I watch him, wondering why he’s so secretive as he gathers our things. What else is there going on with him? I know that he knew my brother, he back alley fights for fun and profit, plus he works on nude portraits of random women. I don’t understand why I’m not allowed to see or be a part of any of it. Does he think I’m so fragile that I couldn’t handle the reality?
Granted, I flipped out when I saw Bec half-naked in his apartment, but that was Bec – the woman who acted like she owned him when I first met him. Of course I wasn’t going to be ok with her. But perhaps, I could be ok with his other clients if he’d just show me what it all entails. Perhaps I could understand. Right now, I just feel like he’s protecting me from absolutely nothing. I’m not a child. I can handle knowing.
He takes my hand, his touch breaking through my thoughts as the connection of our skin heats my body. Leading me by the hand, the cool air of the morning touches the bare skin on my legs as we step out into the sunshine and get into his car.
I’m wearing one of those really short khaki coloured skirts that look like they’re trying to emulate cargo pants, and a fitted black singlet with a pair of iPanamas and my hair piled up in a bun on my head. It was all Damien’s choosing. I expected that the gym bag would contain my usual t-shirt and leggings combo, but today, he went and changed things on me.
“I can’t believe this pen hasn’t washed off my legs yet, it’s been a week and a half and it’s only faded a bit. What the hell did you use?” I ask.
“It’s a tattoo pen, it’ll wash off eventually,” he tells me casually, as he pulls out onto the traffic on Northern Road.
“Eventually? That doesn’t help me much.” I run my hand over the intricate design. It’s edges starting to blur with wear, but it’s still beautiful. “Why do you have a tattoo pen?”
“Why don’t you have one?” he counters with a grin.
“Do you have it because you like tattoos? Are you thinking of getting one of your own?” I shoot at him.
“Yes, and no.”
“What made you buy the pen?”
He just glances at me, and suddenly I realise that there might be another girl – maybe more – out there who have had him do the same thing. Pressing my lips together, I pull my skirt lower, trying to cover it.
“No. I haven’t done that before,” he says suddenly. When I look at him in question, he explains, “Laid in bed with a beautiful woman and drawn on her – you are the first.”
Sighing my relief, I release the hem of my dress.
“You’re a jealous little thing aren’t you?” he asks.
“Have you seen you?” I retort, as if that should explain everything.
“No, I only see you,” he replies. My breath catches in my throat, and quickens in my chest. With just a few simple words, he’s got me all hot and bothered again.
“I want you Damien,” I murmur, feeling a little bold, sliding my hand over his thigh.
“How do you want me Henrietta?”
“Right here. You need to pull over.”
“Where?”
“Up there.” I point, squirming in my seat.
He pulls over on the dirt strip beside the busy road. “Now what?” he asks with a grin. He seems to be really enjoying this.
“Slide your seat all the way back.”
He does as I ask, clicking the lever at the side of his seat and letting it roll all the way back. “Get on,” he tells me, taking the lead back from me.
Glancing down, I can see his cock, straining against the linen of his black pants. I climb out of my seat and onto his lap, pulling on his drawstring and sliding my hand inside, nursing his cock in my hand.
“I love your cock,” I whisper, stroking my hand up and down his shaft.
“My cock loves you,” he grins, grabbing onto my hips and lifting me up. My hands fly up to his shoulders to steady myself so I don’t hit my head on the car roof. He pulls my panties to the side and positions himself at my entrance. “Slide down,” he growls, pressing down on my hips, as I ease myself over him, joining us to the hilt.
Moaning, I start to move on top of him, pushing through my thighs, dragging up his long, thick shaft, and slamming back down, grinding at his base. As my excitement grows, my speed increases, rocking the car with our movement.
“Oh god!” I call out, digging my fingers into his shoulders, my insides bursting like a dam at the same time that he shudders beneath me, spurting himself inside me, his own fingers digging into my hips. As our breathing calms down, I start to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he whispers, dropping a kiss on my shoulder.
