Caveman (9 page)

“More like Rudolph’s cousin.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “But how? I’ve never seen you carry around anything other than that axe.”

“I have a bow hidden in some trees a little further away. I don’t want to bring it here in case it has left over blood on it, to avoid attracting wild animals.”

I look at him in thought and admiration. “You’re really good at this.”

He smiles deviously. “I’m really good when I put my mind into anything.”

My face actually heats up when I think of what else he could be good at. Because he was definitely good when I saw him chopping wood or when he took care of me and carried me around. And judging by what I saw of him at the waterfall… Oh, God, what am I thinking again?

He stands and holds out his hand. “Here, I’ll clean up.”

I give him my plate. “I feel like shit sitting here and letting you do everything.”

“Don’t,” he says as he walks out.

I move to the bed and lie down. And I’m so horny again. What is this? Is he putting something in the meat when he cooks it? Because I can’t just be turned on by him talking and laughing. Right?

He comes back and I know my face is still a heated mess. He’s carrying two big logs that he sets in the fire carefully while I’m magnetized by the movement of his biceps under the material of his shirt. When he turns back around I look away, pretending that I’m suddenly interested on the ceiling.

I nearly jump when I feel his hand on my shin. I prop myself on my elbows to watch him as he’s checking my splint. “Does it still hurt?”

I shake my head as I search for the right words. “Mostly numb.” And, fuck, here I go with the breathlessness again.

He sits on the bed beside my hip and looks at me with a frown. When he presses the back of his fingers on my cheek, a shudder rakes through my body. Oh, God, what’s wrong with me? Get a grip, Cassandra!

“Are you cold?” he asks with that small frown still going.

I shake my head because I’m not. Cold? I’m burning here.

Understanding shows on his face and I see his eyes heat up in the dim light of the fire. “Are you hot, Cassandra?” His voice has gone low and there’s no mistaking the sensual lilt in it. He knows what’s on my mind and I don’t think he’s planning to run away this time. That realization gives me the courage to say what I’ve been dying to for hours.

“I lied before,” I whisper with my eyes locked on his. “When you found me, I wasn’t coming to look for you.”

“No?”

I shake my head. “I found you. I saw you at the waterfall.”

The back of his fingers are still on my cheek and I feel him fisting and relaxing his hand. “You saw what exactly?”

Oh my God. This is so hot. “I saw you. Naked and… and hard.”

He moves but doesn’t walk away. He twists his body so he’s propped on his knee and puts a hand on either side of my body. I move too, lowering my body slowly until I’m lying again. He looks like a wolf ready to devour me.

“You mean you saw me jacking off? Is that what you saw?”

I nod and before I can stop myself, I add, “It was so hot.”

His eyes I think may be hotter than the fire. He leans closer. “Why are you telling me this, Cassandra?” He sounds a little angry. “You think a man living in the wilderness doesn’t have to take care of himself? You think I wouldn’t be affected by you? That I don’t see how fucking gorgeous you are, how fucking delectable? That I haven’t come in my hand at least three times a day since you crashed here? Is that what you think?”

I shake my head because it’s all I can do. I’m burning up and he hasn’t even touched me yet.

“Then why, Cassandra? What do you want?” He leans closer to bring his lips right over my ear. “What’s in that fucking beautiful mind of yours?”

His voice is like a caress and my back arches clear off the bed. My breasts press into his chest and my hardened nipples are being tortured by the material of my clothes rubbing against them. He growls low in his throat and one hand leaves the bed to crawl under my head and fist some of my hair. He tilts my head further back so my neck is exposed.

“What, Cassandra? Tell me,” he demands.

“Touch me, Damon,” I breathe desperately. “I want you to touch me. I
need
you to touch me.”

O
ur breaths echo in the room hard and fast. And he hasn’t even touched me yet.

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, he props his other knee on the bed between my legs and brings up his other hand. His fingertips run down my cheek, burning a path down to my throat.

“Is this what you want?” There’s a hardness in his voice that confuses me but I can’t place it in my lust-filled mind.

I shake my head fervently.

His hand comes lower to trace the outline of my arm. Fire is on my skin. “Is this what you want?”

I shake my head again. “Damon… please…” I pant.

His hand moves sharply and he presses it between my legs hard. I cry out at the contact and the sudden pain it brings. My head spins with lust and confusion. “Is this?” He grits out. And he sounds pissed.

I manage to focus on his facial features and see what I missed. The lust I feel is in his eyes too but it’s mixed with potent anger. It clears some of my thoughts. “Damon?” I ask hesitantly. I thought we wanted the same thing but now I’m not sure. Have I read the signs wrong? Have I pushed him too hard and too far? Or is he really just violent and sadistic in bed? Because I see now that he had intended to hurt me.

“Tell me one thing. How much did my brother pay you to make sure I come back with you?”

That was like a slap to the face. “What?”

“Did he ask you to do anything you had to? Did he promise a little bonus if you managed to make me think you did it all willingly?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask again and now he’s not the only one pissed. “Get off me.”

