May the Best Man Win
Page 16
I put the last bowl into the dish drainer to dry and leaned back into Damon’s chest. He’d been standing behind me with his arms around my midsection for the past five minutes after leaving Tierney in the living room to pick out the movie we were going to watch. We’d already played several rounds of Scrabble and Monopoly, and I was ready for something less taxing on the brain or that made me feel less homicidal, so I was hoping for a slapstick comedy. Knowing Tierney, we’d end up watching Bladerunner or Tron, in which case, I would weep.
“I’ve come to the conclusion,” he murmured in my ear, “that I don’t need to say anything.”
The scruff on his jaw felt like sandpaper against my cheek, and all I could think about was rubbing myself all over him. “You don’t?”
“Nah. See, we both knew, all along, that this was a game you had no chance of winning.”
“I’m not sure I approve of your terminology.” This didn’t feel like a game. This felt like my life was about to do a one-eighty. “If this is a game, Damon, I can’t afford the stakes.”
His hand stilled from where it was moving in slow circles on my belly. I fidgeted, not wanting him to stop, but he slid both hands to my hips and used them to turn me around to face him. Looking me in the eye, he said, “I didn’t mean it like that, doll. This isn’t a game to me. My heart is involved, Soph. Christ, my daughter’s heart is involved. Do you think I’d do that to her if this was just some bit of fun?”
“Don’t get mad.”
“I’m not mad, darlin’,” he said softly.
“Your heart is involved?” I grasped onto the words that made my pulse race.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
I shrugged, much like Tierney tended to do.
“Tell me I’m not alone here, doll.”
I swallowed harshly. “You’re not-”
He grinned.
“-but...once bitten, twice shy, you know?” I could no longer meet his eyes, my humiliation too much to bear as it was. I couldn’t face him if he knew the truth.
“Hey.” He shook me gently to gain my attention. “Tell me.”
I looked past him, into the living room, to see Tierney watching us with rapt attention. “Not tonight.” I gave him a weak smile.
“You’re such a tough nut to crack, Sophie James. It’s a good thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt how glorious the reward is going to be when I finally get in there.”
I smirked at that. “It’s true. I’m like a chocolate-covered cashew. All sweet and decadent. A true indulgence.”
Damon chuckled. “I was thinking you could be a hazelnut- good in everything from cookies to candy to Nutella, and I sure do love to spread you out and eat you up.”
Okay, I think I liked his analogy better, judging by my body’s reaction. “Whatever. As long as I’m not a Brazil nut.”
“What’s wrong with Brazil nuts?”
“The dregs at the bottom of the can of assorted nuts that old people always bring to holiday parties? Come on, Damon, nobody likes Brazil nuts.”
“Fair enough; you’re definitely not a Brazil nut.”
“Thank you. Now, let’s go see what sci-fi nightmare your spawn is going to subject us to.”
As it turned out, Tierney had selected Ever After from my DVD collection. I took the movie from her with a smile and turned to put it in the DVD player but not before seeing her flash a sly smile at her father, which he returned with a conspiratorial wink. Drew Barrymore was basically the mascot for my teenage years, and this movie happened to be in my top five. As wily as she was, I was willing to bet Tierney had deduced that. In fact, I was pretty sure she had me all figured out. Little imp.
Damon sat in the middle of the couch flanked by Tierney and me. By the time Danielle rescued herself from Le Peu and accepted Prince Henry’s marriage proposal, Tierney had crashed from her cupcake-induced sugar high. I, too, was feeling heavy lidded, so after the final scene, I stopped the DVD and signalled to Damon to carry Tierney up the stairs to the guest bedroom.
I left Damon to tuck her in and began my own bedtime ritual. Teeth brushed, face washed, and jammies on, I was climbing under the covers when Damon strolled in.
“What are you doing?”
I paused, holding the comforter aloft. “Getting into bed,” I answered. The ‘duh’ was implied.
“Right, but you’re,” he paused, waving a hand in the air, “not naked.”
