Twice as Tempting

by Susan Coventry

  When they reached the cabin, Damian hauled in the bags containing Kelly’s overnight necessities and placed them on the kitchen counter. They had left one lamp on, which cast a dim glow in the dark room. Damian closed the curtains in the kitchen and living room, which were basically one and the same, while Kelly kicked off her shoes and took a seat on the sofa. He tried to hide his look of surprise when he came to sit beside her.

  “I thought we could talk a little more first,” she explained. “But would you mind putting the heat up? It’s freezing in here!”

  Damian chuckled as he heaved himself off the couch and went to adjust the thermostat on the wall. “It’ll be warmer in a few minutes,” he said. He sat back down and flung an arm over her shoulder, tucking her in close to his side. “In the meantime, you can share my body heat.”

  “Thanks,” she said, leaning her head on his broad shoulder.

  “So, what did you want to talk about? I could tell that there was something on your mind when we were driving.”

  “There were a lot of things on my mind. All good,” she added when she noticed his look of concern.

  Damian kissed the top of her head. “That’s a relief.”

  She traced the outline of the words “Up North” on his sweatshirt, since she couldn’t get to his tattoo, and began to speak. “Have I ever told you how proud I am of you?”

  Damian had been playing with a strand of her hair, and now he stilled. “Proud?”

  “Um-hmm. Owning your own business is a huge undertaking. I know firsthand from working with Emma. A business owner never truly has time off. Even when she’s not at the bookstore, Emma is constantly working to keep her business running smoothly.”

  “You deserve some of the credit for that too,” he said.

  “I appreciate the compliment, but we’re talking about you. I just want you to know that I really respect what you’re doing, and I’m confident that your shop will be a success.” She glanced up at him then, and even though his face was in the shadows, she saw him swallow hard.

  “Thanks, Kell,” he said, his voice full of emotion. “That means a lot to me.”

  “Also, about Amanda, I’ve known other women like her, women who are more concerned with status and the size of their bank account than more important things like love and family. Please don’t ever mistake me for one of those women.”

  Damian put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up. “No, baby. I don’t think of you like that.”

  “Well, the other day, when I mentioned wanting certain things…”

  Damian cupped her face with both hands and shook his head vehemently. “There was nothing wrong with what you said, Kell. It was my reaction that was wrong.”

  Kelly had been trying hard to hold back her tears, but one slipped out and made a slow slide down her cheek.

  “Oh, baby. Please don’t cry. I love you. Please.”

  Kelly swiped the tear away, but another one took its place. “I love you too, Damian. And I need you to believe that it’s you I love and not what you can give me.”

  “I do know. I can see it in your eyes and in your smile. I can feel it every time you touch me. I just don’t understand how I got this lucky. How someone so beautiful, and strong, and intelligent could love someone like me.”

  Does he still not get it? Kelly had tried telling him with words, but now it was time for a new tactic, one that her man of action would surely understand. “Let me show you. Take me to bed, Damian.”

  And he did.

  Chapter 28

  Kelly spent most of the night showing Damian how much she loved him, interspersed with a few short hours of shut-eye. It seemed like just when she was getting into a deep sleep mode, Damian would move or touch her in some way, and she’d become wide awake. And then she would touch him, and they’d end up making love again. At some point, in the wee hours of the morning, they collapsed, and Kelly didn’t rouse again until her nostrils were filled with a tantalizing scent.

  “Rise and shine, princess. Your breakfast is here.”

  Kelly’s eyes popped open, and she saw that Damian was waving a box of donuts under her nose. She stretched and then threw off the covers before she remembered that she was naked. She hadn’t bought any pajamas, nor could they be bothered to put on any clothes last night.

  Damian gave her a sultry smile, set the donut box on the bed, and turned around to rifle through his duffle bag. “Here. Throw this on,” he said and handed her one of his long-sleeved t-shirts with a car logo on it.

  “Is that coffee I smell too?” Kelly asked as she hurriedly donned the shirt.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She stood up on the bed and flung her arms around his neck, peppering him with kisses. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

  “You’re just saying that now because I delivered your breakfast,” he teased, and then he lifted her off of the bed. “Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

  A tall, steaming cup of coffee awaited her at the small oak dining table, and Kelly did a little dance of joy before plopping down in a chair.

  “Wow! You’re unusually perky this morning,” Damian said as he sat down beside her.

  “Well, why shouldn’t I be? I’m with the man I love in a cabin in the woods, and we have donuts! It doesn’t get much better than that.”

  Damian gave her a satisfied grin before biting into an oversized cinnamon roll. “I hate to say this, but we should probably get going pretty soon. I told Jim that I’d be back today, and if we leave soon, I could still get a few hours of work in.”

  “I know. I need to get back to work too.”

  “Don’t worry, Kell. This won’t be our only getaway.”

  She nodded and drained the rest of the coffee while she looked out over the lake one last time. It wasn’t a five-star hotel with all the amenities, but Kelly would never forget this place. Afraid that she was getting too sappy, she changed the subject. “Let’s take a shower, and then we’ll get on the road.”

