Chapter 8
Cain’s mind was a total black hole of confusion - thoughts went in, but they didn’t come out. What the hell was going on with Damon? Why was Cain following him across the parking lot to their motel room, salivating like some blindly obedient puppy, after the man had not only ignored him but had actively frozen him out all afternoon? What had changed?
“Hey, slow down,” Cain said, pulling back on Damon’s hand as they passed the Acura. “We don’t even have our bags.”
As he’d been coloring with Molly, he’d pondered how he and Damon had gotten so off-track in the first place. Things had been going fine until that fucking conversation with his mother, where Damon had overheard every mortifying word. After that, Damon had clearly been disgusted by Cain’s spinelessness and decided Cain’s epic passivity would be a liability.
The sad part was, as much as Cain wanted to help Damon, Chelsea, and Molly, he couldn’t say for sure that the latter half of that assessment was wrong. In the end, would he sacrifice himself, sacrifice Jesse, to help Damon? He honestly didn’t know. In this situation, the best and most helpful thing he could do for Damon would be to simply leave him alone, giving him one less complication to worry about. He’d decided, after Damon and the girls had left in the morning, he’d rent a car and drive himself back to Nashville.
“Leave the bags,” Damon said impatiently, tugging at Cain’s wrist again. “We can come back.”
“We can get them now,” Cain argued. “Open the car.”
“Cain.”
“Damon.”
Damon dug the keys out of his pocket, his eyes glittering, and opened the locks. “Happy?” he asked, as Cain grabbed both his own bag and Damon’s from the hatchback.
“Ecstatic,Big Daddy,” Cain said dryly, but the word ended on a little squeak as Damon slammed the lid closed and pushed Cain back against the car. Their bags hit the ground with a dull thud.
“You’re just provoking me now,kid.” Oh, shit. The growl. Cain couldn’t help the shiver that ran up and down his spine. God, why did the man have to be so sexy?
“I thought I’d already provoked you earlier,” Cain shot back. His voice was way breathier than he would have liked.
In the dream he’d had this morning, he’d felt so much more confident than he did right then, and he wanted to channel that version of himself. He struggled not to give in too easily. He still wanted an acknowledgment from Damon, an apology…something.
“Yeah, you provoke me every time I’m around you,” Damon growled. “Sometimes I can’tthinkbecause of it, can’t focus on all the shit Ishouldbe focusing on, because the only thing on my mind isyou.”
Cain only had time to suck in a shocked breath before Damon leaned forward and took his mouth. He honestly wasn’t sure which was more shocking, the warm slide of Damon’s lips against his, or the words that had come before it. It wasn’t an apology or an explanation for his hours of cold silence, but it was nevertheless something real and concrete, something Cain’s mind could grab hold of before he lost himself in Damon completely.
Damon pushed him harder against the car, his right leg insinuating itself between Cain’s as he assaulted Cain’s mouth in a kiss that was deep and carnal andperfect. He pulled back to grab Cain’s top lip between his teeth, biting and tugging, while his hand roamed up Cain’s side, dragging up the edge of his shirt. The cold evening air hit Cain’s exposed skin and made him shudder.
“Come with me,” Damon whispered, and at that moment, Cain would have followed him anywhere. There was something about Damon that called to him - maybe the way Damon seemed to reallyseehim - with all of his weaknesses and temper tantrums, all his flaws and inconsistencies, and unlike every other person in his life, he still wanted him…in one way at least.
“Yes,” Cain said, because that was all he needed to say.
He wrapped his arm around Damon’s waist, and they stumbled towards the two-story motel. It was a strange parody of their shuffle out of the fundraiser the previous night, but this time, Cain was the one leaning against Damon, and Damon was the one urging them forward, their luggage in his hands.
Damon unlocked the door and pushed it open so hard that it slammed back against the wall. Cain barely had time to notice the layout of the room - clean but dated, with a giant pink love seat against one wall and a double bed covered with a garish floral bedspread flanking the other - before Damon threw their bags on the floor with zero care, and pushed Cain back against the closed door.
“What do you want?” Damon demanded, his breath washing hotly over Cain’s neck. His hands found the button of Cain’s jeans and thumbed it open, then his hands slid back around Cain’s waist until they rested against the top curve of his ass.
Want?What did hewant?It was impossible to form thoughts. All he wanted at the moment was for this to never end, to stay lost in Damon for as long as he possibly could. And he wanted this to be something Damon couldn’t ever forget.
“More,” he whispered, and that seemed to be enough for Damon.
His hands coasted up Cain’s sides, dragging his t-shirt with them, pulling it up and over his head. He felt goosebumps chase across his skin in the cool air, until Damon stepped close again, blocking out the chill. In the dim light of the motel room, he saw Damon’s hand come up to trace along his collarbone, then further back, skimming over his shoulder. It was a gentle touch, so different from their heated exchange.
“What?” Cain asked.
Damon’s hot green eyes met his. “Freckles. I wasn’t expecting the freckles.” His finger tracked a path along the cord that ran from Cain’s shoulder to his neck. “There’s a constellation here. Like little stars.”
Cain’s head went back against the door and he moaned. And suddenly he knew what he wanted.
He grabbed the hem of Damon’s t-shirt and hauled it up with even less finesse than Damon had used, throwing it somewhere on the floor near the bed. Then he pushed Damon back a pace, and turned him around, pushinghimback against the door instead.
“This is what I want,” he said. Then he unbuttoned Damon’s jeans and dragged them down with him to the floor.
