Chapter 14
The hotel suite was dark when Damon returned. He hesitated as he passed the bedroom Skylar had claimed. Not wanting to overthink things, he knocked. The lack of response didn’t necessarily mean anything, but he didn’t sense anyone else was in there.
He wasn’t sure if he felt relieved or not. It wasn’t like he’d spent all evening thinking about her. Hanging out with Trenton had been relaxing, even with the new baby. Trenton had asked him how he was doing, but hadn’t pushed him after Damon’s typical ‘just fine’ response. He was wrapped around his daughter’s finger already. Trenton and Celia had spent most of that first month after the baby was born in the hospital due to it coming so early. Damon didn’t understand all of it, but he’d had Jimmy send plenty of care packages and had called to check in as often as he could.
He’d felt kind of silly singing to the baby that evening, but it had made Trenton happy, and his daughter really had stopped crying. It had reminded him that he needed to practice the new song a little more. He’d agreed to a local performance, one on a much smaller scale than he was used to. Erin had roped him into the charity event linked to one of her husband’s new companies.
The suite was enticingly quiet. It increased his sense of calm. Damon still wasn’t sure what had possessed him to give in to Skylar before, but his doubt over it had finally faded to the back burner. He couldn’t regret something that had rocked his world that much. He wanted to check in with her, mainly because he had a niggling need to comfort her that their time together hadn’t resolved, but it would have to wait until she returned.
Music didn’t have to. The evening sky beyond the bank of glass beckoned to him. He sat on the floor in front of it. The mostly full moon shined down on him, where he stretched out, leaning back on his hands. The song he’d made for Erin rose in his mind, and he began to sing it softly.
One stanza didn’t feel quite right. He sang it again, stressing a different word instead, and it clicked into place. He rehearsed it one more time, still in that soft voice since it was so late. A new song stirred inside him, and he switched into an unrelated hum.
The squeak of a footstep broke his rhythm, and he looked up to see Skylar staring down at him.
“Well, aren’t you just sexy like that,” she murmured, her hazel eyes too dark where she stood with her back to the glass. From the shadows, he couldn’t tell which color was most present in her eyes, but the moonlight made her pale hair almost glow.
“Thanks,” Damon said. “Sorry. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I took off my big-ass boots since you were singing your own little lullaby.”
“It probably did sound that way. I wasn’t sure how soundproof we were up here.” He watched her lean her back against the glass, her face still in shadow.
“The local college has a good setup if you need a space,” she said. “I went there last night.”
“Oh.” He felt dumb with just that syllable. “I’ll check into it, thanks.”
She sighed, resting her head back. The moonlight found her face but made it look pale. “Enough. Just get on with it.”
“With what?” Damon sat up straighter. His palms tingled, and the imprint of the carpet’s weave clung to him from where he’d been pressing down on it.
“You’ve had that look every time I’ve seen you since.” Skylar stared up at the ceiling. “Like you want to ask me something.”
Damon bit his cheek, but couldn’t deny it. “Are you all right?” he asked.
Her chin dropped as she straightened away from the glass. She stared down at him, her face shadowed again. “That’s what you wanted to ask? For fuck’s sake.”
Damon buffed his hands on his jeans, wishing the tingling would go away. “Earlier was some type of panic attack, wasn’t it? I’ve been worried.”
“Worried, huh?” Skylar crouched down in front of him. She leaned toward him, her hands perching on either side of his legs. “Shit, be honest. You want all the sordid details, don’t you?” She crawled higher up his body, drawing her face within inches of his. The moon made it appear pale again. At least there wasn’t a sneer on it like he’d feared. Skylar almost looked blank, like a doll. “I mean, letting me fuck you fixed it, so a smart guy like you has probably figured it out.”
Damon didn’t draw back but instead searched her eyes. “I didn’t think we would take it that far. You passed out before I could make sure that what we did was, I don’t know, okay?” He shrugged. “I mean, it was for me, but as I said, I was worried.”
