Stolen Melody (Snow and Ash #2) (14 page)

“Of course,” she mutters.

I rest my head against the wood as another wave gathers, then let loose again. I’ve got to pull it together. I can’t stop Axel from going any more than I can stop that other gang from coming.

“Jesus.” Mia put on a pretty good Christian-lady act back in Sadie’s Bend, but then I guess we all did. Here at the fort, I get to see the real deal.

“Sorry.” I sweep the hair back from my face with shaking fingers and turn to go inside. Surprisingly Mia pinches out her joint, stuffs it in her pocket, and follows me like a gnat.

Three men stand in front of the counter, waiting to make their exchange.

“Sorry, I wasn’t feeling well,” I mumble as I pull out the ledger.

“Yeah, right.” Mia shrugs out of her coat. “Go home to your boyfriend.”

I stare at her. So do the others. Has she been invaded by a friendly poltergeist?

“Will you just git?” She slaps my coat down on the counter and shoves me out of the way. “You owe me big.”

She doesn’t like me, and she’s definitely not my best friend either, but she’s right about that. I owe her big. “I’ll pull a double tomorrow,” I mumble as I shove my fists into my sleeves. I’m still shaking, but I feel a little better.

“Bill?”

He turns from the array of dried meat and blinks at me.

“Be careful, ’kay? And, um, Axel…” I don’t want to say look out for him. Axel is huge. Mean. Strong enough to tear a man in half if he wants to.

Bill nods. “No worries. He’ll be fine.”

I push the front door open, sending a blast of tiny ice particles inside.

Axel turns. “Hey, what are you doing home?”

He’s packing his bag. He’s even got his guns out. He’s really going off to war. Emptiness stabs me in the chest, and he hasn’t even left yet.

“Aw, Mel.” He pulls me to him, and the structure of his Kevlar vest feels unnatural against my chest. “It’s okay.”

“What if you don’t come home?”

He rubs his hands over my arms and up to my shoulders. “I’ll be back. I always come back.”

My stomach tilts again, and I retreat a step. “Bill told me these guys are really sharp.”

His eyes harden, and he turns and zips his pack shut. “Shit like this happens. It’s just a part of life.”

Not the life I know. Not the life any of us should ever get used to. “Then you need to leave soldiers in all those towns, or else bring everyone here!”

He looks over his shoulder, his eyebrows raised. “And put them where?”

I think of Pastor North, of old Mrs. Glaros. They’d be such easy prey. Axel is stuffing packets of bullets, some of them probably hand pressed by me, into the side pocket of his pack. Bullets. God, what will I do if he gets hurt? Or worse? Go back to Pastor North? Run away with Randy Foster? I don’t want to. I want Axel’s calloused hands, warm lips, and merciless cock. I’ve seen the boy in the man, and I want so badly to draw him out and hold him.

Axel grinds his teeth. “I got someone coming to look after you while I’m gone.”

I nod. “Bill said something about that.”

“Anything happens to me, you stick close to him. If he offers to claim you, let him.”

I will not be claimed by another man!

Axel reveals a trace smile. “You got nothing to worry about from Zack Tomasello. He’s big, black, and gay, and he ain’t interested. But he’ll keep the rabble from going after you.”

I shake my head. He shouldn’t be talking this way. “Just how big is this army?”

He shrugs as if it’s nothing, but he doesn’t meet my eyes. I don’t like this at all.

Axel looks up as though he’s suddenly remembered something. “I want that Mia woman here with you while I’m gone.”

He’s got to be kidding.

He raises a brow and cocks his head. “Don’t question me on this.”

“Okay, fine. But don’t you freakin’ stick me with Mia for more than a couple days. The second you’re done out there, get your butt back here.” I draw in a shuddering breath as my throat goes tight. “I need you here, at home.”

He smiles, a little sadly I think. He teases me with a flash of tenderness, but only for a moment.

