Conflict

by M. S. Willis

  After a few quiet minutes, Daemon finally spoke. “Damsel, is there anything else about Buddy you might not be remembering? Maybe you should talk to your parents. I’m willing to accompany you if you want to talk to them.” His face was so sad, guilty even, and I felt bad for having dumped my childhood problems in his lap.

  My head nodded in response to his question. Talking to my parents would be a good idea. Maybe they could shed some more light on the memory that suddenly assaulted my dream world. Hopefully they could tell me that my mind was playing tricks on me and nothing like that had ever occurred between Buddy and me. I pulled away from Daemon and was very unladylike at wiping away at my nose from the latest tear filled episode.

  “Yeah, we can go tomorrow, if that’s okay. First thing in the morning. I want…no, I need, to get this figured out. I mean, I’m sure it’s nothing. I feel like such a fucking idiot for even letting that bullshit dream get to me.”

  My mood was rapidly changing from one of sorrow to one of anger. I was angry at so many things and I think that one fucked up emotion was culminating itself inside of me to a point where it was causing false recollections. It was almost as if the place within me that held my anger was too small and the emotion leaked into the parts of me that contained my most treasured memories.

  I huffed out a breath of air and started scooting my way to the edge of the bed. Daemon’s hand grasped around my arm holding me in place and I turned my head to look at him. He looked sad. There was no other word to describe it. For the most part, his expression was blank, except for his eyes which were absolutely flooded in melancholy.

  I was too angry to react to his odd expression. I simply removed his hand from my arm and continued to push myself up off the bed. As my feet carried me over to the bathroom, I turned to look over my shoulder at him. “I’m getting a shower.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The tile floor in the bathroom was cool on my bare feet as I padded over to the shower. Flicking the hot water on, I moved to the side and took off my t-shirt and underwear. The water heated up quickly and I stepped in and let the liquid sooth the knots in my neck and back. The stress of the past two months was finally getting to me and I needed to bring everything back under control. I felt like I was losing my grasp on everything. Hell, I was even losing my grasp on the memories of my past.

  My head fell back under the spray of the water and it soaked my hair. My eyes were shut against the rivulets of water running down my face. Eventually, I lifted my head to let the water travel down my back and when I rubbed it from my eyes, I opened them to find Daemon standing in front of me. He was completely naked and his eyes seared into mine. I gasped from the intensity of his gaze and my body jumped in reaction to my surprise. Every defined muscle on his body was tense and his hands were clenched into fists. Water continued pouring down my body and I couldn’t will myself to speak. I was frozen in place staring at what was probably the most powerful person I had ever known. Both physically and mentally, Daemon had absolute command over, not only himself, but everything around him. He demanded respect whenever he entered a room and he carried himself in such a way that the potential threat within him did not go unnoticed. Yet, for as hard and authoritative as he was, he could still be soft and compassionate. There was this playful, boyish side to him that lit the entire room around him and all that stood nearby.

  With one long stride he moved under the spray of the water with me. The water ran down his tanned skin, leaving little drops that would eventually slide along the outline of his perfect lips, his broad chest and down along the muscles of his abdomen. My body trembled at his proximity and I jumped at the sudden sound of his voice.

  “Take it out on me, Paige.”

  My brows pulled together in confusion at his request and he stepped closer before explaining. He was barely brushing up against me when he said, “Your anger, your frustration, your pain...take it out on me. Let me be your outlet.”

  I was knocked back by his words. What did he want me to do? I didn’t understand the strange request he was making and I remained quiet as I tried to make sense of what he was saying. His close proximity put me at eye level with his smooth chest and I had to look up to catch his eyes.

  “I don’t understand what you want me to do, Daemon. Do you want me to fight you? Somehow I think that could be dangerous while we are both naked and soaking wet in the shower.” My voice was husky and raw and my body was absolutely on fire for him. Just staring at the water as it streamed along the ridges of his muscular body was igniting within me such desire, that the anger and frustration that had earlier consumed me was being smothered and extinguished.

