Big Man's Claim (Big Men Big Hearts 2)

“Uh, you'll have to catch me for a kiss,” she says, pulling away fast.

Melody kicks off her boots, tearing her shirt off and yanking her shorts down her legs, jumping into the water with a loud splash.

She pops up from underneath with a huge smirk on her face, splashing water up at me. “Come get me, hero.” She paddles herself deeper into the pool at the base of the waterfall and laughs.

“You're going to get it,” I say. Untying my boots, I pull them off one at a time, stripping to my boxers and diving into the water.

It's ice against my skin. My body chills as I swim under water. Kicking my legs, I break the surface right in front of Melody.

“Gotcha.” Grabbing her wrists, I pull her into my chest.

She's giggling as she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. There's black eyeliner running down her face, so I wipe it away with my thumb. Her eyes are on mine, sparkling like the crystal clear water we're floating in.

Her fingers rake through my hair, and she twirls a thick tight lock to my scalp, only to let it go. My eyes move down her face, stopping at her lips. I don't wait for her permission. I kiss her.

Coiling her legs tighter, she pulls herself closer and kisses me back. Dipping my tongue into her mouth, Melody moans. She's almost naked, wearing nothing but her bra and panties. I can feel her pussy as it presses against my stomach and her hard nipples as they hit my chest.

Melody breaks our kiss and pushes herself free. She giggles as she swims under the tumbling waterfall. I like this game of cat and mouse she wants to play. It's turning me on the more she's making me chase her.

I follow her through the sheet of river rain. It sounds different in here. The water is louder as it creates a bubble just for us, hiding us from the rest of the world.

Wrapping herself around me again, she brushes her nose over mine, pressing our foreheads together. “I like this place,” she says, her fingers braiding behind my neck. “It can be our secret hiding place.”

Nodding, we kiss again. Only this time it feels different. I feel different.

There's a knot in my chest that's alive, breathing and growing. My heart is beating a million beats in this one moment.

This isn't real. It can't be real.

It's too soon to feel this way with someone I hardly know. We're still learning about each other. All the quirks and habits, the small things that make us unique.

I think I. . .

Pulling her as close in as I can, my eyes dart between hers. Licking my lips, the words linger in the back of my throat, but I can't find the strength to say them.

Her head tilts as she arches a brow. “What?” she asks.

The words move to the tip of my tongue, and that's where they stay. I don't say what I'm feeling. I ask her a question. “What do you want?”

“What do I want?” she repeats. “With what? My life, my future, my career?” Shifting her gaze around my face, I don't answer and just let her talk. “I mean, to be honest, I don't really know what I want anymore. When my mom got sick, everything got pushed to the back burner. Then my dad died, and now I have no real plans. I've just been living each day as it comes. But. . .” Melody pauses as her eyes drop to the water.

“But what?”

Exhaling a slow breath, she lifts her eyes to mine. “The only thing I know I do want one day is a family.” Her words hang in the air, saturated with questions of her own.

A family. . .

I can see the vulnerability in her eyes and feel it in her body as she starts to unfurl herself from me. But I don't let her.

I don't say anything. I say none of the things I should. Like it's okay to now know what you want. That it's fine to not have any plans and take it one day at a time. That everyone dreams of having a family, even me. . .

Instead, I hold her. I wrap her tightly, letting her bury her face in my neck.

It doesn't matter what she chooses to do or not do, because living in the moment is far better than living in the shadows of things that could have been.

Or living under the weight of the things that follow you.

10

Branson

Walking into the bar, I'm holding a giant box. Glancing around, the bartender nods and holds up a finger for me to wait.

I set the box down and I start to open the lid. The owner, Frank Hamilton, asked me a little while back to make him something unique to hang up in his bar. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, just something eye catching and different.