Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) (26 page)

“Yes, sir,” Melody
agreed again, more than a little eager to get out of the hospital bed and go
home with Cal.  She couldn’t wait to go home and slide into a hot shower. 
Hospitals always left her feeling grimy and out of sorts.  Relieved to see the
doctor nod at her and move toward the exit, Melody turned her head and found
Millie’s kind eyes staring at her.

“I’ll be back in two
shakes, hon.” Glancing toward Cal, the nurse added, “Are you good to help her
get dressed?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, then.  Don’t
give her any more grief tonight, okay?  Tomorrow is soon enough for you two to
argue over who exactly did what wrong.  Tonight, you both need to rest and give
thanks that this didn’t have a far worse outcome.”

Both Melody and Cal
nodded as Millie offered them a last smile before departing the room.  Waiting
until the nurse had cleared the doorway, Melody turned her head toward Cal.  “I
really
am
sorry that I didn’t say something sooner about the notes.  You
might not believe me, but I was going to confess everything tonight.”

“Knew that, babe,” Cal
acknowledged softly, reaching for the slacks Melody had worn earlier that were
now draped over the back of his chair.  “Swing your legs around here, and we’ll
slide your pants on.”

Moving slowly, she did
as Cal instructed.  Staring at his averted face, she bit her lip as he slid her
trousers over her feet and up her legs.  “You knew?  How?”

“You told Honor about
them.  After she heard you were hurt tonight, Honor called and filled in Zeke
on your conversation this afternoon.  He told me while we were waiting for you
to get done with your cat scan.  Not gonna lie; I still wanna spank your ass
for not telling me when it happened, but I know you were gonna come clean
tonight and tell me everything.”

“To be clear, the
second note only came after I talked to Honor and Harmony this afternoon.  So,
there was really only one threat that I didn’t tell you about, Cal,” Melody
explained as the man she loved slid her ballet flats on her bare feet. 

Looking up from his
chore, Cal shook his head wearily.  “Melody, that’s still one thing too many
that I didn’t know.  Can you see that?”

“Yes,” she whispered
guiltily.  “I can.”

“How would you feel if
I hid things from you?  Important things?” Cal questioned, his voice stark. 

“I’d feel betrayed –
like you didn’t trust me enough to confide in me,” she answered truthfully as
it sank in just how badly she’d screwed up. 

“Yeah, that about sums
up my current mindset, too,” he confirmed, rising from his chair to stand
beside the bed as he reached behind her neck for the tie to her hospital gown. 
“Honestly, Melody, I’m not sure what else I can do to prove to you that you’re
my end game, baby.  My forever.  Every time you put yourself in danger… every
time I see you in a fuckin’ hospital bed, I feel like the skin is being flayed
off my body.  I feel like you’re trying to take away my forever, Mel.  And that
shit really stings.  I don’t think you get that I’d do
anything
to keep
you safe, and when you’re in danger….”  He trailed off, lapsing into silence. 
“Maybe you just don’t want this as much as I do.”

Sinking her teeth into
her trembling bottom lip as he slid the simple hospital shift down her arms,
setting it aside as he reached for her sweater, Melody wondered how to repair
this rift between them.  Callum had somehow become the single most important
person in her life over the last couple of months.  Knowing she’d hurt him
gutted her.  “Please, Cal, don’t say that.  It isn’t true.” she murmured as he
carefully slid her arms through the sleeves and helped her slide the sweater
over her head, “I do want this.  Don’t give up on me.”

“Give up on you?” he
whispered back, his eyes widening in disbelief.  “What the hell are you talking
about?”

“It sounds like you’re
getting ready to leave me.  To up and walk away because I screwed up. 
Again
,
I know,” Melody sniffled, her eyes clouding up with tears again.  “I realize
that I’m not good at this relationship stuff.  You’re mad and frustrated. 
Rightfully so, too.  But, I swear, I’ll try harder.  Because what I realized
tonight when that stupid car was racing toward me and my feet were frozen to
the pavement was that I didn’t wanna leave you.  I didn’t want to die and have
to leave you.  My whole life flashed before my eyes and I saw that until you
walked into mine, I wasn’t really living.  I was existing, making the best of
what I had – even if what I had was a man that didn’t deserve me.  The day you
bulldozed your way into my life, though, that’s the moment I think I really
took my first deep breath.  I’d been sleeping my way through life, and you woke
me up.  Made me feel all those things that – if I’d really been in love with
Brad – I would have experienced with him.”

