Damage Control

by M. S. Parker

  Shit.

  “Yes,” Didi said quickly. “I guess Senator Van Allen reached out to Sondra earlier this week to ask if she’d check in with Piety and her husband to see how they were settling in.”

  I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “I take it you invited them over for dinner?”

  “I did.” Didi gave me a bright smile. “Sondra took them out to dinner Tuesday, and they came by the store afterward. Such an amazing couple. We all got to talking and Kaleb – that’s Piety’s husband – mentioned that they’d just find a restaurant or something, but…well…” She shrugged. “It’s Thanksgiving.”

  “Yes.” I took a drink of wine, emptying the glass. “It’s Thanksgiving.”

  The doorbell rang, and my heart jumped.

  I didn’t ask if Piety and Kaleb were the only two coming because I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to know until it was absolutely necessary. While Didi went out to answer the door, I moved over to the bottle of wine and filled the glass. It was a good thing I’d already decided to let myself drink today.

  I had a feeling I’d need it.

  I heard Didi greeting people, and although everything in me wanted to go see if Astra was part of the group, I remained where I was, putting off the inevitable.

  A few seconds later, a familiar, bright laugh echoed out of the living room. Taking a sip of the wine, I told my dick to return to its resting position and smiled at Christal. “If you want to go on out there, you can leave the cheese plate. It’s safe with me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you come with me and bring the cheese plate.” She pointed a finger at me, narrowing her eyes. “No snitching. That’s for guests first.”

  “I’m a guest,” I muttered.

  “You’re family,” Christal shot back as she walked past me.

  Dammit.

  I took the plate and followed, knowing that if I stayed, I’d look like I was hiding.

  As I stepped into the room, my eyes found Astra almost immediately. She sat on the arm of the couch, dressed in a clingy sort of metallic gray dress that managed to be both fancy and casual at the same time. The shoulder cut-outs and sweetheart neckline exposed just enough skin to make my mouth water but not so much that she was indecent.

  She swung her head around, a smile on her lips. Then she saw me, and maybe it was because I’d spent two days watching her, but I saw that smile freeze just the slightest.

  It didn’t fade or die. But seeing me caused some sort of reaction. Not the reaction I wanted though.

  A split second later, she tilted her head, eyes sparkling, “Well, hello there, Dashiell.”

  “Dashiell?” Didi glanced from Astra to me, curiosity in her voice. No one called me by my full name.

  As Astra started to explain how she didn’t think my nickname suited me, I settled in a corner chair so I wouldn’t see Astra unless I turned my head. I needed to not spend the day staring at her.

  Not staring.

  I could do this.

  Shit.

  Didi put me next to her at dinner.

  Now, not only was I treated to a closer view of the tops of her breasts and left to wonder more about stripping off that dress, I could smell whatever it was she smoothed on that pale, soft skin. It wasn’t cloying or overpowering, but rather complementary to the meal. Like cinnamon or nutmeg or one of those spices.

  It made me want to shove everything off the table and feast on her.

  My dick would be permanently deformed at this rate, twisted in an uncomfortable position as I sat there, wondering if her pussy tasted as good as her mouth, while Christal and Didi argued over the best way to carve the turkey.

  “You’re quiet.”

  Astra’s voice was low and close to my ear, sending another ripple of arousal through me. Two words shouldn’t turn me on so much.

  It’d been too long since I’d gotten laid.

  Turning my head, I found her leaning over so that her arm brushed against mine.

  Don’t look at her mouth. Don’t look at her mouth.

  It took a solid effort, but I managed it. “I’m not much for small talk, as a rule.”

  A slow smile curved her lips.

  “I’m all about small talk. Small talk. Big talk. Any kind of talk.” She settled back in her seat as a platter was passed her way.

  Without thinking, I took it from her, my fingers grazing hers. “Allow me,” I said, ignoring the jolt caused by just that light touch. At this rate, I was going to have a fucking heart attack by dessert.

  She sent me a look from under her lashes as she took the serving fork and helped herself to some of the turkey.

  “Do you want white or dark meat?” she asked.

  “Ah…I don’t care. I like both.”

  She took her time selecting some of each, drawing out the time I was facing her before I could pass the plate on.

  We ended up repeating the process with every plate, every bowl, and by the time we were done, our plates were loaded down with Thanksgiving deliciousness, and I was trying to understand just how serving food and passing plates could feel so intimate.

  I didn’t want to feel that for her, for anyone. I needed to find someone to fuck, and then it wouldn’t be like this around her. She was just new and attractive, catching me at a time when I needed a sexual outlet. That was all it was.

  Just don’t look at her, I reminded myself.

  Just don’t look.

  “I’m sorry,” Piety said, smothering a yawn behind her hand. “This baby-making business is more exhausting than anything I’ve ever done.”

  She stood by the door while Kaleb held up the light jacket she’d worn, helping her slip it on. The way they looked at each other was almost painful to watch. I’d heard a bit of their story via office gossip over the past week, and seeing them together made me believe all of it. These were two people who would do anything for each other.

  “Go on,” Astra said, flapping a hand at her. “I was planning on taking a cab anyway. You’re in the opposite direction of my hotel. Go, sleep. Tell Camry I hope she’s feeling better.”

