Chapter 7

Seven

D amon flicked the lights over the bar off, leaving only a few spotlights on by the bar. Faceted beams of lights cut through the darkened room in every shade. Reds, blues, yellows.

"When did you hang Christmas lights in the front windows?"

"While you were out with your sister. You don't think the family gets free drinks all the time, do you?"

"Don't ask Ethan and your dad that."

He grabbed her hand and she was in his arms and right where she'd been before the twins walked in on them.

"A hungry man like me is a dangerous thing to have around, Ivy, and you've been running from me all day."

"Not true."

His eyes infused with heat and the way they pulsed with banked need held her mesmerized. "You have two choices," he drew out. "Dinner with Mom, Pop, and the whole gang…every last one of them. Or…"

"The or part of this is already starting to sound like the better option."

"Me. Upstairs, your home or mine. Doesn't matter to me."

Home? "Are you actually giving me a choice?" That sounded welcoming and scary all at the same time. Like a dream and nightmare in one.

"Or, I guess there's a third option. We could spend the evening hanging some lights in your apartment? I can pick up a tree and maybe some mistletoe."

"Yeah, maybe later." She cut in. "Right now. You and I are all I want to see lit up."

She rose to her tiptoes. "I. Pick. You. The place doesn't matter."

A heavy growl rumbled in his chest and in a blink he had her pinned to his chest and rocketed up the back stairs that led to their apartments before she had a chance at second-guessing herself.

"Yours or mine, angel."

Ivy reached into her back pocket and drew out her key to dangle it high in the air.

"Did you know it takes a man less than ten seconds to come whereas a woman takes up to four times as long?"

"That's a sad fact and one I aim to challenge."

Her body flushed with the growly rough sound of his voice. He kicked the door closed behind them and pinned her to the hardwood. Raising her hands above her head, he tightened his fingers around her wrists as she wound her legs around his waist.

Air was in low supply as he devoured her lips with a heated kiss. Fierce and all-consuming, he took everything she had, but she didn't let him go without giving her the same in return.

"I don't know how slow I can go, angel. God, I've been hungry for you the second you started drilling facts into my head."

"I know. I mean so many find my fact slinging sexy."

He growled and nipped at her lower lip.

"Here's a fact for you. I'm going to suck your soft, wet pussy. And then when you're dripping wet and aching for me so badly you can't see straight I'm going to take my cock and pop that cherry and claim you as mine. You'll scream my name and come for me long into the night and when you wake in the morning I'm going to take your new fucked pussy and fuck it again."

He sucked on her lip, drew it between his teeth and nibbled, kissed, sucked and then repeated. "Is that so?" she managed when he broke away.

"Mine." He growled.

"For tonight. Yes. Yours." And tomorrow she hopped on a plane and never returned to Savage Ridge. Tonight, only tonight, she could break her one hard rule for a few hours with a man she couldn't resist any more than he could resist her apparently.

Quakes and shivers ran the length of her body as he leaned in and scraped his teeth along the tender flesh of her exposed neck. "I need you," she heard herself whisper, lost in the decadent feel of his body pressed against her.

He pulled back and his eyes simmered in the shadows of her living room.

Damn him. Why did she want him so badly and why couldn't she say no?

"Your bedroom or I'll fuck you here on the carpet. I don't know about you, but I don't relish the idea of carpet burns."

Pine and fresh soap filled her lungs as she wound her arms around his neck as he carried her to the back bedroom. Not bothering with lights, he pulled the drapes closed as they went, sinking them into further darkness.

She closed her eyes and let the softness of the bed's thick comforter wrap around her as he placed her down gently.

Watching her he turned on a nearby lamp and she welcomed the soft yellow glow spilling over them.

Ivy eased to her elbows and enjoyed the view as he flicked the button to his pants open and stood before her naked and aroused.

"I knew I didn't stand a chance against you."

She smiled and licked her lips. "I want to have you on my tongue, mountain man."

A deep growl of appreciation rumbled up the back of his throat as she crawled to the edge of the bed.

"Anything you want, angel. But first I want you naked."

He wrapped his fingers around the edges of her sweater and pulled, causing a soft feminine sigh to slip as his fingers brushed her tender sides.

He made quick work of her boots and pants next, leaving her in only red panties and bra.

She held her breath as a long silence carried between them. He stood back from her looking from beneath hooded eyes. From below them the strong vocals of a famed singer carried through the floor. Something about home and Christmastime.

Damon paid no attention. It seemed like she was the only thing in the room with how he devoured her with his eyes.

Heat crept into her cheeks, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Beautiful, angel. Now come here." He gathered her hands in his and kissed every last one of her fingers. "You leave me breathless and that's not something a man of my status likes to admit."

