“Well?” Chandra prompted.
“I do know!” he snapped. Chandra raised an eyebrow with mock expectation.
“Sounds like you don’t,” she pushed him.
Damien snarled, “Luke Vaughan and his family ruined my sister’s life. And now I’m going to return the favor.”
Chapter 7
The night was colder than she had anticipated when she slipped into the car but to Rachel’s surprise, Damien was sitting inside waiting for her.
“You’re here!” she cried, surprised to see him. “I thought I’d be meeting you at the park.”
He smiled, his eyes raking over her beautiful face appreciatively.
“It’s not a proper date if I don’t pick you up at your door — you look amazing,” he replied smoothly and Rachel shivered with pleasure. “I thought we could take in some of the festival then head to my place for a bite to eat.”
His scent was taking over her senses, causing little tingles of awareness to sizzle through her. Without warning, he leaned in and captured her lips in a soft kiss, his teeth gently nipping her lower lip teasingly.
“I haven’t been able to get you off my mind all day,” he confessed, his breath hot against her face.
“I feel a bit like a fraud,” Rachel confessed quietly, as George pulled the car out into traffic.
“Why?” Damien responded with a frown on his face. His eyes seemed to pin her.
“You came to me for help with your dad. To be completely honest, I feel as though I’m taking advantage of the situation to spend time with you. We just seemed to… connect last night.”
Rachel watched as a number of fleeting emotions seemed to come over his face, before he smiled at her, calling up that ever charming dimple.
“You are helping me with Dad, but like I said earlier, there’s little to be done right now. I’ll have to continue working on him. He’s as stubborn as a mule and it’ll be a battle to get him into Hollywell. As much as I hope we can have him in your care before it’s too late, I have little doubt I’ll be jumping through several of his hoops, before everything is settled.”
He paused and Rachel got the impression he wanted to say something else. His eyes glanced sideways before he captured her gaze again and continued, “we did connect last night, and there’s no reason for us not to see exactly where that connection will take us, right? It doesn’t make you a fraud.”
Rachel sat back, close to Damien, and contemplated his words as the streets rolled by. George’s driving was flawless and before she knew it, they were pulling up to the park. Music had already filled the air, as they made their way to Summer Stage.
Rachel’s taste in music was eclectic and she found herself thoroughly enjoying the evening in Damien’s company. After a few hours he suggested they head over to his home for dinner, and despite any misgivings she may have had about how quickly things were moving, she agreed.
“Oh, jeez, you should be head chef in your own restaurant! That meal was delicious.” Rachel raved sincerely, noting that Damien seemed pleased by her praise.
“I don’t know about that, but I do like to experiment a bit with flavors.” He responded, intensely capturing her gaze with his own.
“That is decadently obvious,” she replied, reaching for her glass of wine and trying to lighten the mood. “I’d need to buy a whole new wardrobe, if I had a meal like that every day. That or spend way more time working out than I do now.”
She watched in surprise as his gaze seemed to intensify more still. “I can think of several ways which can make you want to work out regularly. Ways that are quite addictive, actually — exhilarating, in fact.”
He stood up and stepped around the table, taking the glass from her hand and setting it down, before pulling her up from her chair. One hand slipped behind her neck, beneath her hair, applying slight pressure and pulling her closer to him. As she had the night before, she relished in the evidence of his response to her. She drew in her breath when she felt his other hand reaching up to caress her breast through the thin material of her dress. The fire in his eyes was unmistakable, as his lips moved to crush hers.
Is this happening? Right here in his kitchen?
Instead of alarming her, the notion only fueled the heat already surging through her body and a gush of warmth spread inside her silk panties.
She was glad she had taken care to don a matching set. As Damien reached behind her to unzip her dress, she realized that he wasn’t paying any attention to her underwear at all.
Any reservations she may have had were quickly replaced with intense heat when Damien leaned down and tongued her nipple, right through the fabric of her bra. His strong fingers tugged and pulled at her nipples through the lacy material of her bra, keeping them taut. As the lace intensified the reaction in her sensitive nubs, she gasped, her head dropping back and her back arching to thrust her breasts forward, begging for more attention. His mouth enveloped her sensitive bud, drawing on it deeply until she thought her knees would collapse beneath her.
The wetness of his tongue against the lace, as he suckled her nipple deeply through it, sent shivers through Rachel’s body. She allowed his hands to hover over her dress, barely hanging on her hips and then shifting it down with her panties seamlessly until she was half-naked before him.
“Have you ever been taken in the kitchen before?” he purred, standing, his mouth moving up the prickled flesh of her cleavage to breathe into her ear. Before she could respond, a finger dipped inside her, causing Rachel to moan with pleasure.
“Hm? Have you?” he insisted, demanding an answer.
“No,” she gasped out as his finger slipped in and out of her already soaked core to tease the throbbing nub of her clit.
“Good,” he said before biting on the lobe of her ear. Rachel cried out as two of his fingers entered her, Damien’s long thrusts making her gush against him.
