Easy Melody Read online

  “Orgasm,” he whispers.

  “One for the record books,” I reply and circle my hips, rubbing my sopping wet pussy against his hard, throbbing cock. His eyes cross.

  “Fuck, you’re so damn sexy,” he growls.

  “I don’t know if you can tell by what I’m doing down there, but you’re invited to slip inside me now.” I smile and grip his ass in my hands, digging my nails in. He tips his forehead against mine and does exactly that: slips inside me, but stops when he’s halfway there. “Don’t stop.”

  “You’re tight, Callie.”

  I tilt my hips and take him the rest of the way, and that’s it. He doesn’t hold back any more. He’s pounding me now, hips moving fast and steady, and God, he just fits me. His pubis hits my clit with every thrust, and before long, I’m seeing stars again.

  “So good,” I moan. “Declan, you feel so good.”

  He grins and kisses me, devouring me, until I can’t stop the orgasm that moves through me. I’m clutching at him, holding him close.

  “Shit, I’m going with you,” he groans, just before his whole body tightens and he moans as he lets go of his own release.

  After a long moment of panting and bodies slowly relaxing, Declan rolls off me, then pulls me against him.

  “We’re messy.”

  “I don’t care,” he replies and kisses me softly. His fingertips are lazily dragging up and down my back, making me sleepy.

  “I didn’t see a music room,” I murmur against his neck.

  “I didn’t show it to you,” he replies softly.

  “Why?”

  I feel him shrug beneath me. “It felt personal.”

  “And this isn’t?” I ask with a chuckle as I lean my head back so I can see his eyes.

  “I wasn’t sure I was going to get you in here,” he replies and kisses my forehead. “It’s not done yet. I’ll show you when it’s finished. You should sleep.”

  “You really want me to stay?”

  “Yes.” His arms tighten around me. I’ve never felt this at home with a man. Not even with Keith, and I’d been with him for years.

  This is all so different. Better different.

  “Did you lose a parent, Declan?” I ask, remembering what he said earlier before the game.

  “My father passed away almost three years ago.” He doesn’t stiffen up, or turn away. But his voice sounds sad.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.”

  “Did you get along well with him?”

  He nods. “Ours is a close family. We had our moments, but I don’t know if there’s anyone in the world I’ve ever admired more.”

  “That’s nice.” I close my eyes against the tears that want to form. “I didn’t admire my father. I loved him, but I didn’t admire him.”

  “No?”

  I shake my head and appreciate that he’s not pressing me to continue. He just waits.

  Declan might be the most patient man I’ve ever met.

  “He fell apart after Mama died. Most men would have recovered, but he never did. So I took care of him.”

  “Who took care of you?” Declan asks softly. I simply shake my head and continue.

  “Dad was an alcoholic, and owning a bar didn’t help that at all. He wasn’t a mean drunk, Dec. He was a sweet man. But he would get sad. As an adult, it’s easy to look back and see that he was just trying to be numb. He loved her so much.

  “We lived in that apartment above the bar, and I’d wait for it to close every night, and for him to come upstairs. I learned to have a bucket near the door so he could be sick, and then I’d help him to bed, then go to bed myself.”

  “And get yourself off to school the next morning,” Declan guesses correctly.

  “After I graduated, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I felt so much guilt, but I knew the best thing for me was to go. So I did. I went to college, majored in restaurant management, and thought I’d come back here and help Dad, but I just couldn’t do it.” I’m surprised that there are no tears. I’m just telling him the story as if it belongs to someone else.

  Sometimes it feels like it did happen to someone else.

  “No one would blame you for that, sugar. I’m sure your daddy didn’t.”

  “No, he didn’t. But I can’t help but feel guilty that I never came home to see him. Not once.”

  “You never saw him after you graduated from high school?” he asks incredulously.

  “He visited me a couple of times,” I reply and sigh deeply. “I should have come home. But I didn’t. Maybe that makes me weak.”

  “I wouldn’t call you weak.”

