Page 42 of Love Me Darkly
“For the love of God, don’t … don’t move … fuck …”
He eased out of her slowly, his vision going hazy at the edges as her inner walls stroked him, coating him in her juices.
“I need you to be still,” he told her between ragged breaths. “Don’t … don’t move, just … let me …”
He stared down at his cock, glistening in the meager light, his head poised just within her opening. He watched with feral satisfaction as he plunged back in, using his hold on her thighs to propel her into his thrust. She threw her head back, lips parting on a breathless moan. The sound echoed from the walls, reverberating through his ear canal and piercing his psyche. It lodged deep, forming itself into the kind of memory that would haunt him for life, tease him from the darkest recesses of his mind when the world around him grew quiet and still.
That sound sent him spiraling, his fingers tightening on her thighs as he gave her everything he had, everything he’d been holding back since Saints and Sinners night. Everything he’d wanted from the moment he’d seen her dancing in that cage, an angel dangling over a pit of demons.
He pounded her relentlessly, urging her legs around him and then holding on to her waist. He snapped his hips, battering her, rocking the crate and forcing more of those ear-tingling sounds from deep in her throat. She clawed at the crate for purchase, but Mateo couldn’t slow down, couldn’t stop trying to drill his way through her, to tear her open the way she had done him with nothing more than a look into her eyes. He glanced down to find her watching him, her eyes wide and glassy but penetrating, searing him to the bone. He couldn’t tear his gaze away, couldn’t stop drowning in her eyes while claiming her body with every ounce of his savage being. He wanted her marked and branded, sore and throbbing. He wanted her to carry him with her for days.
“This what you wanted?” he moaned. “No, don’t close your eyes, look at me. Look what you’ve done to me while you take everything I give you.”
He snatched down the front of her dress, finding she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. His rapt gaze fastened on her breasts and held, the bounce and sway of them hypnotizing. He bent his head to capture a dark, delicate nipple between his teeth. He bit down on the little bud, sending up a scream from Melody that gave truth to the promise of her name. Music. Sweet, soul-stirring music. He did it again, and then again, changing the angle of his hips and going harder, faster, making her sing. Her heels dug into his lower back, puncturing him, undoubtedly leaving their marks behind. The burn mingled with the fire tearing him up inside, licking at him with scorching flames, consuming them both.
His heart pounded in rhythm with his hips, beating a cadence of lust and possession.
She climaxed with a sharp cry, shaking and writhing beneath him as he fucked her through her finish. He was hot on her heels, hurtling over the edge, unraveling so fast it left him breathless.
“Fuck, Melody,” he rasped through his burning throat, gasping and fighting for every breath even as he strained toward release. He could taste it in the back of his throat, feeling it erupting from him like molten fire. “I can’t … can’t fucking stop … oh, fuck …”
He pushed into her one last time, holding himself as deep as he could go as he released in a torrent of heat. He wrung himself dry inside her, pumping his hips and giving her every drop. It seemed to go on and on, flooding from him on waves of euphoria. He closed his eyes and dropped his head, arms trembling as he struggled to go on holding himself over her. He felt as if his very soul had been sucked from his body.
Mateo fought for air, the world around him slowly coming back into focus. Melody lay panting beneath him, eyes closed. He eased out of her with a grunt, her greedy cunt clenching around him as if desperate to keep him inside.
His hands were steadier now as he straightened, zipping and buttoning himself up before closing his belt. Melody remained where he’d left her, her limbs splayed, chest heaving. He took his time pulling her back together, closing her legs and easing her dress back down before pulling it up in the front.
“Come here,” he whispered, reaching for her.
She fell into his arms as if boneless, clinging to the front of his shirt and burying her face in his chest. A wave of tenderness swept over him, and he stroked his hand over her ponytail, tracing the sleek braids to their ends before running a hand down her back. Burying his nose in the crown of her head, he inhaled, breathing her in.
“Every time I touch you, I tell myself it’ll be the last time,” he murmured. Squeezing his eyes shut, he shook his head. “Then I see you again and forget why last time had to be the last.”
She raised her head to look up at him, eyes heavy-lidded as if she’d been drugged. “Every time I see you, I tell myself not to let you get too close. Not to let you touch me. And then I see you again, and forget why I’m not supposed to let you get too close.”
A moment ago, they’d been as close as two people could be. Despite knowing he’d kept her away from work too long, he wasn’t ready to let her go. He wanted to keep her close even now that it was over, only now he craved stillness and silence. He wanted her breath soft and warm on his neck as she drifted off the sleep. But they couldn’t have that. Not here, not now; maybe not ever. Reluctantly, he set her away from him. A hollow ache blossomed in his chest at the distance.
“Go,” he murmured. “They’ve definitely missed you by now.”
Melody blinked up at him, still looking a bit dazed. Odd, how calm he was when a moment ago he had felt like tearing himself out of his own skin.
“I guess I’ll be seeing you around?”
The corner of his mouth ticked into an almost-smile. “Not if I’m careful.”
She huffed a soft laugh and shook her head. “My own personal stalker. I don’t know whether to be scared or flattered.”
Before she could walk away, he grabbed her arm. Going into his pocket with his other hand, he came out with one of the keycards to his hotel room. She accepted it, giving him a quizzical look.
“Marriott Bonvoy on Canal Street, room 317. If you’re ever in trouble or …”
Her expression melted into something warm and sweet. Something that tugged on Mateo’s heart strings like he was a marionette and she the handler.
“That’s really sweet, but I don’t think it would be a good idea.”
He closed her fingers around the keycard. “Take it. The offer stands.”
Nodding, she quickly tucked the keycard into the neckline of her dress, then tugged on the hem before turning to walk away. Mateo paced away from the door, wanting to give it a few minutes before he exited behind her. He didn’t think anyone had seen them go down the hall together, but he couldn’t be too careful. She had been right to remind him that there might be eyes watching. If Melody was in as deep as he assumed—and the few details she’d shared suggested that she was—then her position was a precarious one. Some new guy sniffing around her heels would raise red flags. The last thing he wanted to do was endanger her more. Yet, he was incapable of staying away.
