“I’m beginning to wonder if I should’ve just stayed in bed today,” I said as he came to stand in front of me, his hands going to the padded vest I wore. “Perhaps my alarm not going off was a sign.”
“Whoever shot you is a fucking arsehole,” he grunted, his mouth set in an annoyed slant.
“Hey, this is the name of the game,” I said as Damon clipped free the vest. All of a sudden, he was turning my body and pulling my shirt away from my skin to check the damage. My pores prickled when the cool air hit me, and I swallowed at his hot touch.
He sucked in a harsh breath and swore, “Jesus Christ.”
“Those paintballs leave really bad bruises,” I said, trying to break the tension that was rolling off him in waves. It made my stomach coil tight in anticipation of him full-on losing his rag. Sure, Damon was always so silent and stoic, but I got the sense he could be scary if fully triggered.
“Jacob’s a fuckwit. Does he want us all too injured to perform?” He sounded angry.
“I’m not sure he thought that far ahead. I can just imagine him stumbling upon paintballing in an online search, and picking it simply because he thought it’d make him seem cool.”
Damon’s fingers touched the area that was sore, and I inhaled sharply.
“Sorry,” he apologised, moving his hand away.
“No, it’s okay. Just…is it very bad?”
“Your shoulder is red and a little bit welted. The bruise won’t come until tomorrow. How’s the pain?”
I bit my lower lip and turned back around. “It’s manageable.”
His dark eyes zeroed in on my exposed shoulder and neck. “Do you want to go back to the centre? We can sit the rest of the game out.”
I shook my head. “You go back and play. I think I’ll just rest in here for another few minutes, then head to the centre myself.”
He didn’t appear to like this plan and shook his head. “I’m not leaving you on your own out here.”
“Why?” I feigned terror. “Are there bears?”
Damon bit back a smirk, and I enjoyed getting a reaction out of him. “No, smartarse, there aren’t bears, but this is a big forest. You could get lost.”
“I can remember the way back. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not leaving you, Rose.” He stood firm, and I could tell from his tone that he wasn’t going to budge on the matter. I busied myself fixing my clothes while Damon slid down the wall to sit on the leaf-strewn floor. A second later I joined him, and an odd silence filled the space.
“Here,” said Damon, pulling me into his chest. “Lean against me. That hard wall can’t be very comfortable on your shoulder.”
He was right, it wasn’t. His chest was a far superior surface. Unfortunately, sitting with Damon’s arm draped around me brought with it a lot more feelings than sitting against the wall of the shed. This was the closest I’d been to him in what felt like forever, and my senses were on overdrive. His smell filled my nose, his warmth seeped into my body, and his touch set my nerve endings alight.
“I’m sorry for how I acted on the bus,” he said, breaking another long stretch of quiet.
“It’s okay. Blake started it. I wouldn’t have liked hearing of yours and Alicia’s sexual exploits, either.”
His hand that had been rubbing my arm gently stilled. “Alicia and I are friends. Nothing more.”
“Oh,” I said, relief flooding me. I’d been ninety-nine-percent sure nothing had happened between them, but there had still been a tiny part of me that wondered, especially since they spent so much time together. Okay, so maybe ‘wondered’ was too tame a word. Violently jealous was probably a better description….
“What I said a month ago hasn’t changed, Rose. I still want you,” Damon murmured, his breath hitting the top of my ear.
I twisted in his hold to meet his eyes. “You were right, you know.”
“About what?”
“About me needing time to resolve my feelings. And, well, I think I just needed time to be alone in general.”
“Yeah?” he asked, his eyes on my lips. “I was starting to wonder.”
I could barely register his words, slightly transfixed by the way he was staring at my mouth. “Wonder?”
His hand left my arm completely to go to my neck, where he gripped me firmly. “If I’d made a mistake. You don’t speak to me anymore. It’s hard to know what’s going on in your head.”
I could’ve laughed at that, because if anyone was difficult to read, it was him.
Instead, I whispered, “Damon, I might not have spoken to you, but I was always aware of you.”
He let out a breath, his forehead dropping to mine. “And I you. Not being around you makes me miserable,” he confessed.
Our breaths mingled. My chest rose and fell rapidly as my pulse picked up, a curl of desire forming inside me. The longer we stayed wrapped up like this, the bigger it grew. His fingers dug into me where he held my neck and I closed my eyes, savouring the feel of him. He moved his face closer, his lips just barely brushing mine. I trembled. He did it again, and then again, until I caught his lips in mine, not letting him retreat this time. A long, relieved sigh escaped him as we started to kiss in earnest, our mouths melding together, our tongues searching, like we were trying absorb one another whole.
I clutched at his shoulders, climbing into his lap like a needy kitten as I whimpered against his lips. Damon’s hands fumbled for me, his fingers undoing a few buttons on my shirt and trying to get beneath the padded vest without much success.
“Fuck,” he grunted in frustration. I felt the word rumble all the way down between my thighs.
“Here,” I said breathlessly, needing his touch just as much as he needed to touch me. I took his hand and guided it inside my shirt. His fingers brushed the tops of my breasts, and I moaned at the same time a fierce, masculine rumble sounded from the back of his throat.
