Chapter 29 #3
After a few moments, the footsteps begin again, edging closer.
In a few seconds, I’ll be dead.
At last, the survival instinct has disappeared. I can’t find it in me to run again. I can’t even find it in me to move. The blood has started to gush out of me again, and I close my eyes, hoping the bleeding will end me before Vale does.
The footsteps stop, and I don’t even have to raise my head. I already know I’ve been found.
“Well, well, well,” murmurs a deep voice. “It’s cute, how hard you try. But don’t think you can run from me. I own you.”
My entire body shudders as I hear the words, spoken in that warm, soothing tone, tinged with a glint of humor. I can’t move. Can’t even make myself open my eyes anymore. All I can do is breathe him in as his arms surround me, and he lifts me up gently from my hiding place.
My head falls back against his chest, and the last thing I remember, before everything fades to black, is the feel of his finger, sliding down my cheek, wiping away a tear.
Damien.
-
I wake up in a strange room. It’s large and white with accents of what that one home décor magazine I read calls taupe.
I’m in an absolutely massive bed, and my hands rest on the softest sheets I’ve ever felt.
There’s a huge TV on the other side of the room, and the walls are made entirely of windows.
A long, quilted bench rests at the foot of the bed, and on either side of me are sprawling couches.
On one of them sits Damien.
His head is in his hands and he sits perfectly still, as though he’s been here for a long time. But when he hears me move, making the sheets rustle slightly, he looks up quickly, then walks over to me and sits on the edge of the bed.
I can’t find my voice, and he doesn’t speak either at first, only trailing a hand through my hair and down my cheek.
I close my eyes, letting myself drink in the feel of his touch. I never thought I’d be touched by him again.
As his hand trails down over my neck, I actually moan, then blush furiously as the sound escapes me. His hand stills and he chuckles, before reaching down and kissing me on the nose.
“I’ve missed those cute little blushes,” he says in a low voice that makes my stomach clench with need.
He kisses me again, this time on my lips, and I bite down on a whimper of frustration when he withdraws.
But as consciousness fully returns to me, a swirl of thoughts crowds out—momentarily at least—my need for his touch.
He’s still stroking my tangled, matted hair when I manage to lift a heavy hand up to touch my stomach. At once he pins it gently to the bed.
“You’re all fixed up, my pet,” he says. “Take it easy, now. And remind me never to ask you to sew up any of my clothes.”
He smirks at me but I’m too disoriented to understand the joke. Where’s Vale? Wasn’t he hunting me? How was Damien the one to find me? Were he and Vale…?
I still can’t manage a sound, but Damien seems to read my suspicion, and his mouth sets into a grim expression.
“You’re lucky you’re too weak to get punished right now,” he growls. “But the moment you’re better, I’m going to take you over my knee and give you such a walloping…”
He interrupts himself, appearing to notice my confusion and pain.
“I guess I do owe you an explanation,” he mutters at last, his hand finding its way once more to my hair.
When he goes back to stroking it, I forget all about my suspicions and hurt.
I’m lulled into a deep state of relaxation, nearly moaning again as he drags his finger over my hair, my face, my neck.
But then he speaks, and his revelation is so shocking I jerk up hard enough that he pins both my arms to the bed.
“I killed Vale.”
I stare up at him, breathing hard, as his hands keep me pressed against the bed.
You killed Vale?
I still can’t speak, but he reads the question in my eyes, and smiles tightly.
“Didn’t have a choice, did I? He was trying to kill you.”
“But… but…” The words leave my throat, sounding loud and weird in my ears, like thick sludge. “He’s been your friend since grade school…”
I find myself quoting the tabloids.
Devil, a corporation made up of five powerful businessmen who’ve been friends since grade school. Friends since grade school… friends since grade school…
The words echo in my mind. I can’t understand it. He killed Vale. His childhood friend. I’ve never had a childhood friend. I would have given anything to have had a childhood friend.
“He was trying to kill you,” he repeats. “Didn’t have a choice.”
He speaks in an abrupt tone, as if trying to mask his pain.
“But I’m not your childhood friend,” I force out, wincing from the pain of talking.
His face relaxes into a smile.
“No, thank God. You’re much better than that. You’re my pet.”
