Chapter 7
SEVEN
As soon as the words left my lips, I wanted to take them back.
Damien’s eyes flashed with fire when he stared down at me with an unfamiliar expression.
I’d love to blame the alcohol, but most of it seemed to flee my system when I climbed into Damien’s car.
The drive, along with the mounting tension, was enough to sober me up.
No, these words were all mine, emboldened by my early conversation with my friends and the ache between my legs. Damien was powerful—alluring. His mere presence was enough to rock me out of my carefully laid plans, wanting to experience what it would be like to be at his mercy.
Damien sucked in a sharp breath, his hands almost shaking as he skimmed his fingers along my bare skin. God, I wanted him to touch me everywhere, to bring my body back to life after so many years of slumber. “Don’t look at me like that, Brianna.”
Fuck it. Playing it safe hadn’t gotten me anywhere, stuck with an expensive divorce bill and living with a roommate again in my thirties.
I placed my hands on his chest, and his pulse thundered underneath my touch.
It flooded me, making me feel powerful in a way I hadn’t in a long time.
As I tilted my head up, my eyes darted to his lips, wishing more than anything that he’d bring his mouth to mine.
“Are you sure you want me to stop?”
Damien groaned, the sound so manly and wanting, it made my knees shake. His thumb brushed along my bottom lip, his calluses gliding along the smooth skin. “Fuck, Brianna. Who knew you were such a temptress?”
Not me, that’s for sure. I wasn’t this girl, not the woman who propositioned men on the side of the road, panting with the need for their touch. I took a sharp inhale, tightening my fingers so they ran along the smooth cotton of his shirt.
“Apparently not.” Damien’s brow furrowed as the words left my mouth. “You’re resisting me.”
Damien took a step forward, pressing my back up against the smooth lines of his car.
His hips bucked against me, my core flush with his hardened length.
His spare hand brushed through my hair, pushing it back until he could whisper in my ear.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Brianna.
I’m trying to be the good guy here, trying to hold back from fucking you like I’m dying to.
You’re not a stranger, not someone I can have one night with and walk away.
” His fingers tightened in my hair, exposing my neck to him.
I gasped as his nose ran along the skin, stopping to nip at the shell of my ear.
“But if you keep testing me, I’m going to show you exactly what you do to me. ”
This was the moment—the one when I should run back to my safe and comfortable life.
I was in over my head with Damien. Just one look into his darkening eyes was enough to tell me we played in drastically different leagues, but I refused to back down—refused to give in to the fear that pulsed in my veins.
Because for the first time, I was less afraid of the consequences than the regrets.
Damien’s eyes tracked my movements, analyzing each step for any sign of reluctance.
I stared back at him, trying to keep my spine straight as I muttered, “Show me, Damien. Ruin me. I want to know exactly what it’s like when you come undone. ”
His fingers tightened on my skin, as if it hurt him to hold back. It was overwhelming, being the subject of his unwavering attention. If his eyes were a pyre, I wanted to climb inside and let his warmth consume me.
With a sudden tug, we were moving, Damien pulling me toward the entrance of the hotel, leaving behind the humid Dallas heat.
We entered the lobby, still hand in hand, not wasting a moment on the other occupants watching as we walked by.
With the all-star game in town, seeing baseball players wasn’t unusual, but Damien drew people in without effort.
He did it to me. The moment we reached the elevator, he pushed me up against the sleek chrome surface, his hips anchoring mine in place.
As his hand pushed my hair over my shoulders, he shifted, leaning closer to speak into my ear. “Are you sure? Or is this just the alcohol talking?”
“No,” I groaned, shifting my hips to get some of that delicious friction between us. “I want this—want you. Please, Damien. I need to feel alive again.”
He pulled back, a smirk forming on his lips as his thumb brushed against my lower lip. “You’re so pretty when you beg for me, Brianna.”
My eyes darted up to his, giving in to the wanton woman he inspired. “Are you going to kiss me?”
Damien’s eyes darted to my lips, looking at them like they could be his absolution, but he shook his head.
“That’s not what this is, Brianna. If we do cross the line, you need to know a few things.
I’ll make you come, make you forget your own name if that’s what you want, but that’s all I’m offering.
All I can offer. If that’s not what you’re looking for, walk away now. ”
His words should have scared me, confirmed I was so far out of my league, I was one move from drowning.
But one night of oblivion was all I wanted as well.
My divorce bruised me, fracturing my heart into a shell of its former self.
Even if someone offered me their whole one, I wasn’t in the place to accept it.
“One night,” I mumbled as my fingers found his chest. “That’s all. When we get back home, we act like this never happened—and no one ever finds out.”
“One night,” Damien repeated. His hands dropped to my thighs, lifting me so my ass rested on the edge of the railing.
His fingers coasted along my skin, stopping when they reached the hem of my dress.
The black silk dress wasn’t my normal style, but before we went out, Ollie ransacked her closet to find something for me.
At first, I doubted her choice, much more comfortable in my jeans and a sweatshirt.
But as Damien’s fingers skimmed the space between my thighs, I sent out a silent thank you, because it was the most erotic thing I’d ever experienced.
When he brushed against the fabric of my thong, he smirked down at me. “You’re dripping for me, Brianna. Is your pussy aching? Waiting for someone to give it what it deserves?”
“Yes,” I moaned, shifting my hips to get him closer to me. But he kept up his gentle ministrations, touching me so lightly, yet I could sense it down to my toes. “Please, Damien.”
I gasped as his fingers moved past the lace fabric, touching my bare skin for the very first time. My body called out to him, begging him to take everything and more. He sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers explored me, leaving light kisses on the skin of my neck.
The elevator dinged when we reached my floor, and Damien cursed under his breath, removing his fingers from my soaked panties. But before he got too far, the fabric suddenly snapped at my hips. I looked down, finding the black lace of my thong now clutched in his hand.
“D-did you just rip my panties off?” I squawked in disbelief, unsure if the move turned me on or pissed me off. Those were expensive, one of the few luxuries I allowed myself on my measly teacher income.
He just shrugged as he toyed with the fabric before sticking it into his pocket. “Might be only one night, but I already know I’m going to want to remember this one. Consider these my souvenir.”
I wanted to protest, but they all died on my lips.
We walked to my hotel room in silence, neither of us wanting to break the tension brewing between us.
Once the door opened, the game was on. After I turned the key, Damien reached out, stopping me before I could open it.
“Before we go inside, I want you to make sure this is what you want, Brianna. If you’ve changed your mind, I won’t hold it against you.
Fuck, if you change your mind at any point, all you have to do is say so. ”
I shifted, pressing my back against the wood so it opened.
Reaching out, I took his hand and pulled him into my room.
As the door closed, I stood against it, needing the strength to keep standing.
Too much desire filled the air, too much promise of what would come next.
There was no backing down, not for me. “I’m not changing my mind.
But the same goes for you. It’s not only about my comfort here, Damien. ”
His eyes flashed, as if I’d struck an unintentional nerve.
Any hesitancy was gone, replaced by the longing I’d seen earlier.
His hands found my hips, shifting us so I was up against the door, his body keeping me tight against him.
“I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you, Brianna.
Something about that innocent smile,” he thumbed my lower lip, “made me want to corrupt you. And now that I have you, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. ”