Chapter 14 #2
I laugh and slow my kicks down, not wanting to put too much distance between us. Damien’s a strong swimmer, but anything can happen in the ocean, and I’m not willing to take that risk. When he catches up, we keep pace with each other and slowly make our way to the shore.
“Are those cormorants?” he asks, pointing to a large group of black birds off to the right. They’re perched on the rocks, wings spread wide and held out, feathers a deep, oily black.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “Their feathers aren’t fully waterproof, so they spread them out like that to try and dry them.”
“Holy shit,” Damien says when he sees one of them dive into the water and come up with a large fish in its beak. He smiles over at me. “Oregon is brutal.”
“But beautiful,” I say.
His dark eyes slowly run over the parts of me that are above water. “So fucking beautiful it almost hurts to look at it.”
Jesus, this man is going to be the end of me.
When we hit the rough incoming waves, we pull up onto our surfboards, letting the water push us the rest of the way.
The others are waiting for us, and when I see the look on Misha’s face, I make a beeline for Allie while I pretend like nothing out of the ordinary just happened.
Damien does the same, peeling off towards Ev and Bran without a backward glance.
It’s going to be so nice to not have to pretend.
“That was close,” Allie whispers while tossing me a towel. I wipe my face and start walking beside her, following the others to the house. “I swear your brothers were about to swim out and see what the hell you two were up to.”
“We were feeling each other up is what we were doing,” I say with a grin.
“Lucky girl,” she mutters. “All I’ve gotten are several scowls and a pissy attitude.”
“Maybe that’s good,” I tell her, adjusting the grip on my board as we pass the bluff where Damien ate me out like a man possessed.
The memory is too good to not smile over, and my eyes immediately try to find his.
He’s up ahead of us, and I can’t help but admire his ass.
He’s already unzipped the top of his wetsuit and pulled the hood off, so his dark hair blows in the wind when he looks back to give me another quick wink.
“God, he’s so sweet, isn’t he?” Allie asks, not missing what just happened.
“He is,” I agree.
“It’s the perfect combination. Sexy and sweet. All I’ve got is sexy and a pissed-off attitude that I’m getting real tired of.”
“Just think about what’s going to happen when he finally loses that temper of his,” I say, looking over to smile at her. “That’s a lot of pent-up rage, and it’s got to go somewhere.”
Allie’s smile is wicked and way too excited when she says, “Right between my legs is where it’s going. I’m going to make damn sure of that.”
Our laughter is loud enough to make the others look back at us. Dima eyes us from the top of the hill. “What’s so funny, Allie cat?”
“Be a little nicer to me and maybe I’ll tell you,” she says.
He ignores her and leans his surfboard against the side of the house.
He stops to pet a very excited Wallace before walking over to the outdoor shower.
It’s large enough to fit several people and the side of it has a large partition that covers most of your body while leaving your head and legs visible.
Allie and I sit while the guys start to file in and peel off their wetsuits.
“Jesus Christ, it’s not coming off,” I hear Ev say. “This thing is stuck to me like glue.”
Yuri laughs and says, “I’m not undressing you, Ev, no matter how sweetly you ask.”
“Fucker,” Ev says with a laugh. “Seriously, though, how the hell do I get out of this thing?”
I half-listen as my cousin gives Ev a few pointers while my eyes stay locked on Damien’s head.
He’s managed to peel his suit off, and he’s dipping his head under the hot water.
Steam rises from his shoulders, and my whole world narrows down to the sight of his wet, bare skin and the way his hair is falling down into his eyes.
He runs a hand over his face, brushing it back when he lifts his head.
Our eyes meet, and whatever he sees on my face has the corner of his mouth lifting in a devilish smirk.
Allie’s too busy drinking in the sight of my cousin, who’s unknowingly putting on the same show Damien is, to notice anything else. By the time the guys walk out with towels slung low on their hips, I’m convinced I’m going to need another dunk in the Pacific to cool off.
“Wow,” Allie murmurs, voicing exactly what I’m thinking but for very different reasons.
“Yeah, wow,” I say in agreement. “Come on, let’s get some payback.”
She grins at me as we walk around the partition, but my plan goes to shit when I realize I’m way too short and the only part of me that can be seen is the very top of my head and my legs from the knees down.
“Well, this’ll be one hell of a peep show,” I tell Allie.
She grins at me. “Speak for yourself, shorty.”
