by Alicia Rae
“Raelyn, you’re really testing my fucking patience, woman,” he breathed, throwing his hands up in the air and letting them fall to his sides with a clear display of irritation on his features. “Would you please tell me what’s wrong before I lose my mind?”
“Your patience? What about mine?” I pointed at my sternum, wanting to scream, but I was too tired. I crossed my arms over my chest, as if needing a thicker protection over my heart. “I asked you to take me to my apartment,” I repeated.
I was on the verge of crying, not knowing what else to do or say. I didn’t want him to see me like this, and I needed to pull myself together, so I stormed past him and didn’t give him a chance to respond.
Longing for a reprieve, I went through his house to the patio door where I took off my shoes and chucked them aside before making my way down to the beach.
I stopped several feet in front of the ocean. With my arms still wrapped around my center, I stared out at the water and watched the moonlight reflect off the vast surface. It was truly a magnificent sight.
The wind blew across my face, and it made my hair whip around me. I smelled the salt in the air as I fought for calming breaths. I was so angry over my run-in with Sage and her forthcoming admission about Damien. I had no idea what to make of it, and I was irritated with Damien that he hadn’t told me himself about helping her.
I closed my eyes, overwhelmed with my confusion.
Then, I sensed him before I heard him. I didn’t need to turn around to know that Damien was standing behind me.
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever let into my life, Raelyn.” His voice was soft. “Yet, every time I ask you to talk to me, you push me away.”
He took another step, and I turned my head a fraction to see his white shirt from the corner of my eye. My pulse increased at his proximity. I refrained from leaning back into him even though I was drawn to him.
He continued, “Who hurt you so deeply to make you feel this way?”
My heart recoiled at his invasive question, so I focused on the middle of his statement, the part that was the most operative here. “You want to talk?” My voice was dripping with sarcasm as I pivoted to look into his eyes. “Fine, let’s talk. How about we start with restroom chats?” I wasn’t proud of my tone, but I couldn’t seem to rein it in.
“Or we could start with why you were in there again?” he challenged.
I didn’t owe him an explanation, and I wouldn’t allow him to distract me, so I ignored him and said, “You know, you had some nerve, asking me if I was fucking Cale when, clearly, I should have been asking if you were fucking his wife!”
I was overly fueled with anger and betrayal as my arm lifted and launched toward his face, preparing to slap him. He caught my wrist before my palm had the chance to connect with his cheek. Emotions ruled his features—terror, hurt, rage—all promptly filling me with a profound sense of guilt by my hasty actions.
“Don’t ever hit me, Raelyn.” His jaw clenched and released with each word and deliberate breath. He slowly lowered our arms to our sides while twining his fingers tightly around mine, refusing to let me go. “You can scream at me, curse me to hell, do whatever in the fuck you like to me.” Those pleading gray eyes of his penetrated the depths of my wounded soul. “But I beg you, don’t ever lay a hand on me.”
My remorse multiplied by thousands. Tears streamed down my face. He didn’t need to explain. I knew this had something to do with his painful past, his scars.
Solemnly ashamed with myself and my heartlessness, my gaze dropped to the ground. “I’m so sorry.” My lower lip trembled. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
He wiped at the wetness dripping down my face with a tender touch I didn’t deserve and told me, “You didn’t know, Raelyn.”
The floodgates opened, and my tears rushed harder. “Please, don’t try to make me feel better about my disgraceful actions.”
He tipped my face up. His soft expression was full of an astounding compassion I was unworthy of. “Too bad because I’ve already forgiven you.” His voice was unwavering. “Sit down, and I’ll do the talking.”
I did as he’d said. Damien lowered to the ground behind me, opened his legs, and pulled me along his warm body. I draped my legs over his right thigh and twisted my upper body, so I could see his face.
He briefly glanced out at the ocean while his thumb stroked soothing circles in the center of my palm before looking back at me. “Sage came to me when she filed for her divorce from Cale. He’d left her with fourteen dollars in their joint savings account and a checking account that was overdrawn by more than six hundred. Her home with him had already been three months into foreclosure proceedings.” He sighed. “That’s where it all began. I found out from Sage that Cale was having money issues. From that point, it didn’t take me long to find out that he was embezzling from me.”
I winced, genuinely sad for Sage and what she must have endured. And Cale…I didn’t even know where to start with him. It proved that it was possible to be close friends with a person for years without knowing who they truly were. It was times like these that their true character would make an appearance.
Damien continued without delay, “Sage was my friend long before Cale. She and I are the same age. We went to college together.”
I quirked an inquisitive brow at him, wondering if he would answer me this time around. “And that is?”
He released a small laugh and snuck in a quick kiss before releasing a deliberately slow grin. “I’m thirty.”
A five-year age gap was nothing to me, but I would definitely be teasing him about this later during a better time.
When he gave me an expectant look, I said, “I was close.”
“You were close after three tries,” he teased.
“No need to be picky about it.” I rolled my eyes, feeling lighter inside even though we had more to discuss.
He was talking, and I would take it.
We both laughed.
