"Thanks. I was just telling Krista that I met the man I'm going to marry." She laughed, trying like hell to bring the room into a more comfortable state while still putting it out there that she was officially taken.
"Oh yeah? Tell us about him." Jake walked to the couch, his smile fading as he moved to sit on the other side of Bethany. The tension between him and Krista was palpable.
"Wait. Are we going to dinner?" Krista asked.
"I can't. I need to do a few more things for work tonight." Bethany gave an apologetic look before turning back to Jake. "He's tall like you, but dark hair and dark eyes. He's bossy and domineering. Quite a dick sometimes, but he's going to be really good for me."
"Wow. He's like the total opposite of me." Jake laughed as Krista stood up.
"I'm getting something to drink. You guys want anything?"
"I'm good," Bethany responded, turning her attention back to Jake.
"Me too. Thanks, though." He watched Krista go and then turned back to Bethany. "You have to help me."
"What? Why?"
His sudden change of expression left Bethany concerned. A frantic look sat on his handsome face.
"She's fucking obsessed with me. She's been my shadow for the last two weeks. I need you home. You have to pretend like we're together or something. I need your help." He reached out and took Bethany's hand.
"That's ridiculous. That doesn't sound like Krista at all."
He lowered his voice and leaned in. "She's going to bring me a drink because she has to be doing something for me all the time."
"But you're not thirsty."
"I fucking know that. I'm serious about you helping me."
Bethany turned as Krista walked in with two drinks. "Here, handsome. Thought you could use something."
Jake gave Bethany a knowing look. Something was a little off, but what could she do to help? Had things shifted that much after just two weeks?
She thought about her life and how she felt about Damon now. Yeah, things could shift dramatically in the space of a couple of days.
Chapter 32
Worry clouded her thoughts as she drove to Damon's house. The situation with Krista and Jake was so odd. It was hard to imagine it happening, and yet it seemed to be. Maybe Krista had been obsessed with Jake for much longer than either of them imagined?
Her phone buzzed in the seat next to her, and she pulled it out as she parked the car in front of Damon's place.
Damon: Where are you? I'm getting impatient.
Bethany: Here. Why does that not surprise me?
He opened the car door as she yelped and hit her knee on the steering column.
"Because you know me so well after only a week and a half?" He lifted his eyebrow and moved back. His white button-down shirt was open, the swell of his beautiful chest and abdomen muscles on full display.
She got out, not able to wait another second to touch him. Sliding her hands around his waist inside his shirt, she lifted to her toes and pressed her lips to his with a soft moan. He wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head, deepening the kiss as he took dominion over her mouth.
His strong hands pressed into her back, the sensation sending tendrils of pleasure shooting all over her. He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers.
"No more accusing me of shit. Things are quite rarely what they seem to be in my world." He nipped at her mouth, his eyes dark and filled with warning.
"I understand," she whispered, wanting so badly to apologize but knowing that he wasn't interested in her words as he noted earlier.
"Come inside and tell me about the campus visit." He moved back, taking her hand and closing the car door with his other one. "We need to get you a new car, by the way. This one is on its last leg."
Bethany swallowed the excitement of knowing that he wasn't furious with her. How close had she come to blowing the best thing that had ever happened to her? He was rough around the edges for sure, but that was one of the main reasons she wanted to melt into a puddle each and every time he came near. To tame a lion would be a great feat.
"I like my college car. It has character." She laughed as they moved into the house. He glanced back at her, the upturned corner of his mouth so incredibly sexy.
"You have character ... you ballsy girl." He released her hand and moved into the kitchen, all sorts of cold cuts and bread out on the counter.
"What's all this?"
"Dinner. I figured something fast and filling would work. I'll cook for you another night." He started pulling together a large sandwich and nodded toward the two plates sitting out. "Hand me one, and get yours. Get whatever you want, just make yourself at home here."
