Maybe he was still dealing with his demons. He was undergoing therapy and the doctors said not to rush him into remembering his past. Damien Blake was an orphan who had made good. He never maintained any long-term romantic relationships, though he often had several short-term ones going at the same time. He was always photographed with a bevy of beautiful models and starlets. But this time, he managed to keep Emma and her son out of the spotlight. Even though he spent almost all his time after work with them, his security and publicity team had protected Emma and Luc's privacy fiercely and efficiently. No one knew that Damien Blake was seeing her. Or perhaps Damien didn't want anyone to know. Maybe he wasn't serious about her. She was just another short-term fling. Or not even that.
Emma tossed angrily on her side.
What was this man up to?
She had dated many men and had never really committed to a serious relationship as well. So why was she getting all hot and bothered over Damien Blake? If he was playing her, she was more than capable of playing him right back. But the trouble was that he didn't seem to be playing with her. He seemed genuine. Everything he did for them was sweet and thoughtful and protective.
Maybe his medication and therapy and whatnot had robbed him of his libido, rendered him impotent. Some medicines and treatment had the effect of suppressing the patient's sex drive.
But Emma knew that Damien wasn't lacking in that department. She had felt his erection often enough. When he accidentally pressed against her or when she brushed against him, she would feel his throbbing, rigid length and feel the tension in his whole body. The bulge in his pants was huge and obvious, and she could see the desire raging in his eyes when he looked at her.
She had thought she knew him when he confessed and confided in her about what he had gone through. He never told his doctors about those visions he had, about being burnt and tortured by those fires. She was the only one he told. And then he had clamped up, and dismissed those nightmarish visions as just meaningless images conjured up by the booze and drugs. He never talked about those harrowing visions again, and gradually Emma's initial suspicions faded. Her initial suspicions and theories had been completely crazy, she admitted. How could Damien be who she thought he was? Her rational brain refused to go with her heart this time, and she had to convince herself that her instincts and her feelings were just plain wrong this time.
Emma threw off the covers and sat up in bed. She had worked herself up to such a state that sleep was now impossible. Might as well do something constructive instead of driving herself to distraction.
Padding into the kitchen, she made herself a cup of strong black coffee and brought it to the living room. After tapping a frenzied beat on the side of her cup with her nails, she finally reached out and fired up her laptop. Work—work was a constructive distraction. Work was a boon to restless souls. Emma put down her cup and set to work with gusto and was soon completely absorbed in drafting a complex agreement for a client. She was just taking a sip of cold coffee when she stiffened at a sound at her front door. She held her breath and listened. There it was again. There was no mistake. She glimpsed a shadow moving under the door. Soundlessly, she got up and grabbed a long umbrella from the stand.
There was a soft knock on the door and she heard someone murmur her name. She recognized the voice, but what was he doing here in the dead of night?
With one hand clutching the umbrella, she reached out and unlocked the door with a shaky hand. Damien stumbled through the door and into her arms. Emma stifled a scream as he straightened up quickly.
“Emma,” Damien said breathlessly. “I didn't think you'll be awake.”
“What on earth...?”
He looked down sheepishly, as she planted her hands on her hips. “Just how long have you been standing outside my door?”
“I...I never left.”
Her eyes widened. “After dinner, you drove us straight home. That was...” She glanced at her wall clock. “...almost seven hours ago!”
Damien scratched the back of his head. “Yeah.”
“Oh, for goodness sake! Come in and sit down. How can you be standing out there for so long? What were you thinking...” She closed the door behind him and turned to continue her interrogation. She gasped. “Damien! What are you doing?”
He was down on one knee, holding up a dainty red velvet box.
“I was standing out there thinking...of asking you to marry me. Emma Davis, will you be my wife?”
She stared at him, reeling from his words. He gazed up at her, looking anxious, hopeful, happy, excited and shy all at the same time.
“I know this is sudden but...”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, Damien, yes.”
