This is not me. I’m not the girl who hooks up in public places. But right now I feel like the mile-high club is begging me to take action.
18
Damien
I’ve always been a damn good plane sleeper.
It’s one of the specialized skills you acquire from flying around the world when you’re in the military.
There’s no way in hell I’m sleeping through this, though.
When Krista first touches my cock through my shorts, I think I might be dreaming. Maybe she’s adjusting herself to get into a more comfortable position. So I readjust my head on the tiny pillow and double down for some more sleep.
But when she slowly unbuttons my shorts, unzips them, and reaches into my briefs to pull my hard dick out, I can’t ignore that.
God almighty. On a plane? Right here?
I squint an eye open just in time to see the top of her head as she wraps her lips around the tip of my cock.
I let out a soft grumble, and open my eyes all the way.
It’s the middle of the night on the plane. The sun hasn’t even come up yet, and it’s dead silent. Our seats are all the way in the back, and there’s no movement except for one reading light on way in the front.
A low, throaty growl escapes me.
Yesterday I was jostled from a nightmare by Krista. Today, I wake up to a dream.
Fuck, yes.
My toes curl a little as she takes me a little bit deeper. I stroke her hair and mutter her name.
She pulls away for a moment and looks up at me, holding the base of my cock with a big smile on her face.
“You’re up,” she smirks.
I chuckle. “Looks like it.”
With a soft moan, she runs her tongue up and down the shaft, sending a wave of pleasure up my spine. As she licks, I can’t believe her audacity—but it’s hot as hell. Someone could walk down the aisle at any time and we’d be caught.
Yet God damn, this is like medicine after everything we’ve been through. For the first time, I notice my head isn’t throbbing like hell. Maybe because all of the blood is below my hips.
I hold her hair back as she bobs up and down on my cock, pleasure ratcheting through me. Flints of light reflect off her hair as she moves. I love the feeling of her hot wet mouth on me.
God damn do I love it.
It makes me think how badly I want her wet hot pussy again. That stupid ten-night agreement. Why did I say I would do that again? How was that my idea? It was a dumb idea, because I want to do this all day. Non stop. No way am I going to be able to keep my hands off her the whole trip.
She takes me still deeper, and I feel the head of my cock touch what I guess is the back of her throat.
Holy fuck she’s already got me close.
I lean back and my hips curl ever so slightly, naturally up into her.
Krista comes up for air, and I love the way she looks at me. Adoring. Sexy. Faithful.
My girl.
She breathes hard, running her hand up and down the my full, hard length—and I can feel I’m about to come. I’m so damn close. And this is gonna be a deluge.
“You like this, baby?” she asks me in a sweet whisper.
“Best wake up ever,” I say. “I’m so damn close.”
“Let me take you over the edge,” she says.
She opens her mouth one more time to take me in. I’m about to blow.
She is heaven. She is a symphony, and after this I’m going to write several songs about Krista. I’ll put anyone in the hospital for her. I’ll—
Just then, the lights flicker on overhead.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to start our descent into Panama City.”
Krista sits up, her eyes squinty.
“Damn,” she frowns.
I swiftly tuck my boner into my shirt as I see the flight attendant approaching from the front.
“Rain check?” she asks, arching an eyebrow.
“Don’t worry, Sweetheart. I’ll be alright.”
“You don’t have blue balls?” she asks, her lips parted in a super sexy, sultry fashion.
I shrug. “Where we’re going, we’ll have a lot of privacy. So don’t worry about that.”
A flight landing, baggage claim, and rental car ride later we are pulling up to Boca del Toro. We check in at the main office of the resort, and wait for the bellhop to come back to walk us out to our cabana.
Krista glances outside, and her face is like a little kid on Christmas.
“We’ll be staying...literally on the ocean?” she asks as she looks out.
I nod. “Pretty sweet, right?”
She nods in agreement. I notice she still clutches the little wooden box against her chest. She must really want to know what’s in it.
My eyes linger on little cabana in the distance where we’ll be staying for the next few days, week, hell, who knows how long we’ll get away from the cold of the city fall? Plus it feels good to know that Nick is far, far away, and we won’t have to worry about the enforcement of his restraining order.
For now, at least.
Just then I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Oh my God. Damien?!”
I know that voice. I spin around. “Holy shit. Rhonda. What are you doing here?”
“Same thing you’re doing here!” she answers, giving me no real information at all.
“Oh. Well this is Krista,” I say.
Rhonda flashes a fleeting smile and flips her blond hair in Krista’s direction, reaching out her hand for a shake. Krista hesitates but grabs her hand.
“Hello Krista. Nice to meet you. Sorry but I’ve got to run! Maybe we’ll see you at the big beachside bonfire later?! We have it every night. See you!”
Gripping the box I gave her, Krista shoots me a look of death."Who is she?" Krista's tone is biting as the bellhop takes hold of our bags and leads us to our beautiful, ocean-side cabana.
“A girl I used to know,” I say, my voice stiff as we walk down the long bridge to our cabana. “Can we talk about this later?” I add, wanting to enjoy the beauty around us.
