The Hungry Wolf Ch. 03

She collapsed on top of him, laying her head on his chest as their breathing slowly returned to normal. Damien wrapped his arms around her, loving the feeling of her weight above him.

"Was that the very bad thing you wanted to do?" he whispered into her hair when he was able to speak again.

"One of them," she laughed softly. She was a bit surprised at her behavior, but more so at her lack of embarrassment over it. She decided not to think too hard on it and just enjoy it while she could. She raised herself to look at him. "You're beautiful," she said, blushing a bit when he cocked an eyebrow at her. "I'm not supposed to say that, am I? Too emasculating." She crossed her arms on his chest, resting her chin on her forearms, smiling at him. It struck her that even saying he was beautiful was too meek, to soft a word for him.

"Not at all," he said, brushing her hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ears. "I love that you think I am beautiful, that you see me as beautiful." He smiled at her, placing his hands on her shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze. "I do believe we should shower before dinner. At least I should. Before my shorts dry to my skin."

"You go first, then," she laughed. She sat up and moved off of him, kneeling next to him on the bed.

The phone rang and Damien reached across her to answer it, laying across her lap as he talked briefly on the phone.

"Who was that?" she asked as he clicked off.

"Tony. Your car will be ready Saturday afternoon." He looked at her, watching her expression closely.

"Oh wow. Quick. Cool." She smiled at him.

"You could still stay for a bit, you know." She nodded at him and he leaned over, kissing her hard.

"You trying to persuade me?"

"Absolutely." He kissed her again.

"Don't you have a shower to take?" she asked breathlessly when he finally broke the kiss.

"I do. And you have a phone call to make," he reminded her, handing her the phone.

"You're sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all. The number's on the base unit in case you have to leave her a message to call back. You can also leave the main ranch number, it's also on the base unit there. Just tell her to ask for me." He gave her another kiss, a quick one, as he head towards the bathroom, shedding his shorts as he went, giving Charlie a show. She waited until he climbed in the shower and picked up the phone, dialing the number quickly.

"Please let it go to voicemail," Charlie breathed, looking at the clock and thinking Becky was probably still at work. She knew she'd have to answer a ton of questions, she just wasn't ready to today. She still felt emotionally scrambled. She smiled as Becky's quirky greeting played.

"Hey Beck, it's Charlie. I know, I know, I totally suck. I had car trouble the other day and I'm stuck in a small town in Washington. Anyway, I'm staying with some people I met, and you can call me back at his place. The number is 360-587-6629. Or call 360-587-3998 if no one answers the other number. Just ask for Damien Dimeo if you do," she rushed out, just managing to finish before the ending beep.

She put the phone back on the base unit with a smile, knowing her friend was going to be frantic to hear what happened. She got her suitcase off the bed and put it on a chair by the window, opening it up and getting out a change of clothes and her toiletries bag. She sat on the bed, looking out past the terrace to the land around the house. She listened to the shower running and thought about Damien. He was great. Wonderful. Passionate. Kind. Sexy. Smart. Sweet. Romantic. Dirty. And no matter how she tried, she couldn't find any fault. Unless he was just...too much.

She shivered as she thought about making love to him, the way he looked at her, the way he touched her. Her hand moved under her shirt and began to trace her scars as she thought about the way Damien kissed them. He didn't flinch. He didn't hesitate. He treated the marred flesh with the same reverence he showed the rest of her. It was like he didn't even see them. She smiled at that.

She lay back on his bed, hands behind her head and legs dangling over the side. She stared at the ceiling as her thoughts turned towards her feelings for this seemingly perfect man that suddenly appeared in her life. She puzzled over the way she felt complete around him, how he seemed to fit a piece of her life she didn't know was missing. It was like as soon as she met him, everything inside her, every instinct she had said, "Oh, okay,that'swhat was missing. Now we're good."

What amazed Charlie even more was the instant trust she had for him. She had no real fear of him. None whatsoever. As soon as she knew is name even the vague 'stranger danger' had disappeared. And earlier, she could sense how angry he was – hell, she thought she could physically feel it – but she wasn't afraid of him. She knew, somehow she knew, all she had to do was touch him or speak his name and he would calm. And he did.

