Page 37 of Aine

“I’m notmakingyou do anything,” I argue.

Damien scoffs before running his hand through his hair. He opens his mouth to say something but seems to think better of it and snaps his jaw shut with a quiet click. I try not to be scared by his changing eyes, the pupils expanding and contracting.

“This isn’t your fucking office! You can’t just march in here like you own the place,” he finally says, returning to his original complaint.

I concede with a nod of my head.

Olivia slips off his desk and fixes her clothes. She looks uncomfortable as she eyes the two of us, the frustrated look on her face conveying just how annoyed she is that Damien stopped.

I suck on my tongue as she steps forward and places a tentative hand on his arm.

“Damien?” she asks, capturing his attention.

He spins, and I take advantage of the distraction and wipe my sweaty palms on my shorts. She recoils when she sees his face and drops her hand before rushing out of the room. The door slams shut behind her, trapping me alone with Damien.

I should probably follow, so I stand to leave.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” I say, not wanting to get caught in the crosshairs of his temper. This was a stupid idea.

“Sit,” Damien orders, pointing to the chair I just stood from.

I shake my head, refusing.

“Aine!” he snaps, stepping forward and grabbing my arm.

My body stiffens at the contact, pain shooting through me as he touches my burned skin. I try to jerk away as he drags me into the chair, my hands pushing against his chest as my butt makes contact with the seat.

He finally releases me when I let out a yelp, pulling back like he’s the one being hurt. His eyes dart between his hand and my arm, his frown growing as he lifts my sleeve.

“Why are you so red?” He releases the fabric before bending and inspecting my legs.

I watch him lean in and poke at my thigh, his actions surprisingly gentle. Despite my better thoughts to pull away, I remain still as he pushes up my shorts to view the healthy skin underneath.

He crouches by my feet and cups my thigh, his hand covering practically the entire surface of it. A second later, he lifts the limb to look underneath. My back presses into the chair as he holds my leg in the air, the angle awkward.

“Does this hurt?” he asks, backing up his words with a firm poke.

I grunt and yank my leg out of his grasp. “Yes!”

Damien returns to full height before stepping away. I watch as he returns to his desk and begins fixing the papers he pushed to the side for Olivia. The memory leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and I suck in my cheeks to prevent myself from making any visible facial expressions.

I can’t tell who won that stand-off, but I’d like to think it was me. I never asked him to stop touching her. He did that all on his own.

“Can I have some of your blood to heal it?” I ask, fumbling over the words in an attempt to get them out before I lose the confidence.

Damien doesn’t immediately respond, but I can see his back muscles flex through his thin shirt. He continues to fix his desk before turning to me. His eyes are black, the pupils fully expanded. I look away, afraid to make eye contact with his beast, but watch out of the corner of my eye as he approaches.

My pulse races as he drops to his knees in front of me, his hands gently spreading my thighs before shuffling between them.

What? My pulse races as I try to figure out what he’s doing. Damien’s never acted this way around me before, and I don’t know what to expect as he leans in and licks my thigh.

Heat coils in my lower abdomen as his soft tongue grazes my sensitive skin, but I ignore it and move out of his reach. He wraps his arm around my leg to stop me, holding me in place as he runs his tongue from the side of my knee to my inner thigh.

I try to squeeze my legs together to stop him, but his body’s too much in the way. Damien continues to trail his tongue upward until he reaches the seam of my shorts.

“What’re you doing?” I gasp, palming his forehead and pushing his head back.

Damien grumbles, the pupils still dilated but slightly less so. He holds my gaze as he leans in and bites my skin. His teeth aren’t nearly as painful as they were when he forced his mark on me, but they still sting against the sunburn.

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