“By all means, Damien, I’m certain if Candy was in pain and the situation arose Dirk would understand you taking a syringe to his wife to knock her out, rendering her helpless before you. Wolf you would understand as well with Casey, would you not?” James said lightly. He poured himself a drink and settled into a chair.
“Not bloody likely,” Wolf snarled.
Everyone knew Casey was allergic to certain pain medication; Wolf almost lost her once because of it. Wolf leveled a dangerous look onto Damien. A very smug-looking Damien.
“That is completely different,” Dirk argued.
“Oh, how’s that?” James asked, eyes raised innocently. He swirled his drink around in his glass absently.
“Chloe is family,” Dirk protested.
“So is Candy; you are married, after all. Casey is now family, she is your daughter’s sister-in-law,” James said.
“But like Candy, Chloe’s mine to watch out for,” Dirk said lamely, seeing the direction his father’s thoughts were taking.
Once more Damien’s eyes sizzled towards his brother. “Chloe is mine, not yours. Have you made love to her?”
“Of course not!” Dirk howled, outraged that he would even ask; the thought was appalling.
“No more drugs, unless I permit it,” Damien snapped. “And only if Chloe is in agreement.”
“Fine!” Dirk snapped back.
“Next time there is a shift in command I want to hear about it before it happens and be able to voice an opinion; it’s my right,” Damien demanded.
“Do you wish Wolf to step down and we can vote on it?” James asked. He continued to swirl his drink around in his hand, keeping a careful eye on his youngest son.
* * * *
Damien thought about that for a moment. He knew what the position entailed. Wolf was very experienced. He had been in this line of work a long time. He was responsible, loyal—a very good friend. Because he had a family he wouldn’t make hasty, hot-headed decisions.
He also possessed compassion and insight. A good choice. Only the fact he hadn’t been included in the decision was the thought that made him pissed. Damien realized perhaps he was also to blame. He was very professional, yet he liked his freedom, being a free spirit. That was going to change as well, he determined.
“I don’t think Dirk could have made a better choice,” Damien said. His scowl was gone as his eyes rested thoughtfully onto Wolf.
“So do I,” James replied. He raised his glass to the man.
“Damien, I’m sorry I left you out of the decision. You have been agonizing over Chloe. I just thought an added burden was unnecessary. Usually these decisions don’t interest you,” Dirk commented.
“Maybe they should,” Damien mumbled.
“You’re angry with me because I frightened Chloe, aren’t you? I admit I should have handled her more gently. Things have been so hectic. All I could think of was her ending up in more danger. I can’t stand that she’s been injured. I still feel she was in a lot of pain and in need of relief,” Dirk argued.
“She cries when she’s drugged. The dreams must be horrible. You don’t see it because I’m the one who stays with her. Her father’s death still haunts her. For some reason, in her dreams she believes him to still be alive and coming for her. Her whimpers are so pitiful, but when drugged I can’t reach her or rouse her to soothe her fears; she can’t hear me, Dirk. She’s trapped with him.
“Candy was trapped once; it took a long time for her to hear you. You remember the hell she went through, her terror. Have some compassion for another innocent. A very beloved innocent.” Damien’s eyes looked sadly into his brother’s now understanding expression. He knew Dirk hated being reminded he had at one time terrified Candy so badly she escaped within herself. But this was an argument he would understand.
“We need to talk more,” Dirk said, gruffly.
Damien nodded his agreement.
“For now, why don’t we take a breather? You need to show your wives no one has been injured or killed during this confrontation. I’m certain they will all be eager to see you; it was exceedingly tense during breakfast.
“It’s one of the reasons I don’t like the little ones to join us. Although I agree at this time they need to remain close, tense situation or not. They should remain solely in the care of their overprotective mothers for the time being, while we protect the lot of them. A little later we can regroup,” James suggested. All agreed.