She thought about earlier, when he told her he loved her. She'd refuted it, unwilling to believe it, but she knew, deep down, she knew he meant it. And she knew he felt it. She puzzled on that for a bit, staring at the ceiling but not seeing it, seeing the look on his face instead. Silliest thing was it thrilled her when he said it. Her gut reaction wasn't to scoff, it was to throw her arms around him, tell him she loved him and kiss him with all she could. Did she love him? She chewed her lip, thinking about the hurt in his voice when she rebuked him, her heart aching for making him hurt at all. Was this love? Had she fallen in love? She didn't think so. Not yet, anyway.

"Iamfalling for him. I really am," she sighed, squealing when Damien's voice answered her.

"You are referring to me when you say 'him', aren't you?"

"Dammit! Would you let a girl know you're in the room with them?" She sat up to find him leaning on the bathroom doorjamb, a towel around his waist, smiling at her. She wanted to glare at him, she really did, but she couldn't find it in her to when he looked so sexy. "How long were you watching me?"

"Long enough," he said, walking towards her. "You have the most expressive face when you are deep in thought, did you know that?" She shook her head, smiling at him. "Now, tell me," he said, cupping her face with his hand, "who are you falling for?"

"Would you let me off the hook if I said it was none of your business?"

"No."

"Damn." She smiled at him. "Well, if you must know..."

"Indeed I must." He smirked at her stalling tactics.

"Christian Bale." She smirked right back at him before scooting herself back on the bed.

"The actor?" Damien asked, playfully scowling at her and following her across the bed.

"Yep. I mean, he's a great actor." Charlie got down the other side and started to move to the foot of the bed.

"He is that." Damien followed as Charlie backed up.

"And you know you can't deny he was the only choice for Nolan's Dark Knight movies, no one else could have done the role justice. Not that he wasn't chillingly perfect in 'American Psycho'."

"I think he really came into his own with 'The Machinist'," Damien said, stalking Charlie as she moved backwards, a predatory smile on his face. She looked at him and gave a breathy laugh, noting the way the gravity-defying towel clung to him and seemed so white compared to the golden tone of his skin.

"Oh, yes. He was wonderful in that. Although there is that whole anger thing he has going on. Bit of a turn off there. But I suppose a girl can be too picky. And really, it's just as easy to overlook. Considering the total package that is Christian Bale. Handsome. Smart. Able to gain and lose weight at will." She shrieked when he lunged for her and jumped away, turning to run to the bathroom, but she never got that far. Damien had her trapped up against the wall, his hands on either side of her head, before she could take more than two steps, laughing and panting. "What?" she gasped.

"Confess, my love."

"You think I was referring to someone else?" she teased, placing her hands on his sides.

"I do." He smiled at her. "Confess, Charlie."

"You wound me, sir!" she laughed, trying to frown but not having much luck. She began to flex her fingers on his sides, not sure how he would react.

"Uh uh, my love," he laughed, taking her hands in his and pinning them against the wall by her head. "We'll have none ofthat." He kissed her when she opened her mouth to retort, taking advantage of the opportunity she afforded him to taste her mouth, leaning his body against hers to fully pin her against the wall. He didn't stop until he could feel her trembling.

"Now...tell me," he whispered when he finally broke off the kiss. "It's me your falling for, isn't it?"

She looked at him for a long moment before answering. "Yes, Damien, it's you."

"I knew it."

She laughed at his smugness and kissed him, moving her hands to his sides as soon as he let go of them and tickling his ribs.

"Hey! No fair tickling!" he laughed, jumping back.

"Oh really?" Charlie advanced on him, hands out and fingers wiggling. "But kissing me senseless to get the information you wanted is fair?"

"Well, yeah," Damien said with a big smile, easily ducking her hands. "It worked, didn't it." He gave her a loud kiss, somehow managing to keep out of arms reach.

"I think I liked you better surly, cowboy," she said, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head. She moved to the bed and gathered her clothes and toiletries bag. "I'm going to shower."

"Plenty of hot water left, dolcezza." Damien went to his chest to get out clothes, smiling when she closed the bathroom door. She would have to get used to their exhibitionist ways at some point. He stopped in the middle of pulling on a pair of jeans, thinking. With her scars, he wasn't sure if she would ever get used to it, be comfortable with it. He wondered if the scars would go away after he turned her and made a mental note to talk to Anna about it. As the pack doctor, she would know.