  Daemon reached down, grabbed my hands and placed them flat against his rock hard chest. I could feel the strong, rhythmic beat of his heart. He held my hands in place as he said, “Scream at me, hit me, scratch me, kick me, fuck me…it doesn’t matter as long as I can help take some of that pain and frustration out of you. I don’t care what you do to me, Paige, just as long as you’re with me. Use me anyway you need, just never leave.” He leaned down to place a kiss on the top of my head. His forehead rested on mine when he continued. “Promise me, Paige, that you’ll never let me go. I don’t think I could survive it.”

  My eyes closed at Daemon’s words and I moved my head to place it on his chest between my hands. Among the emotions that have ravaged my system for the past few weeks, was a growing love for the man who wanted nothing more but to rescue me from myself. I couldn’t understand how he understood me as well as he did within the short amount of time that we’ve known each other. He had managed to tear down every wall that I had, and yet, I still knew nothing about him. With my love came frustration and fury at his continued mystery. My mind was torn between wanting to let go and give him all that I had and continuing to keep my distance until he met me somewhere in the middle. Tears pricked at my eyes again from my confusion and my knees buckled beneath me. I kneeled on the floor of the shower and Daemon moved with me to the ground.

  I opened my eyes to find him kneeling in front of me. His eyes searched my face for any response to what he said. I didn’t know if he could tell the difference between the tears falling from my eyes and the water dropping from the shower head. He grabbed my hands and once again placed them over his heart.

  “Please, Damsel. Let me take on some of the burden you carry. Open up to me and let me in so that I can relieve you of your nightmares.” His voice carried the sound of a person on the verge of panic. His body was still and he held my hands to him like he feared I would try to run. I didn’t know what to say to him, didn’t know how to give him what he wanted.

  “What do you want me to say, Daemon? I don’t know how to let you help me. You’re not the source of my anger and frustration.” I shook my head in silent objection to his request. “I should be apologizing to you for dragging you into the fucked up mess that has become my life, not taking out my pain and frustration on you. I don’t know what you want me to do.”

  “Love me, Paige. Trust me. Take everything that is tearing you up and turn it into something tangible, give me everything you can…” His finger came up under my chin to lift my face to his. “…that’s what I want you to do.”

  His mouth suddenly pressed down on mine and I parted my lips to allow him entrance. His tongue slipped along mine and the force of his kiss pressed my lips against my teeth. The slight pain was welcome. His hands traveled up along my body and found their way to my breasts. His fingers delicately pulled at the taut tips until my chest was pressing into him for more contact. He grabbed my hips suddenly and pulled me onto his lap. I could feel his hard length pressing between the apex of my thighs and I let out a small cry at the sensation. His fingers dug into my skin as I slid my hands along the delicious wetness of his skin. His smooth skin was such a contrast to the rigidity of the muscles beneath and we moved against each other as if we couldn’t get close enough to be satisfied.

  There was no patience in this encounter, no teasing
or tempting, just a desperate need to be near each other, within each other. He grasped at my hips again so that he could lift me and spear into me with no apologies for his roughness and speed. My head fell back and I cried out from the sudden fullness within me and my body started riding him without shame or hesitancy. With every rotation of my hips he drove deeper into my core, taking away the pain, and anger and frustration I had been bottling up inside me since we met. I lost myself in the sensation of his force and I felt those emotions that I could no longer contain turn into a release so violent, it was like a volcano coming alive again after spending centuries dormant. That familiar tingle started within my core and swiftly grew into an explosion that could easily tear me apart from its intensity. It came on so fast and so hard that I screamed out my release. My body continued to drive him even deeper than I’d felt him go before.

  “Fuck….Paige….you feel so fucking amazing.” His fingers dug into my skin as he allowed me to use his body to chase off every last bit of the aggravation and infuriation I carried within me.