He kisses me again, lightly at first, but it seems to awaken a hunger in him, and he deepens it, his teeth closing in around my lower lip.
“Fuck. I need you so bad,” he grunts, his cock hard against my legs.
I arch toward him, desperate desire making all the rest fade. The pain, the doubt, the betrayal.
He tears himself away from me, chuckling again.
“Not now, pet. You need to get better first. But you’re already on your way.
” He slides a hand down on my stomach and I sigh beneath the soothing warmth of his touch.
“You’ve had a blood transfusion, you’re all patched up, and you’re going to be on your feet again soon.
” He leans into my ear and his hot breath makes me shiver with need. “You’d better be. That’s an order.”
I nod, and he seems to find the seriousness of my expression humorous. “I want you to relax,” he whispers. “You’re safe with me. Do you understand that?”
I hesitate, and he gazes down at me, the humor in his eyes softening.
“Listen to me, my pet. I don’t want you to worry your little head about a thing.
But you do need to know that you’re safe.
Vale is dead, and the rest of us know you’re innocent.
He’s the one who stole the nanochip, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
He’s been fucking with us for the past year.
He’s been working with Angel to take us down.
They planned the Cole murders, knowing that the death of the entire family would get a whole lot of people invested.
Then they set up the nanochip handover with the idea of siccing the Feds onto us.
You weren’t supposed to be involved, but you were in the right place at the right time, and he decided you were the perfect scapegoat.
He was going to let you take the fall. The nanochip never actually left Angel’s hands, but he planted it in your things after Angel took you.
It’s thanks to you that we discovered Vale’s betrayal.
So, you’re not responsible for the death of a childhood friend.
You’re responsible for the death of a traitor, and you’ve saved Devil. ”
I hang onto his words with baited breath, my eyes growing wide as the puzzle is at last pieced together. But mostly, I drink in his reassurances. You’re safe. We know you’re innocent. You’ve saved Devil.
I close my eyes, overwhelmed by it all.
“Go to sleep, my pet,” he murmurs, his hand once again stroking my hair.
“Are you… are you going to stay with me?” I breathe.
“Always.”
-
Six months later.
There’s a knock on the door, and my eyes fly open. The clock at the bedside reads 8:15, and I spring up guiltily, realizing I’ve overslept. That’s going to earn me a punishment, but the thought doesn’t fill me with dread anymore. Only with desire.
I’ve come to understand that dark, hungry look in his eyes.
To yearn for it. To feel safe in the arms of the man who once caused me to spiral.
It’s taken me a few months to accept his explanations, his apologies, but at last I believe him when he says I’m his.
When he promises that he’ll never let me go.
The door opens onto Damien holding a breakfast tray.
There are waffles, strawberries and whipped cream, but my eyes stay glued to the cup of coffee, topped with a thick layer of foam on which cinnamon and chocolate have been sprinkled liberally.
I know it’s called a cappuccino, but I can’t bring myself to say the words.
I may have been living at Damien’s apartment for the past six months, surrounded by unfathomable luxury, but I guess I’m still an Oakley girl at heart.
He puts the breakfast tray on the bed, looking at me with a little smirk.
“Still in bed, are we?” he purrs, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. “Looks like I’m going to have to punish you.”
I stare longingly at the coffee. My captivity, followed by these months of happiness with Damien, have led to my becoming addicted to it. I’d never really drank coffee before, but now, I can feel my temples start to ache with the first signs of withdrawal.
“I’ll go easy on you this time,” he smiles, kissing my forehead. “You can have your coffee, but then, watch out.”
My stomach clenches at the threat, and I’m already regretting his leniency. I want him now. I gulp down the coffee so fast that some foam gets on my lip. Then I close my eyes as the pain recedes from my temples.
“You’ve got a moustache,” he chuckles, leaning in and licking it away. Then his eyes grow dark as he pushes the breakfast tray to the side. “Alright, my pet. Let’s play a game. Hide-and-seek. You’ll hide and I’ll seek. You’ve got exactly ten seconds.”
I jump up, my heart still hammering almost as hard as it used to. I feel safe now, perfectly safe, but he still has a way of making my heart race, of causing goosebumps to pebble on my skin. I can’t get used to giving over control to someone else, but he doesn’t give me a choice.
Ten… nine… eight…