by Sarah Carter
Leaning really close to him, Claire whispers, “I want to do something to you right now.”
“You do?” Damien replies, raising an eyebrow.
Claire nods with a sheepish smile.
“And what is that?”
“Close your eyes,” she barely says.
Damien closes one eye, smiles and then closes the other.
Claire shifts herself, and then yells, “Marco!” as she shoves him under the water.
An hour later, Claire and Kayla are sunbathing on the side of the pool. “They’re slightly ridiculous,” Kayla giggles, shielding her eyes from the sun, as she watches Jackson jump off the high diving board.
“But your boyfriend is very pretty to look at,” Claire replies.
“He is, isn’t he?” Kayla sighs. “Damien’s pretty hot too.”
“Yeah, none of my exes were ever this good-looking,” Claire laughs. “None of them. Nowhere near. Damien isn’t even in a different league—he’s on another planet.”
Kayla looks at Claire. “That Alex guy is pretty cute.”
“Yeah, especially in his guard outfit. Always have to like a guy in a uniform.”
“No doubt,” Kayla agrees. “So, what’s going on between you two?”
Claire snorts. “That’s opening a Pandora’s box. He’s been my brother’s best friend since childhood. We have this weird thing going on right now. He sprung this idea of being a couple on me and I’m still in shock, I think.”
“So, are you together?”
Looking out at all the people, Claire says, “I don’t know. I said we could see each other a little bit.”
“How does one see another person a little bit?” Kayla laughs.
“You know, I have no idea,” Claire giggles back. “He just…I love him, I do…”
There is silence for a moment and then Kayla inquires, “Are you in love with him?”
“No,” Claire sighs. “Should I be if I want to be with him?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have much experience with guys. Jackson and Damien are it.”
Claire raises her eyebrow. “You have no experience with guys at all?”
“No,” Kayla mumbles, looking down.
“No. I mean, that’s fine. There are some guys I dated who I wish I could forget. Alex is the only Neturu I’ve ever done anything with.”
Turning to her, Kayla asks, “What have you done? I’m so new to all of this.”
“Ummm,” Claire hums.
Kayla jerks upright. “Have you had sex?”
Not knowing what to say, Claire slowly replies, “Well…ummm…yes, but please don’t tell anyone.”
“No way!” Kayla yells. She leans forward to Claire. “What was it like?”
“Are we really having this conversation?”
Kayla sits back. “I guess not.”
“It’s just…” Claire sighs. “I always thought I’d wait, but I got so caught up in the moment.”
“Do you regret it?”
Claire pauses. “Not like you’d think. I love Alex, and would never say that, but do I wish it was because I was in love with someone, yes. I wanted to be married or at least engaged.”
“So, you wouldn’t do it again?”
“No, not now,” Claire retorts. “Much to the disappointment of Alex.”
“Damien has a lot of experience, and I mean a lot. Mostly with human girls though.”
With a snort, Claire says, “Yeah. Pretty much everyone knows that.”
“But he isn’t like that anymore. I don’t even think he’s kissed a girl in the last year. I think he would’ve told me about that. He’s really looking for someone to connect with.”
“That’s kind of what I want,” Claire murmurs. “Alex and I just have such a strong past. We have a history and he cares about me for me, looking past all my short comings.”
“Do you think you could fall in love with him and have a future?”
Thinking about it for a minute, Claire says, “I think I could.”
“Do you want to?”
Claire looks over at Kayla. “What do you mean?”
“Do you want to fall in love with him?” Kayla repeats nicely.
“I have no idea,” Claire whispers.
“I’m going to say something and I hope you don’t take offense to it. Maybe you should wait on this Alex thing. You sound so unsure. Give it time. He just brought it up. Take time to really think about it and then make a choice.”
Claire bites her lip. “I already told him I’d give it a try.”
“Well, explain that you’re really confused and he needs to give you a little more time,” Kayla suggests.
With a heavy sigh, Claire mumbles, “Maybe I should.”
