Chapter Nine #2
His attention still squarely on April, Michael Berger folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve been researching the area you mentioned when we spoke at that autism fund-raiser a few weeks ago,” he said.
“There’s a good bit of land available there.
I’ve had my people looking into the work that’s been done on the levees surrounding the Industrial Canal. ”
“The Army Corps of Engineers has done excellent work rebuilding them,” Damien said. “The levees are all at or above national standards.”
“Yes, that’s what I’ve been told. It makes the area more attractive than I first thought it would be.” He looked over at Damien, his brow raised, the barest hint of a smile stretching across his thin lips. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Alexander.”
With that, Berger strode over to the statue of a nude woman clutching a blanket.
Damien wasn’t sure how he should feel about the businessman’s parting remarks.
He’d been in this weird place ever since the day he and April toured the Ninth Ward.
On the one hand, he was more excited than ever about plowing ahead with his plans to build the residential complex, but he no longer felt the same way about how exactly the space should be used.
Witnessing with his own eyes the various projects taking place around the neighborhood had affected him in a way Damien never thought possible.
April’s piece finished with a hauntingly beautiful last note.
It was followed by a thunderous applause that surprised him.
Not that she didn’t deserve the rousing ovation, but Damien would never have expected it from the type of people attending the gala.
Obviously they recognized that they were in the presence of greatness and couldn’t control their enthusiasm.
He watched her accept vigorous handshakes from several guests. She looked absolutely stunning in her gown of gold satin overlaid with black lace. The delicate trim of the sleeveless gown edged along her bust, cradling her perfectly sized breasts.
Damien forced himself to redirect his thoughts. If his brain remained on this trajectory he would need to find a quiet place away from the guest where he could get the situation burgeoning in his pants under control. As the crowd surrounding April finally thinned, Damien made his way to her.
“You’re the belle of the ball tonight,” he said.
Her light laugh carried in the same way her music had. “I don’t know about that,” she said.
“I do. You’ve charmed the pants off just about everyone here. They all want to be close to the amazing April Knight.”
“Including you?” she asked.
“Definitely me,” Damien answered.
She moved from the cello stand and took him by the hand. “I can use a breather,” she said. “If I have to smile again in the next ten minutes, I’m afraid my face will crack.”
Chuckling, Damien tucked her arm in the crook of his and started down the path surrounding the museum grounds. The night was still humid, but the closer they got to the water, the cooler the air became. They walked along the bridge that edged the south end of the museum.
“This is good for now,” April said. She rested her arms on the balustrade and stared across the lagoon.
“I always wanted to go on one of those,” she said. She nudged her chin toward the gondola gliding its way across the calm waters. “I’ve played in Venice twice, but I was only there for a day each time. I never got the chance to take a gondola ride around the city.”
“That’s the one thing about your job that I always envied,” Damien said. “How you were able to see the world. Even now that I have the means to do it, I don’t have the time.”
“Make the time,” she said.
His brow arched. “You think it’s that easy?”
April shook her head. “I know it isn’t. I’ve been lucky. My music has taken me to five continents and dozens of cities around the world, but it’s different when you’re going for work,” she said. “You see it, but you don’t really see it, you know?”
He came to stand behind her, placing a hand on either side of where her hands still gripped the stone railing.
“I wouldn’t mind taking the time off to finally start exploring the world if I knew I wouldn’t have to do it alone,” Damien said.
She looked at him over her shoulder. “Are you inviting me to tour the world with you?”
“What if I am? How would you answer?”
She turned within the cocoon his arms created and faced him. “I would say that it’s proof that teenage dreams really do come true.”
Damien shook his head, expelled a sigh of disbelief. “Why didn’t you say anything all those years ago, April? If you’d just told me how you felt, we could have come to this place in our relationship a long time ago.”
She shook her head. “No, we couldn’t have, because I wasn’t ready.” She placed a hand on his chest. “I wasn’t ready to admit how I felt about you all those years ago. I needed all the life experiences I’ve had in order to be comfortable enough to say this.”
“Say what?” Damien asked.
“That I want you,” she said. She placed a kiss against his neck, just under his chin. “I need you...in that way.”
