Defying the Odds (19 page)

“What’d you do?” Melody asked softly, her voice aching.

“She left me with her boyfriend of the month, thinking he’d look out for me, but he was a prick,” Clay said bitterly. “So I ran away. Luckily it was summer. I slept outside, took showers at the Cellar. Course it was just the rec center back then.
Used to steal food from Mable’s One-Stop Shop.
I did all right considering I was only eleven. I lasted ’bout three weeks before it went to shit.”

“What happened?”

“Wyatt happened.” Clay let out a laugh. “I snuck into the rec center to use the facilities and take a shower. I didn’t take any classes, but Wyatt practically lived there seeing as he had no mama and his daddy worked all the time. We ran into each other, which was unfortunate. The two of us weren’t exactly friendly.”

“Really?”
Melody
asked,
her eyes wide in surprise. “That’s hard to imagine.”

“We were in the same grade, but we never got on. Jules was all right, but Wyatt was a cocky bastard I’d have hated even if his daddy hadn’t been making my life hell for as long as I could remember.” Clay rolled his eyes at the memory of a young Wyatt. “Believe it or not, he’s mellowed with age. He used to have a real mouth, just unbelievable what’d leave it. So there I was, tired and hungry and dirty, and Wyatt’s big mouth opens and says something ’bout my mama being trash. I punched him ’cause I was having a shit month and I was angry at life, but
Wyatt’d
been taking martial arts classes since he was old enough to walk. He kicked the living shit outta me. It was a really unfair fight, in front of half the kids from our class, no less. After that there
ain’t
been any fight I could lose that’d be half as bad.”

“
Whatta
jerk,” Melody said with a scowl.

“Yeah, I’d be inclined to agree, ’
cept
Big Fred found out ’bout it and hauled Wyatt out to my house to apologize. Course, I wasn’t there, and Big Fred spent all night looking for me. When he found me sleeping on a bench in the park, he took me back to his place. Turned out Wyatt was feeling pretty bad ’bout what happened. He told me flat out we were
gonna
be friends if I liked it or not, and I’ve spent the last twenty-two years trying to shake him.”

Melody grinned, deep dimples appearing out of nowhere. “And you started taking classes with him at the rec center.”

“Yup.
Lotsa
classes, mainly ’cause they let me beat on cocky
ol
’ Wyatt Conner.
Big Fred paid for ’
em
even when I was living with other folks. Maybe he thought someone
oughta
be taking Wyatt down a notch too. Then when the system was
gonna
move me to another town, Big Fred just went ahead and took me in ’cause Wyatt and Jules pitched the mother lode of all fits. I’ve been living there ever since.”

“Then I’m happy he beat you up if it meant you got a family outta it,” Melody said with a smile.

Clay considered that for a second before he reluctantly admitted, “Yeah, me too. But if you tell him I said so, I’ll deny it. I’m still pissed off at him ’bout tonight.”

Melody gave him a look of concern. “He was just worried ’bout you. You should forgive him.”

“Nope.”
Clay rolled into Melody, who was still on her stomach. He rested his cheek against her shoulder, burying his face in her soft, sweetly scented hair. “You smell like cookies.”

Melody laughed. “It’s oatmeal honey shampoo.”

His face throbbed, his head ached, and he was suddenly very tired. He tossed one leg over Melody and dragged his bare foot up the smooth line of her calf. He reached under the shirt she was wearing, feeling the slope of her ass, then moved up to caress the dip in her lower back.

“I’m falling asleep,” he warned her, because unconsciousness was only a breath away. “I feel like I’ve been on a ten-day adrenaline rush that crashed and burned two minutes ago.”

“
Mmm
.”
Melody hummed in agreement, making it obvious she was having the same problem as she pulled off her glasses and tossed them on the nightstand.

She stretched out beneath him. Her cheek rested on her folded hands. She seemed happy where she was, and Clay wasn’t going to complain. His eyes closed to the drugging feeling of serenity being around Melody churned up.

And in what seemed like a few minutes, the phone rang.

Melody shifted, reaching for it and bringing the receiver to her ear.
“’Lo?
Um, yes, we appreciate it.” She clicked the receiver back on the hook and then rolled over beneath him. “It’s the wake-up call.”

“Can’t be.”
Clay groaned. “There
ain’t
no
way that was an hour.”

“He said it was,” Melody argued. “You
wanna
get under the sheets?”

Clay thought that was a brilliant plan. They shuffled to get under the sheets, shoving the comforter to the foot of the bed because it was a little too warm in the room for them. Melody set the phone back on the nightstand, and Clay rolled up to her, resting his cheek in the valley between her breasts.

“Move a second.” Melody pushed at his forehead lightly. When Clay reluctantly lifted his head, she pulled the shirt off and tossed it to the floor. “Better?”

“Much.” Clay’s cheek now rested against smooth, bare skin, and he lay there simply feeling the warmth of Melody. He wrapped his arms around her waist and tossed one leg over hers, knowing she probably felt crushed. Right then Clay wished he’d been born a normal-sized welterweight instead of a big, hulking heavyweight. “Am I heavy?”

“You’re fine.” Melody stroked his hair, easing the throbbing at his temples and lulling him back to sleep.
“Feels nice.
Being with you is always nice.”

Clay had to agree. This was quite possibly the nicest place he’d ever been in his entire life, and he wouldn’t have been able to move even if he wanted to. He fell asleep as quickly as he woke up, thinking if that darn phone rang one more time, it was going to hit the wall.

