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

that my father could be living on the streets. If he’d dropped out of society, I might not be able to find him. Regardless, it couldn’t hurt to try. I settled it in my head. I would look for him on my own and see what I came up with so I didn’t have to use Damon’s resources yet again. He’s done so much for me already—things I could never repay him for—and I wasn’t going to abuse the privilege of having access to a very powerful man, no matter how readily available and willing he was to help me.

Damon
    She was keeping something from me, and I had every intention of finding out what it was. The last thing I was going to let happen was for her to distance herself from me. Being in a monogamous relationship might be new territory for me, but I was no stranger to distance and what it took to obtain it. I was a master at erecting barriers between those of the opposite sex and myself. Though I didn’t think she was being malicious, I did feel like she was intentionally keeping something from me. Secrets were the first step in creating a lack of trust, and I wouldn’t allow anything to sabotage our new relationship.
    In order for us to be successful, we needed to be honest with each other, and I was getting to the bottom of this now. I reached over and used the speaker to call her into my master bedroom.
    I stood as she entered the room, purposely stalking my way over to her until I had her backed into the wall. I rested one hand on the wall to pin her in as I ran my thumb over her full bottom lip with the other.
    “So fucking beautiful.” When she attempted to speak, I cut my eyes at her and shook my head, letting her know I wanted her to remain silent. For now, she was going to listen to what I had to say.
    “You’re hiding something from me, Skye. No, don’t even think about lying to me.” It was a demand for what I needed—the truth.
    I watched as she took a deep breath as if trying to work up the courage to reveal whatever her secret was.
    “My father left us in Haiti years ago. He never gave us any warning, just left. He went back and forth to America for work a few times. He always promised to come back, and he always did until that last time. Not long after he abandoned us, my little brother died from a sickness he got because our water source was tainted. We had already been through the trauma of a devastating earthquake hitting our area and then to have my brother die… well, it hit us all very hard. I think what bothered me the most was that he didn’t even bother to come to my little brother’s funeral. I’ve never been able to wrap my head around that.”
    “So, you think he has possibly returned and is stalking you to milk you for money?”
    “It’s a possibility. I was embarrassed to tell you, and I didn’t want you spending your money to hire someone to find him. That’s why I didn’t say anything.”
    I ran my finger down her face to her throat, feeling the pulse of her heartbeat as her jugular thrummed beneath the pad of my thumb. As serious as this conversation was, she was still making me rock hard.
    “You’re making my cock hard,” I snarled. I clamped my hand around her throat lightly as I made my next statement. “I don’t want to make love to you, though. I want to fucking take you, mark you, own you. I want to make you mine. I want to succumb to my visceral nature.”
    I watched her chest heave as her breathing became rapid, and it was the only answer I needed. It was time. I had held off long enough. I don’t know if the threat of losing her caused me to take matters into my own hands or not. All I knew was that I had to have her, and I had to have her completely. My fingers pulled frantically at the buttons on her shirt until, frustrated with how slow it was going, I grabbed the two sides and tore it from her body. I ripped at her cutoff denim shorts and pushed her over onto the bed.
    My hands quickly unbuckled my belt and pulled my pants down in rapid succession. I