“Yes, definitely.”
Damien drained his own bottle of beer and then took her hand and led her back through the bar and up the stairs. They both stopped and gulped in a lungful of the fresh evening air when they hit the sidewalk. The sun was beginning to go down and the air was cooling off. Damien led her over to the limo and leaned into the passenger seat. He stood back up with a shoe box in his hands and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she asked with a laugh. “Another gift?”
“I have time to make up for,” he said. She smiled and opened the lid. It was a pair of walking shoes. She looked at him with eyebrows raised and he said, “I want to walk with you while the sun goes down. If you’d rather not, we can take the car.”
She smiled one of her genuine smiles that melts his heart and said, “I’d love a walk.” She sat down on the curb and changed out of her heels and into the tennis shoes. Damien took her heels and tossed them back into the car.
“I’ll text you later when we’re ready,” Damien told the driver. Then he took Paige’s hand and they began to walk. The previously blue sky was already streaked with the colors of a beautiful sunset. The oranges and crimson combined to give the sky a blood ret hue with hints of the bluish gray of the night sky peeking through here and there.
“So, what is it that you like to do,” Paige asked him, returning to their much earlier conversation.
“I’m good with numbers and money,” he said. “Maybe something in finance...”
“I can see that,” she said, looking him over as if she’d never seen him before. Her pretty eyes left a trail of heat everywhere they went. He dropped her hand and draped an arm across her shoulders.
“You can huh? Can you see me with a bag of lunch in the company refrigerator...or competing in the three-legged race at the annual barbecue?”
Paige laughed. “That’s all a bit of a stretch,” she said. “I see you more as the executive type, dressed in your nice suits and eating lunch at the city’s best eateries.”
He grinned. “I’m thinking for anyone other than family, they’ll expect me to start small. But that’s okay,” he said, pulling her into him once again. “I’m craving normalcy. I need it. I’ve had too much of the other.”
She rolled herself into him and said, “Me too.” She initiated another kiss and he met it enthusiastically. Her lips parted wider and he drank her in as their tongues caressed in a sexy, dangerous dance. Once again he lost track of everything but the wild, reckless fire that burnt between them. When they came back up for air, he stood there for a few moments with his forehead pressed into hers. Once again he had the words he wanted to tell her on the tip of his tongue...but this wasn’t the place. He reached down for her hand and said, “Come on, we’re almost there.”
Chapter 26
They walked for another five blocks and he turned onto a street in the business district of Brooklyn and stops in front of a building that looks like it was in the middle stages of being erected. There was construction equipment all over the place and the entrance to the building was blocked off with caution tape.
Paige looked up at the tall building that didn’t have any glass in the windows yet and said, “What is this place?”
He unlocked the door that obviously wasn’t going to keep anyone out if they wanted in and told her, “It’s mine. Before all of this stuff happened Jackson was going to set me up in a business...another business to launder money through. The building has been under construction for over six months now. There was too much going on to worry about it for a while.”
“So is it in your name, or will you have to relinquish it to the government when he’s convicted?”
“It’s mine. He wanted to start doing more of this to keep out of the reach of the IRS and the DEA, etc. Do you want to see the inside?”
“Sure.” He pulled her into the building and towards the construction elevator there. They got on the elevator and Damien pressed “R.” The elevator stopped on the roof and when Paige stepped off she sucked in a breath. The roof was covered with plants and flowers and it smelled like perfume as the air wafted through it.
When they stepped off and Paige saw the view she gasped. “Wow! This is gorgeous.”
Damien smiled. Next to the construction mess and the plants that needed watering desperately she looked like a diamond in the rough. She sat down on top of a stack of wooden pallets and Damien went over and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and guided her down so they were lying back side by side, looking up at the stars that were just beginning to appear in the sky. “Someday I’d like to finish this and have my own business doing...something,” he said with a grin.
“I could see you here on the top floor, looking hot in one of your suits and commanding respect in a much different way than Jackson ever did.” Paige was staring up at the stars, watching them appear slowly in a blissful way. Her long hair was fanned out all around her and Damien knew then if he didn’t before that she was the view he wanted to look at for the rest of his life. He was about to tell her so when she said, “Look, it’s the big dipper.” She leaned her head against his chest and pointed up at the sky. Damien looked at what she was pointing at and then back at her. There was no contest as far as beauty was concerned. He would choose her.
He turned enough so that he could once again take those tempting lips of hers into a hot kiss. She rolled her body into his and rose up to meet his mouth. Her hands slid around his neck and pulled him in closer. He could kiss her forever...right here in the middle of the night on top of an unfinished building.
It was perfect...she was perfect. His hands were finished being good and now they roamed freely across her body feeling every curve underneath that clingy, sexy dress. She arched into him as hungry and impatient as he was. He tore his lips from hers and let his travel down across her chin and back to that delicious neck. He wanted to ravish her...but he made himself slow down and savor the moment. He still had plans for the night and he wanted her to remember it as soft and sweet.
