Damon: The A'rouk Brothers: A BBW Paranornal Page 13

  She placed her hand flat against his chest. “Let me change and gather my things then I’ll be ready. Are we going to the party first?”

  She ran up the stairs she didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but she knew this, she’d meet it head on with Damon at her side. Damon walked into the room to find her with a pair of jeans on that were ripped and a shirt that stopped at her belly button.

  “Do you like it? Rose assured me that this was the hottest retro outfit around.”

  “Rose?”

  “She’s a teen, who lives on the Earth, and I think she knows everything about fashion. You’ve got to meet her.”

  She looked at him her eyes shining bright, and his heart ached. He loved her, couldn’t get enough of her.

  “I can’t wait to meet her. I’m sending your bags to our home while we go to Aran’s.” He held onto her as he willed them to Aran’s house.

  He took them to the front door which was open. There were noises and songs coming from the back. They walked out back into confusion and laughter. There were several grills going, and the women were encouraging the males as they started a grill off.

  She gave Damon a quick kiss and started for the back door. She was being pulled to the house and was curious enough to want to know why. The corner of her mouth kicked up she should have known.

  “Hi. I didn’t expect you to be in here.”

  Dante gave her a look that made her feel like he could see more than what she showed the world. For a moment she felt raw and vulnerable before him then it was over.

  “I know, but I expected you. Take a seat.”

  She waited wondering why he drew her in here. Part of her wanted him to say it was over and she and Damon were free, but she knew better.

  “They’re going to keep coming after me. You know they are, and they won’t hesitate to kill him.”

  Why had she blurted that out? It was the fear in her heart that Damon would die in the war against her. She knew he had his own fears about her life and The Darkness, but right now all she could focus on was Sloan and his crew. There had to be a way to get them to stay away from her and Damon, but she hadn’t figured it out. After last night she was desperate for answers.

  “Then stop them.”

  “I can’t.”

  It was always easy for the person on the outside to tell you to stand up, be the bigger person. They were aliens, how was she supposed to stop them. She was just human.

  “Why can’t you?”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “You’re powerful, most females are. Like most females, you know more than you think you do. What do you know or what have you seen about Sloan that struck you as different? Remember this River, whatever you and Damon learn must be kept to yourselves.” He turned off the oven and walked away. “River eat those mints I gave them to you for a reason.”

  She reached into her pocket and put several in her mouth. He knew way too much.

  She didn't know anything about Sloan, but there was one thing she had wondered about.

  “Damon’s looking for you.” Amber walked into the kitchen. “We need more ice.”

  “He didn’t say anything.”

  “He doesn’t have to. I know that look. He’s watching the door while he’s trying to grill. It’s the same look Alexei gets when he can’t lay eyes on me. It’s the I’m not going to lose my shit look because I know she’s okay but if she doesn’t show up soon…” They laughed and headed for the door.

  “How long have the two of you been together?”

  “Three hundred years give or take.”

  “He loves you.”

  “I love him just like you love Damon.”

  “Is it that easy to spot?

  “Girl, it might as well be tattooed on your forehead.”

  “I’m glad I want him to see it every time he looks at me.”

  “And that’s why you fit in perfectly.”

  She walked over to Damon and started cheering for him.

  “Alexei, where are your cousins?”

  His smile dropped for a second before he answered. “They’re out rediscovering the Earth. According to them, that’s what you do when you’re single.”

  “I hope they have fun.”

  “They won’t have fun, Love.”

  “Why not?”

  “Look at my brothers. They’re smiling, but all of them are lonely. It’s hard to be around so many mated Created when you're without a mate. I know that used to be me.”

  She turned to look at Raphael, who was talking to Ash and Brook. There was a smile on his face, but Damon was right now that she was looking for it, she could see his desire for a mate.”

  “It feels selfish to want a mate when you know The Darkness will try to kill her.”

  “The Darkness hasn’t come for me yet.”

  “It’s come, it just hasn’t been able to touch you. It will be coming again.”

  He was right.

  She looked around at the brothers and their mates and realized how blessed she was. She could still be locked in that tank, but Sloan decided to try and kill her, and because of that, she found the most important person in her life. Silently she said thank you to whoever orchestrated her life to meet Damon.

  “Time to eat.” Voices rang out with laughter. Aran had one large long table in his yard that they put the food on. Everyone sat around talking and eating.

  “River do you like to dance?”

  Rena grinned before she ran into the house and put on music she had never heard before.

  “This is from the year nineteen hundred something.”

  “That’s ancient.”

  “I know isn’t is great? I’m about to teach you the electric slide.”

  They spent the rest of the night dancing, laughing and telling stories about what used to be popular on the Earth.

  *~*~*~*

  River laughed as Damon chased her up the stairs. They had come back to the house in Sin City because she couldn’t bear to leave.