She rolls her shoulders and darts her gaze away from me. “Sure. Fine.”
It’s a passive-aggressive comment if I’ve ever heard one, but this is not a discussion I want to have in front of the bellhop. Plus, at the moment, this is as picture-perfect a vacation as can be. The water on both sides of us is so clear we can see straight through to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. The late morning tropical sun smiles on us, heating up our bodies. It feels so damn good, especially in comparison to what it’s like in Chicago right now.
Finally, we reach our little cabin paradise. The shore is easily a football field’s distance away, and I can’t wait to finally be able to relax and let my guard down. Axel and Amelia are catching a different flight and should be here soon to join us, too.
The bellhop opens the lock and lets us in. The vibe inside is fresh and homely with naturally stained wood. The living space is small, humble, and everything we’ll need. It’s hexagon shaped, and a brown couch-loveseat sits just across from the fireplace. The tiny kitchen has a small fridge and sink with no dishwasher, but it’ll do for me to make some breakfast for Krista in the morning.
I thank the bellhop and give him a tip. He nods with a smile and takes off, leaving Krista and I alone.
With the buffer of the stranger in the room gone, I feel her eyes on me, too curious about who Rhonda was. Or is.
“I’m sorry you had to get bulldozed like that by Rhonda,” I say. “She’s harmless though, really. Sit down. Let me make you a cocktail. And I’ll tell you everything.”
19
Krista
Damien brings me my pina colada with a tequila shot on the side, and sits on the dock next to me with an identical drink in his hands.
I’ve got a summer dress on, my legs hanging free, and I feel like I’m gaining steam to get back on top of the world after a traumatizing week. Except now, it’s evident I’m not the only one wi
th baggage.
“Cheers,” he says with a slight smile, his sunglasses reflecting the water. We clink glasses as we look out over the water. The sun beats down on my legs, but my upper body is saved by the shady overhang. We both stare out into the seemingly endless sea. I think about the world of possibility that exists between Damien and I. But another thought creeps in. Endless possibility means room for endless hurt.
“What are we cheers-ing to?” I ask, before taking a sip of either drink.
“How about to our ten-night stand being halfway over,” he grins, baiting me.
“It’s been five dates already?”
“Let’s see,” he hesitates, setting his drinks down to count on his fingers. When he leans back I can’t help but stare at his sexy tattooed torso and how it glimmers in the morning sun. Forget our beverages, I want to drink him in all afternoon. “First, we had the gun range. Second, we ate...chili.”
I throw my head back in laughter. “That’s not all you ate.”
“You’re right. Fuck the chili,” he chuckles. “Third date was in the hospital. Fourth was on the plane. So now—we’re onto the fifth. Right now. Halfway there.”
I nod. “Seems accurate. And how’s Junior hanging in there? He doing okay?” I make a pouty face and glance at his lower abdomen. He laughs.
“Oh that guy? He’s been having some hard nights, to be honest. And he’s been a little blue. But he’ll live. He’s in this for the long game.”
I giggle at that one. “To the long game,” I wink.
We clink our glasses together and take a sip.
I breathe in the fresh air, and damn it tastes good. Damien moves a little closer to me, letting one of his fingers fall on top of my hand as I lean back on the dock. It’s subtle, but it feels good to be making contact.
“So are you going to tell me about Rhonda?”
He takes a deep breath, and I see him struggling internally. “You know how I told you I have secrets, too?”
“Yes,” I say, still wondering what’s in that damn box.
“Well it’s true. I did a lot of things in my youth that I wish I hadn’t. Of course hindsight is twenty twenty.”
“What happened, exactly?”
He takes a long, strong pull on his drink.
“I told you I was a stripper. And how I did bachelorette parties.”
“Yes,” I answer simply. The thought of Damien in front of a group girls—and what they might do or have done to him—makes my stomach churn with anxiety.
“Well, one time in my early twenties, Axel and I came out here—just to get away, you know? We didn’t think anything of it. We were young, and he’d just opened up his shop, and I’d just started getting into being male entertainment. I made a lot of money doing it. We actually came here for vacation, not to work. But I met Rhonda on the beach. I was surfing, and we struck up a conversation. She mentioned that the strippers she had for her friend’s bachelorette party were on the low end because they couldn’t find anyone to travel here with them. I told her I could help her and her friends out, if the price was right. So she offered me a thousand dollars. It was a lot of money to me at the time, and I took it. I spent the night with her and the bachelorette party, dancing and drinking away on the beach.”
I nod, processing this information. “Okay. I already knew that, though. You told me you were a stripper.”
Damien takes a deep breath. “Right. So that night—I ended up sleeping with Rhonda. Little did I know, she was looking for an excuse to break up with her husband, and rightfully so. The guy was an abusive dick. But the next morning, I woke up in her bed and she made it a point to have her husband ‘accidentally’ come into the room, over from the bachelor party. They got into a huge altercation, and I had to step in, to stop the guy from going after her physically. Finally, they broke up, and while she was separated, I stayed here a while with her. I was her rebound. She was processing getting over her breakup. For me, it was mostly physical. Just a fling, though. The intention was never to make it anything more than that.”
