Ginger giggled next to her, and Haley overheard a fragment of her thoughts.…try not to think about my tongue all over your pussy, baby. I know it’ll be hard, but you have to wait till tonight…
Haley gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Dirty texting.” Ginger bit her lip, tapping away at her phone with loud thoughts.…but I want to suck on your big dick right. Now. Drive the Chevelle so I can give you road head ;) I want your cum all over my… Cringing, Haley turned up the volume on the stereo, successfully drowning out her cousin’s sexting.
Hours later, they pulled over at a burger shack on the side of the road. The late afternoon sun shone brightly as they stood around the parking lot, eating burgers from yellow paper wrappers, and Damian’s car pulled in from the opposite side of the road. Haley’s heart jumped at the sight, and she swallowed deeply, surprised to find her cheeseburger had suddenly lost its taste.
“Aw.” Ginger threw her arms around Noah’s neck. “You guys backtracked to have lunch with us.”
“Mm, I miss those lips. You’re riding with us from now on.”
“Fuck.” Damian walked past them to the counter. Noah kissed Ginger’s neck before following after him.
“I can always take your car and you can ride with Haley.” Noah grinned while Damian pulled cash out of his wallet to pay for a burger. “Ginge and I need some alone time.”
“I’ve had to listen to your goddamn texts this whole drive, I know you’re getting road head.”
“Don’t be a cockblock.” Noah gave him a pleading look with a laugh, and Damian shook his head.
“Fine.”
* * *
Haley was uneasy with Damian in the passenger seat, intently focused on his electronic tablet.
She’d been deeply touched by his self-sacrificing gesture before discovering his concerns for her safety were rooted in a sense of obligation. He pitied her, most likely, and that upset her more than anything. It bothered her she even cared what his motives were. He saved her life. That should be the only thing that matters. In an effort to silence her thoughts, she reached for the stereo volume.
Damian plugged the charger into the dash and brushed his hand across hers by chance. She quickly pulled back her hand with a sharp rush of adrenaline and lowered it to rest on her bare thigh.
Haley caught an image of herself, strangely formed in the back of her mind. Standing in front of Damian, watching him reach his hands under her red cotton sundress, pulling her panties down. They were black and lacy, not like the pink ones she had on, and he groped her breasts, suddenly grasping the soft fabric of her dress, easily ripping it apart, and exposing her body completely to reveal perfectly smooth, unscarred skin. His mouth was all over her, licking between her breasts, and he moved lower, bringing his mouth between her legs, ravenously eating at her sex. Her own voice, moaning Damian’s name, reverberated through her head.
She silently held onto the steering wheel, taking a deep breath as arousal flooded through her lower belly, and she realized with a sudden soaring, stunned elation that it had been a view into Damian’s thoughts.
Making the slow descent back to solid ground, she reminded herself she didn’t actually look like he imagined, and her spirits plummeted, recalling what happened when a man had physically laid eyes on her scarred body. She felt a stab of bitterness at the fact that she was hideously branded and broken. “Sorry, Damian, only in your fantasies.”
He looked over at her with a look of horrified shock on his face. “Are you reading my mind?” He used his telepathic voice, and her gaze flitted to the road ahead, her cheeks smoldering with heat as she struggled to steady her pulse.
Damian turned away, staring out the window with a darkened glare. “I know it could never happen, all right. That’s obvious. You don’t need to tell me.” He glowered with frustration, clenching his fist. “Those were private thoughts.”
His cold, accusing tone surprised her. “But you’re a mind reader,” she barely muttered in her own head.
“Well, my mind is guarded. Or it should be… Fuck.”
Haley breathed heavily at his snapping response. “It was unintentional.”
He remained silent, a darkly brooding presence in the passenger seat, and she swallowed.
“When I said the thing about it being…um…” Her pulse quickened at the memory of his X-rated imagination. “Only in your fantasies.”
He took in a sharp breath beside her, seething with embarrassment.
