I was on all fours as he slowly rubbed his d.i.c.k through my folds. My head fell forward on an embarra.s.singly loud moan as he took his time twirling the head over my c.l.i.t.

"You're a tease," I mumbled. He bent forward to nip my shoulder before soothing the sting with his tongue, and when he placed a soft kiss there, I could feel his smile against my skin.

"Mmm... and you're delicious." My eyes rolled into the back of my head at the thought of his mouth somewhere else.

I had already come once in the hall on his hand, but I was dying to have him eat me out. We had only done it once before, because a) we weren't always in places that made it a viable option, and b) the prospect was a little terrifying considering I'd only had one man go there before. It had been slightly awkward at first, but I never had a problem speaking my mind, so why start then? Once I got over my initial uncertainty, the commands I'd given him just made it that much sweeter and when my o.r.g.a.s.m crashed into me, I was already ready to do it again. But we'd never gotten the chance... until now.

I pushed my a.s.s higher in the air, loving the way he groaned in my ear and how his breath tickled my neck. "I have something that tastes even better," I said, my voice coming out husky and low.

He stilled before quickly pulling back and flipping me over. Before I knew what was happening, I was being pulled to the edge of the bed, Damien was kneeling on the floor, and his tongue snuck out and took a long, leisurely lick through my folds.

"Ahhhh..." I gripped his head as I held him to me. His beard scratched my thighs as he kissed my c.l.i.t before sucking on it... hard. My back bowed off the bed as I fisted his hair even tighter.

"Is this what you wanted?" he whispered against me.

"Yes," I breathed out. But when he licked me again, I tried to pull his head away. "No... I mean... yes, but no," I stammered out as he ignored the grip I had on his long hair and continued to eat me out. He chuckled against me and the vibration felt heavenly as I squeezed my knees around his head. Damien raised his head and smiled, and I almost lost it when I saw how glisteningly wet his lips were. Before he moved back in, I placed a palm on his check to stop him. "What I meant," I panted out, "was that I want to ride your face."

He quickly crawled up the bed, crushing his mouth to mine in a bruising kiss. When he pulled away we were both gasping for air, and his eyes were the darkest I'd ever seen them. He shifted off me before holding out his hand and pulling me off the bed. My mouth went dry at the sight of him crawling on the bed and laying himself out before me. I'd never felt so in control before. Slowly crawling on the bed after him, I paused to kiss his calf, his knee, his thigh, grinning with satisfaction when I kissed the head of his d.i.c.k and felt it twitch. I continued to kiss my way up his chest until I was hovering above his mouth. I froze when my gaze collided with his. He was looking at me like... well, like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was so intense I had to close my eyes against it. But he didn't seem to mind, especially when I sealed my mouth over his.

After a few minutes of slow, drugging kisses, I pulled away and moved over his face. His large hands curled around my thighs as I gripped the headboard, and I looked down just in time to see his eyes close as he buried his face between my legs.

"Oh G.o.d." I shuddered above him as he began working me over with his tongue. My knuckles burned from the hold they had on the wood. Damien continued until I was panting and all but begging for him to let me come. His hands moved to my a.s.s, his fingers digging in as he fiercely held me, sucking, licking, biting, and leisurely kissing in perfect harmony.

"I can't... I can't..." I hated the way I sounded, all wanton and breathy. But if the smile I felt against my c.l.i.t was any indication, Damien f.u.c.king loved it.

"You can't what?" he asked, pulling back. He didn't make it very far, given our position, so I could still feel his warm breath over my wet, sensitive skin. I closed my eyes against the rush of feelings coursing through me. When he made no move to continue, I looked down to find him grinning.

"Jesus Christ. Don't stop." I glared at his smiling face like he was stupid and crazy. Because he was. No f.u.c.king way were we stopping. One of my hands left the headboard to weave into his hair as I guided him the small distance back to where I wanted... no, needed him most.

Damien's eyes darkened with l.u.s.t as he eagerly continued his a.s.sault. But this time, nothing was gentle, nothing was slow, and nothing was restrained. He went down on me like a man who was starving, savoring the experience like he was just sentenced to death and this was his requested last meal.

