is he?” Damien demanded.
Jemma crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t answer to you, Damien. I never have.”
He jerked her into his arms, pulling her close. “You do now,” he said and kissed her. Hard. She resisted initially, but the moment his lips softened, when the kiss turned persuasive instead of punishing, she couldn’t hold back her response. She’d just been satisfied by this man’s touch and his body a few hours ago but with this kiss, and with the way he was holding her, Jemma’s body instantly fired up again.
When he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard. “You can’t do this to me!” she said, her hands forming fists on his chest but she didn’t push him away. “It isn’t right.”
His own hands moved up her back, holding her close. “I don’t know what it is, Jemma. But I definitely wouldn’t call this wrong.” His hands turned soothing which didn’t completely shut off her response but she didn’t want to move out of his arms.
“I’m seeing someone,” she whispered.
“And you had sex with me this afternoon,” he argued right back. “And you just kissed me again.” His hands moved down to her hips, pressing her against him so she knew of his body’s response. “Face it Jemma. We can’t ignore this.”
“But how long is it going to last? I won’t marry you and then find out that we can’t stand living together. Dylan is too excited, too thrilled at having a dad. It would break his heart if we tried and failed.”
He looked into her worried blue eyes and something twisted inside of him. “Then we won’t fail.”
He said it as if that was all it took. She wished that were so, but after dating a few times over the years, she knew that it took a lot to get through a marriage. And lust wasn’t one of them. Lust burned out. Lust clouded issues that needed to be resolved.
Dylan called out to them at that moment and Jemma turned, smiling for her son. “You look great!” she called out. “But keep your focus.”
Dylan turned and showed his dad how he could trot and canter across the pasture with his horse Buddy which was really just a pony because Dylan’s legs weren’t long enough for a full sized horse. But he rode through the pastures with excitement, then they all went to dinner and Dylan introduced his “new dad” to everyone that was dining there as well.
When Jemma tucked Dylan in for the night, Damien was right behind her. “I have to go back to Italy tonight, but may I come back and visit next weekend?” he asked.
Dylan’s sleepy smile was answer enough and Damien ruffled Dylan’s hair before turning to walk out of his room.
At the door that night, Jemma tried to stay out of his arms, tried to keep enough distance between their bodies so that he understood that she didn’t want to be touched or kissed. But he ignored all of her signals, pulling her into his arms and kissing her until she melted against his body, clinging to him desperately.
“Until next weekend,” he told her and ran a finger down her cheek. “Tell George you can’t see him anymore.” And with that, Damien was out the door.
Chapter 4
When the alarm went off, Jemma was already awake. She’d been awake for hours just watching the clock tick away the minutes. And now the time had arrived.
She pushed the sheets and blanket away, pushed her hair out of the way and forced her feet to lift her out of the bed. Jemma was exhausted, worried, excited, confused and….well, there were about a hundred emotions clanging through her mind right now. She couldn’t really figure out which one was stronger, but right at this moment, it didn’t matter. He would be here in less than an hour.
A shower helped. But not much. At least it helped her to look more human and less zombie-like. Dylan wasn’t a huge help though. There was no doubt what emotion was ruling him.
“Is he here yet?” he asked, poking his nose through the bathroom doorway, startling Jemma’s eyes back open.
She peered around the shower curtain, her eyes softening when she noticed how excited her son was. “No. He’s not here yet. But soon,” she promised him. “Go get dressed. He’s just as excited to see you!”
That had the boy hopping up and down, an enormous grin on his face. He raced out of her bedroom and came back in