His hand slipped beneath the cup of my bra, palming my breast fully, and I pulled free from the kiss to bury my face in the crook of his neck. This was all too much, and I was so turned on I was just about ready to have sex with him here on the floor of this damp old shed.
His lips sought mine again as he flicked my nipple with his thumb. I gasped into his mouth, his tongue sliding leisurely along mine.
“Rose,” he groaned, still palming my breast. “I could fuck you right now.”
God. I shivered at his dirty words and the way he said my name. Moving my hips, I felt his erection press firm and hard between my legs. I couldn’t tell how much time passed, and I wanted him to fuck me, I was that desperate for him, even out here in the middle of the woods with our colleagues nearby.
I arched my spine, and his cock moved against me in just the right spot so I cried out in pleasure. Damon broke away from the kiss, his breathing erratic as he struggled to restrain himself. I tried to calm down a little, my breathing just as unsteady as his was. He’d been right to break the kiss. We’d barely even discussed what was going on between us, and diving right into forest sex was probably a bad idea.
Probably.
Silently, he moved his hands over my clothes, fixing everything back in place. My cheeks burned bright red, and I trembled when his fingers brushed my collarbone. His mouth curved into an almost smile that very nearly did me in. “So reactive,” he murmured.
“That’s what happens when you kiss a girl to within an inch of her life, then leave her hanging,” I griped.
His eyes flicked to mine, so dark and brown I could’ve gotten lost in them. And then something truly wondrous happened. Damon smiled at me, a full, beautifully masculine smile that made my knees weak.
“You’re smiling at me,” I breathed.
He quirked an eyebrow. “And?”
“And stop it, you can’t just never smile and then suddenly lob one on me. It’s disconcerting.”
He chuckled in response, and I groaned. “Now you’re laughing. Gah! Are you trying to kill me? Do you realise your laugh is the sexiest
sound on earth, only surpassed by the noises you make when you kiss me?”
His smile started to fade, only to be replaced with a look of such fierce desire I swore a bucket of ice water wouldn’t be enough to cool me down. I cleared my throat and tried not to spontaneously orgasm. “We should head back. Everybody will be wondering where we’ve been.”
He smouldered at me, but didn’t argue, only gestured for me to lead the way. We stepped out of the shed and had walked in silence for a minute or two when a voice called our names. It was one of our teammates and also a dancer in the show.
“Rose! Damon! Did you two get lost?” he asked, glancing between us.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as Damon answered, “Aye.”
“Right, well, Jacob’s team won. We’re all heading back to the compound now for some lunch,” he said.
“Sounds good,” Damon replied, and we all started walking through the forest.
My cheeks were bright red the entire way back, and we both kept stealing glances at one another. Damon had a twinkle in his eye that hadn’t been there this morning, and my chest ached with the need for him to touch me again.
I could only imagine what might’ve happened back there if we’d just let our bodies lead us.
Seventeen.
*Damon*
I’d never been more frustrated in my life. Finally, I was kissing Rose, touching her like I’d only been able to imagine in my head for weeks, and then that little voice in my head – Jiminy-fucking-cricket – urges me to slow down. Telling me I’m moving too fast when we both need to take things slow. My conscience was a motherfucking cockblocker.
In the paintball centre’s dining hall, Jacob was celebrating his victory, while the other two teams licked their wounds. If this was his idea of group bonding, then I wasn’t sure he knew the meaning of the term.
A few disgruntled looks were thrown my way from those who’d been on my team. It was hard not to feel bad, especially since I’d spent most of the game with Rose when I should’ve been out there leading them to victory.
“Damon, over here,” Alicia called, waving her hand in the air. She sat at a table with Blake and a few other cast members, and appeared to be signing an autograph for one of the centre’s employees. Rose moved to make a beeline for Iggy’s table, but I caught her hand.
“Don’t go. Sit with me,” I urged her in a low voice.
Her eyes moved between mine, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. “Okay.”
A minute or two later, we were taking a seat at Alicia’s table. She was telling everyone how some sneaky player had shot her in the leg when she wasn’t paying attention. I did my best to hide my grin, glancing sideways at Rose. We both knew that sneaky player had been her. She didn’t look at me, only focused on eating her sandwich. She did, however, nudge me with her knee as a silent plea for me not to say anything.
I spread my legs wide, leaning my thigh against hers. She stilled for a second, unsure what to do, but then she simply accepted my need for contact. We’d reconnected today, and no way was I letting her go this time.
“I didn’t see much of you during the game, Damon,” Alicia commented from the head of the table.
I turned to her and shrugged. “Must not have crossed paths.”
“Huh,” she said, her sharp green eyes moving to Rose and then back to me. There was a prickliness to her posture that put me on edge. These past few weeks Alicia had been my sounding board, a sympathetic ear, a friend. Now I wasn’t too sure if she’d had a hidden agenda all along.
I ate my lunch quietly, letting the others chat around me. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, as I was usually the silent one in the group. Rose however, wasn’t talking much, and normally she was more conversational.
I nudged her with my shoulder. “You okay?”