“Melody…”

“So, yes, that means I
love you.  And I’m terribly sorry if I’m putting you on the spot, and I don’t
expect you to feel the same way, but I can’t not say it to you.  Life’s too
short.  I love you.  I mean, I
really
love you, Callum.  I love you in
that way a woman should love the man she wants to spend the rest of her life
with. Don’t let my stubbornness and stupidity ruin us now that I’ve finally
gotten my head out of my ass,” she begged, her eyes watering as his granite jaw
relaxed and he shook his head. 

“Baby, did that blow to
your head knock a screw loose in your noggin?” he asked a little worriedly,
moving to cup her pale cheeks.  “I’m not leaving you.  I’m
never
leaving
you.”

“But you said…”

“I said I didn’t know
how to get through to you about what it does to me when you take risks like not
telling me some asshole is still threatening you.   Never once did I threaten
you with leaving.  Don’t you see yet that I could no more walk away from your
ass than I could sprout wings and fly to the moon?  Jesus, woman,” he groaned,
running an exasperated hand over the top of his head.  “Can’t you see that I’m
in love with you, too?  That until I found you I was just wandering through
life?  You saved me from a lifetime of loneliness.  Do you think I’d ever
willingly give you up?”

“I…”

“The answer is no, I
wouldn’t.  You’re mine, baby.  You’ve been mine since RJ handed me your picture
sitting in our tent in the middle of a warzone.  You just didn’t know it quite
yet.”

“Yeah?” Melody exhaled
shakily when her swimming eyes met his as a wave of sweet relief washed over
her.  He loved her.  He’d said it.  Out loud.  To her.  And she could tell by
the look of unwavering certainty shining in his eyes that these weren’t words
he was throwing out there in the heat of the moment just to calm her down.

Nope, he meant what he
said.

Just like she did.

Weirdly, amid the
feelings of joy that he felt the same way she did and liberation that she’d
been able to confess her love for him without hurling all over his shoes, she
also realized that she felt a tiny bit ashamed.  Oh, not of Cal or anything she
felt for them.  No, she was embarrassed that she hadn’t been smart enough to
figure out that the reason she’d always felt as though something was missing
with Brad was because a key ingredient HAD actually been missing in their
relationship.  

Love.

Oh, she’d cared about
her ex when she’d been with him.  She’d even
thought
that she’d loved
him.  She’d said it to him, too, and she actually hadn’t
known
she was
lying to him. 

But she had been.

Because what she’d felt
while she’d been with Brad had been a pale, empty imitation of what she
experienced when she was with Cal. 

With Cal there wasn’t
any of the empty achiness she’d felt in her heart before he steamrolled his way
into her life.  There was no gaping void inside her heart any longer.   Cal filled
every nook and cranny.

“Babe, as much as I
wish we could stand here all night and talk about our feelings, there’s some
other important stuff we need to discuss,” he added gently.  “Zeke is checking
out your ex-dickhead’s alibi for tonight as we speak, but he pointed out
something to me tonight that disturbed me and made me think that maybe we’ve
been looking in the wrong direction.”

“You finally believe
me?  You don’t think Brad’s a threat?”

“Whether Weller is your
stalker or not, babe, he wants you.  In my eyes, that automatically makes him a
threat.”

“No, it just makes him
a pain in our ass, but enough about him,” Melody corrected with a tired yawn.  
“What do you mean by we might be looking in the wrong direction.”

Helping her slip on her
coat over the thin sweater she now wore, Cal sighed.  “Zeke pointed out that
the ways this asshole has come at you… it doesn’t read like a man.  Attempted
poisoning… a hit and run.  They’re crimes that put distance between you and
your assailant.  If you look at it from a strictly analytical standpoint, these
crimes…”

“You think it was a
woman,” Melody summarized, finally catching the gist of what he was trying to
say. 

Cal shrugged.  “Maybe. 
Zeke seems to think so, anyway.  Question is, have you pissed off any chicks
recently that I don’t know about?”

“Well… there was that
barista the morning we met.  As I recall it, she was less than pleased with
both of us, but you’re the one that called her a bitch.  If anything, she’d be
stalking
you,
” Melody retorted pertly, flashing him a sweet smile. 
“Honestly, I don’t really make a habit of collecting enemies, Cal.  Men OR
women.  Other than with you, I don’t really
have
arguments with anyone.”