“So wet, so responsive, Rachel Vaughan,” he sighed. “You make me want to fuck you raw.”
Each word he spoke made her hotter, and passion spread like wildfire through her veins.
This is surreal, she thought but she didn’t stop him from continuing to drive his long fingers inside her until she felt the culmination of an orgasm brewing.
“Please,” she begged, wanting to find her release with him inside of her. “Damien…I need you. I need your cock – now.”
He growled in her ear, and the hard cock that currently pressed against her body jerked at her words. He raised his head and stared at her with penetrating eyes, the fire burning in his gaze scorching a trail straight to her core.
“Are you trying to rush me, princess?” he whispered into her ear. “Maybe you should be careful what you wish for,” he warned darkly in his silky voice.
Smoothly, he spun her around, so she was facing the back of the couch just steps away from the dining table. Damien spread her legs wide, bending Rachel at the hips to expose her fully.
He caressed her ass, before landing a crisp slap on her cheek. Rachel’s cry of pleasure was muffled against the couch cushion. She knew there would be a handprint on her cheek later but somehow that only aroused her more.
The hardness of his head brushed against the soaked spot between her ass and longing pussy. The weight of his body pinned her against the couch, a hand reaching up to encircle her neck gently.
“Are you ready for me?” he asked, but she didn’t really need to answer. The desperate moan that escaped her was answer enough – not to mention that her ass had a mind of its own and was pushing back against him, almost daring him to plunge deep.
He filled her roughly, fully, stealing the breath from Rachel’s lungs and she cried out with satisfaction as his girth stretched her completely.
“Oh, fuck,” he groaned as the walls of her pussy sucked around his shaft. She threw her head back, needing to make contact with him. She felt like she had been shot from a cannon, or like she was free-falling. Never had passion been so strong, never had she lost all sense
of herself as her body threatened to fly apart. The sensations were so strong that she struggled to catch her breath, but between his deep, merciless thrusts, and his hand still circling her neck, it was nearly impossible.
She bucked backward, the sensation of losing control driving her higher than she’d ever known.
When she was sure she might pass out, he changed his angle slightly and his cock hit a special spot inside. At the same time, his other hand came around and grasped her nipple firmly, tugging sensuously.
All thought was lost. Her orgasm hit her like a tidal wave. It was like nothing she’d ever known, the release of her juices flowing against his throbbing cock.
“That’s it, princess,” Damien gasped. “Come for me.”
A sheen of perspiration covered both of their bodies. He drove her higher into a pleasure that only built larger and more cataclysmic with every thrust. A thrilling pleasure stole through her, a pleasure that bordered on pain, bordered on rapture.
His voice was strained, his own breaths escaping in rasps. Groans of pleasure could be heard as he continued to thrust his shaft into her.
His orgasm exploded in a wave of such intense satisfaction that Damien pulled back, a shock wave of awareness hitting him as his climax continued to tear through him. A guttural noise reverberated from his lips as his body refused to release hers.
Rachel quivered, her legs not willing to support herself much longer. She backed her ass against him, squeezing herself around his huge member as if to squeeze every drop of pleasure she could from him.
“Fuck,” he muttered, slowly withdrawing from her with a reluctance that she could feel clearly, despite the headiness of the wine and satisfaction coursing through her veins.
It took a greater effort than she imagined to turn around and face him, her knees still threatening to buckle.
“I bet you’ve done this countless times before,” she said nonchalantly, trying to lighten the awkwardness of the situation. But the thought of just being another conquest for him filled her with shame.
Damien chuckled.
“No. Not countless, and only with women I really like,” he replied, running his thumb along her cheek as he tried to catch her eye.
She shifted away from him, not willing to let him see the emotions that were running through her.
He reached to pull his now-wrinkled pants over his hips.
She knew she should follow suit and get dressed too, but she couldn’t muster the energy to move yet.
“You okay?” Damien asked, eyeing her closely. “Oh, I see. You want to move this to my bed?”
He was teasing her but embarrassment flooded her, even though she’d been fully on board with what they’d done.
“Hey, look at me,” Damien ordered her softly. He cupped her face and tilted her head up to meet his piercing gaze. “I was just teasing you.”
“I know,” she agreed quickly. “I’m just not used to doing things like this. And you’re so – not easy to handle,” she struggled to explain. Then she glanced up into his eyes, meeting his gaze for the first time.
She saw instantly when he realized what she wasn’t saying. That she was really into him – and it freaked her out.
She had vowed to herself a long time ago that she would never let anyone mean more to her than she herself did. To that end, she had realized that end result was that she never actually let anyone into her walls.
But she had never experienced a moment like that before, a touching of souls almost. It had rocked her – in more ways than one. And not all good. She suddenly felt the desire to run, to protect her heart.
Dammit! She suddenly realized she was still naked. She glanced over longingly at her dress, not sure if her legs would hold her up all the way over there. Taking pity on her, Damien reached over and grabbed her dress, sliding if over her head and brushing it down over her body. The soft material brushed over her ultra sensitive nipples and caused her to draw in her breath.
