Wait For Me (4 page)

When she turned sixteen, she asked him out. She’d wanted him so bad that she’d been willing to humiliate herself in front of him and the whole school during homecoming. He’d kissed the tip of her nose and told her to try again when she was eighteen. She thought he’d been blowing her off, but over those two, long, hellish years, every time she saw him, she made sure he held on to his control by a thread. Of course, it didn’t help that she flirted with other guys in front of him, teased him with short skirts and short shorts, and flaunted her curves.

When she was around, he couldn’t stop staring at her and that had been the whole point.

She wasn’t bold or outgoing by any stretch, but she wanted him and she wasn’t above using whatever methods she had to use in order to keep his interest.

He’d had to stay around town after graduation. The military had been his dream, his goal for as long as she’d known him, only a serious concussion during a football game in his freshman year and a series of seizures had put him on prescription medication for several years. Once he was cleared by his doctors, the Army had come back and told him he hadn’t been off the meds long enough.

Two years was a long-ass time for him to wait for what he wanted, but it gave her a chance she might not otherwise have had for several more years.

He slowed the movement of his hips and he licked at the sweat sliding between her tits. “Tell me you’re going to break it off with him.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m fucking worth it.”

He was right about that. He was worth it. He was worth every heartache, every tear, every sympathetic or pitiful look she received. He was worth everything. To feel him like this, to touch him, to be in his arms, to be impaled on his dick was worth it. To know he loved her…

She writhed against the wall. “I...I can’t believe we’re talking about this right now.”

“Defenses are down, baby.”

“Do you know I don’t fuck anyone else either? If you want to call what I do dating, fine. I date, I flirt, maybe I even cock tease a little but I don’t go to bed with anyone. You’re the only goddamn man who’s been between my legs. Ever. Every man in three counties and probably the whole state knows I’m spoken for.”

The surprise in his eyes was worth the humility of her admission. She’d always let him assume she was fucking whomever she could while he was gone because she was pissed and hurt that he never seemed to have any qualms about leaving her. He never showed hurt at the things she let him think either and she never let on to her truth.

Until now.

She liked his forcefulness, his forms of punishment, his fucking her until she couldn’t see or walk straight. She liked his threats to tie her to the bed or to remind her of the rules of engagement between them. She was shameless in her need and lust for him. He knew it and so did she.

Mel grinned. “I’m glad I can shock you. I—” She didn’t get to finish her thought. Her head was crushed between his hands and his mouth was on hers. He stopped teasing her with his slow-moving fuck, and plundered her pussy. The pounding would leave her raw and bruised and feeling him with her for days after. “You can’t think there’s any man on the planet who can do to me what you can. I know that, Vin. I don’t want Dane. I don’t want any man unless he’s you.”

“Nice to know where I stand.”

Mel stiffened.
Oh. God.
Her muscles seized and she went perfectly still, though she didn’t panic.

“You should have always known where you stood with her. Nowhere.”
Vinny
didn’t ease up or stop his fucking of her. He didn’t do more than give Dane a once-over over his shoulder.

Mel pushed at Vin. “We should stop,” she said through barely moving lips. Oddly enough, she wasn’t bothered or turned off at having been caught. In fact, it was just the opposite. Especially that she’d been caught by Dane. Something in the way he looked at her. Not with longing or even anger, just… She couldn’t figure it out, but the way he looked at
Vinny
? That was pure hate. And Vin? Satisfaction was written all over his face.

“You’re right.”
Vinny
eased himself out of her and carried her back to the workbench. “I’ll go deal with him, then I’ll get back to handling you.” He kissed her; hard and short, then pulled up his pants. The blue fire in his eyes had cooled and she shivered as she tried to figure out what the look he pinned her with meant.

He was sexy as hell, every inch of him, the scarred and the unwounded. She had no idea what Dane was up to, but the barely disguised anger building in
Vinny
made her squirm. “Vin?” she whispered. He shook his head once at her then turned and walked toward Dane.

Dane backed up, the hate in his eyes replaced by what she could only describe as fear. He focused on her as Vin advanced on him, doing his best to mask his reaction to what she could only imagine as rage being focused on him. “Guess I know what kind of man does it for you, Melody. The killing kind. Then again, I’ve always known who you spread your legs for. Cold as ice on the outside for the rest of us, but him? Guess that pussy of yours does get wet. You’ve actually got a nice body, too, if a little chunky for my taste. Nice to finally see it outside those damn jeans and t-shirts you always wear.” He glanced at Vin and paled slightly, but kept up his stream of words directed at her. “As many times as he’s left you to go off and do what he does, you’ll still welcome him back, won’t you? I can tell by the surprise on your face that you have no idea what I’m talking about, though. I’ll spell it out for you. He kills for a living, Melody. Your precious
Vinny
aims a gun and fires, putting bullets through people. Oh it’s cloaked in military lingo, and there’s a government agency name behind it to make it sound all legal, it’s just a cover for what he really does, for how dirty his hands are.”

Vinny
cursed under his breath but not quietly enough that Mel couldn’t hear it. Dane barked out a laugh only seconds before Vin’s fist connected with Dane’s left cheek. Dane stumbled but quickly righted himself. It wasn’t quickly enough though because Vin had him by the throat and backed him out the door.

“You son of a bitch,” Dane spat.