She changed her voice to a polite, matter of fact tone, trying not to stumble over her words. “I said that because I actually don’t have sex…and I also have very prominent scars on my body, so…” Haley took a long pause. “It’s not…I’m not…really what you think.”
A memory flashed through her head. She stood in front of her bathroom mirror at the mansion, wearing jeans and a navy blue bra with lace lining her cleavage. Haley instantly attempted to push Damian’s presence out of her mind, but his energy remained, unmoving, watching her recollection. She put her hairbrush on the counter, looking in the mirror at herself. Her hand lingered in front of the scar, and she moved it away. Glimpsing the R displayed in mangled skin. She averted her gaze from the mirror, slipping a shirt over her head as she rushed to the door.
“You’re insane.” Damian looked out the window; all anger had dissipated from his voice.
Wholly offended, Haley turned to him, and he glimpsed her indignant expression.
“I’m not used to anyone reading my mind, I’m sorry. It wasn’t an insult.”
She continued to frown.
“I think you’re underestimating the male sex drive.”
She paused for a moment. “What do you mean by that?”
He shifted in his seat, slowly relaxing his tensed muscles. “A man isn’t going to stop just because he sees a scar like that.”
Haley pursed her lips, staring intently at the road, trying to focus on anything but the memory threatening to make an appearance in her head. The mental blocks she’d put up around her mind seemed invisible to his powerful presence, and she couldn’t keep him out. The awful memory rushed back to her, and it filled her with dread, knowing that Damian would be able to see everything.
She was in a dark room at the Adversus compound, lying in bed with Talis, a burly soldier with thick dark hair and dark eyes. Stark naked, he leaned over Haley, who wore only a shirt and panties.
Talis grunted his arousal at her. “You’re so fuckin’ hot.” With meandering hands, he reached for her panties and grasped her shirt instead. “What’s that?”
“Oh…” She tried to pull her shirt down, but he jerked it upward, recoiling at the sight of the R on her bare skin.
“Whoa, what the fuck is that?” He scurried back to the foot of the bed.
“Oh, um…” She sat up, pulling her knees to her chest. “I guess I should have warned you.”
Talis gave a laborious sigh, staggering off the bed to pick up a pair of jeans from the floor. “Haley, you need to work on yourself for a while, ya know? You’re not ready to do this.” He pulled on his pants, zipping them. “Maybe you never will be, I don’t know.” He shrugged mournfully as he headed for the door. “Sorry, girl.”
“That guy’s a fucking idiot. Is that why you don’t have sex?”
“What? No. Well, I mean, there are other reasons.” Another memory came flooding back, and she realized with distress it was useless to try to keep Damian’s presence at bay.
She stood in the same dark room with Talis’ clumsy tongue in her mouth. He tasted like beer and whiskey, and it appeared to be earlier the same night.
“I want you to suck on it.” He pushed her shoulders lower.
In another flash, she was on her knees, twirling her tongue around him. “Fuckkkk, you got a nice tongue.” Talis grabbed both sides of her head, thrusting hard into her mouth, and Haley broke into a panic, envisioning Raden shoving his hairy cock deeply down her throat. Unable to breathe, she wrenched away from Talis’
grip and sat frozen, still gripped by fear and revulsion.
“What the hell was that about?” Talis gaped.
Haley managed to shrug softly and tried to keep her shoulders from trembling. “Nothing.”
“You just freaked out for a second.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “Wait, is it because of…you know…”
Haley moved smoothly to the bed and lay on her back, stretching out as she looked over his naked form. Come on, you’ve had a crush on this guy for years. Don’t blow this. “Nope, I’m perfectly fine.” She smiled at him.
Talis gazed lustfully at her body and climbed on the bed, hovering over her. “You’re so fuckin’ hot.”
They’d caught up to the other memory. “All right, I don’t need to see that again.” Damian sounded irate. “You liked that guy?”
“Forever ago.” Haley worked to eradicate the memory.
“How long ago did that happen?”
