Page 11 of Protecting His Woman

D amion was aware of the rumors running wild through Old County. Staking a claim on Vicki and then the Thames’s paternity test, he knew everyone was looking in their direction.

Neil wanted to officially meet Vicki. Damion refused to allow it on Thames’s territory, so the diner was the best place.

Tank wasn’t happy about his place being used for this meeting, but Damion didn’t give a shit.

He already took Vicki to the doctor’s office and blood had already been drawn. Now, they were meeting at the diner.

Walking her into the diner, Damion was aware Neil hadn’t come alone, and this pissed him off. Several of his men crowded multiple tables. Along with the Thames’s, he caught sight of the Crystals as well.

Crystals and Thames’s were enemies. Both made their drugs and distributed out of town, which was fine.

Damion was aware of their connections, but it didn’t stop them from being rivals.

Thames’s was doing better businesswise whereas the Crystals had a bad batch which landed some of their clients in the hospital.

Damion had to deal with that fallout as well.

Damion was not happy about this, but he looked at the men, and then at a few of the civilians and urged Vicki forward. She didn’t fight him, and took the seat opposite Neil.

“Hello,” Vicki said.

She was always so damn polite.

“I’m Vicki ... Reid,” she said.

“Neil Thames.”

They shook hands. Then, neither spoke for a few seconds.

“I didn’t agree to this being a fucking family affair,” Damion said.

“Look, some of the guys wanted food. I didn’t alert the Crystals to my being here.”

“We have a right to fucking be here if you’re negotiating shit and using that pussy as leverage.”

Neil got to his feet and pulled out a knife. Damion was up and had pulled out both his guns. There were a lot of men with knives and guns, and he fired two shots. One in the leg of one of the Thames’s and another in the leg of a Crystals’ member.

Vicki had put her hands over her ears, but Damion wasn’t about to back down.

“Now, this is going to end a lot worse if you two don’t fucking stop.

I will put a bullet in both your fucking heads and be done with the problem.

” He looked toward the Crystals’ leader.

“You’re not supposed to be here. There are no fucking deals being made, and if there were, I’d call you.

Now, get the fuck out, and be warned, I will be coming for the price you now owe me. ”

The leader looked at him, nostrils flared, but he was not backing down. Together the knife and gun went away, and seconds after, the Crystals rounded up their injured man and left the diner. One of Neil’s men took his injured man and left.

With the danger now gone, Vicki lowered her hands, and she looked so fucking pale.

“I-I didn’t realize this was going to cause a problem.”

“It’s not,” Damion said. “It will all be nicely resolved.”

“I bet that shit cost me too,” Neil said.

“You brought a couple of tables of men. Of course it is going to cost you.” He also had to send out two warning shots. Thankfully, there were no kids around. He looked toward the civilians, nodded his head, and they got back to eating. Tank would also be rewarded with today’s outburst.

Neil didn’t look happy. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just ... I don’t know if you’re my kid. Your mom was fucking a whole lot of people back in the day.”

Vicki chuckled. “From what I’ve been told, she has been doing it a lot.” She shrugged. “You don’t know if you’re my dad or not?”

“I don’t have a clue.” Neil ran a hand down his face. “If you are, then I want to make it up to you.”

Vicki frowned. “And if not?”

“I—” Damion kicked him under the table, giving him a warning. The other man didn’t even show he’d been hit. “I don’t know.”

He watched as Vicki sighed. “Okay, then, well, I don’t think we should continue this.” Vicki got to her feet, and Damion followed suit.

Her reaction had shocked Neil.

“If you don’t want to know me without the paternity test, there is no reason to build up a friendship. It’s nice to meet you and I hope you get your answers.” And without another word, Vicki left the diner.

Damion followed behind her, knowing he was going to pay each one a visit for the price of their argument.

Vicki went to the passenger side door, and he clicked his car open. She climbed inside, and he sat behind the wheel. Without another word, he didn’t take her home, but to that special spot where no one else was around.

Putting the car in park, he gave her a few minutes, and then she climbed out. Damion watched her, knowing she needed a little time to herself.

After some time had passed, he pulled his key out of the ignition, climbed out, rounded the car, and sat on the hood, folding his hands across his chest and waiting.

“Why even bother?” Vicki asked. “If you have no interest in a person unless they’re blood, why do that!”

He didn’t answer and she started to pace back and forth.

“I mean, what is the point of even getting a paternity test, and what’s the point in meeting with someone?”

“He has his reasons.”

“Yeah, if he’s my dad, he wants to know. If not, he couldn’t give a fuck about me.” She pressed her hands to her mouth and gasped. “I shouldn’t cuss.”

“It’s natural.”

“I don’t like it. I don’t like not being in control.” She put her hands on her thighs, bent forward, and breathed in. “I hate this place. I hate everything about it. I hate that I feel guilty about it all. I’ve done nothing wrong and it feels like I do everything wrong.”

He didn’t expect her to suddenly lift her head and start to scream, but he saw it.

He figured she had a lot to scream about.

Damion watched her let go, and even as she lost control, to him, it was a thing of beauty.

She kept screaming until her throat was hoarse, and then she collapsed in on herself.

This is when he moved in close, caught her face, and stared into her eyes. “You don’t do anything wrong.” And then, he did what he’d been wanting to do for a long freaking time, since their first one—he kissed her.

