by Mandy Baxter
“Are those for us?”
Their moment was interrupted by 502’s occupants. Tabitha gave the woman an apologetic smile, all the while aware that Damien was still standing there watching her. “They are,” she replied with a small laugh. “Thanks for being so patient. Is there anything else I can get for you tonight?”
“No, uh . . .” The woman looked pointedly at her shirt, as though searching for a name tag.
“Tabitha Martin,” she said. “I’m the assistant manager.”
“Ah.” She smiled as though the confirmation that Tabitha was indeed an employee reassured her. “We’re good for now. Thank you.”
“Have a good night,” Tabitha said as the door swung closed.
For a moment she simply stood there, staring at nothing. From the corner of her eye she noticed Damien lean against the doorjamb, his large frame taking up the bulk of the open space. He crossed his arms at his chest as he studied her, and a thrill went through Tabitha’s body. Well, you came up here hoping to see him. What are you going to do about it?
She turned slowly to face him. He watched her with the intensity of a hawk about to snatch up a mouse in its talons. “Hi.” She hadn’t meant to sound so breathy, but she couldn’t manage even a shallow intake of air when he looked at her like that.
“I bought something for you.”
His gruffness didn’t do anything to cool the flush that crept over her skin. He disappeared into the room and Tabitha followed, as though a length of string connected her to him and she had no choice but to go where he led. The door closed behind her with a finality that gave her a start. She knew she shouldn’t be in this room. With him. With that horrible shit Joey had tasked him with peddling. But her curiosity about this man who had such a visceral effect on her won out over good sense.
Josh was waiting for her back at the Piper Grill with Lila and Charlie. He seemed like a good guy. A smart choice. Her eyes traveled the length of Damien’s muscled back, to the straight line of his hips and lower to where his jeans hugged his thighs. Holy hell.
“Here.” He turned and tossed her a slender black canister. She reached out and caught it, bemused.
“Pepper spray?”
“Don’t think twice about using it.” His brows drew sharply over his eyes, lending a severity to his expression. “Trust your first instinct, always. Sometimes it’s just a tickle. Like something scratching at the back of your brain. But if you feel that way about someone—anyone—who’s approached you, you’re right to assume that you could be in danger. Spray the bastard in the eye and then kick him in the nuts. You understand?”
Tabitha nodded.
“Good.”
He grabbed her by the hand and hauled her against him before putting his mouth to hers in a crushing kiss.
Chapter Seven
What in the actual fuck are you doing?
The voice of reason shouting in his head was way more Parker, responsible deputy U.S. marshal, than Damien, hardened criminal who did whatever the fuck he wanted. He ignored that niggling voice of his conscience because right now, he wanted Tabitha.
Holy Christ, she was so goddamned soft. So willing in his arms. The sound of the canister of pepper spray dropping to the floor was the only sound in the room save their racing breaths. His mouth slanted across hers, hungry and eager to deepen the kiss, and she responded, opening up to him. A hint of wine sweetened her lips and he thrust his tongue into her mouth, desperate for more of her taste. Tabitha wound her fists into the fabric of his T-shirt, pulling him even tighter against her. Through the thin fabric of her shirt, her nipples hardened against his chest and he swallowed down a tortured moan. He’d never in his life wanted a woman as badly as he wanted her right now.
She nipped at his bottom lip and the light sting only served to rev him up. His cock grew hard in his jeans, throbbing in time with each thrust of his tongue in her mouth. Mindless with the need to have her, Damien pulled her deeper into the room, his mouth greedily devouring hers as he backed through the small sitting area and into the bedroom. He spun her around until her back was flush with his chest. He worked the button loose on her jeans with shaking hands and pushed them and her underwear down over her ass in a hurried sweep. A soft moan answered his actions, all the permission he needed, and he leaned her over the mattress until her ass rubbed against his cock in a way that damn near made him come right then and there.
“Spread your legs.” He growled the command in her ear and she obeyed, thrusting her ass out and grinding it against him. She was as wound up as he was, and her scent hit Damien’s nostrils, that fragrant perfume of her arousal, and his heart pounded in his chest with all the force of a jackhammer.