  “I couldn’t keep the apartment upstairs. It had too many bad memories.”

  “So you made it into a kick ass, amazing space that others can enjoy.”

  “Thank you,” I reply happily.

  “Just speaking the truth again.”

  My hand glides down his chest, his stomach, and finally finds his semi-hard cock. I stroke it a few times, fully waking it up, and climb on top of him.

  “The truth turns you on?” he asks with a smile as his hands grip my ass and he guides me up and down.

  “You turn me on,” I reply and lean back to brace myself on his legs, and then begin to ride him in earnest.

  “Jesus, Callie, you make me crazy.”

  Chapter Three

  ~Declan~

  “Thanks for the ride home,” she says with a smile as I pull up to the curb just outside of Adam’s condo.

  “I couldn’t have you walking home,” I reply and shove the car in park, then lean over and kiss her thoroughly. I had her in several positions through the night, and yet I’m ready to take her again, right here.

  She sends my dick into overdrive.

  “The walk of shame,” she replies with a smirk.

  “Nothin’ we did was shameful, darlin’,” I whisper and kiss her once more before I hop out and walk to the other side of the Jeep and open the door for her.

  “I had fun,” she says with a flirty smile. Her hair is disheveled from my fingers, her classy clothes rumpled from spending the night on the floor, and she looks even better than she did when I picked her up last night.

  She looks thoroughly fucked.

  And damn if it doesn’t look good on her.

  “Me too.” It’s the truth. I don’t remember the last time I had such a good time with a woman. Not to mention¸ I let her stay the night.

  That’s rare.

  She kisses me one more time, then turns and waves before she enters her building and disappears.

  I’m gonna count last night as a success. Nothing much better in this world than sharing some laughs, conversation, and amazing sex with a beautiful woman.

  I drive into the city to the head offices of Boudreaux Enterprises. I’m meeting my oldest brother Beau, along with our good friend Ben, for an hour or so of Krav Maga training and some good-natured ribbing.

  What are brothers for, if you can’t give each other shit? I’m pretty sure it’s in the job description, and we all have an excellent work ethic.

  When I reach the executive level, I toss a smile over at the receptionist and walk back to the gym with a spring in my step, humming a Keith Urban song. The others are already here, which is typical, given that I’m usually late.

  “You’re chipper,” Ben says.

  “And late,” Beau adds as he ties his shoes.

  “I’m here,” I say simply and shrug. I snatch a bottle of water out of the mini fridge and take a long gulp. I always arrive dressed to work out. These idiots stop working in the middle of the day, change out of their monkey suits, then have to shower and change back.

  Just one more reason that I wouldn’t be a good fit for a desk job. Suits make me twitchy.

  “Has anyone heard from Eli or Kate?” I ask as I wipe water off my chin. “They should be in Aruba by now.”

  “We won’t hear from them. They’ve gone radio silent,” Beau says with a smirk.

  “I wo
uldn’t call you ugly assholes if I had a hot woman on a warm island all to myself,” Ben says then looks over at me and frowns. “Something’s up with you.”

  “Nothing’s up with me,” I deny.

  “Yeah there is,” Beau agrees. “You’re humming.”

  “I’m a singer.” I roll my eyes and drink more water.

  “You got laid,” Ben says with a wide smile. We’ve known Ben since we were small kids, and he’s really more of a brother to us. He’s not quite as tall as the three of us, but as a Krav Maga master, he’s much stronger.

  Ben is badass. No one fucks with him. I’m just happy he likes me.

  “The fact that you say that with surprise in your voice tells me that I haven’t gotten laid often enough lately.”

  “Who was it this time?” Beau asks as we take to the mat. “Some chick you picked up at the bar?”

  Close.

  “What do you care?” I duck as Ben comes at me, but he’s a slippery fuck, and he switches tactics and has me on my back in about two seconds.

  “Hey, I’m engaging you in conversation,” Beau replies with a grin, standing over me.

