Page 45 of Worth the Ruin
So, I should just man the fuck up and say something, right?
When we both emerge from our rooms at the same time before dinner, I figure it might just be a sign from the universe.
“Hey,” she says casually. She’s in the hoodie that she almost always wears, the one that’s a bit too big for her and I’m pretty sure was Jonah’s, and her hair is loose and curling in long waves down her back. God I love her fucking hair. I don’t know why, but it’s like my Kryptonite. I want to run my fingers through it, wrap it around my fist and pull her face to mine, or maybe use it to tilt her head back, force her to look up at me from her knees—I cut the thoughts off before they can spiral.
“Hey yourself,” I say, giving her an easy smile. I move closer and lean against the wall beside her door. “I’m sorry I’ve been a little MIA since we got back. I had a lot of shit to get situated with our, uh, change in leadership and everything.”
“It’s fine, I get it.” She leans against the wall beside me and smirks. “Heavy is the crown and all that.”
“Yeah, it really is.” I mean for the words to come out light but there’s a note of heaviness to them. It’s true. It is fucking heavy and I’ve been carrying it for so long. I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to step into this role, and I’m glad that I did it. I like to think that a whole lot of people are better off since I took control and I’m happy to shoulder the burden, but I wonder when it will be time to put it down, or hand it off to someone else.
She studies me for a long minute in that calculating way of hers, like she’s seeing down to my soul and fettering out all of my darkest secrets. I wish I could read her mind. I’m desperate to know what she’s thinking, what she wants.
She seems to make a decision, straightening and shifting her shoulders back.
“Listen, I’m too old for the worrying and the guessing and the are-we-aren’t-we bullshit.” My eyes widened slightly. “So, I’mgoing to ask the simple question, and you’re going to give me the simple answer, deal?”
“Alright,” I say, quirking a brow and holding my fucking breath. She inhales deeply and holds my gaze for a long minute. She exhales and her eyes dip to my lips.
“Oh fuck it,” she mutters before reaching out and gripping the front of my shirt. She tugs me down and slams her lips to mine. I freeze for a heartbeat, but then give in completely, groaning and tunneling my hands through her hair like I’ve been dying to do. I bite gently at her bottom lip and she gasps, tightening her grip on my shirt. I tilt my head and deepen the kiss, thrusting my tongue against her own. This isn’t like the soft kiss we’d shared in the camper. This is pure fire, threatening to consume us both. I need more. I don’t know that I’ll ever get enough.
She moans against my lips, and moves one hand to my hip, hooking a finger in my belt loop and using it to tug me forward. I turn us so that her back’s against the wall, my body pressing fully against hers. God, the feel of her pinned beneath me is enough to make me lose my mind. She inches her fingers under the hem of my shirt and I shudder at the touch, my muscles clenching. She rocks her hips against me and I think she might just be as desperate as I am.
“I didn’t hear a question in there, Melody,” I rasp and she smiles against my lips.
“Why do you always call me that?” she asks as I kiss along her jaw.
At her ear, I whisper, “Well, it’s your name, isn’t it?” When I pull her earlobe through my teeth, she shudders, pulling me harder against her.
“You know…what I mean,” she pants as I lick and kiss down her neck, across her collarbone and throat, and back up theother side. I want to kiss every inch of her, my blood on fire at the thought. I pull back and met her gaze.
“I just…like the way it sounds on my lips,” I tell her honestly. I really can’t explain it any other way.Melfits her, butMelodyjust feels right for me. For us, together.
“I like the sound of it on your lips too,” she says with a sultry smile that makes my cock throb. I’m so hard I swear to God I might bust through my jeans. I lean in and brush my nose against hers.
“So, about that question…?”
She laughs a little breathlessly and bites her lip. I’m just about to lean in and take over, maybe move things inside one of our rooms, when the door to the stairs flies open. We spring apart like we’ve been caught doing something we shouldn’t be, which is ridiculous. I can do whatever the fuck I want, really, and no one with any kind of good sense will question it. But this is different than me with the other girls. This is more than just getting laid. This ismoreeverything, and I don’t know how I want to handle sharing this more with anyone else yet.
So, I take another step away from Melody and try to act normal. I clear my throat and try to discretely adjust a few things. She pulls her lips in to hide her smile and I’m glad that she doesn’t seem upset or like she’s regretting what had just happened.
“Landry,” I say, trying not to sound as annoyed as I feel at his sudden appearance. He doesn’t typically end up on this hallway. He’s part of my security team, but he was never put on guard duty up here, and that duty has all but been eliminated now anyway. I only had them for the first few weeks that Melody was here, just I case she got any crazy ideas like trying to stab me in my sleep or anything.
“Can I help you?” When I meet his eyes, worry unfurls in my stomach and I tense. Something is wrong “What happened?”
Wynn looks between me and Melody, and that worry turns into an icy ball of dread. She straightens, reading the situation as well as I have, knowing Wynn well enough to understand that something bad has happened and it has something to do with her.
“What?” she asks, stepping forward. “What’s wrong, Wynn?”
“It’s…It’s Jonah.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
MELODY
My blood roarsin my ears and I feel too cold and too hot all at once.
“What?” I bark. “What happened?” I glance at Traeger. A second ago, I’d felt a connection that I honestly never thought I’d feel again, along with all whole host of other, more carnal things. Now, when I look at him, all I feel is a hot, simmering rage.
