Chapter 47 47
Damien watched Lila carefully, his gaze never leaving her as he stood just a few steps away. There was something in the way she carried herself now... something broken, yet still brimming with a defiant strength. She hated him. That much was clear. But Damien knew something she couldn't deny: no matter how hard she tried to distance herself, she couldn’t resist the intimacy they shared.
The quiet moments when she would let go of her walls when she would give herself to him in ways she couldn’t fully explain. It was her weakness, and Damien knew exactly how to exploit it.
He was patient, waiting for the moment when the walls around her heart would crack open just enough for him to slip through. In the end, it wasn’t about love for him... it was about control. She thought she could control her emotions and keep her distance, but Damien knew better. He would use her desires against her until she was his, completely and utterly.
Lila shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. She could feel his eyes tracing every movement she made. It unnerved her. The familiarity in the way he looked at her made her feel like she was the only thing that mattered, and that terrified her. Damien had always known how to make her feel like she was seen—completely and utterly seen—like nothing else in the world could distract him from her. It made her feel powerful at times... but more often than not, it made her feel vulnerable. And she hated feeling vulnerable around him.
“Is this what you wanted?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly despite her best attempt at sounding composed. “For me to be your plaything again?”
Damien stepped closer, his presence suffocating yet magnetic. "You still think this is about power, don’t you?" he asked softly. “But it’s more than that, Lila. You’re so much more to me than a pawn. You know that, deep down.”
Lila shook her head, willing herself to ignore the flutter in her chest that his words caused. “Don’t lie to me. I know exactly what you want.”
“Do you?” Damien asked, his lips curling into a smile that sent a chill down her spine. He knew exactly how to toy with her, to provoke her into a response. He could see the way she clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as though trying to hold herself together.
“Yes,” she replied, a quiet fire in her voice. “You want to own me. To control me.”
Damien’s eyes softened for a brief moment, the slightest hint of something else flashing in them. It wasn’t empathy; it was understanding. A part of him knew exactly how she felt. He had been the one to break her, after all. But he didn’t regret it. The brokenness in her—her resistance—was what made her so fascinating, so enticing.
“You think I want to control you,” he said, voice almost a whisper, his fingers brushing the side of her cheek. The sensation sent a shiver through her. “But the truth is, you let me. You always have. I just... help you give in to what you want.”
Her chest tightened. She wanted to pull away, to push him out of her space. But there was something about him, something she couldn’t escape. Every time he was close, she felt like she was losing herself, and she didn’t know how to stop it.
“You don’t get it, Damien,” Lila whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “I hate you. I hate what you’ve done to me. I hate how you make me feel like I can’t breathe without you.”
Damien’s lips parted as if he were about to respond, but he didn’t. Instead, he reached out, his hand gently cupping her face, tilting it upward so their gazes locked. His thumb stroked the side of her cheek, his touch both tender and possessive.
“I know,” he said softly, almost regretfully. “But you don’t hate me. You hate how much you need me.”
Lila’s breath hitched at his words. He was right. Deep down, she knew he was right. She could never escape the way he made her feel, the fire he ignited inside her. No matter how much she tried to deny it, the desire was there, burning bright and hot, as much a part of her as her hatred for him.
“You’ve always been mine, Lila,” Damien murmured, his lips brushing against her ear. His breath was warm, sending a jolt through her as he spoke. “You were mine the moment I touched you. And no matter how much you fight me, no matter how much you push me away... you’ll always come back.”
Lila clenched her fists, resisting the urge to give in to the emotions swirling within her. “I don’t want this,” she said, her voice breaking, but there was a pleading quality to it that betrayed her. She pulled away slightly, her heart racing.
Damien let her retreat just a step, but only just. “You don’t have to say it, Lila,” he said, his voice calm and confident. “I feel it. You want this. You want me. And I’ll make you realize it.”
Her heart slammed in her chest. She could feel the heat rising between them, the tension so thick it was suffocating. She wanted to run, to escape. But there was nowhere to run, no place where his presence didn’t reach. The bond between them, no matter how broken, was unbreakable.“I’m not like you,” she whispered harshly, her voice almost a plea. “I don’t want this control. I don’t want to feel like I have no choice.”
Damien stepped in closer, his breath hot against her ear. “You have a choice, Lila. But you know, deep down, you’ll always choose me. You’ve always chosen me. Every time.”
The words stung. He was right. As much as she tried to resist, as much as she hated him for it, she always found herself pulled back to him. It wasn’t just the intimacy, the raw physicality of their connection. It was something deeper. Something darker.
Lila shook her head, trying to silence the voice inside that was telling her he was right. “Stop,” she whispered, almost pleading. “Please.”
But Damien wasn’t done. He reached out again, his hand slipping around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She gasped, feeling his body heat sear through the thin fabric of her clothes. Her breath caught as his lips hovered just above hers, his voice barely a whisper in the space between them.
“You’ll never walk away, Lila,” he said softly. “Not from me.”
And as his lips brushed against hers, the fight in her seemed to drain away, piece by piece. She wanted to hate him. She tried. But with every touch, every word, she was slowly unraveling, losing herself to him.