It took him a moment to process her answer. Jumping up, he grabbed her and gave her a big hug. He slipped the sparkling diamond ring on her finger and it fit perfectly. He leaned in, but just before his lips touched hers, he jerked back and planted a kiss on her forehead instead. Emma leaned against him, still stunned but his joy was infectious. He lifted her up and twirled her around the living room. “I love you, Emma,” he declared.
When he put her down, she pulled him to her and tilted her face up. “Kiss me,” she said. “On the lips.”
Damien ran his thumb over her lips and down her jaw. Heat flared behind his eyes as he let out a ragged breath. “I want to, Emma. The only woman I want is you. I want to kiss the bride. I want to kiss my bride. I will kiss you...on our wedding night,” he whispered. “And then...”
He held her waist tightly and lowered his head to her shoulder, breathing her in deeply. His hot breath trailed down her neck and sent a scorching, shuddering heat down her body.
“My dear, sweet Emma, I miss you and I love you, so much,” he murmured.
“Miss me? But you've been just outside my door,” she teased.
“Yes, I have. For a long, long time,” he said softly.
Emma started and took a long, steadying breath. Quietly, she closed her eyes to feel his heart beating strongly against her palm. She listened to the familiar beat and breathing of the man and began to tremble in his arms. It was the same powerful rhythm that she had felt throbbing against her own heart as her virgin body yielded to a beautiful, sexy stranger so many years ago and accepted him deep into her body and her soul.
I will kiss you...on our wedding night. And then...
She looked up at Damien with a sudden glint in her eye. She would hold him to his promise. And then...she would strip him, of his clothes, of his restraint, of his secrets and see him as he truly was.
I know you, Damien Blake. I know who you are.
Chapter Twelve
“...and they lived happily ever after.” Damien read the last line and closed the book softly. Emma watched him tiptoe to Luc and tuck his arm under his blanket. He smiled down at the sleeping boy and walked over to slip his arm around Emma's waist.
“He's exhausted,” Emma told him. “He's been such a good boy today.”
“He was a great ring bearer,” Damien said, kissing her hair. “You look beautiful. My beautiful bride.”
Emma blushed. She was still in her short, white wedding dress. The solemnization ceremony was a very cozy, private affair at a beautiful, quiet beach. Her old neighbors, Isabella and her daughter Tammy, who used to babysit Luc were present, together with her secretary, Suzie and her fiance. Damien had the head of his security team and two of his most trusted bodyguards present. They had exchanged their wedding vows against a stunning sunset, and had proceeded to a sumptuous dinner at the resort. Damien had a world renown chef flown in for the event, and the food was exquisite.
After dinner, there had been some dancing and singing, and the guests had retired to their rooms a little tipsy and a lot rowdy. Damien led Emma and Luc to their lavish suite that overlooked the sea. Luc had an adjoining room and there was a whole spread of presents on his bed. “Oh, you'll spoil him!” Emma had remarked, but she was smiling as Luc squealed and shouted as he unwrapped his p
resents.
“Is it my birthday?”
“No it's not your birthday,” Damien told him.
“This must be a special day then.”
“It is a very special day. Your mummy and I got married.”
“You should get married every day!” Luc exclaimed. “This is awesome!”
“You know, I agree with our son,” Damien turned to Emma. “We should get married every day.”
She punched him on the arm and he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him.
“All right, buddy, time to take your bath and go to bed. You've had a long day,” Emma told him.
“But I want to play!” Luc protested.
“You can play tomorrow. Come on,” she insisted.
“Aw, Mummy,” he whined, but he put down his new robot and clambered off the bed.
After Emma tucked him in, Damien pulled up a chair and read him a bedtime story. He was fast asleep halfway through the story, but Damien continued reading in a low voice right to the end. After both of them had kissed the sleeping boy goodnight, Damien pulled the door to the adjoining room shut behind him and slowly danced Emma towards the king-sized bed in the middle of their room.
