Protecting Melody Read online

  Fiona got out of her chair and came over to kneel in front of Melody and put her hands on her knees. “We love Tex. He means more to us than you’ll ever know. We don’t take him for granted and we’re so thrilled he’s here. We’ve been wanting to meet him forever. Take good care of him for us.”

  “I . . . we . . . we aren’t together like that.”

  “If the look in either of your eyes is any indication, you will be soon.”

  Melody didn’t know what to say. She just looked at Fiona, then around at the other women. They all had something in common. They were with hardcore SEALs that would give their lives for their women. Melody wanted that. She hadn’t admitted it to herself until now, but she wanted it.

  They all turned as the men came into the room. Melody could see furrowed lines in Tex’s forehead and his pronounced limp made it obvious he was in pain.

  Ignoring everyone else around her, Melody stood up and went straight to Tex. Baby trailed after her, close on her heels. Thinking quickly, not wanting to embarrass him in front of everyone, Melody said to him, but loud enough for everyone to hear, “I’m tired, Tex.”

  Tex knew what she’d done, knew she was lying so he could get off his feet, but didn’t call her on it. He wouldn’t mind getting more one-on-one time with Mel, and he knew the girls could talk all night if given half a chance. Melody’s words were the impetus to clear the room. Slowly everyone came over to say their good-byes to both Tex and Melody and Caroline and Wolf.

  Cheyenne gave her a quick hug and stepped aside for her man. Dude put his hand under Melody’s chin and lifted her head until she had no choice but to look him in the eyes.

  “You might not know this, but you managed to hook up with the right man. Tex will do what it takes to make sure you’re safe. He can do some amazing shit on the computer. We’ve all relied on him, the government relies on him, and I know for a fact there are several top-secret military groups out there who rely on him. But most importantly, you can trust him, Melody. We’ve got his, and your, back, but when push comes to shove, trust Tex.”

  Melody could only nod as she gazed up at the intense man in front of her. His words were more of a command than anything else and Mel almost felt compelled to agree with him. If it wasn’t for Cheyenne standing next to him with a hand on his arm and smiling huge, she probably would’ve been worried. He had a way about him that Mel didn’t get from the others. More…take-charge. That wasn’t exactly the word she was looking for, but before she could think too much about it, Dude leaned down and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek before stepping back so the others could approach her and say their good-byes as well.

  Melody got a hug from everyone before they left, along with more reassurances that she’d be safe with Tex. She was basically passed from one person to the next until there were only four of them left. Tex had been right. His friends were touchy, but Melody liked it. They were affectionate and it was obvious they cared about Tex.

  “I’ve got the room all set up for you guys. Melody, I got Baby’s food from the car and it’s downstairs for you to feed her in the morning. Your bags are also down in the basement. If there’s anything you need, just either let us know or help yourself. Tex, you know the drill.”

  Tex nodded at Wolf. “Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”

  “See you in the morning.”

  Tex turned and headed for the basement door. Baby, once again, put herself at his side as they began to head down the stairs. He had to let go of Mel and he limped down the stairs. Tex quickly tried to think about how this would work. He knew the bed was only a queen. It should be big enough for them, but he didn’t know what Mel would think about it. He’d told her in the car that Caroline would probably put them in the basement room together. But most people would probably see this as very odd . . . them just meeting today and tonight sleeping in the same bed, but Tex felt as if he knew Melody a hundred times better than most of the women he’d slept with in the past.

  More importantly was the issue of his prosthesis. He didn’t want her to see his stump, but there was no way he could sleep in it. His leg was on fire. He needed to rub it down and give it a break from the confines of the prosthetic.

  “If it’s okay, I’ll go first in the bathroom,” Tex tried to be nonchalant.

  “No problem.” Melody watched as Tex limped into the small room. She couldn’t quite read his mood. Hell, she didn’t really know him, no wonder she couldn’t read him. They did really well talking to each other on the computer, but in person it was different.

