Here it is! Got it up even earlier than I thought! I was super slow at work today and it seemed like all I did was write! So enjoy!!
~HM
Chapter 17
Ava stormed into the girl's room and waited for Dameon, knowing that he would follow her. She couldn't stop shaking. She couldn't believe she actually jumped him in front of her family. In front of her dad! Poor daddy…he must have had a stroke! What had she been thinking? She should never had done it…she should have just walked calmly away. She should have just swallowed her pride and…
Her back stiffened when she heard the door fling open behind her and then flinch when it slammed closed. Stay calm, she ordered herself. Don't make an even bigger fool of yourself…just stay cool. Aloof.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Dameon said in a quiet, yet forceful tone.
She closed her eyes to take a moment to relax before slowly turning around to face him. "Why, that was called a kiss. Oh, dear…did your dad never give you the talk, Malfoy?"
"Stop it," he said with narrowed eyes. "I didn't follow you in here to have one of our petty fights."
She widened her eyes in shock. "Really?" she asked sarcastically. "That's a shame. I was looking forward to…"
Dameon let out a frustrating growl and in two long angry strides he had her by the arms and off the floor. "Shut up," he demanded and gave her a little shake. "Just shut up and stop the bullshit. You got to perform your little show out there, but now it's my turn to talk…so just…shut up and listen."
Ava was too shocked and dumbfounded to do anything but stare at him with wide eyes and a slackened jaw. She couldn't remember ever seeing him this angry before and that was saying something considering the number of fights they have had in the past. "O-okay," she finally managed to sputter out when Dameon had lifted a threatening brow.
Dameon slowly set her back on her feet and softened his grip on her arms but didn't let go. "Ava," he said softly as his hard gray eyes turned warm. "I'm sorry."
Here it comes, she thought as she felt her heart drop. Here comes the part where he breaks her heart and tells her he doesn't feel the same way. She didn't know if she could take it. Just don't cry, she told herself firmly as she mentally prepared herself for the heartache. Just don't cry.
Dameon reached up with one hand and cupped the side of her face. "I'm sorry I gave you the impression that I wasn't interested in you."
"It's fine, don't worry about it, I'll…" She looked up at him suddenly when his words finally hit her. "Wait…what?"
Dameon sighed as he shook his head. "I just did it again, didn't I? You thought I was about to say, `Sorry…but no thanks'." He lifted his other arm so he now cradled her face in his hands. "I hurt you…I did what I thought was right and in the end I hurt you. I'm sorry for that."
"I…I don't understand." She wanted to believe him…needed to, but…it didn't make any sense. "Ever since Liam left you've been avoiding me…and when we had no choice to talk you were so…damn polite."
"I avoided you because every time I was around you I wanted to do this." He slowly bent his head down and teased his lips with hers in light, gentle brushes until she all but melted against him.
She felt herself stagger a bit when he pulled away and had to take a couple of unsteady breaths before she could talk. "Okay." She cleared her throat. "Wow…so, why exactly did you feel the need to avoid doing that?"
Because the kiss had affected him just as much, he let out a shaky breath. "Well…your break-up with Liam was pretty emotional for you, Ava. As much as I wanted to dive straight into this after the bastard left, I felt like I needed to give you space and time to heal."
"I can understand that," she said after a moment of thought. "But you could have told me how you felt instead of avoiding me like the plague."
He nodded. "You're right, I could have…but I didn't want to exactly tell you how I felt about you until I was sure that…"
"Sure that what?" she asked when he hesitated.
"You had just ended your relationship with Kelson and I guess I needed to make sure you didn't look at me as a…rebound."
Ava blinked up at him as she took a step back. "Rebound?" She let out a shocking sound of disgust and then punched him hard in the shoulder. "Dameon!"
"Ow!" He flinched as he grasped his shoulder. "Dammit, A.J! I forgot how hard you can hit when you really put your mind to it."
"Well, serves you right," she said as she tilted up her chin. "It was stupid of you to even think that. What do you take me for? Some kind of idiot female?"
"What? Of course not, I…"
"Do you think I'm not capable of knowing my own mind?"
