Damon chuckled as he stepped up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. She sighed and fell back into him. She savoured the feel of his arms surrounding her as her eyes followed the assortment of fish racing back and forth. She could easily stand there for hours just watching them swim around her. It was calming. It was perfect.
"How long did this take to build?"
"Few months. There's a company that does custom aquariums based out of LA. I had them come down and build it."
"It's breathtaking. I don't think I've seen anything like it. There's no words. Is your place in New York like this one?"
"Nope. It's more traditional." Damon leaned down and kissed the side of her neck, sending a shiver through her. She pressed back into him, placing her hands over his.
"It's such an amazing house. It feels like I've stepped into another world. I swear I could live here the rest of my life and be perfectly happy."
"Really?"
The seriousness in his tone had her pulling her eyes from the fish and over her shoulder to look at him. "Who wouldn't; it's paradise."
Damon laughed and lowered his lips to hers. He kissed her softly and pulled away, leaving her longing for a longer, deeper kiss.
"Then wait until you see what I have to show you next."
"I don't think I can handle many more surprises."
He stepped back from her and motioned for her to follow him. Katrina hesitated a moment as she admired his broad shoulders under the grey form-fitting long-sleeved turtleneck shirt he was wearing, and as her eyes lowered, his ass caught her attention - hard and muscular under his jeans.
Her mind raced back to the previous evening when he'd brought her to orgasm with his fingers. How good would his tongue feel between her legs? His cock? She'd experienced it before, but it had been a long time and he'd been her first. She'd always considered him the best she'd ever had - in all ways, but it had been so long the memories had faded slightly - the lines were blurred between what she remembered and what she made up in her head when she pleasured herself thinking of him. And since there had been so many years past since they'd last been together, perhaps he had even more tricks up his sleeve?
She longed to find out.
"Well, come on." Damon glanced over his shoulder and motioned for her to catch up.
As she came closer to the glass doors at the end of the aquarium tunnel she began to hear chirping.
Opening the door Damon ushered her in. "Hustle or they'll get out and we'll spend the evening chasing them though the house."
Katrina moved as fast as her heels would let her and brushed past him and into yet another spectacular room. The room was a gigantic conservatory and most of the birds appeared to be behind a thin metal mesh. However, her eyes immediately spotted a massive parrot sitting at the center of a round white table. He was focused on trying to pry the lid off a large silver platter.
As they approached the parrot lifted his head and froze his beak on the handle of the lid. He eyed her, then Damon and then back to her. He released the lid and took a step back, lowering his head as if upset that he was caught.
"Wasn't me," he squawked.
Katrina bit down on her lower lip, as she watched him pull himself up to his full height. "Wasn't me," he repeated, followed by, "fucker." He began to shift from foot to foot, flapping his wings as if daring them to challenge him.
Katrina's mouth dropped open, shocked for a moment before a burst of laughter erupted from her. She glanced over at Damon who was also grinning, but didn't seem near as shocked as she was at Ralph's explicit language.
Damon put his arm out and whistled. Ralph immediately took flight and landed on Damon's arm. Damon reached into his front pants pocket and pulled out a mini carrot passing it to Ralph. Grabbing it with his left foot, Ralph eyed Katrina as he chewed at the carrot. Once he was done he began getting anxious, rocking back and forth, his eyes glued to Katrina who had come to stand beside Damon.
"Hello," he cooed, his head rocking back and forth.
Katrina smiled and looked at Damon, catching his smiling eyes.
"Hello... Hello... Hello.... HELLLLOOOO!" He screeched flapping his wings to gain their attention.
Damon laughed. "For God sakes say hi before Ralph takes a heart attack. He doesn't like being ignored."
Still smiling, Katrina turned her attention back to Ralph. "Hello Ralph."
Ralph stopped his rocking and seemingly satisfied with the introductions, spread his wings and flew over to a perch by the table a few feet away.
"Is he a rescue as well?" Katrina asked as they made their way to the little table.
