Sierra looked at him in surprise, noting a tiny bit of jealousy trying to creep inside her. It didn’t matter if he went out every night of the week so long as she wasn’t stuck in the dang hotel room.
She sent him a glare, irritated even more by the insolent way he was leaning against the counter. It seemed he really didn’t care about her opinion, like his time was the only thing of value.
She was bound and determined to get her say, even if she had to pin him down to do it.
Damien grabbed his coffee cup then moved out of the kitchen area, leaving Sierra no choice but to either stand there with her mouth gaping, or run after him. She was getting tired of chasing him.
He stepped into his large hotel bedroom and she paused in the doorway, her stomach once again tightening. It felt wrong to follow him in there, like she’d be crossing a taboo line – inviting something she truly wasn’t ready to give.
“We can talk later, Sierra. I need to shower and change,” Damien said as he began removing his shirt.
Sierra was grateful his impressive back was to her, because her eyes drank in the sight of all that golden flesh, his muscles tightening with the upward movement of pulling the shirt over his head. His arms flexed, making those strange sensations start emerging in her core. She forgot how to speak, suddenly feeling paralyzed – completely rooted to the spot.
His hands reached down to his pants, the sound of his zipper falling echoing in the otherwise silent room. Sierra really hoped her quickened breathing wasn’t as loud as she thought it was, because she could feel herself panting as she drank him in.
As her eyes studied his body, she suddenly realized she was now looking at his stomach, not his toned back. Her eyes quickly darted up, colliding with Damien’s.
His mouth twisted in the most seductive smile she’d ever seen a man use before, and she felt her knee’s shake. With momentous effort, she tore her gaze away from his, took a few shaky steps to his bed and plopped down on the end of it. She felt like she’d just run a marathon, the way her breathing was ragged, sweat was beading on her brow, and her stomach was churning.
Without saying anything, he moved his long, elegant fingers to the top of his hips and gripped the fabric of his trousers, then slowly started sliding the pants down, taking his underwear with him.
When she realized he had zero qualms about stripping naked in front of her, she managed to rip her gaze away, taking a sudden and fascinated interest in his bedside lamp.
“Enjoying the view, Sierra?” he asked, his voice cascading over her like a cool waterfall on a hot day. She felt her face heat with embarrassment; mortified he found her awkwardness with the situation so shocking.
She really wished she could just turn, look at him from head to toe with a dismissive glance, and come up with a great retort.
While she was still trying to think of a witty response, she heard the shower start, and she quickly looked over to the spot he’d been a moment before. She turned and saw the bathroom door open, and steam starting to softly drift through it.
She was running out of time.
If he thought she’d go away because she was embarrassed or nervous, then he had another thing coming. For the first time in her life, she wanted something badly enough to not worry about the consequences of asking for it.
So what if he was naked in there, probably using those strong fingers to rub soap across that incredibly hard chest, then slowly moving downward… Stop! she commanded as she pulled her thoughts from the shower stall.
It didn’t matter what he was doing in there. She needed to speak with him, and she was safe for the moment from having to see all that flesh, so she’d just talk to him while she at least had him trapped in one place.
∞∞∞
Damien stepped under the pulsing shower while his body reacted, knowing Sierra was just a few feet away. He nearly groaned as all the blood rushed to his lower half, and he hardened in a painful way.
With a curse, he turned the temperature dial to cold and shivered uncontrollably as he quickly washed himself, his teeth chattering.
His plans of taking Sierra to bed were destroyed when he got a call from his very distant girlfriend, begging him to have dinner with her. He hadn’t seen her in a month, was planning on ending their casual relationship, but owed Shelby the courtesy of doing so in person.
She was in the wine business, which was how they’d met. Her father owned a track of land next to his and Shelby did a lot of the sales for her father’s large business. They’d been trying to go into business with Damien, but he’d quickly decided it wasn’t to his benefit. He had, however, hit it off with Shelby and had been seeing her for a year, though neither of them were often in the same location at the same time.