Page 215 of Screwged for Christmas

“You have no idea how others perceive you, do you? What you do to the male population of this town? I can only imagine the string of doctor wannabes and full-fledged doctors you’ve left in your wake in Houston. Maybe you didn’t recognize the way Reaper was looking at you, his posture, but I did. That fucking bear of a man was ready to swoop you over his shoulder and run back to his own mountain. That was only a few minutes after meeting you. I know him. He would have done it had I not stepped in. Hell, I can’t really blame him.”

She lifted an eyebrow and her expression grew more solemn the longer he spoke.

“And you, Damon?” she asked in a soft, husky voice that made his cock turn to steel in his pants and come leak from the engorged head.

She tightened her fingers around his.

“It takes every ounce of control not to do what my gut says so I’m not much better,” he admitted gruffly, “and the longer I’m around you the less I’m in control.

She nodded; eyes cast downward as if considering his what he said.

Boundaries be damned, he couldn’t take the sad look in her eye. He slipped a palm around her cheek and eased her head up until he captured her attention once again. “He even touches you and I’ll have his balls. Friend or not.”

She studied his face for a long moment before her small smirk became a full-fledged smile.

“You should also know every old man to every twenty-something in this town wanted to get close to you last night. The only thing keeping them back was me.”

Unable to stop, he caressed the pad of his thumb along the soft seam of her lips.

“And I didn’t want to stop at kissing you yesterday. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me but I want you spread wide for me, taking every throbbing inch of me.”

Ragged breaths tear from her parted lips.

“What’s holding you back?”

Her question was so softly spoken he barely heard it. But he did and couldn’t bring himself to lie.

“Your innocence and age. You don’t need a man like me. But as long as you’re on my mountain no one else can have you either.”

She looked completely taken aback by what he said. Good. She needed to know the truth.

“How old are you, Damon? Because from what I see you’re no older than thirty-five.”

“Try forty next April.”

She grinned. “And kissing? Is that off the table too, Damon? If you won’t fuck me, will you kiss me?” She wound the warm fingers of her other hand around his and drew the back of his hand over her lips. One at a time she pressed her sweet kisses to each of his fingers, her gaze locked on his. “You taste of snow and ice.”

“God help me.” He groaned and sucked in a harsh breath.

Fuck me.“You don’t hold anything back, do you?” he growled. “The shy city girl routine is a beautiful ruse to lure in unsuspecting victims, and I strolled in like a lamb.”

She dropped his hand and played with the fork as she softly said, “I’m open to having some fun while I’m in town then it’s back to normal for you once I’m gone. No strings.”

Having someone as sweet as Ivy to spend Christmas with? It was more than tempting.

He stood there for a long moment without saying a word. She didn’t understand what she was asking. Besides, he doubted anything went back to normal after the tornado named Ivy touched down anywhere she went.

Blazes tore up the back of his legs, spread through his back and reached between his legs to grab him by the balls.

He considered her proposal, played with the idea of having his cake and eating it too. She was the sort of woman he didn’t need in his life. Skilled with a scalpel and sweet. The last time he fell for sweet, his heart was crushed. He couldn’t do that, not with her. Not when it would never be a tumble in the hay and peck on the cheek goodbye.

Besides, she was a virgin.

He slipped his hand from hers and crossed his arms over his chest calmly despite the war raging inside him. That earned him a pretty roll of her eyes as she nibbled at the soft corner of her lower lip. The same exact spot he craved a taste of. He swallowed.

“You’re not scared of the sweet Southern girl are you, Savage?”

Terri-fucking-fied. Heat released his balls, only to claw up his spine, and burrowed deep in his gut until his dick swelled, stretching the soft material of his sweats.

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