"Nope. I've had him since he was old enough to be taken from the breeder. He usually goes wherever I go. He's been all over the US and has his own room in the house in Manhattan." Damon pulled out a chair for her, motioning for to sit. "He's as close to family as I have," he shrugged, "aside from the housekeeper Lily."
Chapter 8
There it was - the look of pity in her eyes. He hated that look. She used to get that same look each time he was thrown into a new foster home. He regretted his previous statement. She had a way of making him say things without filter - not something he generally did. Usually, every word, every move, every action was calculated.
Damon turned and took a seat across from her, busying himself with opening the stainless steel container.
"Mom said if you don't drop by and say hi when we get back to Bangor, you'll be in big trouble bucko. Her exact words."
Damon grinned and released a sigh of relief at the change in topic. Lifting the cover he uncovered a BBQ rotisserie chicken with a number of pasta salads and potato wedges. One of her favourite meals - or used to be anyhow.
"How are your parents anyhow?" He couldn't believe he hadn't even asked of them.
"Divorced." She replied grabbing a potato wedge and popping it into her mouth. "This smells delicious, by the way."
"I'll forward the compliment to Lily." He opened a bottle of wine and began to pour some, while she helped herself to the chicken. "What happened there?" Not that he was shocked; he could see a divorce in their future even when they were kids. All her parents ever did was fight.
"Dad decided to marry his secretary and mom has sworn off of men, apparently you are all swine that can't be trusted." She said matter-of-factly, an amused gleam in her eyes.
Damon lifted a brow at her. "That a fact? And she wants me to drop in and say hi?"
Katrina grinned. "Go figure huh? She always liked ya."
"And your dad is with the secretary?"
Katrina scooped up a spoonful of macaroni salad and grinned. "Pretty cliché, huh?"
"Indeed."
"Have you ever had a thing for your secretary?"
Damon paused, his glass of wine partway to his mouth. His mind raced backward in time two years when he'd first hired Becky.
"Oh-my-God! You dog, you did!" Grabbing a potato wedge, Katrina tossed it at him, hitting him square in the chest. "That's so nasty!"
'''I didn't say that!" he defended, blocking another potato wedge that came sailing across the table at him.
"You don't have to. I can see it written all over your face. You're the worst liar ever, Damon Garratt!" Despite her mock outrage, he could see the humour in her eyes.
Damon set his glass down and spread his arms out, palms out in mock surrender. "Okay, okay it happened once. At the office."
Her eyes widened and a wide smile spread across her lips. "Not on your desk!"
He could feel his face grow hot. "Not here. But in New York, in the actual office... Yes. Once." He felt the need to seriously stress once.
She cocked her head to the side and eyed him, clucking her tongue off the roof of her mouth. "So once, huh?"
He nodded.
"But you never brought her here?"
His smile faded and he reached across the table to take her hands in his, partly because he wanted to touch her and partly because he wanted to ensure he didn't get anoth
er potato wedge chucked at him. "I never bring anyone here Katrina."
Her smile faded as her gaze caught his. "Never."
He shook his head. "I've had the ranch five years and you're the first I've brought here." He gave her hand a tug and she stood and made her way around the table to perch herself on him, straddling his lap, her skirt riding all the way up her thighs.
Damon pulled her tight and brushed his lips along the side of her neck. The sweet smell of apples washed over him. She smelt so good. She felt so good. How in the name of God had he been able to leave her? She sighed softly and let her head drop to the side, giving him better access to the tender flesh.
"Why haven't you brought anyone here?"
"Just haven't." Damon nipped at the side of her neck and she gasped, her fingers fisting his shirt at the shoulders. He ran his tongue along the side and up to her earlobe, nipping lightly.
"No. I... Why me?"
"I think you know," he murmured. She wiggled on his lap bringing his dick to life. It swelled as his hand slipped up her outer thigh and caressed her bare ass. Bare? The little vixen wasn't wearing any panties. His dick went from semi-hard to rock solid in two seconds flat at the discovery.