  “Her name’s Callie,” I say and sit up.

  “The owner of The Odyssey?” Ben asks.

  “That’s the one.”

  “The one you were telling us about a couple months ago, when we gave Rhys the what-for?” Beau asks, making me grin. That was a fun day. Our youngest sister, Gabby, fell in love with Kate’s cousin, Rhys, and we had to scare him a bit.

  Because that’s what brothers do.

  Except I don’t think we scared him much. Either way, Rhys stuck, and he and Gabby are disgustingly happy, which makes me happy.

  All of my sisters should be happy.

  “Yes, that’s her,” I reply.

  “I didn’t think she wanted to have anything to do with you,” Ben says before he wraps an arm around Beau’s neck and tries to take him to the mat, but Beau twirls and slips out of the hold, pulls Ben’s arm behind his back and plants him in the mat face-down.

  “Good one.” I clap once and rub my hands together. Today is going to be fun. “And I told Callie I was going to take her to dinner, and she didn’t argue.”

  “You told her?” Beau says.

  “I did.”

  “Huh.” Beau scratches his cheek and scowls. “I thought you were supposed to ask.”

  “If you ask, they can say no,” I reply with a smile.

  “True. So, what did you do?” Ben asks.

  “I took her to the football game, then back to my place.” Ben and Beau exchange a glance, then both scowl at me.

  “Of all of us, you’re the romantic one,” Beau says and takes a swig of his own water. “You took her to a game and then fucked her?”

  “I didn’t fuck her,” I reply immediately, then regret it when they both just stare at me speculatively. “I mean, I did fuck her—”

  I break off and sigh, and these two yahoos just grin. Damn it.

  “So, which was it?” Ben asks.

  “And I thought you said you told her you were taking her to dinner?” Beau adds.

  “I did. I bought her stadium food.” I walk over and punch the punching bag. “She likes football.”

  God, why do I sound so defensive?

  “Okay.” Ben nods. “And she was so impressed by your season tickets and popcorn that she begged you to fuck her?”

  “It wasn’t that stupid. Or disgusting.” My voice is hard now, and I’m starting to get pissed. I know that in the past I would have laughed with them, and we would have moved on to another topic, but this time it grates. And I’m not sure why. I mean, Callie is a beautiful woman. I set my sights on her, took her out and tumbled her around in my bed.

  No harm, no foul. Pretty much the standard operating procedure for me.

  “You like her,” Ben says quietly while Beau busts up laughing.

  “Of course I like her. I wouldn’t have slept with her if I didn’t like her,” I reply.

  “No, you really like her.”

  “You sound like a sixteen-year-old girl,” I reply and punch the bag again.

  “So, she really was just a quick lay.” Beau nods, wiping his arm over his sweaty forehead.

  “I didn’t say that,” I reply, again cursing myself for my fucking mouth. Why can’t I just shut up? Or change the subject?

  Ben and Beau simply stand, arms crossed and watch me.

  “Shouldn’t you be beating each other up?” I ask.

  “This is more interesting,” Beau says.

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re not the one to get a crush. You enjoy women, you’re good to them, then you move on.”

  “Who says I’m not moving on?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, my stomach rolls. I don’t want to move on. I don’t have Callie out of my system yet. Not by a long shot.

  “Have you already told her you’ll be taking her to the zoo?” Ben asks with a smirk.

  “No, asshole. We didn’t make plans.”

  “So what is the score?” Beau asks. “Are you going to actually pursue a woman?”

  I frown. “Why do I have to decide this right now? I had a good time last night. I dropped her off thirty minutes ago. It’s a little soon to go shopping for china patterns.”

  “You didn’t even say ‘I’ll call you’?” Ben asks.

  “No. We both said we had fun and she went inside and I came here.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want to see him again,” Beau says to Ben, who nods while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

  “Could be.”

  “I’m standing right here,” I remind them through clenched teeth. “Maybe it’s still really early, and we’re just enjoying each other and you all are over-thinking it.”

