothing.

“Christ.”

Melody looked up at Clay’s low growl. He studied her standing in front of him in nothing but a black, lacy bra and panties and her high heels. She could actually feel his look of raw hunger; it vibrated off him so strongly it made Melody breathless. Goose bumps danced over her skin. Her pussy throbbed.

Clay stood, and Melody gasped, her eyes closing to the frenzied rush of lust. One large hand wrapped around her waist, and the other threaded into the thick hair at the nape of her neck. Breathing heavy, Clay pulled her to him.

The first hot
press of his mouth against the base of her throat made Melody actually cry
out. “God, Clay!”

He bent low, licking at the curve of her breast, his tongue running along the edge of her bra. Her tits overflowed the black, lacy cups, and Clay feasted on the offering, biting and nipping, but it wasn’t anything more than a tease when Melody was so pent up. She reached behind her and unlatched the bra,
then
pushed Clay away long enough to pull it off. It hadn’t hit the floor before Clay was cupping both breasts, his thumbs brushing over her nipples, making them bead with pleasure. Melody moaned, desperate to be touched.

Clay buried his face against her neck once more, his lips pressing warm kisses to her fevered skin. “I
wanna
make you feel good.”

“You’re doing a pretty darn good job of it.” Melody panted, feeling the cold glass against her back. She arched against it, pushing her tits deeper into Clay’s hold. “I feel like I’m
gonna
—”

Her words ended with a choked gasp when Clay fell to his knees in front of her. Melody stared down at him in stunned disbelief as he took one taut nipple into his mouth. She was starting to wonder if a woman could come just from visual stimulation. The sight of Clay on his knees, bare-chested, sucking her tits with a look of fervent hunger on his face was one of the sexiest things she’d ever seen. When his teeth scraped against her nipple, she was forced to give in to the rush. She let her eyes close as she tossed her head back against the window, robbing her of the erotic sight.

Melody tangled her fingers in Clay’s hair, holding him to her as he sucked and teased. Every nerve ending in her body jumped alive, as if Clay was somehow the antidote to a lifetime of mundane at best and heartbreaking pain at worst. She felt vibrant and alive as his lips moved lower, his hands tracing the line of her rib cage. When his hand slid beneath the line of her panties, Melody’s cheeks flamed because she was embarrassingly wet.

Clay groaned at the first slick feel of her. His forehead pressed between the
valley
of her breasts as he breached her pussy, two thick fingers sliding deep inside, stretching her. “Fuck, Mel.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, biting her lip against the ecstasy of being finger fucked by him. “I just—”

“Don’t be sorry. Never be sorry.” His breath was warm against the curve of her breast. “You
wanna
get off on my fingers?”

Melody nodded breathlessly.
“Yeah.”

His fingers curved up, pressing against a place inside her that made her gasp at the stun of pleasure, and Clay capitalized on the discovery. His large palm spread over the curve of her lower back and forced her into the thrust of his fingers as he put pressure against that one sensitive place over and over again.

She
gasped,
her entire body shaking as she clung to him just to stay on her feet. “I can’t take it. It’s too intense, Clay. I can’t—” She cried out once more, bowing to the pleasure of him finger fucking her.
“Oh God!”

She couldn’t fight him anymore. He wasn’t listening anyway. The build of pleasure was a strange sort of burn, one that boiled and raged at her center, then pulsed outward until her entire being was consumed. She was wound so tightly Melody heard herself shamelessly begging as she started rutting her hips against his hand. She knew he could feel her pussy quivering with the need to come, and she didn’t care. All she could think about was finding release from the rising tide of ecstasy.

Clay started sucking on her tits again, his teeth scraping and tugging at her nipples, magnifying the pleasure to the point that she had no choice but to give in. When the climax slammed into her, Melody screamed from the velocity of it. Clay tightened his hold, obviously sensing how completely weak she was to the ecstasy surging through her bloodstream as she quivered and shook in his arms. Stars actually danced behind her closed eyelids, and what felt like a lifetime of stress drained out of her tense body to the rolling tide of bliss washing over her.

When the wave started to ebb, Melody slid down the cool glass until she was on her knees in front of Clay. She didn’t even get a chance to catch her breath. Clay fisted his hand in her hair, dragging her mouth to his and kissing her. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, and she opened to it, the connection making her blood stir with a fresh swell of yearning. His desperation was rousing, palpable in the very air around them as he pulled away, his broad chest heaving. Then he avoided looking at her, turning his head away to stare to the floor.