  My body momentarily slowed after reaching my peak, but when I opened my eyes to find his heated glare taking in every last inch of my body, I sped up my rhythm again. My hands moved into his hair and I pulled his mouth to mine. Daemon maneuvered our bodies so that I was laid out across the shower floor and he pounded into me.

  An orgasm built within my body again and it shot through me like lightning. As I screamed out my pleasure, his mouth found mine and I felt him thrust deeper and faster until he joined me with his release. He pushed in one final time and the grip of his fingers on my hips caused a fantastic pain on my skin. The water continued to beat down on us and my fingers slid around the sides of his abdomen. I pulled him to me, holding him still against my body as our mouths moved in a continued effort to devour each other. Once our breathing had slowed and my heart no longer pounded at the walls of my chest, Daemon broke from our kiss.

  He lifted his head so he could look down into my eyes. The corner of his mouth quirked up and one of his dimples appeared on his cheek. A small chuckle escaped him before he said, “Feel better?”

  Oddly, yes. I did feel better. Rather than wallowing in angst and self-pity, I was now sated and languid. I was floating on a dopamine wave and my cares and concerns ran down the drain along with the now tepid water of the shower.

  I cleared my throat and started to answer him but he placed a finger over my mouth to silence me.

  “You don’t need to answer that. I can tell just how much better you are feeling by the look on that beautiful face of yours.”

  His mouth broke into a full watt smile and he started pushing himself off the ground. He stood above me before reaching down to pick me up and cradle me to him. My hand barely had time to reach out and flick the water off as he carried me out of the shower. He placed me on my feet next to the bathroom closet and pulled out a large towel to wrap around me. His hands moved the towel over me until I was sufficiently dry and he turned the towel on himself. Dropping the towel on the ground, he scooped me up again and carried me into his room to lay me down on his bed. He crawled in beside me and pulled me so close that I was practically on top of him.

  His voice was barely a whisper as he said, “From now on, when you’re mad, can we just skip the walking away part and go straight to the working it out part?”

  A chuckle escaped me before I said, “I wasn’t walking away because I was mad at you.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “I know, but I kind of really like the working it out part. It really doesn’t matter why you’re mad.”

  This time a laugh burst out of me and it felt so good to smile. I nodded my head in agreement before saying, “Okay. We’ll try it your way next time.”

  Daemon’s hand smoothed down my hair as he said, “Can’t wait.” I playfully smacked at him in response and for the first time in a long time I fell asleep with a grin on my face and joy in my heart.

  ~

  “So, do you think the dream was a real memory, or just your subconscious screwing with you?”

  David sat on the bed in the guest bedroom where I continued to keep my clothes and other personal effects. I was getting ready to go to my parents place with Daemon and, as usual, David followed me. When it came to nudity, David knew no bounds and I’d gotten used to having to dress in closets to keep from giving him a free show.

  “I’m not sure. It felt real, but I honestly don’t remember Buddy ever being that cruel. I mean, sure, he was moody at times, but he never purposely hurt me. He picked on me and pushed me around, but I just can’t remember him ever hitting me.”

  David nodded as I talked. I was excited yet nervous to talk to my parents about Buddy and find out what they remembered, if anything. I hoped they would tell me that the dream wasn’t real, that it was just a nightmare brought on by the stress from the past couple of months.

  “What will you do if they tell you that the dream was real?”

  I was in the process of applying mascara when he asked me that question. My hand stilled while I thought about what I would do if that were the case. I knew it was normal for people to have false and spotty memories of their childhood, but I couldn’t believe I would forget something as significant as that.

  I looked over myself in the full length mirror and nodded approval at my choice of black shorts and a royal blue v-neck t-shirt. I topped the outfit off with a pair of black Converse and ‘barely there’ socks. My legs looked shapely and cute and my hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail.

  Turning to look at David, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I’m probably making a bigger deal about this than I should. It’s ridiculous actually. I’m sure my parents will tell me I’m nuts and that will be that.”

