Page 12 of Ice Cold Christmas
There I go again, cursing even in my fucking head.
His mouth took hers. Her lips were soft beneath his. She gave a little gasp. Stiffened. His tongue swept inside her mouth, and, damn, but he’d missed her. Missed her taste and the wildfire of desire they could always ignite when they kissed. The way they’d go from zero to one hundred miles an hour, and she’d moan and arch into him and he’d have her naked and coming for him in about two minutes flat?—
The knife pressed harder into his chest. A quick flash of pain.
In the next instant, Melody shoved him away. “What in the world are you doing?”
He looked down at his chest. There was a drop of red blood on his white shirt. The blade had broken his skin.
“Oh, no.” A frantic shake of her head as she, too, saw the blood. “I cut you. I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean?—”
“You didn’t kiss me back.” His heart was leaden in his chest.
She still gripped the knife. “Why would you kiss me?”
“Why?” Victor ignored the blood.
“You hate me.” She looked around the room, seemingly confused. “You hate me. Everyone knows…and you come in here to kiss me?”
He’d come in there to fuck her. To reclaim his fiancée. Except Melody was staring at him like he was insane.
His spine snapped straight. His shoulders rolled back. “Strawberries.”
“Why do you keep saying that? There are no strawberries in here. If you want some, I’d suggest you check the kitchen.” Her nose scrunched. “I think you need to leave my room. Now.” Her voice cracked a bit around the edges of what should have been a hard order.
“Where were you for the last year?” His nostrils flared. Melody had always smelled like a blend of champagne and vanilla. With a hint of honeysuckle. Her signature fragrance. She’d had the special perfume imported from Paris.
She…didn’t smell like champagne and vanilla. No trace of honeysuckle. She smelled crisp. Clean. Maybe she carried the faintest scent of jasmine.
“Traveling.” A vague reply from her. “I was taking time for myself. Clearing my head.”
Utter bullshit. “You didn’t contact your family once. Your father has been sick.” Sebastian Mage’s condition was far worse than most people knew. Tonight had been one of his good nights. A very, very good night.
Most nights—and days—weren’t so good. Some of them were pure nightmares.
Melody flinched. “I…didn’t know that he was ill. It wasn’t in any news reports.”
He was sick before you left, Melody. It’s the whole reason I finally took over the company. How the fuck could you not know that about Sebastian? How the?—
He stopped the thought. Studied her again. The shorter hair. The thinner body. The cheeks that were far hollower and more pronounced than he’d ever seen before. Melody, but…different. He just hadn’t quite realized how different.
Why would she need to check the news to learn about her father’s illness? She’d gone with Sebastian to all of the original doctors’ visits. She knew what was wrong with Sebastian. Another reason why her disappearance hadn’t made sense. Despite her issues with her father—and there were certainly plenty of issues—Victor had never thought that Melody would leave Sebastian in his time of need.
Not willingly.
The rest of the world might have believed that Melody Mage was spoiled. Fickle. Narcissistic. But Victor had known the real woman.
No one’s heart had been as big as Melody’s. On her own, with zero help from her family, she’d created two shelters for women and abused children. She’d opened two food pantries. She’d stopped for every lost dog she’d seen in the road. Been constantly fostering animals as she found them the perfect home.
It was only those who didn’t truly know her who believed Melody was cold and uncaring.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Her right hand gripped the knife.
Melody had hated knives. Mostly because, a few years ago, she’d been mugged. The bastard who’d slashed her bag right off her shoulder had cut her with his blade. She’d been bleeding in the street.
She’d called Victor to help her.
He’d gotten her stitched up. He’d made sure the mugger was handled. In other words, he’d beaten the hell out of the bastard. No one hurt Melody on his watch. Not ever.
