Page 103 of Surviving the Merge
The moments at the hospital when he’d excuse himself for no apparent reason. As if being in such close proximity to my emotions, so out there and so raw, shifted his body into fight-or-flight mode. With Blake rescuing him no longer an option; his only alternative was to escape. I’d been too consumed with Sam’s ordeal to really take the time to talk to him about it, but maybe that changed tonight.
Drying off and running a towel through my hair, I stepped into the closet and selected the first pair of jersey bottoms off the top shelf. Blake’s gray lounge pants were underneath. The ones that hung low on his hips and traced the outline of his cock. My favorites. I picked them up, bringing them to my nose. They still smelled like him.Will I ever smell this smell again? Will Damon emit this scent with time?One would think it impossible for them to smell different—but they did. Tossing them back where they were, I slipped into my pants and scrubbed my hair with the towel one last time before tossing it in the hamper on my way out the door.
“Mmmm, what smells so good?” I asked, jogging down the stairs, nose first.
Looking up from the container he’d just placed on the counter, he said, “Italian.”
“Fantastic,” I said, and from the sounds of it, my belly agreed.
* * *
We’d finisheddinner and were now sprawled on our backs on the living room floor, heads turned to the ceiling, stuffed full and unable to move. Damon had changed into those gray lounge pants—an unconscious decision on his part. He wore them once before. Before knowing how much I liked them on Blake. Now, I didn’t think he thought anything of it when he slipped into them, and I opted not to point it out. Sometimes it was okay to see the changes and roll with it. They were meshing together, and for once, the thought didn’t riddle me with some form of fear.
“How much longer can you play hooky?” I asked.
“I have a couple conference calls tomorrow morning, but I can take those from here. The day after, I’ll need to drive in. It’s unavoidable; Josh has been covering for me, but there’s only so much he can do.”
“Will you commute here after work?”
“I need to see Julie that evening, and then I have a seven o’clock meeting the following morning. It won’t make sense for me to drive back here. I’ve asked Ash to stay with you, unless you need me here? Don’t hesitate to tell me.” He turned to his side and traced my navel. “I’ll make it work.”
“I don’t need Ash to babysit me. I’m a grown man.” Typical Blake…Damon.
“I should reschedule with Julie and come back here from the office—”
“I’ll be fine, Damon. I’ll be at the hospital with everyone else. It’s okay, really.” Desperate for a subject change, I asked, “What will I do with all my free time? I mean, once Sam gets the all-clear, which should be soon.” I chose to believe that. “The fall dance session doesn’t start up for another month. I suppose I could do something else at the center. Maybe I’ll look into opening my own school.” I’d never thought about it before, but now that I’d put it out there it didn’t sound half bad. I rolled my head in Damon’s direction. His smile told me he thought it was a great idea.
“Would it be here in Chadwick? In Kisla? Would you still teach at the community center? You know, they’ve really got to give it a name.”
Laughing, I told him I’d bring it up with management. “I don’t know the answer to any of those questions. I’ve always seen my time here as having an expiration date. I thought I’d be a visitor, even though I love those kids and what I’m doing for them, what they’re doing for me.
“I don’t want to abandon them, but I like our life in Kisla. I swore I’d never leave it,” I said ruefully. “Plus, you commuting everyday isn’t sustainable, and I’m not choosinganythingover you.”
He leaned over me, pushing my damp hair off the side of my face. “We’ll figure it out. Youcanhave it all.”
I gazed up at him. “Do you remember the first time we met?”
“Yes, I do. The day my heart started to beat again. After…” The rest went unsaid.
I melted. “You’ve never said that to me before.”
He sucked in air, releasing it as his words tumbled out. “I wasn’t able to before.”
Raising my head a few inches off the ground, I stole a quick kiss. “So, tell me about the day you were brought back to life.”
“It was the first week of school, right after homeroom. The halls were packed. Everyone trying to get where they needed to be next. Through the sea of students, I saw you from behind. Your hair—I noticed it right away. Thick, blond to the point of being white, it hung to the middle of your back, and I swear it came with its own lighting. There’s no way it belonged to a guy, I thought. Then I took in your clothes and more importantly the way you moved. Masculine, yet graceful. Feline. You walked with purpose. Not a step wasted. I claimed you as mine right then.”
He took my breath away. Hearing him express himself in that way would take some getting used to. “Do you remember the pledge you made to me the night before you were set to leave for college? I had been freaking out all week that you were leaving—”
“Even though my school was only two hours away?” He chuckled. “Yeah, I remember it. Blake wrote it, and I butchered it.” He kissed along my jawline.
“Say it to me,” I begged.
He groaned, dropping his head back. “So cheesy, and I couldn’t say it with finesse. I was an idiot to think I could.”
I laughed. “It was cheesy, and you sounded like a robot, but I loved it anyway. Tell me, please.”
Damon sighed, allowing his full weight to crush me. His gaze asked if I was really going to make him do this. Mine said:hell yes.
