“Because it will be gone.”
“Of course.” There was no emotional charge in her words, just an acceptance of how the world must be. “And when it is, there are still the other constants in life. Friends, family, good work. I think those are the places to find joy, because they don’t lie about the future.”
Damon respected that view.
“And the good moment is what this song is about, to you.”
Haley nodded. “Plus I just like the raw need of it. I could listen to it all day long.”
He indicated her phone, knowing it was time to tease her. “Sounds like you do.”
She smiled at him, unrepentant. “I often do.”
Damon wanted to kiss her more than anything in the world. He pursed his lips as if considering a very serious matter. “But here’s the thing. You’ve got four more versions to listen to. That’s got to be another twelve or fifteen minutes of listening you don’t want to interrupt.”
She leaned against the counter beside him, abandoning the salad, her eyes sparkling. “I could do something else while listening to those versions. Any suggestions?”
Damon pretended to think about that. “I so have an idea, but it would take more than fifteen minutes to be done properly.” They were both leaning their backs against the counter and had their arms folded across their chests. The top of her head was at his shoulder, and he could smell her body lotion. The warm press of her against his side gave him very interesting ideas.
Then Haley bumped her hip against his, and tipped her head back to smile at him, giving him a view past her lips to her cleavage. “I can loop the songs, so they start again,” she whispered. She slid her tongue across her lip, deliberately teasing him. “At least if I like your idea.”
“You’ve liked it before.”
“A massage!” she said, pretending to misunderstand. “But I don’t really need one tonight.”
“I was thinking of something more intimate than that,” he growled and bent to kiss her temple. She caught her breath and he felt her shiver, a sign of his effect upon her that captured his interest completely. She licked her lips again and this time, he leaned down and kissed her sweetly.
“You were going to thank me,” she whispered when he lifted his head.
“Maybe we don’t need any music.” Damon moved to stand in front of her, trapping her between himself and the counter with his hips. She wriggled a little and slid her hands up his arms, obviously very happy with her situation. He caught her waist in his hands and lifted her a little. “Maybe I like to say thanks without accompaniment.”
“You might like it better with music.”
“I might, but no earbuds. That’s just too complicated.”
Haley laughed and turned on the sound, then put the earbuds on the counter, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her to sit on the lip of the counter away from the cutting board. Haley wrapped her legs around him, holding him captive against her heat, which was just where Damon wanted to be. He captured her lips beneath his own and understood exactly why Haley thought the song was so perfect. The beat matched that of his pulse and the need in the words found a perfect echo in his heart.
* * *
Damon carried Haley up the stairs as if she weighed nothing at all. The salad was abandoned and so was her phone, but she could hear the words of the song following them. He didn’t turn on the light, but walked with complete confidence in the darkness. She might have broken their kiss to let him concentrate, but he claimed her lips again, stopping at the landing to lean against the wall and kiss her thoroughly. He leaned into her, crushing her a little, and Haley gripped him tightly. She opened her mouth to him, loving how he feasted upon her and ran his hands over her, how he made a little growl in the back of his throat.
It was as if he couldn’t resist her.
As if he was hungry for all she could give.
This was the good bit.
And Haley couldn’t deny Damon anything. She sensed that he needed her in this moment and she was more than happy to provide whatever he wanted. Whether it was solace or satisfaction, she didn’t care. It would end and he would move on, but she didn’t want to think about that.
She wanted him, no matter how or why he wanted her.
It was funny how she never got enough of him. Other relationships had faded more quickly, losing their power after the second time or even the first. With Damon, it seemed like every time was new and powerful.
Maybe it was because he was so hot. He was hard, his erection straining against the front of his jeans, and she rubbed against him in anticipation. His muscles were taut as if he was holding back, but Haley didn’t want him to. He broke their kiss and nuzzled her, trailing kisses down to her breasts, the stubble of his beard grazing her skin.
“You’re perfect,” he murmured, then kissed her nipple through the soft knit of her dress. He gripped her tightly then grazed her nipple with his teeth, chuckling when she arched her back and moaned. “I can smell you,” he purred.
“No wonder,” she whispered back, then rubbed herself on him again. “I can feel you.”
His smile flashed. “Not well enough.”
“Then what are we doing, lingering on the stairs?” she asked playfully.
“Wasting time,” he replied, then caught her close and continued to the second floor. He went directly to a room at the back of the house and Haley saw as soon as he flicked on the light that it must be his bedroom. It was minimalist and perfectly neat, the single bed made with military precision.
“Hospital corners,” she teased and he laughed a little. There was a large desk, so large that it might have been made out of a wooden door, and a stool beside it. There was a shade drawn over the window and the hardwood floor was bare. He turned on a desk lamp without putting her down then returned to turn out the overhead light before carrying her to the bed.
“Not in the dark?” she asked in surprise.