"This is crazy Damon," she gasped, as he began to kiss his way across her jaw to her lips.
"Crazy is the fact that you didn't put on panties Miss Alexander," he chided, and then claimed her mouth before she had a chance to respond.
Her lips parted for him in a soft moan that rocked him to the core with need. His tongue thrust into her mouth, which tasted of sweet wine to duel with hers. The ache in his dick increased and he had to fight to keep his desire reigned in. He couldn't remember wanting her - or anyone for that matter - so badly. How he was going to be able to hold back from taking her until they had "the" discussion he had no clue.
She pulled back from him, pressing her forehead to his, her breathing ragged. "I ummm." She closed her eyes and buried her face against his neck. Her body trembled over his.
"Hmmm. Kat."
She pulled back and caught his eyes, the desire flaring in her eyes. "Would you believe me if I said I forgot to pack them?"
Damon threw back his head as a roar of laughter rocked through him. "Not for a second."
A loud crash sounded behind Katrina, keeping him from responding. They both turned to see Ralph had snuck onto the table and was standing on the chicken, his beak covered in macaroni salad and in the middle of eating a potato wedge. Sensing he was being watched Ralph lifted his eyes and looked from Damon to Katrina and back again.
"Wasn't me," Ralph squawked, despite being caught red-handed. "Fuckers!"
Katrina giggled and her face lit up with amusement. "I think dinner is ruined."
"We can go to the kitchen and get something else, or I can take you out to eat." Damon glanced down at his watch. 7pm. "The night is still young."
Katrina brushed her lips across his. "The last thing I want to do is leave. Not when we're comfortable. And..." She kissed her way to his neck.
Damon's body tensed. Maybe he should just lay it all on the line now and then... No. Not yet. "Hey, I have an idea..." He stood, and she slid from his lap to stand in front of him.
*****
Katrina groaned inwardly. What does a girl have to do to get some more action with this man? It was sweet that he didn't want to rush things - but damn! Every part of her wanted him. She'd never thrown herself on a man like this before. It was evident he wanted her as much as she wanted him, so what was the problem? Sure they hadn't seen each other for a decade, but they were hardly strangers.
"We can drop this in the kitchen and then figure something out." Damon called over his shoulder at her. Carrying the wine, Katrina followed Damon out of the conservatory, through the aquarium tunnel and into the house.
"I'm really not hungry anyhow Damon. I gorged on the plane remember?"
"Well, if you're sure. It just occurred to me that since I gave Lily the week of we'll have to fend for ourselves. I hope you can cook because-"
"- you still suck at it," she finished for him, quickening her pace so she was walking at his side.
He looked down at her and cocked a brow, amused. "You know how much I hate when you do that."
"Finish your-"
"-sentences," he interrupted. "Yes."
"Smart ass," she grumbled, rolling her eyes and fighting a grin threatening to emerge. "First off, you let Lily have the week off?"
"Yeah, thought we could have some privacy." He gave her a wink that sent a shiver through her. Mixed signals or what!
She was about to respond when they reached the kitchen. For at least the hundredth time since she entered the house she was speechless. The kitchen was massive, equipped with the latest and newest appliances. Glancing at the stove, it looked more like the control panel to launch a NASA space shuttle then a stove. Maybe they would be eating out.
She ran her fingers along the marble countertops. "This is incredible Damon. I think my entire apartment would fit into this kitchen."
Damon's eyes scanned the room and he nodded. "I like it." Grabbing a bucket from under the sink he tossed it all in.
"What are you doing?"
"Gabe will love this. He'll have it gone within a minute. Waste not, want not and all that; especially when you have some housemates with some seriously large appetites."
"He'll eat macaroni salad?"
"Oh yeah, mixed with rotisserie chicken. Hell yeah."
"And as I think about it, it's beautiful out tonight, so there's another area of the house I'd like to show you."
