TWENTY-FOUR

NELL

I knew what I was doing was against everything Damon and I stood for, but here I was, sharing a drink with his family. We’d probably broken almost every single rule we’d made when we started sleeping together.

If there were an award for the Most Unsuccessful Friends with Benefits Agreement, we would be short-listed. And then we’d probably win. Still, I didn’t leave. I didn’t even leave when Damon’s mum kept giving me secret smiles.

How invested in us is she?

People weren’t supposed to want more for us. It’d just lead to disappointment. If Damon had told her something he shouldn’t have even been thinking about, I was going to have his balls—and not in the way he’d want.

“Oh, come on, Nick,” Hannah said, shaking her head.

They were having an argument about when their first date was. From the amusement on Damon’s face, I guessed it was something that came up often.

“Do you remember when your first date was?” Nick asked me.

I’d never been on a date, so that was easy. Damon’s body stiffened, and he looked like he wanted to murder his dad.

I didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it or let it get in the way of having a good night, so I shrugged and replied, “Nope.”

“See, Hannah? Not everyone remembers,” he said to his wife.

“I remember,” Damon said.

What?

“You do, love?” Hannah asked.

“December sixteenth.”

I call bullshit. “Please!” Rolling my eyes, I added, “You just made that up.”

Laughing, he leaned back against the worktop. “Fine, I did.”

“Damon!” Hannah scolded. “Do you not remember your first time with Nell?”

A slow grin spread across his face that made me cringe inwardly, knowing what was coming. “First time, yes. First date, no.”

He remembers our first time? I remembered the alcohol and waking up beside him, but that was it.

Also, he’d just told his parents that we had sex. They had known, of course, but I was sure they hadn’t wanted it confirmed.

“Damon,” I hissed.

It hadn’t embarrassed me, but it really hadn’t needed to be announced.

He laughed and shrugged. Neither of his parents seemed to be bothered at all, which made me like them both that much more.

I didn’t really want to start making friends with them. We couldn’t have a close relationship even though being around them gave me a family feeling, something I hadn’t felt in a very long time. It was comforting, and I wanted to dive headfirst into their arms.

Bad. Fucking. Idea.

“Anyway,” I said, “another wine, Hannah?”

She handed me her empty glass. “That’d be lovely.”

Biting my lip, I held Hannah’s glass and mine out to Damon and smiled. “Here.”

“Oh, of course I’ll get you both a drink.”

Hannah waved her hand at him and wrapped her other arm around my neck. “Good boy. Come on, Nell, let’s sit down and let the men sort out dinner, which I assume is takeaway.”

Damon rolled his eyes and turned to get our drinks.

“I like that idea. Damon, bring our wine in when you’re done, yeah?” I said. I didn’t look back at his reaction, but I could imagine.

“So, what do you do, Nell?” Hannah asked.

Damon hasn’t told her that? “I’m a PA, but I studied business at uni, so I’m looking into new jobs.” Plus, my boss was an arsewipe, so I would have to get something else ASAP.

“That’s a good idea. There’s no point in having a degree you’re not properly using.”

Tell that to potential employers.

“I’m sure I’ll find something new soon.”

“Here, have you thought about the company Damon works for?”

I clenched my jaw. Has the fucker been talking to his mum about that?

“Damon’s mentioned something about me meeting with his boss, but landing a new job is something I want to do alone.”

She sat back and smiled. “Your independence is admirable. I wish I’d had the opportunity to do that at your age.”

“You couldn’t?”

“Oh no, my family was traditional, and we didn’t have the money for me to go to university. My parents barely had enough to stretch clothing around for four children, and I couldn’t get finance. I left school at fifteen and worked at the corner shop my parents owned. By eighteen, I was married, and three years later, I had Lance. Enjoy the opportunities you have.”

“I will. So, what’s the age gap between Lance and Damon?”

“Just under four years. All through his childhood, Damon tried to act the same as Lance even if it was something he physically couldn’t do. Cara is just eighteen.”

“They’re close? He doesn’t talk about Lance much—well, besides telling me he hated him after the holiday. He’s mentioned Cara a few times.”

She laughed. “They’re close, and they argue something rotten. I don’t know what happened on that holiday, but I have a feeling I don’t want to.”

“I don’t think I want to either.”

“Oh, Damon wouldn’t cheat.”

I licked my lips. Damon couldn’t cheat because we weren’t exclusive. But I didn’t really want to tell his mum that we just had casual sex. For some ridiculous and annoying reason, I didn’t want her to think badly of me.

“I know, but I’m sure a lot went down out there.”

“I think Lance has a tattoo,” she said.

Damon walked into the room. His eyes widened, and he froze, confirming that his brother did have a tattoo.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.

Snorting, Damon handed each of us our wine. “Here we go,” he muttered.

“Both my boys are handsome the way they are. They don’t need anything marking their skin.”

“Er, you have seen Damon’s arms, chest, and back, right?”

“Back?” She gasped. “Damon, you have a tattoo on your back?”

Wincing, I looked at Damon and mouthed, Oops.

“Thank you, Nell,” he said darkly. “No, Mum, not really. It’s just a little from the arm.”

“On your back?” she said.

“Yes, it goes over to my back. Drink your wine.” He turned and left, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “I can hear you, Nell,” he called into the room.

Biting my lips together, I tried to stop.

“Lance had better not have one as well,” Hannah said. “Do you have any?”

I shook my head and opted not to tell her that as soon as I was sure of what I wanted, I would go for it.

“Damon says you’re an only child?”

“I am.”

“Was it lonely, growing up?”

Totally and completely. I’d needed someone so much, but I couldn’t be selfish enough to actually wish it. One fuckup was enough. We hadn’t needed to spread the bad luck and selfish gene any further.

