Every move she made reminded her of the way he touched her in the airplane restroom. The warmth between her thighs was a constant pleasure that caused her mind to be distracted. She had planned to own him, but once again he had pulled her strings and assumed control.

They walked off the plane in silence, Damon having fallen asleep pretty quickly when they got back to their seats. The look from the male attendant when he finally delivered their drinks after trying forever was pensive at best. Damon's hand rested in her lap, his fingers tightly wrapped around her upper thigh.

She just smiled sheepishly at the attendant and decided not to worry too much about it. She’d never see the guy again anyway. He could think all he wanted to about her brother manhandling her thigh.

The bite mark behind her ear was safely covered by her thick hair, but her fingers kept brushing by the swollen flesh, the pain almost unbearable. Why Damon would think he needed to bite her so hard was questionable. Maybe he just got lost in the moment.

Bethany tried hard not to focus on the fact that he had blamed it on the need to mark her, to call her his. So many things lay between them, still unanswered. They were all about lust, and no matter how she felt about it, she was his. Too bad her body and mind were in a deep battle over what that truly meant.

Kent joined them as they walked down the long corridor of the airport, dark circles under his eyes.

"I'm going to get a cab to take us home. Damon, are you coming to the house or what?"

"Bethany and I are going to grab something to eat and talk about the audit. You go home and rest. I'll get her over there later, or she can always crash at my place."

She simply nodded, a little shocked at Damon's plan. Talking about the audit was honestly the last thing she wanted to do, and she knew he was beyond worn out too. The thought rushed across her mind to refuse him, but the look on his face shut her down. He was demanding for her to come with him. It wasn't a question.

"You sure? You look beat too." Kent moved toward the taxi line as Damon nodded.

"Beth, you good with that?"

"Yeah, it's whatever. I slept last night. You guys didn't."

"We'll see you later, Dad." Damon waved to Kent and turned to walk next to Bethany toward the valet area. "You're staying the night with me. Text your mother later, and let her know you're too tired to leave and are sleeping in the extra bedroom at my place."

"She knows we don't get along, Damon." Bethany smirked and turned her attention to the paving tiles a few feet in front of her. The idea of staying at his place again caused fear to rise in her stomach. Fucking was one thing, but holding each other, or talking intimately, or sharing a meal at his kitchen table... too much. She was already in love, and he wasn't.

"I think we get along really well. You don't?" He smirked and reached for her hand, slipping his into hers as they moved into the busy drop-off zone of the airport.

They rode in silence to his house, Bethany closing her eyes and trying like hell to come up with a plausible reason that she needed to leave. The sex in Seattle had been good, but almost too intimate. If they were just going to hold tight to lust, then sex would need to be carnal and unloving ... much like being bitten in a bathroom stall.

She laughed out loud, clamping her hand over her mouth.

"What's so funny, beautiful girl?" He smiled over at her.

"Who are you?" She laughed again, turning to watch him while he drove.

"You know who I am. What do you mean?"

"You're bossy and domineering, promising carnality and nothing more, and yet you held me the first night we had sex. You talk about making love to me in the shower and treat me like shit when you get to the office. You fuck me in a bathroom and want more. That’s far more intimate than lust would allow."

"How so?"

"Sex at your house is intimate, Damon. It's around your stuff and in your bed."

"I'm complicated." He shrugged, looking over as he slipped his fingers into her hair and brushed them by the painful skin on her neck.

She yelped and slapped at him. "Don't touch that. It hurts."

He brushed his fingers over it again, a smile lifting his lips. "Good. It's a reminder."

"Yes, that I'm yours, but you aren't mine." She moved from him and leaned back, closing her eyes and hating like hell how much her voice let on that she was displeased with their situation.

"No. It's a reminder that you're mine. I don't know what the fuck that means. I've never wanted someone exclusively, but I want that with you."

"Oh ... so I don't see anyone who could potentially love me because you're going to lust me." Bethany turned to look out the window as the early afternoon sun sat high in the sky, blinding her.

"I don't know what it means, Beth. I'm tired. I don't want to have a deep conversation right now."

