Slow Release (Ebony and Ivory Book 1) by Suzanne Steele, Stormy Dawn Weathers Read Free Book Online Page B

motives.
    “Have you ever done this before?”
    “Done what?”
    “Fixated on a woman?”
    “Nope.”
    “So this whole insta-love thing is new to you, huh?”
    “Insta-love is for pussies, baby. Look at that muscle,” he teased as he flexed his arm. “I don’t do insta-love. Besides, it’s your fault.”
    “Oh, really?”
    “Yep, you hexed me with that Haitian mojo you’ve got going on, and now I’m bewitched.”
    “Oh my gosh, you think I put some kind of voodoo spell on you?”
    “Nah, I just think the moment I looked into those big baby blues of yours, I was done for.”
    I raised a sardonic brow. “So, you think you’ll be able to give up your playboy ways?”
    “Nope.”
    “Oh, really?”
    “I’ve already given them up. I told you,” he paused and his lips tickled the skin at the base of my neck as he whispered, “you’ve bewitched me.”
    “Good, because I’d hate to have to go get a job somewhere else. They might all think I’m in the habit of trading off my agents.”
    His hand clenched the back of my neck, not real hard but enough to make his point, and his voice came out with some sort of feral growl emanating from deep inside his chest. “Don’t play with me, girl. Don’t even joke about working for another man. You won’t be working for any of these shark agents.”
    “Why do you get so crazy when it comes to me?”
    He turned my body to face his and gently cupped my face as he spoke. “I’d never do anything to hurt you. You have to understand there is a very ugly side to the beauty industry. Agents will do anything to get the next, new it girl. I’m trying to protect you. As far as teasing about other men, I’m jealous and I make no apologies for it. You have to understand, it isn’t you I’m worried about hurting.”
    His words resonated with me. This wasn’t a man who was threatening me; this was a man who was giving me a heads-up about just how dangerous he could be.
    My phone ringing on the desk dissipated some of the intensity crackling in the air. I was shocked when he picked it up to see who the caller was.
    “Give me my phone,” I chuckled, playfully chastising him.
    “Hi, Mommy,” I reverted back to my childhood upon answering.
    I listened as my mother excitedly spoke on the other end of the phone about her new house. “Oh really,” I spoke as I cut my eyes in Damon’s direction. “No, he didn’t tell me he was moving you into a house.” I spent the next twenty minutes listening to my mother gush over what a wonderful, giving man Damon was. When I was finally able get off the phone, I set it back down on his desk and wrapped my arms around his neck.
    “How can I ever thank you?” I asked sincerely with tears in my eyes. “In just a few weeks, you have not only changed my life, but the lives of my family as well.
    “It isn’t about you thanking me, Skye, and it most certainly isn’t about you paying me back. I know you aren’t naïve. My partner and I are making money, and you are too. In the end, it’s you who is taking care of your family. You should be proud of yourself for giving your family a good life. We’re all in this together, and we’ll all reap the rewards, benefits, and blessings of our business ventures.”
    “Totally off subject, but why are you so adamant about not sleeping with me. If I didn’t know any better, I might think you didn’t want me.” I was joking with him, but there was a small part of me that felt insecure that he kept rejecting me.
    “Oh shit, girl… At this pace, you’re going to be the death of me. You’re making it very hard to wait. I already informed you why I’m waiting. Losing your virginity is a big decision, and it’s definitely not one that should be made lightly or in the heat of the moment.”
    “Killing you isn’t at all what I had in mind, Damon.”

Damon
    I lied in bed and stroked over her perfect skin with the pad of my thumb, sublimely relaxed and deep in thought.
    She was naïve,