  Melody looked around. There was a bed in the middle of the room with a dresser against a wall. Around a corner there was a small kitchenette that held a small refrigerator and a sink. There was a coffee maker on the counter and a little two-seater table with chairs tucked underneath.

  She knew she should probably be asking Caroline if there was another room she could stay in. Sleeping in the same bed with Tex after only meeting him a few hours ago was insane. But it’d been so long since she’d felt safe, Melody couldn’t bring herself to care. She knew Tex. Knew he was a kick-ass SEAL and that he could hurt her a million different ways, but she also knew he was insecure. He’d go out of his way to make her feel comfortable and he’d never ever hurt her. Maybe she was being naïve believing that, but after meeting Wolf and the other SEALs who obviously respected and admired Tex, and after hearing from the women he’d had a hand in saving, she knew she was safe, and that there was nowhere she’d rather be, than right by his side.

  She turned toward the bathroom door and tilted her head. What was going through Tex’s head? Baby jumped up on the bed and turned in circles at the foot. Melody smiled. It was obvious she’d been here before.

  Melody looked back as the bathroom door opened behind her. Tex limped out wearing a tattered T-shirt and a pair of cut-off sweatpants which hung low on his hips. Melody gulped. She remembered thinking she wouldn’t care if Tex had turned out to be overweight, and she wouldn’t have, but he was gorgeous. Any woman who would turn him down because of his leg was obviously certifiably insane.

  “It’s all yours. Take your time.”

  Melody looked critically at Tex. Thinking about his personality and what she knew of him, something seemed off. She thought about it a bit more and it came to her.

  “You don’t have to be embarrassed about your leg with me.”

  Tex froze and turned to Melody, but didn’t say anything.

  “Seriously. I remember you told me how your leg would hurt when you wore your prosthetic all day. You told me how you had to massage it for it to feel better. I know about the phantom pains, Tex. You’re in pain, I can see it. Please don’t be embarrassed around me.”

  “It’s not pretty, Mel.”

  “I didn’t expect it would be.”

  Tex looked at Mel and struggled with himself. He didn’t want to show her his leg. It was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to impress her, and he didn’t think seeing his scarred leg would. He hated feeling like this, it went against everything he was, but the feeling was there and wouldn’t leave.

  “Trust me. I’m putting my life in your hands. Trust me not to let you down here,” Melody whispered, not moving. When Tex nodded, she said, trying to be no-nonsense about it, “Okay, take off those pants and get on the bed. But don’t take it off yet. I want to see how it works.”

  “Now who’s bossy?”

  Tex smiled as he said it, but Melody could see it didn’t reach his eyes. She didn’t push it, but turned to go into the bathroom, giving Tex some time to get comfortable without her around watching him. She hurried through her nightly routine, glad Wolf had the foresight to bring her bag downstairs, and went back into the bedroom. She’d changed into a long T-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.

  Tex had turned the lights down and he was sitting on the bed propped up by the pillows behind him. He’d removed his sweatpants and was in a pair of boxer shorts. Melody walked over to the bed and climbed on.

  “Jesus, Tex,
I know you’re nervous as hell and you really really don’t want to share this with me, but you are sex on a fucking stick. Seriously.”

  “Mel—”

  “No, Tex. Look at you.” Melody ran her eyes over the man lying next to her. “I’m so not in your league at all. I wish I had x-ray vision because I bet you have a six-pack under that shirt. Your arms are muscular as all hell and your legs? Damn. I’ll never see another pair of boxers and not be able to recall this moment right here. You’ve been concerned all this time about how a woman would react when she sees your leg? I can tell you right now that they wouldn’t even care. They’d be too busy looking at the rest of you because it is fiiiiine.”

  Tex burst out laughing. He’d been afraid Mel would be disgusted by his leg. He should’ve known better. He words gave him back some of the self-esteem that had slowly eroded over the years since he’d been injured. “Mel, look at me.”

  Melody waved her hand at him, refusing to look away from his body. “Sorry, busy at the moment.” She said it with a smile, still checking him out.

