That was a depressing thought. Settling his sunglasses in place, Damon stepped out into the summer sun. The season hadn’t loosened its grip, and he was grateful he’d brought the Saturn with the air conditioning instead of the bike. With the weight of blame he slogged around over keeping Julie from her family adding to the oppressive humidity, Damon didn’t think he could have handled the bike anyway.
“Damon?”
He recognized the shaky voice, but not the shell of a woman speaking. “Julie?” He wanted to believe she was standing there and not just a mirage wavering in the heat rising off the tar of the parking lot. The wind danced with her hair, and she pushed it out of her eyes; emerald pools glistening with unshed sadness. He walked to her, but she looked too fragile to touch.
“Julie, what is it? Is your father all right? He didn’t…” Damon bent so he could read her face. As morbid as it seemed, he’d checked the obituaries every day. No John Tilling had been among the pictures. But the sadness rippling her brow said something different.
“No, he’s fine. Doc McCarty gave him heart medication and put him on a special diet. He just needs to take it easy for awhile. He came home Monday night.”
“Then what—”
“I’m sorry—”
They spoke at the same time.
“You go.” Julie’s mouth quivered in a half smile.
“No, you first.” Damon wanted so badly to gather her in his arms, but until he knew why she’d come to him, he didn’t intend to scare her off with words or actions.
“I’m not sure why I’m here, Damon. I was just driving around and…oh, I don’t know what I was thinking. I just need—”
“A friend?” he asked, when she couldn’t seem to figure out what she wanted.
“Yeah.”
Julie collapsed in his embrace. He guided her to his car parked in the shade and held her while emotion poured out with the sobs wracking her body. Her tears dampened his shirt, and all he could think was how she smelled like lilacs and felt like heaven pressed against him. He silently thanked the roads of fate that destiny had delivered her back into his arms.
He listened to her worried thoughts concerning her father’s health and justified complaints about her sisters’ behavior until time pressed him into action and he talked Julie into joining him. The woman who had filled his nights with restless thoughts of love and lust now sat in his passenger seat as he drove the Saturn out of the parking lot.
“You promise to have me at my parents’ house by four? Four-thirty at the latest?” Julie’s hands moved restlessly in her lap.
“If it means I have to rent a jet from Bangor, I will deliver you back to Delmont in time to make dinner for your parents.”
“And I have my cell phone.” She held up the device she clutched like a life preserver.
“I know your family needs you right now. But I’m happy you’ve decided to come with me.” That was an understatement. Just having her near gave him the boost of confidence he so desperately needed right now.
“When you said you wanted to play piano, you failed to mention you’re a trained pianist,” she said.
“My mother taught me.”
“Another side of Damon Corey I didn’t know.”
“That’s the real me.”
“Who? Tell me about the young Damon.”
He laughed. “Hell on wheels. That’s what my father used to say. I spoke two languages and could sweet-talk the girls in both of them by the age of ten.”
Julie laughed, the joy of it reaching up to push away the sadness that had filled her eyes. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“My mother used to sit me on her lap when she played. I started making music on the piano before I could write my name.”
Julie traced a finger in the dimple framing his smile. “She’s a concert pianist?”
“Mama? No, she used to play the violin. The piano was my father’s instrument.”
“Used to? She gave it up?”
“My mother’s dead.”
“Damon, I’m so sorry.” Her fingers dug into his biceps. Of course she’d understand.
“Don’t be.” In an instant, his pride turned to bitterness. “She died when I was teenager. I’m over it.” Actually, talking about it still cut deeply, but he didn’t want those negative emotions to mar this day.
“No one gets over their mother’s death, Damon.”
“Yeah, well, seeing as she abandoned me to my drunken father and followed her lover to Europe, her death wasn’t really too much of a loss.” He swallowed, still finding the pill bitter all these years later. “She died on the autobahn in Germany exactly the way she wanted to live, fast and free.” He wanted it not to matter, but he could see by the furrow in her brow, that Julie understood it did.
“Damon, who knows why parents do the things they do.” Her palm cupped his jaw, and her thumb caressed his cheek. The action was not intended to be sensual, but his body reacted immediately. “But I might have an inkling why someone might run from familial responsibilities.” Dropping her hand to her lap, she turned to look out the window. “Sometimes they’re just overwhelming.” She shrugged as if to apologize for sympathizing. “Right or wrong, I can understand it.”
“Love can sometimes overwhelm a person.” Of course, he wasn’t talking about his parents. He was talking about his heart.
“So are you close with your father?” Julie asked.
He laughed derisively. “No. Without my mother to hold him up, he fell into the bottle and drowned himself. His death certificate reads liver failure. But in reality, he died of a broken heart.”
Leaving Damon utterly alone in the world.
* * * *
It was a wonder the man pouring his soul out through the piano keys didn’t simply collapse; an empty husk of a body, sacrificing everything to give life to the passionate strains of music filling the auditorium. Surely nothing so poignant could come from anywhere other than the heart. As melancholy notes penned by some dead composer plucked at her heartstrings, Julie could feel Damon’s sorrow filling her and resonating through every molecule of air.