He doesn’t move from atop me and instead brings his lips on my jaw. “You know, you almost had me there for a moment. I really thought you only wanted me. Here. Now. But what woman would want that knowing she would gain nothing by it?”

“The answer to that is that you’re an asshole,” I bite out as I push at his chest. “Get off me.”

He doesn’t but pulls back to look down at me. Without giving it too much thought, I swing my hand forward and slap him. I doubt I hurt him – because, ow, he has a really strong jaw – but I surely shocked him. He sits back on his heels and I manage to pull my leg from underneath him without kneeing him in the family jewels. Not that I would have minded that. Asshole.

I scramble off the bed limping and when I reach the door I turn around to throw a few more words at him. “The answer to your question is: me.
I
would want that.
I
would fly across the country to find you.
I
would talk to you and assure you you’re not as rotten as that bastard made you think. Because I was stupid enough to think that you were as good at heart as everyone else thought. But I was so fucking wrong. You think you’re better because you left to save your brother? Well, you just proved yourself wrong. And I put myself at risk, my mind, my
heart
because you made me think that you would be worth risking everything if only for one night. Even if it meant that when I left here, left you, I also left my heart behind. At least you would deserve it. Well, guess what, jackass? You just did one thing right by making sure I didn’t fall for you.”

I spin around and stumble outside. My ankle hurts like a bitch but I don’t care. I have no idea where I’m going but I don’t care. I could get lost in the forest and become dinner for the wolves. But I. Don’t. Care. How wrong was I to think it’d be okay to open myself up to him? A complete stranger. Because that’s what he is. It doesn’t matter how much I know about him or how much I think I’ve figured him out, put the pieces together. Nothing matters because he is just another man, judging without knowing. Taking without giving. Typical. How much more pathetic can you get, Cassandra?

My ankle gives me a stub of pain, pulling me from my angry reverie and I cry out. Great. Now because of him I can’t even fucking walk. Stupid, Cassandra. You’re so fucking stupid all the fucking time. Didn’t they warn you? Didn’t Layla and Dean and Jeremy warn you? How could I possibly let myself be so stupid? I want to put my head through a tree trunk when I remember how breathless I was, how needy. I begged him, fucking begged him to touch me. Oh, I was so fucking better off without men. So what if Damon turns me on like nobody’s business? Nothing a vibrator can’t fix.

I step on a branch with my swollen foot and another agonizing pain stabs me. Without warning, I’m being lifted up and held against a hard chest.

“Put me down,” I warn as he starts walking us back towards the cabin.

He doesn’t answer and just keeps on walking. And it makes me even more furious.

“Put me the fuck down, Damon,” I say again and slap his chest.

“Stop,” he commands but his voice doesn’t have the anger it did before. He has calmed down. And that pisses me off impossibly more.

I start flailing like a fish, trying to get down on my own. “You are such a caveman, Damon Sawyers. You need to put me down right this instance or—”

“Or what?” he yells and finally puts me down. But he’s not letting me go. He grabs my arms and tries to hold me still as I try to get out of his vice-like grip and slap him wherever my arms can reach at the same time. “Stop,” he warns softly and I scream out in frustration. How can he suddenly be all calm and collected when I want to bash his head into the ground? “Cassandra, stop!” he commands again more firmly.

I do because I’m fucking exhausted. I’m breathing hard, my foot hurts and I just want to scream and cry. “Just let me go,” I say tiredly.

“And where would you go, huh?” he asks softly and brings his hands up to brush some wild hair from my face. “I’m sorry, Cassandra. I know I was an asshole and I meant to be because I wanted to beat you at your own game. I wanted to be the one to break you because I was afraid if I gave in you would break me. And you’re so easy to give in to. It’d be so easy for you to break me.”

My anger slowly starts seeping out of me and I try to hold on to it for safety. “You hurt me, Damon. And I don’t mean emotionally. You
hurt
me. On purpose. I was so afraid at first when I didn’t know who you were, not knowing what you were able to do to me. And when I trust you, you do that?”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out loudly. “I know. And I’m so sorry about that. I wouldn’t do that, Cassandra. Please believe me. I was never gentle at sex but I would never hurt you. I wanted to scare you and I was mad with anger and lust.” He cups the sides of my face and his fingers tangle in my hair as he pulls me closer to him. “Please believe me.”

I bring my own hands up to put at his chest but I don’t push him away like I thought I was going to. I just rest them there. I think I just need to feel him. Feel his heart beating wildly under my palms. Feel his breath moving his chest as he breathes hard. “I do,” I say eventually, surprising myself just as relief washes over him. “I may be crazy but I do. But you need to understand one thing. I never tried to fool or manipulate you and I would never do that. I’ve told you before: you don’t know me. And that means you can’t judge me from your experiences with others. You need to judge me for who
I
am. And when I look into your eyes and swear that I would never do something like that,
you
need to believe
me
. Understand?”

He nods immediately. I can’t see him very clearly in the moonlight but it’s enough to know he can see me back, see the honesty in my eyes. “Now, can I get you back inside? You shouldn’t stand on that ankle.”

