Chapter 59: Chapter Fifty-Nine

"Our king is a kind one to be sure!" Anastasia gasped out, then crouched down, her blood-red eyes baring into me. "He brought lunch," she said in a low, sadistic hiss. Before she could lunge forward at me, Cristóbal put his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head.

"No, my love. She is not lunch, sadly." He said woefully, before turning to look at Damien, who was standing just in front of me. "Not while he's around."

Anastasia giggled, then jumped at Damien, who responded with a snarl before he threw her to the ground. I couldn't see much of the fight that ensued as before I could blink, Cristóbal had me by the throat, slamming me against the wall. His red eyes aglow with amusement as he slowly inched his face closer to mine, and smiled broadly. His smile was a contorted blasphemy, much as his being. The corners of his lips writhed as vigorously as I did, trying to escape his grasp.

"Leave him alone!" I gasped out with great effort through the hold Cristóbal had on me, crushing my windpipe.

"You are to blame for this, Bastet." He whispered softly in my face, lifting his free hand to show me what he held. It was a shard of glass, glistening from the light of the chandelier, like a brutally gorgeous nightmare. "I want you to scream for me, little kitten." Cristóbal said softly before shoving the shard into my abdomen, watching my face in demonic enthrallment, loving my every whimper and gasp of pain.

I wanted to scream, and I wanted nothing more than for this to be over. But I couldn't give him that satisfaction. I'll be damned if my last moments were spent, giving this man what he wanted.

Cristóbal snarled angrily and tossed me down, then turned and walked out of the front door with Anastasia.

I watched them for a moment, to make sure they left, before looking for Damien. I felt my heart stop when I saw he was right next to me, his eyes open but unseeing, his throat torn out.

"No!" I screamed sitting up straight in bed, covered head to toe in sweat, my body shaking from a mixture of fear and agony. My eyes were open, but all I could see was the image of Damien's bloodied corpse burned into my mind.

"Bast, you're okay." Damien whispered in my ear, pulling me into his embrace, holding me tightly as I cried. "Was it that dream again?" He asked me, after waiting for me to calm down.

I nodded as a response, nuzzling my face into the crook of his neck, wishing for the image to dissipate. Calling it a dream, was like putting it at a caliber it had already far surpassed. The scene that replayed itself in my head every night was like a trap of the mind. Throughout the nightmare, a voice in my head was whispering devious nothing's to me. But it wasn't little nothing's, it was the truth. As much as I may hate it, and wish it was false, it wasn't. If I hadn't made Damien let me go to the meeting, I wouldn't have gotten hurt. And If I hadn't gotten hurt, he wouldn't have ordered Sam to kill him. Everything that had transpired was my fault.

This was the ninth night in a row that I've had this nightmare, but it never got easier to live through it, nor did it get easier to shake it free when I finally woke up.

Damien sighed and stood with me in his arms, walking onto the balcony where he set me down softly. He left for a few minutes before he came back carrying two mugs, and handed one to me before he sat down.

"Is it ever going to stop?" I asked him, looking down into my coffee. It was as black as my heart felt, after seeing Damien in that way.

"I wish I could give you a definitive answer, Bast. I really do. But I've no experience with this, so I truly do not know." He responded softly furrowing his brow, his eyes downcast, filled with unspoken pain.

"It's not your fault, Damien. I can see you blaming yourself for this." I said, putting my mug down to take his hand in mine, before kissing it softly. I moved my chair closer to his, then put my legs over his lap, bringing his hand close to my heart. 'You're right, it's not his fault. It's yours.' The voice in my head snickered.

"It's less fault of yours, than it is of mine." He responded, running his index finger up my leg slowly, tracing a spiral design until he met the hem of my shorts.

It wasn't until now that I'd noticed we hadn't had sex since the night before the meeting, over three weeks ago. I smiled softly and sat in his lap, putting my arms around his shoulders, grinding my hips against his. He'd been holding back, afraid of pushing me or hurting me, his own wants and needs tossed into the wind.

"Kitten, I-" He started to argue, but was cut off as I brought my lips to his, swallowing his words before he could speak them.

"It's my turn." I whispered into his ear, before nibbling softly on the lobe. He responded by carrying me back into the bedroom, setting me down softly, positioning himself on top of me before taking off his shirt.

I tried to undress myself, but his weight kept me pinned, unable to move. He smiled softly when he noticed my struggle, and watched me squirm for a moment more before he pushed down my shorts, then took off my shirt. Once we were both naked, I put my hands on his chest, pushing him down on the bed, positioning myself on top of him.

"Kitten..." He trailed off, putting his hands on my hips, his eyes filled with worry. We'd never done it this so quickly, without him making sure I was ready to take him first. I shook my head and put my hands over his, telling him to let me take the lead.

I leaned down and kissed him, slowly lowering myself down, gasping out as his erection pushed my core to its boundary. No matter how many times I took him, it always felt like the first time, the soft hollow pain always superseding the pleasure that inevitably followed. I moaned slowly rocked myself back and forth, the fire in my core spreading from the tips of my toes, to my fingertips.

Damien moaned softly, holding my hips as his breathing quickened, his eyes slowly turning red as he watched me pleasure myself. I could tell he was holding himself back, stopping himself from taking control as he wanted to. But he allowed me to do what I wanted, watching me in self-indulgence, his facial expression showing his approval.

I leaned down bringing my lips back to his, putting my hand on the back of his head and moaning as I climaxed, my walls milking his erection as he came, filling me with his seed. He held me until my spasms ended, waiting until I'd caught my breath before he carried me into the shower.

After I'd gotten dressed, Damien pulled me to sit next to him on the bed, his eyes shining as he spoke. "I have a surprise for you."

"Again?" I asked with a sigh. He always had surprises for me, and I could never give him anything in return.

"Well yes, but first I want to ask. What would you like to do first? Married before we conceive, or conceive before we marry?"

I thought about this for a moment before responding. "I think conceive first. Divinity has already been here for a while and I don't want to force her to stay longer than she has to." I responded honestly, the reminder that Damien and I were going to be having a child, filling me with happiness.

"So would you like to do it tomorrow?" He asked me, hopefully his voice betraying him as he tried to keep his smile hidden.

"Sure. What's the surprise?" I asked, my curiosity unable to be contained any longer.

He smiled and stood, taking my hand as he led me to the door. Before he opened the bedroom door, he put one of his hands over my eyes. After he opened the door, and led me to the banister, and chuckled softly.

"Happy birthday, my love." He whispered in my ear before removing his hand.

"Surprise!" A collective yell rang out as I saw all of my friends gathered in the main foyer, smiling up at me.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed when I saw everyone, my heart beating rapidly in excitement. I turned to face Damien who shrugged slightly, stepping to the side, with his eyes wide.

"Happy birthday!" Valerie screamed as she ran up the stairs, with Sam and Sinclair following close behind her.

"Val!" I cried as I ran to her, enveloping her in a hug, grinning widely when my eyes landed on Sam and Sinclair.

"Happy birthday, little human." Sinclair said softly, so none of the humans below could hear him. I giggled when I saw that Sinclair was wearing sunglasses, hiding the color of his eyes.

"How did you do all of this, and when?" I asked Damien as he wrapped his arm around my hips, leading me down the stairs.

"I arranged most of this while you slept, the rest Sam and Sinclair did." He responded, then took a few steps back, making way for the group of my friends who ran up to me.

I turned around to try to find Valerie, and was shocked when my eyes finally landed on her. She was standing off to the side, kissing Sam.

"I didn't even realize today was my birthday." I whispered to Damien as he put his arm around me, leading me down the stairs.