“Are you cold?” he asked as he reached for another towel to drape over her shoulders.
“No, not at all. I can’t stop shaking, though.”
Damon nodded and turned his attention to her ribs. “Just the adrenaline then. Fight or flight is a bitch.” His warm hands gingerly pressed along her side, stopping to ask her if she felt any pain.
“No, nothing too bad...just like a bruise.”
“What about here?” The way he crouched brought his face very close to hers. The scent of his aftershave filled her senses, bringing a flood of memories back from the night they’d spent together. She forced herself to focus but it felt so good to be touched.
“It’s good. I think I’m just sore, really.”
Damon scanned her face to detect any deceit but seemed satisfied enough. She thought she saw his eyes dart to her lips for a second. He brought his hand up, hesitating for a moment at her chin, then moved to brush the hair from her forehead. “This is probably going to scar if you don’t get stitches,” he muttered. “It’s less of a cut and more of a tear.”
Lauren shook her head vehemently. “No needles. I can’t stand needles. Besides, scars give you character.” She hoped it sounded more convincing to him than it did to her. She felt scared, childish, willing to let him take control of the situation.
“Alright, have it your way. Take a seat, I’ll just use a couple butterflies on it.”
She watched his expression as he began dabbing at the blood on her head. There was something about having him in such close proximity that made her feel uninhibited. It was a challenge to get a rise out of him, to be on an equal foot with him conversationally and intellectually. “Do you even know what you’re doing? What does a suit know about first aid? Maybe you should call an ambulance...”
“I’ve forgotten more about first aid then half those EMTs have even learned,” he replied with a smile, his eyes trained on her wound. “I was a medic in the Army.” Lauren’s eyebrows shot up forcing him to pull away. “You don’t have to act all that surprised. Calm yourself or it’ll start to bleed again.”
“Army, huh? I suppose that makes sense. Yeah, actually, I can see it now.” Her eyes traveled over his face. Individually, his features were nothing special. A strong chin, intelligent eyes, a full head of hair. When put together, they formed the powerful presence that was Damon Kael.
After applying the bandages to her head, he said, “Let me see those hands. Ah, shit...and your knees?”
Lauren looked down and saw most of the skin on the heels of her hands and knees had been scraped raw. She recalled similar injuries when she was younger, falls on the playground or spills from her bike. She gritted her teeth as he began dabbing the scrapes with antiseptic.
Perhaps as a way to distance herself from the pain and forget the events of the night, she found her mind drifting back to the night she’d spent with him. He’s always there to pick me back up again, isn’t he? He’d made her feel things she’d never felt before. Although it couldn’t compare to sex with Landon, it was still incredible. It’s not that Damon was any better in bed, he was just...different. The things he’d done with his tongue, his commanding yet sensual nature, the way he’d controlled her. It all swirled through her mind. The feeling of his hands on her body brought the images into sharp focus.
The cool washcloth felt amazing against her increasingly flushed skin. As he wiped the blood from her knee, she shifted forward, spreading her legs a fraction wider. Damon’s eyebrow twitched but he otherwise gave no outward indication he’d noticed her movement. She could feel the flush rising in her chest, a pink hue spreading up her neck and into her cheeks. Placing her hands behind her, she leaned back, her chest rising and falling with her steady breath. Every movement, every gesture was casual but dripping with insinuation.
“There you go, all sorted,” he finally declared, smoothing the ripples from the large bandage on her knee. His green eyes rose to meet hers and it was like an industrial magnet had been switched on. His mouth fell open slightly as he took her in. He straightened his knees, making them nearly the same height. Lauren gasped a little as he placed his hands on the outside of either thigh, sliding slowly up her leg. She bit her lip and opened her legs a little wider.
“You’re feeling better now?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper. Lauren nodded, releasing the hold she had on her lip. With a quick movement, Damon grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled her towards him, his torso slotting nicely between her legs. With one strong hand gripping her back, his other pulled her lips to his own. Like a tree bowing in hurricane-force winds, Lauren bent to his demanding touch. His tongue parted her lips, swirling and dancing in her mouth. She raked her fingers through his hair.
He tugged at her bra, freeing her breasts with a quick flick of his fingers. The pain, the shock, it’d all set her nerves on fire. Every touch was almost too intense. With a low growl, his tongue traced a line down her neck to her breast, circling around the hardening nipple. She gasped as he sucked into into his mouth, flicking, teasing.
Her pussy throbbed in response, his hand seeming to sense the pulsing desire. As his finger slipped under the elastic, she released a shuddering breath.
“I can’t do this. I love him. I actually love him,” she whispered. The words tumbled out of her before she even knew what she’d said.
Damon pressed his forehead to hers, eyes locked. His mouth hung open as if ready to consume her.
“I’m not sure I believe in love, love,” he said. His fingers still caressed her skin, a temptation to give in, to relinquish her control.
She closed her eyes, hoping that if she could block one sense she’d have enough willpower to resist. “I do.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he backed away with a grumble.
