N. Walters - Damek's Redemption

She frowned, knowing there was something about that thought that should bother her, something she needed to question, but it was lost beneath the onslaught of his kiss. He took her mouth, claimed it and demanded more.

Sonia lost all track of time as he kissed her as though they had all the time they needed. The world outside didn’t matter, not now, not with passion clenching both of them in its grasp. Every stroke of his hand was magnified a thousandfold. His masculine scent filled her nostrils, making her want to get closer to him. Every nerve ending in her skin was alive and electric, anticipating his next touch.

He slipped a hand inside her blazer and cupped her breast. The sweater and her bra might be between them, but that didn’t matter. He might as well have been touching bare flesh for the effect it had on her. Pleasure jolted from her breasts to her core and back again in an endless loop. Oh, this was wonderful, better than wonderful. It was perfect.

Damek broke the kiss and let his lips glide over her face toward her ear. “Tell me, Sonia. Who are you really? Why are you here?” He nibbled on her lobe, dragging one of his fangs over the sensitive skin.

It took a moment for his question to process, and when it did it was like getting a bucket of cold water dumped on her. The moment shattered and the warm, sensual haze that had enveloped her disintegrated in a heartbeat. She shoved him away with all her strength, which wasn’t much considering her entire body was trembling with unrequited lust. “You bastard.”

He blinked at her, his breathing steady while hers was anything but. She was totally aroused and he looked as though he were at a board meeting. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” she repeated. She swiped her hand over the back of her mouth and his gaze narrowed and lips tightened. “This seduction was just so you could get answers out of me.”

“It was for mutual pleasure. The questions I would ask no matter what.”

“I’ll bet.” She crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best to ignore the throbbing in her core and the painful way her nipples were pressing against her bra. “I’m not trading answers for sex, so you’re wasting your time.” Where moments before what was between them had felt right and perfect, now it felt tainted and tawdry.

He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t need to seduce you to get answers. I can take whatever I want to know from your mind, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat, barely able to breathe as power swelled and pulsed around them. She was in big trouble. There really was no way for her to know the extent of his powers, but she knew in her heart Damek wasn’t lying. He could enter her mind and take her thoughts from her.

And if he did, something inside her would shrivel up and die.

“Please.” A tear trailed down her cheek and she dashed it away. This wasn’t the time for tears, but she couldn’t seem to stop. Her emotions were all over the place, racing from sexual arousal to fear to anger to disappointment.

Damek caught a fresh tear on his thumb and brought the salty drop to his lips. Sonia shuddered as he sucked it into his mouth. “It seems I was wrong.” He sat back, pressed a button and said something to the driver over the intercom. Not that Sonia could hear what it was over the pounding of her heart.

She sucked in a breath and got control of her wayward emotions. The adrenaline flooding her veins was making them bounce all over the place. All she wanted right now was to be alone and sort out everything that had happened. She needed to contact her family and talk to them. Damek and the werewolf pack at Haven deserved to have answers, but she couldn’t tell them anything unless she got the okay from her family. If the secret were hers alone, she’d tell Damek everything.

That thought frightened her as much as the passion he tapped into so easily did. He had an advantage over her. While she was lost in the sensuality of his kiss, his touch, he’d still been thinking and plotting. It hurt her to realize she was alone in this attraction between them.

The car came to a stop and she glanced out the window. He hadn’t brought her back to his club but to her hotel. It was probably better this way. She’d gather her things, check out and go to another hotel and contact her family. She needed to talk to her mother about Damek and everything he made her feel. Her mother would understand and know exactly what to say to her.

She could depend on her family.

She reached for the door handle, but Damek put his hand on her arm, stopping her. “Will you not tell me what I need to know?”

As much as it pained her to do so, she shook her head. “If it were only me…” She let her words trail off.

Damek released her. “Then go. Go back to your world and leave me be.”

The finality of his words almost had her blurting out all her secrets. She bit her bottom lip so hard she drew a tiny bead of blood. His gaze landed on the drop that welled up.

“You tempt me at your peril,” he growled. Before she could escape, he grabbed her, yanked her to him and slammed his mouth down on hers. His tongue stroked over her lips, drawing the bead of blood into his mouth.

Heat. Pleasure. Erotic promise. It all swarmed through her, engulfing her, eating her whole.

Then she was alone and cold as he thrust her away from him. “Go, now, while I can still let you.”

Sonia grabbed her purse and jumped out of the car. Just before the door slammed shut, she caught sight of Damek sitting on the plush leather seat. His eyes were tinged with red but they were also filled with loneliness.

The car sped away, leaving her standing alone on the sidewalk with nothing but regret and a heavy heart. She stood there until the vehicle was out of sight, half hoping he would stop and come back. When it was apparent he was truly gone, she dragged herself through the main door of the hotel. All she wanted to do was run after Damek and spill all her secrets to him.

She stiffened her spine and marched across the lobby, keeping her eyes straight ahead. She needed to focus on what she needed to do and forget about Damek for now. It wouldn’t take her long to pack and get out of here. Once she was settled in a new hotel she would call her family. Damek still had what was left of her cell phone, but she could use the hotel phone to contact them.

The elevator seemed to take forever to arrive and then carry her up to her floor. Her feet felt like lead as she made her way to her door and swiped her keycard in the lock. The room was dark, and when she flipped the switch on the overhead light nearest the door nothing happened.

“Great. The bulb is burned out.” There was enough light from the window for her to see the light on the desk. She headed straight toward it, letting the door close behind her with a thunk. She was halfway there when she sensed a disturbance in the air.

She whirled around, but it was too late. A heavy male arm came around her neck and a knife flashed in front of her eyes. “You’re a hard woman to follow, Dr. Agostino. It’s time for me and you to have a little talk.”

The more distance the limo put between him and Sonia, the larger the hole in Damek’s chest seemed to grow. Every instinct he possessed was screaming at him to go after Sonia and keep her with him. But he couldn’t do that. Fool that he was, he wanted her to tell him voluntarily whatever secret it was she was keeping from him. If he took it from her, he would irrevocably damage whatever was between them.

He snorted and stared out the window at the passing people and never-ending lights of the city. He should have taken her memories of him from her. It would be easy. A simple process of reaching into her mind with his own and psychically blanking out all the brain cells that contained his physical image or emotional imprint. But he didn’t want her to forget him. He wanted to haunt her days and nights as she would haunt his.