“Now to get you into bed,” he muttered as he kissed her eyelids, her cheek, her neck.
Emma wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed against him as they moved in a slow, sensuous dance across the room. He had taken off his jacket and his bow tie, and she ran her fingers down his open collar to undo the next button. Her fingers began to fumble impatiently down his shirt, as she worked to get the shirt off his back and feel his bare skin against her. She pushed aside the two halves of his shirt and reveled in the sight of her husband's toned, hard body. Damien took her face in both his hands and tilted it up.
“You are so beautiful, Emma,” he whispered. “And you are mine.”
He crushed his lips to hers, and she gasped and tried to kiss him back but this was no soft, slow kiss. She could only surrender to his lips as he kissed her brutally, devouring and claiming her mouth. His tongue invaded and explored her, taking and tasting her fully. Her entire body felt limp in his arms as he arched her back and kissed her senseless. He finally released her and she surfaced for air, blinking up at him almost deliriously.
Damien's hands roamed up and down her body, feeling the curve of her waist and breasts. He tugged at her zip at the back of her short, lacy, off shoulder white dress and released her body from her wedding dress. She stood before him in her white strapless bra and panties. Emma moved to unclasp her bra, but Damien caught her hands.
“That is my job,” he growled. The predatory gleam in his eye sent a shiver of arousal coursing down her body. She could feel her white, lacy panties getting soaked from the juices trickling between her thighs.
Bending his head, Damien tugged the cup of her bra down with his teeth and attacked her nipple. Emma gave a cry as he bit and sucked hard on her nipple, before flicking his tongue over it. He moved to the other breast and pushed the cup down. He suckled hard on her nipple while his hand played with her other breast, squeezing it gently and thumbing her nipple. Emma quivered and moaned. She raked her fingers through his dark, brown hair, pressing his head to her breast, urging him to take more. She was growing so wet, her pussy aching and throbbing with pent up desire.
Damien had not touched her since his proposal two weeks ago. He said he wanted their wedding night to be really special. She didn't know how he could stand it. She could feel his cock lurch and become painfully erect whenever she pressed or leaned against him.
He had taken two weeks to plan this beautiful, beach wedding, and it had been perfect. Emma looked down at her handsome husband devouring her nipple with his eyes closed, his long dark lashes fluttering against her skin. His hand moved to her back and unclasped her bra, leaving her only in her white panties. His hands trailed down her body reverently, and rested on her thighs. Gently, he eased her thighs apart as he knelt before her and pushed his tongue against her clit. Emma squirmed and closed her eyes, feeling him tease her through the fabric of her panties. He continued nipping and licking her without removing the restrictive garment until Emma was almost insane with desire. A groan escaped her throat and mercifully, he pulled her panties down her legs and kissed her pussy.
She trembled as he kissed and sucked on her hard, throbbing clit. “Oh Damien...”
She wanted his cock, needed his cock right now. Damien stood up and pushed his pants down his long legs, and Emma's eyes widened with lust at his raging erection. Molten desire was oozing from his pores, and a large drop of it was quivering at the tip of his cock. Emma knelt and licked it hungrily, tasting him on her lips.
But before she could take his cock into her mouth, Damien lifted her up and threw her onto the bed. She landed on her back with a shriek.
“Come here,” she commanded.
He smirked and crawled towards her, his tall, lean frame looming over her. “Spread your legs,” he growled. “Wide.”
Emma obeyed, and he lifted her hips and licked her sweet, wet sex thoroughly. His tongue thrust inside her slit and swirled around her pussy, before he sucked and drank in her juices. When his lips settled on her clit, he pushed a finger inside her and curled it, stroking the roof of her vagina, stimulating her G-spot. Emma started writhing and panting, her juices leaking out of her pussy. Damien continued rubbing her most sensitive spot, as his tongue played with her engorged clit. Emma bucked violently, the sheets bunching in her fists as she drowned under a pounding wave of pleasure.