Damien’s groin began to throb with need. He pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Have you taken care of all the business you needed to take care of tonight?” April asked in a low voice.
He swallowed and nodded. He wasn’t capable of speaking at the moment.
“So have I,” she said. She looked at him, her eyes liquid pools of desire and lust. “Do you mind if we leave?”
Damien shook his head. “Hell, no. As long as wherever we end up, we end up there together.”
“Your place,” she said. “Let’s go.”
As sweet as the music she’d played earlier had been to his ears, those two words were even sweeter. Damien grabbed her by the wrist and headed straight for his car. Right now, nothing mattered more than getting them to his house as quickly as he could.
* * *
Although they probably lived the same distance from the museum, April had suggested they go to Damien’s house because in the two years since he’d been back, she had yet to set foot in his home.
That bothered her, especially when she thought about the women who had probably been here. Women like Perfect Eva.
No.
She was not bringing thoughts of Eva or any of Damien’s past girlfriends here tonight. This was her time.
When April entered his ridiculously gorgeous Queen Anne home just a block from St. Charles Avenue, she had to fight to keep her jaw from dropping to the hardwood floors.
The ceilings soared at least twelve feet high, with two Corinthian columns creating the appearance of an entryway into the living room.
A gorgeous white stone fireplace took up one wall of the expansive room, while the other side opened into a huge kitchen.
April did a slow turn, taking it all in.
Damien came up behind her and clasped her upper arms. He nuzzled his nose in her hair, just behind her ear.
“I hate to kill the mood,” April started.
“Then don’t.” He nuzzled a little more, then asked, “What’s wrong?”
“It bothers me that you never invited me here.”
Damien ran his hands down her bare arms. “I have no excuse,” he said. “I should have done so a long time ago. I promise to give you the complete tour. Later,” he tacked on.
She turned to face him. “Honestly, I have no right to be upset. You visited my house for the first time just a few weeks ago.”
Damien leaned forward until their foreheads met. “We should both admit that we’ve sucked at this friendship thing for the past couple of years.”
April nodded. “But now we get to make up for it.”
The sexy smile that drew across his lips sent shivers down her spine. Damien reached down and gathered her into his arms, lifting her and carrying her over to the empty dining room table.
“Really?” April said when he set her on the polished wood. “The dining room table?”
“It’s a fantasy of mine,” he said. “Indulge me.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Her tongue plunged inside his mouth with a vigor she’d never displayed during lovemaking in the past. Probably because she’d never wanted someone as badly as she wanted him.
April locked her hand at the back of his head and held him to her. Heat suffused her bloodstream as she fastened her mouth to his, savoring his erotic flavor.
She felt Damien’s fingers tremble as he lowered the zipper down her back. The gown fell from her bust, leaving her upper body bare, save for the sheer and lace demi-bra.
A groan tore from Damien’s throat as his hands clamped on to her breast. He cupped the mounds in each hand, tweaking her nipples through the sheer fabric. When he dipped his head and licked at the hardening buds, April let her head fall back and thrust her chest into his mouth.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he breathed in an awed voice.
One hand traveled down the front of her torso, inching past where the dress bunched at her waist, while his other continued its sweet torture, pinching and plucking her nipples, triggering a flood of arousal that coursed through her.
His fingers found their way to the entrance of her damp core, but he didn’t enter.
Instead, he cupped her and pressed with gentle but firm pressure.
April rocked against his hand, her legs widening to give him better access. She undulated with increasing speed, lifting up slightly so that the base of his hand hit her cleft.
“Oh,” she breathed deeply, tucking her chin against his neck and jerking her hips back and forth. She humped his hand at a fevered pace. The makings of an orgasm sat low in her belly, building with each second that passed.
“Come for me,” Damien said. He coated two fingers with her moisture and slipped them inside of her.
April let out a gasp. She rode his fingers hard, her hips bucking wildly.
He pumped his fingers in and out like a piston, grabbed the back of her head with his other hand and crashed their mouths together.
The mere taste of him set her afire. The walls of her sex contracted around his fingers as she shuddered in his arms.