A Slow-Burning Dance (9 page)

The
ice cubes were back, and this time he brushed them down her spine and back
again, before torturing her ass cheeks with them. He followed this with his
tongue as before, spending as much time as he had on her front. Sela found the
sensations so delicious she couldn’t do or say anything. She belonged to this
seductive man, heart, body, and soul. There was nothing she’d deny him.

She
inhaled the scent of the oil again, and then his fingers brushed her ass crack,
reaching underneath to tease her swollen clit once more. “Damien, please. I
can’t.”

“Yes,
you can, Sela. I’ve never seen you more beautiful than you are right now.”

It
was on the tip of her tongue to say the words, but she bit them back. He
withdrew his fingers and slipped his dick into her pussy from behind. He was so
damn hard and swollen that it took mere seconds for another orgasm to begin,
especially at this angle. She clenched her hands into fists and cried out
loudly as he fucked her slowly, torturing her with long, slow thrusts in which
he pulled out almost completely before diving back inside.

How
he had this kind of control after the time he’d spent with the ice and the oil
was behind her imagination. The man wasn’t human. When he stopped, she heard
him put on a condom, and then he rubbed the oil that was on her skin, working
it in, before sliding his cock into her asshole. There was no pain, only the
most peaceful sense of fullness she’d ever experienced.

“Oh,
Sela … oh baby, you feel perfect.”

“It
is perfect.
You’re
perfect.”

Damien
made soft, sexy noises in the back of his throat as he fucked her in the ass.
His thrusts were slow and deliberate, and all Sela could do was lie there and
take it. She had no strength left, but it didn’t matter. All she felt was pure
bliss. She’d never been so thoroughly fucked or sated.

When
he pulled out, she knew he hadn’t come yet. She heard him take off the condom,
and then he untied her, took off the blindfold and sat her up. He cupped her
face. “I want to come in your mouth. Will you let me do that?”

“Yes.”
She’d give him anything he wanted right now.

“May
I tie your wrists together again?”

“Oh
… yes. How sexy. Yes.”

He
kissed her roughly, and then he tied her wrists behind her back with the tie
that had served as a blindfold. She shivered in anticipation as he stood in
front of her and stroked his dick. It looked ready to burst, and she’d never
seen it so swollen. She licked her lips, and he teased them with the tip, which
glistened with pre-cum.

“Open
your mouth,
niña
.” She did as he
asked, and then moaned as he grasped her head with both hands and moved his
cock in and out. She relaxed her throat muscles so she wouldn’t gag because
there was no way she wanted him to stop now. She’d had three or four orgasms, and
this poor guy had held off his own the entire time.

His
grunts grew louder and his thrusting faster when suddenly he cried out and her
mouth was filled with hot cum. She tried to swallow all of it, but some ran
down her chin. He didn’t seem to mind. He moaned and pushed inside with jerky
thrusts, holding her head, and then he pulled out and knelt in front of her. He
reached behind and freed her wrists, then held her close, stroking her hair and
back.

“Are
you okay? That was incredible. Thank you.”

“I’m
fine. I loved it.”
I love you.

Why
couldn’t she say it? The words were right there!

“We
both need a shower.”

It
was well after midnight, but she didn’t care. She’d never sleep again if it
meant having this with Damien every single day of her life. He led her
upstairs, leaving their clothes and everything else in the great room, and then
held her under the spray while they lazily washed the oil and his cum off each
other.

They
had barely dried each other off when they lay down on his bed and he pulled her
into his arms. Sela drifted off to sleep, happier than she’d ever been. This
was where she wanted to stay forever.

Chapter
Ten

Late
Saturday morning, Damien waited outside the gym in SouthWest for Sela. He’d
tried all morning to work, but it was pointless. He was still tired from last
night, not that he was about to complain. He’d never had an erotic adventure
like that, and it would be difficult if not impossible to top it.

The
memories from last night weren’t the only things keeping his mind occupied this
morning. They were meeting Santino at the mall in less than an hour, and Damien
dreaded it. While he and Santino were closer than Damien was to most of his
employees, he hadn’t told him he was dating his sister for one very simple
reason. He knew the man protected her as if she were his daughter, and as far
as Santino knew, Damien was still a player.

Now,
he realized he should have told Santino himself about Sela, and he should have
reassured him that he had no intentions of using her. The fact that she hadn’t
mentioned it to her brother until a few days ago was inconsequential, as far as
Damien was concerned. He was the man, and he should have stepped up and acted
like one from the start.

He
was so in love with Sela it was crazy. That was a given, but how could he tell
her that when he hadn’t even been macho enough to approach her brother first?
Damien was ashamed of the way he’d hidden their relationship. It would only
fuel Santino’s belief that Sela was on her way to being another one of Damien’s
conquests. He intended to fix this today.

