Desert Heat

by Elizabeth Reyes

  “Wow,” Damian said, staring at her. “I would’ve jumped in sooner if I knew this was how I’d be greeted.”

  Without letting her respond, he devoured her mouth again, this time pulling them both lower into the water, where his big hands roamed her entire body, even squeezed her behind gently over her bikini bottom. With her mind now completely off Ashlynn, her heart pumped, and all she could think of as he sucked her tongue was how she wished to God they were alone.

  Carey’s squealing made them finally pull apart for a moment. They both turned to see Dimitri on the other side of the pool spinning the giant turtle around while Carey held on for dear life, giggling loudly. “Keep her in the shade,” Damian said loudly, pulling Bethany to him and wrapping his arms around her middle.

  They were both facing Dimitri and the others now but were far enough away that Bethany gave in to the urge to press up against the very solid confirmation that Damian had been just as quickly aroused as she’d been. It made her heart beat even faster, and her burning insides begged for time alone now. She should be ashamed of the utter temptation she had to lower her hand and stroke him even if it was just over his shorts. Instead she rubbed her ass up against it; the sensation alone was enough to make her tremble.

  “Stop that,” he whispered in her ear, but moved his hand down, his fingers just under the top front of her bikini bottom. “I’m already gonna be stuck in here for a while.”

  Running her hands down over his big hard arms until they reached the tip of his fingers, she fought the urge to push his hand lower. God, she wanted him so bad. If they’d been alone, she would’ve already pulled her bottoms off and straddled him right there in the pool. She’d known since yesterday just the feel of his hard, near-naked body against hers would be enough to get her going, but his hand this close to her pulsating need for him had her squeezing her eyes shut and gulping hard.

  “Hey, Damian,” Diego called out from the grill. “Do I just flip these over?”

  “Yeah.” Damian pulled his hand away from her bikini. “Lower the fire, too. Mitri can take the next shift.”

  “Nah,” Dimitri countered. “I’m on Carey duty.”

  “Shit,” Damian muttered, pulling away from Bethany.

  “I got it,” Fina said, headed toward the stairs of the pool already.

  Carey called out for Bethany and Damian to come hang on her giant turtle. They started toward her, though Damian took a quick swim to the other end of the pool before coming back and meeting them. Bethany bit into her bottom lip, visualizing him adjusting himself again as he’d done Friday night.

  After relieving Dimitri from the duty, Bethany proceeded to get the inquisition Damian had promised she would get from Carey. About fifteen minutes later, and as Damian very noticeably kept his hands to himself, mostly playing and spinning Carey around, it was apparently safe to step out. Damian said he wanted to check his pork tenderloin. When Carey protested that she wanted Bethany to stay with her, Damian insisted Bethany needed a break from the water, and a drink. This was true, but Bethany couldn’t shake the feeling he didn’t want to be caught alone with Ashlynn again. More than gladly, she stepped out with him firmly attached at her hand. Carey stayed back, with Diego now taking on the duty.

  On their walk toward the bar area and the barbecue, they heard someone yell out, asking Dimitri where he was going. Bethany and Damian turned at the same time to see Dimitri and Ashlynn headed up the stairs. Bethany turned back just as the unmistakable irritation swept over Damian’s face. His jaw even worked as he waited for Dimitri’s answer, which was that he’d be right back down.

  “Something wrong?” she asked, determined not to jump to conclusions.

  Damian turned back to her with a strained smile, shaking his head, but otherwise didn’t address her question. As they reached the bar, he walked around it, and Bethany pulled out a stool on the other side.

  “What do you feel like drinking?” he asked. “We have everything. Mixed drinks, wine, beer. What’s your poison?”

  Ignoring how her insides had gone tense over his reaction to seeing Dimitri walk away with Ashlynn, Bethany decided a drink was exactly what she needed. “Hmm.” She thought about it as she sat down across the bar from him.

