A sudden squeal from Sarah yanked Colton back to the present, and his lips twisted when he saw the painfully familiar look of excitement on Sarah’s face.
“He finally texted you?” he asked dryly.
“He’s looking for me as we speak,” Sarah reported happily while quickly rising to her feet. She dusted her jeans off, wanting to look more presentable, and it was then that her gaze absently drifted to the ground, where a gartersnake happened to be slithering straight towards her.
Even though Sarah knew it wasn’t poisonous, snakes were one of her biggest fears, and just the thought of having its cold, slimy scales graze against her skin had her in a panic, and she quickly turned around to run—-
And ended up once again crashing into Colton’s embrace, her body fully pressed against his lean, hard form.
Colton stiffened.
Sarah paled.
“I’m not gonna lie, Sarah Bear,” he whispered. “Your breasts feel too damn good against my chest.” The words were meant to make light of the fact that the briefest contact between their bodies had him sporting a hard-on, but to his shock, he saw Sarah’s eyes filling up with tears.
“W-What’s wrong?” he stammered.
But she had already wrenched herself out of his hold and was running away.
Five
Sarah had never felt so dirty. Before college, she had attended an all-girls Catholic school her entire life, and she had never gone out on a date because none of the boys she met had felt “right”. Only Damian had been different, and she hadn’t felt any shame at all whenever he touched her.
From time to time, however, she would often find herself wondering if another man could make her feel the way Damian did, and now she had her answer. More than making her feel soiled, it also felt completely wrong, to have her breasts against Colton’s chest and hear him actually say he enjoyed it.
Fingers suddenly cupped her elbow from behind, and thinking it was Colton, Sarah immediately cried out, “Let go!” She struggled to free herself, but he was too strong, and before she knew it, he was already forcibly spinning her around.
“Damian?” She stopped moving right away as a sense of relief washed over him. Damian…Damian would make her feel better. Damian always made things right just by being there—-
Oh!
Too late she noticed the grim set of his jaw, and somehow she knew. She just knew, and the realization made her recoil from him with a choked sob.
“You saw it—-”
His lips tightened, and that was answer enough for her. She tried to run away for the second time, but Damian was a lot more forceful than Colton, and soon enough, his strong, hard arms were tightening and locking her in place.
“Let me go—-”
“Quiet.” To other people’s ears, the command, despite the gently firm tone he used to deliver it, would most likely have sounded cruel and harshly insensitive. And while it might be so, Damian didn’t really give a damn. He knew what his Sarah needed, and in times like this, Sarah always preferred to be handled with a firm hand.
“Breathe.”
He saw her lips tremble even as her chest slowly rose and fell.
“That’s it, love.”
Her tears continued to fall, but already he could feel the tautness gradually easing from her body, and he began stroking her back to help her relax.
Looking up, she asked with a sniff, “How did you find me?”
“Doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that I’m letting you cry for another minute if you wish…but after that, you’re to cease wasting your tears on another man.”
“Jerk.” Her fist struck his chest. “You really think saying that would make me feel better?”
“Yes.”
Instead of answering, Sarah laid her head against his chest, and moments later, he felt his shirt growing wet under her cheek.
Time dragged ever so slowly, and every second was an infinite struggle to remain in control and not give in to the rage still churning inside of him. He had seen every fucking thing unfold, and the only reason Damian had kept his distance was the knowledge that Sarah being Sarah, having him confront her while she was in a compromising position would only cause her greater distress. She might be brash and coquettish at first glance, but he knew his Sarah well. She was a closet prude, and so he had waited until she had left before walking up to Colton and driving his fist into the boy’s face.
When the minute he had given her finally came to pass, Damian slowly released her and cupped her chin to force her to meet his gaze. “Feeling better?”
She nodded. She could actually breathe a lot more easily now, and her chest didn’t feel as tight as it had been earlier.
“Still have the urge to cry?”
She shook her head.
“Sure?”
She was about to nod when she realized where this was all leading to. Shit. This was Damian, after all, and he had this nasty habit of playing big brother at the most horrible times. “Wait—-” But of course it was too late, and he had already flicked her forehead…hard.