I turn on the hot water and start to slowly peel off my wetsuit while Allie does the same. Ev wasn’t being dramatic. These things are a real bitch to get off, but when I finally manage it and stand under the water in my bikini, I sigh at how good it feels.
“Well, fuck this.”
I look over at the sound of her irritated voice. She’s staring at the house with her hands on her hips. “They all went inside.”
“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not much of a show. You’re only a few inches taller than me, so all he can see is face from the nose up.”
She sticks a foot out and wiggles her toes. “And my freshly painted toes.”
The red color matches her red-and-white striped bikini, and I know she planned it that way.
“Don’t worry. Just do what they did and walk in with the towel around your waist. There’s no way he’ll be able to ignore your giant boobs.”
She looks down at her chest. “You really think they’re huge?”
“I mean, compared to me, yeah. You have actual cleavage. Use that shit, Allie.”
While she adjusts her boobs, making them pop just a bit more, I turn off the water and grab a towel from the cupboard that Talia always keeps stocked for us.
Running it over my hair and face, I pat the rest of my body dry, not bothering to try to perk up my chest because it is what it is.
I do take a second to make sure my shell necklace is still in one piece before I start to wrap the towel under my armpits.
Allie comes up behind me and tugs it down.
“I can’t go in there showing tit if you’re not. It’ll look way too planned.”
“I never hang around in my bikini around my brothers and cousins,” I remind her. They’ve seen me in bikinis before, but I’ve never just sprawled around in one once I was inside.
“Trust me, Damien won’t be complaining when he sees you.”
“Fine, but I’m gonna feel like a real dumbass,” I tell her while I secure my towel at my waist.
“It’s for a worthy cause. Now, come on, let’s go casually get a cup of coffee.”
I snort out a laugh and walk with her inside.
We follow the sound of voices upstairs, finding all the guys in the kitchen, huddled around the coffeemaker.
They stop when we walk in, and it takes everything I have to not cover myself when both my brothers furrow their brows at me.
I ignore them and push past Tyoma and Aleks so I can grab a couple of mugs for Allie and me.
Pouring us both a cup, I hand one across the counter to her before grabbing the creamer for myself.
Everyone else has already changed and ditched their towels.
My brothers and cousins have on board shorts and T-shirts, while Damien and Ev have opted for jeans and hoodies. A laugh escapes when I see it.
“It’s cold,” Ev says, holding his steaming cup of coffee between his hands like it’s his own personal heater.
“Yeah, aren’t you girls cold?” Dima asks.
Allie shrugs one of her bare shoulders. “Not really, no.” She gives him a little smirk before taking the creamer from me and filling her own mug.
He tries to not look at her breasts and fails. I cover my smile by taking a drink, and when I look over, I see Damien staring at me before he quickly looks away. With my brothers right next to me, this feels a lot like a pile of kindling that’s just waiting for a lit match.
It’s a fire I have no desire to start right now, so I set my mug down and reach for a handful of granola from the bag someone’s opened. I pop some in my mouth and look over at Misha.
“You wanna make me some breakfast while I get changed?”
When he hesitates, I nudge his arm. “Come on, big brother. You know you make the best omelets.”
“She’s not wrong,” Yuri says, uniting with me because we’re both hungry and hate to cook.
I can start bacon, Bran signs, already grabbing a skillet. You do the eggs.
“Perfect,” I tell them, pointing a finger at the group as I start to back my way out towards the stairs. “I get dibs on the first plate.”
“Not fair,” Tyoma hollers after me when I turn and start running to the room Allie and I slept in. “I get dibs on the next one,” I hear him say from behind me.
It doesn’t take me long to throw on jeans and a shirt and run a brush through my hair, and in less than fifteen minutes, I’m already leaving the room and on my way back down.
I stop in the hall when I hear Lyra’s cute laugh.
Peeking into her nursery, I see Max in the process of trying to wrangle his daughter into the cute outfit he’s holding.
“Lyra, you’ve got to get dressed, baby,” he tells her.
She squeals and claps her hands, making him laugh instead of get frustrated. He sees me in the doorway and looks over his shoulder.
“She’s lively this morning,” he says. He goes back to trying to pull the top over her head while he asks, “Did my cousins survive surfing?”
I step in and grab one of Lyra’s toys, trying to distract her while Max slips her arm through the sleeve. As soon as her hand is free, she smiles and starts to bang on the keys of the small pink piano I’ve put in front of her.