  He reached over and opened the full-sized, stainless-steel fridge. “Well, shit. Someone brought readymade drinks.” He pulled out a pitcher with a pink drink in it and read the label. “Pink Panty Droppers.” With an evil smirk, he glanced back at her. “Maybe you should try some of this.”

  Matching his evil smirk, she nodded. “Sounds good, but if the drink is supposed to serve a purpose, I’ll tell you right now, I don’t need it.”

  His eyes widened for a moment, and he glanced up at one of the screens mounted on the walls of the bar. “Fourth inning,” he said, pulling a glass out for her, pouring her the drink, and setting it in front of her. “As soon as this game is over, I’m kicking everybody out.”

  Bethany laughed, picking up the glass. She had a nagging feeling about the whole Ashlynn thing; her gut told her it wasn’t anything she needed to worry about, but still she didn’t like how uncomfortable it made her.

  Jerry and Janis, a girl he’d apparently met at the speed date, joined them at the bar. Bethany made small take with Janis, as Damian and Jerry discussed the game. Ashlynn came over to ask Jerry for the keys to the car at one point, so she could get something from it. Bethany kept a close eye but noticed how little flaunting she did in front of her dad. Damian had seemed unnerved again, and he all but ignored her, keeping his eyes on the TV monitor the entire few minutes she stood there. It was all a little too weird for her to disregard.

  As the day went on Damian and Bethany had gone back into the pool a few times. Each time they’d been “stuck” in there for a while because their touching and rubbing underwater had gotten a bit out of hand again.

  Fina and Carey were the first to leave, and though Bethany could see just where Carey had picked up her interrogation skills, Fina wasn’t nearly as bad as Damian had warned her she’d be. Bethany had managed to dodge some of the questions that might’ve had her embellishing or even lying a little.

  When Dimitri left, he announced to Damian’s obvious annoyance that he was giving Ashlynn a ride home, since Jerry and Janis were hanging out for a while longer. Finally, about an hour after that, Jerry and Janis, the last to leave, drove away.

  Bethany had planned on just letting the whole Ashlynn thing go, because she didn’t want anything ruining the time she’d finally get alone with Damian. But after a few more uncomfortable Ashlynn moments, she decided she needed to get one thing straight first.

  “So what’s the deal with you and Ashlynn?” she asked straight out, as she took a seat on the big comfy sectional in Damian’s family room.

  Damian walked up to the armless sectional, pushing the pieces together, and she saw that the pieces that served as footrests actually could come together and turn the sectional into a huge bed. “Lift your legs,” he said as he moved another flat piece toward her.

  She lifted her legs onto the flat piece, and he pushed it against the sofa she’d been sitting on, so she was now sitting on what had come together as a bedlike sofa.

  “There is no deal with me and Ashlynn,” Damian informed her as he slid in next to her, sideways, lifting himself up on an elbow. “She’s Jerry’s sixteen-year-old daughter who thinks she’s found the answer to all her problems.”

  Bethany stared at him, waiting, but when he didn’t go on, she gave him a look, tilting her head. “Well, you can’t just leave me with that, Damian.” She paused for a moment as she watched his fingers caress her leg in a circular motion, moving slowly up to her knee. Feeling the excitement with just that simple touch, she knew she couldn’t beat around the bush. She looked straight into those sexy bedroom eyes, which were already looking at her in a way that made her breathe a little deeper, and decided to be completely honest. “Something about her makes me uncomfortable. I know she’s young, and you wou
ld never—”

  “It’s not what you’re thinking, Bethany,” he said, his fingers moving further up her leg. “I thought the same thing.”

  “That she wants you?” Bethany asked, making sure he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  He nodded, moving his hand off her leg for a moment to reach for the pillow behind Bethany. Placing it behind her, he whispered, “Lie down.”

  Staring at him, she realized she was beginning to feel the very thing she’d felt the night he’d shown up at her show—utterly captivated. She needed to snap out of it, because she needed answers first. Still, she did as he asked and lay back, unable to break the eye contact she was now locked into. “So what is it?” Finally, the feel of his fingers back on her legs, only higher up now, made her close her eyes. “I need to know, Damian. I didn’t like the vibe I got from her today when she was around you.”