“I want to see you, Haley. I don’t want to miss one thing.” His words thrilled her almost as much as his kiss had, but then he was kissing her again. He leaned over her, tugging off her clothes as his kiss made her hot and impatient for more. She pulled off her dress, sharing his desire to get her naked, then sighed with contentment when his hands cupped her breasts. As was his habit, he bent and kissed the nipples, teasing one to a taut peak with his mouth and the other with his fingertips. She gripped his head, holding him close, locking her fingers into his hair, and just enjoyed. When he switched sides, she moaned, sure she couldn’t stand it if he kept going so slow.
“You don’t like it?” he murmured against her skin. His breath was warm and his mouth was firm.
“I love it and you know it. You’re teasing me.”
Damon chuckled, a breath that tickled her tight nipple. “I’ve only just begun,” he threatened, then stood up. He peeled off his T-shirt, his gaze smoldering and locked upon her, then unfastened his jeans and kicked them off. His underwear was white against his tanned skin but it quickly followed the jeans. He smiled at her as he took off his watch and set it aside, something about his expression making her wonder what he was up to.
“You look dangerous,” she said.
“You look gorgeous,” he replied, then leaned over and unfastened her pony tail. Her hair fell around her shoulders and he ran his fingers through it, spreading it out as he smiled at her. She was sure he’d never been so big when they’d been together. She reached out to touch him gently and he rose to her touch, catching his breath. “You’ll split the condom,” she said.
“I doubt it.”
She slid her hand down, cupping and caressing his balls until his eyes glittered. Then she slid a fingertip up the underside of his cock, pausing just below the tip. He didn’t even take a breath, just stood, poised and waiting for whatever she would do.
Haley smiled as she decided to surprise him. She bent and took him in her mouth, twisting around on the bed so that she was on her knees before him. She reached around
him and grabbed his buttocks, which really might have been made of steel, then began to tease him with her lips and her tongue.
Damon froze. She felt him straighten and guessed that he tipped back his head. His fingers danced over her shoulders, his touch so tentative that she knew she had surprised him, and then he moaned as if the sound was being torn from deep inside him. She caressed his balls as she pleased him, and she knew he was pleased because he was harder and thicker with every stroke. She tasted the salt just before he whispered her name and thought she might be finishing him off.
Then he groaned and caught her shoulders in his hands, lifting her away from him. “Haley,” he murmured. “You don’t have to do that.”
“But you like it.”
“But this is supposed to be about what you like. I’m the one saying thanks, remember?” He stretched her out on her back as he was talking, running his hands over her in an endless caress. He looked at her and smiled, the weight of his touch feeling good on her skin. When she was on her back, he ran his fingertip down the inside of her thigh, tickling her with his touch. “Let me please you, Haley,” he said, the thread of uncertainty in his tone nearly finishing her.
He couldn’t imagine that she would decline, could he?
She parted her thighs and smiled as he lowered his weight between them. He kissed her again on his way down, then licked her nipples as if they were candy. His hands bracketed her waist and he kissed her navel, then flicked a wicked glance at her before he closed his mouth over her.
His tongue went right to the point, the way he flicked it making Haley moan out loud. “Bite the pillow if you need to,” he murmured against her thigh. “But no one will hear you here.”
Haley decided to just let go when it was time, to not worry about making noise. It wasn’t like her but she felt a kind of abandon with Damon, a conviction that she was erasing her own boundaries.
Or maybe he was.
She certainly didn’t regret it.
His mouth closed over her again, warm and sweet, his tongue and teeth quickly driving her wild. He moved his hands beneath her and locked his hands around her waist again. Her legs were braced open against his shoulders. His weight and position ensured that she couldn’t move, though she wasn’t trapped or crushed. Haley loved the sense of being confined but sheltered. Protected. He was so much stronger than her but she knew that he would roll away if she made any indication that she wanted him to. She could stop him with a fingertip.
But stopping him was the last thing she wanted to do. He tormented her until she was twisting in his grip, straining for release, her heart hammering and her breath coming in little pants. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she felt her toes pointing as she neared the summit...
Then he lifted his head. “Do you need something to bite?” he asked and Haley nearly screamed in frustration.
“I was so close!”
“I know.” He was laughing at her and she wanted to kiss him. “But it’ll be better if you have to work for it.” He slid his hands up her torso, caressing her breasts for a moment, then slid them back down to her waist. “Unless you want to stop.”
“You’re bad.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Then you’re very good.”
He laughed and she loved the sound of it. “Which do you prefer?”
“I’d like you to do that again, but not stop.”
“And I’d like you to scream the roof down when it’s time.”
Haley shook a finger at him. “Only if you’re inside me. I want to come with you on top of me, inside me, filling me and claiming me.”
He stared at her unblinking, his eyes dark and intense. She was sure his nostrils flared, but then he reached down to his jeans without otherwise moving. He found the condom and put the package on the bed beside her. Then he met her gaze again, holding it as he sank lower and claimed her one more time.
Chapter Ten
It was official.
There was no one like Haley.
All Damon had to do was convince her to stay.
