Danger That Is Damion (28 page)

“I could say the same of you,” he said, maneuvering her under him as he slid on top of her, his big body framing hers. Their breath mingled, the air around them shifting, thickening with desire. The sexy male scent of him wrapped her in a warm blanket of desire. The lightness of his tone turned raspy, laden with desire. “I want you, Lara. I want you more than I have ever wanted another woman.”

“Because of the mark,” she said, speaking the fear she hadn’t even admitted to herself. “It makes us want each other. What we feel isn’t real.”

“Ah sweetheart,” he said, kissing her jaw, her neck, and then whispering near her ear. “That’s where you’re wrong. We created the mark. It didn’t create us.” His teeth grazed her neck, then her lobe. “And I wanted you the minute I set eyes on you,
before
the mark ever existed.”

“That was the bikini.”

“You,
in
the
bikini
,” he assured her. He cupped her backside. “Have I mentioned how much I love your little heart-shaped backside, especially in that bikini?”

“You were on duty,” she said, smiling despite herself, her fingers sliding together at the back of his neck. “You shouldn’t have been looking at my backside.”

“Exactly my point,” he agreed. “I’ve never, ever been distracted on the job. But you… you stole my breath then, and you still do.”

A mixture of heat, desire, and an emotion she was afraid to name, rushed through her. “Damion,” she whispered, the hardness of his chest against her palms. He’d been there for her in so many ways, and she was falling hard. Too hard and too fast. “You are… you make me…”

“Yeah,” he said softly, seeming to read her mind. “I’m afraid of caring about you too, but it’s too late. I already do. I’m not running from it, and neither are you. Not because you’re afraid. I won’t let you. And I don’t mean that like some dominating asshole either—we both know you can bust my chops if I get out of line.” His voice softened again. “But if you try to run just because you’re afraid of some past that doesn’t matter, then I’ll fight you on it. We’re in this together now, Lara, and we’ll deal with the past, one memory and one day at a time.”

Yes. She wanted to scream,
yes
, but… “What if—”

“What if you stop saying ‘what if’ and just
be
with me? And ‘what if’ I do this?” He slanted his mouth over hers, his tongue parting her lips, pressing intimately into her mouth. She breathed him in, drank him in, until he gently nipped her bottom lip with his teeth. “And finally, ‘what if’ I give you an orgasm, and then do it again and again, until you forget all your reasons to worry.” One of his hands slid over her breast, before he caressed a path down her sides, until he pressed her shirt upward and touched his lips to her stomach. Goose bumps prickled her skin, and instantly sent heat over her entire body.

He caressed her hips and then unsnapped her pants. “Unless you still want that separate room?”

She leaned on her elbows, and her head was clear, the pain gone. There was only pleasure and this man who’d taken her world by storm. “You don’t play fair.”

“Payback is hell,” he said, reminding her of how mercilessly she had teased him several nights before.

“Remember that,” she said. “Because payback
is
hell.”

“I can only hope I’ll be so lucky,” he said, squatting and tugging her boots off. Then he pulled her to the end of the bed, her backside on the edge of the mattress. “It’s time to get you out of these clothes.” With deft hands he unzipped her pants, and she lifted her hips and let him slide them and the black panties she wore, away. He spread her legs, his palms skimming a path up her legs, even as he bent down and blew wickedly over her clit, teasing her with the promise of his mouth, his hands. He didn’t give them to her though. Instead, he leaned back and tugged off his shirt. “Take yours off.”

“You’re bossy,” she said, sitting up to do as he said.

“So are you,” he reminded her. “And it’s my turn. You had yours several nights ago if I recall. Believe me, I recall every last second.”

So did she. Oh man, so did she. “I’ll be a perfectly compliant little angel, as long as I get the same in return next time.”

“Deal,” he said, tossing his boots aside and reaching for his pants. “Take off the bra too,”

Lara unhooked the front clasp and tossed it aside. Damion kicked his pants and boxers aside, and stood there gloriously hard-bodied and naked, the bathroom light behind him illuminating his sleek masculine beauty. This man was her Lifebond, a man who would never want anyone but her again.

“I’m a lucky girl,” she said, her gaze sliding over the ripples of his abs and then settling on the thick, jutting length of his erection. “You’re spectacular.”

He laughed, deep and sexy. “Exactly what I was thinking about you.” He went down on his knees in front of her, his hands on her knees, which were primly pressed together. He kissed one, and then the other. “And you’re beautiful, sexy, and
mine
tonight.”

Mine.
Heat sliced through her with the word, arousing her far more than it should. Memories intact or not, she wasn’t the submissive type, nor was she the kind of woman who wanted to be possessed, except maybe by him—a desire made possible simply by knowing that he was willing to reverse roles, to allow her to take control.

Right now, not only was she not in control, he seemed to understand she didn’t want to be. It was as if the world had landed on her shoulders, and she just couldn’t hold it anymore. But he could. He could, and she wanted to let him, as he had said, at least for the night.

“Open for me, sweetheart,” he urged, easing her legs apart, his fingers caressing the sensitive area inside of her knees.

Lara leaned back, her hands behind her on the mattress for support. She watched him, his eyes dark and greedy. Her body, just as greedy. She was wet, and he’d barely touched her, aching because she longed for him to do that and more. Anticipation rushed through her, building, as his fingers slid up her thighs, his lips trailing along her leg.

His eyes held hers as his thumbs stroked the delicate center of her body, and she inhaled with the sensation, biting her bottom lip as his fingers began to explore, tease. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him. Before she could, one long finger slipped inside her, and she gasped, her forehead resting on his. A second finger entered her.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he said, stroking her, in a slow steady rhythm that had her moving against him, had her hands clinging to his shoulders, her breasts arching into his chest. He palmed one of them, a rough, punishing, wonderful attack of pleasure on top of pleasure.

