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The Perfect Temptation, Part 15

The sky was the palest of blues as the dawn approached, illuminating the room with a grayish light. The heavy white panels that covered the two large windows were open to the merest of slits so that two narrow strips of the white sun cut across the area rugs and the hardwood floor. The room was painted in a slate blue, the doors painted in the same color with white trimming. Just next to the door was a chair, on it was a black beaded purse. A few feet away from the chair, on the floor was kicked off strappy heels and nearby were a pair of shiny black oxfords. Blue argyle socks lay on the hardwood floor, not too far away in one of the stripes of light penetrating the room. A blue silk tie had been tossed over the back of another chair and a darker blue dress shirt was laying in a puddle next to it, having missed the back of it completely. And just barely clinging to the mahogany footboard was a sheer black stocking, and its twin was flung around the rounded post.

In the bed, a set of painted pink toes pulled themselves under the knitted blanket again to curl around the ankle of the larger foot next to it. The linens shifted as the smaller form turned their body against the warmth of the larger one. The blanket was pulled up around their shoulders. The owner's mother had made the patterned knit over the course of her pregnancy. A sigh escaped a pair of lips, causing one set of eyes to finally peer open.

Damien closed his eyes again before blinking them back open again. He smiled as he looked at the wild tangle of copper trailing across the crisp blue pillowcase like a fire. He reached from under the blanket and smoothed back a few strands that had fallen across her face during the night. Resting his palm against her cheek, he took note of the contrast between his darker tanned skin and the milky whiteness of hers. He bent his head closer, touching his nose to hers. Hers wrinkled at the touch before relaxing again. There was a hint of a smile touching her pink lips as she continued to sleep. "How could someone not think you're beautiful?" he murmured as he trailed his finger across the softness of her warm flushed cheek. Her lashes fluttered, but didn't open. His hand slid back under the blanket again, pulling her closer. Pressing his lips against hers, he waited to see if it woke her. Sooty lashes fluttered before revealing the startling silver behind them. "Good morning, Angelina," he whispered.

A sleepy smile crossed Angelina's lips as she looked into the glowing aquamarine eyes in front of hers. "Good morning," she replied as she tightened her hold on his back. She closed her eyes again and cuddled closer to his body. She could feel his heart thumping steadily against her palms. She smiled against him. "I never thought that sleeping with someone could feel this good. It's nice to have someone's arms around you. It makes you feel protected and loved. Loved…what a word for me to be thinking. I'm not really sure that I love him yet, but I would like to," she thought as she smiled again. "What time is it?"

Lifting his head he glanced at the clock on the far side of the bed. "Seven," he replied as he lay his head back down. He rested his chin on the top of her shining hair before kissing it. "Why? Want to sleep longer?"

"I'm not a morning person. Anyone can attest to that. When I was little and the Maxwells would come and visit my dad and I on L2, and the boys would always try to wake me up, being used to Randy running around first thing," she said, her eyes still closed and her voice muffled. "There was one time I threw my alarm clock and I'm not quite sure, but it hit one of them in the foot. I could hear him cursing up a storm before Duo and my dad came in and gave them a stern reprimand for bothering me at eight in the morning. All I did was roll over and pull the blankets over my head again. I was eleven years old."

He laughed at her tale. "The brother would have to be Jonathon or David. Rumor has it that Chris is the hardest person to wake up in the morning."

"He is. When I was twelve, Randy and I started hitting him with pillows…it was seven in the morning. Let me just say I never ran so fast in my entire life. You do not intentionally piss off a male Maxwell first thing in the morning."

"Did he catch the two of you?"

"No, we got cowardly and hid behind Duo."

Damien burst out into laughter as he imagined the seventeen year old, messily braided Chris coming after Angelina and his baby sister only to have his path blocked to him by his father. "It was a smart thing for you two to do. He would have spanked the hell out you both."

"I know, why do you think we hid," she giggled as she tilted her head back to look him in the face.

He looked down at her as their laughter faded. With a soft smile, he cupped the back of her head and brought her lips to his for a kiss. He loved the way she melted into him as soon as their lips touched. It made him think of last night, when he had kissed her repeatedly. He had lost count, but it hadn't mattered. He crumpled her silky hair in his hand as the intensity of the kiss increased.