  “She’s not interested in me, babe,” he assured her as his fingers moved slowly up her thigh. “She’s interested in Dimitri.”

  The slight change in his tone made her open her eyes. “And that bothers you?”

  “It does,” he admitted, to her surprise, and it almost made her sit up, but she didn’t. She continued to stare at him, trying to concentrate on his words, but his fingers moving in small slow circles further up her leg made it nearly impossible. “I think she’s bad news, and I don’t want my brother getting into any trouble. She’s also a minor, remember?”

  “But the way she looks at you—”

  “She doesn’t want me, Bethany. I’m certain of that, but she did make me a proposition last night.”

  Now Bethany began to try to sit up, but Damian held her down, pulling his body half over her, pinning one of her arms under him and lacing his hand through her other hand, holding it down next to her head. “I knew it—”

  “Shh!” he said, kissing her softly. “It’s not at all what you’re thinking, and it’s such a nonissue, if it hadn’t been for the way she behaved today, making it obvious to you that something was up, I hadn’t planned on telling you at all.”

  “Telling me what?” she demanded.

  Again she tried moving, but she was no match for his strong body pressed against her. It really should’ve made her mad, furious even, yet shamefully, feeling certain hard parts of his body pressed against her was turning her on.

  He stared deep into her eyes with those heavy-lidded bedroom eyes she was certain he knew drove her crazy. “Last night Ashlynn asked me if I was lonely.”

  Bethany squirmed under him, not just because of the jealousy that suddenly consumed her at knowing that baby whore had been alone with her man and obviously she did want him, but because he just admitted he had had no intention of telling her. “And you weren’t going to tell me this?”

  “No,” he said, moving over her even more now and holding her hand down as he licked her bottom lip. “She wanted to know if I was tired of my single bachelor lifestyle.”

  Bethany turned her face so his lips wouldn’t touch hers anymore, because she was officially pissed now. “Get off me, Damian. I don’t even wanna know what the hell her proposition was. From the way she behaved around you today clearly you didn’t turn her down flat.”

  Damian moved, and for a second she thought he might be moving off her. Instead he brought his big body entirely over hers now, pressing the massive hard-on this conversation had apparently given him against her. He took her other hand and held it down, too, rendering her immobile. As much as she knew that this should piss her off even more, his pressing himself between her legs made her breath catch. “She’s trying to set me up with her mom, sweetheart.” He leaned down and kissed her hard, then sucked her bottom lip before pulling away. “The whole reason she ran away and is living with Jerry now is that she hates her mom’s boyfriend. I guess her mom told her once upon a time she found me attractive, and her mom and Jerry have never even gotten along. So she thought maybe if she could convince me to hook up with her mom that would get rid of her mom’s boyfriend.”

  She stared at him, not sure how she felt about this, but she tried desperately to concentrate on everything he’d just said, because the way he’d begun to sway his hips, rubbing his erection—that felt bigger now against her—was a huge distraction.

  “Her line of questioning last night caught me off-guard, okay?”

  The emphasis on that last word had her attention. He sounded nervous—guilty. Any growing anticipation about what might happen between them in the next few minutes was squashed. “And?”

  “I thought the very same thing you were thinking before she brought up her mom. That she was coming on to me. I panicked. So I may’ve gone a little overboard telling her just how much I enjoyed my single bachelor life. How much I wanted it to stay that way.” He stopped and searched her eyes for a moment, all the passion replaced with what almost looked like fear. “I didn’t even mention you or that I had a girlfriend. I’m sorry.”

  This is what had him feeling guilty? That at a moment like that he hadn’t thought of telling this underage girl, who was in no way entitled to an explanation of his personal life, about his brand-new girlfriend?

  Unable to touch his face, because he was still holding her hands down, she smiled. “Kiss me.”