  “I think you’re under-thinking it,” Beau replies. “She’s a woman and she had sex with you. She’s going to want some attention from you.”

  “I’ll give her attention.” Jesus, what does he think I am, an asshole?

  On second thought, yeah, he probably does.

  “Doesn’t mean I have to text or call her every five minutes all day.”

  “Look, if she’s what you want, good luck with her.” Ben claps his hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be fun to watch you navigate this, especially since you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing.”

  “I’ve had girlfriends,” I protest, but they just laugh. “I have.”

  “A fuck buddy is not a girlfriend,” Ben says. “But if you want Callie to be a regular booty call, nothing wrong with that either.”

  I definitely want her to be a booty call. I’d like to spend as much time between her long, slender legs as I possibly can.

  But I don’t think that’s all I want, and it’s confusing the fuck out of me. I don’t do strings. And then it occurs to me: I didn’t have the you know this is just a fun time conversation with her so she knew the score beforehand, the way I always do. Why didn’t I do that?

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  “Gonna be fun to watch,” Ben says again, right before he surprises Beau with a body slam to the ground.

  I have a feeling I’m in way over my head.

  ***

  After my night with Callie, the week took a serious nose-dive into the pit of hell. I’ve been down with food poisoning—I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the flu—and still had to perform every night this week. So I basically spent every minute not performing wishing I was dead in bed. Now that the weather is starting to cool down from Satan’s neighborhood to just normal warm, tourist season is ramping up again, and with that comes gigs. I am fortunate to not have to play every night to make ends meet, but I love it. The music, the audience, all of it. And I refuse to cancel a gig with only a few hours' notice.

  I’m finally beginning to feel human again as I walk into The Odyssey Friday night for my gig. There is a decent crowd already enjoying drinks and the small but delicious bar menu offered. My eyes skim the room, looking for a certain t
all blonde. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since Tuesday morning, and I need to get an eyeful.

  Maybe even a handful.

  Adam waves from behind the bar as I make my way through the tables.

  “How’s it going?” I ask.

  “It’s busy, so it’s good,” he says with a grin. “You look like shit.”

  “And here I thought I covered it up before I left the house.” I scrub my hand over my face and sigh. “It’s been a hell of a week.”

  “I don’t think it’s going to get better in the very near future,” he warns me then gestures for me to turn around. Callie, draped in a killer red dress with matching red lips and black heels is marching across the room. She’s stunning.

  And her amazing blue eyes are… cold.

  “Adam, can you help me get some cases of Corona in the elevator so I can stock the bar upstairs?”

  “Sure.”

  “Hey,” I say and slip my hand on her waist, but she backs away and cocks a brow.

  “Declan.”

  “How are you, Callie?”

  “Busy.” The fun, sweet woman from Monday night is nowhere to be found, and I’m smart enough to know that it’s my own fault.

  “I think we need to talk.”

  “I’m working.” Her tone is calm and nothing but professional, her face passive, and yet I get the distinct feeling she’s telepathically telling me to go fuck myself.

  Callie marches back across the room and up the stairs just as Adam returns from the elevator.

  “I think I screwed up,” I mutter with a sigh.

  “Probably a safe bet,” Adam says, with way too much joy in his voice.

  “Fuck.” I stalk toward the stairs and climb them, eyes scanning the rooftop for Callie. They haven’t opened the roof yet, so it’s deserted. Her blond head pops up behind the bar where she’s currently stocking beer. “Can I help with that?”

  “This isn’t in your job description,” she says without looking over at me. She’s pissed.

  Really pissed.

  “We need to talk,” I say again.

  “I’m. Working.”

  “Look, let’s do this now, while we’re alone.”

  “Fine. Let’s do this.” She stands and props her hands on her hips, and my eyes immediately zero in on her tits, and the lust is a million times worse than it was before. Now I know what they look like under that dress. I know how she gasps when I tease the tips with my teeth. “My eyes are up here, Declan.”