“Why?” She drew the word out, giving him a pained look.
“I don’t know exactly.” Damian folded his arms over his chest and looked at the floor. He’d never shown such exposed emotion before, and it was terrifying. “I just want to be close to you.”
“You don’t even know me.” Her voice was a feathery whisper.
“I want to learn more about you.” His eyes flashed to hers, and she stared back in silence, seemingly mesmerized. “What are you afraid of?”
Haley took a thoughtful breath. “I like being alone, it’s safer.” She shrugged with a defeated roll of her eyes. “I’m kind of a fucked up mess, almost like a shell of the girl I used to be, and I don’t think you should want anything to do with me.”
A warm smile spread over Damian’s face. “I’m not gonna hurt you, Haley. I just want to hold you while you fall asleep.”
She looked scared to death, but he sensed a break in her resolve. With a shaking hand, she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “All right, you can stay.”
Haley hesitantly went to her luggage. Oh my God, what the fuck did I just agree to?
Damian crossed his arms over his chest, fighting a smile at her panicked inner thoughts.
She pulled at the dainty pink ribbons tied around her ankles. “Doesn’t the fact that I’m a witch make you want to stay away from me?”
“Are you planning to hurt me?” He grinned at her, and she lowered her eyes.
“No.”
“I don’t think you’re capable of actually…” Damian’s voice wavered as Haley turned her back to him, briskly slipping black lacy panties down from underneath her dress. “Hurting… anyone…”
She pulled on a light blue satin pair, lined with simple lace, and shifted her cream-colored dress over her head, dropping it onto the couch. With her back to him, she unhooked her bra. Damian couldn’t tear his gaze from her as he reached down to take off his shoes. He was fixated on her bare back and sexy panties as she slid into a matching silk camisole.
When she turned around, her nipples were stiff under the thin fabric, and a tiny lace strap slipped off her shoulder.
“That’s what you’re wearing to bed?” He tried to keep his voice steady, and she awkwardly pushed the strap back in place.
“This is all I brought.” She held onto her elbow. “It’s what I usually sleep in.”
Damian groaned inwardly. What did I get myself into? He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head while Haley watched. She averted her gaze as he pulled his belt loose and dropped his jeans. Wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs, he emptied his pockets from the crumpled denim and followed her to the bed, trying not to gaze at her barely covered ass as she walked in front of him. An erection would be difficult to hide under the thin cotton.
He set his cell phone and wallet on the nightstand, then pulled back the white comforter for her to slide into bed before joining her. His pulse sped up as he reached for her, hearing her soft gasp when his hands touched her bare skin.
Her thin, satiny clothing was hardly a barrier, and he drew her close to him, wrapping his arms around her, reveling in the way her body felt. He buried his face in her thick, silky hair, smelling flowers and sweet citrus. She relaxed in his arms, moving lower to snuggle into his chest, and his heartbeat hammered so heavily he was concerned she’d notice.
“You smell good.” Her words whispered through his head, sounding sleepy.
Soothed by her angelic voice, Damian closed his eyes. “You smell like heaven.” He breathed in the glorious scent of her hair, and a strange and blissful warmth spread through his body as he let himself drift off to sleep.
* * *
Awakened by the sound of his vibrating cell phone, Damian found the room still cloaked in darkness and Haley in his arms. He carefully reached back to grab it. Adam’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hello.” He kept his voice low, trying not to wake Haley, who was breathing steadily against his chest.
“Where are you? There are so many girls here, dude.” Adam sounded drunk. “That front desk chick told ‘em all about you, they’re fucking dancing on the hotel bar, dude. Get your ass down here.”
“Sorry, man, I’m sleeping.”
Haley shifted against him, slowly opening her eyes. Female laughter blared in the background, along with Adam’s shouting voice, and Damian let his hand gently glide across her back, resting it just under the loose strap of her top.
“I can’t, sorry.” He kept his steady gaze on her as her body melted into him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He put his phone back on the stand, and brought his arm around her again. He slipped his hand into her hair, letting the silky curls wrap around his fingers. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Haley sleepily moved her face upward to rest against his neck, breathing in deeply.