“Please,” I say immediately because it fucking hurts. I’m in the air in a millisecond and I let him carry me back inside. He kicks his shoes off without even jarring me. When he lays me on the bed and we take a look at my ankle, I think it’s safe to say the swelling is two times worse than it was before.

He removes the splint and covers it with more leaves to reduce the swelling. I’m astonished when he leans down and places a soft kiss on my shin just above the leaves. My blood instantly heats up and my breath quickens as his lips linger. The leg of my pants is raised up to my knee and he trails his lips up over the exposed skin and then back down. How can he steal my breath with such a simple move?

“Damon…” I whisper but I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what I want him to do anymore.

His hand tightens around my calf but he’s not hurting me. He just wants to show me he heard me. His mouth though doesn’t move away as he continues to kiss my leg. What is he thinking? Is it me he wants or would the warmth of any woman give him the same satisfaction? And why is this stupid thing so fucking important that I have to wonder about it now?

I throw my head back on the pillow and close my eyes. It doesn’t matter. None of it matters because this is only now. It won’t last and I know it won’t because he’ll stay here and I will go back. But I’m so fragile in this moment, so vulnerable I’m afraid all it will take is one word from him. One word and I will give him anything he asks for.

His mouth disappears from my leg and then he’s pushing my shirt up. I feel his lips on my belly and I struggle to hold still, let him do as he pleases. His hand that was wrapped around my leg slowly slides up until he’s cupping my waist and I whimper at the feel of his fingers’ roughness on my skin. His mouth disappears again and I expect to feel his lips on mine but I don’t. He does nothing and I open my eyes to find him hovering above me and looking anxiously at my face.

“Please tell me I’m not scaring you,” he pleads. “Tell me you want this and you would stop me if you didn’t.”

“I would,” I say immediately, understanding his hesitation. “I do want this, Damon. Please…”

He lowers his face and rests his lips on mine but he’s not kissing me. “God, I don’t know if I’ll be able to be gentle, Cassandra. I never was and I don’t know…”

I bring my hands up and cup his face. I move my lips under his and kiss him softly, wanting to reassure him. “Stop. Don’t talk. Trust that I’ll stop you if you do something I don’t like. But also believe me when I say I want this so badly I ache, Damon. Please, don’t make me wait any longer.”

He groans almost in agony and then his mouth is on mine and he’s kissing and biting and licking and I haste to catch up because he’s like a hurricane. So hungry and desperate. Wanting to devour me. I feel it everywhere he touches me with his lips and hands that he wants to consume him. And I’m burning with need to let him do it.

He pulls me up enough to tug my shirt over my head. The cool air of the room hurts my heated skin so deliciously it’s breaking into goose bumps. Every sensation feels heightened by the pure feelings of lust and need he’s creating in me. I’m frantic to feel him against me and I’m rewarded when he unclasps my bra and frees my breasts. He leads me back on the bed and his hands come around to cup each mound. I arch into his touch and a soft moan escapes my lips in relief.

“Christ, you’re unreal,” he mumbles before lowering his head in the valley between my breasts. His short beard scratches my skin but I love it. I love the roughness in contrast to the tenderness of his licks and kisses.

I manage to fist my hands around his shirt and breathe, “…Feel you…” and thank God he understands. He pulls back long enough to remove his shirt and I cry out when he comes back to me and I feel his skin against mine. He’s so hot and hard and smooth. He surrounds me with his body as he keeps on conquering my mouth.

He moves so he’s settled fully between my legs and pushes down his erection against my core. I cry out into his mouth. Not in pain this time but it almost feels like it with how much I want him. I think I might actually go crazy if those stupid pants don’t just disappear from between us. I need to feel him on me, inside me.

“Now,” I pant. “Now, Damon. I need to feel you inside me. Please…”

“Oh, fuck,” he grits out and seconds later he has me out of the rest of my clothes and I’m watching him as he rushes with his own pants. My mouth drops wide open with a loud moan when I see how hard, how gorgeous he is. I don’t know if he’s harder than when I saw him in the waterfall or if the distance didn’t do him justice but he’s… so thick. I’m staring and staring as he stalks towards me and I’m panting with need.

“Please, Cassandra,” he bites out and I look up into his eyes. He looks as if he’s in pain. “Please don’t look at me like that. I’m barely hanging on as it is, baby. You’re so beautiful and so perfect I’m in physical pain right now.”

He comes over me again and I wrap my arms around his neck to pull him down on my mouth again. We’re devouring each other now and I’m already about to explode with the way he rubs his beautiful cock on me.

He pulls back with exertion and looks at me pleadingly. “Tell me you have condoms in that bag.”

A hysterical laugh comes out of me and I know it means I’m literally going crazy. “Damon, please. I’m on the shot and I’m clean. I need you.”

That was all he needed apparently because, without even taking himself in hand, he aligns his cock to my entrance and he’s pushing inside me with a long, hard thrust. We both cry out in ecstasy and he pulls back, then forward once more and I’m falling over the edge. I cry out as my whole body is jerking with the intensity of my orgasm. Damon curses and rises up on his knees. He grips my hips and slams into me again and again and again, prolonging my climax until he’s groaning with me and empties inside of me.