Page 11 of Scorching Sienna

Critters awaken in my stomach again, and I shift in my seat, the heat in the car rising a notch.

“Good. You deserve only the best.”

I don’t question such a strange statement, but instead, we continue in silence until, eventually, he puts the car in park and switches the engine off.

I’m surprised at how easy being in a car with him is. I thought it would be uncomfortable. My attraction to him was beyond anything I have ever felt. The word ever slicing into my heart where James resides.

It was different with James. We knew each other from school and then in uni. We were friends first, and then the relationship developed. The chemistry between us was great, or so I thought.

But when I compare it to Damon, it’s like swimming in a shark-infested sea with only a tiny blow-up dingy and a storm on the horizon. I don’t know what is going to happen, and that excites me. Makes me feel real and alive.

Damon opens my car door, and I blush, thankful he cannot read my thoughts. He would probably think I was a whack job.

The cold outside is refreshing, cooling my heated skin.

We are at the back of a large building. Only two other cars are parked in this area, one on either side of us.

I would have to get the location from him later. I was not paying attention when we drove here. Wherever here was.

“Is the club closed?” I ask him, as we approach a door with a keypad next to it. One he places his palm on before typing in some numbers.

“No. This entire building is soundproofed. Hand,” he demands, holding his out to me. I offer my right hand to him, and he grasps it lightly, placing it palm down on the pad. A blue line moves from the top to the bottom of the screen, scanning my palm and flashing green once done. He removes my hand, and the door opens with a click.

“You will only enter and leave through this door. Always. No matter what. Got it?” he queries, his sternness eliciting a sharp nod of my head.

He enters, and I follow. The sound of music is now heard but buffered somewhat, probably because of the soundproofing.

We are in a long corridor, painted black and dimly lit by long fluorescent light bulbs. The floor is covered in thick black carpet, not like the kind you find in an office building but more like the kind you see in a lawyer's office. It screams money, not a piece of lint gracing its luscious surface.

I look back, checking to ensure my comfortable Converse sneakers have not left a mark. I would hate to make a bad impression on my first day.

Black doors with numbers starting at one alternate from left to right, about three meters apart, ending at seven.

We get to the end of this passage and take a left down another long passage. This place was like a maze, and I lacked direction.

I’m walking so close to Damon that I walk straight into him when he stops abruptly in front of a red door.

“Sorry.” He stares at me long enough for me to blush.

“You apologize too much. Don’t.” That word again. Don’t.

I smile instead of saying anything. His orders do something to me that I don’t want to analyze right now.

He places his hand on the scanner next to the door, and it clicks open, revealing a lush office inside.

I step further into the room, and the sound of the door clicking shut behind me makes me jump. Once again, I am alone with this enigma of a man.

“I’ll be a minute.” He turns around, already removing his hoodie before disappearing around the corner, the sound of a shower heard seconds later.

A few feet away, Damon is naked.

The thought sends a pool of warm heat to my core, and the ache that has been there since the gym resurfaces with a vengeance. In Damon's presence, I feel like a ping-pong ball, moving from one emotion to another with a speed that is exhilarating and scary.

I spin on my heel, determined to distract myself. A bookshelf in the corner catches my attention.

If I was hoping for a distraction, this was definitely a bad idea.

My finger runs up the spine of a black book before hooking in the top and pulling it out.

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