Her lips parted against his, allowing him to slide his tongue inside. The grip on his back increased and she fitted her body even more snugly against his. Goosebumps spread over her skin as she felt the gentle touch of his hand as it swept down the side of her body.

All he could feel was rapid rise and fall of her breasts against his chest and her tongue sliding over his. They were as close as they could get without him being inside of her. "And by Allah do I want to. I never wanted to be that close with someone so much before, but it's too soon. She's not fast like she acts like she does and I don't go that fast to begin with…but damn, it is a tempting thought," he contemplated as threw all that he had into the kiss.

"I've never been kissed like this in my entire life. I've never felt so much before. It's like he sucking the life out of me, but at the same time, he infuses me with everything that I'm making him feel. This kiss tells me that he hasn't felt something like this in his entire life. It makes me glad that he's sharing those feelings with me," she thought with a smile as she opened her mouth wider under his. 

He didn't want to stop kissing her; he could feel all the emotions that she kept bottled up inside of her. His heart was thundering in his ears, making it hard for him to listen to his thoughts. He also wanted to talk to her. There hadn't been a chance last night to get a conversation since his tongue had been twined with hers for the better part of the night. And if it wasn't her mouth his was glued to, it was her skin that was bared by her dress. He hadn't allowed it to progress any further than what was transpiring now. He had always prided himself on his self-control, but right now it was hanging on just barely. Nipping at her lips, he finally pulled his away. Looking down into her face, he smiled. He brushed back some of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. "You look beautiful this morning."

Angelina smiled back as she gazed back at him. "I couldn't possibly look that good. My hair is a tangle, my makeup looks like hell, face all puffy and red, dress wrinkled…but thank you for saying so," she said as she touched her nose to his. She could still feel her heart racing from his kiss. "Why did you pull away?"

"I wanted to talk before we got occupied again."

"What about?"

"You. I want to know about you. And I'm sure there's things you want to know about me."

Giving him an uncertain look, she slowly pushed herself up on her one elbow. She plucked absently on the comforter beneath her. "There isn't that much to tell."

"Don't hide from me, Angie, please?" he asked as he leaned up as well. He touched his forehead to hers. "Look at me. We can't go on hiding behind these facades. If you want me, you'll have to talk to me. I want to know about the real you. The one I know hides behind that  "sex goddess" smile of yours."

She could still feel his fingers softly stroking her cheek. His eyes were so warm and gentle. Swallowing, she turned her face into his palm. "You really want to know?"

He nodded his head. "Yes."

Sitting up, she drew her knees against her chest. One of the straps slid off her shoulder to loop against her elbow. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Beginning if possible, but before you begin, you were right about the dress being wrinkled," he said as he got off the bed and went over to his bureau. He took out a tee shirt and a pair of boxers. "Put these on. I can have Mattie launder the dress so there won't be any wrinkles," he said as he handed them to her.

"Thank you," she replied as she slid from beneath the blanket. Her toes curled into the area rug from its coolness. She looked up at him. "The perfect gentleman would turn around now, not unless you want to get a preview of all that I have," she teased, watching a flush working its way across his face again.

"Uh…sure," he said as he turned his back. He closed his eyes, trying not to pay attention to the sound of her dress sliding down her body, and wishing he were the one taking it off. Or not to imagine the acres of creamy skin being exposed again along with the voluptuous hills and hollows of her body. He shifted on his feet, making his pants brush against the top of them. Crossing his arms, he rested them over the white tank he was still wearing. He squelched more indecent thoughts of her as he turned his head to the side, but kept his eyes away. "You finished?"

"Yes," was her soft reply as she draped the dress over the foot of the bed.  She smiled when he turned around again. There was still a faint flush under his tan. "You're blushing again."

"It's something very hard to break. I can't seem to help it," he said as his eyes trekked from her tousled hair to her painted toes. He had given her one of the smallest shirts he owned and a pair of boxers that she had rolled up since they now hit the upper part of her thigh as the shirt did. "But didn't you say you liked it when I blushed?"

She nodded her head; aware of the way his eyes were traveling up and down her body. "It's a cute reaction especially from a someone with a tan like yours. You light up like a light bulb," she said with a grin.