Cal chuckled.  “Glad to
know I’m the lucky bastard that you’ll fight with.”

Leaning forward to rest
her head against Cal’s strong chest, Melody immediately felt more secure when
his arms closed around her.  “You know, I’d fight
for
you, too, if you
needed me.”

 “I know, baby,” he
murmured against her temple as she slumped against him, her eyes fluttering
before they closed completely.

“This has to end, Cal,”
Melody muttered into his chest sleepily. 

Burying one hand in the
hair at the back of her head, Cal’s fingers tightened against her scalp.  “It
will, Melody.  I promise, it will.”

“Okay, lovebirds,”
Millie Daniels’ kind voice called as she breezed back into the room, “Let’s get
y’all sprung from hospital hell.”

And as Melody opened
her eyes, she knew nothing much could sound better than that.

“Babe,” Cal groaned
between sweet, searching kisses from a little demon determined to make him
reconsider his moral high ground, “It ain’t happening. Not yet.  You’re just
torturing us both and it won’t do any good.  I won’t change my mind.”

“Cal,” Melody whined,
her body pressing closer as she rolled toward him in the bed.  “Don’t be a
prude.”

Nearly choking on a
bark of laughter, Callum shook his head.  “You’re joking right?  A prude?” he
echoed with no small amount of incredulity.  “Really?”

“I’m forced to call
them like I see them, and circumstances would indicate that I’m merely stating
facts, not maligning you,” Melody challenged condescendingly , moving until her
chin rested on his bare chest, her eyes daring him to make a move.  “C’mon!  
It’s been three days already.”

“Babe.  Love you.  Love
every single part of you. 
Especially
love that tight, hot pussy.  But
even with all that, this ain’t happening,” he denied, hissing through his teeth
when her tiny, devious hand slid between them and moved quickly to slide into
his silk boxers.  Hell, he thought underwear would dissuade her…or at the very
least, slow her down, but he was quickly finding that Melody could be a
persistent little minx when she was horny.  “What the hell do you think you’re
doing?” he growled when her silken fist closed around his dick.

“Exploring,” she
retorted succinctly, her dogged gaze narrowing as an impish smile played at her
lips.  “Just lie back and rest your head, sweetie, and I’ll do all the work. 
You won’t have to lift a finger.”

“Princess, I promise…
you keep trying to discover new territory, and a lot more than my finger is
gonna get lifted.”  Biting back a low moan of pleasure as her hand moved over
his straining erection, Cal finally found the wherewithal to capture her wrist
and pull her talented little hand away from him.  “You’re hurt,” he managed to
grind out as he felt her blunt little teeth nip the cord in his neck as she
muttered her frustration.

“I
was
hurt,”
she corrected even though her words were muffled against his skin as her tongue
stroked over her bite.  “I’m all better now.” She tried to convince him.

“The stitches still in
your forehead and bruises on your body say otherwise,” Cal denied gruffly, his
eyes moving over the yellowing bruises marring one side of her face and
peppering one whole side of her body.  “If you think that I’m gonna do
anything
that might hurt you….ooomph,” he gasped as Melody threw one leg over his
body and fluidly moved to straddle him.  “Woman, what do you think you’re
doing?” he asked when her delicate little hands braced against his chest and
her hips rolled against his, her blinding smile victorious.

Scooting back until her
ass rested against his muscular thighs, Melody shook her head, not to be
refused.  “Okay, Sergeant Stingy, it’s time to listen to
me
.”

Chuckling, Cal arched
an eyebrow.  “Well, I gotta say, I’ve never had quite so sexy a commanding
officer, but something you should know about me, Mel, is that I’ve been known
to defy orders a time or two in the past if I believed the order endangered the
overall mission.  And my mission right now is to make sure that my beautiful
woman stays healthy and whole in the face of a whack job trying to make her
otherwise.  What you propose is in direct opposition to my directive.  Sorry,
sweetness, but our hormones are just gonna have to go on hold for the time
being.”

“You know, even
loudmouthed lunatics need some tender lovin’ sometimes, Cal,” Melody
admonished, leaning forward until her soft lips teased his.  “Give me ten
uninterrupted minutes to try and change your mind.  If you really want me to
quit after that, I will.  No complaints, no tears,” she bargained, trailing
feather-light kisses along the line of his shadowed jaw down the center of his
throat and over the hard planes of his chest.  Pausing when she reached the
center of his sternum, she lifted her dancing eyes to stare up his body at
him.  “Well?” she asked impatiently.  “You can handle a whole ten minutes,
can’t you?  If your convictions are truly that strong, nothing little old me
does will change them, right?” Melody questioned innocently.