He could feel her shiver underneath him and her breaths were coming in short pants as her fingers dug into his back and his hands guided the shoulders of her dress down her arms enough to expose the tops of her breasts. They looked even more gorgeous than usual here in the starlight. He exhaled and his breath brushed across her nipples making them instantly hard. She moaned and arched up. Damien knew what she wanted and he didn’t intend to disappoint. He teased her at first, letting his tongue brush lightly across the sensitive nipples. She had her hands in his hair now, pushing his face down, urging him forward. He finally sucked one into his mouth and he continued to suck as she writhed up against him.
Adrenaline raged through his bloodstream with each whimper or moan. He paid a lot of attention to that breast before switching over to the other. She sucked in a breath as he moved his mouth and the cool air brushed across her nipple...wet with his saliva. She was getting squirmy underneath him as he licked and sucked and suddenly she surprised him by wrapping her strong legs around him and rolling them over so that she was poised above him, straddling his torso. Her dress was up around her waist and her long hair was everywhere. The lights of the city were in the background...and the look in her eyes was pure hunger.
She bent forward and brought her hot, demanding lips to his. As they kissed, she rocked her body against his and slid her hands up underneath his shirt. Biting down on his lower lip, she moaned and any self-control Damien was clinging to was gone. He sat up and pulled her body down into him so her breasts were crushed against his chest and her pelvis against his rock hard cock. She gasped and ground down into him as he sucked at her lips and tongue.
He rolled them again as they kissed and pinned her down to the crate with his arms. He slid her dress the rest of the way off of her as he kissed his way down her body. He let his mouth devour every inch of her, sucking hard and licking every exposed surface. He sucked a nipple in again and bit down on it before moving on down to her flat s
tomach. He licked and sucked his way down to the strip of black lace between her thighs. Paige was gasping and panting and arching her back to meet his touch.
He slid one hand between her legs and underneath the panties that were soaked...slick for him and inviting. He looked up at her and met her eyes as he slid two fingers deep inside of her. He watched her as he stroked in and out. She was moaning and writhing and calling out his name. He curled his fingers inside of her and she jerked and shook and he knew he’d found her g-spot. Then he bent his head and put his mouth to her. He ran his tongue against her clit and swirled it across the engorged, sensitive nub while continuing to pump his fingers inside of her.
“Oh Fuck! Damien! Jesus!”
“You like that baby?”
“Fuck yes! Don’t stop.”
He grinned. “I wasn’t planning on it.” Instead, he quickened his pace with his fingers and licked and sucked on her clit more rapidly. He repeated his movements and threw in a new one here and there until he felt her muscles begin to clamp down hard around his fingers. He stopped what he was doing and lifted himself up on his elbow. Her eyes flew open and in a desperate voice she said,
“No...no...don’t stop...” He grinned.
“I’m not going to stop. I want to watch your face when you come.”
He shoved his fingers back inside of her, curling them again. She cried out as his thumb came up to stroke her clit in time with his thrusts. “Oh yes, that’s it baby. That’s perfect. Right there. Oh fuck! Oh God!”
Paige reached up and pulled him down into a fevered kiss. Her hands were running through his hair and he continued to pump her as he drowned in her taste. She was groaning and gripping him tighter when suddenly she went rigid all over and let out a little scream. Her body convulsed and she panted and whimpered as the orgasm washed through her little by little. He waited until she’d come down from her high before he pulled his fingers out.
She had her hands at his belt now. One was pulling at the clasp and the other was trying to slide down inside of his pants. He reached down and helped her, undoing the belt and unfastening the waist. She slid the zipper down and slid her hand inside, taking the shaft of his throbbing cock into her hand and beginning to stroke. Damien was the one who gasped now. It felt so fucking good he considered coming in her hand...but then he remembered all of his other options.
Damien reached down and grabbed her hand to slow it, whispering her name in a husky voice. She answered him by letting go of his erection and moving her legs open further. Damien didn’t waste any time getting his pants down and climbing back up on her. He braced himself on his elbows and again he let his lips meet hers in a blazing kiss. Then he began to enter her slowly...inch by inch...and the world stopped as it always did when he was inside of her. For that brief moment, the rest of the world fades to black.
Damien’s movements increased in pace and intensity slowly and with each thrust Paige would rise up and match his strokes. She had her fingernails raking down his back and she looks completely lost in the sensations. She’s so fucking sexy...so hot. Fire was raging like an inferno through his body and his limbs were rigid. “More!” Paige cried out.
“What do you want baby?”
“I want your cock...I want it deep and hard...I need more...”
Damien suddenly shoved himself into her so deeply that he hit bottom. She cried out and he felt her clench against him.
“Yes! That’s it!”
With a growl from deep in his throat he began to slam into her over and over. It was hard and deep and so fucking good. He kissed her again as he fucked her and they moved as one until it was impossible to tell where he ended and she began. He plunged in harder and deeper each time.
He had his hands on her wrists, holding her in place while his cock surged in and out of her. He watched her face as she came apart and screamed out his name. He rode her gently as she came once again. He loved the feel of her trembling beneath him. When she finished shaking he began moving again hard and fast. He was ready and he couldn’t control it any longer. He slammed in and out of her several more times until he groaned loudly and his body shook and twitched as the rush of the orgasm slammed into him.