“It was okay actually. I didn’t know any different, and I had Chloe. She’s practically a sister.”

“I would’ve loved to have had another daughter. You know, I bought one dress when I had Damon, and I used to put him in it when he was first born. Then, I had Cara, and of course, she hates anything girlie.”

“Fuck’s sake, Mum!” Damon shouted from the kitchen.

I burst out laughing and held my glass very carefully. “That’s golden! Tell me you have pictures.”

“I do, but I fear I’ll lose a son if I show anyone.”

Damon frowned into the room. “Why do you feel the need to do it? And you can rip it up, or I’ll move to America.”

Her mouth dropped. “You wouldn’t!”

I sat back as Damon quipped with his mum about how he would move to the other side of the world, and Hannah hit back by telling him that she’d follow. I felt warm and safe and accepted. There wasn’t one moment where I was on edge, and I didn’t have to worry about any arguments—other than Damon and Hannah’s stupid little ones.

This was how a family was supposed to be. My heart ached for the feeling of belonging, and it also hurt as I realised just what I’d missed out on while growing up.

Two hours later, and his parents had left. Hannah had made me promise to be over the next time they were here. I’d said I’d try, not wanting to promise something I wasn’t sure I could deliver.

“So, you okay?” Damon asked as he loaded the dishwasher.

“Yeah,” I replied, surprised that I was.

Meeting his family had been so much more fun than I’d thought it would be, and although there had been a few awkward—for me—moments, I’d enjoyed spending time with them.

“You?”

His smile gave him away. “I’m good.”

He was more than good, and it made my heart flutter. I licked my dry lips and pulled my dress over my head. Things were starting to get heavy, so I needed to lighten it again.

Damon did a double take and dropped a glass into the top rack of the dishwasher. “Well, hello.”

“Want to take me to bed now?” I asked, popping my bra strap undone.

“That was a rhetorical question, right? You don’t need me to answer that.”

“Absolutely don’t, Masters. Bed. Now.”

I expected him to order me in there. What I hadn’t expected was the sudden force of his body crashing against mine and slamming me back into the wall. My head hit the plasterboard, but I didn’t give a single shit because his mouth attacked mine, his hands gripped my butt and lifted me, and his erection lined up perfectly between my legs, making me whimper.

I kissed him back with equal hunger and dug my fingers into the muscles on his shoulders.

Squirming against him, I tried to arch myself enough to get him inside. I needed the release so badly. “Damon,” I murmured against his lips. My gut twisted, and the pulsing between my legs made me delirious.

“Fuck,” he hissed as he sank to his knees.

My breath caught in my throat. He really was picking up where we’d left off. Yanking my underwear down, he hitched my leg up and threw it over his shoulder. He was wasting no time, and it drove me insane.

“Damon, stop teasing,” I said as he slowed down and planted featherlight kisses up my inner thigh. His lips burned wherever they touched. “Please…”

“If you keep begging, we’re skipping this part,” he muttered against my skin.

“Right now, I don’t care. I just need…”

He ripped away from me, and I fell forward with the force before correcting myself. I was soon slammed back against the wall the second his jeans hit the floor.

“I fucking warned you,” he said, hitching my dress up again and sinking into me.

Calling out his name, I closed my eyes and wrapped my legs around his waist. I wasn’t going to complain because, as much as I loved having his mouth on me, I needed to feel all of him.

“God, you feel incredible, Nell. Every. Single. Time.”

I looked into his hooded eyes and clenched around him. His pleasure was a total turn-on, and right now, he looked like he was in heaven, and I was right there with him.

Pushing me against the wall, he thrust harder, faster, relentless in his pursuit to get us both off. My head fell back, banging gently on the wall. I ground my hips against him and cried out. The angle was perfect; his pace was perfect. He always felt too good. My body responded to everything he did in a way that no other man had achieved.

I felt everything inside me tighten as he pounded harder, breathing heavily into my ear.

“Shit, Damon.” I was close, so close.

He moaned and smashed his lips to mine in a primal, passionate kiss that had my toes curling and nails biting into his skin. Tightly clamping my legs around his waist, I exploded and moaned his name against his mouth.

Suddenly pulling back, he tossed his head back and groaned, “Ah, fuck.” Calling out, he buried his head in my neck and spilled inside me. “God, Nell, I could do that all day. I’ll never have enough of you.”

“Back atcha, champ,” I said, flopping forward and laying my head on his shoulder.

Damon laughed quietly and started to walk us to his bedroom.

“Are you planning on doing it all night now?”

“Always,” he replied before kissing me.

Damon laid me down on the bed, slowly pulled out, and lay beside me. “So, did you like my parents?”

“They’re great,” I replied. “Your mum is awesome.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Hmm…”

“Oh, she is! It was fun to see you around your family.”

“We’re close even though they drive me insane, her especially.”

I laughed, remembering many of their little arguments. “She loves you like crazy—anyone can see that—even if you broke her heart when you inked your skin.”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s a bit psycho with the perfect skin thing.”

“I kinda think it’s perfect with the tattoos.”

Wiggling his eyebrows, he said, “You think I’m perfect?”

I deadpanned. “I’m so not getting into this with you.”

“Fine. So, what else do you want to do? Are you ready for round two yet?”

“Bloody hell, you’re a machine! I’m tired. Sort yourself out this time.”

It wasn’t late, a little after ten, but being around his family and having it bring up things I tried to bury had left me drained.

He laughed and splayed his hand over my stomach. Usually, that would be enough to get me to go again, but I was emotionally and physically exhausted, and there was no chance of me moving until morning.

“Wait, you’re really going to sleep, aren’t you?”

“Mmhmm.”

Sighing, he kissed my forehead. “If you wake up first, climb aboard.”

Smiling with closed eyes, I replied in a whisper, “Will do, cowboy.”