He finished getting dressed and picked up the phone, dialing Eric's number, relieved when he picked up instead of Lisa. She was nice enough, but a bit of an inadvertent gossip. He had a brief conversation with Eric, asking a few questions and getting fewer answers, and quickly ended the call when he heard the water in the shower cut off. He listened to her move about the bathroom, humming something he couldn't quite put his finger on, smiling at how perfect it seemed with her there when the phone ringing in his hand interrupted his thoughts.

"This is Damien."

"Um...hi. Is Charlotte Bell there?" a woman's voice asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes, she is. Is this Becky?" he smiled, wanting to surprise her again.

"Uh, yeah it is." He could hear her opening a can of soda. "Who the hell is this?"

"Damien Dimeo."

"And that tells me what?" Charlie's friend had recovered from her surprise quickly, and was back in super-protective-friend-mode.

"Excuse me?" Damien asked, bristling at her tone.

"Look, are you gonna let me talk to Charlie or not?"

"One moment." He walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Phone for you, dolcezza," he called through the door.

"One sec," she called back. He heard her shuffling a bit and then the door opened, steam and her scent billowing out over him. She took the phone from him and gave him a distracted smile, not noticing his eyes roaming over her legs. She had on a white t-shirt, panties and socks, a towel wrapped around her head and her jeans in her other hand. "Thanks," she said to him, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Beck?" she said into the phone.

"Oh my god! What the fuck is going on?" her friend screeched.

"What?" Charlie said, smiling and pulling the phone away from her ear a bit.

"Don't you 'what' me, Charlotte Emily Bell. I want to know what happened and I want to know where you are staying and I want to know who that deep sexy voice was attached to and I want to know why you sound so calm and I want to know now. Start talking."

Charlie could picture her friend tapping her foot, wanting to hear it all. She smiled. Becky wasn't known for her patience. She noticed Damien standing and watching her, smiling himself. "Hang on a sec," she said to the phone before placing her hand over the mouthpiece. "Can you give me few, cowboy? You know, girl talk."

"Of course, my love," he said, bending down and kissing her lightly. He left the bedroom, closing the doors behind him. He could still hear her plainly, and wrestled with the underhandedness of eavesdropping, but couldn't stop himself from doing just that.

"Okay, sorry about that," Charlie sighed after the door shut behind Damien.

"Holy shit – did he just call you 'love'?"

"Yeah, he did," Charlie said, grinning inanely and totally unaware she was doing so.

"What. The. Fuck."

"I got a flat day before yesterday," she paused, reconfirming to herself it really was that short a time.

"Tuesday," Becky said, giggling.

"Alright. Tuesday. I got a flat. And I was on the side of the road, trying to change my tire, when out of nowhere this man shows up."

"You mean he just appeared?"

"No." Charlie rolled her eyes at Becky's teasing. "I mean I didn't hear him pull up. I was too busy trying to get the bad tire off. You know how oblivious I can get at times." Becky grunted in the affirmative and Charlie continued. "He was standing by his truck. And my first thought was 'holy shit that's a big man'."

"Tall?"

"Yeah. And broad. He's a rancher, you know, and he has an absolutely delectable physique. Dark brown hair. Super dark eyes. Golden skin. Full lips." Charlie sighed and Becky laughed at her.

"I get it. He's yum-tastic," she snorted. Charlie could almost see her eyes rolling through the phone and smiled. She told her friend about her first impression of him, how he took her to the garage and then the motel.

"Wait....I thought you were staying with him?" she asked.

"I didn't that first night."

"Oh, right. Hard to get. Good idea," Becky snorted.

"Becky!" Charlie laughed. "It wasn't like that.I'mnot like that."

"I know, I know. Jesus, Char, I still can't believe you're staying with some guy you just met and he's calling youlove. I mean, no offense, but you were always the one most likely to die a spinster."

"Oh very nice, Beck. Really." She threw herself back on the bed and sighed. "Besides, I'm a divorcee, so technically can't be a spinster."

"Stop being obtuse."
"Because you really think I'm acute," Charlie finished their old joke and Becky giggled.

"Tell me everything." Charlie did. She talked for another 20 minutes, almost totally uninterrupted by her friend. She told her about their first 'date', how badly she reacted (though her friend claimed she was in the right), what happened the next day, the long horseback ride and talk, dinner, sex...everything.

