Blind Her With Bliss (13 page)

How could the man who stood before crazed fans yelling derogatory obscenities be the same hurt little boy who had bravely withstood her barrage of questions about his family? Guilt pricked at her heart, making it hard to fill her lungs. As the emotional melody pulled her along its river of notes, she thought of her family. As much as they aggravated her, they also anchored her—gave her a sense of belonging. Damon was an orphan, an adult wandering aimlessly through life without any stabilizing beacon to guide him.

Silence rent her thoughts, and she had to keep herself from clapping for Damon’s performance. Even from this distance she could see the sweat glistening on his brow, the nervous tension turning down the corners of his sensual lips.

“Thank you, Mr. Corey.” The conductor who had been sitting with several other serious looking types walked to the edge of the stage and craned his neck up. “The board will be making a decision by the beginning of next week. We’ll let you know by then.”

“Thank you.” Damon bowed to the group of people seated in the front row and left the stage.

Julie rushed into the hall and followed the maze of corridors toward the stage entrance where she’d left Damon, nervous and fidgeting. He exploded out of the doors and grabbed her around the waist, twirling them both at a dizzying speed.

“Damn, did you feel that?” He set her down and paced. “I don’t care if they hire me.” He laughed as his fingers raked through his hair. “Okay, I care. But did you
hear
that?” Damon took her hand and pulled her along the corridor.
“
Ba-da
…
da-da-da-da
.”
The notes tripped off his tongue. “I nailed it! And it felt damn good! Liszt himself never played the Hungarian Rhapsody Number 2 with such passion. I’m sure of it. If they don’t want me, that’s their problem.” Damon pulled at the black bow tie until it hung limp around his neck. “I haven’t performed in front of an audience since college.” The collar buttons were next. “But damn, I haven’t lost a thing.” He wiggled his fingers in the air. “These, Julie, are my ticket. I just proved they’ve still got it.”

She stopped him and took his hands in hers. “Pianos aren’t the only instruments they make sing.” Her wink settled right in his groin, the tented dress pants evidence that her comment had sent him over the edge as she intended.

“You are a wicked woman, Miss Julie Tilling. What time is it?”

She checked her watch again.
“Only two-twenty.”

“Time’s a wasting.” He threw her over his shoulder and jogged up the hall. Julie squirmed and shrieked with amusement, but he didn’t put her down until they reached his car.

He wound his way through the city streets and out into the neighboring suburbs of Bangor. Houses gave way to fields filled with lupine and then to thick stands of forest. Damon turned onto a dirt road, driving deeper toward privacy.

“I found this place a month ago,” he said as he parked the Saturn under the shade of an oak tree. Anticipation of having Julie writhing beneath him had his cock ready and alert before they’d left the parking lot of the auditorium “Is that all you have for shoes?”

“I came from work. It’s not like I planned on hiking in heels.”

“Oh, darling, we’re not hiking.”

“But surely you don’t think I’m going to…” She giggled and swirled the air between them with her hand. “You know…make love here where anyone can drive by and see us?”

“Umm, did you happen to see where you are? I’ve got you so far in the boonies, there’s no chance someone’s going to see that gorgeous naked body.” He swung open the door. “I never did learn to share.” He jumped out and turned only long enough to stare at her amused expression. “I’ve got running shoes in the trunk. I’ll carry you piggyback.”

She stomped out of the car, her luscious breasts bouncing with each step. Shit, he wanted to bury himself in her hot depths. Thank the heavens he left his running clothes in the trunk. He dug out his sneakers and toed out of his dress shoes.

“Damon Corey, you are
not
carrying me through the woods.”

“Then I will be stripping you naked and having my way with you right here.” He yanked her tight against him. “Because you’ve whipped me into
a frenzy
, and I will not be denied.”

“Is that a threat?” The desire shining in her eyes contradicted the fear the question implied.

Damon let go of her and bent to put on his sneakers. “Oh, you better believe it.”

Julie screamed and ran from him, but she didn’t get far in her heels. He caught up with her easily, wrapping her in a bear hug. “Now, you can piggyback, or I can throw you over my shoulder. I’m good either way.”