  Tex grasped Mel’s chin in his hand and gently turned her head toward him. “Thank you, Mel. And you’re wrong, You’re definitely in my league.”

  “I’m not, and it’s fine.”

  Tex tightened the hold he had on her face when she tried to turn away. “No, look at me. You want to know what I thought the first time I saw you standing in that hotel room?”

  “Not particularly.”

  Tex ignored her and continued. “I thought to myself that it was no wonder someone has become obsessed with you. A horrible thought, but true none-the-less.”

  Melody looked at Tex in bewilderment, her brows wrinkling in confusion.

  “Yeah, you’re beautiful.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Okay, to me you’re not just beautiful, you’re gorgeous. Your body is perfect.”

  “You haven’t seen me, Tex. I’m far from gorgeous.”

  “You’re wrong. I see you. You said you’ll never see a pair of boxers the same way again? The same goes for me. You’re lush. Men love that. They want that. The entertainment world tries to shove stick-figured women down our throats as the ideal woman, but they couldn’t be further from the truth. Your curves are to die for. I know you probably don’t feel that way, women never understand these things. But Mel, honestly, we don’t want skin and bones, and muscular looks good on television and in magazines, but it feels so much better to have soft skin surrounding us than hard angles and muscles. We like soft, Mel. I like soft.”

  Melody knew she was breathing too hard, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from Tex. His words slid over her like a warm blanket just taken from a dryer.

  “If after you see me, all of me, you’re still interested, Mel, I’m yours. I like you. I’ve gotten to know you over the last six months and I like what I’ve gotten to know. Seeing you? Feeling the chemistry between us? Fucking perfect. Yeah. I want you.”

  “It’s only been a day,” Melody whispered uncertainly, not really believing her own words.

  “It hasn’t only been a day and you know it. We started this six months ago. I’m not the kind of guy who chats with a woman every day for six months, Mel. Maybe a day or two, but not six months. We might have seen each other for the first time today, but I’ve known you for half a year. You think I would’ve come after you if it wasn’t more?”

  “Maybe. You’re a SEAL, Tex. It’s what you do.”

  “Bullshit. Yeah, I might have once rescued people for a living, but I’m retired now. I haven’t suddenly dropped everything to go traipsing off around the country looking for random missing people. But the second you canceled your account online, I was trying to figure out how to find and get to you.”

  Tex dropped his hand from Melody’s face and gestured to his leg with his chin as if to change the subject and tell her to get on with it.

  Without a word, but with Tex’s words tumbling around in her brain, Mel turned her attention to his leg. She said briskly, trying to hide how much his words confused, excited, and aroused her all at the same time, “Okay, show me how this thing works.”

  “I have what’s known as a transfemoral amputation, meaning an amputation above the kneev . The prosthetic is held in place by suction, so I don’t need any other type of suspension to keep it in place. It fits snugly onto what’s left of my leg and the airtight seal keeps it from slipping out.”

  “How do you break the seal to get it off?”

  “The type of liner I have is a seal-in liner. It creates a strong, airtight seal which allows a good fit and it comes with a button that if you push it, it breaks the seal.”

  Melody couldn’t prevent the little giggle that escaped and the inappropriate comment which spewed from her mouth. “You have a magic button.”

  Tex grinned at her. Jesus, she was cute. He couldn’t stop the innuendo from coming out of his mouth if his life depended on it. “Yeah, Mel, now we both have a magic button.” She blushed, as he knew she would, and he laughed, but sobered quickly, knowing what she was about to see. “It’s not pretty, Mel. But if you’re gonna do it, get it over with.”

  Melody reached out and pressed the button that Tex had shown her. The suction on the device was broken and it popped right off into her hands.

  Working quickly, so as not to prolong any embarrassment he might have over what she was doing, Melody lifted the prosthetic leg and leaned over and placed it on the floor behind her. She turned back around to see Tex pulling the sleeve off his stump that served as the liner for the prosthetic.

  He was right, the skin around his leg wasn’t pretty. It was red and swollen and Melody winced in sympathy.