"So let me get this straight," her friend said when stopped talking. "Within 24 hours of meeting this guy, you told him all about Keith, and showed him your stomach?"

"Well, it was more like 28 hours, but yeah." She smiled at using Damien's joke.

"I knew you for three years before I even knew you had an ex-husband."

"Yeah I know. It's weird, right, but I just...I don't know. It just seemed right. He just...seemed right," Charlie explained, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, you're not a handsome rancher and I don't want to have sex with you," she laughed.

"Good point," Becky said. She was quiet for a moment and then started cackling.

"What?" Charlie asked warily. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what made her friend laugh like a fiend.

"I told you so! I totally told you so!"

"Told me what?"

"Remember what the cards said before you left? You were going to meet the love of your life on this trip?"

"Oh please!" Charlie sighed, shaking her head a bit at her friend's mysticism. "All your tarot hocus pocus said was my moving would be good for my love life. Nothing about falling in love with some guy in some random shitsplat town in Washington."

"Exactly. And we were right, weren't we?"

"Right," she snorted. "I mean, you did say I would meet someone male. Good on you."

"Admit it, Char. The cards were right. Again." Charlie just snorted at that. "So tell me...how was the sex?"

"Fine," Charlie said. She could feel her face get hot.

"That's it? Just 'fine'?"

"Jeez, Beck. What's wrong with fine?"

"Fine is when you get seats in the loge instead of the orchestra. Fine is when you are going to be late for Fiesta. Fine is when they don't have your size in the shoes you want so you go with your second choice. Fine isnot– I repeat –notan acceptable adjective for sex. Now spill."
"You're sick, you know that? Mentally deranged."

"Yeah. We've both known that for a while. Now spill."

"Alright," Charlie took a deep breath and rolled on to her side, looking at the pillows at the head of the bead. "It was...it was better than I remembered, Beck. Except, maybe it wasn't? Maybe it was just better than I knew it ever could be? I mean, I don't have a lot of experience to compare it to."

"True."

"It was so slow. So very, very slow. But not that that was bad. At all. It was...it was delicious. I've never felt so desired, so wanted. And I never wanted anyone so badly. I thought I would explode if he didn't touch me. It was almost painful."

"The sex?"

"No. The...want. I wanted him so badly it was a physical ache." Charlie sighed, rolling on to her back again. "It was so perfect. He fit me so perfect. I've never felt so complete, Becky. Never. I didn't know where he ended and I began. And I didn't want to know." She took a deep breath, smiling at the ceiling again. "And the next time it was just as perfect. Not slow. It was dirty and erotic and wild.

"And perfect."

"Holy crap, Char. When you end your dry spell you really end your dry spell." Charlie laughed. "You love him." It was a statement.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Right. Maybe."

"You know what's weird? I feel like...this is where I was always meant to be. Like as soon as I met him, it was like I always knew him."

"Like déjà vu?"

"No. It's like I was fated to meet him."

"But you don't believe in fate."

"I know I don't. Or didn't."

"So when can I come out and meet him?"

"What?"

"When can I come meet him?"

"Umm, can you let me get settled before you start planning your trip? This is putting everything back at least a week."

"Well, yeah – but wait. Wait wait wait. You're still going to Oregon?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Um...hello? Earth to Charlie? Handsome rancher ring a bell?"
"What doesthatmean?"

"You finally let someone in. Don't run away from it."
"I'm not."
"Yeah. Just like you're leaving Santa Fe had nothing to do with el douchebag's pending parole, huh?"

"I'mnotrunning away from Damien." Charlie sat up again, her brow creased. "I mean, I can't just change my plans for some guy, can I? I can't go and change my life?"

"You wouldn't be changing for some guy, Char, you'd be changing foryou. Foryourhappiness. You deserve that, you know."

"Besides, who's to say this means anything to him? You should see him, Beck. He could have any woman he set his mind to get. Really. I've met an ex of his, and she is exquisite."

"Are you listening to yourself? You are one of the prettiest women I've ever met, Charlie. And I've met a lot, I've had a lot. It's just too bad you're so committed to the dark side 'cause I have quite a few friends that would have lined up to take you out."

"Nice, Becky. Really. I'm just saying, this woman – she was beyond beauty."

"Yeah, okay.... But, she's his ex for a reason. Reason being he didn't want her."