****

V icki still couldn’t believe that kiss she and Damion had shared. Every time she thought about it, it was like her lips tingled to remind her of exactly what she had been doing with him, and what she wanted to do again and again, and again. To keep doing it and never stop.

Dhalia was staying over with some friends. Smithy and Pete had done the same. Frank was with The Lords, or she imagined he was with them. Betsy was fast asleep upstairs, and she sat downstairs in the main living room, touching her lips, thinking about Damion.

After he had thoroughly kissed her, they were interrupted as he got a phone call.

She didn’t ask him what the call was about, as she figured that was private.

He brought her home, promised to see her soon, and waited for her to walk into her house.

He had only driven off, when he was sure she was home safe and sound.

Sharing a dinner with Betsy, her other siblings had stayed long enough to ask if she was okay.

None of them had stared at her lips, so she truly believed she was obsessing for no good reason.

Her lips did not show she had been thoroughly kissed this afternoon.

Getting to her feet, she had to do something, otherwise, she would go crazy, so she started to clean stuff that had been left in the main sitting room.

Gathering up the cups, she took them to the kitchen and couldn’t help wondering in that moment what was happening to her mother.

It was a split-second way of thinking, because the truth was, since she had turned her mother over to the Thames’s, life here had been so peaceful.

Other than Frank bringing craziness to their world, everything felt so easy, so smooth, so peaceful.

She knew her mother was a problem and had been for so long.

Gripping her neck, she was tempted to call it a night, but as she was about to, there was a soft knock on the door.

Vicki quickly checked the time and saw it was a little after eleven at night. It was never good when you got a knock at the door at this late hour. Worried about her siblings, she rushed to the door, not even checking the peephole, and there was Damion on her doorstep.

She quickly noted that he wasn’t wearing the same suit as he did earlier. There was no reason to question why.

“Good evening,” Damion said.

“Damion.”

“Can I come in?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” She stepped back, giving him plenty of room to enter, then closing and locking the door once he had. “Betsy’s home.” She didn’t know why she told him that.

“What about the others?”

“They’re all out with friends.”

He nodded. She looked at him, and he stared right back at her.

Vicki didn’t know what happened next. One moment, they were staring at each other, and in the next, she was in his arms, and they were around his neck, and her lips were on his.

Somewhere in the chaos, he’d picked her up and carried her back into the sitting room. She was so pleased she had tidied everything before he arrived.

While they kissed, Damion sat down, and he did so with her straddling his waist. He ran his hands up her back, sinking into her hair, and then down, going toward her ass.

She cried out, and he seemed to swallow the sound, as he gripped her ass tightly.

His touch drove her a little crazy, and she couldn’t help but moan.

It was just a simple touch, but it felt amazing.

She closed her eyes, and in the process, ground her pelvis against his. Doing this made her realize Damion was very aroused. This made her pause, and within seconds, her eyes were open, staring at him. This was fast, and yet she didn’t feel afraid.

He reached out, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. “You’re beautiful,” he said.

Vicki didn’t know what to do or say. She just stared at him.

He smiled at her, and this time, she couldn’t help but smile back.

“You don’t need to be afraid when you’re with me, Vicki.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” she said. And then, it dawned on her that he could be playing her to get what he wanted, and she sat back. She was still on his lap, but not sitting quite as intimately.

“What is it?”

“I ... I don’t want you to use me. I’m not ... I don’t, I’ve never been with a man before, and I don’t want to be with you unless you’re completely serious about this, and it is something you want,” she said.

Her heart pounded inside her chest. She couldn’t believe she had said that to Damion Archer, of all people. This was insane.

He picked up a twirl of her hair and played with the strand between his fingers, and while he did this, he seemed to be so deep in thought.

She had no idea what was going on inside his head.

Damion was, in fact, a real mystery to her.

He could have any woman in Old County. They would all fall for him.

Why had he chosen her? She was nothing special, at least, that was what most people thought. He saw exactly how special she was.

“Why are you here?” Vicki asked.

“Because this is where I want to be.”

“Damion, you could have anyone.”

“And yet, I only want you, and that is why I am still here. You’re the only one I want, Vicki.

You’re the only reason I’m still here. Trust me, if I didn’t want to be, I wouldn’t be here.

” He tucked her curl back behind her ear.

“I’m not here for a quick fuck, Vicki. That is not why I’m with you. I’m here for something long-term.”

“But my mom—”

“I don’t give a fuck who your mom is. She has nothing to do with us, and I’m not going to bring her into our shit. She is Thames’s problem now. Not ours. I would never judge you based on what someone else is doing.”

“You wouldn’t?”

“Fuck, no. That shit does not work with me.” He ran his hands up and down her thighs. “I’m going to be real with you, Vicki. I want you. I want this. I want to be with you, and I’m not holding back. You and me, this is what I want.”

“I want that too,” she said.

“Good, which means I am happy to wait until you’re ready. I’m not saying dating me is going to be easy. There will be times I’m going to need to leave, because I’ve got shit to do. I’m not going to tell you everything I’m doing either. That is not your problem.”

“I’m not going to give up on my siblings either.”

“Good, because I don’t want you to. I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

The strangest thing was, when she was with Damion, it was the most comfortable she had ever been.