"Ava, I only thought…"
"You only thought what?" She crossed her arms defensively against her chest. "That you would push yourself away from me until you were sure I felt the same way? You didn't want to risk getting hurt so you hurt me instead by avoiding me?"
"I said I was sorry for that," he countered back as he refilled the steps Ava had taken away. "And I meant it…but dammit, Ava…I wanted you…I've wanted you for a long time…and I needed to know for sure you wanted me just as much. Maybe I handled it wrong and again…I will apologize for it, but please don't push me away by…mmph."
Ava threw herself onto him just as she did outside and silenced him by crushing her lips forcefully against his. He wanted her, she thought giddily as she met her tongue eagerly with his. As soon as he had said those words to her she felt as if her heart would burst. Dameon Malfoy wanted her and that made her feel so damn good.
"I'm taking this," he murmured between urgent kisses. "As a good sign that…" He groaned as he gripped her hair and plundered her mouth…long and deep. "You might want me, too."
"You were always fairly smart, Malfoy," she teased as their choppy breaths merged together, before mouths and tongues met again.
He shuffled blindly over to the beds, not caring which one they fell onto just as long as he finally got her horizontal and under him. Merlin, he couldn't get to a bed fast enough.
A deep moan emerged from her throat when they collapsed on a bed and Dameon's body…his long, lean wonderful body…pinned her against the mattress. "I don't think this is my bed," she said then gasped when he ran his lips down her neck.
"I don't care," he murmured against her ear before taking her lobe between his teeth.
"Oh." Her whole body shivered as her eyes rolled behind her lids. "Wow."
He chuckled softly. "Oh, I'm just getting warmed up," he teased before taking her mouth again. "Tell me something…do you like it when I do this?" He brushed his knuckles gently against the tip of one of her breasts and she took in a sharp hissing breath and arched her back and lifted her hips eagerly against him. "Looks like you do."
He looked so damn smug and pleased with himself, so to retaliate she wrapped her arms around his back and pulled herself up. "Do you like it when I do this?" she asked and tilted her head up as if she was going to kiss him, but then swooped down and flicked her tongue against his nipple.
Dameon immediately went blind with arousal as he let out a gasping curse then groaned when she suddenly moved to the other. "Bloody hell," he panted then shoved her playfully back onto the mattress.
She chuckled wickedly but the laughter soon turned to an arousing groan as his mouth assaulted hers. She had no choice but to hold on for the ride as she circled her legs around his waist and slid her fingers in his hair. She had seemed to break something inside him and knowing she had that kind of power excited the hell out of her.
"Ava," he breathed into her mouth and tongues tangled as he began to move gently against her. "I want you," he murmured as he buried his face against her neck to trail sweet kisses along her shoulder. "You can't imagine how much."
"Yes," she gasped as she lifted her hips up to meet him. "It's you…it's always been you." She hugged her arms around his back and pressed her lips to his shoulder. "You were meant to be my first."
Dameon's whole body immediately froze. Unbearably shocked, he lifted his head up and stared down at her. "What?"
Ava had sensed something was wrong as soon as she said those words, but she couldn't think of what would upset him. Surely he wouldn't be freaked out that she'd never done this before…surely he wouldn't judge her for that. "Dameon…what's wrong?" she asked frowning slightly as she reached up to touch him.
He gently clasped her wrist before she could touch him then slowly pushed himself off of her and sat at her feet. "Your first? I would be your first?"
"Yes," she said carefully as she tried to figure out what he was thinking. "Why do you seem shocked by this?"
"I thought…" He trailed off by taking in an unsteady breath. "Kelson…he told me…"
"He told you we had sex?" she asked and when he gave a quick nod, she felt an intense wave of anger hit her like a swarm of Bludgers. "That son of a bitch."
"Every chance he got, he rubbed that in my face and…" He closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It was torture, Ava…picturing you with him."
"He lied to you, Dameon," she said as she went to him quickly, straddling his lap and held his face between her hands. "He never touched me that way. I won't sugar coat it and say I never came close to thinking about it, because I did…but in the end I couldn't go through with it because I knew it wasn't right."
Dameon dropped his forehead to hers and gripped her wrists. "He wasn't right for you, Ava…I tried telling you that from day one."
