Chapter 8 #2
They looked into each other’s eyes for several seconds before Kenna looked away.
The silence was comfortable for several minutes as they listened to music and drank wine.
Kenna felt Damien’s gaze on her, but she didn’t really mind it.
She only wished she knew more about how to act when a man gave her so much attention.
Richard came back into the room with a few other servers following.
Kenna watched as they placed dishes around the table and tried to keep up with what everything was, but there was so much variety that she finally gave up.
It seemed they would be eating family style, which she appreciated because she wanted to try a little bit of everything.
It smelled heavenly, and she realized she hadn’t eaten all day.
When the servers left, Damien asked, “What all do you want to try?”
“Everything.” And she was so serious too.
Damien must have picked up on how serious she was because he simply chuckled and said, “Got you.”
He surprised her when he picked up a plate and started dishing up for her.
Once again, she wondered if this was how he was with every woman he was interested in.
She didn’t know why that mattered, because all his attention seemed to be on her at the moment, but she wondered how long that would last.
When he reached his long arms over and placed her plate in front of her, it was her turn to stare intently into his eyes. “You know, you never answered me. Do you treat all your women like this?”
Damien paused on piling food onto his plate and gave Kenna his full attention.
“I like you, Kenna. I don’t know why—scratch that—I do know why.
Your innocence, your softness, and even that false ass tough exterior you try to put up.
Plus, you’re easy as fuck to look at. All that draws me to you.
What I don’t know is why it happened so quickly.
Tell me, Kenna, why is it that the first time I saw you, all I wanted to do was protect you? ”
He paused for a moment, folding his muscled arms in front of him on the table and leaning in.
The candlelight flickered across his chiseled features, and Kenna felt heat spread across her body, but what really did it for her were his next words.
“I see beautiful women daily, but it’s been a long time since any of them fazed me, so what is it about you that made me want to explore every part of your body the moment I laid eyes on you? ”
He licked his juicy lips before taking a sip of his wine.
If Kenna didn’t know any better, she would guess that he enjoyed seeing her at that moment, eyes bulging and cheeks flushed.
“To answer your question, Kenna, I haven’t treated a woman like this in a very, very long time, and I only have the desire to treat you like this at the moment.
I don’t see that changing any time soon. ”
“I…” She allowed the word to trail off as she bit her lip and looked around anxiously.
“Relax, love. It was a rhetorical question.” He picked up his fork and reached to dish up some more food onto his plate but paused when he noticed her still sitting there looking at him. He pointed the fork at her plate and said, “Eat before it gets cold.”
Without anything else to do and because it would keep her hands busy, she ate. Periodically, she looked up at Damien, catching his eye. The man didn’t seem to take his eyes off her when she was around, and now that they were alone, it made his gaze feel more intense.
After Kenna cut a piece of steak and put it into her mouth, she melted against her seat. “Oh my God, this is good.”
“Told you.” His features held a hint of amusement as he watched her. “How is the rest of your food?”
Kenna looked down at her plate. She didn’t know how, but the chef managed to get most of her favorite foods onto the plate. There was steak with a chimichurri sauce, shrimp with a garlic sauce, grilled salmon, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, broccolini, mushroom risotto, and caesar salad.
“So good. I don’t think I can go back to eating frozen pizzas and boxed mac and cheese.”
Damien sliced some steak and put it into his mouth, chewing slowly as he watched her dance around in her seat as she ate.
“You aren’t much of a cook, I take it?”
Kenna cocked her head to the side and looked up slightly with her lips in a pout. “Does handing my mama ingredients when she’s cooking count?”
He chuckled. “Nah, it doesn’t. It’s cool though.
I’m not much of a cook myself. My mama kept me fed before college and then I was drafted to the NBA, so I never really had time to learn for real.
I have a personal chef for off seasons. I guess I’ll have to hire him full time now that I’ll be retired. ”
“Does that bother you?”
“What?”
“That you’re retiring,” she clarified.