“It sounds like you’re missing out on a good time.”
His dick pulsed at her soft voice and their intimate position, and he moved the hardness away from her. “No. I’m good here.”
She fell asleep almost instantly, and Damian closed his eyes, profoundly drawn to the calming peace she gave him.
CHAPTER TEN
Haley woke up surrounded by Damian. The sun glared into the beautiful suite, and he held her snugly in his arms with his leg pinning her to the bed. She let herself lay motionless for a moment, listening to his smooth breathing, taking in his heavy warmth.
Warning signals flashed in her head. She was getting hazardously close, and she tried to slip from his grasp, but he rolled onto his back, taking her with him so she was perched on top of him. His rhythmic breathing returned.
In the daylight, his deep scars were clearly visible, and her gaze traveled upward to his face, beholding his attractive features with a deep breath. His dark shadow of a beard was thicker than usual. Running her fingers along the dark hairs on his chest, she felt the rough skin underneath where he’d been burned by Marybelle.
Damian stirred at her touch and stretched a little.
“Good morning.” He looked at her with a lazy smile, and she jerked her hand back from his skin.
“Morning.”
“How did you sleep?” He cleared his throat.
She lowered her lashes, placing her palm flat on his chest. “I slept really well.”
“So did I.” He played with a soft curl that hung loosely by her face. “And it’s kind of rare that I get good sleep.”
Her pale, white hand rested on his darkly tanned chest. “Nightmares?”
“Just restless, I guess.” He let go of her hair and traced a finger along her jaw, giving her a sensitive look. “Do you have nightmares?”
She gave a little nod. “Not as often as I used to…but I still don’t sleep very well.”
“And last night?” Haley sensed a hopeful undertone in his casual voice, and he stared intently at her.
“Last night was…very peaceful.”
“I agree.” Damian seemed pleased with her response.
“I like sleeping next to you.” Haley used a softer voice than she’d intended, and her cheeks flushed at her brazen statement.
The sound of a ringing phone echoed from the sitting area, and she slowly climbed off him and out of bed, gliding smoothly across the room barefooted. “Hello?” She caught a glimpse of herself in a giant mirror and cringed at her messy hair.
“Morning!” Ginger’s perky voice rang through the receiver. “I tried your cell but kept getting voicemail. I almost had to blow the guy at the front desk to get your room number. And even then, I had to do a process of elimination. It was down to this one or 518, which I assume is Damian’s room… Pretty nice hotel, huh? I hope we stay another night, but I doubt we’ll get to… The bed is gigantic! I felt like I had the whole thing to myself, even though Noah was in it with me.”
Haley looked at her reflection, mindlessly sorting through her hair. “Did you have coffee this morning?” She smoothed out the long cur
ls.
“Yep. A few shots of espresso, actually. Sorry, I’m rambling. Did you sleep OK? Aren’t the beds in this place incredible?”
“Yes, I slept so well.” The words slipped out, and Haley sneaked an embarrassed glance at Damian, but he was lying on his side with his eyes closed.
“I just talked to Aimee, and she has a freaking fireplace in her room. She’s in 215, meet me there, let’s order breakfast.”
Haley pushed aside the longing sensation to spend a little more time in bed, telling herself she was becoming too attached. “OK, I just have to take a shower first.”
“Me too, I’ll see you in, like, a half hour?”
“Yeah.” Haley hung up the phone and unzipped her luggage, pulling out a white skirt and dark blue top.
“Don’t get dressed yet. Come back to bed.”
She found herself smiling at Damian’s sudden, inviting voice in her head.
“I need to take a shower.” She settled on a pair of strappy heels, and Damian gave a quiet, muffled groan into the pillow.
He was on his stomach as she walked by, his tanned skin a stark contrast to the white linens. Drawn in by the sight of the black serpent stretched over his muscular shoulders, she forced herself to keep moving, swiftly closing the bathroom door behind her.
