DAMON: A Bad Boy MC Romance Novel by Meg Jackson Page A

up sand as she walked. “Jockey’s Ridge sounds like a bad cousin of jock itch, anyway.”
    Damon laughed, leading her towards the smaller dunes that lay nearby. They walked in silence, listening to the waves and the seagulls, for a while, enjoying the day and each other.
    “My name is Damon, and I like bad puns, smelly cheeses, and long walks on the beach,” Tricia teased, darting ahead of him slightly along the hilly sand. They were coming up to a large dune; Tricia’s dress fluttered, clinging to her body, while the sun reflected off her dirty blonde hair, making it shine like gold. Her skin, tanned and slightly sandy, seemed to sparkle. Damon caught up to her quickly, looking at her with eyes that stopped her teasing immediately.
    He put his arm around her waist, and pulled in gently. She turned, putting one hand on his chest. We’re going to kiss now, she thought, and felt a girlish flutter in her stomach.
    “The sun should shine like this all the time,” he said, and with his free hand he brushed a bit of hair from her cheek, though the wind blew it right back onto her face. “It looks good on you.”
    His hand on her waist squeezed once, then released. Tricia, confused, leaned in. But Damon was already turning away. Tricia’s mouth was caught between a smile and a frown, and the crease between her eyes showed her confusion. He gave her a half-smile, eyebrows raised, then grabbed her hand. His large palm, calloused and worn, pulsed against hers.
    “That was rude,” Tricia said, trying to sound offended but biting back a laugh as Damon took off running, dragging her behind.
    “What was?” Damon said over his shoulder, trotting with heavy steps through the sand. He was pulling her up, up, struggling vertically along a towering dune.
    “You…didn’t…kiss…me…” Tricia managed to say between panting breaths. He kept up a steady pace until they were at the top, looking down, Tricia suddenly dizzy with the new height, the new landscape – they weren’t more than a few yards from where they’d started, but the world looked different from higher up, the sands shifting in the wind and the coastline daunting.
    “Don’t worry,” he said, whispering in her ear now as he twirled her forward so that she stood in front of him, her back to his chest. His words struck chords all down her ribcage, turned her spine into a lightning rod. “I will.”
    Tricia paused, waiting a long moment, savoring the heat and weight of his body against hers.
    “Promise?” she said, the word barely a whisper.
    He nuzzled against her shoulder and didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. She could feel his desire for her as he pulled her back tighter against his body. There was an unmistakable hardness between his legs, pressing against her thighs. That was promise enough. And it kept her heart racing, long after her body had recovered from the climb.

14
    T ula looked flushed when Kennick , her cousin, opened the door. A thin sheen of sweat stood out on her forehead, her eyes were bleary.
    “Where’s Damon?” she asked. Ricky appeared behind Kennick in the doorway, and Tula’s eyes gravitated towards her, deepened slightly. The whole tribe – Cristov, Kennick, Ricky, and Kim – had gathered in the trailer to discuss where Damon was going, and why. There had been no word from him, and only the vaguest of “it’s fine” texts from Tricia. Two days later, everyone’s nerves were well on their way to frazzled.
    “Damon…we don’t know where Damon is,” Kennick said, immediately concerned by the crazed, fevered look in Tula’s face.
    “Shit,” Tula hissed, running a hand through her dark hair. Now, Cristov and Kim crowded in the doorway behind Ricky.
    “Come in,” Kim offered, when it became apparent that everyone else had forgotten how to act like a human. “Sit down. Let me get you some water.”
    There was a moment of general confusion as the four figures in the doorway navigated their way back into the