Chapter 245: Chapter Two Hundred And Forty Four
The deep, dark hours of the night slowly took over the Benson mansion. The small oil lamp on the table had burned out, plunging the master bedroom into total darkness. The fire in the stone fireplace had died down to cold, grey ashes. Because of this, the air inside the large, spacious room grew very chilly.
Damon and Camilla were both fast asleep on the bed, keeping a polite, safe distance between them.
However, as the cold wind blew softly against the large glass windows, the temperature in the room dropped significantly.
Deep in her sleep, Camilla felt the freezing air. Her sleeping body naturally sought out a source of heat. Completely unaware of her own actions, she slowly shifted her weight. She left her empty, cold side of the bed. She rolled over the invisible boundary line they had set in the middle of the mattress.
Even in his deepest sleep, Damon’s body was always alert to his surroundings.
Suddenly, he felt a heavy feeling pressing down on his left side.
His eyes snapped open in the dark room. His first, instant reflex was to prepare for an attack. He tensed his shoulders and readied his arms.
But as his eyes quickly adjusted to the pale, silver moonlight shining through the window, he relaxed. There was no assassin in the room. There was no danger.
It was just Camilla.
She had rolled over to his side of the bed. She had pressed her soft body flush against his hard side. She snuggled deeply into his ribs, burying her face into the warm fabric of his sleeping shirt, desperately seeking warmth from his body heat.
Damon lay still. He felt the soft, steady rhythm of her breathing against his chest. He felt her small hands resting lightly on his stomach.
A sudden wave of panic hit his mind. He remembered her strict rules. He remembered how angry she could get.
"If she wakes up and finds herself hugging me like this," Damon thought to himself, his internal voice filled with serious worry. "She will definitely think I pulled her over here. She will accuse me of taking advantage of her in the dark. She will scream at me and call me a hypocrite."
He decided he had to move her back to her side of the bed before she opened her eyes.
Damon slowly, very carefully, lifted his right hand. He placed his hand gently against her
shoulder. He intended to push her away, just enough to roll her back over to the cold side of the mattress.
He applied a light, gentle pressure. He pushed her shoulder slightly.
But Camilla did not roll away.
Instead, the moment she felt him trying to push her away from the warm heat, she reacted with stubborn resistance. Even in her deep sleep, she refused to let the warmth go.
She quickly wrapped her arms tighter around his waist. she held him tightly, locking her body against his. She threw her right leg over his thick thighs, pinning him down to the bed like an anchor.
Damon froze. He could not push her anymore without waking her up.
Then, Camilla moved her face against his chest. She frowned deeply in her sleep. Her delicate eyebrows pulled together into an angry, fierce scowl.
She opened her mouth slightly and murmured in her sleep.
"I will bite you," Camilla mumbled softly. Her voice was thick with sleep, but it carried a very serious, clear threat.
Damon stopped breathing for a second. He stared down at her sleeping face in the moonlight.
"Did she just threaten me in her sleep?" Damon thought, completely surprised.
He looked at her fierce little frown. He imagined her dreaming about fighting a giant mercenary, or perhaps fighting off a hungry dog trying to steal her food. Even when she was unconscious, she was still the fierce fighter who refused to be pushed around.
Damon could not hold it in.
He let out a very low quiet chuckle. The soft, genuine sound rumbled in his chest.
"She is impossible," Damon thought, a warm, affectionate feeling spreading through his heart. "She threatens to bite me just because I tried to move her."
He gave up on his plan to push her away. He decided to just let her stay exactly where she was.
Damon noticed that she was shivering slightly from the cold room. The thick wool blanket had slipped down to her waist when she rolled over.
He slowly reached his hand down. He grabbed the edge of the wool blanket. Very gently, making sure not to disturb her tight grip on his waist, he pulled the blanket all the way up to her chest. He covered her small body, shielding her from the chill of the night air.
As he tucked the blanket around her shoulders, he noticed her hair. The beautiful, messy strands had fallen forward, covering her face and getting close to her mouth.
Damon carefully lifted his fingers. He gently pushed the red hair away from her face. He tucked the long curls neatly behind her small ear, exposing her clear skin to the moonlight.
He stopped moving his hand. He let his fingers rest just an inch away from her cheek.
He looked down at her.
"She is so beautiful when she’s sleeping," Damon thought to himself. His internal voice was soft, filled with awe.
In the quiet darkness, without her sarcastic remarks or her cold glares, she looked peaceful. Her long, dark eyelashes rested gently against her cheeks. Her pink lips were slightly parted. She looked like an innocent angel, completely different from the terrifying woman who slapped maids and threw knives.
A very strong, overwhelming urge rose up inside Damon’s chest.
He looked at her forehead. He wanted to lean his head down. He desperately wanted to press his lips against her forehead. He wanted to give her a soft, gentle kiss, just to show her how much he truly cared for her.
He began to slowly lower his head toward hers.
But halfway down, Damon suddenly stopped.
He hesitated.
His logical brain quickly kicked in and stopped his romantic heart.
"Let’s not do that," Damon warned himself in his mind. He quickly pulled his head back up, resting it firmly against his own pillow.
He thought about her violent reactions. He thought about her sharp tongue.
"If I kiss her right now," Damon reasoned internally, feeling a cold sweat of fear, "and she happens to wake up at that exact second... she will definitely kill me. She will not hesitate. She will just stab me in the chest if she finds out I even thought of kissing her without her permission."
He knew she valued her personal space. He knew he had not earned the right to kiss her yet. He had to be patient.
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