“Right,” Cal grunted,
knowing with complete confidence that his tiny spitfire was about to use more
torturous techniques than the Taliban in an effort to get her way.  Watching as
she undulated her body seductively against him, he mentally began to count to a
hundred in a bid to distract himself from how incredibly edible her body
looked.  Christ, couldn’t the diminutive terror see that he was only trying to
protect her?  The last thing he wanted was for her to do something her body
wasn’t ready to handle, and god knew, he wasn’t a particularly gentle lover. 
Although, every time he touched Melody, her passion had burst into flame and
she’d begged him for more.

“You’re thinking too
hard, Callum” Melody chided as her velvety lips moved across his chest until
her lips hovered above one flat brown nipple.  Flicking her tongue against the
flat nub, she smiled wickedly as his breath caught audibly.

“God dammit, woman!”
Cal cursed, his head twisting against the pillow as the point of her slick
tongue drew circles around his nipple before biting it gently.  “You’re playing
with fire,” he warned as she giggled and moved her head to the opposite
nipple. 

“Then burn, baby,
burn,” Melody declared huskily, lifting her torso so that she could pull her
short satin nightshirt over her head.

“Christ, that’s just
mean, Melody,” Cal growled, his fists clenching against the mattress as the
urge to reach for her warm body beat at him.  Only his conscience kept him from
taking what she feely offered.  Well, that and the certainly that the guilt
would kill him if he accidently hurt her while making love to her.  No, he
thought firmly.  No, orgasm, no matter how good it felt, would be worth the
risk of hurting her healing body.

“I’m not mean, I’m
horny,” she informed him as she licked her lips and lifted her hand to cup her
breasts.  “Come on, Callum.  Don’t you want to take a little taste?”

What a stupid question,
he thought grumpily, eyeing her tits as though they were the last meal he might
ever get offered.  “Not hungry,” he muttered, trying to pull his eyes away from
her body, but those hard little nipples of hers kept taunting him and his stare
remained glued to her.

“Liar,” she accused
lightly, rubbing one hand against his still covered hardened dick.  “But even
on the off chance that you
are
telling the truth, I, for one, am starving.” 
Catching the elastic hem of his boxers, she tugged gently and freed his cock. 
Smiling, she released a shuddery breath as she stared down at the mushroom cap
of his dick, the hot flesh flushed an angry red color. 

Seeing the excited
glint in her eyes, Callum nearly released a decidedly unmanly whimper himself. 
He wasn’t sure how in the hell he was going to survive the next few minutes. 
“God, Melody,” he gasped as his sexy tormenter slowly leaned forward, her
breath cascading over his aching length.  “Babe, are you familiar with the term
cruel and unusual punishment’?  Because, this is the very definition of it.”

“Hmmm,” Melody hummed,
markedly unconcerned as her pink tongue darted forward to rub the sensitive
skin just beneath the ridge of his dick before slowly moving to lap at the drop
of pearly fluid leaking from his tip. 

Arrows of pure pleasure
found their mark, piercing Callum’s formidable willpower in a killing shot. 
“Fuck!” Cal blurted, his hips surging as the heat of her mouth covered the head
of his dick and her tongue fluttered against his slit.  “Melody, please, baby,”
he entreated roughly, unsure whether he was begging her to stop or keep going
at this point.

“Please, what?” Melody
questioned between blisteringly hot licks of her agile tongue.  “Is that a
‘Please stop,’ or a ‘Please, more,’ Soldier Boy?” she asked with a throaty
chuckle.

She didn’t laugh long
as the humid heat of her mouth caused his hips to buck, sending his cock deeper
into her mouth.  Hearing her low moan as his dick flexed against her tongue, he
couldn’t help burying a hand in her long, silky hair, tangling the strands
around his fingers as his short nails scratched her scalp.  “Ain’t been called
a boy in years, Melody.  What you’re holding in that devious little hand is
all
man, and if you don’t fuckin’ stop teasing, your ass is gonna feel the palm
of my hand,” he rumbled tightly.  “If you’re gonna suck it, then fuckin’
suck
it
,” he ordered, fucking up into her mouth with a short, shallow thrust of
his hips.  Her lips smiling around his dick was all the permission he needed to
go surge a little deeper, the biting pleasure consuming him as her cheeks
hollowed while she obeyed his order.

