Chapter 13

Damon came to my room later that day to find me shivering and dazed from what happened. His first reaction was to ask if I was okay before bundling me into his arms and tucking me into his side on my bed.

“Another nightmare?” he asked as he kissed my temple. I nodded in response not trusting myself to speak words that will make sense to him.

“I think I’ll just move in here so that I can always be with you and keep the nightmares at bay” he said, his thumb rubbing circles at my back.

“You don’t have to do all that for me, besides, you can’t stay here. The Academy might even get you expelled if someone found the both of us in my room” I said to him. The last thing I needed was him leaving this school on my account.

He was the only one that made staying here bearable for me and I wasn’t going to jeopardize that for any reason, nightmare or no nightmare.

“Nobody is expelling me Liz” he said with his lazy voice as if he was bored of what we were talking about “But it’s fine if you don’t want me to move in, trust me I respect that a lot. I’ll just have to sleep here then slip out in the early mornings.”

I smiled at that “You really do like me that much don’t you?” I teased him.

He showed me just how much he liked me by claiming a short and passionate kiss from my lips. “Just like that” he said and kissed me again.

It was impossible to not fall in love with this man, he was kind, sweet, caring and so confident in himself which was the direct opposite of all the boys that used to be in my school because of that I never dated anyone, not like they were interested in me in the first place. The only boy that had asked me out did it because it was a bet.

“What are you thinking about?” Came Damon’s worried voice.

I shook my head immediately and answered “Nothing really” before laying back on his chest where I wished I could stay forever.

My stomach grumbled just as a comfortable silence fell on us which made me hide my face in his chest.

“You skipped lunch” he said, and it wasn’t a question. I nodded suddenly feeling ashamed for not feeding myself, I just was not a food person to be honest and could go days without food in my stomach.

“Go shower so we can go have dinner at the cafeteria” he said, raising his head and me in the process.

“But I hate going there” I whined but he wasn’t having any of it.

“I know, but you can’t hide away forever. It doesn’t make sense to not eat just because you don’t want to go to the cafeteria and have a lot of people looking at you” he said softly as he faced me, taking my face in his hand and rubbing his thumb along my cheek which I found soothing.

I didn’t even know when I said “Okay” to him. He helped me off the bed before laying down with his crossed arms under his head.

He watched me as I gathered my things before slipping out of the door. Thankfully, the bathroom wasn’t as crowded as it normally was in the mornings.

I let the cold water soothe all the places that felt like it had been burnt even though there were no marks on them whatsoever to show for it. I lathered my skin but kept my hair out of the water, as the cold water splattered on my skin it reminded me of Damon’s cold touch and I soon found myself craving for it.

I imagined it was his hand caressing my back and then my breast as the water washed off the foam from my body. I dried my body as I stepped out of the shower stall before my thoughts would drive me to the brink of intense need.

When I got back to the room he was still in the same position that I left him, only this time his eyes had a hunger in them as he looked at me with just my towel covering my body. At this moment if he asked for all of me I would readily give it to him.

I was heading to the wardrobe when the side of my towel caught something and in a split second the entire towel was on the floor. For some reason I didn’t bend to pick it up immediately, instead I stared at Damon as his eyes remained glued on my body.

My throat became dry, and my breath shortened, I stood there still, hoping that he would make a move and put us both out of our misery.

He finally stood up, too slow if you ask me and walked toward me making every point of my body tighten in anticipation.

When he finally got to me I thought I was going to explode with so much want for him raging in me.

“Elizabeth…” he called out like he was in pain as he stood in front of me, his voice very faint and silky at the same time.

When he didn’t make any move I stepped closer to him, my nipples brushing his torso and making his breath come put in short gasps.

Just when I thought he was finally making a move, he bent instead and retrieved my towel from the floor before tying it around me.

He bent down and whispered “I’ll see you in the cafeteria in five minutes” before leaving.