Two shadows pass over them. They look up. Jackson and Damien are standing there. Damien looks at Claire. “Class starts in a half an hour. We should go change.”
“What? I was going like this,” Claire replies with a grin.
“Oh, I would love that,” Damien exclaims.
“No,” Claire says, standing up. “Sorry, the guys would be too distracted.”
Putting his hands out, Damien retorts, “Who cares about the guys? I should be all that matters.”
“Of course you are,” Claire laughs, as she grabs her towel. “Come on.”
A little while later, she’s standing in the hotel room with Damien. They have on their workout clothes. Damien asks, “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” Claire sighs.
“What’s wrong?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
They leave the room. Claire nervously wrings her hands all the way down to the gym. When the door opens, she finds Alex standing there. He smiles. “Hey, babe.”
“Hi,” Claire squeaks. Trying to calm her nerves, but failing, Claire asks, “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Of course,” Alex retorts very slowly, looking at her apprehensively. Claire turns and walks down the hallway, away from everyone else in the gym. When she stops, Alex looks at her. “This isn’t going to be good, is it?”
Shrugging, Claire says, “I don’t know. I just…I think we’re going a little fast. You brought this up and I was in total shock.”’
“You’re regretting everything?”
“No. Stop thinking that,” Claire snaps. “It’s just…there’s so much here. We’re friends. You’re best friends with my brother. We haven’t talked about what happened for six months—that’s a long time. I don’t know how to feel. Give me time to figure that out. I need to know if I really want this. I don’t want to do it, and a couple of months down the line, I may hurt both of us.”
“Great,” Alex grumbles. “I guess I understand, but I have one question.”
Claire looks at him. “What’s that?”
“How much does this have to do with Damien?”
She opens her mouth, but no words come out. Confused, she replies, “What do you mean?”
“You like him Claire. It’s really obvious, and he likes you too.”
She laughs. “He’s flirting with me. That’s all.”
“Tell me you haven’t been flirting with him,” Alex growls slightly.
Biting her lip, Claire says, “It’s only been in fun.”
“Whatever,” Alex snaps. “Take whatever time you need. We have a class to teach.” With that, he turns and walks away.
“Alex!” Claire calls after him. He doesn’t turn around. With a heavy exhale, Claire mumbles, “Great.”
When she walks into the gym room, everyone is stretching. Alex stands in front of the class. “Alright. We’re going to see what some of you’re capable of today. Who’s going to volunteer?” Claire watches as Alex turns to Damien.
Damien arches his eyebrow. Finally, he smirks. “I will.”
Claire walks up. “I’ll spar with him.”
“No,” Alex snaps quietly. “I’m teaching this class.”
“I’m helping,” Claire growls. “Let me do this.�
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“I’m doing it,” Alex retorts through his teeth. “Go stand with everyone else.”
Claire walks up to Damien. Under her breath, she whispers, “He’s super pissed. He thinks you have a thing for me.”
“Uh oh.” Damien chuckles quietly.
“It’s not funny,” Claire retorts seriously.
“He can’t kill me,” Damien chirps. He leans forward and kisses her on the forehead. “Thanks for worrying.” With that, he walks over to Alex.
She spins. Alex is fuming mad now by the look on his face. His fists are balled up, his lips are pressed together and he is glaring at Damien. Claire swears silently in her head. The only thing she can do is stand back and watch. Everyone is murmuring to each other and it’s driving Claire nuts. An older gentleman in a guard uniform comes walking in the door. He stands to the side with his arms crossed.
“Oh great,” Claire groans. “This isn’t going to end well.”
Alex looks at Damien. “Take your stance.”
Damien does.
“Ready?”
He nods.
In a second, Alex advances on Damien. Claire frowns because in two movements, Alex already has hit Damien. Damien grimaces.
“Try a little harder,” Alex instructs, with a slight grin.
