Scorched
It was near dawn when they finally left for their rooms to sleep. The chaos and excitement that came with bringing a slew of trustworthy humans, and even a soul, into their midst had kept everyone up for hours. It was enough just to listen to their fascinating stories of how they got to where they were and where they are now. But, as wonderful and hopeful for the future it was for all parties involved to have a restoration for humanity maybe in sight, people did still tire and the once thick crowd dwindled until only a very few were left out in the open and not tucked away in their rooms ready for sleep.
Melanie and Jared were among the many who left to sleep. Melanie was buzzing with energy still, hardly noticing when Jared closed the door behind them after they’d entered their room. She kept moving into the little apartment till she was in the center where the bed and most of their belongings were.
“I’m not tired at all,” she said, laughing to herself. “I know I should be. God knows we’ve been up enough hours. But this is just,” she sighed contently, “so unbelievable.” She started to turn around to face Jared and talk more with him. “I mean, to think—”
But Jared didn’t want to talk. His lips smashed against hers and he held her to him with an intensity that startled her. She wanted to ask him if something was wrong, despite the fact that it was hardly the first time he’d needed her so desperately since she’d returned to him. But, as always, his kiss lit an instant flame inside her and they burned together, lost in the embrace. All thought dissolved. From what little was left, they made a blind attempt to get remotely close to the bed.
His hands were in her hair, same as hers in his. Her nails dug into his scalp, clutching at him like a lifeline. They parted briefly to relieve each other of their shirts and then reached for each other again.
Melanie moaned when he broke their kiss to lower his lips to her neck. Simultaneously, he unlatched her bra and slipped it off her shoulders. She gasped when she felt his thumb brush across one nipple. Desperate for more of him, she wrapped one of her legs around his thigh and then felt his hands on her ass lifting her up against him. She grabbed his face and held it steady for her scorching kiss as she tightened both legs now around his waist. His hands roamed, threading through her hair and warming her back.
After awhile, he dragged his lips away from hers, sweat already forming on his forehead, his breathing harsh and ragged.
“I need to be inside you,” he said roughly. He swallowed so loud she could hear it.
She nodded, unable to speak. Her desire was as fierce now as his was.
Jared carried her the short distance to the bed and laid her down gently on the mattress. He stood back for a moment and drank her in, mesmerized, sinking deeper into her blue eyes and perfect petite figure. She looked sultry and seductive with her eyes half closed in hungry desire. She held her arms out to him and he came down to her, kissing her parted lips before she could request it. His tongue twisted with hers and he felt her shiver from the tips of her fingers to her toes.
“Everywhere,” she murmured. His lips moved to her neck and then started a wet trail down her body. “Kiss me everywhere.” She shivered.
He was needy, eager to feel her around him, to rid her of any scrap of clothing she had on left. But she was gold melting in his arms. He would have done anything she asked. And he wanted to taste all of her. Enticing as ever, he pressed his lips to her shoulder. He kissed and nibbled and licked and followed the same dance down her collar bone and over to her other shoulder.
Melanie’s fingers tensed in his hair and Jared felt her wriggling beneath him when his mouth closed over one breast and his hand closed over the other. She moaned loudly and pleaded on a breathy whisper,
“More.”
He moved his mouth to the other breast and let his other hand drift of its own free will down the side of her body, only skimming the surface until it reached her still clothed hip and squeezed. He groaned at the sudden barrier to her bare skin.
“Take them off,” she demanded, her breath hot on his forehead.
He didn’t react immediately, not until she’d wrapped her legs around his waist again and dug her toes beneath the waistband of his pants, trying to drag them off. He wanted to laugh at her urgency, but he was as caught up in the moment as she was, so he pulled back till he was crouched on his knees and started to pull off all that was left on her body. He stepped onto the floor then to rid himself of his own clothing, pausing just a moment to retrieve a little plastic packet from his pants pockets; then he returned to her.
On his knees astride her, he tore the package open and slowly pulled the condom onto the length of him. Melanie watched him, utterly entranced and hot all over that, as always, she had the power to arouse a man as magnificent as Jared Howe.
He smiled slightly then leaned over her again so he could look directly into her eyes.
“What are you waiting for?” she whispered when she realized they’d been staring at each other for quite some time.
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.
“Reality to check in,” he murmured.
Her brows furrowed, her desire slightly lessened. Her arms wrapped loosely around his neck.
