Her father had felt it almost a duty to sleep with as many women as possible, throwing it in their mother’s face. He’d told her she could leave, but he’d never allow her to take the girls with her. She’d vowed to the end that Sierra was his child, but Sierra figured death had been a welcome relief out of the hell her mother’s life had become.
With how much her father hated her, Sierra figured he’d be happy to have her leave, but instead of pushing her out, it had become his life’s obsession to make her pay for what he deemed as her mother’s infidelity, so instead of kicking her out of his home, he’d refused to let her leave - refused until Damien Whitfield had shown up.
Now that Sierra had a glimpse of freedom, there was no going back. She refused to allow Douglas Monroe any further power over her. With new resolve, she waited for Damien. It was time to let him know she wasn’t going to take being anyone’s whipping post ever again. She refused to allow the man to try and bring her down with his cold stares, and ridiculous requests.
Sierra heard a movement and turned to find Damien standing before her. Her mouth gaped open in shock. He was wearing a low slung towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping down his rock solid chest and six-pack abs. She couldn’t even manage to bring her eyes past his incredible athletic build to see the expression on his face.
She was sure the man was irritated about obviously being interrupted, and she knew she should meet his gaze, but instead she continued to stare with utter reverence and awe at the work of art before her.
She heard him clear his throat, and it was just what her brain needed to become un-frozen. Quickly closing her mouth, she drew her eyes up the additional eight or so inches to meet his eyes. She was right, he wasn’t happy.
“Is something wrong? An employee told me you were demanding to see me, refusing to leave,” Damien said as his eyes looked over her. “You don’t seem unwell,” he finished accusingly.
Sierra frantically searched for her voice, coming up with nothing. Damien Whitfield was extremely attractive on a normal day, but with water dripping off him, and his hair tousled, he was downright devastating. She felt instant desire heating her stomach, the sensation foreign, but not altogether unwelcome. She curled her toes, trying to pull herself together.
Before this moment, Sierra really had thought she may be broken from all the years of abuse. She’d never felt desire toward a man, not even her ex-boyfriend, never wanted to reach up and run her tongue down a guy’s glistening chest, like all her college friends would brag of doing. She found herself wanting to taste his hardened nipples, test them, see if they were salty or sweet. Sweat broke out on her forehead and she still hadn’t said a word, stretching the awkward silence beyond the point of no return.
“Sierra!”
“What? You don’t have to shout,” she finally whispered, her voice sounding far too husky, even to her own ears.
“Obviously I do need to shout, as it seems you’ve lost the ability to speak. From what Kendra was saying, you were speaking just fine earlier,” he snapped.
“Oh,” she replied, forgetting why she’d even come to the spa.
“Look, Sierra. I don’t have time to stand here and play guessing games. You can either tell me what you need, or I can turn around and head back in. I work hard, and when I get five minutes to work-out, I like to do so uninterrupted. That’s already been ruined for the day, so I’d at least like to get back to my swim.”
“I want to leave,” she said, her voice a bit stronger.
“Then leave. I didn’t ask you to come here,” he said in exasperation as if the matter was settled.
“I didn’t ask to be here,” Sierra snapped, jumping to her feet and pushing her fingernail into his chest to make a point. “I’m sitting around all day and night, doing nothing but twiddling my thumbs while you’re out having the time of your life. Fine. I really don’t care what the heck you do, but I do care about my time, and it’s being wasted in that hotel. I want to go home, now,” she demanded.
Damien’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, and Sierra felt a moment of dread. His hand moved and she fought the flinch, proud of herself for her control when she did nothing but stand strong, holding her ground, looking him in the eye.
He finished lifting his hand, running it through his wet strands and she breathed an internal sigh of relief as her stomach loosened from the knot it had instantly tied itself into.
“Follow me,” he commanded as he started to move toward one of the ‘oh so exclusive’ doors. Sierra couldn’t stop herself from smirking at Barbies one and two as she followed Damien inside the exclusive spa.
“I think it would’ve been easier to get to you at Fort Knox,” Sierra muttered after they passed through to the other side of the gym.
“There’s a reason it’s hard to get in here. The members don’t want to be interrupted. Maybe you should’ve considered that before being so rude and rushing down here.”
Sierra ignored his comment as she looked around the place. He led her to a small fruit bar. She’d heard her sister talking about the amazing shakes they made from all fresh ingredients. Suddenly she realized she hadn’t eaten anything since early morning, and she felt her stomach begin to growl as she smelled something delicious in the air.
She glanced up, hoping to spot the juice bar, when her eyes landed on his back. She lost her breath as her heart pounded. She didn’t think it possible, but he was even sexier from behind. His wide shoulders looked strong, sure, able to hold a woman against a wall as he slowly pressed his body against her...
The thought sent a shiver of delight through her. Since he couldn’t see her ogling him, she let her eyes drift down his tapered waist, the muscles of his back flexing as he moved his arms, his body in perfect symmetry as he practically glided across the floor.