“Just this. Us. Look at what you’re making me do.”
“I’m making you? Who’s the one suggesting road-side quickies?” he chuckles.
“I can’t help it. Just looking at you turns me on,” I whisper, leaning down to kiss his earlobe. My hips start to roll again, and I feel him harden inside me, always ready, just like I am.
Whoop Whoop
I sit up quickly. “Shit. Cops,” I hiss. A flurry of motion ensues as I jump off his lap and return to my seat.
Damien slides his seat forward and rights himself, at the same time grabbing for his phone. He presses it to his ear, pretending to have a conversation as the police officer walks up to the driver’s side window.
“Sorry mate. I’ll have to go… yeah… thanks,” he pretends, tapping his finger against the screen and powering his phone off. “Yes officer?” he asks innocently.
“You are aware this is a clearway?” the policeman points out, looking from Damien to me suspiciously. “You can’t stop here.” I squeeze my thighs together as hard as I can, hoping that the officer can’t see any of the evidence from our dalliance as it leaves my body.
“I’m sorry officer, I didn’t realise. I got a phone call and since it’s illegal to talk and drive, I felt it safer if I pulled over to take the call,” he explains, straight faced.
“Why is your seatbelt off miss?”
“Oh… um… we were pulled over, and I… um… was trying to find some…gum in my bag – it’s in the back seat.” I don’t do as well as Damien does, but the police officer – even though he looks as though he doesn’t believe a word of it – nods his head.
“Well, I guess that explains why the car was rocking. All that rummaging for gum?” he asks pointedly, although I can see a tiny grin pulling up the corner of his lip.
“Yeah,” I laugh uneasily. “I still haven’t managed to find it.”
He lets a burst of amusement out of his nose before tapping the roof of the car. “Alright you two. Just get this car on the road and stay out of the clearways in future.”
“Yes sir,” Damien says with a nod, as the policeman returns to his vehicle.
Leaning over me, he grabs my seatbelt, meeting my eyes as he clicks it in place. His are full of amusement, whereas I’m sure mine are filled with worry. He then starts the engine and pulls back into the stream of traffic as it flows past us.
“Holy shit,” I breathe, my heart thudding wildly in my chest. “The first time I get a little adventurous, and I nearly get us caught.”
“Babe. That was hilarious. I’m going to be smiling all day,” he chuckles, reaching in the back seat to retrieve the gym bag, keeping his eyes on the road while he rummages around inside. “Gum,” he laughs, giving his head an amused shake as he pulls out a travel pack of tissues. “Here,” he says. “To… you know.”
“Thanks,” I say, gratefully accepting them and pressing a couple between my legs. “What about you,” I start, when I’ve finished cleaning myself up. “Pretending to talk on the phone. What if it had have rang in your hand?”
“I had it on silent, it wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Hey, I thought you didn’t lie,” I laugh.
“Etta, do you really want to get hauled in front of a judge for indecent exposure?”
“I guess I’ll let it slide,” I smile, settling back into my seat as I watch him drive. He’s far
more interesting to me than the scenery outside, and going by the way he frequently glances at me - he likes it when my attention is one hundred percent on him.
“Do you need your laptop?” he asks, as we near the university campus.
“No, everything I need is on the Cloud. I can access it pretty much anywhere.”
Pulling into the entrance, we find a car space and walk together, hand in hand toward the library.
Leaning down, he kisses me gently before whispering in my ear. “No flirting with strange men. I’ll see you in two hours.”
“I’ll do my best,” I grin as he kisses me on the forehead. I stand and watch him walk toward the design building, noticing as a few other girls watch him with interest. My chest aches as I fight a great urge inside me to rush over there and tell them all to keep their ‘come hither’ looks to themselves.
