Page 41 of Devotion

“Question one, what’s your real name?”

“Damien,” he answers quickly. “I’d never lie to you.”

There’s a lump in my throat, and then a heaviness that sits in the pit of my stomach like a brick. All because, despite myself, despite knowing his nature, I believe him.

“Why me?” I ask, jumping right into the next question.

“It’s simple, but I’m not sure you’d understand.”

“Try me,” I shoot back, and my eyes are drawn to his throat when he swallows.

He hesitates, and I find that fascinating. Until now, everything he’s done has been brazen, steeped in arrogance.

“It’salwaysbeen you, Layla.”

Now, I’m the one who can’t stop staring. I focus on his eyes, only to regret it because… damn. It’s like he’s got me under some sort of spell.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

His gaze drifts lower, to my lips, then back to my eyes. “It means… we aren’t what you think we are.”

I think of a short list of everything I know the two of us to be, then I ramble it off. “Strangers? Polar opposites? The embodiment of good and evil?”

The last analogy is almost impossible to say, knowing I’m definitely no angel. But by comparison, considering allhe’sdone, I don’t correct the mistake.

“Yes,” he says plainly, as if that’s the collective answer to each of those options. “We’re not nearly as different as you think we are, and… we’re not strangers.”

My eyes narrow at him, filled with suspicion, I’m sure. But then he reaches toward me again, like he’d done at the bar, and I nearly lean into the warmth of his palm when it rests on my cheek. I’m unsettled when a rush of familiarity flashes through me.

“It’ll come back to you,” he says. “And when it does, I’ll be right there, helping you make sense of it all. Right there to make sure you regain everything that was taken from you.”

I’m not sure if it’s the two drinks I’ve had that are finally going to my head, but his riddles are dizzying.

“Why aren’t you afraid I’ll turn you in?” I ask, stating my final question with far less force than the others. That word comes to mind again. The one that sums up everything about him.

Disarming.

Staring, his eyes half closed, he gently bites down on his lip. Then, he leans in as his hand falls away from my face, and I’m frozen.

“Because I think we both know I’m far more valuable to youfreethan I’d ever be behind bars,” he says, and I don’t move, don’t speak. “Every time I look at you, even though you have no idea I’m watching, even though you have no idea why you can’t shake the feeling that we’re connected… I see it in your eyes, Layla. You’ll never be able to just… let me go.”

He finishes, and a mixture of heat and conflict races through me. He leans in, and I don’t move, don’t scream or protest. Not even a little. Not even when he’s close enough that heat from his breath breezes over my skin.

“You’re my obsession, Layla. My dark angel. And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he whispers, my heart matching the thunderous rumble of bass as the volume in the room seems to climb higher and higher, consuming me in its vibration.

Warmth awakens the side of my neck, and I’m shocked by the feeling of being kissed there. Not only do I not pull away, but I’m fighting the urge to let my eyes fall closed and completely drown in whatever this moment is.

“Once you finally let go, you’ll feel it too,” he whispers. “The madness. The obsession. I promise you that.”

Something in his voice makes me believe him. Makes me believeallof it. And that point is proven when he pulls away to remove his suit jacket, gently placing it over my lap. His mouth clasps to the side of my neck again, and my heart beats wildly when I realize why he decided to cover me.

“What are you doing?” I gasp, gripping the edge of the seat as he reaches between my legs.

“Giving you a taste of what we could be,” he whispers against my skin, pulling my underwear out of the way. “There’s nothing you could ask for, nothing you could ever need that I wouldn’t give you.”

Beneath the covering of his jacket, his fingers easily slip into me. As he discovers just how wet our sordid conversation has made me, he sighs.

“That’s it, angel. Let me take care of you. Let me give you what you need.”

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