* * * *
Damien walked into Chloe’s room, turned, and locked the door. He glanced at Chloe, who sat on her bed. Her look was pensive, frightened. She stared up at him with trepidation. Damien moved towards her. She trembled, until gaining control. Damien sat on the bed beside her. He stroked a lock of her hair from her bruised forehead.
“Are you all right?” she whispered. She reached for his hand, clasping it to her breast.
“Everything is fine. No one will drug you again, Dirk promised. My brother and I have reached an understanding about the family, my involvement, and how important it is that I take an interested part. This should have happened a long time ago. It took you to make me see it. Thank you.”
“I’m sorry I upset everyone again. I seem to be doing that a lot.”
Damien eased her back onto the bed, then settled himself down beside her. She looked longingly into his deep blue eyes. Eyes that now smoldered with familiar passion. “I want you, Chloe, it’s been far too long,” he declared.
“You better want me, no one else would,” she teased through bright, eager eyes.
“No one else is allowed to,” Damien retorted. “Just me, only me.”
“Only ever you,” Chloe confirmed on a whispered breath as Damien captured her trembling lips to his own.
With deep tenderness he settled himself on top of her.
Chapter Ten
Chloe moaned when Damien’s large body pressed against her, sinking her deeper into the soft mattress. She pulled him closer, enjoying the feel of his familiar frame. His aroma was intoxicating, sensual. He pressed his mouth over hers in a heated dance. His tongue, warm and heavenly soft against hers, demanded possession.
“Chloe,” Damien groaned, wrapping his large fist in her generous locks of silky hair. He settled himself onto her slender body. She could feel him harden with his want of her.
Chloe kissed at his jaw line, his throat, wanting to taste him everywhere at once. She moved her tongue over his ear, tickling him in a way she knew drove him to deep desire. He trailed his hand down her slightly rounded belly.
She moved her fingers from his thigh up to his behind, running the length of him. His flesh quivered like the stunning stallion she had once been permitted to ride. Sleek, majestic, silk-covered power, like concrete, warm flesh. She buried her face against his throat, smelling of heady animal maleness.
Chloe smiled, remembering the first time they had ever made love. Her fear. Before, his large size had always felt so comforting to have around, until he had settled himself on top of her intimately, his intentions clear.
When he trapped her beneath him for the first time, she felt his dominance, his empowering strength. She had worried with indecision, wanting him, afraid of him. Not knowing whether she wanted to push him away or pull him close.
Damien had spent so much time waiting, coaxing, wiping her frightened tears away with soft fingers and lips. He admitted he had spent time with other women, not to make her jealous, but to make certain he was well versed in the art of lovemaking before he had joined with her. She was too important for him to fumble with. He didn’t want her injured or crying out in pain when he entered her. He wanted it to be perfect for her, for them both.
Damien had touched her intimately before, but never with such loving compassion and desire. His hands had trailed with a butterfly's touch over her innocent young body that shivered as her breath increased. It was as though his hands spoke to her flesh, thrilling her.
He wanted her eager for him, he made certain she was. He had soothed h
er with gentle words and promises of undying love. Chloe already knew he loved her. He was her knight, her only love, her everything, her Salvator. Once reaching that conclusion her fear had evaporated; she had wanted him just as much.
When she opened to him he was everything he had promised to be and more. There had been no pain, only pleasure. She needed no coaxing afterwards. She trailed after him eagerly and willingly, loving him even more. Allowing him anything when he continued to be so incredibly gentle with her, coaxing her to try new and exciting ways for him to love her, fill her.
“I need you, Salvator,” Chloe whispered with deep desire, her eyes liquid with her want of him.
“Then you have me. While I take what’s mine.”
His weight pressed her further into the mattress, claiming her. Every inch of his hard body enveloped hers, surrounding her in his cocoon of endless safety. His mouth grew more demanding. His heated breath felt hot against her naked flesh, igniting the flames of desire with such passion Chloe felt she might expire beneath him. She remembered this. His heat, his desire. Her want of him. Oh, how she had missed him. His passion encompassed her. Nothing else mattered except him.
