now.” Carmen wrapped her arm around Melody and drew her close. “You can’t go back to the Philharmonic. Whoever is trying to hurt you will surely try again and I would rather they didn’t” She grinned. “I’ve kind of gotten used to your slobby ways and want to keep you in my life a bit longer.”
“Hey!” Melody gave Carmen a shove. Reaching down, she rubbed her tummy. She didn’t feel good. Something was wrong. A strange warmth settled low in her middle and began a slow burn deep inside her. “I’m not a slob.”
What was wrong with her? A minute ago she was fine. Now, all of a sudden, she felt as though she was coming down with the flu or something. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Maybe it was just nerves and she could breathe through it.
“What’s the matter?” Carmen rubbed her back and it felt as though someone stuck her with thousands of little needles.
“Don’t!” She jumped up to get away from her friend. She knew Carmen meant well, but the pressure of the other woman’s hand brushing over her skin felt like the worst kind of torture.
Standing, Carmen ran from the room. “Uncle Mitch, Uncle Wyatt, come quick! Something’s wrong with Melody.”
Intellectually, Melody knew that it wasn’t more than a few seconds later that the men ran into the room to see what was the matter, but it felt like an eternity with a blowtorch in her belly. Melody fought the urge to curl up into a little ball and cry. She didn’t know what was wrong, but whatever it was, didn’t seem like it was going to go away anytime soon.
“I was afraid of this.” Mitch turned to leave the room. “I’ll be right back. Try to keep her from hurting herself until I return.”
“Where’s he going?” Carmen asked, her face filled with worry.
“He’s going to get the experimental drug that the doctor gave us to hold the el calor at bay. Doc Parker said he thought it would work on humans and if we saw a need to experiment because the heat was hitting our mate too hard, we should use it. It definitely won’t hurt her, but it could help.”
“Work on humans? What? Mate? What is he talking about?” Melody clenched her teeth against another wave of heat as it washed through her, burning her from the inside out. Her teeth chattered either from the pain or fear, she wasn’t sure which. “I think I caught something. The flu, maybe.” She frowned. “I don’t want some drug meant for animals. Don’t let him give it to me, Carmen.”
Carmen bit her lips and shook her head as she backed away.
Wyatt settled down next to her on the bed and stroked her hair. Melody flinched at first, thinking it would hurt the way it did when Carmen touched her, but it didn’t. His touch felt almost soothing.
The burning subsided to the strange heat she felt when she first came down with whatever this was and her stomach no longer cramped with pain. Instead, a different kind of heat settled in her middle, billowing out from inside her as Wyatt continued to stroke her hair.
Her womb clenched as he continued to touch her. She shouldn’t allow this. Melody knew there was no way she could ever choose between the two men and she was afraid she was in love with them both already. She had heard too much about them from Carmen. Tears ran down her face as he continued to stroke her hair. She couldn’t fight the feelings that his touch invoked. The more he touched her, the more she craved his touch and she didn’t know why. Melody knew that her infatuation was nothing more than the leftovers of a schoolgirl crush. Still, it didn’t stop her from wanting more and needing more.
Mitch came back into the room, moving with the silence and grace of a jungle cat. If anyone had asked, Melody would have sworn that she had felt him come into the room. Somehow, she had known he was back before she saw or heard him. As ridiculous as it seemed, it was as thought she felt him enter the room. Wyatt moved out of the way and Mitch sat down
Barbara Corcoran, Bruce Littlefield