  Apparently, Kaleb’s younger sister had also moved to California with them, but she would be starting college in the spring semester. She’d been invited today too but had come down with a stomach flu yesterday. She was feeling a bit better today, but not enough to be out in public.

  As Piety and Kaleb closed the door behind them, I looked over at Astra. “Why are you at a hotel?”

  She gave me a sideways smile. “I’m still trying to find a place to stay. Piety and Kaleb have a place, but I can’t stay with them. I mean, they offered, but…newlyweds? No.” She ran her fingers through her curls as she laughed. “They can’t be around each other more than a minute without getting moon-eyed and going all kissy-face.”

  “Kissy-face?”

  “Yes. Kind of like…” She gestured toward Didi and Christal as they leaned toward each other, lost in a conversation that mattered only to them.

  Ah. Kissy-face. I could understand not wanting to be around that all the time.

  Astra sighed. “I guess I should call that cab.”

  “I’ll drive you.”

  I didn’t know what madness prompted me, but the words were out there now, and I couldn’t take them back without looking like an ass. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to take them back anyway. I checked my watch before looking at her. “It’d take a cab a bit to get out here anyway. Especially on a holiday.”

  She hesitated, but one look at Didi and Christal had her nodding. “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Are you two leaving?” Didi asked, just now realizing what was going on.

  “Yes,” Astra answered for both of us, moving to hug Didi as though they’d been friends for life. “Dashiell here is saving me the trouble of calling a cab by driving me himself. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Didi looked at me, then back at Astra. “Of course not.” There was speculation in her eyes, but before she could push for anything, I
took Astra’s arm.

  I was being stupid, I knew. I was way too attracted to her. She worked for me.

  For fuck’s sake, we’d just had an entire forty-five-minute seminar on the company’s sexual harassment policy.

  But I was going to be stupid anyway.

  I didn’t need to see the confirmation in my best friend’s eyes.

  We pulled up in front of the hotel, an awkward silence falling after the bright, easy chatter that had filled the drive since we’d left Didi’s. Granted, the chatter had all been on Astra’s part. She was like a magpie, bouncing from one thing to the next in some verbal gymnastics that left my mind reeling as I tried to keep up. It’d been a long time since anyone had challenged me like that, and I found myself attracted to her in a way that had little to do with looks alone. She wasn’t some snobby intellectual who thought that conversations had to be deep and philosophical to matter. With Astra, it was all about whatever came into her head at any given moment.

  But now she was quiet.

  “This is a nice hotel,” I said.

  “Yes. It’s very nice,” she agreed.

  She hadn’t gotten out. What was she waiting–

  Shit.

  I got out and moved around the car to open the door for her at the same time she started to climb out.

  We both ended up standing outside the passenger door, only inches apart, staring at each other. She tugged at her dress, smoothing it out, and revealing a bit more cleavage at the same time. Unable to stop myself, my eyes dropped to the soft swells of her breasts.

  Fuck.

  “I…um…” Her hand fell to the side, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  I reached up and ran my finger from her shoulder down to her neckline, not quite going low enough to touch her breasts but definitely beyond a platonic gesture. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to hers.

  She was staring at me with wide, hungry eyes, the intensity of my own desire matched with hers.

  Fuck it.

  I reached for her, and she moved toward me at the same time.

  Our mouths came together in a hot, bruising kiss.

  She moaned softly, and I took advantage of her parted lips, sliding my tongue into her mouth. Shoving my fingers into the tumble of her hair, I tipped her head back and deepened the kiss, exploring, taking.

  Claiming.

  Sixteen

  Astra

  Shit.

  He was kissing me.

  His mouth was on mine, his tongue twisting and sliding and tangling with mine while one hand fisted in my hair, putting a not-unpleasant pressure on my scalp that was just this side of painful.

  This was really happening.

  I’d been aching to feel his mouth on mine again for almost a month, and now it was real. And it was so much better than I remembered.

  I needed to make him stop.

  We weren’t two strangers sharing an impulsive kiss in a quiet room at a Halloween party anymore.

  We worked together.

  But since when did I do smart?

  I wanted him, and he clearly wanted me. And I’d have been lying if I said I hadn’t been thinking about what would’ve happened if I’d taken things further on Halloween.

  “Come up to my room.” I tore my mouth away from his long enough to whisper the invitation, then brushed my lips against his.

  He went still, lifting his head so he could meet my eyes. Brushing my hair back from my face, he asked softly, “Are you sure?”

  “Not sure it’s smart, but I know it’s what I want,” I said, rising up on my toes to bite his lower lip. “Come to my room.”

  He shuddered, eyes closing for a moment. Then, nodding, he eased away and shot a look around the area. I didn’t know what he was looking for until he spoke, “Can you park it for me?”

  One of the valets came forward from where he’d been standing in the shadows. Once Dash had a ticket in hand, we started toward the doors.

  I felt awkward and strange in my skin, like something about Dash unsettled me. I didn’t know why. I wasn’t the sort of girl who took a new guy home every night, but I wasn’t a nun either. This shouldn’t have felt any different than when I’d been with Baylor, but it did.