In minutes, I was screaming out his name and shuddering as I drew out my o.r.g.a.s.m. "Da... Damien. f.u.c.k. Oh G.o.d, yes... YES!" I hung my head and looked down at him, the pleasure so intense I could barely keep my eyes open. He continued with soft flicks against my c.l.i.t that had me clawing at the headboard.

I slowly came back down, and it took all my strength to lift myself off his face. It would be quite an awkward police report to explain I'd killed a man by suffocating him with my v.a.g.i.n.a. As I fell on the bed next to him, he quickly covered me with his body, taking my mouth in a hard, fast kiss-a kiss that was infused with my c.u.m still lingering on his lips. I was breathless before the kiss, but now I was practically dizzy from oxygen deprivation. Damien wasted no time in leaning over the bed, grabbing his pants, and rolling on a condom before settling back over me.

When he slid in, we were both quiet. Content to simply stare at one another as he slowly moved in and out... in and out... in a rhythm that should have driven me crazy, but was actually perfect. And several minutes later, when my third o.r.g.a.s.m overtook me, I gasped in surprise. Almost disbelieving I was coming this hard and this long from something so slow and gentle. My moans were loud as my toes curled and back bowed, pushing my b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest. When our nipples brushed, I felt Damien shudder before he followed me over, cursing and burying his head in the crook of my neck.

He lifted his head and gave me a soft kiss before rolling off me and disposing of the condom in the trash can by my nightstand. Damien wasted no time in pulling us under the covers and pulling my body against his. I went willingly.

"How was your day?" he asked quietly as he lightly ran his fingers along my arm.

I laughed. "It was good. Particularly the last bit. Yours?"

I heard the smile in his voice as he answered, "I was looking forward to this all day, I don't think anything could have brought me down."

I laughed again as he kissed my temple. This felt more right than it should have. And with everything going on in my life, I didn't know if I could afford to like Damien as much as I did.

A few minutes later he whispered something, and even though I could feel his breath on my ear, I couldn't make out what he said. It didn't matter though, my brain was too full of my own thoughts to worry about his.

And a few seconds after that, no one's thoughts mattered, because I was fast asleep.

I ran my hand down Naomi's back, waiting for her to wake up. If I looked in a mirror I was sure I'd find a wide grin on my face and dark circles under my eyes, both of which were perfectly fine by me when I remembered why they were there. It was the first night we'd spent together... all the way through and where we spent more time sleeping than having s.e.x. So, yeah, I was pretty d.a.m.n happy, and I stayed awake as long as I could to enjoy it, but eventually I fell asleep curled around her. It was perfect.

I was thinking of the best way to wake her up, deciding on my head between her thighs, when someone knocked on her door.

"Naomi?" a voice called out right before the door opened. "Oh G.o.d! I'msosorry," Alara rushed out while covering her eyes. There wasn't much to see since we were both covered by a comforter. My grin was still in place when she slowly started moving her hand down, her wide eyes going back and forth between the two of us.

"I knew it!" she hissed before slapping on the lights.

"Ah! What the... s.h.i.t," Naomi mumbled, turning to bury her head against by chest.

"I freaking knew it!" Alara said once more. She smirked before sticking her head out of the room and mumbling, "Gabe totally owes me twenty bucks, where the h.e.l.l is he?" When she pulled herself back in and her gaze caught on mine, she blushed a little, like she'd forgotten I was there. "Uhh... sorry I woke you."

Naomi finally lifted her head, laughing when Alara moved to leave. "It's a little late for that, don't you think? What the h.e.l.l time is it anyway?" She leaned over me to grab her cell phone, like all this was completely natural. A normal morning of us waking up together and chatting with her roommate. "Nine a.m.? Why the h.e.l.l are you guys home so early?" She huffed and twisted around, almost losing the blanket.

"Woah!" Alara held up her hand against her eyes once more. "Be careful. I don't want to see a nip slip."

"I wouldn't mind," I said, chiming into the conversation for the first time. Naomi grinned but kept her eyes forward, waiting for Alara's answer. Her roommate's eyes darted nervously to me before returning to Naomi's.

"We decided to go on a hike this morning and I needed to get my stuff."

"Did Gabe not give you enough exercise last night?"

I laughed as a furious blush overtook her friend's face. "We just slept," she mumbled. "Not all of us have s.e.x 24/7. Really, it's amazing you've never been knocked up."