  A very relieved smile replaced the fear in his eyes, and he kissed her deeply. Continuing to make love to her mouth, he took some of the pressure off, though she hadn’t minded it at all, by going back to his original position, lying next to her rather than on her. He let go of her hand as well and brought his hand down to her thigh again, making her tremble.

  His fingers glided up and down the inside of her thigh, and that alone had her breathing harder. She moved away from his lips to catch her breath for a moment, and his mouth slipped down her jaw, kissing and sucking as she let her head fall back to give him full access to her neck. He moaned with each suck of her very tender neck. As he began sucking harder it made her tingle in the very part of her body that yearned for his fingers to move a little higher, and she began to squirm.

  “Did you mean what you said today?” he whispered breathlessly against her neck, “or were you just—”

  “No,” she said sharply, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Swallowing hard, she moved his hand up between her legs, gasping when he immediately moved her bikini strap aside and slipped a finger in her. “I meant it,” she said, instinctively lifting her hips as he slipped in a second finger.

  She was so wet she should have been embarrassed, but it was all she could do to stop herself from moaning loudly as his fingers slipped in and out of her now, and he continued kissing and sucking her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut, her entire body trembling wildly. His thumb worked that magical place that might have her screaming soon if he didn’t slow down. Gasping again suddenly, but this time from the disappointment as his fingers pulled out and his mouth moved away from her neck, she opened her eyes and watched him bring his fingers to his mouth.

  He licked one clean then sucked it for a moment. “Delicious,” he said with a sinful grin, and the burning desire in those sexy eyes of his had her nearly exploding. He brought his other finger to her lips, spreading all of her own juices on them, then kissed her, licking and sucking on her lips so hard it hurt, but in such a good way it made her moan with pleasure. She’d never been so close to coming from just a kiss, but then she’d never tasted herself on someone else’s tongue before. It felt very erotic, and if he continued to suck her mouth as intensely as he did now she just might.

  Once again she gasped as he pulled away from her mouth and began to pull off the short mesh cover-up she’d thrown over her bikini. Feeling almost frantic with anticipation, she sat up a bit, helping him pull it off, then pulled his T-shirt off, too. Just as she had in the pool all day, she ran her fingers over his hard chest and muscles, then kissed his shoulder. But, unable to stand it anymore, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down with her.

  Kissing her roughly again, he sucked
her lips and tongue harder than before. The shameful noises she made now surprised even her, but it seemed to turn him on, because his kiss became even more frenzied. His hand moved down, and he slipped his fingers in her again, pushing in deep this time. Gasping for air, she arched her back, and she felt the sudden emptiness as he pulled his fingers out of her again. In the next second she had both his tongue and his fingers in her mouth, the taste of her own juices turning her on so much, she grabbed his hand, sucking and licking his fingers clean as he watched her in awe.

  Groaning, he lifted himself over her, his entire body pressing against her again as he pulled her bikini top up, exposing her breasts. He sucked one hard as he massaged the other and pinched her nipple, making her yelp with pleasure. “Beautiful,” he said as he pulled away to stare down at them, then into her eyes.

  Just like everything she’d felt from the beginning with him, this kind of arousal was something completely new to her. She’d been with her first boyfriend enough to know what horny felt like. But she’d never had the urge to beg someone to just fuck her already, and it dawned on her that this, too, could be something new Damian brought out in her, because she felt a desperate need to have him in her now.

  He sucked her breasts softly, then so sharply she felt it all the way down to the very part of her body that ached for his touch. Bethany finally gave in to the pleasure, and she cried out loudly, making him suck harder. The sensation was unbelievable. The only other times she’d felt even close to the frantic need she felt now were the few times their kisses had gotten really heavy.

  She ran her fingers through his hair, moaning each time he sucked her nipples a bit harder, at times fisting chunks of his hair in her hands. He moved slowly, raining soft kisses down her belly, until she felt him tug on her bikini. Kissing the area just above her bikini bottom, he began pulling it down slowly. His kisses moved down as her bottom did, and her already wild heart sped up. If he kept moving this slowly, she was going to scream; she could hardly stand it anymore.