  David nodded in agreement and I turned to walk out the bedroom door.

  Daemon was standing on the balcony when I entered the living room. With the curtains blocking his view of the city, I wondered why he still spent so much time standing out there.

  He moved to come inside when he saw me and closed the door behind him as he stepped into the living room. His eyes traveled over my body and a slight smile played on his lips. I eyed him curiously and angled my head in question.

  His smile brightened before he said, “You look so young and innocent. I almost feel sleazy for thinking about what I want to do to you right now.” His feet carried him to me with a quickness and before I could react, I was swept up in his arms, pulled tightly against him and being spun around. I’m not sure what it was about last night that suddenly tore down all my barriers, but I was completely open to him now and thoroughly engrossed in the love that I had for him.

  I heard a loud sigh behind me. Daemon and I looked over to find a weepy eyed David standing off to the side of the room. He waved us off with his hand when he said, “Oh. Don’t mind me. That’s probably just the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.” He made a little choking sound as if he was tearing up. “I’m just so proud of my little Paige.”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled wide while Daemon’s face took on a somewhat confused expression.

  “Trust me, Daemon, you don’t want to know.” I laughed it off and grabbed Daemon by the hand to drag him to the front door. He let go of me to walk back and grab his keys and my phone started ringing from my bag. I pulled my bag from my shoulder and had to fish around to find the ringing device. Finally wrapping my hands around it, I pulled it from the bag and checked the caller I.D. I didn’t recognize the number and considered letting it go to voicemail. My curiosity got the best of me and I answered just in time.

  “Hello, may I speak with Paige Stone please.” The female voice on the other end of the phone had a slight southern accent and the pitch made her sound cute and childlike.

  “This is Paige.”

  “Hi Paige. My name is Jessica Carter. I’m one of Annie’s doctors and she has asked me to get in touch with you. She would like to see you. Would you be available to come by sometime in the next couple of days?”
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  My jaw dropped and my face must have given away my shock. Both Daemon and David took steps towards me to find out what was causing my reaction. I shook myself out of it and answered. “I can be there in thirty minutes. Will that work?”

  Dr. Carter laughed kindly and said, “Of course. Annie will be relieved to know that you are coming.”

  I hung up the phone without even saying goodbye. I would have to apologize for that if I spoke to Dr. Carter again, but, at that moment, I was in too much of a rush to worry about manners. I looked to Daemon. “That was Annie’s hospital, she wants to see me.”

  David gasped and Daemon turned to grab his wallet and keys. I looked to David. “Are you going to come with us?”

  David nodded his head and quickly traveled across the room towards me. Daemon walked over and opened the front door. We were heading out the door when I suddenly remembered something and said, “Hold up. I need to get something.”

  I ran back to the guest room and threw open one of the bureau drawers. Inside sat the dragonfly bracelet I had purchased from Angie at the flea market. I’d found a small box to put it in after I bought it and I was excited that I could finally give it to Annie. I shoved the box into my bag and walked back to David and Daemon.

  The trip to Annie’s hospital was silent except for music playing softly through the vehicle’s speakers. Personally, I was excited to see Annie again, but I was nervous at the same time. I could tell David was also feeling anxious about this reunion. I wasn’t sure if Annie would want to see David as well, so when we arrived the hospital I asked him to wait with Daemon while I went in to see her first.

  The building was a large, five story facility. Mirrored windows surrounded the outside and the sun shown off the glass causing a brilliant light to engulf the top floors. We walked through the large glass doors in front and entered into a crisp, white waiting area. Soft, soothing music played from the speakers and there was a large rounded reception desk directly in front of us. A waiting area, consisting of blue high back chairs was to our right and on our left were some vending machines and a coffee machine. Instinct took over almost immediately and I found myself traveling in the direction of that machine. Daemon grabbed my arm and dragged me back in the direction of the reception desk.