Mel pushed away from the wall and rushed to the window. She was naked, her own wetness coating her thighs, her nipples still erect, as though trying to reach through the wall outside to
Vinny
. She wanted to go out and stop them, step between them, but her clothes were in shreds. “
Dammit
.”

Mel rummaged through Vin’s pack on the floor but found nothing she could put on to wait this out. She stood in a huff and stared out at the men in the yard. Dane’s lip was bleeding and there was a cut along his jaw. A bruise was already starting to form on his nearly perfect face. She unlocked the window and raised it. “
Vinny
, please…”

“You pleading for him, Mel?”

She winced at the pain she heard in Vin’s voice. “No, but this is all my fault. You’re mad at me for spending time with him. I get that, but beating him up isn’t going to help.”

“Oh it might help a little,” Vin offered.

“Listen to the little whore and quit while you’re ahead.”

“Better check your facts,” Vin said casually, almost bored. Mel saw the way the muscles in his shoulders tightened though and knew what he was feeling was the furthest thing from bored.

“If anything happens to me—” Dane began.

“No one will find you,”
Vinny
interrupted. “I’m damn good at my job, military or not.”

Mel’s blood seemed to stop flowing and she stood frozen, helpless and unsure she wanted to hear any more.

“People know I’m out here. You listening, Mel?” Dane raised his voice, making sure she could hear him. “I have friends in high places who helped me do some digging. You’re delinquent boyfriend here hasn’t been in a regular military unit for months. Some say he’s working for the government, doing their dirty work. Others say he’s been taking contracts for whatever agency or private client could meet his price. Red blood for green dollars. That’s who you let touch you.”

“Speaking of price,” Vin started.“Who’d you have to pay for that information, Dane? You might want to ask for your money back.”

“Not as many people as you’d think and I consider it money well spent. I started looking into your life when you left the last time. Mel was so desperate for someone that she said yes before I ever finished asking her out. She cried on my shoulder and all I wanted was to prove to her how stupid she’d been for tailing you all these years like a bitch in heat. The way they all have. Every fucking woman in this town has had a dripping cunt just waiting for you.”

“You’ve always hated that too, yeah? That’s what this is about. You hate it enough that you have to dig around, try and discredit me, try and smear me, try and drive a wedge between me and Mel? Talk about desperate. But go on. Say something else like that about her. I dare you.”

“Why? You think you’re
gonna
kick my ass? You think she’s worth it?”

“I don’t think anything of the kind. I know she is. C’mon, asshole. I need a good fight. It’s been a while and this one between us has been almost ten years in the making.”

Mel couldn’t stop watching the two men go at each other. Dane was beautiful, like a life-sized Ken doll. He was blond with golden-brown eyes, and starting to make a name for himself in the state attorney’s office. He was the popular guy, the one the single women wanted if they had designs on money and power. But what he said about women wanting
Vinny
in their beds? That wasn’t too far from the truth. She wasn’t the only who wanted him, but she was the only one he wanted.

“You’re as pathetic as she is. Maybe you two deserve each other.”

“She deserves better than me, but you’re definitely not it. You know she was trying to piss me off with you, right? Even you have to know that’s all it was.”

Mel sighed. She’d never had any plans for a relationship with Dane, and as much as he used her to get to this point with
Vinny
, she’d used him to try and get over her heartache. She wasn’t innocent, but there were bigger fish to fry at the moment, like the information Dane had revealed before
Vinny’d
clocked him.

No longer regular military? A hired gun? The wounds he came home with, always some new scar... She just figured he’d been in the war overseas, then again, he came home more often than she would have thought possible if he were with a unit over there.

She racked her brain, trying to piece together his visits home every few months, the weight he seemed to lose but the incredible underlying strength he had. He wasn’t clean cut or suave. He was rough and had always been full of piss and vinegar. He’d always been tall and lean, but she’d never seen him put on his ass.

She didn’t know what he did in the service and even though she’d ask about his work every time he came home, he never would say.
Guess you know why now, huh?

If he did do the things Dane said he did, how did she feel about that? How did she feel about
Vinny
now? She was a small town girl, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d been holding out for him all her adult life and she’d never regretted it. But that was before. What about now?

“Are you listening, Mel?” Dane asked again, this time louder.

Dane’s question dragged her out of her own thoughts. The two men still facing off, tension still bunching under
Vinny’s
shirt. Dane seemed to be gloating, but in a grasping-at-straws sort of way. She felt sorry for him. He should have been the big man on campus but he’d never been bad enough in the right ways to capture anyone’s genuine attention and affection. Mel wasn’t even sure he’d have wanted it anyway. He liked lording his money, his stature, his education, and his name over people.

“She’s not going to answer you, Dane. Her issue with any of this isn’t going to be with you.”

“You’re right. Her issue will be you. She’ll finally see you for the loser you’ve always been.”

Vin shrugged. “Maybe.”

Did she see him that way? Should she? She didn’t have all the facts and she didn’t know if she ever would, no matter how many times she asked the questions, but would Dane’s words change how she’d felt all these years? Even
Vinny
didn’t sound sure.

“She’s a smart girl, she’ll figure out you’re not worth shit.”

“And then what? You think she’ll come to her senses and come running to you?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Think again, buddy. She’s not running to you or running from me.”

Okay, now he sounded sure. Was it bravado in front of Dane, Mel wondered. Or did he really believe she’d never run from him?