“When exactly would I be moaning?”
He chuckled. “In my dreams.”
“Luring you to your doom?”
“Correct.”
His hand slid along her thigh, and she found herself raising her leg so he could explore a little more. Talk about denying him. Once he touched her, she didn’t have much willpower to say no. Besides, she had agreed to come knowing what it might lead to.
Damen’s fingers brushed her pussy through her skirt and panties, and she shut her eyes. He kissed along her chest until he reached the valley between her breasts then moved to bite her nipple through her bra.
Heaven’s pussy clenched. “Damen, you shouldn’t do that.”
“Why not? You like it, baby.”
She couldn’t lie. She did, but Damen didn’t hurt her. Just the opposite. His tender touch made her desperate for more of him. He moved farther down her body, but she pushed at his shoulders, drawing in a breath, and tried to steady herself. Damen stilled and looked up at her.
“Heaven?”
She stared at the ceiling. Damen rolled away and stood. She sat up, surprised. “You’re leaving?”
“I want to make love to you, but I don’t want to push you into what you don’t want.”
He started for the door, and she sprang to her feet to dart after him. Pressing against his back, she brought her hands around his waist and flattened her palms on his abs. Heaven dipped her head and shut her eyes as she recalled how good he looked naked. He talked about dreaming of her, but she did the same with him. Damen hadn’t left her head asleep or awake since well before she moved to New Orleans.
“I’m nervous about getting caught,” she admitted.
Damen let her hold him and didn’t try to turn around. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“I know, and I don’t feel like we are. It’s just that I don’t want to get it wrong. You seem so relaxed about everything. I’m a ball of knots.”
He moved one of her hands to his chest, and she felt it pounding against her palm. “Don’t mistake my joking around for this whole experience being easy for me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
He spun about and cupped her face between both hands. “I was used to fighting for what I wanted, working around the clock to get it if necessary, but a fight is still a fight.”
She nodded. “You used to suggest we stay up half the night studying.”
“And you took me from my studies with that body.”
“Please, the way I remember it, you wouldn’t focus on the material unless I read it to you while sitting on your lap.”
He shrugged. “Motivation.”
“You passed English Lit, but it had nothing to do with me.”
“Woman, you took me to Heaven on a daily basis. It had everything to do with you.”
She lowered her gaze, and Damen turned her again to snuggle against her from behind. He pinched open the button on her skirt and lowered the zipper. When he pushed a hand inside her panties, she gasped in pleasure. His fingertips brushed her clit, and the tiny bud swelled. Damen circled it with a gentle touch and eased lower to part her folds.
“Damen.”
“If you want me to stop, tell me, Heaven. Touching you drives me nuts, and the sounds you make even more so. Like this.” He dipped two fingers inside of her. Heaven squeaked with ecstasy. He growled low in his throat. “Do it again.”
He brought the moans forth with the way he massaged her mound. The heel of his hand caressed her while at the same time he pushed fingers in and out of her pussy. She was so wet, he had easy entry, and she couldn’t help spreading her legs wider and grinding her butt into his groin.
“I don’t want you to stop, but…”
“No buts.”
“Damen.” His name left her lips as more of a cry of pleasure than a protest to stop. Even if half of Marquette’s was downstairs, she wanted this. She wanted him. Damen knew how to play her body and bring her to the edge of an orgasm within seconds of his first touch. He kept stroking her pussy until her legs shook, and she had to hold onto him to keep standing. Her core muscles contracted, and she arched her hips back and pushed forward, driving his fingers deeper. She grabbed his wrist. “W-wait.”
Right away, Damen’s hand stilled. “What’s wrong? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
She smiled at the concern in his tone. “No. Let’s go over to the bed. I want you inside me.”
His dick twitched against her butt at the mere mention of it. Heaven slid from his arms and tugged him to follow. Damen’s gaze was on her rear, and the front of his pants looked like it poked out even more. She needed to help him get more comfortable.
At the bedside, Heaven unbuckled Damen’s belt, and he watched with his hands on her hips. She squeezed the button open and lowered the zipper. When she pushed his pants over his narrow hips, she moaned at his cock springing free. Rather than let her completely undress him, he kept his pants and boxers low on his hips and found a condom. When he had it in place, he tapped her butt.
“Take off your panties for me, baby.”
Since she still wore her skirt too, she just lifted it and pulled her panties down. Damen couldn’t even see anything, but he hissed as if knowing what she did was enough to drive him crazy. Heaven leaned on the bed for balance, and her butt brushed his thigh. Damen jerked her skirt higher so he could see. She slid her panties down her legs and let them land on the floor.
Damen ran his hands up the outsides of her thighs to her hips. “Climb on your knees. I want to see your pussy open for me.”
She did, dressed from the waist up, and leaned around to look at him. His green gaze glittered as he stared. She imagined her cootchie was wide open and soaking wet. He kept looking, and she wriggled her hips.
“Damen.”
He blew out a noisy breath. “Heaven, what you do to me.” He set the tip of his cock to her entrance and gave a tiny shove. She keened, her head falling back. He leaned over her and caressed her cheek and stroked the column of her neck with a featherlight touch. “Easy. From today, this is yours, and you have the right to take it whenever you want.”