Her laughter joined the warm breeze ruffling his hair as she jumped on his back, her legs straddling his hips, her breasts pressed into his shoulders. It seemed every part of her fit his body.

“Don’t you dare drop me,” she said.

“I wouldn’t think of it.” He leaned forward, pretending to throw her off.

Her scream echoed off the trees, and her fist landed solidly on his shoulder. “You jerk.”

He laughed and carried her into the forest.

The musty scent of the earth mixed with the heady aroma of Julie’s perfume wrapped around his nose and made him lightheaded with anticipation. Her warm breath tickled his neck, leaving gooseflesh in its wake. She barely weighed anything, but the heat of her pressed against his back made the walk through the lush ferns very pleasant. Though he’d only been here once before, Damon had honed his sense of direction in the army and found the isolated waterfall someone at the radio station had told him about without having to retrace his steps. It had been winter the first time he’d come here on snowshoes, crisp and refreshing—solitary. This day, the lush foliage of summer and Julie’s company made the visit so much more inviting.

He stopped on the edge of a small pool at the base of the waterfall where thick moss covered the moist ground. Her eyes were filled with awe when he set her down, confirming his decision to share this place with her.

After a moment of introspection she finally spoke. “Beautiful,” she whispered. Turning to him, Julie blessed him with one those smiles that involved her whole face. “Damon, it’s just so beautiful.”

“So are you.” He pressed his lips to hers, swallowing her gasp of pleasure. He’d only been away from her less than four days, but he feasted greedily on the taste as if he hadn’t seen her in years. “Julie. I missed you.”

“Damon, don’t talk. Just be with me.”

He took off his shirt and laid her down on it, covering her body with his. Clothes ripped as desperate hands sought skin. Her teeth grazed his chin and shoulder, and her nails bit into his flesh, and all he could think about as emotions snapped along his nerves and blood pounded in his ears was how alive this woman made him
feel
.

He sheathed himself with a condom from his wallet and pushed into her, surrounding his aching cock with her silken heat. She whispered in his ear, and her hot breath sent ribbons of divine pleasure down his spine. He rocked against her, his hips pulsing in time with hers. There was nothing in his world, save for this woman spread wide in acceptance of whomever he chose to be.

Her muscles pulled him, taunted him to let go. And when he felt Julie arch and stiffen beneath him, her own climax moments away, he surrendered to the bliss. The world convulsed around him. Fireworks of ecstasy exploded from his groin, filling every cell with pleasure. “I love you, Julie.” The words slipped quietly from his lips even as her orgasm shook the very foundation of his life.

“And
this
is all I get for dinner?” John Tilling picked up the piece of spinach from his salad bowl and contemplated the leaf. “Looks like some rabbit’s
gonna
go hungry tonight.”

Alice Tilling planted a kiss on her husband’s forehead before scooting back in the kitchen for the rest of the serving dishes. “Besides you always liked fish,” she called from the other room.

“Rolled in batter and drowned in oil,” John muttered as he leaned over conspiratorially and smiled at Damon. “This pink hunk of flesh doesn’t even look cooked.”

Damon didn’t know if he was supposed to respond, but when he turned to Julie for help, he could see she’d bitten her lip to keep from giggling at her father. Not much help there. It did seem wrong that his plate held an expertly barbequed piece of steak while John’s was filled with a dieter’s nightmare.
 
 

“That’s enough. Leave the poor man alone.” Alice said in John’s ear as she settled at the table across from him. “Mashed potatoes, Damon?”

“You’re killing me, woman,” John said.

But if you don’t quit your belly aching, I may just serve you double helpings of corn with butter and clog those crotchety old arteries myself!”

Julie giggled.

He suspected this banter was the sweet music of a forty-year marriage. His parents had barely made it past their fifteenth anniversary.

“Doc McCarty stopped by today while you were resting.” Alice tapped the table next to the rainbow of pills. “Wanted to see how you were doing. He saved me a trip to the pharmacy and dropped off your new heart medication himself.”

“Getting old is certainly not glamorous.” Flipping the pills into his mouth, John washed them and his obvious humiliation down with great gulps of water.