The front door opened and closed softly, as an exaggerated gasp sounded next to me and a pillow launched toward Alara from the same direction. "You bite your tongue. I am very careful when it comes to s.e.x-"

"Why are we talking about Naomi's s.e.x life again?" Gabe asked as he finally made his way back to us. He stopped short when he saw me lounging in bed with Naomi up against my side. Only seeming mildly surprised, he shrugged and gave me a head nod before whispering something in his girlfriend's ear.

"We're gonna take a shower together and then make breakfast. Be out in forty-five minutes," Alara said sternly before her and Gabe backed out of the room and shut the door.

"So I guess we're not hiking anymore...?" Gabe's voice trailed off as they moved further from the door.

"Wow," Naomi mused. "And she made that shower comment without blushing. I'm so proud." She brought the blanket up and wiped away a fake tear.

"I think I make her uncomfortable," I commented.

Naomi shook her head. "Don't take it personally. Standing in line at the bank makes her uncomfortable." I just stared at her, still amazed at how normal this all felt. Part of me was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her to realize me being in her bed at nine in the morning meant I stayed the night-and yeah that was pretty obvious, but it seemed highly unusual that she had yet to make a single comment on it.

"What?" she asked when she felt my stare.

"Nothing. I just thought... well, I thought you'd be upset I fell asleep here."

She rolled her eyes. "If you were even half as tired as I was after our... activities"-she paused and wiggled her eyebrows-"last night, then it would have practically been murder for me to send you home, because you definitely would have crashed."

"Well I appreciate the concern."

She was smiling as she ran her hand through my hair before giving me a quick peck on the lips. Naomi hopped up from the bed, still completely naked, and I licked my lips as her b.r.e.a.s.t.s bounced with the movement. Sans underwear, she shimmied into a pair of cotton shorts before throwing on a bra and sweatshirt.

"Where are you running off to?" I asked right before she threw my boxers at my face. I was grinning as I pulled them off, threw back the covers, and got out of bed. Naomi's eyes quickly dipped down as I strode forward. I smirked as her gaze stayed on me, burning hotter. She licked her lips and raked her nails down my abs once I got close enough.

"No," she reprimanded herself before stepping back and shaking her head. "Get dressed." This time she spoke to me, looking up into my eyes with a hard glare.

"Why? Where are we going?"

"We're going to Alara's favorite coffee place and picking her up something special. A thank you for making breakfast." I recognized the name of the place, Caffeine IV, a local coffee shop that was on the same strip as Inked 101, and offered to drive.

Thirty minutes later we were stepping back through Naomi's front door, just as Alara was putting the last of four plates on the table. A wide smile brightened up her face as she looked at the coffee cups in Naomi's hands. No words were exchanged as she bounced toward her best friend and gave her a big hug. Naomi laughed and held her arms out and away to avoid spilling the drinks. Gabe and I stepped forward at the same time to relieve her of the coffees. We were both smiling at our girls. Naomi's arms were wrapped tightly around Alara and they laughed as Naomi whispered something in her ear. When they pulled away, they were still talking and laughing as they dismissively took the cups from us and sat down at the table. I looked over to find Gabe grinning.

"Yeah. Get used to it. If those two are in a room together, you'll more than likely take a backseat."

I watched him walk over and join them, noticing he wasn't very bothered by the statement he'd just made. But then again, neither was I. I'd take the backseat, just as long as I was in the car with her.

I was dying. Okay, probably not, but it sure as h.e.l.l felt like it. I had just thrown up my lunch, which only consisted of a bowl of soup, but it still hurt. After carefully standing up and rinsing out my mouth, I stumbled back to my bedroom before face planting on my bed. The slight bounce did nothing to a.s.suage my sickness and I groaned loudly with the contact.

Why am I such a moron?

"Are you okay?" Slowly rolling my head to the side, I looked toward the door to see Alara standing there, a frown marring her face.

"I'm great," I muttered.

Her frown deepened as she stepped into the room. "Maybe I should stay home."

I bolted up when she started worrying her bottom lip. I tried to hide my wince at the abrupt and painful movement. "No. Absolutely not. You are not canceling." Gabe had convinced her to go out of town this week for spring break and every time the trip was mentioned, I could see the apprehension on Gabe's face, like he was waiting for her to cancel on him at any minute. And he had every right to worry. Alara, while I loved her to death, had a serious problem committing to going out. I'd gotten used to it, I'd known her for years and I understood her better than anyone, so I knew how hard it was for her to go out sometimes, but it seemed Gabe was still trying to figure it out. Even so, I had faith he'd stick by her because, man, was that kid in love with her.

