TITLE: OCEAN ( DAMAGE CONTROL 5)
PHOTOGRAPHER:Paul Henry Serres
I thought I was a normal kid once. Do normal kids have to beg from door to door for food? Not sure. It wasn’t always that bad, I guess—and then it was. Really fucking bad.
I tried to protect my younger brother from the fallout. Lied to him about how bad things were.
But it wasn’t enough. And when the accident happened, he blamed me, like everyone else.
I’m guilty of many things. He’s right about that, at least. So damn guilty I’m sure everyone knows and will call me out on it.
Except they don’t. Nobody does, except my brother.
Not even Kayla, sexy and sweet and coolest girl ever, who keeps buying me coffee and trying to read my future. But my future isn’t in the goddamn cards, or even in my hands. I don’t see a future. I deny fate, but fate has me pinned like a moth and won’t let me walk away.
Won’t let me escape.
And yeah… you know you’re losing grip when the girl you want reads your palm, and you’re scared to hell of what she’ll see and of the pain you can tell is coming.
**WARNING** 18+ for sexual content, language, and violence.
He’s kissing me, his mouth hot and demanding, his hand sliding up my face, slipping into my hair.
Missed his mouth on mine, I realize, and God, he tastes good, like licorice and dark, salty caramel.
No guy has the right to taste and smell so good after waking up from a bad dream, drenched in sweat. A dream I came in to wake him up from. He’d been shouting in his sleep, twisting on the bed, his hands curled into tight fists on top of the covers.
And now his lips are over mine, rough and soft like raw silk.
Like him.
I lift my hand to his face without conscious thought. His stubble is rough under my palm. He runs his tongue over my teeth, over the roof of my mouth, and fire spreads down my body.
My brain fizzles out. I’d be lying if I said I don’t want this. Kissing him again has been on my mind since that first time in his kitchenette. But a tiny part of my sluggish brain whispers that this isn’t such a good idea.
Because running my hands over some serious man-candy like Ocean is cool. Kissing him once and bragging to my friends is okay—though I just realized I didn’t brag about it. Weird.
Anyway, copping a feel could be filed under “man-candy reconnaissance”, but a repeat? That’s like stepping into a minefield. I’m here as a friend, right? Are we friends? Are we something more?
Something less?
Then he swipes his tongue over mine, sending electric sparks over my skin, and the thought fizzles out. He shifts so that he pins me down on the bed and presses his body to mine.
Oh God, yes. So good, better than I imagined. Can’t think when it’s Ocean kissing me, touching me, the most beautiful boy I’ve ever met. I can’t hold back anymore. All my doubts and questions and fears fade in the onslaught of desire. I’ve wanted into his pants for months now.
Heck, if I’m honest with myself, I’ve wanted him from the moment I met him—but he never seemed to care, so I’d convinced myself I didn’t care, either.
I reach up, tangle my fingers in his blue hair, soft like feather down, and arch up against him. He gasps against my lips and breaks the kiss.
Before I can protest, just as I start tugging lightly on his soft hair, he lays his body right on top of mine, long and strong and hard, propping his elbows on either side of my head, hedging me in.
Looking down at me, his blue eyes wide, his face soft with wonder, like I’m a hallucination. Or like he’s still asleep. Still dreaming.
“Fuck, Kay, you’re…” But he never tells me what I am because he dives for my mouth, invading my senses, and his body moves over mine, a heavy, hot wave.
He licks, bites and sucks on my lips until I’m writhing underneath him, my hands holding on to his lean waist, his rocking hips. He pulls back only to bow his head to my neck. He sucks on my skin, and it sends bolts of need down to my core.
“Need you,” he breathes against my wet skin, sending shivers skittering over my skin. His silky hair brushes my cheek. “Need to feel you.”
Oh God, yes.
I'm a huge Damage Control fan. Maybe an addict. I've read and reread the guys stories and I never tire of it. Micah's book (Damage Control #1) grabbed me in just a few chapters and quickly became a series I knew I would have to read all the way through.
Prior to Ocean I'd have said Shane's was my favorite story, but now Shane & Ocean are tied, I can't choose between them so don't make me!
All of the Damage boys are broken in some way, they have issues to deal with but luckily they seem to land in the right place to get their lives straight.
Ocean keeps his past hidden, most of the guys have no clue where he goes every weekend or why.
They know the basics but not everything.
His childhood, his mistakes, the lack of love in his home have all made him the insecure man that he is. Made him believe he is unworthy of love. That he can't be loved, who could love a screw up like him?
There's a girl. There's one woman he wants that he can't get out of his head. But what does he have to offer her?
Nothing.
She deserves everything and all he has to offer is a broken man who's life is not settled.
So he'll deny his attraction, try to keep his distance for her sake.
Kayla.
She grew up much differently than Ocean, she didn't have to beg, borrow or steal to eat. Her parents loved her though they tried to groom her to be someone she's not.
She walked away from becoming a perfect wife to be a fashion designer.
She's been attracted to Ocean for awhile without acting on it. Being blown off once is enough for her, she won't put herself out there only to be pushed away by him.
When their attraction becomes too overwhelming and they give in to each other things change.
Kay wants more with Ocean.
Ocean can't help the feelings Kay brings out in him but he's no good for her, he never will be.
An the fight is on, the fight to keep their distance, to avoid the one thing neither of them will admit but it turns out neither of them can live without.
Blue loves Kay.
Kay loves Blue.
As is to be expected, the road to happiness is a bumpy one. Two people have to be willing to fight for what they want. And sometimes all it takes is that one person believing in you, trusting you, being by your side no matter what.
4.5 stars
Prior to Ocean I'd have said Shane's was my favorite story, but now Shane & Ocean are tied, I can't choose between them so don't make me!
All of the Damage boys are broken in some way, they have issues to deal with but luckily they seem to land in the right place to get their lives straight.
Ocean keeps his past hidden, most of the guys have no clue where he goes every weekend or why.
They know the basics but not everything.
His childhood, his mistakes, the lack of love in his home have all made him the insecure man that he is. Made him believe he is unworthy of love. That he can't be loved, who could love a screw up like him?
There's a girl. There's one woman he wants that he can't get out of his head. But what does he have to offer her?
Nothing.
She deserves everything and all he has to offer is a broken man who's life is not settled.
So he'll deny his attraction, try to keep his distance for her sake.
Kayla.
She grew up much differently than Ocean, she didn't have to beg, borrow or steal to eat. Her parents loved her though they tried to groom her to be someone she's not.
She walked away from becoming a perfect wife to be a fashion designer.
She's been attracted to Ocean for awhile without acting on it. Being blown off once is enough for her, she won't put herself out there only to be pushed away by him.
When their attraction becomes too overwhelming and they give in to each other things change.
Kay wants more with Ocean.
Ocean can't help the feelings Kay brings out in him but he's no good for her, he never will be.
An the fight is on, the fight to keep their distance, to avoid the one thing neither of them will admit but it turns out neither of them can live without.
Blue loves Kay.
Kay loves Blue.
As is to be expected, the road to happiness is a bumpy one. Two people have to be willing to fight for what they want. And sometimes all it takes is that one person believing in you, trusting you, being by your side no matter what.
4.5 stars
Jo Raven is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, best known for her series Inked Brotherhood and Damage Control. She writes edgy, contemporary New Adult romance with sexy bad boys and strong-willed heroines. She writes about MMA fighters and tattoo artists, dark pasts that bleed into the present, loyalty and raw emotion. Add to that breathtaking suspense, super-hot sex scenes and a happy ending, and you have a
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