Then, he spoke again, “Anyway, so when Cale left Sage broke and virtually homeless, I offered to let her stay in one of my vacant rental homes here in Sarasota for free until she was able to get back on her feet. Cale might have been my best friend, but I still felt as though I owed it to Sage to make sure she was okay.”
“Oh, Sage made it sound as though she was living with you and that you two were about to become a hot item.” Deep down, I knew it was a lie because I’d stayed at his house, and I was the woman in his bed, but I still wanted answers as to why Sage had made it sound like that.
“Well, we both know that’s not true.”
“Then, why would she endeavor to make it sound as though she was?” The wheels in my mind were turning, remembering the way Sage had spoken of Damien and her fondness toward him. “She’s in love with you,” I stated. It made perfect sense.
“Yes, she is,” he answered with irritation clear in his voice. “And she has been for years.”
I gazed out at the water, unsure of how I felt to have my assumption confirmed.
Sage and Cale had been married for nearly two years. I wondered if Cale had been aware of her feelings for his best friend. It sounded like drama at its finest.
Damien gently brought his palm to my cheek and forced my eyes back to his. “Nothing has ever happened between us, Raelyn. Not even a kiss.” His voice was strong. “I have no interest in Sage whatsoever, now or in the past.” His eyes searched mine. “You do believe me, right?”
“Yes,” I responded without hesitation. There was no reason for me not to trust him in regard to Sage. Plus, I could tell in his tone that he wasn’t besotted with her the way she was with him.
“Good,” he stated. “Because I’d never touch another man’s woman. Ever.”
It dawned on me that Damien and I had both been friends with Sage and Cale for several years, yet our paths hadn’t crossed a single time, so I asked, “Why do you think we’ve never met before?”
“Actually, I’ve thought abo
ut that question a lot recently,” he began, soothing my skin with tender caresses. “It’s part of why I wanted to meet you before I made my decision on how to proceed with Cale’s embezzlement. I’d casually heard about you over the years from Cale.” He paused, appearing thoughtful. “The only conclusion I’ve been able to make is that Sage didn’t want us to become acquainted.”
“That would make sense if she viewed other women as competition. But if she was in love with you, why did she marry Cale?”
“Since I never showed an interest in her during our college years, my guess is that she thought dating Cale would make me jealous. She never finished her degree. So, when Adam and Jennings Accounting Services started to become successful, I think she saw Cale as a suitable provider.” His expression went thoughtful. “Although, I am surprised you weren’t at their wedding.”
“Iris and I were supposed to go, but she ended up having emergency surgery to remove her appendix that week.” I frowned at the memory, recalling how much pain she had been in. “I stayed home to take care of her.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. I’m glad she’s okay.”
“Me, too,” I agreed.
“But I must say that I’m sorely disappointed.”
In a split second, I was shuffled around and pinned on my back with his towering frame looming over me. His mischievous grin was firmly in place.
“I could have been tasting these gorgeous lips all this time.” He nudged my thighs apart with his own and settled between them. “I think we owe it to ourselves to make up for lost time.”
My playful sass surfaced. “I don’t know. Now that I’m aware of your age, I think you might be a bit too old for me,” I drawled with false reservations, but my smile was giving me away. “You’re already the dirty thirty, and I’m still in my prime.” I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing.
“Is that so?” he challenged, grasping my nape to tilt my face up toward his.
Our mouths were less than an inch apart. His gaze burned into mine, filled with heat and purpose. He was ready to devour me. That familiar spark between us was electrifying and powerful.
“Yes,” I whispered raggedly, losing my breath at the sight of him.
“We’ll see about that,” he growled.
I swallowed, instantly certain he was going to make me regret teasing him.
He hooked his thumbs under the edge of my dress and nudged it up, one side at a time. My eyes briefly fell closed as my insides came to life at the feel of his hands on me.
“Has anyone else ever made your skin tingle and burn the way that I do?” he asked quietly.
“No,” I answered without delay.
The soft material of the dress gathered at my waist, baring the scrap of black lace that covered me to his hungry eyes.
“And what about here?” Damien gradually glided his hand to my center where he tugged my panties out of the way. He skimmed his finger up and down the folds of my sex with the faintest touch, driving me wanton, as all my blood rushed to throb at my center. “Has anyone ever made your sex pulse out of control the way I can?” he demanded. His voice was drenched with a raw, primal desire.
“No.” I could barely speak or think. All I felt was my burning need for him.
He quickly stripped his shorts and boxers and sheathed himself before returning his hand to my dripping core to spread my arousal.
“And each time I take you, bury myself deep within you”—he pressed his finger inside me, creating a delicious friction—“who are all your thoughts of?” he finished at last.
My head thrashed from side to side as my aching muscles gripped ahold of him, clinging to him. I squeezed my thighs around him in an effort to relieve some of the pressure building within me.
He came up over me and braced his weight on his left forearm while continuing his assault on me with his right. In the hard angles of his face, there was a profound longing to claim me. “Answer me, Raelyn.” His voice was rough and guttural. He withdrew his finger and ascended to make lazy swirls around my clit. “I want to hear the word leave your delectable lips.”
