Chapter 16

Damian had his pants rolled up as he dipped his feet in the cold water. A happy sigh escaped him, before he slid downwards and let his ankles plummet into the frigid water.

I was standing over him, carefully removing my socks and shoes. Damian assured me it was perfectly safe to sit over this cliff, so I took his advice and took a seat right next to him. “This river goes on for miles,” he informed me. “And then it opens up into a lake.”

“Is that where you fish?”

“I do.”

“You seem happier here,” I noted.

There was a slow drawl to his voice as he said, “I feel alive.”

“Like you did last night?”

“Yes.”

“Night owl?”

“I don’t think that is the right word,” he chuckled. “But I guess so.” Damian pulled his feet out of the water and went on his knees in front of me. I was caught off guard by his stare, the desire emitting from his eyes. A hand gently rubbed the side of my jawline, tilting my head forward until I was facing him completely.

He tried to kiss me gently, but I could tell how hard it was to hold back his carnal desire. I tilted my head downwards and quietly asked for him to wait, slipping my legs out of the icy river until I could sit in front of him. A small breath escaped his open lips with anticipation, only satisfied when my cool blue eyes lifted upwards to settle over his own darkened orbs. Damian bit down on his lip unexpectedly, looking like he was doing his best to hold something back.

“You want to kiss me that way again,” I observed aloud, since I could sense his silent thoughts.

“I do,” Damian cooed out softly. “And more.”

I smiled at him nervously, knowing what he was implying.

“You ever hear what happens to a lone wolf when it meets its mate?”

“No.”

“They mate for life,” he breathed out softly, and let his hand hover over my shoulder that was furthest from me. “Life, Sara.”

I was the first to press my lips against his, making him react in kind to push me hard against the rocky floor. He straddled me suddenly, kissing my lips with a flurry of energy that came out of nowhere. It was irresistible, the pure carnal desire, the strength of animal instincts that wanted to take me as his own. I couldn’t even keep up with his kisses, feeling my eyes close with ecstasy the more he squished his face against me. The hairs along his chin and jawline brushed against my face, his hands were clenching the side of my waist and hip as he demanded more from my body.

I tilted my head away to simply catch my breath, feeling his nose and mouth pressed against my cheek as he kissed the hollow concave. I felt so heavily aroused, aware of the burning sensation down below by the way he was touching me. “Damian,” escaped my lips before I could hold it back, which made him lift a hand to tilt my head in his direction.

“Yes, love,” he said in a husky voice, low and raspy. He crushed his lips against mine before I had time to respond, while the other hand worked on the zipper of my sweater. I let him zip it downwards, keenly aware of his mouth steadily creeping its way over to my left jawline hitting the most sensitive spots with his lips. I groaned mercifully, knowing even if I wanted to hold it back I couldn’t. My sweater was shed and Damian instantly brought his hand underneath my long sleeve shirt to drag it up my abdomen.

“Damian,” I whispered, aroused by his hot hand gliding over my skin. He brought our lips together again, sealing our fate before I had a chance to change my mind. A hand fisted my shirt to drag it upwards, only stopping so he could part his lips. He dipped his head downwards to get at my freshly exposed skin, letting his tongue dap at the area occasionally between randomly placed kisses.

“You smell so good,” he breathed out, making me think of the rosy bath bomb he offered to me last night. “And taste …” He paused to bring his face downwards, kissing just over my beltline. “You taste amazing, sweetie,” he uttered in a strangely dark voice.

I swallowed hard, finding Damian’s statement rather odd. I was distracted by the way he was undoing my belt, so I stopped him to grab a hold of his attention. “You never asked!” I yelled out, quite angry at that fact. “Never!”

“I thought.”

“You thought, what?”

“The way you looked at me,” he quickly explained. “I thought you wanted to.”

“Do you even have protection?”

“No,” he stammered out, after he moved back to create some space.

“Geez, Damian!”

“I’m … I’m sorry,” he stammered out nervously. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you weren’t.”

He went on his knees in front of me, realizing he messed up. “I wasn’t thinking,” he repeated, before he brushed back his messy curls.

“No,” I bellowed out resentfully. “You just assumed.”

“I sensed …” He blinked slowly, noticing how cold I had become towards him. “I thought you wanted it too.”

“We’re not animals, Damian.” He frowned at my words. “We have to talk about it.” He avoided my gaze, clearly unable to reply to my statement. “I don’t know! Something like, do you want to sleep with me?”

“Sleep?”

“Damian,” I groaned. “You ask first!”

“Okay,” he mouthed out sorrowfully.

“Haven’t you had this conversation before?”

“No.”

“So, you did it against their will?”

“No, it was mutual,” he assured me. “I just thought … I sensed that you …”

“Not everything is about instincts, Damian,” I chided. “Yes, I wanted it! But I was hoping you would ask, or at least saying something instead of just plain fucking me.” Damian scratched at the back of his neck nervously, realizing that he was in the wrong. “Now, I am second guessing everything.”

“I made a mistake.”

“You did,” I assured him. “I didn’t come on this trail walk just to get fucked by you.” He grimaced at my words, not liking the harshness of my statement. “I wanted to get to know you better.”

“Should we just go back?”

“I want an apology.”

“I’m sorry.”

I shook my head at him and then rose to my feet, unsure if I wanted to be around him anymore. “You’re a typical guy, you know that?”

He licked his lips at me timidly, knowing I was quite done with him.

“Is this over then?”

“No,” I answered in a small voice. “I like you, but …” I shrugged my shoulders at him idly. “I think you need to rethink a few things.”

He watched me take a few steps away before he yelled out, “I wasn’t wrong though? Was I?”

“I do want it,” I confessed over my shoulder.

“I know you did,” he quipped out sharply, before he let me wander away from the rocky cliff.