“What is it?” Damien asked, concern in his voice. Her eyes trailed over him hotly as she took in every muscle of his toned stomach. He caught the look that flared in her eyes, and his cock twitched instantly. He pulled her against him for another kiss. She melted into him, her response causing his own desire to spike again.
“What the fuck have you done to me?” he demanded quietly, without malice. He swept her up in his arms, carrying her to his bed, as he had jokingly suggested moments before. The feel of his arms cradling her that short distance was enough to make Rachel ask herself ...
What the fuck are you doing to me, Damien Smythe?
Chapter 8
Damien opened his eyes slowly, awareness crashing over him as he thought of the night before. Dinner ... last night ... then that stunning dessert ... followed by a midnight snack he would not soon forget. He hadn’t been as turned on by a woman for a good long time and he wasn’t thrilled that he’d allowed himself to be turned on by this particular woman.
And it wasn’t just that he had been turned on.
His first orgasm with her had thundered through him with a soul-wrenching realization. He wasn’t feeling vengeful when he fucked her.
Quite the opposite.
He had felt…connected.
Deeply.
He was so fucked.
He glanced down at the gorgeous dark-haired vixen in his bed. The sex had been part of his plan last night, but her reaction, that was something he had not planned on. Rachel Vaughan had been so willing, so open and trusting of his touch. And she had been so passionate — the magnetism between them was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.
That’s because you hate her. Angry sex is the best kind, they say, he tried to reason.
The problem, of course, was that he was in no way feeling anger towards her, as he took her on his couch and again in his bed last night. And the fact that his shaft was even now hardening had his head throbbing even more as he realized he wanted to drive into her heat again.
Alarm bells were going off ... his very real attraction to her could not be a part of this plan! He needed to come away from this scheme completely unscathed and unaffected by her.
He silently slipped out of his bed, careful not disturb the naked beauty. He needed a long shower to clear his head and to wash away this effect she was having on him.
He was relieved and somewhat alarmed when he returned to his bedroom to find his bed empty.
Had she left in the time it took him to shower?
He heard noises coming from his kitchen and followed the sound, securing the towel around his waist.
“What are you doing?” he asked loudly, catching Rachel off guard. She was dressed in the clothes she had worn last night, and she’d been busy while he was in the shower. The dining room had been cleared of the dishes from the night before, the dishwasher neatly filled and in the sink were the cleaned pots he’d used to prepare their meal.
“I didn’t want to leave you to clean up from dinner ... I was just going to make some coffee, but couldn’t find it.” She rambled nervously, trying to look anywhere but at him.
Hmmm ... I seem to have the same effect on her as she does on me. That should help me to get back to the task at hand.
“I’ll get it,” Damien moved into the kitchen, purposely crowding her space, smirking at how she quickly moved to the other side of the island, again looking anywhere but at him, as he retrieved the coffee and some mugs.
“Oh ...” He heard her say. “I assume this is your sister?”
Shit! He hadn’t thought of the pictures he had in the living room of his open concept condo.
There was a picture of him and Collette at Christmas a couple years ago.
“You’re right – she does look happy,” Rachel observed, innocently. She seemed to scrutinize the picture, a bit longer, and Damien wondered if she recognized Collette? In the picture, his sister had a slightly vacant look in her eyes, but a wide smile nonetheless. It had been a good day for her.
He hoped to g
od that Rachel didn’t recognize her. That would really mess up the plan!
The only thing in his favor was that Collette had changed a great deal in the twenty years that had passed since she had dated Rachel’s brother.
Her hair was cropped short now, and she had lost so much weight. Not that she had ever been heavy, but she had been a healthy, curvy girl in her teens.
“Yes,” he said curtly. “Her happiness was a long time coming and very hard earned. I’d like to make sure it stays that way.”
His tone elicited a look of surprise in Rachel, as though she couldn’t understand his angry reaction to her comment.
“I – of course you would. Actually, you remind me of my brother ...” Rachel offered, conversationally.
“Really,” he sneered. “I sincerely doubt that.” He shot back, without checking his tone.
Again, Rachel was taken aback by his tone, rushing to try to explain.
“I only meant you are as protective of your sister as my brother has been of me, all my life ...” She paused, her eyes looking at him, as though now on alert, before she continued. “It will no doubt be difficult for both of you to deal with your father’s illness, Damien. As much as you want to protect her, you’ll need her support as much as she needs yours in this. I will do my very best with Hollywell Hospice to make your father’s transition as easy as possible for all of you.”
Damien breathed a slight sigh of relief and tamped down the rising feeling of guilt in his gut. Rachel hadn’t seemed to recognize Collette and she seemed to think his odd reaction to being compared to her swine of a brother, had been related to his father. Rachel didn’t seem to make any connections and he had to make sure she didn’t have any further chance to.
“I’ll have George take you home. I need to get to work for a few hours today, despite it being Sunday.” It was a blatant lie, but he didn’t want to risk Rachel finding anything else out in his home, that would point to his deception with her. He needed her out.
Revenge Revealed Page 6