"I know, just a deep fuck." She kept her gaze on the road just beyond them but reached over and took his hand, wrapping her fingers around his.

"For now? Yes."

Bethany followed him closely as they walked into the house, his shoulders slightly slumped, which was cause for concern. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.

"You hungry?"

"No. Let's take a nap, and then we'll get something to eat."

"Yeah. That sounds good." He moved toward his bedroom, stopping to lean against the wall as he pulled his foot up and tried to get his shoes off.

Bethany moved in front of him and knelt before him, working to untie his shoes as his fingers slipped into her hair.

"Don't lie to me again, okay?"

She looked up as she tugged a sock off his foot. "Lie about what?"

"Anything. I guess I understand the Sadie thing but don't lie to me again. One more time and I've nothing left to give you. Got it?"

"Don't treat me like I'm not intelligent again." Bethany stood, dropping the sock and looking up at him, her voice strong and steady. "I'm fucking brilliant, and you tore me down yesterday because you have the sensitivity of a grizzly bear."

He smirked.

"Do it again, and I'm serious. I'll quit and start dating someone like Philip who recognizes how brilliant, sensual and beautiful I am. How badly I want to explore the depths of my sexuality, but how very important it is to a girl like me to only give that gift to a man who loves me. A man who treasures me, Damon."

He reached out and slid his fingers into her hair, leaning down and brushing his lips over hers. "What if we're wasting our time with these games? I don't know if I can be that man, or if I want to, Beth."

She smiled and pulled back from him, walking toward his bedroom as she pulled her silky top from her and dropped it behind her. "I don't know if I want you to either."

Crawling into his bed, she swallowed the lie, grateful that he was being open, and yet his truth hurt more than a lie might. He was too scared to reach out beyond himself, and though she knew that, she wanted so badly to heal him. Would the cost of doing it leave her barren and alone?

He stopped by the edge of the bed and slipped out of his slacks, unbuttoning his shirt and sighing softly as he crawled in the bed. She had pulled off her skirt but left her panties and bra on. Damon slipped in behind her, sliding an arm under her head and pulling her back to his front as he spooned her. His naked body felt so right against hers, his arms tight as if he were scared to lose her.

"Does your neck hurt, baby?" he whispered in the darkness of his room, his voice so good it ran across her nerve endings and caused her to moan. She arched her back a little, rubbing her rear against the consistent throb of his erection.

"Yes, but I'll be fine." She wrapped her arm around his, locking him to her. His hold on her was a clear indication of the battle that raged within him.

"I'll put something on it when we get up. I shouldn't have bitten you that hard. Just felt so fucking good to think about marking you."

"Do you mark all the girls you're with?" she whispered, fear tugging at her at what his answer might be.

"Never. You're erasing lines I have set up for myself, Beth." He turned slightly and yawned loudly before snuggling back into her. His breathing deepened as he slid his hand down her side, running his fingers over the wet mound of her sex beneath her panties.

He kissed her back and slid his fingers up slowly, pressing into the tightness of her ass. His words tore her open, her soft gasp the only sound in the room.

"I want in here. You're going to open up for me soon."

"I don't know," she whispered softly, never having done anything outside of normal missionary sex, and to be honest, not much of that.

"It will hurt a little, but I'm going to take you there, Beth. You'll beg for more when I'm done with you, baby." He kissed her neck again, his fingers rubbing back and forth between her entrances. "Tell me you want it."

"Go to sleep." She reached down and pulled his hand from her as he growled softly. A smile lifted her lips, the notion that he was willing to help her explore pleasure leaving her breathless.

"I will, but don't be scared to explore your body with me. I want you to feel so much pleasure, baby." He kissed her neck again, the coldness of his nose pressing against her as he tugged her even closer still.

"I want you to feel with your heart. Sex is so much more than physical emotion."

"Shhhh. Don't complicate what we have."

She nodded, knowing good and damn well that he had already done that, the day she caught him at his desk, lost in ecstasy as he watched her spy on him. It could have ended there, but he had taken that first step. His rules were laid out, his demands explored and now his mark lay on her body.

Something told her that without too much more effort she would be returning the favor, but his body was too beautiful to mark.

It was his heart she was after.