How could the man who stood before crazed fans yelling derogatory obscenities be the same hurt little boy who had bravely withstood her barrage of questions about his family? Guilt pricked at her heart, making it hard to fill her lungs. As the emotional melody pulled her along its river of notes, she thought of her family. As much as they aggravated her, they also anchored her—gave her a sense of belonging. Damon was an orphan, an adult wandering aimlessly through life without any stabilizing beacon to guide him.
Silence rent her thoughts, and she had to keep herself from clapping for Damon’s performance. Even from this distance she could see the sweat glistening on his brow, the nervous tension turning down the corners of his sensual lips.
“Thank you, Mr. Corey.” The conductor who had been sitting with several other serious looking types walked to the edge of the stage and craned his neck up. “The board will be making a decision by the beginning of next week. We’ll let you know by then.”
“Thank you.” Damon bowed to the group of people seated in the front row and left the stage.
Julie rushed into the hall and followed the maze of corridors toward the stage entrance where she’d left Damon, nervous and fidgeting. He exploded out of the doors and grabbed her around the waist, twirling them both at a dizzying speed.
“Damn, did you feel that?” He set her down and paced. “I don’t care if they hire me.” He laughed as his fingers raked through his hair. “Okay, I care. But did you hear that?” Damon took her hand and pulled her along the corridor. “Ba-da… da-da-da-da.” The notes tripped off his tongue. “I nailed it! And it felt damn good! Liszt himself never played the Hungarian Rhapsody Number 2 with such passion. I’m sure of it. If they don’t want me, that’s their problem.” Damon pulled at the black bow tie until it hung limp around his neck. “I haven’t performed in front of an audience since college.” The collar buttons we
re next. “But damn, I haven’t lost a thing.” He wiggled his fingers in the air. “These, Julie, are my ticket. I just proved they’ve still got it.”
She stopped him and took his hands in hers. “Pianos aren’t the only instruments they make sing.” Her wink settled right in his groin, the tented dress pants evidence that her comment had sent him over the edge as she intended.
“You are a wicked woman, Miss Julie Tilling. What time is it?”
She checked her watch again. “Only two-twenty.”
“Time’s a wasting.” He threw her over his shoulder and jogged up the hall. Julie squirmed and shrieked with amusement, but he didn’t put her down until they reached his car.
He wound his way through the city streets and out into the neighboring suburbs of Bangor. Houses gave way to fields filled with lupine and then to thick stands of forest. Damon turned onto a dirt road, driving deeper toward privacy.
“I found this place a month ago,” he said as he parked the Saturn under the shade of an oak tree. Anticipation of having Julie writhing beneath him had his cock ready and alert before they’d left the parking lot of the auditorium “Is that all you have for shoes?”
“I came from work. It’s not like I planned on hiking in heels.”
“Oh, darling, we’re not hiking.”
“But surely you don’t think I’m going to…” She giggled and swirled the air between them with her hand. “You know…make love here where anyone can drive by and see us?”
“Umm, did you happen to see where you are? I’ve got you so far in the boonies, there’s no chance someone’s going to see that gorgeous naked body.” He swung open the door. “I never did learn to share.” He jumped out and turned only long enough to stare at her amused expression. “I’ve got running shoes in the trunk. I’ll carry you piggyback.”
She stomped out of the car, her luscious breasts bouncing with each step. Shit, he wanted to bury himself in her hot depths. Thank the heavens he left his running clothes in the trunk. He dug out his sneakers and toed out of his dress shoes.
“Damon Corey, you are not carrying me through the woods.”
“Then I will be stripping you naked and having my way with you right here.” He yanked her tight against him. “Because you’ve whipped me into a frenzy, and I will not be denied.”
“Is that a threat?” The desire shining in her eyes contradicted the fear the question implied.
Damon let go of her and bent to put on his sneakers. “Oh, you better believe it.”
Julie screamed and ran from him, but she didn’t get far in her heels. He caught up with her easily, wrapping her in a bear hug. “Now, you can piggyback, or I can throw you over my shoulder. I’m good either way.”
Her laughter joined the warm breeze ruffling his hair as she jumped on his back, her legs straddling his hips, her breasts pressed into his shoulders. It seemed every part of her fit his body.
“Don’t you dare drop me,” she said.
“I wouldn’t think of it.” He leaned forward, pretending to throw her off.
Her scream echoed off the trees, and her fist landed solidly on his shoulder. “You jerk.”
He laughed and carried her into the forest.
The musty scent of the earth mixed with the heady aroma of Julie’s perfume wrapped around his nose and made him lightheaded with anticipation. Her warm breath tickled his neck, leaving gooseflesh in its wake. She barely weighed anything, but the heat of her pressed against his back made the walk through the lush ferns very pleasant. Though he’d only been here once before, Damon had honed his sense of direction in the army and found the isolated waterfall someone at the radio station had told him about without having to retrace his steps. It had been winter the first time he’d come here on snowshoes, crisp and refreshing—solitary. This day, the lush foliage of summer and Julie’s company made the visit so much more inviting.