“Uh, well, I don’t usually sleep naked.” I finished pulled the covers up over me and making myself comfortable.
“Well, get naked,” he scoffed. I got the impression that my pajamas were a horrible inconvenience to him.
“Damon, Tierney’s right across the hall, so no funny business tonight.”
“There’s nothing funny about what I’m going to do you, darlin’. And, stop trying to use my daughter’s presence as a deterrent. We’ve fucked at my house plenty of times.”
“Yes, we have, however, your house is bigger and there’s an entire hallway between your bedroom and hers. My house is much smaller. She’d definitely hear us, and that’s just too mortifying to even comprehend. I can’t even.” I shook my head as a shudder wracked my body.
He began to strip his own clothes off until there was nothing left between my gaze and his perfection. He stalked to the bed, grabbing the end of the bedding and ripping my barrier away. “If the noise concerns you, doll, we can fix that. You can’t make a peep with my cock in your throat.”
The image his words evoked caused an instant ache between my thighs. My breasts, now swollen and heavy, begged for his broad palms. I realized that in all the times we’d been together, I’d never tasted him that way. He’d gone down on me plenty of times, but for some reason I couldn’t comprehend, I’d never done that for him, and now, it was all I wanted. I jumped from the bed, shedding my shorts, panties, and t-shirt as Damon advanced on me.
He chuckled, reaching out to pinch my nipples. “Eager little beaver, aren’t you?”
I dropped to my knees, not caring that I could most definitely feel the effects of rug burn already. With no grace whatsoever, I shoved my face into his groin and licked him from root to tip, smiling to myself when I heard his sharp intake of breath.
“Open,” he commanded, gripping my jaw roughly.
I complied, allowing him to feed me his cock and fuck my mouth. With his hands in my hair, he held my head stationary and thrust with enough force that, if his hold hadn’t been secure, I would have fallen onto my back.
“Look at you,” he rasped. “So fuckin’ pretty with my cock between your lips.”
My whimper was muffled by his girth.
“Shh,” he scolded. “Be quiet like a good girl.”
The order in his words contradicted the challenge in his eyes. Knowing what he was silently asking me, I looked him in the eye as I moaned around his length. His nostrils flared with excitement as he pulled out of my mouth and hauled me up off the floor.
“On the bed. Face down, and not a word,” he bit out.
I scrambled to do as I was told. I pulled a pillow into my arms, length-wise, so my chest was supported, but I also had something to muffle my noises. I heard Damon move across the room and back again. He hoisted my ass into the air, pressing my thighs together and securing them with his belt. He thrust into me with a grunt as I screamed into my pillow, hoping it was enough to suppress the sound.
“Fuck, that’s tight. So tight.”
He was right. With my legs tied together and no room to accommodate him, his cock had to force its way into my pussy. It didn’t hurt, but the sense of being dominated in such a way made me feel small and fragile. It felt like he was claiming me. Owning me. The feminist in me railed against the barbarism of the act at the same time she fucking swooned.
My conflicting reactions were exacerbated by the sensation of a finger probing my back entrance. I lifted my head to protest, but the moment I did, his finger dipped inside and I had to bite my pillow to muffle my shriek. With his finger i
n my ass, he began to thrust, and it wasn’t long before my orgasm overwhelmed me. He followed me soon after, planting himself deep and pressing into me so my legs collapsed and I was flat on my stomach with him still inside me.
He slowly pulled out, to which I moaned. He gave me a light slap on the ass and chuckled. “Hush now, darlin’.” He unfastened the belt, tossing it haphazardly off the bed.
I turned my head to look at him but otherwise didn’t move. “Why is every time with you better than the last?” I whispered. Each time I swore it was the best I ever had, he found a way to top it.
He brushed his thumb over my cheek, and as sweet as the gesture was, all I could think was I hope that wasn’t the digit that was just in my ass.
“I love that you feel that way,” he whispered back. “I love you, Sophie.”