I can’t handle all this sadness. My body thrums with anxiety, and unfortunately only Axel can ease that for me. God, I need him. If only he could…well, it’s useless to even think about it.

“When you get home,” I tell him, “I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”

He brightens, and the front of his pants tent. “Anything?”

I nod, imagining all the nasty, filthy things he could do to me, and my panties go damp. My Axel has a hard-on, and he’s about to leave, and I might never see him again. I shouldn’t want to cry, but it’s there, just behind my eyes, in my chest one breath away. I am not sending him off without letting him know I care.

I unhook his belt and slide his zipper down.

“We don’t have time for this,” he tells me gently. He thinks I want him to fuck me, but that’s not it.

Ignoring him, I slide his pants down until his cock springs free, and I kneel and breathe in his scent. So warm, so musky. So Axel.

He sucks in a breath. “You don’t have to.”

He knows I hate this.

I fist his cock and give it a gentle squeeze, and I look straight into his eyes. “I want to.”

And I do. I run my tongue up his length, then lick my lips and take the head into my mouth. I’m rewarded by the salty taste of him, and for some reason this time I don’t feel the need to gag.

Axel sucks in a breath and throws his head back.

I lick the length of his cock again, making sure to moisten all of him. Remembering how much he likes it, I take one of his balls in my mouth and give it a gentle suck.

Axel groans and buries his hands in my hair. His breaths are coming hard and fast, and so are mine.

I’m still cupping his nuts when I wrap my lips around him again. I slide him back my tongue.. He’s always wanted me to deep throat him, but every time he tries, he chokes me and I cry. I use my lips and my hand together, stroking him up and down, in and out of my mouth. Axel takes my head in a fierce grasp and begins pumping. He glowers down at me, owning me, begging me, and I can’t look away. The slurping, sucking sounds we make drench my panties to the point where he could probably fit two of him inside me. He grows even harder. He pushes too far back, and just like previous times, I gag and pull back.

His chest heaves. “Sorry.”

I refuse to give up. I lick his length till he’s good and wet, and I take him into my mouth again.

“Yeah,” he murmurs. “Suck it.”

I keep my eyes on him as I ease his dick back, stopping when I feel the urge to gag, then continuing. I withdraw once, twice, three times, taking in desperately needed air. The fourth time, I close my eyes, swirl my tongue around him, and take him deep.

“Aw, yeah, Jesus, fuck, yeah!”

And deeper.

He’s not even forming words by the time his dick hits something at the back of my throat. He jerks his hips and pushes past. For a moment I panic. There’s no way for me to draw in air. I am completely at his mercy.

His gaze burns into mine. I can’t breathe, his cock is in my throat, my nose is buried in his pubic hair, and it’s the most intimate moment we’ve ever shared. He jerks back and begins fucking my mouth with furious thrusts. I use my hand to squeeze his balls, and he shoves his cock in past the gag. This time I’m not ready, and I whimper.

“God! Motherfucker yeah! Baby!” He grips my head and shoves his penis all the way back, as far as it will go. He gives an inarticulate cry and shoots wad after wad straight down my throat. I have no choice but to accept it all.

He’s still shuddering when he releases my head and eases his member out of my throat. His whole body shakes as he draws me to my feet. He cups my face and kisses me deeply, and doesn’t seem to mind the taste of his own cum.

I want to meld myself into him, to become one. Carefully I fix his clothes, zip his pants up for him, and buckle his belt. He blinks hard. Then he envelops me in his arms. I think that’s when I know I’m in trouble. I think that’s when I know that I will never, ever leave him.

“Axel.” I don’t have anything to say, but he seems not to mind. He cups my face again and kisses me ever so softly. The way he gazes at me makes my heart stop.

“I wouldn’t leave if I didn’t have to,” he says as he shoulders his pack.

“I’ll be waiting for you.” For goodness’ sake, I just had his dick in my mouth, but now I’m shy. I smile at the thought. “Start thinking about what you want to do to me when you get home.”