“He better treat you better than this last one.” Damon pushed back onto his heels and sat in a crouch as he regarded her. “Now that I’m all fired up, if you have any idea where this ex of yours is staying tonight, I’d be more than willing to go pay him a visit.” He stood and retrieved an over-sized bathrobe from the back of the door. She bit her lip as her eyes fell to the bulge in his pants. She forced herself to look away.
“Nick? Why would you...oh, no. He wasn’t the one who did this to me,” she replied, taking the robe from his hand. She stood and cinched the belt tight. “I know exactly who did this and she better never show her face in that office again.”
“Ah, work related, huh? Well, I hope you got a few hits in yourself,” he muttered, focusing on her cut forehead.
Lauren remembered the sensation of pulling her heel out of Rochelle’s foot and cringed slightly. “She’ll think twice next time.” She exhaled sharply. “When did my life get like this? Does all this just come with the territory?”
“If you’re asking whether or not I’ve been jumped in a dark alley by a crazed ex-employee the answer is no. But, shit happens.”
Lauren hugged herself tightly. “I always feel like I’ve bitten off way more than I can chew. Once I feel like I’ve gotten a handle on it, another wave comes crashing down on me.” She sighed and glanced at Damon, his expression unreadable. Enough complaining. It gets you nowhere. “I’d really just like to go to sleep right now.”
“Headache? Dizziness?”
“Nope.”
“Then that’s exactly what you should do, love. Let me tuck you in.” Lauren gave him a look to which he replied, “No funny business, I swear. I won’t stand in the way of your happiness, no matter how badly I want you.”
His voice echoed through her dream, touching a deeper part of her psyche. He sounded frightened.
“Wren baby, wake up.”
She didn’t want to. She wanted to stay right where she was. It was warm by the lake. Sitting on the end of her favorite dock, her toes dangling in the cool water below. It was serene. Calm. She missed the calm...she was fishing with her brother.
“Sweetie, please wake up.” His voice was almost sing-songy but then it shifte
d as he turned to speak to someone else. “Jesus dude, how could you let someone with a head injury go to sleep? What the fuck?”
Lauren struggled to open her eyes. Her lids felt impossibly heavy and it took all her willpower to not slip back into sleep. She was aware of someone standing from the bed, the mattress springing back. Landon?
“Why didn’t you call someone? Why didn’t you take her to the hospital?” Landon began to panic. “Who the fuck are you to her, anyway? You better be her uncle or—”
“Or what?” came the deep reply. “What exactly are you gonna do to me?” Damon paused and took a deep breath. “I cleaned her up, assessed her injuries. We talked for a while and she didn’t have any signs—”
“You can’t always be sure! Sometimes the symptoms are delayed...”
She felt like everything was moving through a thick jelly. Her thoughts were slow, her movements even slower. “Guys,” she managed in a small whisper. They continued arguing over her. “Guys! I’m up, I’m up. Just please stop shouting.” Landon rushed back to her side and she smiled up at him.
“See? She’s fine. I’ll go get her a cup of coffee,” Damon said in his gravelly voice.
“Black,” said Landon over his shoulder.
“I know how she likes her coffee,” was the clipped response.
He looked exhausted, worry lines creasing his tanned skin, but he instantly smiled as she awoke. “Hey beautiful. How you feeling?”
“What are you doing here?” she asked groggily. “I told you—how did you find me?”
He brushed the hair away from her forehead to examine the bandaged gash and cringed. “Are you dizzy? Are you sure you’re—”
“I’m fine. A little sore and tired, but fine. Really.” She squeezed his hand.
“I love you so much, Wren.” Lauren pushed herself up, suddenly wide awake. Landon continued, his brown eyes earnest. “This isn’t exactly the way I’d imagined telling you but on the flight over, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I hadn’t gotten a chance to say it. If something had happened to you before I could...” his voice broke.
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think,” she replied flinging her arms around his neck. “I didn’t mean to worry you. It’ll never happen again, I swear. I completely forgot about what happened to you...” Landon held her tightly before pulling back and looking deeply into her eyes.
“You’re right, it won’t happen again because I don’t plan on ever leaving your side,” he chuckled, wiping the wetness from his eyes.
Still processing his declaration, Lauren was about to speak when Damon came in with a tray of coffee cups. She immediately noticed the yellow envelope tucked under his arm. He glanced at Landon and she felt him tense beside her. Couple alpha guys here, she thought to herself. I’m gonna have to smooth things over.
“We’ve got a problem,” he said. For the second time in a day Lauren felt panic rise just by seeing Damon’s response. “Marco told me a delivery guy just dropped this off. Has your name on it,” he said nodding in her direction.
“Fucking hell...what now?” Landon muttered as he reached out for the envelope. He unwound the string and lifted the flap, upturning it on the bed. A handful of large photos tumbled out and it took only a glimpse for Lauren to recognize the nude photos she’d sent him just a day before. She was interested in the sheet of white paper that had fallen out first.
Lauren groaned as she read the note. “If this wasn’t so cheesy and stereotypical stalker, it’d almost be creepy.” Each letter on the note was cut from different magazines and taped to the sheet. “‘Glad you two love birds are finally together,’” she read out loud.