  “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear, then promptly fell over her feet. She stood up giggling. “I think I drank too much. The party was fun, I’ve never had that much liquor in my life.”

  “We’ll have to give you a limit in the future.”

  “Hey,” she fell on the bed. “No monitoring, just pour me in the bed when I’m done. Why aren’t you feeling it?”

  “We can’t get drunk. It ramps up our desire to fight.”

  “Oh, you want to fight?”

  “I can think of better things to do than fight.”

  She giggled. “Come here big fella I want to eat you up.” Her face flushed, and her eyes glazed as she spread over the bed.

  “The rooms spinning.”

  “Then don’t move. I’ll be back shortly.”

  “Okay.” Her hand pressed against her stomach. “I think I might get sick.”

  She closed her eyes and waited.

  “River you’re drunk. How delightfully naughty.”

  She opened one eye to watch Sloan. “Why is there two of you?”

  “You’re very drunk.”

  “Go away.”

  “Not today. The time has come for us to say goodbye. You’ve been a worthy opponent except for now. I’m sadly disappointed that you won’t get to appreciate my brilliance.”

  She raised her head several inches, groaning her head flopped back to the pillow.

  “Damon will be back soon if you’re not gone he will kill you.”

  “There are rules River, and he can’t lay a hand on me. There isn’t a rule that says you can’t kill yourself by walking over a cliff on the Earth in a drunken state. Thank you, I thought I was going to have to get much more elaborate than this.” He took a step towards her.

  “Stay away.” Her voice trembled in fear. “You’ll regret it if you get any closer.”

  He laughed, “You don’t get it you can’t stop me.” He screamed as light poured over him.

  “I told you that you woul
d regret it if you kept coming after me.”

  “What did you do?” He couldn’t move. The light it was keeping him contained.

  “She stopped you.” Damon was leaning against the door frame staring at River with love and respect in his eyes.

  “You won’t be able to stop The Darkness.”

  “Right now, you’re my concern. If you come after Damon or me again, I will take what I know and make sure I burn you and your friends. You won’t see me coming until it’s too late, much like tonight.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t until tonight. When I started thinking of defeating you, it dawned on me that you always stayed away from the open door and the sunlight pouring through it when you came to see me. When we left the tank, you were quick to get into the hover. There was a film I noticed over the clear portions of the hover, and your eyes did a strange blink. I saw it all, but I was to focused on getting free to think about it. Your kind can’t take the infrared waves of the sun.”

  “You don’t have to confirm it. The fact that you can’t move says it all.” Damon moved to stand by River who was now standing in front of Sloan.

  “Are you ready?”

  “I am.”

  “Wait let me out.”

  “No.” Damon willed them out of the room.

  “You told her my weakness.” His mouth curled up into a snarl, and his eyes become black with red pupils.

  Dante was sprawled out in a chair with an indulgent look on his face.

  “That would be against the rules. We both know I’m not a rule breaker.”

  “You’re full of shit.”

  “Sloan, what happened to your façade of being a gentleman?”

  He stood and walked over to Sloan. “I did not tell River your weakness. Have this recorded for the records.” He gave the command before turning back to him. “I cannot lie. Would you like to go on record as saying I did?”

  He growled and charged the cell of light holding him.

  “Don’t get too close it will burn you.” He smiled as Sloan hissed and backed up.

  “How did she know if you didn’t tell her?”

  “Turns out River is astute. She pays attention to her surroundings even when she doesn’t consciously realize it. I think it’s a side effect of being brainwashed to forget her life. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? That would be breaking the rules.”

  “You’re boring me.”

  “I try to be so delightful.”

  “Let me out.”

  “Under one circumstance. Stay away from River and Damon.”

  “No.”

  “I’ll be back in a couple days enjoy your stay.”

  “Wait.”

  “If I decide not to go after River, there are others like her.”

  “My only concern is River and Damon.”

  “I am moving on. You may have won this round, but you haven’t won the war, and I only need one Daughter of the Earth. When they die at the hands of the Darkness, you’ll wish it would have been at my hands.”

  “Let the records record his pledge to stay away from Damon and River.”

  Dante disappeared. The light holding Sloan was gone.

  He growled and sent a message to the others that River was no longer on the playing field. He would kill the next daughter of the Earth before she ever entered the game.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “Come on big fella?”

  She fell on the bed laughing. “I have no idea how to be drunk, and you were no help.” She sat up and looked at him. “Do you think it worked?”

  “I do. We won’t have any problems with them again.”

  She gave a big sigh one badass down one to go.

  “I have a treat for you. Do you have a swimming suit?”

  “I do.” She got up and went to where he placed all her bags.

  This was home. It had been so long since she had a home to call her own that she wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Damon, can I change things?”

  “You haven’t even seen the house, and already you’re redecorating.” He gave her a grin that made her stomach flip with desire. “Redecorate anything except the kitchen and the medical wing. We need to talk about that.”