He had two plates out, and he wanted to cook for her? She swallowed the hot burn of tears, almost too afraid to let herself believe that he was letting her in bit by bit. She handed him a plate and nibbled on a pickle as she watched him. Nothing in all of her life was more enticing than seeing him in the kitchen. His dark hair curled a little at the top, his playboy persona only elevated thanks to the need for a haircut.
She reached out and brushed her fingers through it. Damon looked up and caught her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist softly a few times.
"Stop being sentimental, and get your sandwich. You're wrecking my world. Stop looking happy about it." He pressed his teeth to her wrist and released her, winking and looking back toward his masterpiece.
"No way you fit that in your mouth." Bethany laughed and moved to stand behind him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she leaned forward, needing contact so badly with him. He rubbed her hands as they clasped around his midsection, and she knew—he was softening toward her. She needed to tread lightly here if things were to go the way she wanted them to.
"You'd be surprised what I can fit in my mouth. Want me to show you tonight?" He chuckled, the sound warming her fully.
"You going to choke on that huge sandwich for me just to prove a point?"
"No. I'm going to eat the hell out of this sandwich. I plan to choke on desire and fit as much of you in my mouth as you can handle. Plain and simple, sweet girl."
She stiffened, his words driving a stake into her core and exploding heat along her nerve endings. "How do you do that?"
He lifted his arms and turned in her grasp, wrapping her in a hug. "Do what? I want to hear you say it. Tell me what my words, my plans, my desires do to you."
Bethany lowered her head a little. The weight of his stare was almost too much.
"Look at me, and tell me." He spoke with authority as he bent down a little, putting himself back into her line of sight. She straightened her shoulders and nodded, telling herself over and over that she could do this.
"You make my body ache. It comes alive with your words."
"My promises."
"Yeah. I want all of them."
"How does it ache? How does it come alive, Beth? Tell me. Describe it for me. Make me tremble with need to fulfill that wicked ache you have because of me."
She swallowed hard. It was overwhelming to have him hovering over her, his words so sensual. The timbre of his voice was methodical, deep and tugging at her good-girl appeal. She wanted to strip naked and offer him anything—anytime—anywhere.
"Tell me, baby. Talk to me." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. She leaned into the kiss, but he pressed his forehead to hers again, stopping the connection. Bethany growled softly as he chuckled.
"You don't get another kiss until you respond to my questions."
"Fine." She tried to pull back, but his strong arms locked her into place.
"What are you afraid of?"
"Sounding like an idiot. I'm the one trying to impress you, remember? You have all your shit together. You're successful and extremely good looking. I'm just ... I'm just a college girl trying to figure everything out." She pulled against him again.
Damon tightened his hold on her, picking her up and moving them toward the kitchen table as he let her go. He reached down and
wrapped his strong hands around her waist, lifting her and forcing her to sit on the table. He pressed forward, pulling her hips until she was pressed against him. His hands slid into her hair as he looked down at her.
"Every time I see you, my cock hardens to the point of pain. I want to rip your fucking clothes off and teach you a lesson for what you do to me, but something inside me stops that violence. That something is the warmth that rushes through me, Beth. It coats my insides and yet still burns along the trail of my pleasure points. My heart races, my palms sweat, and the lust, burns brighter—but differently. It's a need, a desire, a demand that forces me forward toward you." He pressed his hips forward, the thickness of his erection brushing against the junction of her thighs as she let out a soft yelp.
"You're not a girl." He leaned down and dragged his nose along her jawline as he inhaled deeply. "You're a woman. You're my woman. Stop acting like that girl. I don't like her. Be who you are, and tell me what I do to you. I need to hear it from your lips. Demand it from me."
"It's like a fire," she started as she reached up and pushed his shirt from his shoulders, reveling in the beauty of the beast before her. "A sharp, stabbing jolt of electricity. It starts in my stomach and races along my skin, leaving me hot and wet, needy and willing to do anything just to feel your hands on me."
