Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen

I chewed quietly on my cookie as I took in Damien's appearance for what seemed like the first time. His strong and gorgeous face was just as emotionless as the first time I saw him, but I'd learned to read his emotions through his eyes. His nearly trimmed beard was never unkempt, and his blue eyes never seemed to lose their spark. How amazing it must be to never age. He sat in his chair, leaning slightly back, giving off the impression that he was comfortable. But I knew differently. He was extremely uncomfortable with the situation we were currently in, of course he didn't show that. He laid claim on me when I was twelve, telling me that I could never have a man other than him. When I was twelve, that terrified me to no end, but now I didn't mind it.

What girl would really hate being doted by a gorgeous billionaire vampire? Sure, him being a vampire used to scare me, I thought he would force me to turn on my eighteenth birthday, making me his for centuries. But he laid that fear to rest pretty much immediately, promising he would never do anything that I didn't want him to. For years, I thought he was saying that for my benefit, but he stayed true to it. He only kissed me when I showed interest in being kissed, and he only made love to me when I asked him to.

"Damien... The day you came back, to yell at me for not eating, you told me you weren't going to turn me into a vampire. Does that mean that you will eventually tire of me?" I asked him slowly, after putting thought into the question.

"I will never tire of you, Bast. The reason I said I wouldn't turn you, is because you explicitly said you didn't want to be a vampire." Damien responded, the electric in his eyes crackling like lightning ready to strike. "I did not yell at you, I have never raised my voice to you." He said with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, showing he was angry at the very notion.

"How do you know you will never get tired of me, if you haven't been around me for very long?" I asked kicking myself mentally. I just know that my curiosity will be the death of me some day.

"Bast, listen to me, carefully please." He said, moving his chair closer to me, and leaning forward so our faces were only inches apart. "I waited over two hundred years for you to be born, then I waited nearly eighteen more for you to be an appropriate age. I know I will not tire of you, because I know without a doubt, that you are the woman I want. Do you understand this?"

I nodded slowly, leaning back to put distance between us. The anger in his eyes was growing bigger and more evident by the second, making me regret asking. My heart began to thump like it was seconds from exploding. "I'm sorry, I just don't get how someone like you can invest so much into a human like me." I whispered, feeling my lip start to tremble. I hated myself for getting so emotional about nothing, how can he still want me after seeing what a baby I am?

"Oh kitten, no. Don't cry." He whispered, caressing the side of my face so softly, it only made me cry harder.

"I'm sorry." I whimpered, wiping feverishly at my tears.

"Don't be sorry for being human." He responded as he put one hand on the small of my back, then pulled me to the edge of the desk. He leaned forward and kissed away my tears, not seeming to care that it only made me cry harder. "Why are you crying, little one?"

"You'll just get mad at me." I whispered, trying to catch my breath between sharp inhales.

"I promise you, I won't."

"I just... You've been in your thirties for over two hundred years, and I'm still a teenager. You've amassed multiple lifetimes of wealth and power, and I haven't even graduated from high school yet. You're strong and powerful and I'm a fucking crybaby. There are millions of women you could have picked from, so why pick me?" I blurted out, refusing to look up at him. I couldn't see his eyes, but I knew the lightning in them was furious.

He waited until I'd caught my breath before leaning back to look at me, a slight smile on his face. "Because I love you, silly girl. I knew I loved you from the moment I laid my eyes on you. I know this won't make you feel any better, but I like that you show your emotions. It's something I seemed to have lost the ability to do, long ago."

Once he finished speaking, he picked me up and carried me to a room on the other side of the office. The room was big, with a huge bed in the center. All the windows were covered in thick black curtains, making the room pitch black, despite the beautiful and sunny day outside. He set me down softly on the bed before taking off my boots, then laying down, with me on his chest. He rubbed my back softly, not speaking another word as I slowly but surely started to drift off.

"Damien?" I mumbled. I tried my hardest to fight against sleeping, but found that I was much more exhausted than I thought.

"Yes?" He whispered against my hair.

"I'm just afraid that once I let myself fall for you, you'll decide it was a waste of time, and leave me." I whispered as I put my arms around him and nuzzled into his chest.

"I know, little one." He said as he brushed the hair away from my face, and kissed me softly on the lips. "Does it make you feel any better to know, you are the only I've allowed to drink from me?"

I gasped softly in surprise, "Really? But what about my mom?"

"That woman isn't good enough to lick the dirt off my maids shoes. I paid someone to do it." He snorted in amusement.

I don't know why it made me feel so special, but knowing I was the only one to drink Damien's blood gave me an odd sense of satisfaction and complacency. I could help but smile as I drifted off to sleep, snuggled against him and without a worry in the world.