Cal clenched his jaw as
Melody hummed a carefree response as her nails scraped against his chest
erotically.  Staring down at her, he decided that she looked like a goddess kneeling
between his bent knees, her head bobbing up and down over his groin, taking him
deeper into the steamy depths of her mouth on every descent.    One minute bled
into another as her sinful mouth labored to push him past his limits.  He’d
thought he had the endurance to survive her wicked game, but he’d thought
wrong.  Tightening his fingers in her hair, he tugged gently, pulling her lips
from his glistening shaft.  Looking down his body at her with half-closed eyes,
he shook his head when Melody grinned wickedly.  “You’re done, babe,” he shared
in a gravelly voice thick with desire. 

“Only if you’re
surrendering.  I’ve got four minutes left if you’re not,” she informed him
tartly.

Dropping a hand to
stroke his cock, he sighed.  “You’re sure you’re feeling okay?”

“I already told you I
feel fine, Callum.  Would you like a sworn statement from my doctor vowing that
I’m in perfect physical shape to tolerate your intensely satisfying
love-making?”

“Would that be
possible?” Cal asked hopefully.

“No, it’s not,” Melody
denied flatly, rolling her eyes as she settled her very slick pussy over his
groin, his cock resting between the plump folds of her sex.  “But, you could
try
trusting
me.  I know it’s a novel concept, but I swear all the
couples are trying it these days,” she declared facetiously. 

That’s one of the
things that he loved about Melody most.  She wasn’t afraid to make fun of
herself, and she definitely wasn’t hesitant about making fun of him.  In fact,
she did it on a regular basis.  “You’re lucky I find smartass women a turn-on,”
he returned, gripping her hips to shift her over him so that he could slide
smoothly into her tight cunt.  “Fuck, you always feel like slick satin around
my cock,” he groaned as she took him to his root.

Several grunting, panting,
gasping minutes later, Cal knew Melody was riding the knife’s edge, that
painfully pleasurable moment where her body craved the final push she needed to
climax.  He might have been biased, but it was his very strong opinion that no
woman could even come close to being as beautiful as his… especially during
these pivotal seconds.  Her face glowed, her eyes closed, and her body was
poised for a powerful, mind blowing release.  He loved watching her like this.

“Cal!  So close,” she
whimpered as she rode him hard, her hips shuttling back and forth as she chased
her orgasm.  “I need to cum,” she begged, opening her eyes to stare into his
beseechingly.  “Please, honey!”

Hooking one hand around
her neck, he pulled her lips to his as his other arm wrapped around her lower
back and he powered up inside her, desperately trying to ignore his own
throbbing balls.  Fuck, if she didn’t hurry, he was going to beat her to the
finish line, and that could
NOT
happen.  Not on his watch.  He had a
strict ‘ladies, first’ policy.  He hadn’t taken his own pleasure before the
women he’d fucked that hadn’t mattered to him at all, and he’d be damned if he
did it with the one woman that mattered above all others. 

Kissing her deeply, he
groaned into Melody’s mouth as he felt her walls beginning to contract around
his pounding dick.  “That’s it, baby.  Gimmee that wet pussy,” he growled,
moving his lips across her cheek until he reached her neck, offering it a love
bite. 

“Yes!” Melody cried as
she threw back her head.  “Cal, yes!”

Feeling her body begin
to shudder and the walls of her sweet cunt begin to convulse, Cal knew she was
finding it as her hips churned frantically against him.  “That’s it, Princess,”
he murmured, staring up into her bliss filled face.  Her sheer beauty robbed
him of breath as her lips parted on a shout of ecstasy.  “Fuck, yes,” he
growled, unable to remain still as he rolled her to her back and came above
her.  Thrusting deep and true, he caught her scream of completion with his
mouth as his body took over, pumping hard and deep, his own release coming on
the heels of hers.

Collapsing over her,
Cal lifted his head when he heard Melody’s muffled laugh.  Pressing a final
kiss to her sweaty neck, he lifted his head to smile down into her happy face. 
“Finding something funny, Princess?”

“Nope,” she denied,
trying to school her face into a suitable post-coital expression.  “It’s just…I
think it’s safe to say I was wrong,” she continued as she cleared her throat. 
“You, sir, are
definitely
no prude.”