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.
She pushed him back to the floor gently, following him down. As his head hit the pillow, their lips met and Melanie pressed her body against his, enjoying the sensation his skin on hers. When she felt his growing arousal, she hesitated, but she soon continued. She trailed kisses down his neck and body until she reached his pants.
Talon had found it difficult to speak ever since she started stripping, and the temptation to let her continue was great. Somehow, he managed to find his voice just as she was unzipping his pants. "Melanie," he said, taking her hand and pulling it away. "Not now."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, climbing off of him and looking away. She tried to keep herself together but she felt a few tears falling from her eyes. She had felt so sure that Talon would want her. "I… I'm not good at this. Even my mate doesn't want me."
"That's not true," Talon said, sitting up. He sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her, the feel of her flesh on his making him want to tell her to continue. "Trust me. I almost couldn't stop you. Still want to let you finish."
"Then why?" Melanie asked, twisting around in his arms to face him.
"It just doesn't feel right. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Like I'm taking advantage of you. Or I don't know. Something just makes me feel like we should wait. I don't want you to ever regret anything between us."
"I don't get it. It feels right for me."
"I don't know," Talon said with a sigh. "Let's just wait before you go any further."
"I don't want to."
"Yeah, but I didn't say we couldn't do anything together." He grinned, and lifted her off the floor and carried her over to the bed where he gently laid her down. He laid next to her and started kissing her. Talon tried to be delicate with gentle kisses, but Melanie wasn't having that. She pulled him on top of her, her strength once again surprising him. Their kissing grew more passionate, and she moaned as she lifted her body to press it even closer to his.
"Melanie," Talon breathed when they had stopped kissing for a moment in order to get air. "If you're even a little bit uncomfortable, just tell me. I'll stop."
"What are you talking about?" Melanie asked, confused.
Talon didn't answer, at least not with words. He used one hand to stroke the side of her body while he started to kiss her along her collarbone. He moved his head down towards her breast, kissing her along the way. He gently licked her nipple and then moved to the other side and licked that one as well. He took one breast in his mouth and used his hand to stimulate the other. After a while, he switched to give oral attention to her other breast.
Melanie moaned softly as Talon pleasured her breasts, pushing herself against him. When he started to move away, she was almost tempted to hold him there, as she wanted him to continue. A shiver of pleasure ran through her body as he kissed her stomach, and then continued to kiss her as he moved lower on her body. Soon, she could feel his breath between her legs.
"Remember. Just tell me if you want me to stop."
"Fuck no," Melanie groaned. "Don't you dare stop."
Talon smiled. Obviously, she liked it enough to use language that he'd never heard her use before. He kissed her clitoris and then flicked it with her tongue, causing her to push herself against his face. With that encouragement, Talon continued giving attention to the sensitive button while he used a finger to caress her folds. After a while, Talon moved his tongue down, trading places with his finger, and then inserting the tip of his tongue inside her.
Melanie felt herself breathing hard while Talon pleasured her, and as she became louder, she tried to calm herself down, but she found it impossible to remain silent. She moaned and called out his name softly, hoping he'd never stop. Shortly after she felt his tongue inside her, she felt the most incredible feeling spread throughout her body as she trembled in pleasure. She felt him continue to lick her for a short while longer before sitting up.
"Oh Talon!" Melanie gasped, sitting up and throwing her arms around him. "That was amazing! Should I… return the favor?" Melanie started to move her hand down towards his pants, hoping he'd let her do what she wanted to do earlier, but just like then, he stopped her.
"You don't have to. Besides, I need to get some sleep. Got to go to work early tomorrow." It was Melanie's turn to stop him when he tried to get up and go to his spot on the floor. She kept her arms wrapped around him and as soon as he tried to stand up, she tightened her grip and held him down.
"Talon."
"What?"
"I think after what we just did, we can share the bed."
"Yeah," he agreed. It did seem rather pointless to continue to sleep away from her as long as she was that comfortable with him. "But put some clothes on. You're tempting enough as it is. I don't need to see if my self control can last all night."
"I think it might be fun," she replied, smiling a bit.
"Melanie…"
"Oh fine," she said, agreeing quickly. As much as she had enjoyed what he had done, now that it was over, she felt too exposed completely naked.
She picked up the clothes she had discarded earlier and put them on, then returned to the bed where she snuggled up against Talon and quickly fell asleep.