Chapter 163: Chapter 165: The Reunion
DAMIEN’S POV
Damien sat behind his desk with his eyes closed, his head resting against the high-backed leather chair. Exhaustion pulled at him like a physical weight, but sleep was impossible.
He hadn’t slept in over thirty-six hours. Hadn’t eaten since yesterday’s breakfast. Hadn’t done anything except work and think and torture himself with the image of Aria’s face in that warehouse.
The fear. The horror. The way she’d looked at him like he was a monster.
And maybe he was. Maybe that’s exactly what he was....a monster who’d fooled himself into believing he could have something pure and good like Aria.
Julian had come by this morning, concerned about his mood. The entire office was walking on eggshells, terrified of setting him off. He’d nearly fired his VP of Operations for a minor mistake in a report....something he would have normally corrected with a curt email.
But nothing felt normal. Nothing felt right.
Because Aria wasn’t here. Wasn’t in his office, wasn’t in his bed, wasn’t in his life the way she should be.
And it was his own fault. He’d shown her the monster, and she’d run.
The sound of the office door opening made him tense, but he didn’t open his eyes. Probably Marcus again, come to report on Victoria’s condition or to ask if he wanted dinner.
"Damien."
His eyes flew open.
Aria stood just inside the doorway, and the sight of her hit him like a physical blow. She looked exhausted....dark circles under her eyes, her face pale, her expression uncertain.
But she was here. She’d come back.
"Aria," he said, his voice hoarse from disuse.
And then she was moving, crossing the room in quick steps, and before he could process what was happening, she was climbing into his lap, straddling him in his chair, her arms wrapping around his neck.
"I’m sorry," she sobbed into his shoulder. "I’m sorry, Damien. I know that I shouldn’t have....I know that I shouldn’t have run away. I’m sorry."
His arms came around her automatically, holding her close, feeling the way her body shook with sobs.
"Shh, shh, Aria, stop crying. It’s okay. It’s okay." He pressed his face into her hair, breathing in her scent....jasmine and vanilla and home. "I know that I scared you. You shouldn’t have had to see that."
"No, I wanted to," Aria pulled back to look at him, her eyes wet with tears. "I wanted to. I just didn’t expect it to be that.....that intense."
Damien looked at her tear-stained face and felt something crack in his chest. He lifted his hands to cup her face, his thumbs gently wiping away her tears.
"I understand, Aria. I’m sorry regardless. But....." He needed her to hear this, to really understand. "You need to understand that this is also part of who I am, Aria. If you want to be with me...." He rested his forehead against hers. "You have to accept this part of me too. Because this is me. This is who I am."
He looked into her eyes, saw the conflict there, the fear warring with love.
And then he kissed her eyes, soft and tender. Kissed her forehead. Her cheeks. And finally, her mouth.
"I love you," he said, holding her face in the palm of his hand. "And I will do that to Victoria again, and to anybody who tries to harm you. You are mine, Aria, and I won’t allow anybody to harm you in any way at all. Do you understand?"
Aria looked at him and nodded.
"Good. Because I have missed you." He kissed her neck, feeling her pulse jump beneath his lips. "And I couldn’t sleep last night because you weren’t in the bed with me. What have you done to me, Aria?"
He kissed her mouth again, and this time it wasn’t gentle. This time it was desperate, hungry, a man drowning and finding air.
When he finally let her go, Aria was breathing hard while he looked deceptively calm, as if he hadn’t just kissed her breathless.
He looked at her with such hunger that he saw her eyes widen, saw her consider running.
Good. Let her see how much he needed her. Let her understand that her absence had been torture.
His mouth descended on her neck, and he whispered against her skin, "Aria."
The sound made heat pool in her core.....he could see it in the way her pupils dilated, the way her breathing changed.
"You can’t leave me," he said, his teeth grazing her pulse point. "Your body is addicted to my touch. It listens to me. It responds to my touch."
He kissed just above her breast, and as if to confirm what he’d just said, her nipples hardened, visible even through her top and bra.
"You are mine. You became mine the moment you stepped into my house. Do you agree with that, Aria?"
His hand was already making its way under her skirt, fingers trailing up her inner thigh.
Damien smiled when he felt what she was wearing....or rather, what she wasn’t wearing.
"Did you wear this for me? Wore the skirt so as to make undressing you very easy for me, Aria?"
His finger brushed her clit through the thin cotton of her panties, and he felt her entire body shudder.
"Well, someone is wet for me already. Aren’t you a naughty girl, Aria? Already wet before I even touch you properly?"
He pulled her top over her head in one smooth motion, then reached behind to undo her bra. Her breasts spilled free.....heavy and round with pink nipples that were already pebbled with arousal.
Damien immediately took one nipple into his mouth, and Aria nearly screamed.
He sucked hard, his tongue swirling around the sensitive peak while his hand found its way back to her pussy. This time, he pushed her panties aside and pinched her clit directly.
Aria’s hips bucked, a sound like a sob escaping her lips as electric pleasure shot through her body.
Damien looked up at her, his mouth releasing her nipple with a wet pop, and smiled wickedly.
"Do you want me to stop, Aria?"
Aria looked at him with her eyes half-closed with pleasure, her lips parted, her face flushed. "No. No, please don’t stop."
Damien looked at her and asked wickedly, his finger still rubbing her clit in slow, torturous circles. "Then what do you want, Aria? Tell me what you want."
Aria couldn’t come up with a coherent word because her brain felt foggy. Damien had, at some point, inserted two fingers into her and was now pumping them in and out of her pussy slowly.
So slowly.
Deliberately slowly.
Aria nearly cried because she wanted him to go faster, but Damien intentionally made it slow, drawing out her torment.
"I want.....I want you inside....inside....."
Damien curled his fingers to find her G-spot, and Aria screamed.
He looked at her pleasure-filled face and asked again, "You want me where, Aria?"
Aria sobbed it out. "I want you inside me, please. Please, Damien."
Damien looked at her face....flushed with arousal, eyes glazed with need, lips swollen from his kisses.....and said, "Well, don’t you think you need to earn that, Aria?"
His fingers resumed their torture, the in and out increasing slightly but still not enough.
"You left our bed for over twenty-four hours, Aria. I couldn’t sleep." His pace increased fractionally. "I couldn’t eat." Faster now, but still controlled. "Because you weren’t there beside me, where you belong, Aria. So don’t you think you need to be punished for that?"
"Damien, I’m sorry. I won’t run away again. I won’t leave you again. Please, just....."
She couldn’t finish her pleading because Damien suddenly stopped and removed his fingers from her pussy.
Aria sobbed. "No, no, no, please, Damien, please. I need....I need to....."
She looked at him desperately.
"I know what you need, Aria. So be a good girl and come get it yourself." His eyes were dark with promise and punishment. "So here is what we’re going to do. You are going to stand up, take off my belt, unzip my trousers, and take out what you crave. Then work for what you are asking for, Aria."
