Poison

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Talon had allowed himself to hope that Melanie would admit to loving him. It had sounded like she had said as much before falling asleep, but she hadn't been able to repeat the words later, if that was even what she had said to begin with. He found himself feeling anxious all day thinking about it and whether or not Melanie really loved him or not. Several times, he almost called his sister or other former packmates in hopes that they could give him some advice, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want any of his friends to know about Melanie. Not yet.

Instead, he found himself finding more and more work to do. Besides his regular job, he started taking odd jobs on the side, filling up his days as much as possible with work. As much as he really wanted to be with Melanie as much as possible, he was concerned that she might leave him. He thought that putting distance between them might help it hurt less if she did.

He came home late one night, tired from working all day and looking forward to his spot on the floor. With the extra jobs he was working, he could have bought another futon or a bed, but he instead spent his earnings on Melanie. She had offered to share the futon as well, but after that first time, Talon decided it wasn't a good idea and had remained on the floor ever since. If it weren't for his rumbling stomach, he would have immediately headed for bed.

Melanie also had other plans for him. She greeted him, and acted normally while Talon ate dinner, but when he headed towards his spot on the floor, she intercepted him, pushing her hands against his chest and smiling up at him.

In the weeks since they had shared the bed, Melanie had noticed him becoming more and more distant. At first, she wondered if she had done something wrong or if he just didn't like her anymore, but she decided to believe every word that he had said. And if they were mates, Melanie knew that he had to like her. She decided it was time to make him prove it.

"Hey Melanie," Talon said, looking down at her, feeling too tired to even try to figure out what she was up to.

"Hey," she replied playfully. For a moment, she thought she should wait until another time to do what she was planning as she could see that he was tired, but she reminded herself that he was always tired. "What're you doing?"

"Going to bed," he said, holding back a yawn. He tried to walk around her, but she kept herself in his way.

"Good idea, but how about the actual bed?"

"Melanie," he groaned. "We've been through this. I can't."

"Fine." She stepped out of his way and let him lie down on top of a blanket, and then she went and sat down next to him. "We can share the floor then."

Talon started to argue with her, but before he could get a single word out, Melanie lifted her shirt off. He looked at her for a quick moment and then averted his gaze. He couldn't even tell her to put her shirt back on before she continued to strip. Soon, she was straddling him, completely naked. He closed his eyes, hoping he'd just fall asleep, but he no longer felt tired.

Melanie had hoped it be easier to get him to pay attention to her, but she wasn't going to give up so easily. When he closed his eyes, she leaned over and kissed him, and finally, she got a response that she wanted. He returned the kiss and gently ran a hand over her shoulder and upper arm. He pushed her up so they were sitting, and then he broke the kiss. Melanie could see that he was going to argue about what they were doing and quickly pushed him back down.

"How are you that strong?" Talon grumbled as he hit the floor.

"Get back up here," Melanie said, grabbing him by his arm and pulling him back up. She pulled his shirt off, with a little bit of difficulty as he wasn't exactly helping her. But he didn't try to stop her either. That was enough to convince her to keep going.