Damien shook his head. “I was happy to finally announce my retirement. It’s sad, of course, but I feel better doing it on my time and on my own terms, instead of an injury or being dropped because I’m too old.”
Kenna giggled. “You don’t look old at all.”
“Yeah, but these joints don’t work like they used to. Playing ball does a lot of wear and tear to the body, so I feel old.”
Kenna shrugged because she understood what he said, but she meant what she said. He didn’t look a day over thirty. He had that grown man energy oozing from him, but he still had a youthful spirit that she found intriguing. “What do you want to do when you retire?”
“Get married.”
His response was so immediate, it almost startled Kenna.
The way he looked intently into her eyes caused nerves to ricochet through her body, though she couldn’t call them bad nerves.
For the first time in a long time, her anxiety came from a good space within her.
Taking her shot at flirting, Kenna squared her shoulders and matched his gaze.
With a lifted brow, she asked, “Any takers?”
“I might have someone in mind. I have to see how it plays out though.”
By this point, Kenna was absurdly hot all over. She reached over and grabbed her glass of ice water, wishing she could press it to her forehead without looking crazy. Instead, she took a big gulp before she continued eating.
The silence between them felt nice. While she wondered about the nature of their budding relationship, Damien simply ate and kept his eyes on her.
By the time her plate was cleared, she was stuffed. She sat back, rubbing her flat stomach. “That was so good.”
“You full already? We still have dessert.” Damien nodded at the chocolate lava cake sitting in the middle of the table, and Kenna groaned.
“I don’t think I can eat another bite. You go ahead without me.”
Damien chuckled. “How about I have it boxed up for you for later?”
Kenna eyed the cake. It did look good. Chocolate was definitely her guiltiest pleasure. She could eat it by the pound any other day, but the way her stomach was one step away from busting wide open stopped her now.
“What about you?”
“If I can’t share it with you, I don’t want it.”
“Well, that doesn’t seem fair.”
He grinned before leaning forward again, in that same sexy manner he did earlier. “I’m hoping I’ll get more opportunities to share cake with you, Kenna. Will I?”
“Yes.” Her response slipped out of her mouth quicker than she could catch it.
She hated how eager it sounded, but that was the truth.
If Damien kept it up, he would have many opportunities to share more than just cake with her.
It felt wild to her because she’d never been in the position to host these kinds of feelings before.
Not in a grown woman kind of way, yet here she was.
Before Damien could respond, a crash resounded just behind the curtain of the room they were in. Kenna’s heart hammered in her chest as she instinctively stood up, ready to bolt for the exit, but a strong arm stopped her.
Damien had stood almost as quickly as she had, seeing her panic and ready to step in and save her.
“You’re good, baby. It’s okay. A server must have dropped something. You’re safe,” he assured as he smoothed her hair back while holding her into his chest.
Tears filled her eyes as embarrassment filled her. This right here was exactly why she didn’t go out and do things. The wrong smell, sound, sight… anything could send her back to that day. It felt much safer at home in her safe little cocoon.
Correction… It had felt much safer in her cocoon.
Damien’s arms provided the ultimate safety net though.
She’d noticed it the day they met when he carried her out to the car and insisted she stayed in his lap for the drive to his house.
Right now, that familiar calmness washed over her as she took in deep breaths.
Finally, she pulled away and looked everywhere but at him. “Sorry.”
Using his index finger, he lifted her chin, so she looked right into his eyes. “Never apologize for your trauma unless it’s harming someone else. Do I look hurt to you? I thought I looked good tonight.”
It surprised Kenna when a giggle fell past her lips. She wiped her tears and nodded slowly. “You definitely look good.”
He stared down at her for a moment longer before grabbing her hand.
“Let’s get you back to your room.” Disappointment filled her, but she knew the mood was ruined, and it was because of her.
As if he could read her mind, Damien stopped her.
“I don’t feel comfortable keeping you here.
You’re shaking.” He placed his warm hand on her arm, and she stilled.
She hadn’t even realized she’d been shaking.