  While Damian cleared the table, Kelly gathered up her new underwear and toiletries, and they went into the bathroom together. “Now, if you’re really serious about leaving, there can be no shower sex. We simply wash and get out,” she instructed.

  “I’ll try to restrain myself,” he said.

  Kelly turned her back to him and reached into the shower stall to turn on the water and adjust the temperature. She then went about lining up her products neatly on the shelf inside the stall. During that time, she heard the thud of Damian’s clothes hitting the floor, but she didn’t turn around. With her back still to him, she removed his t-shirt, folded it neatly, and placed it on the bathroom counter. Satisfied that the water temperature was to her liking, she stepped inside and immediately tipped her head back into the warm spray. Her eyes were closed when she heard Damian come in, and after her hair was thoroughly wet, she opened her eyes.

  Damian was practically on top of her in the tiny stall, and his eyes shone with an intoxicating mix of desire and adoration. She moved her eyes downward, over his muscular chest and tight abs, until she was met with absolute proof of his desire for her. It was enough to make Kelly want to break her own rule, and she started to reach for him…

  Damian waggled his index finger in front of her face and said, “You said no shower sex, remember?” And with that, he reached behind her for the bottle of shampoo.

  Kelly frowned. “But rules are meant to be broken,” she whined.

  He simply ignored her and proceeded to suds up his thick crop of dark hair.

  To avoid temptation, Kelly turned her back on him again and went about lathering up her own hair, taking extra time to massage the shampoo into her scalp. Next, she poured some strawberry-scented body wash onto her new body pouf and started cleansing herself, moving the pouf in slow circles, starting at her neck and shoulders and working her way down. When she bent over to reach her cherry red painted toes, Damian groaned, but she was determined to ignore him. She may have purposely bumped into hi
m once or twice, and she was assured that his desire for her hadn’t waned.

  “All set?” she asked after she had finished rinsing.

  Damian was so close that she felt his body heat against her damp back.

  “For now,” he muttered.

  Kelly stepped out first and wrapped herself in a towel before handing one to him. Oh, the games we play, she thought as she took her sweet time drying herself off. Damian stood next to her in front of the bathroom counter that had a lighted mirror above it. She kept glancing at him in the mirror while he dried off too, but anytime their eyes met, she quickly looked away. Once she was completely dry, she had no choice but to return the towel to the rack, and she took her time arranging it just so, fully aware that Damian’s eyes bored into her.

  When she turned around, he was naked, his own towel lying in a puddle at his feet. Her eyes darted to the bathroom counter where she had left her pile of clothes, but they were no longer there. She peered around the hulking man before her and spied them lying neatly on top of the closed toilet lid. Kelly put her hands on her hips and tried to summon a look of reproach as Damian stalked toward her.

  “I thought we said no sex this morning,” she said, reading the intent in his eyes.

  “No. You said no shower sex. We’re out of the shower now.”

  The cat and mouse game was up. Damian swooped her up in his arms and set her bare butt on the bathroom counter.

  “Here?” She started to protest, but Damian had spread her legs wide and was standing in between them, rubbing himself against her center.

  There was no slow and sensual lead-up this time. There was only raw passion, intense heat, and insistence. He took her hard and fast, and sometimes, like now, that was just the way she liked it. He had retrieved a condom from his jeans pocket and had it on in a flash, and afterwards, it dawned on her that he had planned this all along.

  After Damian withdrew and cleaned them both off, he lifted her off the counter. He picked up his sports watch from atop his pile of clothes and said, “Look at that. We’re still on schedule!”

  Kelly playfully swatted his arm and started to get dressed. “You planned that whole thing,” she accused.

  Damian smirked at her. “It’s always good to be prepared,” he said.

  They spent the next twenty minutes tidying up the cabin and packing up their belongings. When they were done, they stood at the front door together and looked around one last time.

  “I really loved it here,” Kelly said wistfully.

  “I really loved you here,” Damian replied.

  Kelly reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly before they turned and walked away.

  “Don’t forget to call Zack on your way home. He was really worried about you,” Kelly said after Damian had loaded up their bags.

  “When will my brother realize that I’m not a little kid anymore?”

  “You’ll always be his little brother, Damian. He loves you, and so do I.”

  Damian leaned his head into her car window and kissed her goodbye. “I love you too. Be careful driving.”

  “You’ll be right behind me, won’t you?”

  “Always,” he said and patted the roof of her car.

  Kelly beamed at him and then slowly drove away. Seconds later, she glanced in her rearview mirror, and there he was, as promised, beaming right back at her.

  Kelly waited until they were on the expressway headed south to Clarkston before she used the Bluetooth to call Emma. As she expected, Emma answered right away.

  “Where are you? Did you find Damian? Are you two ok?”

  “Slow down, Em. You sound like Alex.” Mrs. Kostas was notorious for firing off questions in rapid succession without waiting for the answers.

  “Well, I am part of the family now, or almost.”

  With all the recent hub-bub, Kelly had almost forgotten that Emma’s wedding was just around the corner. “Yes, we’re ok. We’re better than ok. We’re terrific,” she said, glancing in her rearview mirror for the umpteenth time since they had left the cabin. Sure enough, Damian was right behind her, and she saw his mouth moving, so he was probably talking to Zack.