He opens the door, but he looks back at that and grins. “Anything?”

He seems so eager I can’t help returning his smile. “Anything.”

“Crackers? Where’d you get motherfucking crackers?” Back before the ash fall, Zack Tomasello would have been pulled over and questioned by the police a good six times a month. Tall, black, built like a boxer and with a face that would make the queen of England flutter, he was now the object of desire for half the women at the fort. It really was too bad he was gay.

“They aren’t hard to make,” I tell him as I set the pot of chili in the middle of the table.

Zack and Mia ladle servings into their bowls. Mia sniffs it suspiciously.

For crying out loud.

Zack takes a spoonful and stares at it. He peels back his lips and opens his teeth and takes a nip. He takes another. Then he leans back in his chair and grins. “No wonder Axel’s in love.”

I blush. Axel is devoted, that’s for sure, but it’s not about love, and it’s not about my cooking.

“You can actually cook?” Mia scowls, but then she always does. I wish someone would find her a couple romance novels. A case of them. Maybe that would bring a smile to her face.

“Pastor North didn’t starve to death,” I point out.

She scoops some chili onto a cracker and pops it into her mouth. After a few chews she nods. “Maybe you ain’t so useless after all.”

Wow. “Now don’t go getting soft on me, Mia.”

She snorts and scoops up another bite.

I’m just about to sit down when there’s a knock at the door.

Zack tenses. “You expecting someone?”

I shake my head, and he gets to his feet. He opens the front door and glares into the darkness. “What you think you’re doing here?”

“I thought Imogen lived here.” It’s Randy, and he sounds embarrassed.

Zack opens the door wider. “You know this guy?”

Randy steps in and rubs his gloveless hands together.

I sigh. “It’s okay, Zack. He used to be one of my bodyguards.”

“Bodyguards?” Mia frowns. “What for?”

I wipe a hand over my big, fat mouth. “You guys eat. Randy, wait for me outside. I’m going to grab my coat.”

“Oh no, you won’t.” Zack crosses his arms over his chest.

“I’ll be on the porch the entire time, Zack.”

Randy glares at him. “Is this the guy?”

I blink. “No! No. He’s just here to watch over me—over us—while Axel’s gone.”

Randy shifts on his feet. He glances around the room as I fish out my coat.

“This is way better than living in the dorm. Let me tell you,” Mia says to Zack with a wink.

As soon as the door is closed behind us, Randy grabs my shoulders. “Look. We don’t have much time. The guys’ll be tied up with this skirmish for a couple days, but they’ll be back. We need to leave for Asheville tonight.”

I step back from him, but then I realize that might seem rude, so I stuff my hands in my back pockets. Dang it. Yesterday I might have said yes. A month ago I would have leaped at the chance. But now?

Randy shakes his head. “What’s wrong?”

I moisten my lips. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just…”

“Oh hell no! Don’t even think of telling me you’re fine. He beats you, Imogen. You need to get out of here.”

Heat flashes through my chest. “He’s not beating me!”

“I’ve seen the bruises! Damn it! When you were Melody, no man would dare touch you like that!”

I suck in a breath and rock on my toes. Randy’s right about one thing. Leaving now makes perfect sense. I know I can trust him, and where Randy’s going, I’ll be protected by a larger, more powerful army. But…Axel’s face, just before he left. That trust.

“You could be happy, like before,” he urges.

I blink. “I wasn’t happy. My whole life was either a hotel room or a tour bus. It was fun for a while, but I want a home.”

He reaches for my hands. “I can give you that home.”

His eyes are so earnest. He would be good to me. I can tell. His touch would be filled with tenderness, and nothing and no one would get by him and hurt me. If I leave, that means I’ll never see Axel again. I’ll never be with someone who understands me better than I understand myself. He’ll never be able to make me feel clean.

“I’m not leaving.”

Twin slashes separate his eyebrows. “I don’t get it. I really don’t.”