“And I would invite you to my room,” he bit his lip, “but I don’t think either of us will get any sleep if I do, and I have a game to win tomorrow. ”
Kenna knew her skin had to be crimson red as she nodded her understanding at him and whispered, “Okay.”
“Don’t worry, Ken Ken. We’ll do this again really soon.” He pinched her chin before leading her out of the room and through the busy restaurant and hotel lobby, ignoring the fans calling his name and snapping photos.
Once in the elevator, Damien pulled her close by her waist. They didn’t speak.
She simply pressed her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat until they made it to their floor.
Her room was only a few doors down from the elevator, and when they stopped in front of it, she turned to look up at him.
“Thank you for everything tonight. Nobody has ever spoiled me so much. It meant a lot to me.”
Damien stepped closer to her, causing her chest to press up against his stomach. “This was light work. I can’t wait to spoil you more.”
And then, without waiting for a response from her, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.
Kenna leaned into him, now shivering for entirely new reasons.
Their tongues danced together as she stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Damien surprised them both by picking her up from under her thighs and pressing her against the wall.
Kenna felt like a teenager again, making out with a boy she really liked.
Except, this was no boy. Damien Blaze was all man, and the urge to explore him took over as she moaned into his mouth.
She was completely inexperienced, and normally, that would make her feel insecure.
At the moment, though, she didn’t care that the last time she had sex was in high school.
Damien made her feel confident, like she could keep up with him, and she wanted to put that to the test.
But he shattered those desires when he reluctantly pulled away. “Fuck, Kenna.”
“Damien, please…” Her words came out in a breathless spurt as her chest heaved.
He shook his head and pecked her lips. “Soon, baby, I promise. There are strict rules in my contract surrounding game nights, and fucking on a pretty little thing like you isn’t something I can get around. Not tonight, although I’m tempted to say fuck that contract…”
His lips pressed against hers again, and passion exploded between them. After a few seconds, though, Kenna was the one to pull away this time.
Breathlessly, she said, “No, it’s okay. Go get some sleep. I don’t want to be the reason you lose the game tomorrow.”
“You might be the reason we win.”
This kiss was slower and more sensual. Kenna’s pussy was completely soaked by now, and she knew as soon as she got into the hotel room, she was heading for the shower to see about that detachable shower head.
They finally pulled apart once again, and Damien placed her back on her feet. She felt his dick throbbing through his pants, which almost had her going back in for another kiss, but she refrained. She really didn’t want to get him in trouble, and she wanted him to stay focused on tomorrow.
Slowly, she pulled her key card from the small wristlet hanging from her arm. When the door was unlocked, she turned to him and gave him a dazzling smile. “Good luck tomorrow, Mr. Blaze.”
Damien bit his lip as he stared at her while he braced himself on the door frame. “You really are a pretty little thing, you know that?”
Kenna giggled. “Good night, Damien.”
“Good night, Ken Ken.”
When the door was shut, she leaned against it, smiling like she’d just won ten million dollars. Hell, it felt like that. Damien made her feel alive and excited about life again, which was an invaluable gift.
Sighing, she pushed off the door and walked toward her suitcase.
By the time she pulled her pajamas out, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and put her bonnet on, there was a knock on her door.
She knew it was either Cam being nosy or Damien back to finish what they started. She hoped it was the latter.
Surprise filled her when she opened the door, and a hotel worker stood there smiling at her.
“Ms. Kenna?”
“Yes?”
He gestured toward the dish in his hand then behind her into the room. “May I?”
“Oh, of course.” Kenna stepped aside and watched as he placed the covered dish on the small table placed just inside her room.
With a bow, he quickly left, shutting the door behind her.
Curiously, Kenna walked over to the table and lifted the lid on the plate.
A giggle escaped her when she realized it was a chocolate lava cake, still warm to the touch.
The note beside the plate wiped the smile off her face and caused her nipples to harden.
Since we can’t share this one, you owe me some cake to eat. I can’t wait to taste it. – D
With a quickness, she placed the lid back on the plate and took off for the shower, aching for a release and wishing Damien could be the one to give it to her.