  “Whew! Am I glad to hear that!”

  “Emma soon-to-be Kostas, are you relieved because you thought that Damian and I might ruin your wedding or because you’re truly happy for us?”

  Emma giggled. “Maybe a little bit of both,” she admitted. “Anyway, tell me everything. Or at least, almost everything.”

  As close as they were, and as much as they shared, Kelly and Emma had an unspoken agreement that they would always keep a few things to themselves, so Kelly gave her an edited version of what had transpired at the cabin but made sure to include some of the good parts. When Kelly shared that she and Damian had exchanged the “L-word,” Emma whooped and hollered.

  “Are you at the store right now?” Kelly asked.

  “Yes, but nobody’s here at the moment.”

  “Thank God.”

  “So, what’s next for you two?”

  “Well, we’re leaving for Florida in a couple weeks, and then your wedding is after that.”

  “That’s not exactly what I meant,” Emma said, “but ok.”

  “Oh, you meant about the future, future?”

  “Yes, but you don’t have to answer, Kell. I just want you to be happy.”

  “You know what? We don’t have everything mapped out, to borrow Damian’s words, but I am happy. Very happy.” Kelly glanced in the rearview mirror again, and Damian waved at her.

  “Has Damian had a chance to call Zack yet? He’s been driving me nuts for two days!”

  Kelly laughed. “Yes. As a matter of fact, he’s on the phone with Zack right now.”

  “Good. While I have you on the phone, we need to go over a few business items. Namely, the next book club meeting. Mrs. Simmons was in earlier today, and she asked if you had set a date yet.”

  “No, but that’s the first thing on my agenda when I get back. I need to stop by my apartment to change, but I thought I’d come in to work after that.”

  “Sounds good. I’m leaving soon, but Brett will be here, so you should be able to get your work done.”

  “Em? Before I forget, are you sure you don’t want a bachelorette party? There’s still time to get a few of our friends together for a ladies’ night out.”

  “You know what? I’d rather hang out with my best girlfriend, kind of like we used to do before these two overbearing yet undoubtedly gorgeous Greek men came into our lives.”

  “Sounds good to me! Movie night at my apartment?”

  “Yes, and Zack can hang out with Damian that night. I’ll ask my parents to babysit.”

  “It’s a date!”

  “Do you think Damian will mind? He might not want to be apart from you now that you’re officially ‘in love.’”

  “I’m sure he won’t mind. He’ll probably be glad to spend some one-on-one time with his brother.”

  “Oh no. Do I have to?” Damian complained.

  Kelly and Damian were in her apartment after work that evening, and she had just broken the news about ladies’ night. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t want to spend some good quality time with your brother!”

  “It’s just that his idea of a good time differs from mine.”

  “How so?”

  “For example, I could sit and watch a game and not say a word, while he would sit there and talk the entire time! The man’s exhausting.”

  Kelly giggled. “Maybe you two could play cards or something. Don’t you have some poker buddies?”

  Damian scowled. “I hate playing games. Haven’t we already established that?”

  “Ok. So, why don’t you watch an X-rated movie? Isn’t that what guys do at bachelor parties?”

  “First of all, I’m not interested in watching porn with my brother. Second, a bachelor party is usually made up of more than two people, and there might even be strippers. Hmm…”

  “Oh no you don’t. Yo
u and Zack should just drink a few beers and watch a gangster movie or something.”

  “What about you and Emma? What will you two be doing that evening?”

  “We’re going to make frozen strawberry daiquiris and watch a romantic movie.”

  They were sitting next to each other on the couch, and Damian got that gleam in his eye. “Will there be a pillow fight?”

  “Yes. Yes, there will be. And it starts right now!” Kelly reached behind her for the throw pillow that she had been resting against and flung it at Damian before he could react. This set off a retaliation whereby he pinned her to the couch and pummeled her with said pillow gently yet repeatedly until she cried “uncle.”

  Damian continued to hold her arms down while she caught her breath. “The truth is that I hate the thought of being away from you for even one night,” he said.

  Kelly thought about all the time they had spent apart in the past and sent up a silent thank you to God for bringing Damian back into her life. “We don’t have to be apart all night. Emma will want to leave at a reasonable time to get back to her girls, and Zack will too. You can come over after they leave.”

  Damian’s features instantly relaxed, and he bent down to kiss her. She opened her mouth wider to accept his tongue, and the match was lit. Kelly tried to keep track of how many times he said “I love you” between kisses, but she lost count somewhere around twenty. After that, it was hard to keep track of anything else.

  Chapter 29

  Kelly’s week was filled up with work, both at the bookstore and at Damian’s shop, followed by evenings spent at either her apartment or his. If their neighbors didn’t know that they were an “item” before, they certainly did now, what with all the traipsing back and forth across the parking lot.

  Kelly set up the next book club meeting for the second Friday in December, and she didn’t forget about Damian’s offer to be a participant. When she sent an email to the ladies in the group asking for their opinion, the response was an overwhelming yes, they would love to hear a man’s perspective at the next meeting. When Kelly reminded Damian of his offer, he first pretended to have forgotten, and then he tried to back out of it.