Chloe felt her happy tears dripping as she writhed under him. She had missed his touch, dreamed his scent when alone at night, the sweet taste of his heated skin, the way he called to her body and soul in her dreams. How even in sleep she had wantonly felt his hands upon her, arousing her, seducing her, waking her in a soft sheen of sweat to leave her panting.
Now he was here. His fingers moved to her folds, parting her, touching her within, penetrating her moist slippery heat to her welcoming cave of desire with long, stroking, sensuous passion. Gliding, withdrawing, he was indeed taking what was his. Perhaps she would take what was hers.
“Please now, Damien,” Chloe whispered with urgency, her body tingling, desperate to become one with him.
She struggled beneath him, encouraging him to enter her, shifting, thrusting beneath him. She wanted him hard, fast. She had waited a long time for him. But it seemed he was in no hurry. His mouth suckled first one high breast, drawing her deeply past his teeth, grazing her bud.
Deeper he drew her in until most of her breast disappeared into his hot, wet mouth. Releasing his grip, he moved to the other breast when her hand eagerly offered it as she moaned beneath him. He closed his fingers on a taut nipple, pulling, rolling, manipulating it until it throbbed, ached, arching towards him and seeking his welcomed touch. His hand dipped lower to tease more leisurely when she wanted so much more.
Chloe lowered her hand to stroke the long length of him, feeling his heat and hard arousal. She wrapped him within her tight fist, always amazed at his generous size.
Chloe sucked at his neck, whispering his name and her desperate desire, running her hand around his erection in a pumping motion, harder, until, with a groan, Damien pulled her fist away from him. He lifted both of her legs to bend at the knee, exposing her lush mound before him. His gaze rested onto his ultimate desire before thrusting sharply; he entered her.
She cried out, her body arching to meet him. Damien moved slowly, rocking himself against her clitoris. He groaned as her warm tightness engulfed him, drawing him deeper, loving him; she enveloped him greedily.
“I’ve missed you,” Chloe murmured on a heated moan. She wrapped her legs high around his waist, wanting all of him, clasping him to her. Trying harder to pull him ever closer. His soft chest hairs tickled with his strokes against her sensitive nipples, hardening them further to strain towards him.
“Stay with me, Chloe,” Damien demanded with urgency. “Don’t go away again. I couldn’t stand for you to go away again.”
Chloe wrapped herself around him. She held him closer, her eyes squeezed shut, almost angry he would ask now. He had asked her before to stay. She had wanted to, desperately wanted to, but he hadn’t wanted a formal commitment then.
“Please, don’t hurt me again,” Chloe whimpered. She buried her face into his warm neck.
The last time she had left because he had hurt her. He had expected, in his self-centeredness, she would just stay and wait for him until he was ready to make a formal commitment. She had thought when he had asked he would make it legal. She had been flying high with emotion until his admission had sent her crashing to the ground in agony.
She had left when what she really had wanted was to scream out she wasn’t a toy, his to play with when he was ready. James had known; he had seen and understood her despair. That was why he had acquired a job for her, set her up in an apartment of his choice. He found her something that would test her limits and keep her mind occupied in order to try and lessen the hurt.
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Damien said, holding himself immobile. He looked deeply into her eyes, eyes that were now filled with fear and dread. She could see the shame on his face.
“Please, just make love to me,” Chloe begged.
“Forever,” Damien declared. His hand clasped her chin, holding her gaze, willing her to believe in him.
Chloe could see he was sincere this time. Her eyes lit with happiness and she wrapped her arms around him tightly while her hopes soared once more. She couldn’t stand the thought of going away again either.
* * * *
Damien moved within her once more. He had let her walk out of his life once before. Never again, never ever again. His mouth claimed hers as though sealing their deal. His breath was hot, heavy with want and desire.
He moved harder, faster, pumping as deeply as he was able, to feel her hips become one with his own. The noise of their joining became music to their ears. A wild erotic jungle song, primitive, an ancient hypnotic beat as well versed as time.