Skylar blinked before sitting back, her ass resting on his thighs as she straddled him. “Wait, you weren’t sure it was okay to let me fuck you? Like, what, it was forcing things or something?” She snorted. “Hell, I was the one that took you. And the sex was damn good.” She shrugged, looking away. “Great, actually. Phenomenal, even. I don’t normally come like that.”
The hair along Damon’s forearms prickled, and he couldn’t help the lance of desire that slid through him at her admission. “You don’t?” Damn it, his voice had turned all husky.
“I mean, I know how to get myself off.” Skylar rolled her shoulders, her ass shifting a bit on his legs. “But when that panic shit hits, it’s not always about that.” Her hands moved to rub her arms, as if she was suddenly cold. “And definitely not three fucking times. I was impressed you held out that long.”
The memory of each time she’d squeezed down on him brought sweat to his forehead. He told himself to focus. “Panic attacks are no joke. Do you know what brings them on?”
She scowled at him. “Don’t play doctor, at least not unless it’s in a fun way.” Her eyes narrowed, but it didn’t seem like she was seeing him. “I know exactly what causes them, and normally I can stem it off.”
Damon frowned as he tried to place her expression. It was no longer anger; not exactly. She shifted her weight again, a trembling taking over her body. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me anything.” His own hands came up to settle over hers, where they still clutched her arms, and he rubbed to give her more warmth. “I’m glad it doesn’t happen often.”
“Glad, are you?” Skylar shifted forward until she was on her knees instead, rubbing along Damon’s partial erection as she straddled his waist. His hands tightened over hers when she shimmied, sending a spark through him. She leaned closer to his face, her lips almost brushing his as she spoke. “Are you sure you’re not disappointed?”
Damon tried to tug his mind back from the heat and forced himself to release her, bracing his hands behind him again. “I’m sure. I mean, I enjoyed sex with you, but I don’t wish for you to go through that first.” He remembered how she’d huddled into herself, and it was easier to swallow.
A puff of air brushed his face when Skylar snorted. “Seriously? You really are sweet.” Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she rested her chest against his, her lips still tantalizingly close. “Next, you’ll tell me you don’t want to hear the story,” she murmured against him.
Her eyes stared straight into his but were almost impossible to read. “Do you need to tell it, Skylar?” he asked.
Her fingers played over the back of his neck before she shook her head. “I’d rather forget.”
“Then, honestly, don’t tell me.” His hands came up behind her, massaging her back. “As long as we’re good, that’s all I needed to hear.”
“Huh,” she grunted, sitting back again, which pressed her more firmly against his hands. There was a deliberate shimmy to her hips. “You’ve got a partial woody.”
Damon forced a strained chuckle. “Well, you’re hot, Skylar, and you’re pressed up against him.”
“I’m surprised it’s only a partial.” She rocked forward, and her body felt good on his. “Want me to take care of it?”
He wondered if he’d embarrass himself again if she put her mouth on him. “No. Knowing you enjoyed it earlier is enough for me.”
“You’re so weird,” she muttered, leaning forward and resting against his chest.
“I’ve got my own hang-ups about sex.” Damon tensed, waiting for a snort or laugh.
“Really?” she murmured instead.
“Yeah. My ex did a number on me.” His hands began to rub slow circles over her.
Her fingers paused where they brushed his neck as her shoulders stiffened, but then she slowly breathed out, relaxing.
“I didn’t realize until it was over,” Damon admitted. “Her parting shot that she’d always been faking kind of fucked with me.”
Skylar shrugged where she lay against him. “Some women do. I don’t, though.” She brushed her lips above the neckline of his shirt. “You definitely got me there.”
Damon shook his head, pausing when hers claimed the space against his neck that the movement created. He eased back until he was lying on the floor, holding her against him so she wouldn’t slide right off. “I’m pretty sure that was all your doing, Skylar. You had control.”
“True that.” She sighed instead of laughing. “It’s hella strange. You’re getting handsy, so I should be all tense.”
He remembered her order not to touch her in the gym, and his stroking paused. “Oh, sorry.”
Her shoulders shifted, as if seeking his touch. “No, keep going.”