Swallowing hard, I drag my eyes away and head inside, aiming for the research computers. I still haven’t gone through all the papers Aaron gave me, and the thought of him causes my stomach to flip – I haven’t spoken to him since that day. And he must be really annoyed or upset with me, because he hasn’t texted or tried to call, but I’ve been avoiding him too. I haven’t been to class all week. I’m embarrassed by what he saw and the conversation that followed. He’s right – that crazy jealous woman isn’t me. I’m normally so much more logical than that.
“Holy shit! Is that a tattoo on your leg?” spits Jessica in greeting, her eyes wide as she sees part of the drawing on my thigh.
“No,” I laugh. “It’s a tattoo pen. Damien was having a bit of fun.” I wave it off as if it’s nothing and turn back to my work.
“So how is Damien?” Kensi asks. “Is he the reason for the short skirt, and the absent bra?” she whispers, a conspiratorial grin on her face.
I shrug, nonchalantly, not willing to give anything away. I know a lot of girls love to share their sex tales with one another – I’m just not one of them. I’m selfish. I want to keep him all to myself – every last, delicious detail.
“She’s not going to share,” Kensi pouts, both her and Jessica tilting their heads together as they focus their puppy dog expressions on me.
“It’s not going to work,” I laugh.
“Fine. We just came to say hi, and ask you if you were still living with us.”
“I am. I most definitely am,” I laugh. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been…”
“Too busy hooking up. We know. But you might want to talk to Aaron, he stopped by last week. He seems really worried about you,” Jessica informs me.
“Yeah, I’m sure he is,” I admit, biting on my lip.
“He’s at the coffee shop,” Kensi tells me, standing up from her seat. “Oh, and we’re going clubbing on Friday. You wanna come? You can even bring lover boy with you.”
“I’ll see what he wants to do,” I reply. Waving briefly at both of them as they excuse themselves for class.
Logging off the computer, I make my way to the coffee shop to see if I can find Aaron. I owe him an apology. Or an explanation – something anyway.
I find him sitting at a table with his laptop out, drinking coffee and chatting with Carl.
“Hey,” I say, placing my hand on the seat beside him, not so sure if I’m welcome to sit down.
“Hello,” he says evenly, as Carl greets me normally. He obviously has no idea about my psychotic episode. “I thought you might be dead. But the moans over at Damien’s place kind of sounded like you, so…”
“I’m sorry Aaron,” I tell him. “You were right to be worried. I don’t know what came over me.”
“I might leave you two to talk,” Carl says, pushing his seat back as he stands. “Nice to see you Etta,” he says.
We wait for a moment as Carl walks off before continuing. “Why haven’t you been answering your phone? I’ve called you and texted you because you haven’t been showing up to class but… nothing,” he shrugs.
“I don’t have any calls from you,” I tell him, pulling out my phone and showing him my call history.
He scrolls through my very short list, a frown creasing his brow as he looks through my settings. “What a fucker,” he says suddenly, shaking his head as he sits back against his seat.
“What?” I take my phone from his hands, trying to see what he was looking at that upset him.
“Damien.”
“Why?”
“Give me your phone back,” he says, taking it from my hands and calling his phone with mine. The read out on his says ‘Private Number’.
“There must be something wrong with it,” I suppose, taking my phone back and swiping at the screen, looking for something to explain it in my settings.
“There’s nothing wrong with your phone, look,” he says, showing me the read out on his phone as he selects my name and dials. Pressing the speaker phone option, I listen as the call connects and rings, but nothing happens on my own handset.
Scrunching my face up in confusion, I look between the phones.
“I think someone’s switched out your sim card,” he says.
“But… why… why would he do that?”
“Why do guys like that do anything Etta? They do them because they can.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Etta,” he says, his tone and his eyes serious as he places his hand on mine. “I’m not saying this because I have feelings for you. I’m saying this because I’m worried. Damien is not a good guy. Get away from him before this all gets out of hand.”