The humor is now gone from Damien’s face. He gives Alex a stony stare and then moves to attack. Damien actually gets in a strike, which makes Claire cheer. Alex turns to her. She quickly stops and crosses her arms nervously.
Both guys get back in their stances. Alex advances toward Damien again. Damien blocks about five moves, but then Alex gets him in the ribs, and Damien cries out. Claire is about to spring forward, but the guard member is already going over by him.
Damien puts up his hand. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
The guard member looks sternly at Alex, who shifts his gaze back to Damien. “Are you alright, Master Damien?”
“Yeah,” Damien replies, standing up straight again. “You just surprised me.”
“I think this is enough,” the older guard member says.
“No,” Damien retorts. “We’re just getting started.”
With a grin, Alex asks, “Would you like me to take it a little easier on you Master Damien?”
“Not at all, Alex,” Damien answers. Alex nods and then kicks out at Damien. Damien ducks and sweeps Alex’s legs out from underneath him. Alex hits the floor, and Damien chirps, “Rookie mistake.”
With a deep growl, Alex swings his legs around, locks them onto Damien, and brings him down to the floor. Alex spins on top of him and puts his fingers into his chest. Damien screams.
Before Claire knows what she’s doing, she flies across the room and tackles Alex off of Damien. They scramble across the floor. Claire kips up and takes a stance. “Pick on someone who can take you.”
“Don’t start this,” Alex hisses.
“I won’t start anything. I’ll finish it,” Claire retorts.
Alex stares at her and finally says, “You should teach class then.” He gets up and leaves.
Claire exhales. Quickly, she turns to Damien. He grabs his chest. “Are you okay?” She says, kneeling down by him.
“Master Damien, are you alright?” the guard member asks.
“Holy…that hurt,” Damien stutters.
“I’ll take care of it,” the guard member says. “He won’t bother you again.”
Putting up his hands, Damien says, “No, no. Leave him be. It’s a personal thing. Leave Alex alone. That just hurt. Wow.”
“It’s a striking point,” Claire sighs, putting her hand on his chest. She starts to rub the spot in small circles. “Give it a minute. It’ll go away.”
“How many of the points do you know? You did the one in my neck, too.”
With a smirk, Claire replies, “All of them.”
“Seriously?” Damien gasps.
“All 102,” Claire declares, shrugging her shoulders.
Damien grabs her hand. “Teach me.”
“What?”
“Teach me. Be my personal trainer,” Damien requests.
Claire stares at him a little dumbfounded.
“Ummm,” one of the guys interjects. “Is class canceled?”
She looks up. “No, I’ll teach it.”
“Awesome,” the guy says. “You’re so much cooler.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Claire replies. She looks down at Damien. “Are you okay?”
Nodding, he chuckles. “Yeah. I should let you teach class now.”
“Are you going up to our room?”
“No,” Damien retorts. “I wouldn’t miss this class for anything. A hot chick showing me how to fight? How could I pass that up? Anyway, what kind of a man would I be if I let you win the bet because I got knocked on my ass?”
“A super-hot man who’s laying on the floor all helpless,” Claire giggles.
Damien smirks, “I’m not sure if I should be annoyed by that or happy that you think I’m super hot.”
Claire leans in by him. “Appreciate the super-hot part. Now let me teach you some stuff.”
“Okay,” Damien replies, getting up off the floor.
“Will you teach us that pressure point?” a guy calls out.
“Oh, hell no. Those points are for trained fighters, nothing to fool around with. You could seriously hurt someone,” Claire states. “We’re going to learn simple things, like…how to throw a real punch. Everyone needs to know that.” She grins at Damien and he returns the smirk.
An hour later, Damien is leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Claire puts her hands on her hips. “Are you done?”
He opens one eye and looks at her. “I made it all the way through class. I win the bet.”
“Yeah, but you look like you’re going to pass out,” Claire laughs.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to,” Damien retorts. “I made it all day without quitting. I’m very proud of myself.”
“Fine. You win the bet. Let’s get you upstairs so you can take a nap,” Claire teases.