The shower turned on, and Damian knew he needed to get dressed and leave. He rubbed his jaw, noting he was due for a shave, and envisioned what Haley looked like at that moment in the next room, washing her naked body with lathered hands roaming over her breasts and down between her legs, along her soft inner thighs. His cell phone rang on the nightstand.
“Good morning, sir.” Damian sat up, clearing his head.
“Damian.” Victor Harris was on the other end. “How is the djinn hunt going?”
He ran his hand along the back of his short hair. “On our way to get the starfleightte in Seattle.”
“Excellent. Once you have it, bring it to the Afterlife in Hell. Our contact there, Verin, has a seeker’s map we can use with the locus device to find the nest.”
Damian agreed with a shade of dread. He loathed when missions required him to venture back to Hell, and Afterlife was a sordid sex club he’d frequented too often in his younger days. The name alone brought back a swarm of vile, drunken memories he’d long forgotten and had hoped to keep buried.
“Also, we’ve identified our target on the mortem rat case.”
Waiting patiently for his boss to continue, Damian heard him take a pensive breath through the phone and knew something was wrong.
“Eli Hawthorne.”
He froze, hearing the shower turn off in the bathroom, and Victor continued.
“Our clairvoyants have confirmed it.”
He felt like he’d just been kicked in the stomach. Fuck me. His supernatural senses had pointed him in Eli’s direction, but he’d been too focused on his oddly consuming attraction to Haley to notice. Already racked with guilt over his own family’s transgressions, he recalled the sparkling look in her eyes when she’d introduced him to her uncle. He couldn’t live with himself if she found out he murdered him, but he’d never heard of an Adversus soldier refusing a mission.
“I know Adam and Stephen are your friends, but Eli is a very serious threat. He needs to be taken out.”
“Are they going to know anything?” He used a professional tone, masking the panic and indecision brimming just below the surface.
“No, this is a private mission, entirely classified. I’ve just briefed Noah on it. You’ll be working with him to take down Eli without the others’ knowledge. You two are the only ones privy to this information, are we crystal on that?”
Damian closed his eyes. Noah’s with his fucking daughter, and he took the mission.
“Yes.” His voice came out sounding rough, and he cleared his throat.
“I appreciate your dedication. Call me when it’s finished.”
The bathroom door opened, and Haley emerged, looking fresh and luminous in a bouncy white skirt and clingy blue tank top.
“I will. Thank you, sir.” He hung up as she crossed the room to stand in front of a mirror. Her hair was still damp, hanging in thick, heavy curls, and she ran a hairbrush through it. She caught him staring at her and continued brushing.
“You’re still here.” Her voice carried a subtle sweetness.
A pleasured smile spread across his face as he leaned back against the headboard. “What are you having for breakfast?”
She stepped into her heels and bent to clasp the strap at her ankle. “I’m not sure yet. Ginger and I are meeting in Aimee’s room.”
Damian nodded as he got out of bed, stretching his neck a little. He began moving toward her.
She darted her gaze away from his devouring expression. “What are you having?” She aimed her question at the floor.
“Actually, I was hoping to have breakfast with you.” He watched her face while he pulled on his jeans and fastened his belt.
“Oh.” Haley held an arm at her waist, biting her thumbnail before lowering her hand in an awkward motion.
“But you’ve got other plans.” Eyeing her closely, he knelt in front of her to pick up his discarded shirt. “You’re still nervous around me?”
“No.” She drew in a gasp of breath.
Damian pulled the wrinkled cotton over his head.
“Well.” She gave him a cordial smile, crossing her arms and leaning toward the door. “I’m going to leave, so…”
“All right.” He gave her a skeptical look of amusement.
“Good-bye.” She refused to look at him, but Damian caught the enchanted gleam in her eyes as she rushed out.
“Bye.” He almost laughed at her erratic behavior.
Plagued with a sudden, brooding guilt as the door closed behind her, remembering what he’d just been assigned to do, he reached for his phone. There was a text message from Noah: Meet me somewhere to discuss the new case.