And suddenly I forgot about where his fingers had just been. I forgot about the incredible orgasm I’d just had. I forgot my own name. I forgot everything except the blind panic that took over.
Chapter 26
Damon
One step forward, two steps back.
My declaration prompted a frightening deer in the headlights look, and I mentally cursed my impetuous words. They were no less true, but I knew better than to push when I should pull, and Sophie still needed work pulling her into my orbit and making her a permanent fixture in my family. She needed to be lulled into a sense of security, not pushed into it face first. I sighed, dejected, when her expression shuttered, and I knew I just made my endeavor a hundred times harder for myself. I wanted to reach for her, but I knew she’d just pull away, and I couldn’t handle that right then.
After a few beats, she rolled from the bed, tying her robe around her and went into the bathroom. The snick of the door shutting was ominous. I’d fucked up, and I didn’t know how to fix it. I couldn’t take it back. I wouldn’t take it back. No matter her reaction, my words rang true. I was in love with Sophie. She was going to have to figure out a way to come to terms with it. Accept it. And, eventually, return it.
I heard the shower turn on and scrubbed my hands over my face. Part of me was frustrated with her avoidance, but a deeper, more primal part of me was irritated with the fact that I’d just come inside her and she was washing me away. I might have been making a mistake, but I wasn’t going to allow her to dismiss me. I walked toward the bathroom thinking if the door was locked, I’d bust the damn thing down, but the knob turned with ease.
The shower was indeed on, but Sophie wasn’t in it. Instead, she sat on the closed toilet, clutching the collar of her robe tightly around her neck. My heart broke when she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
“Why can’t I just let go?” Her voice cracked as she spoke, looking at me with such pain and maybe a little fear in her eyes.
I crouched in front of her, placing my hands on her knees. “Let go of what, doll?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head as if to clear it before opening her eyes once more and casting her gaze to her lap. When she didn’t answer my question or speak again, I stood and shut the shower off.
“Come on, darlin’, let’s go to bed.”
She hesitated in taking my outstretched hand but eventually stood. I guided her back to the bed, pulling the bedding back and helping her climb in. She kept her robe clutched around her, so I didn’t even attempt to take it from her. If she needed some armor right now, I’d allow it, but that’s all she was getting. I climbed in behind her, intending to spoon with her, but the moment I wrapped my arm around her, she rolled into me so we were chest to chest. I tucked her head under my chin and inhaled her scent. I wanted to know what was going on in her head, but if I pushed too hard, would she break?
Chapter 27
Sophie
I had gone into the bathroom to hide. I wasn’t proud of my cowardice, but this is what past experience has led me to. I turned on the shower without thinking, just because I needed a distraction, but couldn’t bring myself to get under the stream and wash Damon’s scent from me. If I was a bit more self-aware, maybe I would have recognized that for the sign it was. Instead, I lamented over something I couldn’t control but would ultimately make him look at me differently. And if I was honest, something that had bruised my pride and sense of self-worth so badly that I debated ever getting into another relationship ever again. Or at least not get into one that had the potential to be all-consuming as a relationship with Damon was surely destined to be.
When Damon had led me back to bed and tried to spoon with me, I couldn’t take the distance. I knew it was my fault that it was even there to begin with, and I couldn’t bring myself to confess my sins, so instead, I bridged the gap in the only way I knew how- physically. I rolled into him, and with my face in his neck, I wrapped my arms around him and held him close as we fell asleep.
***
I needed to talk to April. That was my first thought upon waking. We hadn’t done family dinner in a couple of weeks, and the only time I’d seen her recently was at yoga night. But, specifically, I needed to talk to her about Damon. Only the person who knew me the best, the person I trusted most, could steer me in the right direction.
My second thought upon waking was, how was I going to untangle my octopus hold on Damon without waking him? The thought was wasted as I felt him shift under me.
“You feel like talking this morning?” he mumbled, his voice muffled by the top of my head.
“Not yet.”
“I won’t let you run from me, Sophie.”
