The Cage Sessions(11)

"But you're just moving across the bay, not to China."

I snort again.

"When you or I say it here in this room," I say, "it sounds ridiculous. But in my head it's so real. Not to mention this whole thing with Damien is so confusing."

Head-tilt. Nod.

"I've been having a lot of fun," I say. "Well, a lot of sex I mean. Which is fun. But none of it with Damien. Even though he's encouraged it. It's so weird. I feel like I'm having sex with him through other people, if that makes any sense. He wanted me to get with Isabella, the pool girls, and Jasmine. Which was all very liberating and eye-opening. I don't regret it. It's just that..."

Head-tilt. Nod.

I swear one of these days I'm going to do it back at her. She probably wouldn't even notice.

"It's like he's keeping me at arm's length," I say. "There's this incredible sexual tension whenever I'm with him. Thick as a big storm cloud full of lightning bolts. But he holds me in place, never letting us step into it together. Then he fucks other girls."

"And you think he doesn't have feelings for you because he won't have sex with you?"

"No, I get it. I'm smart. The girls he has sex with are throwaway girls, and I get the feeling that maybe... just maybe... he doesn't want to throw me away and that's why we haven't had sex. Wow, that was a mouthful."

"You mentioned before there is some sort of a mystery girl who nobody talks about."

"Yes. She must have done a job on him. He seems to have some sort of problem letting go of her."

"Perhaps he never will. Are you prepared for that possibility?"

The waterfall in the picture just remains in its frozen moment of captured flow. I look at my nail. It's bleeding.

"I don't know," I say.





Chapter 33





"This is more like it," says Damien, reading from his iPad.

We're sitting in a movie theater. Yes¸ a movie theater built right into his house! But why wouldn't Damien Cage have a movie theater built right into his house, right?

"Really good," he says. "Some amazing phraseology here. I like how you drew a comparison between the meteoric rise of Eon Sphinx to the booster separation of a rocket. I think I'm hard."

"Thanks," I say. "Came to me in a dream."

He turns and looks at me with that goddamned Lord Byron underlook again.

Tingle.

Then he returns to reading.

Today he's in a white sleeveless shirt with a pointy collar. Open at the front. Naturally. Gotta keep those abs on display.

I can't help but stare at his chest tats through the opening as he reads. There is no fat on this man. None at all. As he breathes, his chest muscles protrude and contract like he's doing bench presses.

Tingle.

I uncross and recross my legs.

He turns those amazing baby blues back at me. God, each time it's like a hit of a drug. A happy drug.

But are these the eyes of a cold-blooded killer?

I look deep into them while twirling my hair.

Definitely not.

More than ever, I'm convinced that the phone call I received is some prank. I couldn't find any connection between Damien and Arely Gutierrez-Machado. I've resolved to forget about it completely.

"Good job, Annika Spenser from MiamiImproper.com," he says as he shuts down the screen and leans back.

"I didn't tell you," I say, looking over at some empty seats. "There is no more MiamiImproper.com."

"Not surprised," he says. "They were using a business model from the 1990s."

I haven't asked him about helping Steve yet. Don't know why. Maybe it's because deep down I know what he just said is the truth.

He continues to stare at me.

My breathing eases. That's the effect Damien Cage has on me. Total calmness. Total rightness. I'll do anything for this man.

He folds his hands and stares at the floor.

"You know," he says, "the last time you were here I got a little freaked out," he says. "Didn't mean to."

"It's okay," I say. "It's all behind us... in large part thanks to Jasmine. And the car is amazing. I really don't deserve that."

"Yes you do. Besides, I can't be responsible for you dying in that ancient heap you drove before."

"Well, thank you. I love it."

He turns to me with a smirk.

"So I heard you hooked up with Jasmine," he says. "She's something else, isn't she?"

"Hell yeah."

"Good stuff. Amazing cock, huh?"

I blush.

"Ummm," I say, "that's an understatement. Speaking of rocketships."

He laughs.

And there it is. The electrical charge between us. It's like a cloud of energy throwing charges left, right, and all around. So intense it almost has a physical presence.

I shift in my seat, facing him some more.