“Touch me.”
The words were a plea, roughened with passion. Any shred of reason that lingered in Damien’s brain evaporated under Tabitha’s plea. He let his palm cup the curve of her ass, a slow caress as he savored the softness of her skin. His fingers curved, skirting the crease of sensitive skin, which elicited a low whimper from Tabitha and sent a jolt of desire shooting through Damien’s body. He continued his path, so slow that it tested his patience, until his fingertips found the silken flesh of her sex, already swollen and slick with want.
A satisfied growl rumbled in Damien’s chest. She wanted him. Was wet and ready for him. He savored every inch of her, delving into her slippery heat as he spread her slick arousal over the stiff bundle of nerves that jutted out from her lips as though in invitation of his attention. When he circled her clit with the pad of his finger, Tabitha let out a desperate moan. She all but melted onto the mattress, thrusting her hips up to meet his touch. Her responsiveness drove him wild and Damien leaned over her. He thrust his free hand under her shirt and jerked the cup of her bra down as he took one full breast in his palm.
“Yes.” Her voice vibrated through Damien’s body as a low, sensual thrum. He rolled her nipple between his fingers and it pearled from his touch, hardening to a proud little peak that tightened his balls. “That feels good,” she whimpered as he continued to work his fingers over her slippery flesh. “Don’t stop.” No way was he going to stop. It would take an act of God to pry him away from her now.
He continued to stroke her clit, slow circles and quick, gentle flicks of his fingers. Tabitha buried her face in the coverlet, releasing her pleasure in sweet, drawn-out sobs muffled by the bedding, which drove him crazy. Damien needed to be inside of her, to feel the tight heat of her cling to him. He teased her opening with one finger and her hips jerked toward him. With a groan, he entered her channel, all the while working the sensitive bud that continued to swell and stiffen under his touch. She gripped him tight, her pussy drawing his finger deeper, and he thrust gently in time with each flick of his finger, each pluck of her nipple.
Damien put his mouth to Tabitha’s ear, took her delicate lobe between his teeth before he growled in her ear, “Come for me.”
Tabitha shuddered in his embrace. The orgasm came on the heels of his command, and she cried out, the sound so passionate that it tightened the head of Damien’s cock to the point that he felt on the verge of coming himself. Her body held on to him, pulsing contractions that squeezed the entire length of his finger as he brought her down from the orgasm. Gentle thrusts and featherlight caresses until her body went limp and she collapsed fully on the mattress.
As far as Damien was concerned, they were just getting started. He needed to see her body, naked and spread out on the bed for him. He wanted to suckle the heavy weight of her breasts, bury his face between her thighs and taste her. God, he wanted to fuck her so badly he didn’t even know if he could wait long enough to do any of those other things first.
He took Tabitha up in his arms and positioned her fully on the bed, turning her over on her back so he could get her good and naked. Her eyes were hooded, her face flushed with passion, and the heat in her gaze told him that she was more than ready to resume where they’d just left off. She kicked at her pants to free her legs of the restrictin
g fabric while Damien fumbled with the button of his jeans, his hands shaking so fucking much he could barely unfasten it.
His gaze wandered to her naked, glistening sex and the air stalled in Damien’s lungs. Jesus fucking Christ, she was beautiful . . .
A loud knock on the door broke the spell in an instant. Tabitha’s blue eyes grew wide as shock and then panic overtook her delicate features. “Oh my God.” The words left her mouth in a frantic rush. She jumped up from the bed, tripping on her pant legs as she worked them up her thighs. “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.”
Nothing like a horrified expression on a woman’s face to bolster a man’s ego. Damien let loose a string of curses under his breath as he stalked toward the door. He was going to murder the stupid bastard on the other side. Another round of obnoxious knocks came on the heels of the first, this time a pounding that sparked Damien’s ire to a near unmanageable degree. He yanked open the door, prepared to lay into the son of a bitch with his fist.