Ivy blinked. "Oh. I thought maybe you didn't like what you saw or maybe the red silk wasn't your color there for a second the way you paused."

Damon closed the sliver of space he'd put between them. "All I know is thank God you left your long johns on yesterday because I would have ended up killing half the town for even looking at you and the other half for thinking they could have a shot at touching you." He dipped his head to capture her lips in a fiery kiss. "And red is my favorite color," he mumbled against her lips.

Hesitant, she stepped back and did a small twirl for him and smiled a little when she heard him suck in a harsh breath.

"I am dying to lick that. Every inch, every vine, every tiny pink rose will be mine."

She trailed a finger over the intricate vines and flowers of the tattoo he eyed hungrily that climbed the length of her thigh to twine around her waist and interlaced at the dip of her hip.

She and Zahara had gotten matching tatts a couple of years back after her sister's attack from her insane ex-fiancé. The tattoo served as a way for them to grow stronger together and now it gave her a boost of confidence she never felt before.

Not until this moment with how Damon looked at her. Like she was his angel.

She never thought a man like him, utterly masculine and a little broody, would be interested in someone as unnatural to being sexy as she was. Here he was, man of nature and comfortable with all that entailed, and she preferred the wilds of the city. Hell, making this far out of the city and not getting lost somewhere in the woods was due only to the fact no one had left her alone long enough.

Ivy let out a small laugh when he picked her up and tossed her onto the bed. Pinned between the mattress and the rocky planes of his abs and the delicious scruff of his stubble, she desperately wanted to not like the feel of his cock pressing between her thighs or love how his thick thighs spread hers so deliciously.

She fell further under his spell.

Would it have been too much to ask for her to hate how his body molded to hers? She really truly wanted to not like the feel of his tongue on her body as he made good on his promise of licking every inch of the tatt he marveled over moments ago.

She gasped and bit into her lip to hold back the pure twist of pleasure that tangled around her senses. She didn't want to sound too weak, but have mercy. His hands massaged into the flesh of her thighs. His thumbs nearly spreading her folds. He teased and he knew it was driving her crazy.

So freaking good.

She loved the way his tongue found every groove, every sensitive spot and made her body sway and dance under his hot tongue.

Especially how he paused over each rose of her tattoo to add extra kisses and licks. Like he wanted to truly taste the tiny flowers decorating her skin.

His cock, his tongue, and his lips were the keys to her heaven. Men like Damon were the one solid reason good girls shed angelic wings and went for pointy horns.

Need arched her back and the sudden jolt of lust forced a gasp from her as he hollowed his cheeks and sucked on the tender skin of her lower stomach where the last of the tattooed roses rested close to the top of her pelvis.

"Damon," she breathed, driving her hands into his hair. He was everywhere at once. Nipping, licking, kissing and now sucking.

"I had no idea silk-covered nipples tasted so damn good."

She pulled on his hair slightly and he reared up, growling, and his eyes burst with a sudden dark hunger.

His hands sought, roamed, touched every inch of her from calves to neck.

She tightened her hold. "Now, Damon. I need you now."

"I'm afraid I need you too much," he countered. "I can't control myself."

Her pussy clenched. Pressing her heels into the mattress she rocked her hips, desperate to feel his cock against her clit, deep in her, anything. She'd take anything right now. "Don't make me beg, Damon."

"The words would sound pretty on your lips, angel as you beg for my cock." He mouthed the words against her belly and she quivered from the scratch of his stubble.

When he peeled away the delicate lacy band of her panties, her eyes rolled back and her lids drifted closed as the warm pad of his tongue stroked along the outer edges of her tattoo. With one hand he rolled her to her stomach while he flicked the clasp of her bra, dragging her panties down another inch to reveal the top of her ass, his tongue seeking out more to claim.

One pull and he freed her of the scrap of cloth.

"Much better," he rumbled, his palms pressing into the globes of her ass. Callused and rough on her tender flesh, but she moaned when he parted her, sending a flush of heat over her. A man had never touched her there before and now her entire body was being visually devoured by the possessive alpha.

"Damon," she pleaded softly.

"It's okay, angel," he cut in. "I love everything about your body. Everything. I want to touch and claim every part. Be your first. Your only," he added in a low voice.

She shivered with eagerness.

She fisted the comforter between her fingers and balled the material into her fist.

Not likely his only after she left, but she appreciated the tenderly spoken words nonetheless. "I'm burning up."

The bed dipped on either side of her thighs and she stilled as the thick length of his cock slid between her cheeks as he hooked an arm around her waist and hauled her to all fours then pulled her up until her back was against his front.