  When Dash reached out to place a hand at the small of my back, I couldn’t stop a shiver that raced all the way up my spine. My nipples were already tight, sensitive to the minor friction offered by my bra. I wanted to throw myself at him, and rub all over him the moment the elevator doors closed behind us. Beg him to put his hands on me.

  I didn’t though.

  It was a glass-walled elevator on all sides, save for the door. I was adventurous, but definitely not voyeuristic. A kiss was one thing, but I knew the next time I kissed him, I didn’t want to stop.

  As soon as I was through the door, I tossed my purse onto the nearest flat surface and reached for him. He was already moving toward me, and I opened my mouth as his came down on mine for another deep, starving kiss. His grip was tight on my hips, the lines of his body deliciously hard against mine.

  The hotel door met my back as he crowded up against me, and I almost laughed when the phrase between a rock and a hard place popped into my head. He would be nearly a full foot taller than me when I took my heels off, but even now, he loomed over me, around me, his very presence giving me a feeling of security I’d never had with anyone else.

  “Tell me you’ve got a condom,” he said, his voice rough.

  “In my purse.” I never trusted a guy to be prepared.

  “Good.” He reached over and grabbed my bag, shoving it into my hand.

  As he leaned back, I unzipped the main compartment. Then I had to catch my breath because he hadn’t just been leaning back to give me room to get the condom out.

  “I’ve been wanting to do this all day,” he said, voice raw as he hooked his fingers in the straps of my dress.

  His gaze darkened as he slowly tugged the stretchy material down. I shifted my arms, giving him the space he needed to get the dress down to my waist, leaving me in my silver silk-and-lace strapless bra. As he took a few seconds to admire the garment, I managed to get the condom free and toss my purse back onto the nearby table. All my attention focused back on him as his fingers found the front clasp on the bra and flicked it open.

  He muttered a curse as he cupped my breasts in his hands, thumbs brushing across my nipples. I made a sound in the back of my throat as his touch sent a shiver of pleasure through me. He smiled the sort of dark smile that made my knees week, then he plucked at my nipple. Hot little darts of pleasure jolted straight down to explode inside my pussy.

  “More,” I begged.

  He didn’t need additional prompting. He wrapped one arm around my waist, the other moving under my ass to brace me as he lifted me against his chest. My legs wrapped around his hips as I clung to him, his arms going around me to support my weight as he leaned me back.

  I cried out when he took my nipple into his mouth, his teeth scraping the sensitive flesh before soothing it with his tongue. I dug my fingers into his hair, holding him close as he began to suck on my nipple. He alternated pressure, playing my body like a fine instrument as he coaxed the heat inside me into a flame.

  I felt the ridge of his cock, heavy and thick as it pulsed against me, and I shuddered, twisting against him until I had him tucked right against me, nothing separating us but my panties and his trousers. He moaned, the vibration against my skin making my eyelids flutter.

  “I spent all day wanting to do this,” he murmured, his voice low enough that I wondered if he’d intended for me to hear it.

  The idea that he’d been thinking about me like this all day drove me a little crazy, especially since I’d been hungrier for him than I had been for any of the mouth-watering food Didi had made.

  Then his mouth moved to the other breast, the suction harder, the teeth sharper. I moaned, arching my back.

  “Want more,” I said, wiggling against him.

  He went rigid,
mouth releasing my breast to allow him to take a shuddering breath. I rolled my hips, loving that I could affect him that much.

  Slowly, he lifted his head and stared down at me.

  “More,” I said again, using my legs to rub me up and down along his length.

  A hard shudder wracked his body, and he braced both hands on the door by my head. He dropped his head so that his forehead rested against mine. Closing my eyes, I reveled in the increased pressure even as I cursed the clothing that kept my skin from his.

  He started to rock his hips, slow motions that managed to put just the right amount of pressure and friction against my throbbing clit. It was like the most erotic dance I could imagine, every inch of me hyperaware of his body. Clinging to him, I began to mirror his movements. My orgasm was already building. So close. So close–

  He shoved away from the door, taking me with him, but ending our dance before I was able to find release.

  “No,” I whimpered. I tried to move on my own, but he held me too tightly, a silent laugh rumbling low in his chest.

  Holding me in his arms, he carried me into the sitting area and lowered me onto the couch. I pushed at my dress, helping Dash get it off. He didn’t wait for me to assist with my panties, simply tearing them off. The sting made me gasp, and then he thrust two fingers inside me, deep and rough, and I cried out.

  It was exactly what I needed, and I came, the assault to my body more intense than I could have imagined. Then his fingers curled, finding that sweet spot inside me, pushing me even higher.

  When my body fell back against the bed, every muscle limp as jelly, his hand withdrew, and I made a sound of protest, reaching for him, but failing to find him. I was half-blind in the dark room, but I managed to make out his shadow. I heard foil ripping, then he was back, covering my body with his.

  His mouth found mine, and I eagerly explored his body with my hands. I wished I could see more of him. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that we would become something more than just this night, and I wanted to remember everything. When we were sitting in a meeting at work, I wanted to be able to picture every muscle, hear every sound.