I take a big, long sip of my drink and stare at my tequila shot, too. Damien shrugs, and takes his down.
Taking the lime off the lip of the glass, I take the shot, follow it with the lime, and follow that with a pull of my sweet pina colada.
“So you had a relationship with her for a while,” I remark.
“Yes. It was a friends-with-benefits situation, basically. Turned out she was in the military, too. She and I liked the same kinds of things.”
I inhale deeply, a slight buzz hitting me from the tequila shot. “So that’s it? You dated her for a little while?”
“That’s it. We dated for a while. She liked me a lot. But I didn’t think it could last. This wasn’t real life, it was a vacation for me. She ended up staying here and buying into one of the local resorts. I don’t think she ever left.”
I look at him, and it bothers me somewhat that I can’t see his eyes through the sunglasses. “I feel like you’re holding something back for some reason. Are you?”
His body language is stiff. “I don’t think so.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t think so? What does that mean?”
“Hey, I’m not the one whose ex is going after me, trying to kidnap you and assaulting me with a metal bat! When am I going to get the full story on that?”
“We’re not talking about me,” I seethe. “We’re talking about you right now. What is it?”
“What is what?”
“Alright, that’s it.” Frustrated, I head inside to the cabana. Clearly I’ve struck a nerve with him, and he’s not budging. Maybe it’s the lost sleep from the plane ride. Maybe I do have my own secrets too. Maybe it’s the box he refuses to give me the key to.
Or maybe it’s the fact that our secret, relaxing retreat has been tainted by the fact that some blond bombshell is now on my mind.
I pull up next to the sink in our little kitchen, slam my tequila glass down and refill it. Damien comes charging inside after me.
“Baby, what are you doing?” he growls behind me as he takes his glasses off.
“I’m filling up my glass again,” I say as I pour another shot.
“Fill mine up too.” He sets his empty shot glass right next to mine.
I fill both of them up. We don’t say ‘cheers’ as we drink.
It burns as I swallow it down, and I don’t have a lime chaser this time.
“I want to make something very clear to you,” Damien says, slamming his shot glass down on the counter. “I’m not sure if you’ve realized, but since I’ve met you, I don’t give a shit about other girls. I had no idea Rhonda would be here. I haven’t talked to her for over a year. There’s one person I want. And she’s right here.”
My face burns from the heat and my buzz. My skin tingles as Damien flips my body around by the waist and grinds his hips into me. I breath hard as his brown eyes sear into me.
“What the matter, baby girl? You don’t think I want you?”
I breathe heavy, and lower my eyes, frozen.
“Because I do. Trust me. I want you in all the ways. I want to fall asleep cuddling on the couch like we did the other night. I want to beat up the bad guys who come after you. And last but not least—I want to fuck you so good, so hard, and so deep, that you become mine.”
My body quivers and my chest tightens. Butterflies in my stomach combine with the increasing tequila buzz so that I’m about to lose control. I lightly grip his muscled arms, so ready to succumb. “I want to be yours,” I mutter.
He kisses my lips softly, and I feel my surrender beginning.
“But,” I protest. “I don’t want you to keep things from me. I feel like you’re keeping something from me.”
He nibbles my ear, then runs his tongue down my jawline until he kisses my neck. “You really want to know?” he asks, flashing those gorgeous eyes.
“I told you, Damien. Yes.”
“Get the box. Open it. And I’ll tell you.”
<
br /> My heart hammers and my eyes widen. “You want to let me see now? I thought we were going to wait.”
Even though I say the words, I’m dying of curiosity to know what’s inside. And how this is related to Rhonda.
He nods. “Get it now. This trip was supposed to be fun. A vacation. But it’s obvious I can’t keep things from you, and that it’s time I tell you. So get the box, and I’ll level with you.” He runs a hand through my hair.
“About everything?”
“Everything. I’ll tell you everything you want. You want details, I’ll give them to you.”
“Okay,” I breathe, and he reluctantly lets go of me so I can walk over to my luggage and get the box.
I bring it over, and he pulls out a key from the keychain he has in his pocket.
“You carry this around with you?” I remark.
“I do,” he says as he inserts the key into the padlock and uncovers the box. “Pull it out,” he says.
I reach in and grab hold of a long, black… “What is this?” I ask, holding it out. There are two pieces, both leather.
“It’s a tie up and collar set,” he says.
My heart jumps up to my throat, and I feel a crushing anxiety coming over me. “This is...what do you use this for?”
His pupils dilate and he focuses on me. He takes the straps and hold them in front of me. “Isn’t it obvious? To tie you up. And collar you. I want to make you mine, Krista.”
As if I wasn’t hot before, my face starts to tingle with emotion. Anxiety. But above all, desire. “This is the secret you’ve been keeping from me?” I swallow, running my hands along the leather. There’s a fuzzy material on the inside. “You...like to tie girls up?”
“Not ‘girls,’” he says with a degree of seriousness. “You. I want to tie you up.”
“Oh,” I swallow.
He lowers his eyes. “You’re so cute. You have no idea just how bad I can be, do you?”
Ten Night Stand Page 12