Slowly she reached behind her and ran the tips of her finger through the lengths of his hair.

She arched and moaned when he teased her asshole with soft swirls of a finger over her back entrance. "Damon."

"Not yet," he reassured her, his arm like a safety net around her middle. "Only when you're ready. For now, I want your sweet pussy wrapped around my cock."

He breathed heavier.

"That's what I want first." As he crooned close to her ear and nibbled on the lobe, he caressed a slow path across her abdomen and dipped a finger between her swollen folds. Pressure built in her center and bloomed through her body, spread until every nerve from head to toe thrummed with invisible energy.

He lightly caressed her clit, and she cried out and reached for her nipples.

"That's it—pinch them for me."

She did and her body responded with a rush of warm liquid to wet her folds and slip down her inner thighs. Rapid heartbeats shot her blood pressure through the roof.

Damon slipped a finger into her core then another as he pressed his other hand to the dip in her back.

She inhaled on a gasp. She bowed wanting to find Damon's waiting hands. Looking over her shoulder, she caught his gaze. "I trust you. I want you to be my first. Take me, Damon. Long and slow, rough and hard. It doesn't matter. But take me now." Virginity be damned she needed him. "I'm on the pill. Medical reasons, long story, but stop stalling already."

"Demanding. I like that."

The thick head of his cock brushed her clit. Gasping, moaning she pressed back but he caught her and stilled her motions.

"Easy baby. Let me do this for you. Let me make it good as it can be."

He stroked the blunt head of his cock over the sensitive bud before pulling back through her slick pussy. His thighs pressed into hers. Broken breaths stole from her lips.

The fold of her sex spread wide to accept his thickness but he didn't penetrate, only teased. Prickling tingles along her senses sent waves of excitement down her spine.

Ivy jerked when she turned to watch Damon over her shoulder as his hands spread her ass wide for his hungry gaze.

He flipped her, wound her legs around him and guided his shaft to her core. He pressed forward, sinking into her and she let out a soundless moan as his girth stretched her, filled her and shot a pleasurable pain through her body. She sucked in a hard breath and her pulse accelerated.

He gripped her curves lightly and pulled out before driving back into her with a gentle thrust, fully claiming her tight, virgin pussy as his. All his. She wound her arms around him, pulled him close until she had his lips on hers. They swallowed each other's breaths and for that one precious moment she felt wanted, cherished and craved more than the air they breathed.

She dug her heels into him until every last inch of his shaft felt the clench of her channel.

He stilled. "Are you okay, baby?" he asked into the crook of her shoulder. He dusted kisses across the heated flesh and she groaned from the sheer torture of having his lips on her and him not moving inside her.

"Again," she groaned, rocking her hips.

He delivered on her demand, slowly picking up speed. She could do nothing but hold on and meet each stroke until everything inside her collided with a wave of blue energy. Her eyes slipped closed and behind her lids sheets of electricity rippled and shimmered.

And then it hit her.

So much pleasure the amount of raw need tumbled her into the midst of unknown territory as the surge of pressure in her core exploded with an orgasm that threatened to pull her under the blanket of darkness that danced along the fringes of her vision.

Her lips parted on a breathless moan.

His hold tightened. "Angel, come for me. I can't hold on much longer."

She didn't know how or understand why but her body heeded his command. The ripples turned to a single tidal wave of ecstasy as her orgasm swallowed her whole.

Damon's arms wrapped around her. For the briefest moment the world beyond ceased to exist, and then his muscles trembled beneath her hands and roared his release. Hot spurts filled her spasming core, tightened around him and milked his cock for every last drop of come.

A second wave blindsided her. Pulled her under and she let go. Slipped beneath the wave of ecstasy?

Blackness cocooned her, and she faintly heard herself scream as her second climax slammed into her head-on.

Damon's gentle voice roused her from her bliss, and she lifted her eyes to see him gazing down at her with a softness to his eyes.

"Come back to me, angel."

The heat of Damon's body pressing into hers registered. Leaning over her, he nuzzled her neck as her eyes slowly opened.

"WOW!" she could barely breathe. "My body. Oh my God. I still feel…"

"High," he voiced her thoughts with a rueful grin. He pulled her down with him as he withdrew from her body. Nestled close she rolled over and sprawled across his chest.

She nodded and the friction of his body heat against her cheek, her chest, her entire body made her want to never move from his touch.

Ivy propped herself up on her elbow and traced a finger along the light dusting of hair on Damon's chest. "I'm glad you were my first." She leaned into his embrace a little closer and let her eyes slip closed as he tightened his arms around her. Rapid thumping in her ear brought a smile to her face as she realized his heart rate matched her own frantic one.