* * * *

The phone rang—many times.

Clay didn’t toss it against the wall, but only because Melody was the one closest to it. When the sky went from black to gray, Clay made it clear if the guy at the front desk woke him up one more time he was going down there in his underwear and use the clerk’s head as a punching bag.

Melody told the front desk to stop with the wake-up calls.

But it seemed like she was apprehensive about falling back to sleep when the doctors had made it clear Clay had a concussion that needed to be monitored. With both of them more asleep than awake, Melody switched positions, draping herself over Clay. Her head rested against his chest; her fingers reached up to trace his face. They ran lightly over the taped cuts. Clay knew he probably looked worse as morning approached than he had the night before. He was happy it was mostly dark in the room.

Then Melody started kissing his chest, and he couldn’t think to give a shit about anything but his cock hardening. He tangled his fingers in her thick hair and squinted to see past the near darkness of the room as she nipped one flat, dark nipple. Melody was naked and touching him, with her hand sliding down to trace the lines of his abdominal muscles, and it was
really
turning him on.

She lifted her gaze to him, her green eyes stark and vibrant in the near darkness. “Is this okay?”

Seeing her without glasses never stopped surprising him because she was so breathtakingly beautiful but somehow exposed in a way that appealed to him. He swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah, it’s um…great. I like when you touch me.”

She gave him a smile, dimples peeking out beneath long blonde hair before she lowered her head and placed a kiss against the center of his chest. He pushed her hair away from her face, watching Melody place soft, tentative kisses over the muscles of his chest before she started moving lower.

Her tongue darted out, dragging slowly over the first ridges of his abdominal muscles, and Clay’s breathing fell shallow. Lust and concussions didn’t play well together. The throb in his head was more deafening than ever, but he wasn’t going to tell Melody that. He was enthralled, his cock straining hard and swollen against the confining material of his underwear.

His stomach muscles clenched as she moved lower, licking and kissing her way to the elastic of his black briefs. His entire body was tense in anticipation. His gaze followed her every movement. His cock jerked at the way her pink tongue looked darting past full, lush lips. She was naked and bare and gorgeous, and it was taking more strength than he knew he had not to take control. He wanted to roll her over to taste and own her like she was doing to him, but he didn’t. Clay lay there passively, letting her learn him, giving her the power to set the pace.

When she cupped him through his underwear, he nearly came off the bed. His eyes closed to the surge of desire, his head falling back against the pillow. She stroked him through the material, and he growled in response. His dick felt so fucking
good
in her hand, but the underwear was starting to seriously piss him off.

“Take ’
em
off,” he said through clenched teeth, unable to curb his harsh nature when he was this turned on.

Melody tugged at the band, pulling it over his hips, sliding the briefs down, and exposing his cock. It slapped against his stomach, hard and eager, as Melody worked the underwear down his long legs. Once they were past his knees, he helped kick them off.

On her hands and knees, with long hair hiding full breasts and pink nipples, Melody looked more angelic than ever. Only now she was more reminiscent of a fallen angel, one who’d surrendered herself to a devil that wanted more from her than friendship and pie. Clay couldn’t even feel bad for the corruption. He was completely captivated, and it felt okay. He saw the hunger reflected in her emerald gaze as she crawled back over him.

The lust and desire reverberated between them, making the need more intense with every raspy breath. Her eyes actually sparkled as they ran over his naked body spread out and exposed beneath her. Her smile was impish. Then she leaned down, grasping his thick cock, and licked the head. He groaned and thrust his hips into the caress of her hand, desperate for more. She took the invitation and sucked him, her mouth sliding down his cock in a slow, sensual stroke.

“Fuck!”

Clay jerked at the pleasure and reached up to fist a hand in her hair, holding on to her like a lifeline. He fought to keep his eyes open because that was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen—Melody’s mouth on him, poised halfway down his dick before she slid back up and licked the head once more. When she sucked him again, this time taking him deeper, Clay lost his battle to watch. He bowed into the pleasure of her mouth, his eyes closing to the ecstasy as she started sucking and stroking him in earnest.

It’d been too long. His body began vibrating almost instantly. His balls were tight and pained with the need to come because Melody was
really
good at this. He wasn’t expecting it. They hadn’t been together long enough for him to have grown accustomed to the flare of passion. He felt blindsided by the pleasure and longing she churned up in him. He didn’t think he could want this badly or ache this deeply until they’d fallen into each other’s lives.

Teeth clenched, body tight, he fought once more to open his eyes. He watched her suck him, pink lips glistening as she took him in her mouth hard and deep over and over again. He let the memory etch itself into his brain because it was an exquisite sight. Then he used his hold on her hair to tug hard enough to force her to release.

“Come here.” He groaned, knowing he was two seconds away from losing it.

Melody’s breathing was shallow, her eyes wild as she looked up at him in confusion. “What?”

“Come here,” he repeated and reached down to grasp her wrist. “Come here and
lemme
feel you, Mel. I need it.”

Melody must have needed it too because she crawled over him without complaint. When she sat straddled over him, Clay leaned up to rest his weight on one open palm. He used his hold on her hair to tug her head back, and leaned down to feast on the thrust of her tits. He sucked on one pink nipple hungrily, his tongue
laving
the taut bud until it tightened against his lips.

“God.”
Melody bowed more deeply into the pull of her hair, offering herself up to him. “Why does it feel so good?”