He pretended to look affronted, but he grinned back as he swept her up in his arms and deposited her back in the bed. Leaning back against the pillows, he pulled her back against him before tugging the quilt back up. He propped his chin on her shoulder. "Now, would you tell me about yourself?"

"Where do you want me to start?" she asked as she settled against his chest, resting her arms over his, which were wrapped about her waist. She meshed her fingers with his.

"The beginning."

Taking a deep breath, she tilted her chin up to look up at him. "It's long."

"We got time."

"All right," she sighed as she closed her eyes and lowered her head. "I was born Angelina Maria Baker, November 25, A.C 204, to the model, Celesta Baker, and the Gundam technician, Howard, on the L2 colony. I was a smart child, being the daughter of the last living person who created the first mobile suits. I was tested, an I.Q test to be exact when I was five. It was above two hundred. I'm a genius, like Randy and your brother, although, I tested much higher then them," she said as opening her eyes again, and looking at the far wall. She took a deep breath before continuing, "But that didn't matter to my mother. I was not what she pictured her child to look. I wore glasses like my father did; I had braces, and millions of freckles spread across my face like a carpet. In a word, I was a nerdy looking child. My mom hated the way I looked and blamed my dad for giving her an ugly child…I don't think I was meant to hear that, but I did…I was seven years old," she choked out, the memory bringing tears to the backs of her eyes.

Anger rose from her mother's insensitive words. Damien ground his teeth together before he pressed a kiss on her hair. "Go on."

Swallowing, she took another deep breath before continuing, "My parents divorced when I was ten, my mother hated the scrap yard. She said it wasn't fitting for a model to live in a place like that and it was a place that my dad felt home at. I did too because I could fiddle around with the parts in the yard. I could put things together in a flash. I was also put in an accelerated school program, so I was already several years ahead in school. I was with kids three, four years older than me. So on the divorce papers it says irreconcilable differences. I was allowed two weekends a month with my dad, the rest of the time, I lived with my mother. I hated it…she didn't love me, really, because I wasn't what she wanted me to be. I wasn't a miniature version of her…the little beauty queen…I was a brain far more advanced than her. I endured hours of verbal abuse, so by the time I started adolescence, I was incredibly insecure about the way I looked…but when I was at my dad, and when the Maxwells would come to visit, I was happy…" she said, a wistful note in her voice.

"They became your "family."

"More or less. Chris, Jonathon, and David treated me like a little sister, and Randy was the sister I always wanted. Duo was a second dad to me, who loved me, just like my real dad did…and Hilde, she was my mom. A real mom, who made me feel like one of her own…those were the happiest times in my childhood and adolescence," she said a smile crossing her face, "It made me never want to leave my dad's house. I was content there because there, I wasn't ridiculed for being bright, but encouraged to learn as much as I could. It was also that time, that I had surgery to correct my vision. My retina's were becoming detached, so I surgery was the only way to fix them. I still had to wear glasses, but I was given contacts. I was thirteen. My freckles were also starting to fade, which was nice because the boys would tease me, very nicely about them. Jonathon used to run his fingers on my face, connecting the freckles, and then he would ruffle my hair and say I was going to be a gorgeous in a few years once they faded. I laughed when he said that because it was already ingrained in me by my mother, that I would never be beautiful."

"He was right."

"But I didn't believe that then, not with the constant barrage by my mother. When I was fourteen, the braces came off and my freckles were down to a few that bridged my nose and cheeks. I was also skinny as hell. I also didn't fit in very well with the kids I went to school with either. They could all really share their gifts and tell the world what they could really do. I couldn't because what I know, what I can do, would make me the target for a number of things. And they thought that I thought I was too good for them to share my gift, but it wasn't that I didn't want to. I was shunned by them, making me a loner all because of what I can do."

"What can you do?" he asked as he gave her hands a reassuring squeeze.

Raking her teeth over her lips, she closed her eyes. "I could build another MS, just like the Gundams if I wanted to. I'm the daughter of a man who helped bring them about. It makes me very valuable and very dangerous. I can design them, I could even improve upon the original designs of the original Gundams plus the two Tallgeeses," she replied softly. Letting out a sigh, she opened her eyes again. "So, you see, what I know could destroy everything. Nothing major, that I know will have good come from it, so I'm more or less hidden away on L2.  There, I'm safe. My gifts can't harm anyone if I work in a scrap yard and repair shop. But the little things I can do, aren't enough to satisfy anyone either. I'm isolated because of it…couple that with my mother's harping on my looks, it made me very miserable."

