Hope (10 page)

He ran a hand over his face as his dick pulsed inside his
jeans. Shit, he was not going to be controlled by his desire for her. Penny was
not going to have to worry about his attentions. Her head popped around the
corner of his bedroom.

“Do you have a shirt I can borrow?”

Damon stood, pulled his shirt over his head, and threw it at
her. “Enjoy.”

The shirt landed in her face.

“You’re going to have to get better at catching,” he said.

“If you’d stop throwing it in my face, I would.”

He chuckled and walked past her. “Don’t go checking my ass
out either.”

Damon didn’t know if she did. He wanted to tear the bath
towel from her body and explore every inch of her.

“You forgot your food rations from Don again,” she said.

He cursed. When he’d taken her out of the club, food had
been the last thing on his mind.

“I’ll sort something out tomorrow.” He put his clothing on
the toilet seat while he washed.

He tested the water in the bucket and winced at the feel.
What he’d give for something nice and warm.

The towel Penny had been using was resting on his clothing
when he finished. He frowned. Damon hadn’t heard her walk in.

Wrapping the towel around his hips, he walked into the
bedroom. Penny lay facing the direction he was walking. Her eyes were open.

“You came into the bathroom?” he asked.

She was silent for several moments and then smiled. “You
have a cute butt.”

Damon burst out laughing. “I told you not to check it out.”

“You became too much of a temptation. I couldn’t resist
having a little peek at you.”

He dropped his clothing on the floor stalking to his bed. Damon
whipped the blanket off her body.

“Let’s see how you like it?” he asked, laughing as he turned
her over.

Penny started to fight him. Her giggles made him smile
wider. She wore his shirt, and it started to ride up as she pulled out of his
hold.

“You’re not looking at my ass,” she said. Damon let her
think she was stronger than he. Her fighting made her all the more tempting
when he saw her tits bounce. The natural curves were highlighted through the
shirt with each of her movements.

“Now, you’ve become too much temptation to ignore.” He
lifted her over his lap with her ass facing him. Damon pulled his shirt up and
slapped her rounded ass.

She yelped, laughing at his teasing.

“Lovely and round.”
He gave her
a few gentle taps, and then he realised she was still on his lap. Looking down
at her ass, he saw she was naked. She wore no panties, only his shirt.

Damon ran his hand over the curves of her butt. His hand
print had left small red prints. They would fade in a matter of moments. His
cock thickened at the sight of her. She was even more perfect than he imagined.

“Damon?” she asked.

Her arousal wafted up to him. She smelled musky and turned
on. Running his free hand over his face, Damon let her go. She knelt on the bed
as he pulled a pair of boxers over his swollen cock.

“Didn’t you like what you saw?”

He closed his eyes. He was in pain from how much he liked
what he saw.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Penny. Roll over, and go to
sleep.”

Several minutes had passed when he heard her sniffle.
Turning towards her, he saw her back faced him.

“Are you crying?”

“No.”

He walked round to her side of the bed. Tears ran down her
cheeks.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

She turned away from him.

Sighing, Damon climbed over her, settled down in the bed and
wrapped his arm around her. Damon pulled her close even as she fought him off.

“Leave me alone.”

“No. You’re going to tell me what’s wrong.”

She shook her head.

“I can wait all night, Penny. You’ll tell me eventually.”

He hoped she didn’t force him to wait all night. He was
tired and in need of a good night’s rest.

“You didn’t like it. You didn’t like me,” she said.

“Why do you think I don’t like you?” he asked.

“You stopped and moved away. I understand. I know I’m not
the prettiest girl in the world,” she said.

His anger got the better of him. Damon turned her to face
him. He caught her cheek with his palm forcing her to look at him.

“You really think I don’t find you attractive? Do you have
any idea what
that
just did to me?”
he asked.

She shook her head. When she made to pull away, Damon held
her in place refusing to let her go.

He rolled her to her back and did something he knew he was
going to regret. Damon wouldn’t take it too far, but he wanted to reassure her.

With her on her back, he pressed to her front pushing his
cock against her core. He felt her heat through his briefs. She was hot and on
fire for him. Groaning, he looked down at her tempting heart-shaped lips. He
wanted to taste her at least once.

Damon bent down brushing his lips across hers. She moaned,
her hands going to his arms. Her nails sank into the flesh of his muscles.

The look of her hands on his arms was a lot better than the
tattoos decorating his arms. “Do you feel that?”

She licked her lips then nodded her head.

“That’s how much I like you, Penny. I fucking ache for you.
I’m hard as rock thinking about sinking inside your tight, wet pussy. You’ll be
wet for me won’t you, Princess?”

“I-I-I don’t know,” she said.

Damon ran his hand from her cheek, down her body to cup her
between her thighs. The shirt had ridden up her body exposing her to him. He
slid a finger between her lips and felt her slippery wetness.

“See, you’re ready for me.” He pressed a finger to her
swollen bud. She cried out thrusting her pelvis up to his hand. “You want me,
don’t you?”

She nodded her head.

He felt like a total bastard for building her up. Damon knew
he wouldn’t take her. She was far too innocent for the likes of him, but this,
this he could give her.

“Open your legs wide.”

Penny opened wide. He stared into her eyes refusing to look
anywhere else but at her. She looked so damn beautiful. Her blues eyes stared
back at him with so much trust.