When she opened her eyes, Damien was slowly kissing his way up her body, from her crotch to her navel and up her chest, between the valley of her breasts. He reached her lips and the taste of her own juices on his lips aroused her even more. His cock was pressing up against her, pushing against her pussy lips. Emma wrapped her legs tightly around him, pulling him to her.
“Fuck me,” she panted. “Now.”
Damien gazed deeply into her eyes, and very slowly and achingly, pushed into her. Their eyes remained locked as he penetrated her inch by delicious inch. Once he was buried up to the hilt in her, his forehead fell forward to touch hers as he let out a strangled sound. His eyes closed and his breathing was harsh and ragged. Emma lay beneath him, feeling him fully inside her, and her vagina walls started to pulse down the length of his cock.
“Emma,” he whispered and opened his eyes.
“Your eyes...” She sucked in a sharp breath.
She stared up at him to see the blue recede and fade completely from his eyes. His eyes became full black, like the darkest night and the deepest abyss. He held her gaze unwaveringly as he began to move in her. He slid his cock smoothly in and out of her body, relishing the feel of her tight, wet pussy clenching around him. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, the tip of her nose and stroked her hair, his muscular arms framing her face.
“Emma,” he said softly as he made love to her. “Do you know who I am?”
She looked at him for a long while before she nodded. “Yes. Yes, I do.”
His brows furrowed slightly.
Holding his face in both her hands, she said softly, “You have branded yourself into my skin, my lips, my fingertips, seared your image and your memory into my eyes and my mind forever. Is that bliss, or is it torture? It is torture...the most excruciating, exquisite torture.”
His breath caught as she repeated his words back to him, the words that he had uttered to her the first night he came to her. He had said those heartbreaking words to her as he left, thinking that he would not return to see her or touch her again.
Death had taken her and left her that night.
Damien stilled, not moving, not blinking, not breathing.
“Damien.” Emma searched his face worriedly. “Darling, are you all right?”
“Y-yes,” he croaked. “I didn't think you knew...I never thought you'd want me...”
“Not want you?” Her eyelids snapped up and her voice rose a pitch. “That
night, you took my virginity and my heart. I have never loved any man since...” She swallowed hard and looked away. “Why didn't you come back?”
“Emma, I never left. I couldn't,” he said in a broken voice.
“Death,” she whispered. “Is that your name? Tell me what happened to you. How did you end up in here, in Damien Blake's body? Where is he?” She began to move her hips, rocking gently against him. He jerked and tensed, as if fighting the irresistible pleasure. Emma stopped moving, to let him regain control of himself. She didn't want to push him. He looked into her eyes, and she felt his cock stir inside her.
He moved slowly, pushing himself in and out of her very softly and deliberately as he started to speak, “Death was a title, an office. It became my name since I've been doing the job for so long. If I had a name, I've long forgotten it. I was once human, but that was so long ago. After I took my own life, I was burdened with the task of taking other lives, sever the cords that bind them to their mortal existence. I did it without question, without deliberation, without emotion. Until I met you. That night...changed everything.”
Emma clung to him as he thrust harder into her. She blinked rapidly to try to clear her mind. “But...you felt so...so human,” she stuttered, recalling his gorgeous, muscular body and his soft blond hair.
“I could take human form,” he confirmed. “The same form as when I was still human. And seeing you and touching you that night made me want to be human again. I've never been so hungry before, so hungry for life.”
“How did you...” Emma gasped, as he rocked into her.
“I had to go through the fires. The eternal fires of damnation and death. I had to be tortured, burnt, cleansed, completely consumed by the flames so as to be redeemed from all the wrongs I have committed. I got what I deserved. The lashes, the torment, the pain, I deserved the suffering and I bore it all. It was the only way I could be released as Death. Dying takes on a whole different meaning when you're Death.” He gave her a small sad smile but there was no bitterness in it.
Making Love To Death (One Night With Death) Page 7