He stopped on the edge of a small pool at the base of the waterfall where thick moss covered the moist ground. Her eyes were filled with awe when he set her down, confirming his decision to share this place with her.
After a moment of introspection she finally spoke. “Beautiful,” she whispered. Turning to him, Julie blessed him with one those smiles that involved her whole face. “Damon, it’s just so beautiful.”
“So are you.” He pressed his lips to hers, swallowing her gasp of pleasure. He’d only been away from her less than four days, but he feasted greedily on the taste as if he hadn’t seen her in years. “Julie. I missed you.”
“Damon, don’t talk. Just be with me.”
He took off his shirt and laid her down on it, covering her body with his. Clothes ripped as desperate hands sought skin. Her teeth grazed his chin and shoulder, and her nails bit into his flesh, and all he could think about as emotions snapped along his nerves and blood pounded in his ears was how alive this woman made him feel.
He sheathed himself with a condom from his wallet and pushed into her, surrounding his aching cock with her silken heat. She whispered in his ear, and her hot breath sent ribbons of divine pleasure down his spine. He rocked against her, his hips pulsing in time with hers. There was nothing in his world, save for this woman spread wide in acceptance of whomever he chose to be.
Her muscles pulled him, taunted him to let go. And when he felt Julie arch and stiffen beneath him, her own climax moments away, he surrendered to the bliss. The world convulsed around him. Fireworks of ecstasy exploded from his groin, filling every cell with pleasure. “I love you, Julie.” The words slipped quietly from his lips even as her orgasm shook the very foundation of his life.
Chapter 9
“And this is all I get for dinner?” John Tilling picked up the piece of spinach from his salad bowl and contemplated the leaf. “Looks like some rabbit’s gonna go hungry tonight.”
“Doctor’s orders.” Alice Tilling planted a kiss on her husband’s forehead before scooting back in the kitchen for the rest of the serving dishes. “Besides you always liked fish,” she called from the other room.
“Rolled in batter and drowned in oil,” John muttered as he leaned over conspiratorially and smiled at Damon. “This pink hunk of flesh doesn’t even look cooked.”
Damon didn’t know if he was supposed to respond, but when he turned to Julie for help, he could see she’d bitten her lip to keep from giggling at her father. Not much help there. It did seem wrong that his plate held an expertly barbequed piece of steak while John’s was filled with a dieter’s nightmare.
“That’s enough. Leave the poor man alone.” Alice said in John’s ear as she settled at the table across from him. “Mashed potatoes, Damon?”
“You’re killing me, woman,” John said.
“No, quite the opposite. But if you don’t quit your belly aching, I may just serve you double helpings of corn with butter and clog those crotchety old arteries myself!”
Julie giggled.
He suspected this banter was the sweet music of a forty-year marriage. His parents had barely made it past their fifteenth anniversary.
“Doc McCarty stopped by today while you were resting.” Alice tapped the table next to the rainbow of pills. “Wanted to see how you were doing. He saved me a trip to the pharmacy and dropped off your new heart medication himself.”
“Getting old is certainly not glamorous.” Flipping the pills into his mouth, John washed them and his obvious humiliation down with great gulps of water.
“You’re not old, Daddy.” Julie said. Damon could see how she idolized her father. He had no doubt she’d like to believe the man would live forever. “This is just a little speed bump. A chance to sit back and let the rest of us take care of you.”
“You’re sweet, honey.” He patted her hand. “Always willing to take care of everyone else. But you know it needs to stop.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Enough about me and my aging body. Let’s eat this wonderful dinner.” The sarcasm dripped from his tone like the raspberry vinaigrette from his fork.
A half hour later, Julie and her mother shuffled dishes from the table to the sink while he chatted amicably with her father. Leaning back in his chair, Damon stretched his long legs under the table. He surreptitiously watched Julie, tingles of awareness knotting his gut. All he could think about was having her legs wrapped around him, her body quaking in ecstasy beneath the solid weight of him. He’d like to have her there again, warm and naked for his exploration. She settled in the chair next to him, and he wrapped her hand in his, content to have her near.
“Julie, I read in the paper today where Bolling, Dearn and McNeal in Bangor were looking for a senior CPA in their firm,” John said conversationally. “Why don’t you apply, honey?”
“Julie’s happy at the landscaping business,” Alice said. “She isn’t looking for something else. Are you, sweetie?” Swiping the dishrag over the polished surface of the table, Alice didn’t even look at her daughter. “Peach cobbler, anyone?”
Julie blushed, her hand stiffening beneath his. “Well, I—”
“Now there you go again, Alice.” John thumped a fist on the table, making both women jump. “I love you, Alice, but you’ve got to let the girl be a woman. You all expect too much of her.”
“Julie?” The furrow in her mother’s brow froze Julie’s tongue. She floundered.
Damon wrapped his hand around Julie’s, solid and firm, hoping she felt his strength. John had opened the door to a conversation Julie needed to have with her family. He could only hoped she was brave enough to walk through.
“Mum, I love you all, but sometimes I just wish—”
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