Actually, he thought he had to convince himself to let her stay, but he’d worry about that after he’d given her the biggest orgasm of her life. He wanted her to always associate great sex with him, to think of him whenever she felt desire, to come to him whenever she wanted satisfaction.
Because he would always give it to her.
He was realizing that was a responsibility he’d never tire of fulfilling.
She surrendered to him so completely, closing her eyes and parting her lips, opening her legs to him and savoring everything he gave to her. Her nipples were as taut as her clitoris, and she was wet, so gloriously wet. He couldn’t wait to be inside her but he wanted her on the cusp before he moved. She squirmed as he ate her, her muscles tightening as she enjoyed the bit of confinement. He was inundated by her scent and could think only of her pleasure, carefully learning exactly what pleased her best. She liked it slow, but with little spurts of action, as if he was really going to gobble her up. The occasional brush of a tooth against her clitoris nearly sent her to the moon and he knew that when it was time, he was either going to nip that bud or pinch it.
And he wasn’t going to let go in a hurry. He wanted her to come and come and come, to come until she had no more to give, to come until she was exhausted and limp and collapsed in his arms.
It wouldn’t be long. He kissed her and flicked his tongue over her, feeling how she arched her back. Her pulse was racing and there was a sheen of perspiration on her skin. Her nipples were even tighter and her breath was coming quickly. She gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh, and whispered his name with a desperation that could have sent him to the moon.
“Now!” she begged. “Now, now, now.”
He moved, intent upon giving her what she wanted, and reached for the condom. She pulled it out of his hand and flung it across the floor, then caught his face in her hands and kissed him hungrily. “All of you,” she murmured between kisses. “All of you, now. I love the feel of you without that.”
It wasn’t humanly possible to resist her. Not when she was so sweet, so hot, so wet, so determined to obliterate any other plan than her own. Damon was over her, then inside her, sinking home so fast that he shuddered in an effort to hold back. She was as tight as ever, but slick and hot. He flicked a glance at her, not knowing how long he’d last, and her satisfied smiled nearly finished him right there.
“Together,” she said.
“You’re demanding.”
“It’s the only way to get the best.”
Damon moved and Haley bit her lip, arching to welcome all of him. Her fingernails dragged over his shoulder and her eyes seemed darker. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair tangled over her shoulders, making her look just about as different from her usual composed self as was possible.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. You look like you’re enjoying yourself, that’s all.”
Haley laughed. “Can you blame me?”
“Not one bit.” He lowered himself over her, settling more resolutely between her thighs. He braced his weight on his elbows, wiped his mouth, then bent to kiss her again. “That was the plan, after all,” he murmured against her lush mouth.
“I thought the plan was to make me scream.”
“That’s just the sign of the success of the plan.”
“Then what’s the plan?”
“To thank you.” He kissed her ear, pushing one hand through her hair, then closing it around her nape. He kissed her mouth again. “In the best way possible, and as thoroughly as possible.”
“That might take more than once,” she whispered.
“I’m ready for that,” he replied and her eyes flew open. “Put your legs around me,” he invited in a low voice. “I want to watch you come right now. I want you to scream as loud as you can when you do.”
Haley caught her breath and blushed down to her nipples, but she did a
s he asked. The move opened her wide but also ensured that her clitoris could rub against the root of his shaft. He rolled his hips, ensuring that it did, and she gave another of those delicious moans.
“You are dangerous,” she whispered.
“I’m just getting started,” he promised, then moved within her. She caught her breath and he knew neither of them would last long. He tried to keep it slow but with Haley moving the way she did and kissing him the way she did, he didn’t have much chance of success. His own blood heated and his need rose to a crescendo. He watched her pant, and saw her eyes sparkle, then felt her run her nails all the way down his back and up again.
When she tightened around him then shouted in her release, he couldn’t hold back any longer. Damon buried himself deep inside her and leaned his face against her shoulder, welcoming her release and surrendering to his own.
She was perfect.
No doubt about it.
* * *
Haley’s knees were shaking when they finally left the bed and went to the bathroom to clean up. She snapped a towel at Damon and he caught her, held her close and kissed her slowly. He exuded contentment and calm, and was more affectionate than he’d ever been before.
Had something changed because she’d told him about Aidan?
Either way, the change was good.
He brought her clothes to the bathroom while she was cleaning up and leaned in the doorway to watch her, smiling. She would have liked to have taken more of a look around upstairs, but he’d already turned off the light. One other door was closed and the other room in shadows. That was all she saw before he hustled her back down to the kitchen.
“Time for food,” he said bluntly.
She was surprised that it wasn’t later than it was. It was only just dinner time although it was getting dark outside. They worked together: she finished the salad and he put on the rice, then grilled the chicken on a barbeque on the back patio. She heard him speak to a neighbor and mention that there’d be a service for his mom. The neighbor told him to be sure to share the details and he promised to do so, as easily as if he’d always planned to do that.
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