Damon leaned against the far wall with a mug of steaming coffee in his hand. “The fact I got this package delivered to my house tells me your phones have been hacked. Whoever’s doing this probably got my address when I finally answered Lauren’s phone last night and gave you directions,” he said to Landon before returning his gaze to Lauren. “Not to mention the photos were obviously taken on your phone.”
“You looked at the photos?” Landon snapped.
“Wrong fight,” Lauren replied calmly, touching his arm. She took a deep breath and set her jaw. “Alright. We’re gonna need to get new phones, obviously. I’m going to assume my other one has been hacked as well, just in case. Nick knows we’re here,” she trailed off as she thought. “This building has parking downstairs, right?”
Landon nodded and replied before Damon could. “Yeah, I parked the rental down there this morning when I got in.”
“Okay, good. I doubt he’ll be expecting us to leave in a car. If he’s watching, he’ll be paying attention to the front door. I’ll get my things together and we can get a head start for home, what do you think?” she asked Landon.
He looked surprised at her calmness but nodded. “I think we should take this to the police first, but other than that, it sounds like a good plan.”
Lauren flushed at the idea of turning over the photos for evidence. That’s the last time I do something like that, she thought. Lesson learned. “You’re right. That might even be better. We’ll walk to the police department, let him see us together. It’ll give him a false sense of success or something.” She glanced at Damon who was grinning at her. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all this.”
“No worries. Sounds like you have everything under control. I’ll be gone most of the weekend anyway and security won’t let anyone up here.” She could tell Landon didn’t like the way Damon was looking at her. I’ll explain it all later. Well, most of it.
8.
After a fairly quick, but embarrassing trip to the police department to deliver the photos, she and Landon packed up the rental car and headed north. They’d stopped just outside of the city to grab a couple prepaid phones which were charging in the center console. Lauren was at the wheel, winding her way upstate through the Catskill Mountains on the way to Lake George. She was enjoying the drive, watching the trees practically change color in front of her eyes. The oranges, reds, and yellows seemed more vibrant the further north they drove. They’d barely spoken for the first hour. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, neither of them knew where to start.
Lauren finally decided to break the silence. “We have a little under three hours until we’re pulling up to my parents house,” she said glancing to her right. “Whatever it is we need to talk about, we should do it now.”
She saw a muscle in his jaw twitch. “Fair enough. The only thing I want to know is how you ended up staying in Damon Kael’s house. For the first time in our relationship, I’m the one feeling blindsided here.”
Straight to it, huh? She took a deep breath and dove straight in. “I met him through StyleSpur. He came in for a meeting a few months ago, long before you and I met. We struck up a...” she paused, searching for the correct word, “friendship. Well, he’s more of a mentor than a friend, really.”
“A mentor,” he replied flatly, eyes fixed on the highway.
“Is that so hard to believe? He’s a very successful businessman, why wouldn’t I go to him for advice?”
“I know who he is. Fuck Wren, everyone knows who Damon Kael is and he’s not the sort of person to take on apprentices. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you knew him personally. Don’t you think it’s a little suspect that he’s taken you under his wing? That he might want a little something in return?”
“Oh what? Just because I have tits? Maybe he just hasn’t come across anyone worth mentoring until he met me, did you think of that? Good to know that’s how you think.” Her fists tightened on the steering wheel. I refuse to apologize for something that happened before we got together. And as for last night...well, I stopped it before it went too far.
“Wren, you know I don’t think like that, but Damon—”
“You don’t even know him. He’s managed to bail me out of two very sticky situations as well as guide me through some of the toughest shit I’ve encountered in my career. Beca
use of him, I was brave enough to even explore my idea in the first place. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to come out to Sonoma when you invited me.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” he said defensively. “He just has a bit of a reputation of being a hard-ass, that’s all. It’s completely out of character from everything I’ve heard. If he’s been good to you, then I’m satisfied.” Lauren huffed, not yet ready to let go of her anger. She wasn’t used to men just apologizing right away. “Really, I’m sorry,” he said placing his hand on her knee.
She exhaled loudly and smiled at him. “It’s alright. I know what that must’ve looked like. I’m just glad you’re here now and everything’s moving ahead. This shit with Nick is just getting annoying now. I can’t believe he managed to hack into my phone, our phones. The guy needed help setting up his cable box.” Landon laughed and gave her an incredulous look. “Well, not really, but close. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Do you think there’s any chance we’ll run into him this weekend?” Landon asked, his expression darkening. Lauren loved the way his eyes turned almost black when he was upset.
“There’s always a chance, I suppose. I figure he’s probably staked out watching Damon’s building. Maybe we can really throw him off by sending each other texts on the old phones?”
“Yeah, why not? I’d rather put my fist through his face.” A brief quiet fell between them as she shared the same fantasy. “Have you thought about what you’re going to tell your parents about your battle wounds?”
“I was just going to wait until you were out of the room and tell them you hit me,” she replied in a monotone voice.
“That’s not fucking funny!”
She giggled. “Alright, not that funny. I guess I’ll just tell them the truth. Some psycho bitch attacked me after I fired her.”
Playing with Power - Book 5: New Adult Office Romance Page 6