I swallowed thickly, tightening my grip on him when just moments before I was contemplating how to let him go. “If time has proven anything, it’s that you’re a stubborn bastard.”
“That I am.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “I don’t know what happened last night, doll, but I need you to know that I meant it. In every sense. So, no matter how you feel right now or how you have to cope with it, it’s not going to change.”
I didn’t say anything, but neither did I move away.
After a few moments, he patted my butt and said, “Come on, let’s get up. It’s Sunday Funday.”
“Oh, um, maybe you and Tierney can-”
He sat us up so we were face to face. “Sophie, what did I just say about not letting you run?”
“I know.” I nodded. “I was just really hoping to talk to my sister today.”
He looked me over with a speculative eye. “Tell you what. We’ll all go over to Johnny and April’s today. You can visit with your sister and Tierney and I can hang with Johnny.”
I frowned, wondering if that would work. Could I talk to April about Damon knowing he was in the next room? Watching his face, I knew there was no way he’d let this happen any other way, so I relented. “Fine.”
Glancing at the clock and realizing it was later than I’d anticipated, I scurried to the bathroom for a quick shower while Damon went to check on Tierney. Later, as I headed downstairs, I plastered on a fake smile, not wanting the little nugget to think anything was wrong, and found the two of them sitting quite comfortably in my kitchen.
“You’re out of flour and I couldn’t find any Bisquick. Tierney wants pancakes,” Damon informed me.
“Sorry, kiddo. We used all the flour for our cupcakes last night.”
“That’s okay. Dad said we can go out for breakfast.”
“Oh, okay. That sounds good.” My words didn’t sound quite as enthusiastic as I would have liked. “I should text April and see what they’re up to today. Make sure it’s okay for us to come over.”
Damon nodded, watching me like a hawk, like he suspected I might bolt from my own house or maybe he was just trying to gauge my state of mind, I couldn’t be sure. I felt like a bug under a microscope, though, and it was making me antsy. I almost smiled at my unintended pun.
“I’m going to grab a quick shower while you do that.” He stopped to bestow a kiss to my cheek as he passed me on his way to the stairs.
My eyes darted to Tierney in mild panic. W
e hadn’t been openly affectionate around her until now, and I worried at how she might react. I mean, she wasn’t dumb, and the fact that the three of us spent so much time together was a dead giveaway that there was something going on here. Still, I wanted her approval. I needn’t have worried, though, because she sat there watching me with a shit-eating grin smug enough to rival that of her father.
“What are you lookin’ at?” I leveled her with a mock glare, causing her to giggle.
“Are we really going to Uncle Johnny’s today?”
I pulled out my phone to text my sister. “Sure are. At least, if April says it’s okay, anyway.”
As it happened, April and John were hanging out at home with no plans for the day, so my sister was excited at the prospect of our little group getting together, which in April speak meant, she was going to be throwing together an extravagant brunch, and we’d all be expected to eat our weight in carbs before the day was out.
“Change of plans,” I informed Damon when he reappeared. “We’re having brunch with April and John, and we’re in charge of bringing a fruit platter and whatever else catches our eye. April’s making pancakes.” I winked at Tierney. “And probably ten thousand other things because that’s how my sister rolls.”
***
The smorgasboard that April had laid out by the time we arrived at her house was mind-bending. How did she manage to do so much in so little time? And how was it possible to make every single bite of it so scrumptious? She was like Martha Stewart without the criminal record.
Damon groaned as his eyes rolled back into his head. “This quiche is phenomenal, April.”
My sister, ever the humble one, blushed. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s mostly eggs. Nothing fancy.”
“No, he’s right, babe,” John agreed. “You’ve outdone yourself.”
April’s blush deepened at her husband’s praise, but she waved him off, embarrassed at being in the spotlight. April had never taken compliments well, she was always a little unsure of herself. Being the center of attention made her feel awkward. It was one of the reasons I tended to act out when we were younger, to take the spotlight off of her. It was my way of protecting her, even though I was the younger sister. But, the men were right, this meal was amazing.