She swallowed down a bite of food before glancing at me and nodding. “Yeah, just tired.”
“How’s your shoulder?”
“Not too bad.”
I watched her for a minute, wondering what she was thinking. Did she regret the kiss? I felt a tension coming from the other side of the table and several seats up. Blake sat there chewing on a piece of bread, watching us with an unhappy slant to his mouth. I wished I could just whisk Rose and myself away from all these petty jealousies and dramas. More and more these days I felt like my life was becoming some soap opera–style love triangle. Or perhaps a love square was the more accurate term.
When it was time to get on the bus again to go home, I made sure to corner Rose. We needed to talk.
“Sit with me.”
Her eyes flicked to mine and then away. “Aren’t we supposed to keep the same seats as before?”
“Nah, come on,” I replied, standing firm as I took her hand in mine. My fingers slid through hers, fitting perfectly.
She seemed to grow nervous at the gesture as she fumbled a response. “Well, all right. If you’re sure nobody will complain.”
“I’m sure.”
We got on the bus, and I led her to the back. I let her have the window seat and had just settled in when I saw Alicia headed in our direction.
“Guys! Aren’t we all going to sit together like we did this morning?” she asked, hands on her hips.
Perhaps I’d been a little premature, thinking there wouldn’t be any trouble. Thankfully, though, before I even had a chance to reply, I saw Iggy swoop in, his wise, perceptive eyes on Rose and me as he slid his arm through Alicia’s.
“Come sit with me, darling. I’d like to pick your brain about that dance school you attended back in the States,” he said, leaving her no room to argue.
A second later he led her to the front of the bus, and I let out a relieved breath. Feeling Rose’s eyes on me, I turned my head to look at her. Her lips were curled in a hint of a smile, and she seemed amused for some reason.
“You can’t blame her for being determined,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder if you have any idea what you look like.”
I leaned closer, my hand braced restlessly on my thigh. “What do I look like?”
She laughed gently. “You see? No clue at all. You’re incredibly handsome, Damon, handsome in a way that doesn’t come around too often. Maybe even more so because of the fact that you don’t know it.”
A deep sense of satisfaction hit me to be reminded that Rose found me attractive. “Should I say thank you?”
Now she laughed some more. “And you don’t know how to take a compliment, either. It’s kind of adorable.”
“Glad you’re amused. My looks are more of a hindrance when I’m being hounded by Alicia to take her out to dinner when all I’d rather be doing is staying home and reading a good book.”
Rose smiled, and it was so pretty I felt my chest ache. “Oh, my God, that’s even more adorable. I think you might be perfect, Damon Atwood.”
I’m not perfect, but you are.
I couldn’t stop the way I was staring at her with barely contained hunger. She seemed to become aware of it, because her smile faded, a more serious expression taking its place. Her eyes flittered all about, landing on the back of Alicia’s head where she sat with Iggy a good number of rows in front of us.
“I’ve just realised I never told you about Julian’s party,” she said, her voice hushed.
“Oh?” I said, curious.
Rose looked down and fiddled with the sleeve of her top before answering. “I went to find Julian and bumped into Alicia leaving his bedroom. Her makeup was all smudged and her hair was a mess. It was obvious they’d just had some kind of fumble.”
My eyes widened slightly at this news. I’d been under the impression that there was no love lost between Alicia and Julian. “That’s surprising,” I replied finally.
“I know,” said Rose. “She acts like she hates him, but maybe she just hates the fact that she likes him. I don’t know. People are strange.”
“So said Jim Morrison,” I quipped.
She studied me. “You’re not upset?”
“Should I be?”
“Well, Alicia’s been dead set on you for weeks. I mean, she was all over you at Julian’s party even though she’d been secretly kissing the guest of honour in his bedroom.”
I shrugged and replied simply, “She can kiss whoever she likes.”
A few moments of quiet passed between us as Rose turned her attention out the window. The bus had just started the journey back to the city, and I found a certain peace in knowing I had two whole hours of her company. I could’ve spent the entire time just staring at her beautiful profile, but unfortunately, there were things we needed to discuss.
I touched her hand gently, bringing her attention back to me, and asked, “How are you feeling about Blake these days?”
It took her a while to answer, and the entire time I felt like I was holding my breath under water. “Better,” she said at long last. “What Blake and I had will never be rekindled. I can even be around him now and not feel so…mixed up. Like I told you earlier, you were right. I needed time to get my head on straight, so thank you.”
“And your head’s on straight now?” I asked.
She smiled. “Yes, very much so.”
“When can I take you to dinner, then?” I blurted, not even caring that I was being overly forward.
Rose laughed, and it was one of my favourite sounds. “When would you like to?”
“Is tonight too soon?”
She was still laughing as she shook her head. “How about next weekend? We move into the theatre this week, and everything’s going to be a little hectic for a few days.”
I nodded. “Okay. Next weekend it is.”
I couldn’t wait. Just thinking about being able to take Rose out for a meal and treat her like she deserved had my chest filling with pride. At the same time, I felt like a little boy on Christmas Eve, excited beyond words. It was ridiculous, the things this woman could make me feel.