“Mm…right after I escaped. Around five years ago, I guess.”
He sat in silence for a moment. “And you’re never having sex again?”
“Oh… Well, it isn’t like a long-term commitment or anything. I just don’t really…feel comfortable with sex. I’m happier without it.”
“Don’t you have physical needs? Five years is a long fucking while.”
Haley considered her anxious physical reactions whenever men asked her out. “No.”
“You don’t crave sex at all?”
“Well…” She recalled the pleasured rush at hearing herself moan Damian’s name. She’d only truly been intimate with one man, her ex-boyfriend, Neil, and he’d never once used his mouth on her. Heat crept up her cheeks as she glanced at him, but he seemed too caught up in his own thoughts about Talis to be paying attention to her memories of Neil.
“I’m not referring to sloppy, drunk sex.” Damian interrupted her thoughts. “I mean really. Great. Sex.”
The way he said it led Haley to believe he knew exactly how to deliver just that, and she felt a tingling rush between her legs.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had that before.” Her voice had lowered slightly, overly aware of his muscular form next to her in the small space.
“You’ve never had great sex?” She detected a touch of happiness in his tone.
“Hey, are you using that?” Adam’s head was suddenly between them, and Damian handed him the tablet. “Thanks.” He lounged on the center console, swiping across the screen.
“At least Adam can’t read my thoughts.” Damian’s guilt rushed through their connection. Conjuring sexual fantasies involving his friend’s little sister was most certainly a break in the guy code.
“Maybe I’m only able to hear them because I’m a witch.”
Damian looked confused for a moment before his expression hardened.
“How do you know about that? You’ve read my mind before?”
“Oh…um. Only once, it was an accident.” Haley urgently tried to keep it hidden, but the flashback of Marybelle burning into his chest with her black smoke glared in her mind.
“Ugh…” Damian kept his face turned to the window. “Fuck. I wish you hadn’t seen that. And no, even though I’m powerless to them, witches can’t read my mind.” He tightened his jaw, drowning in discomfort. “You’ve known about my scars this entire time, and you’re still concerned about yours?”
“It’s different for a woman. Scars are sexy on a man.”
He had a sudden boyish smile on his face. “You don’t think you’re sexy?”
“You’ve been quiet, Hales.” Adam perked his head up from where he’d been draped over the center console, tapping at the tablet screen. “How you doing?” Haley tried to keep the blush from her cheeks.
“I’m good.” She gave a tiny nod, her gaze steady on the road. Satisfied, Adam handed the tablet back to Damian and went back to his seat.
Feeling alone with Damian once again, she took a deep breath, flustered when she remembered where their conversation had left off.
“So?” His voice had a teasing quality.
“I really try not to think about sex, Damian.” Her tone was somewhat pleading.
“OK.”
“Others aren’t able to… break into my mind like you can. Please don’t do that anymore.” Haley spoke softly.
After a brief moment of silence, he replied flatly, “I don’t have any way of knowing if you’re listening in on my thoughts.”
“Let me see that one more time.” Adam suddenly appeared between them, reaching for the tablet, and Damian handed it over.
“You’re right. I won’t do it again.”
Resting his head against the seat, he gave a very slight sigh.
“You can read my mind if you want to.”
A smile broke across her face.
“What are you smiling about?” Adam eyed her skeptically, and Haley remembered where she was.
Blushing intensely, she practically whispered, “I don’t know.”
“You’re delirious.” Adam laughed at her, shaking his head. “You want me to drive? You’ve been driving for hours.”
“OK.” Haley pulled the Porsche off the road, easing to a stop.
“I won’t though, I promise.”
She hastily unbuckled her seat belt and caught eyes with him for a second, struck by his handsome features. She turned to slip out of the car with a deep breath, her attraction to him undoubtedly growing. Sliding into the backseat, she relaxed against the creamy leather, trying to think about anything but Damian as she closed her eyes.
