Lover Beware

to see her hair tumbling down in a cloud around her face.
    Sarah laughed softly. “My braid? Or your watch?” He was definitely tugging her hair out of its tight arrangement. “It took me twenty minutes to get my hair like that. I’ve never been good at hair things.”
    “A wasted twenty minutes. You have beautiful hair. There’s no need to be good at hair things.”
    Sarah was absurdly pleased that he’d noticed. It was her one call to glory. “Thank you.” She tapped her fingers on her knee, trying to find a way to get him to agree with her on his protection. “Damon, it’s important to protect your house. I could set up a good security system for you. I’ll let the sheriff know we have a problem and they’ll help us out.”
    “Us? Sarah, you need to be as far away from me as possible.” Even as he said it, his hands were tunneling in the rich wealth of her hair, a hopeless compulsion he couldn’t prevent. He wanted to feel that silky softness sliding over his skin.
    “I thought you were supposed to be brilliant, Damon. Didn’t I read in your file that you were one of the smartest men on the face of the earth? Along with your swearing issues and your hair issues, please tell me you don’t have idiot macho tendencies, too. If that’s the case, I’m going to have to seriously study this gate prophecy. I can live with the other things but idiocy might be stretching my patience.”
    He tugged on her hair to make certain she was paying attention. “ One of the smartest men? Is that what that report said? I should read the file over for you and weed out the blatant lies. I’m certain I’m the smartest, not one of the smartest. You don’t have to insult me by pretending the report said otherwise. And what is the gate prophecy?”
    She waved away his inquiry. “I’ll have to tell you about the Drake history sometime, but right now, I think you might clear up the idiot macho issue for me,” she insisted. “Brainy men tend to be arrogant but they shouldn’t be stupid. I’m a security expert, Damon.”
    He sighed loudly. “So I’m supposed to tell all my friends that my lady friend is the muscle in our relationship.”
    “Do we have a relationship?” She tilted her head to look back at him. “And surely the smartest man on earth would have a strong enough ego to be fine with his lady friend being the muscle. Relationship or no.”
    “Oh, if there’s no relationship, I doubt if any man could take that big a blow to his ego, Sarah. We need to call in an expert on this subject, consult a counselor before we make a decision. And it never hurts to get a second opinion if we don’t like the first one.”
    Damon couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. It felt good to smile. She had thrown his life into complete confusion, but she made him smile. Made him want to laugh. Intrigued him. Turned him inside out. Gave him a reason to live. And the heavy weight that seemed to be pressing down on his shoulders and chest was lifted for just a few moments.
    “You won’t have to worry on that score, Damon. We’ll have six very loud and long-winded second opinions. My sisters will have more to say than you’ll ever want to hear on the subject. For that matter, on every subject. You won’t need a counselor for anything; they’ll all be happy to oblige, absolutely free of charge.”
    Sarah glanced toward the cliff house. Through the bedroom window that should have had the drapes closed. The curtains were parted in the middle, pushed to either side by an unseen hand.
    “Sarah.” There was an ache in Damon’s voice.
    Her heart did a funny little jump in her chest and she turned her head to look at him. Her gaze collided with his. Stark hunger was in his eyes. Raw need. Desire. He reached for her, caught the nape of her neck, and slowly lowered his head to hers. His mouth fastened onto hers. They simply melted together. Merged.
    Fireworks might have burst in the air around them. Or maybe it was the stars scattering across the sky, glittering like gems. Fire raced up her skin, heat spread through her body. He claimed her. Branded her. And he did a thorough job of it. They fed on one another. Were lost in smoky desire. His mouth was perfect, hot and hungry and demanding and possessive.
    No one had ever kissed her like that. She had never thought it would be like that. She wanted to just stay there all night and kiss.
    Damon shifted his weight on the bed, deepening the kiss. He tumbled over