  She smiled before she went back to looking for her swim suit. Maybe she should have told him that she needed to really know it was her home. That she could put her mark on it, but his honest answer made her feel better. They were in this together.”

  “I found it.” She raised her hand in victory as her suit hung from her fingers.

  He swallowed hard. “There’s not much to that suit.”

  “I know.”

  “Did you find that when you were shopping with Rose?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I’m going to owe that child more than a thank you.” He said himself as River turned around.

  “You are beautiful, Little Warrior. Look at all your curves and your softness. I want to skip the surprise and lay you out on the bed so I can feast on you.”

  “Surprise first, feast later.” If he kept talking to her like this, she might never leave the bedroom.

  He changed into a pair of trunks and took her hand as he led her through the house.

  “I’m going to take you out front, later we can explore the surprise I have for you in the back.”

  He took her into his living room where she stopped and stared it was beautiful. A waterfall with a large lake could be seen through the clear doors. To one side was a mural of the sea and there was an outline of a female that looked like her.

  “I didn’t know she was you when I sketched it. Now I can fill in the details.”

  “This is amazing. You’re amazing.”

  “I always want you to feel that way River. I want to take care of you and protect you.”

  “As long as it’s a two-way street I’m on board.”

  “Let’s go out front.”

  The waterfall captured her attention. Seeing one that poured into a lake was beautiful. His house was surrounded by flowers she’d never seen before. There was a large area of grass that surrounded the lake.

  “Do you want to swim?”

  She nodded and followed him to the edge. There were colorful fish swimming around, and she felt like she had finally come home. He placed his hand on her back and pushed her in. She went under and come up laughing.

  “No fair.” He dived in after her, chasing her.

  She went under the water and disappeared. The longer she stayed down, the more she could hear the panic in his voice.

  “River? Where are you.” He dived under the water not seeing her.

  “This isn’t funny.”

  “You’re right it’s not. I’m sitting on a ledge behind the waterfall. I’m coming.”

  She dived smoothly into the water and came up beside him a few minutes later.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize, it’s just that I’m used to being the one in charge. Between Sloan and Elandra who seem to be able to pop in whenever they want, I get concerned when I can’t see you.”

  It was fear, but he didn’t want to worry her. He knew that in a heartbeat he could lose her and it gave him a different reality, one he never had to deal with before. His brothers were like him, and he never feared losing them, but River was soft with a heart that cared, and she could be gone before he even realized it. He checked his security parameters before they came outside. Now he was sending his senses out to check the area to make sure it was still free of anything compromising.

  They climbed out the lake and went to lay down on soft pads that were placed on the grass.

  “This is nice, ingenious actually.”

  “I have to give the Dare’s credit for this one. Sergey showed me their cabin one day, and I saw these.”

  “Mmm, you were smart enough to incorporate it into your design.”

  He laid next to her and brought her close. “I love the way you give me credit for it.”<
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  He kissed her taking her reply away. His hand stroked her cheek before his finger slid through her hair. With deft fingers, he removed her top before sliding his hand down to her hips and encouraging her to wiggle out the bottoms. He winked at her before his swim trunks disappeared.

  “You’re so beautiful, Love. I’m still having a hard time believing you’re here with me. You’re every dream I refused to allow myself to have and now you’re real and in my arms.”

  She slid her hands around him enjoying the one thing, the one person she never thought she would have. He was her mate, the other half of her soul. He told her in the beginning that she was his soul and she believed him. They were connected on so many levels she no longer knew where she ended and he began.

  Her lips went to his shoulder giving him soft kisses of possession, of love. She never wanted to open her arms and let him go.

  “River,” he said her name softly as he kissed down her neck to her breast. “I have something to tell you.”

  She stroked his head as he buried it between her breasts.

  “I know you love my breasts. You don’t have to say it.” Her voice was filled with laughter and joy.

  His hand came up and pulled on one of her nipples before he sucked it into his mouth. She gave a deep moan.

  “I do love your breast, small and firm and all mine, but there’s more. I love you River. I wanted some place romantic over a nice intimate dinner, I wanted to give you something sparkly and watch your eyes light up when I told you. I can’t wait any longer, and I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I love you, River. I always will.”

  Her hand came up to dash at the tears rolling down her cheeks. She knew he loved her but hearing the words meant so much to her. That he was willing to commit to his feelings out loud. It was the icing on the cake she wasn’t supposed to have.

  “I love you, Damon.”

  He kissed her between her breasts before he started kissing the top of her breasts. Her hand went down over the animal on his arm. When she touched him there, she could hear a deep hiss in her mind, and she could feel love cover her like a blanket. A reminder that he loved her on every level.

  Lifting her head, she licked him there. His growl went through her body heightening her pleasure.