To say that I was disappointed was the biggest understatement of the century. I laid on my bed thinking of all the things I could have done wrong; I mean it was clear in his eyes that he wanted me just as much as I wanted him so why wasn’t he making a move?

Remembering he asked me to go to the cafeteria I stood up with a loud groan before pulling out my clothes from the wardrobe and quickly put my hair in a huge bun at the nape of my neck.

I knew he hated when I packed my hair, but I also hated when he left me in the room with my hormones screaming for his touch, we were even.

I followed the crowd that was walking to the cafeteria to have dinner, bending my head so one would see me. I made straight for the only available table at the back where I wouldn’t be easily seen by people, it was a good hiding spot.

Well it turned out that it wasn’t the most hidden part of the cafeteria because soon I saw Annabel get up from her seat and head my way.

I looked back to see if she was going to see someone else but no, it was just me at the back. She stopped in front of me and banged her hand on the table to announce her presence. Slowly I looked at her only to flinch from the anger that was evident from her face.

“You think you’ve won don’t you?” she spat, looking at me with so much disdain in her expression.

“I don’t think I have done anything” I said, gesturing my hands in the air but seemed to infuriate her further.

“Don’t play coy with me! You think you can just snatch up Damon and keep him to yourself? I’m not even sure he likes you, trust me…naturally he would never look at you twice “ she said but that wasn’t the first time I would hear those words.

Everyone has always thought that I didn’t deserve the nicest things, even my own mother thoughts so, “I know” I said slowly and that seemed to throw her off guard, that I readily agreed with her.

“Look I’m sorry for whatever pain I caused you, if you like Damon you can go after him and if he shows any interest then I’ll let you two be. It’s not my intent to fight over him with you” I explained to her, but I don’t think it was what she wanted to here because she grabbed my hair just like last time.

“So what now! You suddenly think that you’re better than me? Acting like I wouldn’t stand a chance with him if I didn’t get your permission” she sneered, her grip on me becoming tighter as she spoke.

“No that’s not it” I rasped in pain, why did she have to overthink everything I said to her?

Suddenly there was a commotion around us before a deep voice said, “Let her go.” I sighed in relief when I recognized Damon’s voice and felt Annabel’s hand leave my hair abruptly. Maybe this will show him why I never want to visit the cafeteria even if it was at the expense of my stomach.

“Damon it’s not what you think, we were just having a conversation” Annabel said, stuttering in the process when Damon’s angry form came into our view.

“What did I tell you the last time Annabel?” he asked in that cool voice that meant he wasn’t very far from exploding.

“To stay away from her” she muttered, and I felt bad for her, yes I liked Damon, but I would never want to be on the receiving end of his anger.

“What happened?” he asked, crossing his arms in a casual expression like he was giving Annabel a chance to explain herself.

I watched Annabel’s mouth open and then close again with no words coming out of them. Just like lightening he suddenly had her pinned against the wall behind her, his hand tightening dangerously around her neck.

“Damon!” I yelled, getting up quickly from my seat and making my way towards them, “Please don’t hurt her” I cried.

He didn’t even spare me a glance “Why shouldn’t I? She’s just food to me so why would she think it was okay attacking you like that when I have so obviously warned her against it in the past?”

I gulped, “Just let her go, she didn’t cause me any real harm” I said in her defense even though my head hurt real bad because of her.

“Hurting someone’s esteem is far dangerous than any physical harm” he said, his hand tightening around her neck and cutting off her airflow in the process.

Knowing that there will be real damage caused if I didn’t act quick, I touched his arms gently and stood on the tip of my toes to kiss his lips briefly “I’m totally fine Damon, just let her go she’s not worth it.”

I wasn’t sure what worked, my words or the kiss but slowly his hand unwound from her neck, and she gasped for breath. Paying a now coughing Annabel no mind, he turned to me with that lovely expression he always reserved for me and said something I never thought I’d hear.

“You’re driving me crazy Liz and sadly I love every bit of it.”