His words send a flutter through my stomach. This side of Damien is the perfect mix of sexy and sweet. I don’t know how he manages the balance, but he makes me feel protected and dominated all at once, and it’s a feeling I’m quickly becoming addicted to.
“Don’t move,” he says, leaning down to press a lingering kiss on my clit before getting up and walking to the bathroom. I stare at his ass the entire time, and when he comes back with a wet rag, I run my eyes over his tattooed body before landing on the giant cock that was just inside me.
“I still can’t believe you fit,” I say, making him laugh as he kneels between my legs again. When he presses the warm clothto my sore pussy, I let out a moan of appreciation and sink into the pillows. “Thank you. That feels amazing.”
“You don’t need to thank me. I like taking care of you, and it’s my fault you’re in pain.”
I smile at him and say, “It’s a good pain.”
He smiles before lying down on his side. Keeping the cloth in place, he scoots an arm under my head and pulls me closer. His fingers trace lazy circles along my skin, trailing from my stomach to my breasts before slowly dragging the tip of one finger around my nipple.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop touching you,” he admits while I watch each teasing stroke of his fingers. “How long do you think we can hide in here before your family notices?”
I grab his hand and bring his fingers to my lips so I can kiss them. “We have the night at least,” I tell him, hating that he’s already thinking about our inevitable goodbye tomorrow. There’s a sadness in his dark eyes when he meets mine, and my desire to take it away is so strong that I start to get up.
“Just a sec,” I tell him, when he looks like he’s about to tighten his grip on me and refuse to let me go. “I have something for you.”
He lets me go, making no attempt to hide the way he’s checking me out as I scurry out of bed and walk to my bag. Fair is fair, so I let him look and resist the urge to cover my ass when I turn my back on him to dig his gift out. Giving him this is a gamble, but I’m hoping it’ll make him smile and take away the sad look in his eyes.
Walking back over to him, I sit on the bed and hand him his gift. He grins and sits up, leaning against the headboard as he slowly rips the paper off. His face is unreadable as he drags a finger along the cover of the book. It’s a guide to the flora andfauna of Oregon. I even dog-eared the pages that describe the cormorant, Sitka trees, and turritella shells.
“It’s not new or anything,” I tell him. “But it’s one of my favorites, and I really wanted you to have it.” Reaching out, I grab the cover and open it so he’ll see the inscription I wrote him, the one I’d worked so hard on, the one where I admit that I’ve fallen in love with him.
I watch his dark eyes quickly scan the page before he closes the book and smiles over at me. “Thanks, Sitka. I love it.”
When he sets the book aside without another word, I feel my heart start to slowly break. I didn’t expect him to read the whole book or anything, but I did expect some sort of reaction to me confessing my love for the first time.
I feel my cheeks heat up as the seconds tick by and he doesn’t say anything. The silence is like a slap to the face. When I feel the tears start to prick at my eyes and my throat grow painfully tight, I panic and do the only thing I can think to do. I turn my back on him and run, grabbing his hoodie on the way so I can shove it over my head and save myself the added embarrassment of bolting out while bare-assed.
“Sitka,” Damien hollers after me, but I ignore him, not even allowing myself to look back as I run down the hall and towards the French doors. My only plan is to get as far away from here as possible. Pulling the door open, I ignore the cold wind that hits me right in the face and keep running.
“Sitka! Wait!”
Tears block my vision as I scramble past the pool and down the path to the beach. My only hope is that I can find a place to hide and then sneak into Allie’s window after he’s either given up or gone in a different direction. Once I hit the sand, I pick up speed, running as fast as I can while the waves crash against the shore, completely hidden in darkness but a comfort all the same. This is my home, every inch of it familiar to me. I was stupid toleave my comfort zone. I should’ve kept my fucking head down and been content with my books.
I’m still berating myself when I hear the thud of his footsteps behind me. With my thighs and lungs burning, I try for a last burst of energy, but before I can get much further, Damien’s arm wraps around my waist, hauling me to a stop and back against the solid wall of his chest. I try to wriggle free, but give up when it’s obvious he isn’t budging and instead focus on trying to catch my breath.
It doesn’t work. I start sobbing while he wraps both his arms around me from behind. “Sitka,” he says, and the pain in his voice matches exactly how I feel right now—completely shattered and confused about how I could’ve read things so wrong.
“Baby, you’re killing me.” He brushes my hair back and tries to wipe the tears from my cheeks. I’m not usually this emotional, but this cut too deeply, and I’m helpless to hide it. “Please tell me what’s wrong. What did I do?”
I let out a frustrated groan and break free of his grasp so I can turn and face him. He’s in nothing but his black boxers, looking just as devastated as I feel. It’s too dark for me to see every detail of his expression, but I can see enough, and I don’t understand why he’s the one looking so hurt right now.
“Please tell me,” he says again. “I swear I can fix it. I just need you to tell me what I did wrong.”
“I just feel like an idiot,” I say, swiping the tears from my cheek.
“Why?”
I let out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. “Oh, I don’t know, Damien. Probably because I just told you I love you and you completely ignored it like it meant nothing. I was so stupid,” I say more to myself than to him. “I shouldn’t have assumed you felt the same way.”
“Wait, when did you tell me you love me?”
I lift my eyes to his, feeling like I’ve stepped into an alternate reality. “Why are you pretending? I don’t understand. When did I tell you? I just showed you. You remember the inscription in the book I just gave you less than twenty minutes ago? You read it right in front of me and then just set it aside like it meant nothing.”
Damien’s body stiffens at my words, like I’ve just physically smacked him, and when I start to cry again, he ducks his head and grips the back of his neck with one hand.
“I’m sorry,” he finally says, the words spoken so low I almost miss them. He keeps his head down when he says, “I didn’t know.”