"Do you have flamingos in the back yard Damon?" From what she's seen so far it wouldn't have surprised her.
Damon smirked. "Not yet."
"An elephant?"
Damon laughed outright. "No. Actually, you've seen all of the animals, aside from the horses that I'm sure you noticed as we drove in."
"Then what?" She was dying with suspense. It appeared that with Damon anything was possible.
Hooking his index finger under her chin, he lifted her eyes to his, leaned down and kissed her softly. "Patience, Kat." Lifting the bucket he exited motioning for her to follow him. "Bring the wine."
*****
As suspected it was late enough in the evening that the sun had almost completely fallen behind the mountain range, leaving red and orange streaks in the darkened sky. Damon dumped the dinner into Gabe's dish that Gabe immediately began to gobble down - barely taking time to swallow - as if he hadn't been fed in a week, when in all actuality he'd been fed that afternoon.
Damon loved how she was beaming from ear to ear. Her excitement was contagious, even though he knew where he was leading them. He was beginning to feel more carefree than he had in a long, long time. Since high school if he were to be honest with himself.
The rush of gaining a new business and seeing the amounts in his bank accounts rise on a daily basis was an addictive adrenaline rush, but it wasn't true happiness. It was like an addict, waiting for his next high. The anticipation and rush were exhilarating when they got their fix, but it wasn't fulfilling. But after a while, you begin to live for the rush and only the rush and simply enjoying life becomes a forgotten desire.
With her, he was actually feeling happy. It was different than the rush he'd been living his life chasing after, it was better. It was squeezing out his need for the rush. But with it came a major drawback; the reality of how lonely and one-dimensional his life had become was like a slug to the gut. He wasted so many years chasing his next high... If the cancer hadn't put his life in limbo how many more years would he have wasted? If there was one good thing to come out of this whole ordeal then it was that he was shown what was really important in life, before he became too old to make changes. He could begin to lead a life of fulfillment instead of one consumed with his need for money and power.
Katrina slid her arm around his waist and pulled herself tight to him. Looking down at Katrina, his smile widened as their eyes locked. D
raping his arm around her shoulders he pulled her just a bit tighter to his left side.
He was fighting with himself. He wanted her - badly. He was thankful for Ralph and his interruption of them earlier, because if it hadn't been for him breaking the mood, Damon wouldn't have had the power to deny her.
"Holy shit!" Katrina pulled away from his embrace as they rounded the corner and they stepped into the pool area. The pool area had been set up to look like a tiki island getaway, with a lagoon pool with waterfall and bar island in the center. Off of the pool was a hot tub.
"Hold on." Damon walked over to the control panel and opened it. Pressing a few buttons the area came alive. Tiki torches lit up surrounding the pool and soft sultry music began playing softly.
"Look at the lights in the pool!"
Damon watched, amused, as she hurried over to the pool. The soft, warm wind picked up and a gust of wind lifted her skirt giving him a view of her bare bottom, giving him his very own extremely arousing Marilyn Monroe style flash. He gritted his teeth, pushing down his arousal.
Damon made his way over to her, and looked down into the pool. Lights in blue, red and yellow softly shone up through the water, breaking through, moving and dancing.
She spun around to turn to him and chewed at her lower lip as she reached behind her. "But I don't have a swimsuit..." A soft unzipping sound reached his ears as the bodice of her sundress began to loosen around her.
He closed his eyes and tried to control the jerking of his dick as it came alive. "Well, we could just-"
"-Moonbath," she teased. His eyes lifted to the sky and discovered she was right, the sun was fully down and the full moon had begun to appear. She kicked off her shoes.
Touching her shoulders he slipped the straps of the dress down her upper arms. The pale yellow bodice peeled away to reveal her modest breasts that looked as beautiful to him as they had a decade ago. The dress slowly slid down her body leaving her gloriously naked for him to feast his eyes upon.
An Heir For The Billionaire Page 6