She shouldn’t
trust you.

Damon knew he wasn’t the right man for her. He was not the
loving kind. He had a reputation that would make her run for the hills.

He brushed her lips with his as he teased her sweet little
clit. She was shaking from his touch. Her response almost undid him. His cock
thickened inside his briefs, begging to be released. Damon broke from the kiss
to look down at her sweetness. He wished it was light so he was able to see all
of her. She’d be a beauty to look at in the light.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I feel wonderful.”

He wanted to suck on her. Damon kept looking at her while he
fingered her clit. It was only a matter of moments before she came apart in his
arms. He couldn’t wait to see her orgasm. Her first climax would be at his
hands.

“What is happening?” she asked. Her words sounded
breathless. Her hips thrust up to meet his hand.

“Let go, Penny. I’m here, baby. Come apart for me.”

Her hands gripped his arms, and then her cries would remain
firmly embedded in his mind. She came apart. Her mouth opened as the pleasure
tore from her lips. She looked stunning in orgasm. Damon knew he’d be spending
a hell of a lot more time loving her body.

When she came down, he kissed her temple and wrapped her in
his arms.

“Never for a second think you’re ugly, Penny. You’re a
beautiful woman.”

Chapter
Nine

The days passed, and Penny started to enjoy her job. Every
night without fail, Damon walked her to the club. She carried her change of
clothing inside her bag and would change in the back with the rest of the
women. The other women who worked at the club lived in the apartments above.
Shelley had shown her around, but Damon refused to let her leave his apartment.
She tried not to think about his reason for keeping her around. Since the night
he’d taken her to heaven with his fingers, he hadn’t touched her. He made sure
she was asleep at night before getting to bed.

She wondered what he was thinking about when he sat on the
sofa all alone. He’d taken a step back from her. She felt it every day they
were together. He rarely spoke to her about the past or about the future. It
was easier to remain silent than attempt to pull him into a conversation.

Don was pleased with her work at the club. The customers
were happy with her. Some of them tried to feel her up. Damon was always there
to keep the worst customers at bay. Shelley explained about the men’s desire to
touch the untouchable. She learned the value of her innocence and what she
offered each man every time she served a drink.

The dancers were nice. All of them except Kelly accepted her
into their ring. They let her borrow clothes and taught her to swing her hips
to tease the men. Nothing she did ever caught Damon’s attention. He seemed
perfectly content to watch the women strip on the stage rather than touch her
again.

The only times he touched her was when they were walking to
and from the club and when they woke up first thing in the morning. She woke
many more mornings wrapped in his heat than not.

Two weeks had passed, and she sat at one of the tables
waiting for Damon to finish his meeting with Don. Trevor was talking to the
barman, and she sat watching Shelley work some moves into a routine. She liked
the other woman. Once Penny had showed she was willing to work, Shelley’s
attitude had changed toward her.

There was not much to do apart from cook, attempt to clean,
and look out over the city waiting for the time to pass. Damon would hide her
in the hole when he needed to run some errands. She knew he did more for Don
than simply act as a security guard. No man got that much respect from stopping
a few customers from getting rowdy.

“You’re deep in thought,” Shelley said. The other woman took
a seat next to her. “I’d be careful about losing yourself in a world of
imagination. You might not want to come back.”

Penny smiled.
“Nothing.
No faraway
thoughts for me.”

“That’s a lie, Princess. You and I both know you’re not some
dumb girl. Tell me. What is bothering you?” Shelley asked.

Nibbling her lips Penny looked at Don’s door.

“Ah, that is what’s troubling you. Damon Wright is getting
under your skin.” Shelly pointed at the stage and spun her fingers. “Keep at
it, Amber. You’re doing great.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I think it is impossible to get
under someone’s skin.”

Shelley laughed. “Yeah, it is impossible to get under someone’s
skin in a physical sense, but here,” Shelley pressed her fingers to her head,
“that is what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t get it,” Penny said.

“Damon is all you can think about. He’s become your entire
world. You walk around those men, giving out drinks and taking the crap they
dish out, but all the time you’re only thinking of one person. Damon.”

Penny tucked her hair behind her ear. “He’s been really good
to me.”

“Bullshit. That kind of feeling comes from something more
than being kind, Princess. Believe me, I know.”

Penny stared at the woman by her side. Shelley appeared to
know a great deal about what she was feeling.

“You’re also jealous of the other women he talks to,”
Shelley said.

“How do you know?”

“Princess, I watch just as much as the rest of them. I’ve
seen the way you get. You’re envious because you think he likes those women
more than he likes you.”

“It sounds ridiculous when you say it like that.” Penny
rubbed her sweaty palms down her pants. “I shouldn’t think about him like that.
He’s kind and never promised me anything.”

Shelley was silent for several seconds. “You know he slept
with Kelly and half the women who work here?”

“Yeah, Kelly has given me all the gory details about what he
likes to do.”

“Not one of those women made it out of the club, Princess.”

“What do you mean?”

The other woman sighed, signalled to the barman for a drink,
then
turned her entire attention to her. “Damon had a
rule never to take women home. I know where he lives, but I’ve never been.”

“Have you slept with him?”

Shelley shook her head. “No. I never wanted to.”

Penny felt relief. Shelley was an attractive woman. She
doubted any man would take Shelley and then leave her.