I almost came right then, but I needed him to take me to our special place where it was just me and him, nothing and no one else.
Grabbing his shirt, I pulled his face to mine and choked, “You.” I was breathless. “Just you.”
Pure male satisfaction spread across his features. “Damn fucking straight, it’s me,” he grunted. He cupped my nape and drew me close, so he could cover my lips for an earth-shattering kiss. “I’m going to take what’s mine”—he sank into my slick throbbing heat, deeply penetrating me—“and I’ll give you what’s yours. There is no you and me anymore, Raelyn. There is only us.”
As Damien set the pace, my hips came off the ground to meet him. I let my eyes fall shut as I nodded my acceptance, overcome by the emotions and sensations clashing and colliding within me.
This man was determined to make me his, to make my heart and soul feel, and I could no longer ignore my feelings for him. He wasn’t piercing the armor around my heart. No, Damien Heathman was melting it, destroying it with his words and his actions. Here, in this moment, with the way he made me feel when our bodies came together, it was as if I were the only thing that mattered to him.
He reclaimed my mouth, and I felt the second the air shifted between us. This was not just an ordinary kiss or a simple attraction to one another. There was an equal expression of something more—adoration, affection…and heartwarming love.
After closing myself off from the world for so long, there were no words to describe how it felt when my heart swelled and expanded profusely in my chest, literally to the brink of pain.
When every muscle in my stomach pulled tight, Damien softly demanded, “Look at me, Raelyn.”
I felt him harden within me. The muscles in his jaw flexed. But neither were what captivated me. It was the look in his stunning gray eyes. They were glowing with every emotion I felt inside.
“Just us,” he whispered.
And together, we let go, hopelessly lost in each other and deeply connected beyond what my heart could bear.
As we caught our breaths, Damien rested his hip at my side and draped his arm over me, tightly holding me to his body. Nothing had ever felt so good. I felt safe, wanted, and utterly content as the ocean waves crashed into the shore in front of us.
An unknown amount of time passed before Damien nuzzled his nose into my neck. “I don’t want to move and break this moment, but I want to hold you in my bed, so I can feel you against me as I doze off into a restful sleep.”
His comment sounded heavenly, and I slightly rotated my head to see his face.
“Hmm…so you can dream of me?” I asked with a tender smile.
“With you in my arms, Raelyn, I dream of all kinds of things I never thought possible before you.” He pressed his lips to my forehead with a tender adoration that reached in and touched my soul.
I ran my fingers through his soft locks and kissed him one last time even though I was always longing for more where he was concerned. “Then, take me to bed.”
He did, and I felt myself dreaming of wishful possibilities, too.
I shot upright in bed at the sound of an ear-screeching alarm sounding off over and over again, and I covered my ears.
“Damien! Damien, what’s that noise?” I asked frantically as the bed shifted beside me.
“My house alarm.”
I heard his quick strides across the room to turn on the bedroom light. My eyes squinted at the harsh brightness.
“Stay here.” His tone seemed uneasy and on edge.
Damien dimmed the light until it was a soft glow, and then he exited the room.
Seconds ticked by.
My heart raced uncontrollably at the idea of being left alone with no clue as to what was going on. I bit the inside of my cheek, contemplating on what to do. Something or someone had to have triggered the alarm, and Damien had left to see what it was.
Knowing I couldn�
��t just remain here without feeling helpless, I stood to my feet and padded out of the bedroom. The beeping came to a stop as my shaky feet carried me down the hallway to the junction of the staircase. My eyes scanned the open space.
Damien was nowhere in sight.
Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, I could see the front door ajar. My chest seized with terror at the notion of an intruder being outside. I glanced back and forth at my surroundings, looking for anything to defend myself, when I tiptoed into the foyer.
There was a long umbrella hanging from the coat rack on the wall, so I hastily grabbed it and held it in my grip like a bat, ready to swing.
Goose bumps rose on my skin as I peeked my head out the front door. “Damien, where are you?” I cried, unsure if I should continue outside.
The yard was illuminated by lighting placed against the house and along the driveway.
Keeping my back pressed into the stucco of the house, I advanced onto the concrete patio with my weapon of choice, prepared to strike if necessary.
A human shadow came in view, ambling up the driveway, followed by a second taller shadow. The bigger person of the two appeared to be shoving the smaller one forward.
As the two of them neared, it became clear that the person in front was just a boy, a teenager. And the second man was Damien, a very angry Damien.
“Does your father know you’re here?” Damien’s steel voice flowed through the air.
The boy stopped and slightly turned to face Damien. His side profile looked utterly hysterical. “No. Please, please don’t tell him where I am.” He grappled at Damien’s shirt. “Please. You can’t tell him!”
A profound sadness fell over me at the desperation radiating off of the boy. He was petrified.
“Let’s go inside, William, and get you cleaned up.” Damien’s face filled with compassion, yet fire still lingered within his features.
The boy exhaled deeply. “Okay.”
As the boy came closer, my heart went free-falling into my stomach. Blood was smeared down the boy’s nose and across his lower lip and cheek. His eyes looked hollow and dark. A purple bruise was forming on his right cheek.