"I know," she said smiling softly. "But since when have I ever listened to you?"
The corner of his mouth tilted up. "Oh, about never." He brushed his thumbs over the insides of her wrists as he leaned in for a kiss. "That was a close call."
She pulled back. "What do you mean?"
"I meant the fact that I almost took you like an animal with our family just outside the tent."
"I see," she said slowly. "Sooo, it was okay to `take me like an animal' as you put it…when you thought I had been with Liam, but now that you know I haven't…you don't want to?"
"Yes. No," he said quickly when he realized how it sounded. "I didn't mean that…"
He broke off and took a moment to figure out what he wanted to say. "Look…whether or not you did sleep with Liam, and let me add that I'm very glad you didn't…but even if you did, it wouldn't change how I feel about you. Yes, I didn't like thinking about the two of you together but as soon as he was out of the picture I put it behind me. It didn't matter anymore…all that mattered was how I felt about you."
Ava slowly smiled and wiggled back closer to him. "Really?"
He grinned as he circled his arms around her waist. "Really. And one of the reasons why I nearly took you like an animal was because that little tongue trick of yours set me off. That was rather evil, A.J."
"You didn't seem to mind," she said as she ran her hands down his chest and swept both of her thumbs against his nipples.
Dameon shuddered. "Behave, you little minx," he said and grabbed her arms and pinned them behind her back, pressing her up against his chest and leaned in for a kiss.
She opened up for him, easily accepting his tongue into her mouth. It was already so naturally for her to kiss him…like they had been doing it for years instead of minutes. "You're entirely took good at this," she murmured as he nipped his way down her jaw.
"I've had a lot of practice," he teased then winced when she gripped his hair and tugged. "Sorry…kidding."
"Uh-huh," she said dryly then tugged him back even harder when he tried to continue. "Don't try to distract me…you brought it up now face the consequences."
He sighed and mentally kicked himself. "Okay, fine…what do you want to know?"
"Whom did you have this practice with?"
"C'mon, A.J….you know who I dated at Hogwarts," he said dryly. "I never said I was a saint…I'm a typical male, okay?"
"I'm not judging you," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I know you've been with other girls…but now I'm curious."
"Why don't you just ask if I've slept with any of them?"
"Okay…did you?"
"Yes…but only with two of them."
"Really?" she asked slightly surprised. "Who?"
"Bridget was my first," he admitted then gave a shrug. "We were between relationships and neither of us had ever done it and we were curious."
Of course, Bridget, she thought as she tried not to let the jealously seep in. "I suppose she knew what she was doing."
"The first time was rather awkward to be honest," he said and tried to pull her closer. "And I don't to talk about this anymore because it doesn't matter and…"
"Who was the second?" she asked ignoring his pleas.
"Ugh, you're impossible," he grumbled as he leaned back on his hands. "Her name was Beverly and she was just a girl I had been seeing during my first year out of Hogwarts."
"And what happened between you two?"
"Well, we broke up…obviously," he added with a chuckle. "Can we stop talking about my past girlfriends now?" he pleaded with a puppy dog look.
"One more…why did you break-up?"
Dameon's face immediately flushed with embarrassment and turned his head away. "Er…it doesn't matter. Look, we should probably go back outside and…"
"Oh, no you don't," she laughed when he tried to get up and put her hands on his shoulders to hold him back. "Spill it, loverboy."
"It's nothing," he assured her. "We just hit a wall and decided to move on."
"I don't buy that for a second," she smirked. "Spill…or else."
He flinched when she poked him in the ribs. "Cut it out," he said then laughed when she poked him again. "Jeez, woman…you're relentless."
"Why thank you," she said fluttering her lashes, but then narrowed them as she drilled a finger against his chest. "Let's have it."
He let out a whiney moan. "But it's embarrassing…please don't make me, Ava. I'll never hear the end of it if I do."
"Oh, now you've got to say it," she laughed as she wiggled in anticipation.
"Merlin, don't…jiggle like that," he added as he gripped her hips still. "Or I'll embarrass us both."
"Then start talking," she warned and when he hesitated she did a quick shimmy with her hips.
"Ah, okay," he groaned in surrender. "I'll tell you…just…for the love of Merlin, be still."