After they both caught their breath he pulled her lightly glistening body into his sweatier one and he held her. A few minutes passed and he looked down. She had her eyes closed. “Hey baby.’
“Hey handsome.’
‘I love you.’
She was quiet for a long time and he found himself believing she wasn’t going to tell him back. That would be okay...but he’d been hoping she felt the same. She rolled her body so that it was pressing even harder to her and she said,
“I love you too,” she said, sending jolts of pleasure through his body and to his brain like nothing he’d ever felt before.
Chapter 27
Paige sat in the lounge chair and looked across the yard at what she considered to be her new “family.” Jake was at the barbecue pit with Damien next to him, discussing whatever men discuss when they barbecue. Kevin was sitting in a lawn chair not far away from them, chiming in on the conversation every so often. Roxi had gone inside to meet Jake’s brother Derek and sister-in-law Chloe at the door. Chloe was bringing her baby who had just turned a year old and Roxi was excited to see her. Things were blissfully “normal” and Paige almost didn’t know how to react to it all...but she knew that she loved it.
She and Damien were living in Rhode Island now. She’d started back to school in September and they’d moved into Roxi’s condo on the beach. Roxi refused to take any money from them. Damien was working for her now at the club, doing the books. He’d also started taking online courses to get his degree in business. Every bit of extra money they had now they were putting into his building in Brooklyn. Paige thought back to the discussion they’d had about that right after the Grand Jury had finally convened and they’d given their testimony.
“I know what I want to do with the building,” he’d told her one lazy Sunday afternoon as they sat on the patio of the condo having lunch.
“I thought it was going to be your investment firm when you finished your degree.”
“It will be...a few floors of it anyways. It’s ten stories tall though and I won’t need all of that space. I think the bottom floors would make a great surgeon’s office.”
Paige was suddenly alert. “Really?”
He grinned. “Really. My hot wife to be is going to be a doctor, you know?”
“I didn’t know that. She must be really smart.”
“She’s a genius...although I’ve never been able to say much for her taste in men.”
Paige laughed. “I happen to know who she’s with and I think she has excellent taste.”
“That’s all that matters,” he said. “Let’s work on finding out what all we need to build that office and we’ll start saving money and get it done before you’re ready to hang out your shingle.”
Paige had thrown her arms around him and hugged him tight. “God I love you so much.”
“I’m so glad,” he told her in a whisper against her ear. She not only heard the sincerity...she felt it. No one had ever made her feel as special or loved as Damien did. She couldn’t wait to finish school and become his wife.
They had all given their testimony in front of the Grand Jury one at a time. Indictments had been returned against twenty-six members of both the Paine and the Kramer crew. The F.B.I. and N.Y.P.D. had investigated and identified the bodies at the warehouse and fourteen men had died that day. Six of them were Kramer’s, Lucas and his brothers. The other eight worked for Lucas. Brad Paine was listed as missing, but there were warrants out for his arrest. Paige and the others knew those warrants would never be served. Caine’s death was ultimately ruled an “accidental overdose.” Warrants were issued for Kelsey and some of the Columbians as well, but the F.B.I. weren’t too hopeful that those arrests would happen any time soon. The deaths of Greg and Tommy were both ultimately ruled “homicide” a
nd credit for them were given to Lucas and his crew. There weren’t many people in his organization left to charge with them, but at least Greg’s death was no longer considered his fault. Paige knew her brother was a hero and not a junkie...and now everyone else knew it too.
“Paige, come see the baby!” Roxi was calling to her across the yard. Paige got up and went towards the other woman who had a pink, wiggly bundle in her arms. Roxi and Jake’s wedding was coming up soon. They were getting married on Christmas. Paige suspected they wouldn’t be far behind Chloe and Derek in the baby making department.
“She’s beautiful,” Paige said, “Can I hold her?” Roxi reluctantly handed the baby over just as a man and woman came out the sliding glass doors.
“Paige, this is Chloe and Jake’s brother, Derek.” Paige thought Chloe was beautiful and next to Damien, Derek may well be the best looking man she’d ever seen.
“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you.”
“You too,” they both said. Chloe smiled at Roxi and said, “You know, I was the boss lady’s stray project before you. I wonder who she’ll find to take care of next.”
“Shit! You all need to take care of yourself from now on. I’m no caretaker.” Kevin laughed and Roxi shot him a look. “You know I don’t go in for all of that maternal bullshit.”
“Sure honey, we all know how tough and mean you are.”
“Shut up,” she told him with a grin. She looked back at Paige who was playing peek-a-boo with the baby and said, “Give me that baby.” Paige laughed and handed the baby to her. She looked up and saw Damien looking at her. He’d mentioned to her more than once how he wanted to have kids someday. The more she got to know him, the more she knew he’d be an amazing father. Not much longer until she was finished with school and they could get married and start trying. In the meantime...they were having fun practicing.
House of Paine - (A Romantic Suspense - Book 2) Page 14