* * *
Approaching Aimee’s room, Haley found Ginger in the hallway, looking annoyed, holding her cell phone to her ear.
“I just talked to her not even an hour ago. I’ve been calling for the last five minutes.”
The ringing hotel phone echoed from the other side of the door, and Haley knocked a few times. “Maybe she’s in the shower.”
“But she knew we planned to be here.” Ginger hung up her phone and stared at it, her features tight with concern.
“I’m sure she’s all right…” With a trace of doubt, Haley rapped on the door again.
It opened abruptly, and they both jumped back. Ginger yelped when Stephen appeared in the doorway, holding a bathrobe loosely closed with one hand.
“Stephen.” Haley covered her eyes at the sight of her brother’s nakedness through the gap in the terrycloth.
“Can I help you?” He smiled at them, tightly cinching the bathrobe.
Ginger gave him a pointed look. “We had breakfast plans with your new girlfriend in there.”
“You followed us?” Haley brightened. “What a romantic gesture.”
“No.” He firmly shook his head. “I wanted to bring Damian his car. That’s why I’m here.” He glanced away. “And, now that I think about it… since Neil drove me to the compound, I left my car in Seattle, so I guess it makes sense for me to ride back with you guys.”
“Oh please.” Ginger folded her arms with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Just admit you’re here to see Aimee.”
“I did not do anything wrong. She wants a guy writing her poetry, professing his feelings with a skywriter and shit. Pansy gestures like that aren’t my thing. Like I said, Damian left his car, and I’m a good friend, simple as that.”
Ginger cocked an eyebrow at him. “Well, lucky for you, your poor girlfriend can’t read minds.”
Smirking, Stephen rapidly clipped a “do not disturb” sign onto the door handle. “OK, well, sorry about your plans.” He disappeared into the room and closed the door.
Ginger gasped,
swiveling toward the elevator. “We should have told him to wear a condom.”
Haley let out a giggle, walking beside her to the elevator while Ginger continued to rant. “Aimee has a long road ahead of her. He is such a stubborn son of a bitch sometimes.”
“I think that might just be a classic Hawthorne trait.” Haley pushed the button for the elevator. “Why don’t we eat at the restaurant in the lobby?”
* * *
She’d gotten a few feet through the door before spotting Adam, sitting at a table, flocked by three platinum blonde girls and Natalie, the hotel desk clerk. Damian was with them, crisp and clean in a black, collared shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Haley halted her steps with an instant stab of jealousy that caught her completely off guard.
“Oh, hey, it’s Adam.” Ginger floated past her. “Whoa, look at all those skanks.”
Adam waved them over, pointing to two empty chairs at their table.
You’re not even dating him… Haley reluctantly proceeded forward, working to brush off the insecure feelings. Clutching her waist as she approached the table, she sat down. Neil had never provoked even the slightest twinge of jealousy in her, and the new, crippling feeling was not pleasant.
“Who are you guys?” The Barbie voice with a bit of an attitude came from a perfectly plastic blonde girl with glitter eye shadow sitting beside Damian.
“I’m Haley.” She aimed to keep the misery out of her voice, and the girl gave her a barely-there smile.
“Well, I’m Ginger…” She gestured to herself. “Are you… Candy? Cinnamon?”
“Ginge.” Adam scolded before addressing the girls. “This is my sister and cousin.”
“My name is Alyssa.” The girl glared at Ginger.
“Like Ginger is any better than Cinnamon.” Another Barbie, sitting at Damian’s other side, smirked, and Alyssa agreed.
Ginger smiled good-heartedly with a tilt of her head. “You got me there.”
The waitress put a glass of water in front of Haley, and she sipped it, catching a peek at Damian over her glass. His head was down, focused on eating his omelet, and he’d shaved his beard to a light shadow. She turned and whispered to the waitress behind her. “Eggs Benedict, please.” Why did I say that so quietly? Ugh, I’m being so awkward.
Paramour for the Devil Page 7