  “Jeez, Tex. That looks like it’s really painful. Do you have any lotion or something?”

  “Yeah, I’m supposed to use it every night, but I haven’t really taken it off much in the last week.”

  “Where is it?”

  Without a word, Tex leaned over to the nightstand and grabbed a small bottle that Melody had missed. He’d obviously gotten it ready to go while she’d been in the bathroom.

  Melody took it out of his hand and rubbed a large dollop of the eucalyptus smelling lotion between her hands then leaned over his leg.

  Tex grabbed her wrist before she could touch him. “You don’t have to do this. I can do it.”

  “I want to. Please.”

  Tex sat back and closed his eyes and braced.

  Chapter Six

  Melody refused to let the tears gathering in her eyes fall. She watched as Tex leaned back and closed his eyes. She looked back at what was left of his leg. Where his leg had been removed were scars crisscrossing it and it looked beyond painful. She rubbed her hands together warming the lotion before she put her hands on Tex’s leg.

  She massaged and rubbed the stump, making sure to rub the creamy soothing lotion into all parts of his leg. She moved her way up to his thigh, trying to rub out the sore muscles. Finally, she sat back and climbed off the bed.

  She went into the bathroom and washed her hands, then came back into the room. Tex had gotten under the covers. Melody turned off the light on the side of the bed and climbed into the other side. She lay on her back for a moment. She knew Tex would be a gentleman and wouldn’t make the first move.

  She turned on her side and scooted over to Tex’s side. She put one arm over his chest and laid her head on his shoulder as if she did it every night.

  “Thank you,” Melody whispered.

  Tex shifted until one arm could curl around Mel’s shoulder and whispered back, “No, thank you.”

  Melody lay in bed for a long while, listening to Tex’s breathing slow, then even out in the cadence of sleep. Once she knew he was asleep, she finally let the tears fall. She wept silently for the brave soldier Tex had been and for what he now was going through. From their many online conversations she knew he was still very sensitive about his disability and hated to bring attention to it. She also knew how painful it still was.
r />   Finally the tears eased and Melody snuggled further into Tex’s side. She sighed in bliss when his arm tightened around her for a moment and he murmured sleepily, not really awake, but not really asleep.

  “Sleep, Mel.”

  “Okay,” she whispered back. She closed her eyes and within moments was out. It was the first time in a long time she felt safe as she slept.

  The next morning, Melody stirred when she heard Caroline call out from the vicinity of the stairs, “Good morning!”

  She looked down and saw that she and Tex had thrown the covers off of themselves during the night, probably because their shared body heat made the blankets unnecessary, and Tex’s stump was exposed. Melody saw the look of panic on his face at the thought of Caroline seeing him without his prosthetic. Without thinking, just wanting to protect Tex, Melody reached down to grab the blanket and pulled it up to their waists just as Caroline poked her head around the corner of the room.

  “Morning, you two! I figured you’d want to get an early start this morning so I’m your wakeup call. I’ll have breakfast ready for you when you get upstairs. Don’t dawdle.” Then she disappeared from view and Melody heard her heading back up the stairs.

  Without looking at Tex, Melody went to scoot out of bed when she felt Tex’s hand on her arm. She gestured at the bathroom, “I’m just going to—”

  Her words were cut off when Tex pulled on her arm until she was lying back on the bed with him looming over her. “Why’d you do that?”

  Knowing what he meant, Melody answered honestly, “Because I know it makes you uncomfortable for anyone to see your leg.” Melody fidgeted as Tex continued to look down at her. “Should I—”

  “Hush.”

  When Tex didn’t say anything else, but continued to look down at her, Melody tried again. “Tex, I—”

  “You didn’t flinch. I watched and last night, you saw my leg and you didn’t even flinch. You massaged it, you worked the kinks out of my thigh, you kept Ice from seeing it. You, looking like you do, draping yourself over my chest last night, being sweetly shy. I told you if you could stomach what you saw, that I’d be yours if you wanted me. Well, I’m telling you Mel, I’m yours.”