She shut her eyes, and tears filled them. Arching deep, she took every inch as his dick slid farther. When she was full, he began a slow pump, all the way out and then all the way in. Heaven clutched the sheets. She dropped her chin to her chest and let the tears fall. Damen made slow, aching, and desperate love to her, and the more he took her, the more she loved him.
“Oh, hell,” he groaned. “I can’t hold it. I wanted…damn…”
She felt him come, and he apologized.
“Way too soon. Don’t worry. I’ll make you come again and again.”
Heaven said nothing. One, she knew he would without him saying so, and two, she was still too choked up. Damen pulled out of her, and she heard the snap of him discarding the condom. The crackle of another wrapper, but he only readied it. She climbed up the bed, hiding her face from him. For a few moments, he stood at the bedside, working his shaft. She knew what would help him along and opened her blouse and yanked up her bra. Heaven didn’t have to look to know his gaze was locked on her movements as she pinched and played with her nipples.
He crawled forward and drew her to him with one hand, his mouth homing in on her right breast. Heaven gave a soft cry when he sucked on the stiff peak and let it pop from between his lips. She arched into him, wanting more. At last, his shaft was ready, and he rolled the condom on. Rather than lay on top of her, he drew her up as he sat back. She ended up on his lap, and he guided her down onto his cock.
Heaven hung her arms over Damen’s shoulders and buried her face against his neck. They moved in a rhythm that had her pussy buzzing and her insides melting. Another tear fell, but she made sure it landed on her hand and not on his skin.
“You’re so quiet, baby,” he said into her ear. “I better try harder.”
“No, it’s good, Damen.” She hoped she didn’t sound too emotional, and to distract
him, she reached under her butt and touched his balls with the tips of her fingers. Damen shuddered. She licked his skin and gave it a tiny nip, and he grunted.
Damen slowed their movements and reached between them to find her clit. She forgot what she was doing from the first massage, and then he made tiny circles on the swollen bud. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. She whimpered his name.
“That’s more like it,” he murmured. “Give me more. Come for me, Heaven.”
“Yes!”
The climax sent a pulse through her entire body, robbing her of sense. A sharp scream bubbled in her throat. Damen anticipated it and clapped a hand over her mouth. She rocked on top of him harder and faster than she remembered doing before, all the while shouting behind his hand.
When the bliss ended, Heaven collapsed on his chest. He rubbed her back. “Okay if I keep moving?”
She made a small sound of agreement. He began an unhurried pump, holding her in place with both hands on her butt. They swayed together almost like a dance but quiet, gentle lovemaking.
* * * *
Heaven lay in bed alone. The room was dark, and she was naked beneath the sheets. The kids were in bed after a long, challenging day. She shifted positions and tensed a little at the soreness between her legs. She and Damen didn’t do it rough, but his appetite led to so many sessions, in the end, she was exhausted and a bit achy. She didn’t mind because the man knew how to do her body right.
She yawned and stretched. The door opened, and Damen strode in carrying two bowls. She sat up, eager. “Did you get me a mix of butter pecan and chocolate swirl?”
He chuckled. “Yes, you only told me ten times.”
“Nine. Don’t be dramatic.”
He laughed again and handed her the treat. She stuck her spoon into the creamy concoction and pulled up a giant helping. The sweetness touched her tongue, and she moaned in satisfaction.
“No, we’re not doing that,” Damen said. “You’re resting.”
“Doesn’t your dick need rest too?”
“It’s been cocooned in the softest, warmest place on earth. How could it need rest?”
“You like to exaggerate.”
“I speak only the truth.”
“Uh-huh.”
For a while, they sat side by side in a semi-dark room eating ice cream. Heaven wondered where the ice cream calories would begin to settle on her body, and then she thought of Damen. What was he thinking? He had in essence said from now on his body belonged to her, and it had made her cry harder. On the surface, his words sounded warm and wonderful, but she couldn’t help realizing that what would have been better was if he had said from now on, his heart was hers. Just thinking it, made hers constrict and tears wet her lashes.
She blinked away the wetness and swallowed the emotion, glad he couldn’t see her face very well.
“Heaven.”
She froze. “Yeah?”
Damen’s spoon clinked against his bowl, and he set it on the bedside table. “I didn’t push to know about your dad and you, but if it’s not too much for you, I’d like you to tell me about your relationship with him.”
She knew it would come at some point. He’d said last week they would talk about it, and they had discussed her mother a little. Her mother and dad had divorced when she was ten, and Heaven had begged to be able to stay with her dad. She and her mom were never close, and Heaven hadn’t talked to her in years.
Now she learned Damen hadn’t forgotten that they never discussed her dad, but as usual, he was thinking of her feelings. In some ways, Damen was too giving, too accommodating of others. She wondered if that was why his wife had left him and why he let Nita do what she wanted. Damen seemed like he needed someone to balance him out. Then she chided herself, because it sounded like she as trying to convince herself she was the woman for him.
Now who’s being selfish?
“You probably don’t remember,” she began, “but there’s this half inch scar on my forehead. It’s almost invisible, and my hair covers it most of the time.”
