Jacob hadn’t waited as long as Damien had and ever since last Monday, when he had taken off after Grace came running inside without him, her face flushed and her eyes tearful with confusion and fear, he had arranged for Grace to ride home with Abby. As far as Damien knew, the two hadn’t seen each other at all since.
“You have to admit, Damien, that your reluctance to claim Abby and Jacob’s difficulty in overcoming Grace’s fears isn’t helping an already difficult situation,” Luc said, his tone blunt but sympathetic.
“I know which is why I needed to talk with you before we turn in. I just got word from Ryan that three rogues actually tried to break into their home, apparently thinking Ryan wasn’t there.”
“Shit, are they okay?” Jacob asked.
“Yes, Ryan managed to smoke them, but sustained some injuries. Susan saw to his needs before he contacted me. He should be fully recovered after a few hours of death sleep.” Rarely did any of them put themselves into such a deep sleep that their organs all shut down and, for all intents and purposes, they were dead to anyone who happened upon them. It wasn’t needed for them to rest, but it was needed to heal completely from serious injury, the worse the injury the longer they would have to stay under if they wanted to survive. “Their gall means they’re getting desperate to carry out their orders and makes it even more imperative that we remain vigilant. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so Abby and Grace won’t be going to work, but I’m thinking both Jacob and I need to start sticking close to home at night, especially if they’ve gotten wind that we now have two mates under our protection. You two,” Damien nodded at the twins sitting across from him, “continue to patrol the city for anything or anyone that looks suspicious.”
“Fine with us,” Jon agreed, “but the sooner you two claim your mates, the safer they’ll be.”
“What do you expect me to do?” Jacob asked irritably, his desire to do just that beating him down. He thought giving Grace space and time to adjust to her response to him, was the right thing to do, but now he wasn’t so sure. She hadn’t sought him out all week like he had hoped she would, hadn’t seemed to mind riding home with Abby instead of him, hadn’t seemed to want a repeat of last week when her body had shown her how good it could be between them.
“I don’t know, and I don’t envy you you’re dilemma, but I doubt if distance is going to bridge the gap between you two or do anything to get her over her ordeal.” Personally, Jon thought he ought to pursue Grace with everything Jacob had, take the bull by the horns, as he and Luc were fond of saying and doing. “And if you don’t get Abby under control, Luc and I will. She may look at us like big brothers, but our response to seeing her flash those tits and that ass is anything but brotherly.”
“Amen to that,” Luc muttered.
“I’ll think about it, but you two leave Grace alone,” Jacob warned the brothers before striding out.
Damien rose to follow him upstairs, the dawn just now peeking on the horizon. Because Jon had a point, a good point, damn it, he didn’t come down on him like a ton of bricks. Instead he said, “Leave Abby alone too, I’ll take care of her.”
“Soon, I hope,” Luc said quietly to Jon as they too ascended the stairs to seek rest from the bright light of day.
Abby waited until she heard the guys come upstairs and the doors close to their rooms before she emerged from Damien’s room. Her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating double time as she questioned the wisdom of what she was planning. Heading downstairs, she replayed her attempts to break through Damien’s icy shield of resolve, how she flaunted her body then withheld it when he refused to fuck her without someone else being present. All she got for her efforts was the satisfaction of knowing Damien was as sexually frustrated as she was. But she was done playing nice. If Mohammad won’t come to the mountain, she would just take the damn mountain to him, no matter how many reservations she had about what she was gearing up the nerve to do.
She had never seen Damien during the day, had never peaked in on him while he was sleeping. Truth was, while she didn’t fear him, she did fear what she might see if she saw him and he appeared dead. But desperate times called for desperate measures and she was bound and determined to prove to him that she was perfectly safe with him under any circumstances. And since he refused to explain to her why he thought she wouldn’t be, he left her no choice.
That was her story and she was sticking to it, she repeatedly told herself as she went downstairs to fix something for breakfast, giving Damien time to slip into a deep sleep, one she had every intention of slowly coaxing him out of. She was halfway through a bagel and her first cup of coffee when Grace came down and joined her.
“Morning,” she greeted her. “What do you have planned today?” Other than before and after work, Abby had seen little of Grace since last Monday. The other woman spent most of the evening holed up in Jacob’s room, staying to herself despite Abby’s repeated efforts to befriend her. She tried to be sympathetic to Grace’s plight, but she couldn’t help resenting the way she refused to give Jacob a chance.