Sela
was all smiles when she came out of the gym, hair still damp from the shower
she’d taken and looking good enough to eat in a summer dress and sandals.
“Thanks for waiting until I showered. I work up such a sweat when I teach.”

“I
can’t believe you woke up after only a few hours of sleep and taught two
lessons.”

She
laughed and linked her arm in his, smiling up at him like he’d hung the moon.
The
real
moon. “I’m high on the most
incredible sex I’ve ever had. Life is perfect.”

“You’re
perfect.”

“You’re
not so terrible yourself.”

It
would be so easy to tell her he loved her, but talking to Santino had to be
taken care of first, plus he didn’t want to push her. It was difficult for them
both to trust this much, and if he blew it by moving too fast, he’d lose her.
Damien couldn’t handle that, so he intended to play this carefully. Sela was
the woman he wanted to spend his life with. He would not let her get away. “Are
you ready to face your brother,
niña
?”

Her
smile faded. “We have no choice. It should have been done already. I was wrong
not to tell him right away.”

“No,
I’m the one who should have said something.”

She
gave him a droll smile. “We’re both blaming ourselves, aren’t we? Let’s not,
okay? I want this to be a happy day.”

Damien
put an arm across her shoulder and pulled her close. “Then we’ll make it that,
mi amor
.”

She
gazed up at him with an expectant look, as if she wanted to ask him something,
but then her attention was on the man watching them from the parking lot of the
mall. She waved to her brother and sprinted over to where he stood, in front of
the corner unit that would soon house Sela’s studio. Damien took his time
walking over so he could watch their interaction.

Santino
didn’t look happy as he and Sela talked, and he gave Damien more hard looks
than made him comfortable. Damien picked up the pace and approached Santino,
sticking out his right hand. “Thanks for meeting us here today. Sela is so
excited about the studio.”

“Let’s
see it, then.” Santino’s voice was hard, but Damien didn’t react to that.
Santino would have to come to terms with this in his own way, because Damien
had no intentions of giving up Sela.

She
whistled when they walked inside, then turned to face Damien. “I can’t believe
they’ve made this much progress already!”

Santino
narrowed his eyes. “I thought it wasn’t opening for another two to three
months?”

Damien
grinned. “We pushed up the timeline on this one as soon as
Sela
signed the papers.”

Santino
gave him a suspicious look. “Why? Because you asked them to?”

“Yes,
I did. She’s teaching at the gym where she has no privacy with her students,
and where she gets bumped out of her studio space if they have an event going
on. Plus, Tomás and I agreed that having one of the corner suites done would
attract other tenants.”

Santino
nodded. “All right. That makes sense, but what does Ernest think of your plan?”

“I’m
not interested in what Ernest thinks of it.”

“You
need to be.”

Damien
frowned. “Why?”

Santino
cut his gaze toward Sela, who was currently touching the drywall and gawking at
the flooring stacked in one corner. She wasn’t paying attention to them, but
Damien lowered his voice anyway. “Are you upset with me about dating her, or is
there something else that has you rattled?”

“Both,
but what I discovered this morning while working at home is the more urgent
matter.”

“Does
it have something to do with Ernest?”

“Yes.”

“Tell
me.”

Sela
turned and watched them. It wasn’t that Damien didn’t trust her, but he
wondered if this was something that should be discussed outside the company.
Then again, if he planned to make this woman part of his life permanently, she
had as much right to know about his business as her brother did. Then again, she
knew quite a bit already, so why should this matter?

Aside
from whatever was going on with Ernest, Damien did need to speak with Santino
alone for a few moments, and there was no point in delaying this any longer. He
approached Sela. “
Niña
, would you be
upset if we discussed business for a moment?”

She
grinned. “Does that mean you want me to walk out of hearing range?”

Damien
kissed her on the hair. “Only for a few moments.”

“I
understand. You don’t have to ask again. I’ll go and look at the progress on
the other units.”

Santino
grabbed a hardhat one of the workers had left on a table and thrust it toward
her. “Wear this.”

Sela
took it from him with a grin, and Damien knew without asking that she would be
careful. She’d been here before. As soon as she left the corner unit, Damien
turned his attention toward Santino. “Before you tell me about Ernest, I owe
you an apology. I should have told you I was dating Sela.”

Santino
looked stunned, and Damien couldn’t remember too many times when he had. He
blinked a few times, and then seemed to recover. “She’s fifteen years younger
than you, and vulnerable. You haven’t dated the same woman longer than what … a
few months?”

Damien
nodded. His respect for Santino just jumped up a few notches. “I was that man,
but I’m not anymore. I won’t hurt her. I’m in love with her.”

“
What
? You don’t even know her.”

“I
know her, and I know that I am in love with her.”

“How?
It hasn’t been that long.”

“It’s
been two weeks. How long does a man need to know he’s found the woman of his
dreams?”