I open my mouth to say something, but I can’t, my words are all caught up in my throat. The thought of not seeing Damien again is physically hurting me, my throat constricts and my breathing becomes shallow. It’s irrational, I know. I should be freaking out about the sim card, but instead, I’m freaking out because I might have to give him up.
Aaron takes my emotional state as a reaction to the phone. “It’s ok. You won’t have to go through any of it alone. I’ll be here, you’ve got your mum and dad, and your housemates.”
“No,” I gasp, snatching my hand away from him. “Just…oh god, I hate feeling like this,” I gripe, gripping my sides as my stomach clenches. As I sit back up, I pick up the phone. “There has to be an explanation for this.”
“There is Etta, he’s trying to isolate you.”
Shaking my head, I stand, trying to think of a reason to explain why Damien would do it. “No, he’s not like that. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Aaron’s features crease with concern as he watches me retreat. “Call me if you need me,” he calls out, just before I push through the coffee shop’s doors.
Returning to the library, I force myself to work, making nonsensical notes about my project as time ticks slowly by. I manage to sense him before he’s even near. It’s as if my skin prickles, knowing that he’s in the same room. I lift my head as the feeling grows more intense, my heart beats firmly against my breastbone, and my breathing quickens as I anticipate him finding me.
He stops behind me and runs his fingertips down the back of my neck and over my shoulders, sending glorious ripples of pleasure over my body, causing my nipples to harden and protrude obviously through the stretch cotton fabric of my top.
Leaning down, he brushes his lips against the edge of my ear, kissing me on my jaw.
“I’ve missed you,” he murmurs, moving to sit on the chair next to me. “Where have you been?”
“Why do you think I’ve been somewhere?” I ask, looking around to see if I’ve been watched.
“Just answer the question.”
“I went to the coffee shop,” I tell him, feeling as though I’m in trouble, even though I know I haven’t done anything wrong. He has.
“Who was there?” he asks, staring in my eyes, although it’s more of a glare. I’m pretty sure he knows exactly where I was.
“Do you have people watching me?” I ask suspiciously, still looking around the library.
“Just answer the question.”
&nb
sp; “You obviously know already Damien. Otherwise you wouldn’t be looking so shitty with me. Although it’s you who should be answering my questions right now. What the fuck did you do to my phone?” I demand, glaring right back at him.
His left eye narrows slightly as he leans back against his seat and drapes his arm over it.
“Didn’t think I’d find out did you? Why the hell would you do that? Why would you switch out my sim card?”
Standing up, he picks up my bag and holds out his hand to me. My face burns hot with my aggravation as I slap his hand away and hiss, “Just answer the goddamn question!”
He grabs my hand anyway, hauling me out of my seat so fast that he has to catch me against his body, knocking the air out of me as our chests collide.
“Because I care about you,” he whispers, taking my face in his hands and pressing his lips against mine. It takes seconds before I’m putty in his hands again, breathing like I’m some dramatic actress of the 20s.
“You can’t kiss everything away,” I gasp, as our mouths part. “I’m just trying to understand you.”
He wraps his arms around me, and curls me into his chest, engulfing me with his big arms as he sighs. “Because, I can track you if you’re on my account,” he admits.
“Jesus Damien, what the hell do you think is going to happen to me?”
He tucks his face into my neck, his breathing shaking as his arms tighten around me more. “I don’t know. That’s what scares me. I just know that if I know where you are and what you’re doing, then I’m ok. Just… feel my heart Henrietta.”
Taking my hand, he presses it to his chest where I can feel the quickened beat of his heart as it thumps against his ribs.
“Is this because I went to the coffee shop?” I ask quietly, although not understanding why it upset him so much.
“I left you at the library. You need to stay where I leave you,” he whispers, the worry evident in his face as he looks at me beseechingly. He wraps his arms around me again and pulls me against him again. “You can’t wander off. Something could happen.”
Drawn Page 18