He loved her like Romeo loved Juliet.

Like peanut b.u.t.ter loved jelly.

Like Kanye West loved... well, Kanye West.

"But-" Alara began.

"No buts. Unless of course we're talking about you slapping Gabe's b.u.t.t when you're out of town with him this week, then by all means..." I waved a hand in her direction as she blushed, and we both laughed at the predictable reaction.

"Yeah, you're right. You're clearly well enough to be left alone." Her smile quickly fell as she came to sit on the bed next to me and put the back of her hand on my forehead. "Seriously, are you sure?"

"Positive. Besides I could always call Derek or Sherry."

Her brows rose as she removed her hand. "You mean the same Sherry who's been avoiding us and secretively weird for weeks? And the same Derek you're fighting with right now?"

What?

She was totally right about the Sherry thing-after all, she'd been feeling it to. But how the h.e.l.l had she known things were frosty between Derek and me? Had Derek told her? I quickly dismissed that thought. Even though he was mad, he wouldn't do something like that without talking to me. He wouldn't- "You guys have never been good at keeping your fights a secret," Alara filled in.

"Really?"

She laughed. "Yes, really. Do you remember the time you were p.i.s.sed at him for something he said to Caleb?"

I scoffed. "Which time?"

"Touche. But I'm talking about when we were in high school and you guys had been fighting for about a week. One day you and I came home from school and found him drinking straight out of the orange juice carton, like he always did. But this time you went off on him. Screaming about how he was inconsiderate and pigheaded, and that the orange juice didn't deserve to be treated that way because it was only ever nice to him." She raised her brows. "It didn't take a genius to figure out there was something a little deeper going on."

We both laughed, because yeah, I really was that crazy. It quickly became apparent that laughing was a bad idea when what felt like half a lung coughed up later, I was exhausted.

"You don't have to tell me," she said softly as she played with the edge of my comforter.

I opened my mouth to ask her if we could talk about this later, to promise her I'd tell her when I was feeling better, that I just didn't want to get into, yada, yada, yada... But I froze before any of those stupid and meaningless words made their way out, guilt immediately socking me in the stomach. It was one thing to simply not tell Alara, but her knowing I was keeping something from her was an entirely different story.

I reluctantly sat up further in bed. "Derek and I were just waiting for the right time to tell you. We weren't trying to keep secrets from you."

"I know." She gave my hand a squeeze.

Closing my eyes, I tipped my head back against the headboard and said, "Our mom has been calling." I peeked one eye open to see that Alara's had doubled in size.

"Seriously?"

I nodded and withdrew my hand from hers so I could rub it down my face. "Yeah. I've only spoken to her once, but I guess Derek's been seeing her regularly. I haven't spoken to him in weeks."

"You can't be mad at him for wanting a relationship with her." It was delivered gently, and I knew the last thing Alara wanted was to make me feel bad, but d.a.m.n... it hurt. It hurt because she was right, and it hurt because I didn't know how to accept it.

Sensing my discomfort, Alara nudged me with her elbow and winked. "Well... you could always call Damien if you need a ride to the emergency room." I didn't think I'd ever loved her more. I gave her the most sincerely appreciative look I could before morphing it into a fake scowl.

"And why would I call him?" I thought about crossing my arms over my chest but I ended up leaving them limply by my side because, well... lazy.

"I'd call my boyfriend if I were sick." I knew she was baiting me, I could see it in her beady green eyes.

"Not my boyfriend," I stated firmly. "He's my fu-"

"Don't say it." Alara held up her hand. "It's cra.s.s and so not true." She crossed her arms before firing off questions.

"How often did Caleb stay for breakfast with us in the past year?" Never.

"And how often do you see Damien?" Almost every day.

"Do you guys text about random things?" Occasionally, but that waddling penguin video was d.a.m.n funny and I had to share it with him.

"Do you cuddle?" Only because he's warm.

"Does he-"

"Okay. I get it." She smiled like she was winning until I said, "But he's still not my boyfriend."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."