"Thank you for such a precious gift, angel."

Quiet grew around them and sleep wasn't far off when she heard him rumble the last word she expected from him

"Stay."

She rose from where she laid to see him scrape a hand through his mussed hair. Fear ate at him and reflected in his tight muscles. Everything in her wanted to squelch it for him, but if he thought something longer between them could happen, she needed to put a stop to that and fast. She couldn't have him thinking this was the start of something.

"You would love it here. It's a little wild but it grows on you after a while." Her heart dropped the longer he spoke. "Maybe after you graduate..." he left his statement open-ended as he slid away from the bed. From her.

She stiffened. "Damon. I told you tonight only and tomorrow I'm gone." She climbed off the bed and searched for her panties and bra then slipped into them and her jeans as she rushed into the bathroom.

White light filled the small bath as she flicked the switch. Shallow breaths came fast and hard. Dots flickered across her vision.

Panic attack. Damn it why now? She growled under her breath. Cold water to the face helped calm the quakes of fear in her chest but she still felt light headed.

Large hands grabbed her shoulders and twirled her around. "What? What is it? Are you okay? Did I hurt you? Why are you breathing like that?" His questions peppered her one after the other hard and fast.

Nerves bubbled in her belly. For a long moment she couldn't speak, but instead stood there like an idiot.

"I am so sorry, angel. Talk to me," he said more gently.

"No. This was not your fault. Please just let me leave."

He calmed. "You don't need to run you know. I won't hold you here, but you don't have to leave either. There's nothing to be scared of."

"Scared?"

"Yeah. Scared. You look like a rabbit caught in a snare with the wolf right around a tree."

His eyes brightened at the hint of challenge.

He shrugged and the daring flash in his eyes died. "Or maybe you should. Maybe you're not all that into me and don't know how to say it."

Her mouth slacked open.

"Or," she countered. "Maybe you're not into the whole doctor thing? I get that a lot and the famous ‘it's not you sweetheart you're just not the right fit'."

His face pulled into a scowl. "Don't go putting words I didn't say into my mouth."

Damon palmed her face with a gentle touch. "And it would be any fool's loss to turn you away," he whispered roughly. The incredulity in his voice soothed some of her nerves. "Idiots, all of them and if they can't see how special you are, that's their problem. But something has fear in your eyes and I don't think it's me. And don't go trying to find excuses that aren't there. Talk to me."

Slowly, she slid her hands down his arms to settle on his. "It's more complicated than I can voice right now."

His features tightened.

She barely had the fight left in her if he kept looking at her like she was the world for him. Her mouth creased into a deep frown. "This is not some sappy holiday movie, Damon. Insta-love doesn't exist and insta-families much less." Disgust left a sour taste in her mouth and dissolved any trace of the high she experienced under his experienced touch. She didn't want anything permanent, but the ache his touch quieted left her wondering what if.

He stroked a thumb across her cheek. "I've claimed you, angel. You can walk out of here right now, but that doesn't make you any less mine."

Ivy turned back to the mirror. She didn't recognize the woman staring back at her.

Damon stepped up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders with a pleading look in his eyes. She hated that look. Hated it yet couldn't bring herself to calm the nerves in her gut long enough to ease the guilt she knew ate at his insides.

"Why do you keep calling me that, Damon? angel?" Her gaze floated over to his in the reflection of the mirror. "I'm no one's angel. No one's beautiful anything. I'm just another girl, normal as they come."

"There's nothing normal about someone as special as you and if you don't believe that then you're not looking close enough."

She turned and he leaned in, resting his hands on the counter, which pinned her in place. "And you are an angel. The kindest soul I've ever met."

"I'm jaded, cynical and if my supervisor is to be believed I like to play God."

He pulled back. "What the hell does that mean? Play God?"

"You want to know why I'm outta here tomorrow?" She pushed at his chest and he let her pass. Maybe if he knew the truth about her then he wouldn't want her so much. He would erase the claim he thought he had over her and she could be done with it. Done with him.

Her heart fell a little bit at the thought of never seeing him again.

She walked the perimeter of the room, turning every single light on and then made her way through the rest of the apartment. Anything to shed the romantic vibe that wanted to cling to the place.

But the more lights she flipped, the more he killed.

"Will you stop already?"

"They hurt the eyes. Tell me what you meant." From across the room she felt his heated stare.

She flushed with anger and balled her fists by her sides. Her heart constricted and she looked at anything in the room besides the man she spoke to. "I killed someone on the job two days before I came here. Not directly but I failed her and the children that depended on her. I know how that sounds, but that's only the first half of the story. I went digging for information and discovered she was in recovery and trying to pull her life together for her kids. She had almost two years clean." Her heart hurt. "Then she relapsed. The pressure of being a solo parent, the weight of yet another Christmas… I don't know." Her arms fell to her sides.

