“Heaven help me.”
I stood straight, and without fixing my dress, I turned around.
“Did you say somethin’?”
Damien lifted his arm and ran his hand through his hair, and I realised it was an action I desperately wanted to repeat with my own hands.
“I said,” he rumbled, “Heaven help me.”
“Why do you need help?” I asked dumbly, tilting my heard. “You aren’t in trouble.”
“On the contrary.” Damien licked his lower lip. “I think I’m in a whole heap of trouble.”
I followed his tongue movement with my eyes, and my mouth ran dry.
“What trouble would that be?”
“The five-foot-five, black hair, and brown eyes kind.”
Butterflies exploded in my belly.
“You think I’m trouble?”
“Babe.” Damien chuckled. “I think you’re the definition of it.”
How can that be?
“I think you have me confused with someone else,” I said, falling into a sitting position on the bed when I tried to take a step back. “I’ve never been in trouble in me whole life.”
“No, I’m sure you haven’t,” Damien agreed, his lips twitching. “But I think you could stir up a lot of it.”
“Yeah?” I questioned. “Like what?”
“Like how one kiss has me wanting to touch you in ways you’ve never been touched.”
My heart slammed into my chest.
“H-how do ye’know what ways I’ve been touched?” I stammered. “I could have already been touched in every way possible.”
“Babe,” he said as his cheeks dimpled.
I felt a blush burn its way up my neck as he acknowledged my virginity with one word and a damn smirk.
“Fine.” I licked my lips. “No one else has touched me, but I’ve touched me an awful lot.”
The look of desire that Damien shot my way sent shivers up my spine.
“Why don’t you change the former and touch me?”
His face lost all traces of amusement.
“Be careful, freckles,” he warned. “I think we should just cool it and talk—”
“I don’t want to talk.” I cut him off. “I want to kiss you, to touch you ... I want ... I want to get into trouble with you.”
“My God.” He groaned and put his face in his hands. “You aren’t a sex only girl, Lana. You’re the flowers, chocolate, cuddle nights in, and steady boyfriend kind of girl. And I love that about you, but I can’t give you that.”
I frowned.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Damien said, looking flustered. “I’m trying to do right by you. I’m trying to convince myself that you don’t really want me like this—”
“I do.” I cut him off once more. “I know your situation, and I’m not a fool. I know it’s just sex with you, but I want you so much that I’ll take it.”
I recalled my earlier conversation with Bronagh. I said I didn’t want Damien to want me just for sex, that I didn’t want to be another name on his hit list, but I had a strong desire to experience him in any capacity I could. I’d deal with the consequences later.
“This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have brought you in here.” He began to pace. “I just wanted to talk to you, but damn, you look edible, and you smell and taste so good, it’s all I can do to stay on this side of the room.”
“C’mere to me,” I beckoned. “Don’t think about the after, think about now. If I’m angry later, it’s on me. This is probably a stupid idea, but I’ve never needed someone like I need you. If this is a mistake, let me make it and learn from it.”
“You’ve been drinking,” Damien said flatly. “I tasted it on you.”
“I’ve sobered up a hell of a lot since you told me I was trouble.”
“You are trouble.”
“Prove it,” I challenged.
Damien took a step forward, then hesitated before he said, “Let’s just chill and talk for a while. Just ... just to see if this is what you really want.”
The words were hardly out of his mouth before I turned and scrambled up the bed, flopping onto my back.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, holding my position. “I’m chillin’.”
Damien folded his thick arms across his broad chest, the corners of his lips quirked.
“You usually chill on a bed with your thighs parted?” he asked, a slight hint of laughter in his tone.
“This is how I lie on me bed. It’s kind of ... freein’.”
Damien dropped his gaze from my eyes to my parted thighs. I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. He quickly crossed the room, turned his back to me, and sat on the edge of the bed. Without turning around, he patted the spot next to him and said, “Come here and talk to me. I want to hear your voice.”
I practically floated to his side, and it made Damien laugh.
“What do you want me to say?” I said, a little breathless.
Damien turned his gaze on me, and as he looked into my eyes, he said, “Say anything. I just want to hear your voice. I love your voice.”
I felt as if the air had been sucked from the room.
“You do?”
Damien licked his lips. “Yeah, I hear your voice even when you aren’t around.”
My heart slammed against my chest.
“You do?” I repeatedly nodded for an unknown reason.
“I hear you when it’s quiet,” he said, dropping his gaze to my lips. “Really quiet.”
I lazily dragged my tongue across my lower lip, watching Damien’s pupils dilate as his eyes followed the movement.
“What do I say when you hear me voice?” I asked; my voice sounding thick with desire.
Damien huffed a laugh. “You don’t want to know, freckles.”
I scrunched up my face in displeasure. “Why do you call me that?”
He lifted his hand, and with his pinkie finger, he ran the tip over my nose and underneath my eyes.
“You have a splash of freckles right here.”
“If you say you think they’re cute,” I grunted. “I may slap you.”
Damien simpered. “Cute is not a word I associate with you.”
My pulse spiked.
“What word do you associate with me?”
“I have a few,” he replied, lowering his hand from my face. “Smart, funny, hard-working ... beautiful, elegant, sexy as sin.”
I gasped. “You think I’m funny?”
Damien almost instantly burst into laughter.
“Hell yes, you’re funny.” His shouders shook as he laughed. “Out of all the words I said, you picked funny.”
I blushed. “No one has ever said I was funny before.”
“Well, you are.”
I leaned in a little closer to him. “You think I’m beautiful and elegant?”
“And sexy as sin,” he replied, his voice raspy. “Can’t forget about that.”
I smiled, and I heard a little groan come up Damien’s throat like he was straining to contain it. I stood from the bed and kicked my heels off before I turned to face him. I groaned, and looked down at my feet as I wiggled my toes.
“Jesus, it feels good to take those hell blocks off.”
“Hell blocks?”
“Until you’ve walked in high heels,” I playfully glared at Damien, “you will never understand how much they hurt.”
“It’s a good thing I’m tall then.”
“Hmmm.” I licked my lower lip. “It’s definitely a good thing that you’re tall.”
“You’re looking at me like you want to pounce on me, freckles.”
“I do.”
Damien’s whole body tensed. I stared down at him, and in that moment, I made the decision to freely give myself to him. I couldn’t stand wanting him anymore, I needed to have him.
My body felt like it was a live wire of electricity. I wanted Damien to kiss me and touch me more than my next breath. I didn’t want him to make the first move; I was too aware of him to allow that to happen. Instead, I stepped forward, parted his thighs with my knees, and stepped between them.