She gave him a little victory smile as she draped her arms over his shoulders. "I am all ears."
Dameon cast his eyes to the ceiling. "I can't believe I'm telling you this…okay, well…about six months ago…Beverly and I were…you know…"
"Making love?"
"Yes…that." He looked back down at her. "Although we never really made love…it was just sex between us…deep down I always thought she was a bitch really."
"Then why did you…"
"No, don't go down that road," he said shaking his head. "Another story for another day…anyway…while Beverly and I were having sex…I sort of…well, you know how sometimes you yell out someone's name during the…throes?"
"Sure," she nodded in understanding. "I might never have had sex but I know the gist of it."
"Okay…well." He cleared his throat as he felt himself turn red. "I yelled out a name but…not the name Beverly wanted to hear."
Ava's jaw dropped as she placed a hand over her mouth. "You yelled out the wrong name?"
Dameon winced. "Guilty."
"Oh, no," she said and a giggle escaped her. "Wait, whose name did you yell? Bridget's?"
He turned his head away but snuck a glance over at her and did a quick shake of his head. "No."
Ava blinked in confusion. "Then who did…" She trailed off when she saw the guilty look on his face and her eyes went wide. "Me?"
Dameon groaned in humiliation as he slammed his back onto the mattress and covered his flushed face with his hands. "Sooo embarraassiiiing," he muffled in his hands while Ava chuckled as she crawled over him.
"You said my name," she giggled as she ran teasing kisses along his neck while Dameon continued to lie there. "Aww, don't be embarrassed."
Dameon just huffed out a breath as he removed his hands and Ava only continued to giggle as she now trailed her lips over his exposed face. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked as he stared up at the ceiling.
"Only a lot," she said and muffled a laugh against his lips and then leaned over him with her hands on either side of his head. "Was she pissed?"
He smiled as he reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Only a lot." He then winced as he rubbed his forehead. "She threw her lamp at my head."
She snorted out another laugh and leaned down to kiss the spot he rubbed. "That must have made you hate me a lot."
"Ohhh, yeah," he laughed. "But mostly mad at myself…I just couldn't seem to understand why I did it. I convinced myself it was only because I had met Nora for lunch that day and she had mentioned you once…but now I know it was more than that..much, much more."
"Yeah?" she said with a grin as she slid her hands up the mattress and straightened her legs until she was fully stretched out on top of him.
"Uh-huh." He lifted his head off the bed and nuzzled her neck. "Even back then I wanted you."
"Dameon," she gasped when she felt he felt his warm tongue bathe her skin.
"Hmm, that's nice to hear," he murmured as he nibbled his way up her jaw until their lips finally met. He sunk himself into the kiss, lingering with each sweep of his tongue into her mouth. He wanted to roll her over and melt against her…he wanted to touch and taste every inch of her…he wanted so much to make love to her because he knew that was one thing he had never done with another woman. She would be the first.
But that time wasn't now, he thought as he reluctantly framed her face with his hands and pulled her back. "As much as I wish we could stay here all day…we should probably go back outside. Your dad could get suspicious and barge in here wands blazing."
"My dad likes you," she assured him.
"Well, sure…but then you had to go and jump me and stick your tongue down my throat right in front of him and the whole family. Now he probably wants to kill me."
Ava groaned as she covered her face. "I forgot about that."
Dameon chuckled. "Now look who's embarrassed."
She dropped her hands and gave him a look. "Shut up."
"Okay," he said and then poked her sides. "Get off me, you minx."
She rolled her eyes. "Great…now you're going to start calling me that instead of…"
She yelped when she rolled off not only him, but the bed as well and stumbled onto the floor.
Dameon grinned down at her from the edge of the bed. "Instead of Grace?" he finished for her as he laughed at her scowling face. "Thanks to you I'll be able to use both."
"I hate you."
He gracefully rolled off the bed and pulled her up off the floor and kissed her firmly on the mouth. "No you don't."
She tried to stay annoyed, but in the end couldn't help but sigh in defeat. "No, I don't," she agreed then reached up and gave him a quick peck. "Let's go face the gunfire."
"Okay." He took her hand while they made their way out. "Will you protect me from your father?"
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