His large fist tangled within her hair, gripping her tightly, forcing her jaw up so he could claim her mouth more deeply, capturing her whimpers and moans with his own as they sang in unison. No one would ever again lay a hand on what belonged to him alone.
Chloe writhed beneath him. She dug her fingers deeply into his shoulders, seeking leverage when there was none. He had her. Never before had he taken her so heatedly.
He felt her quick intake of labored breathing when he released her mouth and his grip tightened, filling her unbelievably with more. He was making her his once more, as if she could ever forget. He was claiming her all over again, only this time it was different. He wanted possession of her body, mind, thoughts. He overwhelmed every heated inch of her; he proved victorious as she submitted completely to him and he consumed her.
Chloe cried out his name, arching, clasping his shoulders, and continued to cry out as Damien found his own release, his powerful roar resounding throughout the room in triumph. She shuddered beneath him, breathing heavily, sated, his own rasping breath mixed with hers. For just a brief moment he collapsed on top of her before he rolled with her onto his side, never releasing her from his powerful, possessive grip. His erection remained buried within her intimately. He was loath to end their joining.
“I love you, stay with me forever,” Damien asked once more, his forehead pressed to hers. Damien’s eyes searched hers, offering what he knew he should have before.
“Forever,” Chloe whispered.
* * * *
“This was the work of someone on the inside,” Dirk said quietly to the others gathered around him. Though the disclosure had been suspected, it still came as a shock. Damien could see the pulse at his brother’s neck thumping. It was the only indication he was enraged.
“How can that be possible? A traitor in our midst? Everyone in the family has been checked. There isn’t anyone who has been here under three years. Why now? Why is this occurring now?” another asked. Ten powerful men sat in James’ study, all of various ages, sizes, and race. A few were shifting uncomfortably. Everyone was being scrutinized.
Damien looked at the young man who had spoken. He understood his concern. The young man had been with them for only three years, the baby of the bunch. He could see he was feeling as though targeted. Betra
yal in a family such as theirs was decidedly a dangerous position to be in. Perhaps a deadly position to be in. In their line of work loyalty was not only everything. It was life.
“Perhaps the guilty party is counting on the women and children placing us into a more vulnerable position. All of you are more than capable of looking after yourselves. Do any of you feel our stronghold has been compromised because added security is needed for others who are incapable of defending themselves against men such as ourselves?” Dirk enquired coldly.
His eyes settled onto each man in turn. It was not too long ago Dirk’s wife and baby granddaughter had been kidnapped. Damien knew the man who had taken her, Tyler Darren, and his family of cutthroats was no more; Dirk had seen to it personally.
“Damn it, Dirk, you seem to be forgetting not all of us keep our families under this roof. What about my wife and son?” a large man stormed. His green eyes flashed angrily about the room.
“I realize your wife and you are experiencing some difficulties, Mitch,” James interjected.
The man’s face reddened with embarrassment. Of course James would know. James was aware of everything. “Shawna would never hurt you; she holds great respect for you and everyone here,” the man mumbled.
James chuckled. An image of the petite thirty-something woman with a timeless face came to Damien’s mind.
“No doubt, Mitch, if you and I were in a room with her while she sported any flying paraphernalia she would undoubtedly be aiming in your direction. Whatever possessed you to forget her birthday? I had been under the impression we employed no stupid men,” James said.
At that Mitch turned an even redder shade. “I got her something, eventually,” he muttered.
“Words of wisdom, my young friend: when you forget a woman’s birthday it’s best not to placate with a brand new vacuum cleaner. During the salesman’s test of the appliance, did he suck up your common sense?” The others about snickered at James’ teasing of the man.
“She needed one,” Mitch protested.
“You buy her an engraved gold watch or diamond necklace. Then, my friend, you say in an offhand manner that you were a fool for forgetting something so important, but while you were out you saw something she needed and you didn’t want her to think you so callous as to forget something of importance again,” James said wisely.
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