“Right here.” His fingers went right to it in the dark.
“Great, thanks. You’re saying my flaws are glaring.”
“No, I just noticed every part of you, and I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying myself as I looked into your face.”
“Oh.” She curled her toes under the sheet. With the A/C going and the ice cream, goose bumps popped out on her skin. Damen took her empty bowl and set it atop his. Then he laid back and drew her into his arms.
“Go on.”
“When I was a kid, my dad and I argued like cats and dogs. I don’t know why we didn’t get along. Maybe because I thought I knew everything, or because in a lot of ways I was just like him.”
“Hm, I can see that.”
She stiffened because she didn’t want to believe she was anything like the man now. Damen rubbed her arm, and she let the attitude go. “Anyway, one day, when I was twelve, I must have pushed him farther than I ever did before. I don’t remember what I said, but the next thing I knew he had slapped me.”
“No!”
“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, my dad had never spanked me before that. Ever. He’s the kind of man that will argue with you until you don’t care what your point was, if he’d just let it go.”
“I can see that too.” This time, Damen didn’t laugh. She sensed his pent up emotions at hearing about her dad hitting her. He must know since she mentioned the scar, there was more to the story than a slap.
She hesitated because every time she thought of her past, the pain was there choking her. One would think she’d grow indifferent, but she never did. In some ways, she hated him. In others, it was like she still kept stupidly hoping. When she moved to New Orleans, it was during one of those times when she felt strong enough to let that hope go. As she lay beside Damen, she wondered if she was being real with herself.
“The force of the slap made me stumble, and one of my dad’s reference books was stacked with some others on the floor. I fell over them, and before I could catch myself, I banged my forehead on the edge of his desk. Cut my skin just like that.”
She snapped her fingers, and Damen cried out in alarm.
“It wasn’t that big a deal. You know how head wounds bleed more.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it was messy. My dad rushed me to the hospital, and they used those butterfly bandages to hold it closed. Not even a stitch. Nothing but that tiny scar.”
Damen squeezed her closer to him. “I’m guessing the emotional damage was worse.”
“Yes. He never touched me again. No slap, no hug, no nothing. He’s cold as ice to me now. Maybe he feels like I did something to him.”
“I’m so sorry, Heaven.” He shook his head and ran fingers through his hair as he stared up at the ceiling. “I can’t reconcile the man you’re telling me about with the mentor who has—”
He broke off, and she raised her head. “Damen?”
He laced his fingers with hers. “I’ve been in contact with him all these years. I considered him a friend, but I realized not more than two or three times did he mention you and never by name. I never made the connection. My head must have been far up my ass.”
“Don’t blame yourself. It’s all him.” She sounded bitter, but she couldn’t suppress it. “I just wish…”
She gasped and snapped her lips together. Tears gathered. Damn it, no. Not now. Too late, she started to cry. Damen engulfed her in his arms and rocked her like a child. She clung to him sobbing. For the moment, he was her lifeline, and she needed his strength. He didn’t say anything. He just let her cry until the emotions, which were cresting out of control, died down, and she lapsed into a few hiccupped sighs.
“I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” She accepted the tissue he offered her from the bedside table.
“Okay.”
“Suffice it to say, our relationship stinks, and you already know how he told me basically I’m not good enough for you.”<
br />
“Fuck him.”
“Damen.”
“Fuck him, Heaven.” He stroked her cheek. “You’re going to be my wife, and your dad doesn’t enter into that equation. We can get Creed to give you away.”
He grinned, and she burst out laughing. “Oh, yeah, I see that happening.”
He shrugged. “I’ve got a way with the beast.”
“You’re crazy. We haven’t seen each other in over a decade. We’re clearly different people—or at least you are—and there’s no guarantee it would work out between us.”
“You’re saying if we had known each other all these years, we would have a guarantee?”
“No, of course not. I’m just saying the odds would be better.”
“The odds are perfect. We’re going to do this. I see it more now than ever.”
“I can’t figure out your mind.”
He kissed her. “That’s what will make me a fantastic husband. Okay, sleep. We have two kids that drain every ounce of our energy tomorrow if today was any indicator.”
As if on cue, Heaven yawned and covered her mouth. “Don’t I know it. All right. Good night.”
“Good night, Heaven.”
Chapter Eleven
Heaven couldn’t believe the name on the caller ID. In fact, she wondered how Shada had even gotten ahold of her number. Then again, she might have just gone into Creed’s office and looked through the employee files. Not like anyone would question his on again off again fiancée. Were they back on now? She answered the phone to find out.
“Hello?”
“This is Shada. I want to talk to you.”
Talk about attitude problem. Her tone of voice got Heaven’s hackles up, and while she didn’t make a habit of mouthing off to people, she couldn’t help herself in this instance. “I’ll check my schedule to see if I can fit you in. Whoops, look at that. I can’t.”
“Are you serious?” Shada snapped over the line. “So what, everybody was right about you?”
“I’m not sure how me refusing to talk to you proves anything about what others think about me.”
Shada grunted. “Just give me five minutes. I want to know for myself what’s going on, not what’s rumored around Marquette’s.”
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