“You’re not old, Daddy.” Julie said. Damon could see how she idolized her father. He had no doubt she’d like to believe the man would live forever. “This is just a little speed bump.
A chance to sit back and let the rest of us take
care of you.”

“You’re sweet, honey.” He patted her hand.
“Always willing to take care of everyone else.
But you know it needs to stop.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“Enough about me and my aging body.
Let’s eat this wonderful dinner.” The sarcasm dripped from his tone like the raspberry vinaigrette from his fork.

A half hour later, Julie and her mother shuffled dishes from the table to the sink while he chatted amicably with her father. Leaning back in his chair, Damon stretched his long legs under the table. He surreptitiously watched Julie, tingles of awareness knotting his gut. All he could think about was having her legs wrapped around him, her body quaking in ecstasy beneath the solid weight of him. He’d like to have her there again, warm and naked for his exploration. She settled in the chair next to him, and he wrapped her hand in his, content to have her near.

“Julie, I read in the paper today where
Bolling
,
Dearn
and McNeal in Bangor were looking for a senior CPA in their firm,” John said conversationally. “Why don’t you apply, honey?”

“Julie’s happy at the landscaping business,” Alice said. “She isn’t looking for something else. Are you, sweetie?” Swiping the dishrag over the polished surface of the table, Alice didn’t even look at her daughter.
“Peach cobbler, anyone?”

Julie blushed, her hand stiffening beneath his. “Well, I—”

“Now there you go again, Alice.” John thumped a fist on the table, making both women jump. “I love you, Alice, but you’ve got to let the girl be a woman. You all expect too much of her.”

“Julie?” The furrow in her mother’s brow froze Julie’s tongue. She floundered.

Damon wrapped his hand around Julie’s, solid and firm, hoping she felt his strength. John had opened the door to a conversation Julie needed to have with her family. He could only
hoped
she was brave enough to walk through.

“Mum, I love you all, but sometimes I just wish—”

The kitchen door flew open and Meghan and Deirdre all but fell over one another into the kitchen. “Hey, Mum, Daddy, you’re not going to believe this…” They froze two steps from Damon, their eyes wide as they stared down at him. The publicity poster of Demon Jones in Deirdre’s hands spoke the words Meghan couldn’t.

All eyes focused on Damon. Questions hung in the air like the oppressive summer humidity blowing in through the open door.

Damon had wanted this conversation to be about Julie. But the photo trembling in Deirdre’s hands couldn’t be ignored. Under the weight of their assessment, only sheer willpower and pride held Damon’s spine straight. “Yes, it’s me. Most people don’t recognize me.”

“Oh, I’ve known who you were all along,” John said. It seemed the man of the house was the only one not wearing blinders where Julie and Damon were concerned.

“You did?” The question tripped out of the women’s mouths in unison.

“Who Damon chooses to be is none of our business. That’s for Julie to worry about. As I was telling your mother, you girls need to take a step back and let your poor sister live her own life without interference from you.”

The name dragged over Julie’s lips, compassion and love filling her eyes.

Damon had never been so proud to be part of the male population as he was at that moment. Sometimes men
did
get it.

“We’re just worried, Daddy,” said Meghan.

“It is too our business,” said Deirdre.

Alice browed furrowed. “John, how can you say we meddle?”

The cacophony of syllables tumbled over itself until the room swelled with female irritation. Damon put his fingers to his mouth and blew. The piercing whistle painted stunned expressions on the women’s faces and satisfaction on John’s.

“Demon Jones is what makes me money,” Damon said. “It pays the rent and puts food on my table. It isn’t who I am. But perhaps in time you’ll all come to see that. Fortunately for me, Julie already has.” He stood and turned to Alice. “Thank you, Mrs. Tilling, for the wonderful meal. Mr. Tilling,” he extended his hand, “it’s been a pleasure having dinner with you.”

John wrapped a beefy hand around his and winked.
“Same here, Damon.”

At least he had someone’s blessing. “Now, if you’ll excuse us. Julie, it’s a beautiful night.
How about that motorcycle ride?”
He took her hand, not really caring what she thought of the whole thing. Both of them needed to get away.