Melody knew he was fighting with himself, trying to rein in the rage of hunger that always erupted between them. It could be overwhelming. Melody knew because it scared her too, but she didn’t want him to fight it. She craved all of Clay. She needed to see every dark part to his soul. If he’d fallen over the edge of control, she wanted to feel the chaos with him.

She reached out and ran her fingers over the hard lines of his abdomen. Clay tensed when she undid the button to his jeans.

“It’s okay.” She pulled his zipper down, revealing the hard, thick length of his cock straining against the band of his underwear. “I love you. I love everything about you.”

Clay turned back to her, his features tortured with need. She saw the surrender as he cupped her face once more. She tasted the need when he leaned in, harsh and demanding as he kissed her. She slipped her hand past the band of his underwear, stroking the impressive size of him, and heard the ultimate defeat of his iron control in the low, pained moan against her lips.

He pulled at her panties, pushing them past her hips and down her thighs. “Get ’
em
off. I want both of us naked.”

Melody was inclined to agree. She liked being naked with Clay. There was freedom in being bare and vulnerable beside him. She lifted her legs and struggled to get the panties off, catching them on one heel before finally tossing them aside. When Clay jumped to his feet and pushed at his jeans, Melody brought one leg up.

“Don’t.” Clay’s eyes narrowed at Melody’s hand on the buckle to her shoe. “I like ’
em
.”

Melody looked down at the high heels, with their black straps wrapping around her ankles and up to her calves. A smile tugged at her lips. “Well, okay then.”

“They’re sexy.” Clay pushed his jeans past his hips, taking his underwear with them. He toed off one sneaker, kicking it aside as his gaze ran over her. With one knee still raised, Melody was exposed to him, and Clay stared with unabashed intensity. “
You’re
sexy.”

Melody’s smile grew broader as she looked into his eyes. She slid her fingers between her legs, touching herself and spreading the folds of her pussy wide open to his greedy gaze. Clay sucked in a sharp breath in response, stopping work on his shoes and jeans to watch. Feeling deviant and sensual in a way that appealed to her, Melody slid one finger inside. She did it for his benefit but ended up arching into her hand, her eyes closing from the sensation when she was still so sensitive from her first climax.

Clay rid himself of his jeans and shoes and then fell back to his knees with her. When they were in the same space once more, their breaths mingling, her breasts brushing against his chest, Clay reached down and grabbed her hand. Her gaze flew to his, her eyes wide because for one crazy moment she thought she’d done something wrong. Clay met her panicked stare evenly, a smug smile tugging at his lips. He brought her hand up and then leaned down, eyes still on Melody as he sucked on the fingers she’d been touching herself with.

Melody took a shuddering breath, her pussy clenching at the implications of that action. She remembered how good it felt to have his tongue on her, licking, sucking, and pushing her to the edge.

“You want it?” Clay asked against the tip of her index finger. He kissed the pad of it, his dark eyes studying her intently. “I’ll spread you out on this floor and do it right now.”

Melody shook her head. Her pussy was clenching for something more than his tongue. She wanted to connect with him—
she needed it
. There was no way to explain it, but she felt suddenly empty without him. She smiled at him, letting every ounce of longing show on her face as she whispered, “Fuck me instead.”

Clay sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes rolling back for one brief moment before he leaned into her. He placed a soft, chaste kiss against her collarbone. “Then stand up. I
wanna
do you against the glass.”

Heat flooded her system. His words set her on fire. She didn’t know why, but she wanted this too, something harder, darker,
more
carnal. Melody craved the forbidden with Clay; she wanted to be dirty with him.

She stood up and turned around, legs spread wide, hands planted over her head against cool glass. She looked out on Las Vegas, the sea of iridescent colors fading out to haloed trails of light without her glasses on. It added to the dreamlike quality of the night, where nothing felt quite real enough or entirely too real to believe.

Still on his knees, Clay pressed a kiss at the base of her spine, his large hands cupping both round globes of her ass. Then he was slowly standing, his lips moving up the line of her back, his hands running over her body, touching her stomach, her hips, squeezing her breasts. By the time he was on his feet, Melody felt surrounded by Clay, hard muscles, strong hands, warm skin. She inhaled the spicy, masculine scent that was uniquely his and closed her eyes against the sea of colors in front of her as she surrendered to the man behind her.