Damien remained silent. He would have never had guessed that she was even smarter than his brother. She hid it so well, but at the same time, to know what she knew…it did make her a hazard to the society in which they lived, in which their fathers had worked so hard for. "Not only is she insecure about her looks, she's afraid of what she knows, of what she can do." "Do you hate your gift?" he asked quietly.

"No, I don't hate it. I'm lucky to be as smart as I am, but what I don't like, is hiding it. Your father's all know about my "gift" and so does the Lady. There is a file on me because of it, but no one says anything about it, and I'm supposed to act like it doesn't exist. I didn't ask for the knowledge of being able to build mobile suits, but I was. When I was younger, I used to think it was a curse to be born with it because there was no way it could be put to use. It made me a threat, so it was kept quiet. And it has to stay that way because technically I'm not supposed to tell anyone because they could use them to get to me…so you can never repeat what I've told you…I'll get in trouble for telling you my secret…" she said as she turned her worried filled eyes towards him.

He cupped her cheek with one hand. "You have my word that I'll never tell anyone, but I will someday have to tell my father that I know. At this point, it shouldn't be kept from me, I just want to know who you really are, and this is part of you."

A tremulous smile crossed her lips. " I understand. Thank you."

Smiling, he pressed a soft kiss on her lips. "Is there more?"

She turned around again, settling against his chest. "Even though I was no great beauty, I did date…but I was only a means to get a glimpse of my mother. She liked being the center of attention and the more guys I dated, the more she lorded it over me that I was just a nothing to them. I had begun to retaliate by using my sexuality, which my mother said that would be the only way I would get someone, to draw attention to myself. I had learned well…my mother was an excellent teacher. Her words had ceased to hurt me by the time I turned sixteen. I grew a thick skin towards her barbs and all the pain and rage…I buried deep inside. But it was already in me that I would never be gorgeous like her and never have someone. A guy would marry me for my brain and nothing else…that was my only asset…The real me, however, was buried so deep, Jonathon was the only one who could really pry it out of me…he cared so much about me…And Chris and David were much the same…I felt special because I had three handsome guys, who loved me for who I really was, not who I pretended to be all the time."

"Maxwells seem to be blessed with luck when it comes to understanding women," Damien sighed as he leaned his head back. "It's something I wish I had, but that's for later, I want to hear more about you."

"When I was seventeen, I graduated from L1's top university. At the same time, I petitioned the courts to let me live with my father instead of with my mother…it was a costly process, but I finally got my wish. But it wasn't without the screaming and the name-calling. Duo and Hilde came, as well as the rest of them… for support. My mother was dragged out of the court and she hissed something at me that got Hilde out of her seat and ready for blood…my father and Duo and to hold her back, for she would have taken the chair she had been sitting on to my mother," she replied as she closed her eyes again. "I was finally free of my mother…but not of the things she had said to me for most of my life…so you wonder why I refute your words when you say that I'm beautiful, I have a hard time believing them…and it's not because I don't want to, but no one has told me that before…Jonathon, Chris, and David don't count because they're like brothers to me, but you're the first guy who ever told me that."

"And it's true. You are extremely attractive, but there's more to what's outside. It's what's in your heart that counts. And I see a very strong woman, who has been able to crumble the walls that I've kept up for a long time and to make me feel so intensely about her…that it scares me. You're the first and only girl to affect me that way. And it makes you special…you have a presence that I can't ignore even if I wanted to…and that makes you special. And Jonathon's prediction did come true…you've become a gorgeous woman outside and in. And I think you're a lot prettier than your mother."

Angelina felt like crying again. She had no idea what effect she had on him, that he would feel so strongly about her. "That's why he fought me so hard. He's scared of strong emotions because he's been burned once…but I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen to him again. He feels for me just as much as I do him," she thought with an inwards smile. She turned towards him again. "Thank you for understanding who I am. And thank you the most for caring about me like you do."

