Page 100 of King

The fire wasn’t accidental.

His words make my body stiffen but there's one more thing we need to discuss before I make my decision. When I asked how he knew, he said Lea told him after the spiked coffee incident at MOCHA. Said she read the police report and she had an inkling I didn't know. As such, it was ammo. There has to be more to that though.

The shower stops, and when Damien is back in view, he's looking more irresistible than when he left. He has a towel around his waist, water drizzling down his body like he barely dried off.

"Do you know anything else about the fire?" My eyes trail the droplets of water streaming down his abs. God, even the mystery surrounding my parents isn't enough to stop my dirty thoughts.

"If I knew more, you'd know." That swoop of hair hangs over his blue eye. "Doubt you'll be able to figure it all out from The Grove."

He has a point. A very valid point. Yet there's something that still holds me back. A sigh escapes my lips, “Damien, I don’t even know if I can trust you."

“When I want something I don’t take it lightly." His chest drops, making his way over. "I'll handle Lea. I’ll handle the Archibalds."

“Fine!" There's so much more in Eden that I need to do. If I don't go back I'll be closing the door on so many answers. So many possibilities. If Damien's by my side like he says he is, this could all be worth it. “But not for you.”

“No?” The bed sinks under the weight of his body as he climbs on, crawling towards me. He pulls the blankets back, revealing my naked body to him. A growl comes next, “Not even a little bit?”

Damien's finger trails my left leg, circling my knee as he plants kisses on the other. His touch sends the butterflies in my stomach in circles and I'm biting my lip, but I don't give in. Never. "Not even a little bit."

He positions his head between my legs. A spot that's becoming his favourite. “Not even if I invite you to the masquerade?"

“Damien King wants to take me to the ball?" I can’t imagine us at a school dance. And now, here he is asking me to be his date. I guess all it took was a gunshot.

“If you’ll have me." He nibbles the inside of my thigh, my core already longing for his touch.

I laugh, his kisses brushing a ticklish spot. “Lea’s going to freak out.”

“I know.” He looks up at me, taking my breath away for the millionth time. “But we're not thinking about her right now.” Climbing up my body, he leans in. “Right now I’m going to remind you why you’re coming back to Eden.” With one last look around my face, our lips connect again.

Pulling the towel from his waist, I know there's no stopping us once Damien's on top of me. He turns into an untamed animal, primal and urgent. But there's a gentleness to his touch this time. I'm not sure if it's because of my wound or if something in him changed, but it's new. Consoling.

While he usually bites and pulls at my skin, marking me where he seems fit, this time he keeps his eyes on mine. He's watching every expression, catching every moan as I react to his stiffness inside me. When he makes me come, his staff bottomed out against my wall, he presses a pillow into my side. The soft pressure combined with the sheer ecstasy of my orgasm dulls the pain of my spasming abs.

This is the closest we've ever come to having more than sex. Whatever we're doing feels like an R&B song. A love poem. And I want that feeling again and again.

We spend the weekend in similar horizontal positions. Vegging out in the lavish room between gentle sex and Damien playing nurse. When it's time to leave, Damien softens the blow by taking me shopping for the dance.

It's not until two women are tying up my dress behind a velvet curtain that I realize this is the beginning of the Damien King experience.

“If she likes the Valentino and the Jimmy Choos I'll take both,” his voice comes from outside the purple curtains. “She can decide later. Excuse me, I said peppermint tea, not whatever this dirty water is."

Damien keeps surprising me. He’s still an asshole but an attentive one. Still demanding and spoiled but if he wants to show that he cares, this a hell of a start.

“You look beautiful, miss,” one of the ladies says, she’s staring at me in the mirror, awaiting my response. “Do you want your boyfriend to see?”

“No.” I shake my head, amazed at my reflection. “He can wait for this.”

Twenty-Eight

Damien’s Lambo comes to a lull in the Archibalds’ driveway.

“I can’t believe you convinced me to come back here.” I look out the window, the mansion welcoming me back to luxury.

“I did offer you my dad’s beach house near the Acres,” he says.

“Yeah but that would mean leaving Willow at ERA.” I try to make out if I can see her from a window. “And there’s no way I’m letting them get the satisfaction of chasing me out.”

Damien reaches behind us for a long bag in the back seat, the one containing my new dress. He won't tell me how much it cost. Considering the state of the store and some of the price tags I got a peep at, something tells me it's worth more than everything I’ve got.

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