Julie’s gaze jumped around the faces of her family. “But Damon, I…we…”

He liked that he made her speechless. “Don’t think, Julie. Just do,” he whispered in her ear as he scooted her out the back door and shut it soundly behind them. He planted a kiss firmly on her mouth before pulling her across the lawns to her driveway. Damon knew full well three pairs of eyes were watching from the kitchen window. He wrapped Julie into another bone-melting hug, thoroughly ravaging her dazed mouth with his. Trepidation and excitement sparked in the green pools of her eyes. Eyes he’d like to settle in and just stay. He sipped her bottom lip into his mouth. “As much as I’d like to keep going with this, now is probably not the time.” He pressed his erection to her belly and watched her expression shimmy from shock to desire.

He settled the helmet on her head and swung his leg over the bike seat. “What do you say we go for a ride?”

* * * *

Blackness filled Julie’s field of vision. Damon lay on top of her, the hard planes of his chest heaving from their sexual play.

“I’ve never made love under a piano.” The words slipped out without thought. “I mean…” Julie squeezed her eyes shut, wondering if Damon would react.
Sex
.
It had been sex. Making love seemed to intimate something so much more. She wasn’t sure how he would react if she’d called what they’d just done, very satisfactorily,
making love
.

He raised his head slowly and looked at her. “What did you mean?”

“Well, just that there are other places in your condo we could have chosen.” A nervous giggle followed the statement. It hadn’t even been a week since they’d met. No one except her parents fell in love at first sight. She was a romantic, but expecting that from a man just didn’t seem fair.

Damon smiled down at her, his dimples dancing with the spark in his eye. “Oh, because if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were trying to backpedal out of calling what we just did ‘making love.’”

“Damon, I—”

He nibbled on her lip. “Because, Julie—I like the sound of that.”

She pushed him away. “We barely know each other. And those words intimate something that maybe we’re not ready for.”

“I’m ready for it.”

“But…I…we—”

Damon pressed his mouth to hers, his tongue urging her to open and let him taste and staunch the hemorrhage of stunned stupidity.

“I love making you speechless.” He pressed kisses along her jaw. “I love hearing the sharp intake of air when I kiss you here.” His teeth grazed her neck, and she gasped. “I love the way your body begs me for more.” Damon’s hand slid up her belly to cup her breast, and her nipple immediately peaked under his touch. “As a matter of fact, Julie,” he lifted his head, and his gaze swept her face, “I’ve come to realize there isn’t anything I don’t love about you.”

“I love being with you too, Damon.” Nervousness pulsed in her throat.

He smiled, slow and easy. “No, Julie. Just. I. Love.
You.”
He kissed each eyelid, then her nose, punctuating the last three words. “Say it.”

“I love you, Damon.”

* * * *

“Does sex make everyone ravenous?” Julie asked.

Damon laughed at the woman he loved sitting at her kitchen table, wolfing down her third slice of loaded pizza. He still wasn’t sure how the hell that had happened, but there it was. He was in love and no one could convince him otherwise. His heart belonged to Julie as surely as if he’d wrapped it up and handed it to her as a gift. They’d no doubt take their time figuring this whole thing out, but never again would he scoff when someone mentioned
love at first sight
. It seemed hearts were smarter than heads when it came to soul mates.

“It sure gave you an appetite.” He laughed as she offered him a bite.

After a couple of hours at his place, they’d decided to sneak back to her house to go through Jason’s stuff and watch the video tape. They’d crept in the back door and were now eating pizza by candlelight, hoping not to alert the rest of the family. He didn’t live here.
Didn’t really know her family.
Still, Julie made him feel like he was home. A place he hadn’t been in a very long time.

He shoved his hand in the pocket of his jeans, working to control the urge to gather her in his arms and never let go.
She loved him.
He took a long pull of his beer and tried to swallow the emotion clogging his throat. Damon laughed as Julie juggled the pizza slice, then sucked cheese and sauce from her fingers. “You know, eating isn’t supposed to be so sensual.” Leaning over the table, he kissed her. “But the way you do it makes me want to
be
a slice of pizza.”