CHAPTER SEVEN
They arrived at the compound around midnight, and Damian walked in to find it vibrating with loud music and dancing young people, lit by purple and blue flashing lights. Stephen Hawthorne came out from behind the bar where he’d been pouring shots and rushed up to Haley, squeezing her into a bear hug.
“What are you doing here?” He turned to Adam with a concerned look. “Everything OK?”
“We’re all right. Why aren’t you at headquarters with the rest of the Healers? Last I checked, this is a soldier hideout.”
“Talis was throwing a party, and I had a few vacation days.” Stephen shrugged, his gaze settling on Aimee.
Damian’s jaw clenched at the possibility of running into Talis. They’d never been friendly before, but now he completely despised him. He felt a tinge of pride at the fact that, though he was a smaller build than Talis, his dick was much larger.
“Talis is here?” Adam rolled his eyes. “Man, his friends are insane. Fanatical soldiers, they fucking love the kill.”
“I know. You should see ‘em when they’re drunk.” Stephen didn’t take his light brown eyes off Aimee. “You better be careful. If anyone gets out of hand with you, come find me.”
“All right.” She gave him a meek smile.
He turned his attention to Haley. “Neil is gonna go ballistic when he sees you.”
“Neil is here too?” Haley’s voice cracked a little.
Damian wasn’t sure what to make of that. He resisted the urge to listen in, knowing she’d be able to sense him in her mind. He was lost half the time with her, yet she’d witnessed more of his secrets than anyone ever had.
“Yeah, I just saw him a minute ago…” Stephen looked around the hazy room.
“Shortcake?” Neil scooped her into a warm hug. “Oh my God, it’s been so long.”
“How are you?”
His dirty blond hair hung over his forehead, and he brushed the thin strands away from his pale green eyes.
“I’m great.” Neil wouldn’t let go, embracing her tightly. “Better now that I’ve got you in my arms. How many years has it been? Six? Seven?”
Haley shrugged. “Probably not since college.”
Damian watched Neil’s thoughts in misery as the Healer fondly remembered night after night in his college dorm with Haley, lying naked on top of her, his face twisted in orgasm as she looked up at him, clearly not achieving her own.
He navigated thr
ough winding corridors, into the bathroom by his room, and slammed the door shut, rolling his shoulders to shake the ridiculous feelings. How can I be this possessive over a girl I’ve never had? The sight of her in bed with another man made him sick. He’d seen enough of that for one day, and was still trying to deal with the brewing anger at seeing his uncle abusing her.
Scouring his body in the shower, his thoughts ran wild with dreaded assumptions of her deciding to spend the night with her ex-boyfriend. Neil was a Healer and women seemed to find him charming, drawn to his healing touch. She’s been with him before; she’s comfortable with him. Shortcake. He loathed the idea of Neil having a special little nickname for Haley. Just fucking adorable.
Escaping the large crowd, Haley went down the secluded hallway to her old bedroom, and found it hadn’t changed at all since she’d stayed there so many years earlier. The room was built for purpose, simply decorated in neutral colors. Her gaze wandered to where her red and gold electric guitar hung on the wall, and she caught sight of a shiny blue Les Paul beside it. Marveling at the beautiful guitar, she took it off the wall, turned on the amplifier, and climbed onto the bed, sliding the black pick out from under the strings.
She’d taken lessons at a young age, but lost interest once she started spending more time with Ginger and Aimee. During her months at the compound, she had picked it up again, finding the music to have healing powers as she focused on it every day, completely absorbed in the melodic sound. She hadn’t played since she’d left for California, and was excited to test out the shiny new Les Paul.
Her fingers moved automatically, stumbling only slightly over the same heavy melodies she’d once played obsessively for hours. The bedroom door opened, and Damian walked into the room, breaking her reverie.
“Oh, hi.” He stared at her in surprise, holding a towel low around his waist, and Haley caught herself gaping at the defined muscles of his upper body, adorned with scars. “I didn’t know you were in here. I’m just gonna grab some clothes.”
Paramour for the Devil Page 4