“Okay, well, looks like the heating unit is working okay now. Be sure to let the front desk know if you’re having any more problems and I’ll let maintenance know. Have a good night.” Tabitha flashed him a too-bright smile as she ducked under his arm and out the door.
Every muscle in Damien’s body tensed as he watched her rush down the hallway, disappearing inside of the elevator. The pent-up energy he’d been unable to release exploded as he grabbed the scrawny asshole in the hallway by his collar and dragged him inside the room. The door slammed behind them and he put the bastard up against it, knocking his head with the force.
“You pound on my door like that again and I’ll rip your arms out of the sockets, understand?”
“Y-yeah. I understand. It won’t happen again.”
Tension vibrated through Damien’s body and it took all of the self-control he could muster not to lay his fist into the stupid SOB’s face. “You’re damn right it won’t.” He let go of his grip and stalked deeper into the room. “You pull that shit and I’ll make sure you’re off Joey’s buy list for good.”
“I hear you, man. My bad.”
“All right, let’s get this done. I want you out of my face two minutes ago.”
As the elevator doors slid shut, Tabitha let out the gust of breath she’d been holding in her lungs for at least the past minute. Free divers had nothing on her as she shut off the intake of air, too afraid that she’d give something away if she looked too winded or even too relaxed. Hell, she might as well have the words I just had the best orgasm of my life tattooed on her forehead, because whether she’d kept her cool or not, Damien had just rocked her to her very foundation.
Oh my God, Tabitha. What were you thinking?
She’d never done anything so impulsive in her entire life. Or so blatantly wanton. It didn’t matter that she barely knew Damien, she’d spread her legs at his command as though she had no choice but to obey. The memory of that moment sent a thrill through her body, rekindling the desire that had been quenched by their interruption.
His rough exterior and gruff words were such a contradiction to the way he’d handled her. His touch so gentle, the way he cradled her against his body, tender. It had taken nothing more than a kiss to drive her to that point of mindless need that she hadn’t even balked when he’d spun her around and yanked her pants down.
The doors of the elevator slid open and Tabitha only now realized that she’d slumped against the bar inside of the car, as though unable to support her own weight. The flush resurfaced on her cheeks as she straightened, glad no one was waiting on the other side of the doors. She exited the elevator, surprised that she could walk on her own steam. No man had ever made her feel so good. And never had a man attended to her pleasure while disregarding his own like Damien had.
Such a paradox to the man she thought he was.
Tabitha stopped dead in her tracks. Crap. She’d left the canister of pepper spray he’d bought for her in his room. And—she checked her pockets—oh no. Her cell phone. No way was she going back for them. She could get another phone, and the pepper spray was the least of her worries. After rushing out on him like that, it would be too embarrassing to knock on his door and confess that her cell must have fallen out of her back pocket when he’d stripped her pants off. Besides, the moment was over, that state of mind-addling lust, gone. The awkwardness would be too much for her to deal with.
“Oh God.” The words left her mouth in a drawn-out moan of regret.
“Hey!” Dave called from behind the front desk. “Everything okay?”
Ugh. Nothing like being caught in a moment of self-reflective angst. “Yeah. I uh . . .” What? Just thinking about the hot porno moment I just had in room 504. Oh shit! Her blind date! “I sort of got sidetracked and I might have stood up my date.” Might? Oh, she definitely stood him up. There was a pretty good chance she was going to have to find a new best friend after tonight, too. “I’m heading back over to the restaurant. Call me if anything comes up.”