"Good, baby. Keep going." He bent over her, pressing his body to hers. The soft brush of his lips along her throat almost undid her, the strong tick of her pulse in her neck only getting worse as he whispered along her skin.
"It's not just your words but seeing or even thinking about you. I want you to explore me, to teach me and open me up. I need to be beneath you, bent over for you, on my knees for you."
"You do, baby. I need you too," he whispered against her ear as his fingers slid between them, pressing softly into her wetness above her slacks as he growled against her throat.
"I want to drown in your scent and bathe in your depravity. I don't know why you chose me, but every word, every look, every touch breaks me in half. I can't imagine my life without you ..." she whispered. Her body tensed and shook slightly as he pressed his tongue to her collarbone and dragged it slowly up her neck, his lips and teeth pressing to her chin as he groaned.
He moved back and pushed softly at her chest to force her back. Bethany descended, leaving her elbows behind her, unwilling to watch the ceiling. She needed to see him. He ran his hand from her neck through the valley between her breasts to the top of her slacks, tugging a little as his dark brown eyes moved back to meet her gaze head on.
"Tonight is about us. I want you to know me a little better, and I want to explore the deepest parts of your body. You want my heart? You're going to have to come after it . I keep it on lockdown and have for so long that I'm not sure it's truly available anymore. I want you to have it though."
He undid her slacks as she kicked off her shoes. Lifting her hips, he pulled the silky material from her legs, his hands rubbing her thighs firmly as he watched her. Bethany panted, the room shrinking to nothing more than him. His hunger was overwhelming, the sensation of being swallowed whole very much where she was.
He reached up and wrapped his fingers around the small string of her panties on each hip, pulling down and chuckling deep in his chest as he chucked them behind him. Taking a knee in each hand, Damon opened her legs to leave her on full display for him.
His finger ran down the length of her swollen sex, the slick pink skin throbbing painfully as he glanced up at her. "Relax and let me touch you a little. We'll eat soon, but I need this. I need to watch you come for me. When I tell you to come, you do. Not before that. Got it, sexy girl?"
Bethany nodded slowly, her tongue pressed between her teeth as she struggled to breathe. He ran his finger along her sex again as she groaned loudly and lifted her hips, the top of his digit slipping into her.
"Needy, baby?" he asked, his voice so deep and sensual as it skittered across her exposed flesh.
"Fuck yes." Bethany lay back, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. She moaned loudly, the sound animalistic and emotional as he slid two fingers into her and pressed his other hand against the top of her sex, his palm rolling in slow circles as he worked his fingers in and out of her.
"So beautiful. Tight little body taking what I give you and wanting more. You want more don't you, Beth." It was almost a command, not a question. He glanced up at her as she lifted her hips in rhythm with his assault.
"Yes," she groaned, not caring what kind of needy whore she must look like to him as she forced him to work her hard and fast. His soft panting shot her over the edge, and she gripped the tablecloth as her ass came up off the solid structure.
"I feel it. You’re swelling on the inside, but I'm not ready for that yet." He pulled his finger out and patted her pussy softly. His eyes narrowed as she looked up at him and let a long, angry sound rise from her.
"More," she whispered.
"Wait. I want you to hear me when I say I'm going to be in charge of this relationship." He patted her wetness again as she writhed beneath his touch. "Tell me you hear me. I'm in charge of your body. I'm the only one that makes you come—ever again. Tell me, Beth."
"Yes. You're the only one that can make me come. I'm only yours, Damon. Please ... stop fucking around with your games, and give me more."
"These aren't games ... they're a training ground." He slid his fingers deep inside of her and pressed deep against the part of her that caused the world to explode. "Come for me, baby. Come hard, Beth."
A long sound left her as her body contorted, hips pumping against him as he bent over and pressed his lips over her clit, sucking it deep into his mouth.
The world shattered, and she let herself dive into the deep end of the pool—no air needed; she wasn't ever willing to come up again anyway.