Damien reaches out and grabs her. He starts to tickle her sides, and Claire just looks at him.
“Yeah, I’m a trained fighter. I’m not ticklish.”
“What? What kind of a girl isn’t ticklish?” Damien exclaims.
Smiling, Claire replies, “A girl that can kick your ass.”
“You’re so not funny. Come on then, let’s go upstairs.”
Making total fun of each other, they take the elevator to their floor. When they get into their room, Damien strips off his shirt. “I’m exhausted and sore. How do you do this all the time?”
“Lots of training.” Claire sits on the bed. “It’s good that you’re sore. It gives me something to massage.”
“Do you know what sounds like a good idea?”
“What’s that?”
He points to the Jacuzzi. “I say we fill that puppy up.”
“You want me to leave?”
“No. I want you to join me.”
She stares at him blankly. “I really hope you don’t mean naked.”
“No, of course not. Unless you wanted to,” Damien quips with a smile.
Claire rolls her eyes. “No. I’m not offering.”
“Then we’ll put bathing suits on. Come on. Wouldn’t it be relaxing?”
“It would. Fine. I’m in. Fill it up and I’ll go put on a bathing suit.”
Clapping his hands, Damien says, “Awesome.”
Going to her suitcase, Claire takes out her other bathing suit. She turns on her heel and walks to the bathroom. She can hear Damien start the water. When Claire shuts the door to the bathroom, she exhales. “Am I really getting into a Jacuzzi with him?”
Taking in a deep breath, Claire takes off her clothes. When she’s ready, she walks back out into the room. Damien is, of course, already changed.
He turns and looks at her. “Pretty bathing suit.”
She glances down at it. It’s a strapless blue top a
nd matching bikini bottoms. “It works,” Claire says.
Damien stretches his arms up. “I’m so sore. That massage better be good.”
“You expect me to massage you…in the Jacuzzi? Aren’t there dirty movies that start out that way?”
A wicked grin crosses Damien’s face. “How many dirty movies have you watched that you would know?”
“None,” Claire counters.
He just laughs and runs his hand under the faucet. “It’s hot. I hope you don’t mind that.”
“No. The hotter the better, remember?”
Turning to her, Damien winks. “We were talking about water, weren’t we?”
Claire saunters over to the hot tub and sighs. “Yup. Hot showers. I like those.” Lifting her leg up, she gets into the Jacuzzi. As she slides down, Claire moans. “Okay. This does feel good.”
“Oh, I have to join you now,” Damien replies, as he climbs in.
When they’re both all the way in, Damien turns off the water. The Jacuzzi is big enough for them both to sit comfortably, but Claire still has butterflies in her stomach. Damien closes his eyes and leans his head back.
“This is nice,” Claire finally whispers, awkwardly.
“You have no idea. I’m so sore.”
“Come here,” Claire instructs, sitting up. “Turn your back to me.”
Damien smiles. “Are you going to massage me?”
“Sure, but I want to show you some cool warrior tricks. Secret stuff that you’ll be amazed at.”
Cocking his eyebrow, Damien replies, “Secret stuff?”
“Mmhmmm. Turn around.”
With a shrug of his shoulders, Damien spins around in the Jacuzzi. Claire scoots up behind him.
“What are you going to do to me?” Damien asks with a mischievous tone. “Will it be something I’ll enjoy?”
“Yes,” Claire answers. “Now, there are 102 pressure points for the Neturu. A lot of them are for taking down your opponent or stopping someone, but there are others that are useful.” She starts to trace her fingers across his back.
“I like that already,” Damien murmurs.
Claire laughs. “I haven’t even done anything yet. See, your muscles are sore in your shoulders. I can tell by the tension. So…if I press here—” She pushes her fingers down. “—it releases the stiffness.”
Damien gasps. “Holy cow. That’s amazing!”
“Yup,” Claire replies. She traces her fingers down his spine. “If you press here, it releases the pressure on your lower back.”