“Jared—”
“I thought I might lose you tonight,” he said harshly against her. She could feel his body tense up suddenly. Her own hands clenched in his hair. “When we got pulled over,” he continued, “I thought that might be it. Sunglasses weren’t going to save us. I knew that before we even put them on. When Wanda was dismissed before we even got out of the car, I felt…” He stared deeply into her, pain etched so clearly it scared her. He dropped his head into the crook of her neck and nuzzled her. “I wouldn’t have made it a second time, Mel. I wouldn’t have…”
“That’s what this is all about?” she asked softly, drawing meaningless shapes down his back with her fingers.
He nodded against her.
“Jared, I’m here,” she said soothingly.
“I know,” he sighed.
“No.” She shut her eyes tightly and then opened them, determined to take control. “I’m right here.”
He lifted his head, confused, and she took advantage. Grabbing a hold of his face, she kissed him ruthlessly. He didn’t break it off to ask questions because his reasons had been explained and she’d understood instantly. There was no need for any more talking. Just body and soul – true soul – existed now. Jared fit himself to her moist entrance and plunged forward. Not slow because her passionate kissing had broken his attempt to slow down, but fast and relentless like she was urging him to.
Melanie moved her lips to his shoulders and bit. Hard. He groaned and she cried out because he was moving faster and he was sucking her breasts and worshipping all of her body, touching everywhere, so that she wondered how they were both still lasting.
“Oh, Jared,” she whispered breathlessly, amazed her voice was so quiet when the pleasure that soaked out of her moans was so loud and she couldn’t contain it.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him. They slid a little because he was sweating and she was sweating and they were on fire. Her nails dug in and his thrusts went faster still. Without warning, she flipped them, a maneuver that only worked because Jared was so distracted with concentration on bringing them both to the brink.
He stopped moving abruptly when he found himself flat on his back. His eyes were still filled will lusty heat but they held shock too. Melanie smiled seductively and leaned down to capture his lips in her own. He responded, as always. Her desire shot up ten degrees.
She rode him then, grinding against his dick. First, slowly to torture him and then she rose and fell with a speed that made him unable to even attempt to sit up because he was losing so much control.
“Mel-Mel—Melan—” he choked out, and then he was gasping and she saved his outcry from going louder than hers because she kissed him and climaxed at the same time, muting both their cries of ecstasy.
Slowly they came down from their high and Melanie rolled off of him, trying to slow her breathing. Instantly, he turned and pulled her close. He drew the sheet over them and kissed her forehead. Languidly, he rested her arm across his chest and nestled against him.
“I’m here,” she whispered, and he nodded, his hand toying with her hair. “I’m real.” She smiled softly, and she felt him smile, perhaps in reference to their recent activities. Her fingers danced on his skin. “And so are you.”
She felt him raises his head slightly and knew he was looking at her, amused. She couldn’t explain how she knew his moods without even seeing his face. It was like a sixth sense she’d acquired over the years of being with him, a Jared sense. She knew he was needy before and amused just now and completely serious as he lay his head back down on the pillow.
“I love you, Melanie,” he said, and she thought she heard his breath hitch. She turned her head instantly to look at him and saw him looking as sad and somber as ever. She frowned, then pressed her toes into the mattress so she could reach his lips and kiss him.
“And I love you, Jared.” She kissed his cheek, several slow pecks in a row until she was between his eyebrows. “Only you.” She opened into her eyes to look into his searching depths. “I’m yours, remember? I belong to you. And no one is ever going to take me away again.”
His eyes widened briefly and she knew he was thinking about the conversation he’d had with Ian, the one where he was so defiant that she belonged to him and no one else, not even with Wanda controlling her body.
His arms tightened around her.
“I’ll make sure they don’t,” he said fiercely.
“Jared,” she said soothingly, trying to relax him. She dragged her fingers through his hair. “Please relax.” She kissed the side of his face. “Neither of us were taken, even though it looked close. And now the whole world is ten times brighter than it was before. There’s hope for all of us now. Isn’t that something to be thankful for?”
He relaxed and smiled a little, all his raging fears and anger about what had seemed inevitable finally slipping away.
“Yeah,” he said, wrapping a hand around the nape of her neck and pulling her down to kiss her. Then he nuzzled her face and tucked her into his arm. “It is.”
“Goodnight, Melanie,” he murmured after some lingering seconds. She smiled, only half-conscious now. She moaned a little in response and snuggled closer. Soon they were both asleep, content, happy and still recklessly in love.
She was his and he was hers.
God help who ever tries to separate them again.