Ivy held her breath, waiting, watching as silence filled the small apartment. With the drapes closed everything seemed smaller, the walls closer, the space constricting. Dots floated in front of her face and the tiny kitchenette twirled in slow circles.

"Whoa, angel." Warm arms wrapped around her and for the briefest of moments the world seemed right. "Breathe…you're having another panic attack."

Then reality bitch-slapped her.

"No kidding." Blackness swallowed everything and she let her guard down long enough to bury her nose in his neck for one lungful more of his scent. She could afford that. Hopefully. When she landed in Houston in ten hours she'd forget all about Damon Savage and the penetrating way his eyes held her captive and the pine scent she wanted to rub all over herself until she could smell nothing else. Damn man.

She pushed him away slowly and fought to find a new rhythm to her breathing.

"Everyone, even my hard-ass supervisor, said it was a good call on my part and that I couldn't do anything to save the mother." She pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. "I fought, but I hesitated before I administered the right counter medicines to block the heroin overdose. In the end, nothing worked. But what if I hadn't hesitated? What if I'd been faster?" She crashed and the sound of her heart monitor flatlining still rings in my ears."

Damon stroked her cheek. "What did your supervisor say?"

"She'd like nothing else than to see me fail, but in this case she told me I made the right call and she supported it when I went in front of the board."

"It seems to me you have your answer right there."

"Don't you see, Damon?" Her voice broke and sounded ragged to her own ears. She hated weakness. She slammed her hand down on the counter but the sting of pain did nothing for the frustration and hurt that burrowed deep in her heart.

"No," he whispered softly. "You'll need to spell it out for me, Ivy. Because the only thing I see is you killing yourself emotionally over something that was entirely out of your hands. You didn't shoot that woman up, make her use drugs or tell her the drug should mean more to her than her kids."

"I quit," she stated flatly. "So many years, sleepless nights and so many odd jobs I've lost count. And there's Zahara too. She's done so much for me and I walked away because I hesitated. What happens when I'm in the operating room and stall? Oh my God. It scares me. All I could think about was my own stupid screwed up mom and it cost three kids their mother." Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "Some Christmas miracle I performed. I've been stumbling through the last year and a half of med school and rotations, to be honest. As soon as it became something more than books I couldn't hack it, apparently. Only I didn't have the balls to let my sister down."

Propped up on the kitchen counter beside her, Damon considered. "So what now, Ivy? Run and hope your problems don't trail after you?"

Fury burned like a hot poker in the pit of her stomach. "I don't know, Damon. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know I can't be here to figure it out. I thought I could come, spend time with my sister and find some answers, and now I only have more questions."

Her heart ached. "I know what you are thinking. I see it in your eyes and how you keep eyeing that door. There's no reason you can't be a part of that family, Ivy." Damon unhooked his ankles and crossed the room to here where she stood by the couch.

"Zahara will worry about me when she needs to focus on the babies." She plucked up the few items she had strewn across the apartment and pulled on the sweater Damon tossed over the back of a chair and a pair of gloves from the counter. She swiped her guidebook too and passed Damon who stood in the middle of her little borrowed apartment, arms crossed and putting a lot of energy into the broody gaze he should own the copyright to.

"Now, I'm outta here."

"Ivy, wait."

"No, Drake said he had one last run tonight to pick something up from Fairbanks. I'm leaving."

"You asked why no one has been behind the bar with me for the past four years. The answer is my wife, the one I thought would be with me until the day I died, left me. She thought being married to a cop was hot, but once the danger set in and reality took hold, she left. People leave, people hurt you, Ivy, but I've learned only we have the power to say when enough is enough and retake control over our lives." He scrubbed a hand over his face and rubbed at his eyes with a long-drawn-out sigh. "Back then with the woman I thought would be mine for life, it didn't feel like this. I didn't feel like this. Maybe fate knew she wasn't my soul mate."

"Like what, Damon?"

"Like my life would end without you in it."

Her mouth went slack. The sex was good. No, mind-blowing fantastic, but forever?

She paused by the bedroom door and turned to meet his gaze over her shoulder. "I think you need to go, Damon."

"As you wish."

And with that, he was gone.

The soft click of the front door resounded in her head and the final wall around her heart crumbled as the tears silently slipped from her eyes. "Christmas can go to hell." The fact she never wanted to feel again solidified like a shield around her heart.

Fact: Love sucked and love at first sight was bullshit.