“Not much.” Pouring a cup of coffee, Grace joined her at the table, her eyes going to gaze out at the sunny morning. Just like every morning this week, her first thought upon wakening had been of Jacob, wondering if he was home, where he was, what he had done the previous night, followed swiftly with irritation that she couldn’t get the damn man out of her mind. Abby’s censuring looks didn’t help her disposition, but she let it go. She was, after all, a guest here and, for now, needing their support and protection.
“Jacob’s not looking too good. You sure you don’t want to spend more time with him?” Abby hated seeing the drawn look on Jacob’s face every time he asks about Grace, but none of them knew what to do about her refusal to have anything to do with him.
“I’m not sure of anything,” Grace blurted out, wishing that wasn’t true. “But until I am, leave it alone. Please.”
“No problem.” Abby gathered her dish and took it to the sink before turning to face Grace again. “But I, for one, am not willing to let the best thing that’s happened to me slip out of my fingers. Not if I can help it.”
“What do you mean? What’re you going to do?” All Grace knew about the rift between Abby and Damien was that it had to do with Damien refusing to claim her fully, whatever that meant.
“It means I’m an all or nothing kind of girl, and I want it all and I’m willing to suck it up in order to get it. I’ll be upstairs, in bed with Damien, if you need me. But only bother us if it’s an emergency.”
Grace watched her leave with wide eyes and a touch of envy. She wished she had the nerve to face Jacob again. After her mortifying behavior last week, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to look at him without wanting to crawl away and hide. Not only did her climax completely take her by surprise, the intensity of the pleasure she felt scared the crap out of her. If it was that good by simply rubbing herself against his body, what would it be like if she had sex with him? But what frightened her more than her response, was how much she wanted to trust him, how much she wanted to believe he was different than Mason and not out to harm her, and how badly she could get hurt both physically and emotionally, if she was wrong.
Chapter Ten
Abrielle rubbed her clammy palms down her jeans as she approached the door to Damien’s sleeping quarters. Her hand on the knob, she unwillingly flashed back to the night rogues had attacked her outside of Marie’s townhouse and the look of ruthless intensity on Damien’s face as he fought the creatures that killed Marie and were threatening her. It was the first time she realized how passionate he was, not only in defense of those he cared about, but about everything, and now she wanted that passion focused solely on her, craved that ruthless intensity focused on her during sex, with nothing held back. Watching the other mated couples together had been an eye opener. Seeing the men concentrate on giving their all to their mate instead of struggling to hold back, had shown her the difference between simply having sex with the one you were meant for and mating with him.
While she could admire Damien’s need to keep her safe, she refused to believe she would ever be in danger from him. The only danger in this course of action she was about to take would be in dealing with yet another, and possibly last, rejection. Before she could let that possibility sway her, she twisted the knob and slipped inside the small, nearly pitch black room. She knew from having checked the room out when Damien was gone, that the double bed was off to the right and dominated most of the room. Other than a small bedside table, there was no other furniture and there were no windows in any of the rooms of the old servant’s quarters.
As quickly and quietly as she could, she stripped out of her jeans and top and moved slowly towards the bed, listening for Damien’s breathing. She almost changed her mind when she couldn’t detect any sign of life coming from his long shape lying in the middle of the bed, but before she lost her nerve she slipped under the light sheet covering his naked body. His chest was cool to the touch, making her recoil instantly before taking a deep, fortifying breath to bolster her courage. Okay, she told herself sternly, he obviously put himself into the death sleep she had only heard about before. Why, she didn’t know, just as she didn’t know if she had the capability of rousing him from it. But she was bound and determined to try, especially after having come this far.
Apparently her body didn’t care that he wasn’t among the living right at this moment. Her mark was reacting as it always did to being near him, with soft, warm pulses that could be felt in her tightening nipples and her creaming pussy. Propping her head on her bent arm, she lightly caressed his chest, ran her fingers through springy hair she imagined matched the coal black
hair on his head. He didn’t move when she lightly grazed a nipple, but that small bud puckered at her touch, a sure, telltale sign of life. This was the first time she had a chance to explore Damien’s body and she regretted she couldn’t see every inch of his hard flesh. Since he was showing no signs of joining her soon, she decided to do the next best thing and get to know him by touch alone.
As her exploring hand moved up to stroke over the thick column of his neck, she slowly inched her right foot up his calf, feeling more springy hairs and corded muscles with her toes. She shuddered with longing as she squeezed his bicep before moving down his arm. The man was a freaking God, she thought as she simultaneously traced back over his leg and arm, her hand leisurely returning to root out his nipples. After her light caresses had coaxed the right nipple into beaded hardness, she bent over to suckle it between her lips as she tormented the left with her hand. Drawing his small bud into her mouth made her long to feel his lips on her nipples, nipples that were aching for their own stimulation.