She buried her face in his neck, clinging to him, moving against his hand—lost… lost in his touch, lost in the climb to bliss that came on her hard and fast. Lara sucked in a breath at the same moment that every muscle in her body coiled and then released into spasms of pure, white-hot pleasure. When she finally could breathe again, Damion brushed the hair from her face.

“What if I find another half dozen ways to do that to you again?”

She remembered him saying he’d found a little piece of heaven when they’d made love before, so she answered, “Then if I die tomorrow, I’ll die a happy woman.”

***

It was several hours, and several orgasms later, and nearly dawn. Though underground, Lara only knew this by way of the clock. She was wearing Damion’s T-shirt, and they were both propped against the headboard of the bed, their shoulders and legs touching, while watching a Wesley Snipes
Blade
marathon. Thankfully, her headache was gone, and the flashes of images were held at bay.

“Maybe we should wear leather, like Wesley,” Lara murmured. “That way we look really cool when we’re fighting the bad guys.”

“Too hot,” Damion said. “And it’s really not easy to move around in.”

She glanced at him and lifted a brow. “You’ve worn leather?”

“I gave Chale’s Harley jacket a whirl once,” he commented. “Once was enough.”

She laughed and scooted to lay on her side facing him, weight on her elbow, feeling oddly at home and safe, for the first time, well,
ever
. The rest of her memories were of Serenity—of loss and war. If there had been a time before that, she didn’t remember it. She shook off that thought, clinging to this escape with Damion. “You are so not the Harley type.”

“You won’t get any argument out of me on that one.”

“In fact, you and Chale are so different. It’s amazing how close you seem.”

“Sometimes I think he lives to agitate me, but yeah, we’re pretty tight. He’s my brother from another mother.”

She wondered if she had any siblings, if the images of the family that were now indistinct shadows in her mind, would ever take shape again. “Did you say you have a brother, or did I make that up in my often confused thoughts these days?”

A subtle tension slid over him, a slight tensing of his jaw. The phone by the bed rang, and Damion hit the mute button on the television remote so fast, it was as if he welcomed the interruption. He answered the call, and the tension cranked up another notch. Suddenly on edge, Lara sat up, urgently seeking an update, suddenly terrified that someone had been hurt going after Powell, and she would be suspected of leading them into a trap. Why hadn’t she insisted on going with them?

The call was quick, a few seconds in which he said nothing but “copy that” and “let me know if anything changes.”

“Is everyone okay?” she asked, the minute he hung up.

He gave a slow nod. “Fine.”

“Translation, not fine,” she said. “The lab and Powell were gone, weren’t they?”

He nodded. “The entryway into the facility was blown up, with rocks blocking the path. They’re going to dig it out in daylight, and Chale and Houston are setting up surveillance.”

Lara ground her teeth. “You won’t find anything. He’s too smart for that.” She pulled her knees to her chest, his shirt to her ankles. “I should have told you about Powell sooner. I thought I was protecting someone who’d saved my life. Instead, I protected the man who has taken it, and for all I know, my family’s lives too—if I could even remember who they are. I can’t make out their faces. The only people I remember are those involved with Serenity, and Skywalker, whoever he is.” She glanced at him. “My father. He feels like my father.” She pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead. “I can’t believe I let Powell get away. He’s going to do whatever he did to me to others. He’s going to keep trying to destroy the Renegades.”

“Hey,” he said gently and pulled her onto his lap. “Stop being so hard on yourself. It’s not like you sat on the information for months or even weeks.”

As Lara straddled him, a sudden rush of emotion overcame her, and she slid her hands into his hair. “Thank you.” He gave her a wolfish smile, and she quickly added, “I’m not talking about all the wicked, wonderful things you did to me, so stop grinning like that.”

He wiggled an eyebrow. “Wicked and wonderful. That bodes well for me being in control in the future, if I do say so myself.”

“The future,” she repeated hoarsely. “See, those words, that statement, is what I’m talking about, and why I said ‘thank you.’ Even when you thought I was with Adam, you tried to come up with reasons to believe in me. You asked me to give you a reason. And now, when even
I’m
afraid to believe in me, somehow you still do. All I can remember about the past is losing everything and being alone with nothing but fighting to live for. You make me feel…” Her voice hitched, and she swallowed. “You make me feel like I’m not alone.”

He slid his hands over her hair and pulled her mouth near his. “You aren’t alone, sweetheart.
You
aren’t alone
.”

For now, she thought grimly, until something happens, something surfaces to change that. “I swear to you, Damion—if we find out that I did anything to hurt you, or the Renegades, I truly believed it was to save innocent lives. I believed the Renegades were like Adam. I would never—”

“I know, and so does everyone else here.”

“You don’t know. You can’t know. I need to know. I can’t stand the not knowing. I’m almost desperate enough that I’d even let Becca read my memories in hopes of weeding through the lies to get answers. But as much as I want those answers, I’m terrified for her to see something horrible, something that no one, especially me, will forgive me for. I have to find out about me, and where I’ve been, and what I’ve done, before anyone else does.”

“Stop doing this to yourself, Lara. Focus on now and the future.”

She shook her head. “I can’t start counting on you, and then wake up, and you’re gone, like everything else in my life. Or worse, have you wake up and realize you’re bound to me by this mark on my neck, and we despise each other. And don’t tell me to stop saying that, or that it can’t happen. We both know it could.”

“It won’t, but I’m not going to argue that point because I can tell it’s a battle I won’t win. So, most importantly, you need to know that the only thing the mark on your neck guarantees is that a blood bond makes us die together. We decide the rest.” His thumbs stroked her cheeks. “I’m with you because I want to be, not because I have to be.” He brought her lips a breath from his. “And I hope you feel the same way.”