He smiled into her tear filled eyes. "I'm always going to care about you. I know it takes a lot of courage to tell me what you had to, but I appreciate that you trust me with it…it makes me feel good about myself…and I haven't felt that way in a while. So, I should thank you too, Angelina."

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she threw her arms about his neck, hugging him tight to her. She buried her face against his neck as she felt his arms tighten about her, holding her close. She leaned away again and kissed him hard.

He was startled by her kiss, but it didn't stop him from returning it with wholehearted enthusiasm. His back slid down the pillow behind him until he was on his back with her leaning over him. Sliding his hands down to her waist, he pulled her on top of him.

The material of his pants felt good against her legs, bared by his boxers. She could feel his thumbs rotating over her hipbones, while his fingers tapped underneath them.   She parted her lips against his as his tongue slid over it and between them. It sent shivers down her spine, making her react by pulling herself higher against him.

Damien couldn't stop the growl that reverberated in his throat as her curving figure glided up his. His fingers tightened on her hips before they boldly slid over her boxer-clad rear under the warm blanket.

She gasped as his warm hands slid over her posterior. His heart beat strongly against her chest. Tugging her lips free of his for the moment, she looked down at him as her hair fell down the sides of her face. "Thank you for making me feel wanted."

"You're welcome. Thank you for trusting me," he replied as he looked up into her face. The silkiness of her hair brushed against his cheeks. Tilting his head up, he kissed her again.

Smiling against his mouth, she pressed herself as close to him as she could get.

And his body reacted to each press and rub of hers. His fingers dug more into her resilient flesh.

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"You know he should be up by now," Quatrina muttered as she tapped her foot impatiently outside her brother's door.

"I think it's best to leave him alone, Quat," Mira replied with a smile, having felt the extremely strong emotions pouring off of Angelina and her brother.

"Nonsense, he always gets up early since he has so much work to do," the only russet haired Winner child replied with a snort. Her hand touched the knob.

"And I'm telling you, that you should let him sleep," Mira sighed as she caught her sister's hand before it turned the knob.

"Mira, it's his habit. You know he doesn't like to break them," she said as she shook her hand free of her little sister's.

The eighteen year old sighed again and entwined her fingers behind her back. "Don't say I didn't warn you…"

Quatrina rolled her deep violet eyes and pushed the door open. Her mouth fell open. "OH MY GOD!"

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Damien pushed Angelina off of him in one fluid motion to behold the shocked look of his twin sister. "Quatrina, what the hell are you doing?" he yelled at his slack mouthed sister.

"I could ask you the same thing," she snapped back.

"I told you leave it alone and you got more than you bargained for, Quatrina. For being as smart as you are, you sure don't listen to reason when it calls for it," Mira said, some disdain written on her pretty features before she turned away and started down the hall. "But then again, it was worth seeing the look on your face!" she laughed.

Quatrina's face turned scarlet at her sister's remark. Avoiding her brother's icy aquamarine gaze, glared once at the copper haired girl in his bed, before she stuck her chin up and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Angelina regarded the entire scene with horrified amusement. She snickered into the pillow once the door made the windows rattle. "I must say, that was an auspicious entrance…and couple that with the look she just sent me…" She burst into outright laughter.

Damien shot her a droll look. "I fail to see the humor in this."

"Didn't you see the look on her face? She looked like she had been hit with a two by four."

"Quatrina does not believe in…what we were doing."

"And does that matter to you?" she asked, her tone serious.

"It does and it doesn't because I know why she does, but I'm also not as narrow minded as her."

"Would your parents care?"

"Not too much. My dad won't like it, but he won't say anything about it."

"Do you regret being caught?" she asked softly as she leaned up on her elbows to look at him. Her silvery eyes regarded him carefully.

Staring straight into her eyes, he smiled and shook his head. "No. I don't," he replied, giving her a tender kiss. He lifted his lips from hers. "I would probably do it all over again because her expression…was worth the laughter."

The infectious grin and the mischievous light in his eyes made her burst into laughter all over again.

A/N: Here it is! I know it took longer than I said it would, but it's here. There will be an epilogue, so stay tuned. And look for the next part of Out of Control, coming soon! XOXO!!