Chapter 33
"What did you mean by 'a training ground'?" Bethany asked before lifting her sandwich to her lips. She sat in one of his T-shirts, her body bare beneath it. Soft music played from the TV as they snuggled into the couch together.
"Exactly what it sounded like. You're not used to a man wanting to take pleasure from you, both his own and yours." Damon licked mustard from his finger before glancing over at her. "If I'm going to settle down with one woman, I want her to get used to me taking what I want."
"Sounds greedy to me." She shrugged, not minding it at all. The idea of him settling down with one woman and her being that woman left her heart racing. What she wouldn't give for that to be the future.
"It is. Life's too short not to be though." He moved her legs off of him and stood, his slacks the only thing he wore. "Plus, it's not like I'm taking something from you that you don't want to give. I'm talking about opening you up to the possibility that as your man I know what you need, and if I ever don't, well, you just speak up, and it will be yours."
Not able to respond, Bethany watched him pick up her plate and walk back toward the kitchen. He was devastatingly gorgeous, his ass flexing in his pants perfectly as he moved. The thick swell of muscles running along his spine and rolling over his shoulders left her dizzy. How in the world had she ever ended up so lucky? When was the rug going to be pulled out from under her? Surely it was coming.
"You want anything else, baby?" he yelled from the kitchen as she turned and curled up on her side on the couch.
"Just you."
He walked back in, lifting a beer to his lips and taking a deep drink. "Tell me about your afternoon. The part after you almost dicked up our relationship again."
She kicked at him playfully as he smiled, sitting down and pulling her legs back into his lap. He pressed his thumb into the bottom of her foot, rubbing softly back and forth as she felt herself begin to melt.
"I just met the accounting prof I would be working with for the fall. He reminded me of a proper version of you." She laughed.
The side of Damon's mouth lifted in a smirk. "The proper version? Poor guy."
"No, it’s
just that he was good looking and really well dressed, but he was very standoffish. He told me his age and the fact that I would be ejected from the program if I so much as looked at him in a sensual manner."
Damon stopped rubbing and turned his attention to her, his eyebrow lifting. "Did you hit on him?"
"What? Fuck no. I'm ruined for life thanks to you. He was just really apprehensive about me being there I guess."
"Did he hit on you?"
"No, Damon. He was just straightforward, making the rules clear." Bethany shrugged and ran her finger over her lips, enjoying the view of the sensual man of her dreams rubbing her feet.
"What's his name? You know I went to school at UT as well, for my undergrad at least."
"Dr. Kendal Tarrington. He teaches cost accounting."
A smile lifted Damon's mouth, and Bethany sat up, pulling her legs from him. "You know him?"
"Fuck yes, I know Kendal. We were in our frat together. Biggest prick in the universe." He laughed loudly, the sound of it wrapping around her and making chill bumps break out on her skin.
"He seems like a great guy."
"Oh, he is. He's one of my best friends actually, just very uptight."
"Why isn't he married? Seems so weird."
"Same reason I'm not, I guess."
"Why is that?" She pulled her legs toward her, stretching his shirt over her knees to cover her nakedness beneath.
"He hasn't found the right woman, but he's not looking. His girlfriend from college dicked him over royally. He doesn't trust a woman as far as he can throw her." Damon moved closer, shifting to slide in behind her. Bethany straightened her legs out, scooting forward as he took over most of the couch, his arm sliding under her head. The other arm wrapped around her and his hand moved up to play with her breast.
"What about you?" She had to ask. "Do you trust me?"
"I want to. I think I do, but I have a lot of demons in my past." He leaned forward, pressing his lips to the side of her neck as he breathed in deeply. She shivered, and he moved his hand to the bottom of the T-shirt, tugging it up and slipping his hand back up to cup her bare breast.
Mister Big Stuff: A Single Mom Friends to Lovers Novel Page 44