She rushed through the automatic doors without giving Dave a chance to respond. Lila was going to kill her. At least forty minutes had passed and there was a pretty good chance there was a plate full of food cooling in front of her empty chair right now. And without a phone to text or call, Tabitha had to hope that they’d at least started eating without her. If not, Lila was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
The late-night dinner and drinks crowd was in full swing when she walked into the restaurant. The table they’d been sitting at was still occupied by Lila, Charlie, and Josh. It looked like their meals had barely shown up. Charlie and Josh were eating with gusto while Lila picked at her salad. Tabitha reached up to smooth her hair, and fluffed out her shirt as though worried that the evidence of her sexual encounter was still flashing like a neon sign over every inch of her body. What was she even doing here? Her mind was still back in that room, with him. A wave of desire rippled through her and Tabitha clenched her legs together as though that would stem her body’s reaction to her thoughts. But all it served to do was remind her of the delicious pressure of his fingertips, the way Damien had coaxed every cry from her lips. She wanted him. Right this second. And yet, she knew that she could never get up the courage to return to that room.
Because if she did, Tabitha knew she’d gladly beg for another kiss. One more touch. “Sorry I took so long,” she said as she slid into her chair. “The hotel is crazy tonight.”
“Where in the hell have you been?” Lila seethed as she leaned in close. “Did you get lost between here and the hotel? Fall into a black hole? Step into a parallel dimension?”
“I’m sorry.” Was she sorry? “It took a bit more to reboot the system than I’d expected and Dave was swamped with arrivals so I helped him with a couple of—”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Lila said, her attention to Tabitha’s explanation nonexistent. “Josh hasn’t been the best third wheel, and I need you to run interference.”
“You mean he doesn’t enjoy watching you and Charlie feed each other with your fingers?” Lila’s brows drew sharply over her eyes, her lips puckered in a pout, and Tabitha cringed. “You’ve got to admit. You guys are sort of self-absorbed.”
Lila paused and she leaned in even closer. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion and she pursed her lips. “What have you been up to? Your cheeks are flushed and you’re all glassy-eyed.” She leaned in and sniffed. “Did you smoke a bowl with Dave in the back room or something?”
“Nice.” Lila knew that she wasn’t into that sort of thing, and no way would she do it at work even if she was. “I ran two blocks in ballet flats with no support. You’d be flushed and glassy-eyed, too.”
“Uh-huh.” Lila didn’t sound too convinced. “I’ll get it out of you eventually. You’re definitely up to something. But right now, put it on the back burner and entertain Josh.”
“Sorry I took so long.” She bent her head toward Josh before her attention settled on the plate in front of her.
“No worries,” he said wi
th a grin. “We only got our food a few minutes ago. I ordered you the veal.”
Tabitha bared her teeth in what she hoped was a smile. What she really wanted to do was lay into him for thinking she’d even consider eating veal. Awful. “Thanks.”
She pushed the meat aside and picked at her steamed vegetables instead. No way was she eating a baby cow. When their server finally came around, she ordered a vodka soda. Wine wasn’t going to cut it anymore. Her limbs were deliciously limp, her hands still a little shaky from her tight grip on the comforter. She glanced over at Josh and noticed that his lips were moving, but once again, her brain wasn’t registering. Her mind was full of Damien; there wasn’t room for anything else.
“. . . and I told her that if she thought we were going to refund her money, she was crazy. I mean, we’re an investment firm, for Christ’s sake. Not Macy’s. It wasn’t my fault if she chose to invest in a stock that I suggested. It’s not like I twisted her arm . . .”
On and on he went, proving with every ridiculous, arrogant, self-centered word out of his mouth that Josh would never get to date number two. For the past year she’d convinced herself that she needed to follow in Lila’s footsteps, look for a guy in a nice suit with a respectable day job and the paycheck to back up his reputation. But the more time she spent listening to Charlie and Josh go on, and on, and on, tooting their own horns, the more she realized that guys like that were never, ever going to do it for her.
None of them compared to the man she’d left behind in that hotel room.
None of them were Damien.
“Let’s go across the street to Fatty’s after dinner,” Lila suggested. “The music is better over there and I want to dance.”
“Sounds great,” Josh said as he sliced off a hunk of his steak. “I bet you’re a great dancer, aren’t you, Tabitha?”
She couldn’t even bring herself to smile this time. “Not really. But that’s not to say I don’t give it my best effort. You could say my style is a cross between a wacky flailing-inflatable-arm tube man and Sweet Dee from It’s Always Sunny.”