Santino
shook his head. “Does she know this?”

“No.
I want to wait because I know you’ve both been hurt and her trust was
shattered. So was yours.”

Santino’s
expression turned slightly sympathetic. “You had the same experience.”

Damien
nodded. “Almost everyone we know was affected in a similar way. I’ve had a lot
of time to think about the way I used to be, and what we all went through. I’m
not that person any longer, Santino. I swear to you I am not going to hurt your
sister.”

He
sighed. “All right, but hear this, Damien. I don’t care how long I’ve worked
for you, or how much I love this job. If you do … if you hurt Sela, I will ruin
you.”

Damien
stuck out his hand again. “Agreed.”

Santino
shook his hand. “Okay. Now I need to tell you this about Ernest before Sela
returns. She doesn’t need to know this.”

“Would
it matter if she knew?”

Santino
looked slightly guilty. “I suppose not, but I’d like a chance to dig further
before either of us tells her this.”

Damien
frowned again. “Just tell me, Santino.”

“Let
me start at the beginning.” Santino’s gaze cut toward the end of the row, but Sela
wasn’t in sight. “Do you remember when I first met Tomás?”

Damien
nodded. Santino had been in his office discussing an IT issue, and Tomás had
come over to drop off the contracts for the mall remodel project. When Santino
learned from Tomás there was studio space available, he’d told Sela. Damien
left the hiring of the construction crew to Tomás, who hired Ernest as the
foreman for the project.

“You
told me Tomás was already unsure about Ernest when he hired him,” said Santino.
“There had been rumors on other jobs that he was involved in some sort of
supplier scheme.”

“That’s
true, but Tomás has known him a long time and wanted to give him a chance since
they were only rumors. He assured me nothing had been substantiated.”

Santino
gave the row of shops under construction another quick glance. “What you never
heard were the comments Tomás made to me about Ernest’s former nickname. When
we got to talking about one of the units being perfect for Sela’s studio, Tomás
gave me an earful about Ernest. He said they used to call him JackHammer
because he’s loud and he digs right into projects.”

Damien
nodded. He could see that about the man.

“Thursday
morning, I was going over the daily reports that both teams send me of the
names they recommend be entered into Liane Peyton’s database.”

Liane
Peyton was engaged to Emmett Radcliffe, President of Radcliffe Software and Web
Design. She also had designed the database where all the teams the Weathermen
now had in place entered names and other information they found on user names
that spanned both the message boards within their respective companies, and the
message boards that hackers frequented.

“And?”
asked Damien. That was why they had the teams. It was their job to find those
names, to make sure they were in the database that all the Weathermen now had
access to, and then to track down the IP addresses and machine IDs of names
that came up across all the boards.

“JackHammer
was on the report of usernames.”

“What?”
The hair on the back of Damien’s neck prickled.

“That’s
not the worst of it. Most of the messages from that username were on your PR
board, but the name also showed up once on a hacker board. I asked the other
team to trace his machine ID or at least his IP address as soon as I saw it,
although they would have done so eventually on their own. They traced the
messages to the computer that Ernest uses for his construction business.”

Damien
had no words. He merely started at Santino.

“Did
you hear me? I’m telling you that Ernest Hamilton, the man that
Tomás
subcontracted for this project, is one of the people
posting some very negative things on your PR message boards under the username
JackHammer. He also posted twice on a hacker board.”

Damien
struggled to wrap his head around this. “What did he say about the company on
these boards?”

Santino
looked uncomfortable. “He alleged you got into this particular project because
you’re trying to take money away from the little guys, as he called them, like
Tomás.”

“So
these messages were recent.”

“As
recent as a few months ago, yes.”

“What
were the messages on the hacker board?”

“Noncommittal
kinds of things. It looked like he was just poking around for the sake of
curiosity, and answered a couple of users who asked about the flooding above
ground in this area, but I want to find out if he’s posted on others before. No
one just wanders onto hacker boards without a damn good reason.”

This
time, it was Damien who glanced up and down the rows of units, but Sela was
still nowhere in sight. “Agreed. Dig around, but keep that part quiet for now. Does
Ernest know that you’re aware of his nickname?”

Santino
shook his head. “I doubt it. Not unless Tomás mentioned telling me.”

“We
need to find out. That’s a huge risk to take, even for Ernest.” He also needed
to investigate deeper into the rumors suggesting Ernest was involved in a
scheme. He’d need to speak with Tomás and find out what else he knew, and why
he’d felt that the rumors weren’t true. None of this added up, and Damien
didn’t like it when that happened.

Damien
heard footsteps behind him and turned to find Sela walking back toward them.
The issues surrounding Ernest had to be addressed, sooner rather than later,
but they would have to wait. They’d promised to have lunch with Santino, and
this was important, too, for all three of them.