He started rubbing again. Her legs stretched out along his as she softened into him.
“Like it,” she murmured, her lips brushing his neck again. “Weird. I”—a yawn interrupted her words—“feel safe.”
The sleepy murmur caused Damon’s chest to squeeze. “Thanks.” Her words should have made him feel like a wimp again, but they felt like the best compliment ever.
“Tell me.” A sleepy sigh escaped her. “About your ex.”
Damon’s pulse pounded like it always did when Karyn rose in his thoughts. He hadn’t spoken about her, even to the guys. In the dark, with the moonlight falling on them where they lay, he told Skylar. He talked about how he hadn’t realized what she was doing to him, the steady chipping away at his confidence with each sneer or negative remark. Karyn had often laughed at him, reminding him of his own shared memories of what a nerd he’d been.
“I was an honor roll student back in high school,” Damon admitted. “Straight As in every subject, though math was my favorite.”
Skylar’s fingers rubbed the back of his neck. “Makes sense. Music is math.”
His hands paused in surprise that she shared his own idea about music before continuing their swirling massage. “The dweebiest part was my body. I was too skinny, with sticklike arms and legs. I didn’t get bullied as much as my friend Blake, but I faced my share. The other boys got bored because I was too easy.” Damon laughed as he remembered how he’d gone down with a single punch. “Still, it led me to Malcolm, so it wasn’t all bad. Mal could never stand it when someone was bullied. I’m still shocked he graduated, what with how often he got suspended.”
She hummed in her throat as her hands slid over his shoulders. “You’re not so bony now.”
Damon liked the way her hands stroked him, and he shifted her hips away from him as he grew hard. “Yeah, well, I worked at it. Still do.” It wasn’t all running. Damon focused on weights when he could.
“Your hands are good too.” Her head shifted against his chest, as if burrowing into a pillow, as her hands slipped off his shoulders to rest against the carpet. “Your massages are amazing.”
“That’s because of my mom. I spent a lot of time with her when she was in the hospital. Scalp massages helped the most, but the chemo often made her hurt all over. My love of music came from that time.”
“How so?” Skylar’s low, husky murmur seemed to weave into the peaceful calm that had surrounded them.
“It was another coping mechanism I had read about. The treatments were long, but it was so hard for her to concentrate during them. We shared headphones. I started with classical, and was fascinated by the pattern that formed with each song. My mom preferred words, though, and we switched to rock soon enough. Older stuff, though.”
“Shit, don’t tell me. Manilow?”
Damon chuckled. “No, not him. My mom liked Heart and Captain Tennille; then she developed a soft spot for The Rolling Stones and some Aerosmith. I didn’t care what we listened to, as long as she wore that hint of a smile.”
“Momma’s boy.”
There wasn’t a sneer in it this time, though maybe Skylar was too tired for that.
“It’s true. I was.” Damon blinked away the warmth in his eyes. “I still miss her.”
Skylar was silent. Damon wondered if she’d drifted off, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop the steady strokes along her back, not yet. It was as if they had stepped out of time. With the energy Skylar normally exhibited, he hadn’t pictured her as capable of stillness. But apparently she ran until she crashed, as this was the second time she’d ended up in his arms.
Damon didn’t hate it.
“How’d things end?” she asked. Her head shifted, and it seemed as if she’d had an itch along her nose with the way she rubbed it against his chest.
“The cancer took her.” That had been so long ago now.
“Nuh-uh. The ex,” Skylar clarified, relaxing against him again.
“Oh. Turned out, she was more into another guy in the band. He could sing, too, though he played bass at the time, and I got ditched.”
“That was Come Together?” she asked.
Damon blinked up at the ceiling. “I didn’t realize you followed my career.”
She just hummed again, her body softening even more under his ministrations.
“It worked out. I struck out under my own name after that. And here I am.” Damon would have never guessed he’d be lying on the ground holding a rock star like Skylar against him and contemplating sleep.
Her breathing grew even, the soft sound making his own eyelids heavy. His hands stilled but didn’t move away from her as he slowly nodded off.