Page 4 of Lords of Ruin: Owned

My stomach tightens. “What condition?”

He slows the car as we approach a pale pink house. “You’ll owe me,” he says simply, his tone leaving no room for argument.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Owe you what? You already own me until graduation. I’m not giving you more than that.”

Damien parks the car and turns toward me, leaning in just enough for his scent—something woodsy and sharp—to wrap around me like a second skin. “That’s where you’re wrong, Pet.You owe me your life, remember?” He flashes a wicked grin, and before I can say another word, he reaches across me, grabbing the seatbelt.

“Damien, I can—” My protest dies in my throat as his fingers brush against my shoulder, his touch deliberate and slow as he pulls the seatbelt across my chest. His fingertips grazing the swell of my breast. I let out a shaky breath, watching as he clicks it into place.

“Safety first,” he murmurs, his voice low and teasing as his ice-cold stare drills into mine.

I swallow hard, my pulse pounding in my ears, just as the sharp cold breeze knocks into my body as my side door is opened.

“Um…excuse me, weirdo.” A shrill voice that sounds like a southern belle if it wasn’t for the bitchy undertone cuts through the moment, but Damien keeps his eyes on me. “D, what is she doing in my seat?”

“She’s sitting in it.” Damien snaps, his body leans across mine, but I keep my eyes trained on Isabel.

Her blonde hair has auburn highlights in huge curls that frame her perfect, perky face and button nose. She’s wearing a pink cardigan a size too small that shows off her perfect b-cup breasts and a distressed jean mini skirt that barely covers anything. Yet, that’s not what annoys me about her. It’s the fact that Isabel Cambell has made my life a living hell for as long as I can remember, and she has always looked good doing it.

Isabel’s face twists. “ D, you’re seriously going to let the dog sit in the front?” She snaps, her ice blue eyes narrowing in on me, and before I can stop myself my hand is already racing to the seat buckle to unhook the belt, so I can scurry to the back.

Damien’s finger wraps around my wrist, and I pause looking up at him with caution, but his eyes are blank staring at Isabel. “ Don’t be classless Isabel. I waited outside for you to get dressed for thirty minutes this morning. Now walk to the other side, and crawl into the back.”

Well smack my ass and call me Sally, because the low rumble of Damien’s voice as he orders Isabel has my pussy clenching, and cold air from outside rushing inside has nothing on the heat radiating across my body.

Isabel sucks her teeth, and slams the car door so hard I flinch and a growl rolls through Damien’s chest as she stops to the other side of the car. Damien leans into my ear, and whispers. “Make sure you take your punishment like a good girl. Don’t want an untrained pet, do we?”

A squeak leaves my lps, but Damien is already pulling away leaving a cold front in his wake, but I couldn’t care less because the heat of his words burns me alive.

The drive to school is quick and silent, besides the 21 Pilots music playing low in the background and the clacking of Isabel’s nails against her phone as she texts in the back seat. I sit there, fidgeting with my hands on my lap, trying not to think too hard about Damien’s presence next to me. But it’s impossible. Every shift of the car, every small glance he throws my way, sends my mind spiraling deeper.

Why is he being nice?

Damien Sterling, of all people, isn’t nice. He’s cruel, cold, and calculating—especially when it comes to me. Every look he’s ever given me has been filled with disdain, and every word he’s ever spoken to me has been sharp enough to cut. But this morning? He flirted with me. He promised not to tell Vincent and Cast that I originally disobeyed their orders. He even drove me to school. He buckled my seatbelt, for God’s sake.

It doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense.

I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, my chest tightening when I see the tension in his jaw. He looks calm on the surface, but I can see the cracks beneath. The way his hands grip the steering wheel just a little too tightly. The way his shoulders are drawn up, like he’s holding something back.

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to keep my thoughts from spiraling further, but it’s no use. I know why Damien hates me. I’ve always known. It’s the reason why I can feel his resentment even when he’s silent. It’s the reason why his dark eyes always linger just a second too long, like he’s silently wishing me to disappear, or die.

I carry his mother’s heart.

Rosemary Sterling’s heart is beating in my chest, keeping me alive, while she’s…gone. Dead. She gave up everything so I could have a second chance at life, and no matter how grateful I am—or how much my dad reminds me that I didn’t choose this—I know Damien will never forgive me for it.

How could he? How could anyone?

To him, I’m a living reminder of everything he lost. Every time he looks at me, he doesn’t seeme. He sees his mother. He sees what should have been hers.

The worst part? I can’t blame him. If I were in his position, I’d hate me too.

But then why is he being nice? Why is he flirting with me? Why does he have a nickname for me? I mean he calls mepet, which we have to work on because that’s a terrible nickname, but still it is something he calls me. Just me. I mean he even smiled at me this morning.

My lips spread into a small smile, but I’m jerked out of my daze by the sound of the passenger door opening. My head snaps up, and there he is—Damien, standing there with one hand on the door, waiting for me to move. The sight of him steals my breath, his dark grey eyes fixed on me with a calmness that feels anything but.

Behind him, Isabel sucks her teeth loudly, her perfectly arched brows pinched together as she glares between Damien and me. She yanks on Damien’s shoulder, eyes narrowing in on his partial attention. “We’re going totalkabout this later,” she hisses, her tone dripping with annoyance. “And you.”

My eyes lock with hers, a chill crawling up my spine.

---