AMELIA POV
"Amelia?"I heard Damien say my name but it felt as though he was calling me from the far end of a tunnel. The breakfast tray was heavy and my arms were trembling with the strain of holding it, but I hardly noticed. Hell! At that moment, the whole world could have crashed and burned and I still would not have noticed.All of my attention was focused on his body. Damien's lithe, naked body was every bit as I had imagined it, and I had imagined it quite often, especially on the day I thought we would have an actual wedding night. He was perfection. He was perfectly toned and muscled, just as I had expected. The smart suits and long sleeved shirts he wore all the time had not been able to disguise that fact. Standing next to the open window as he was, the early morning sunlight bathed him in a golden, warm glow. The droplets of water still clinging to his skin shone and glittered like tiny, many faceted diamonds.My eyes, of their own volition, traveled down his body, and rested on the spot between his legs. I felt a flush creep up my cheeks. I gulped. I didn't know any man could get to be that huge.He seemed very much at ease standing there, naked, just as if he were putting on clothes. Why on earth hadn't he dived for something to cover himself with? And more importantly, why couldn't I get myself to move? Why was I standing there, rooted to the spot like a fool? Damian cleared his throat loudly and my eyes flew back up to his face.There was a flicker of something like amusement in his eyes, and then it was gone, replaced by his usual unreadable expression. I opened my mouth to apologize, but I could only utter a long, drawn out sigh. My vocal cords seemed to be somewhere in the region of my fluttering heart. My powers of speech had deserted me."Hello? Are you going to say something?," he asked.Damian took two steps forward, extended his hand. For one heart stopping moment, I thought he was going to touch me, and then he snapped his fingers right in my face. I flinched as the sound brought me back to reality, and my cognitive functions were reconnected with the rest of my body.He nodded slowly. "Better. You've been as still as a statue while I've been calling your name over and over again. For a moment there, I thought you were comatose.""Sorry," I croaked.He raised his eyebrows. "What was that? You have to speak louder if you expect me to hear you."As I struggled to form a coherent apology, with the towel in his hand, which I had not noticed before, Damian rubbed his head and torso dry. His muscles ripped in a way it was impossible to overlook. He gave the towel a quick flick and quickly wrapped it around his waist."That's better," he murmured. He planted his hands on his hips and regarded me. "You were saying?""That I'm so sorry and- and I should leave," I stuttered."You should," he agreed and I immediately turned to flee. "But-" I stopped in my tracks. "You came here for a reason, didn't you?"For a long, embarrassing moment, I could not remember why I had come into Damain's room in the first place. All rational thoughts had gone clean out of my head and I had been reduced to a mumbling, blithering idiot. Why did he have such an unnerving effect on me? Damian began stroking his hand against his lower jaw as he regarded me.The movement drew my attention to the curve of his lips. I wished he would stop that. It was very... distracting. I shifted uneasily. The plates rattled. The sound reminded me of why I was here."Breakfast," I blurted out. "Breakfast. I- I cooked and came to give you breakfast before you left for work. I'm so, so sorry that I barged in on you like that. I wasn't thinking. I-""You're absolutely right on that score. You weren't thinking. Weren't you supposed to knock before entering a room that isn't yours?"I flushed a deeper shade of crimson at his scolding. I supposed I did deserve a tongue lashing. What I was thinking, barging into his room, and then openly ogling him? The only excuse I could think of for doing the former was that I had been so excited to cook for him."You're right. I was supposed to knock. I'm sorry."He walked over to the dresser, spun the cap off a jar of cream, and without taking his eyes off me, began to slowly rub it on his arms."Just make sure that it doesn't happen next time. You see, Amelia, my bedroom is my sanctum. Here, I'm free to do as I please and that may sometimes involve me moving about in a state of undress. I don't want to spend my time here thinking that the door could open at any moment and that you would walk in to see me butt naked." The image that called up set my cheeks on fire once again. I squirmed uncomfortably. "You wouldn't want to be the one responsible for making me feel uncomfortable in my own house, would you?""No. No. Of course not.""Good.""Uhmm. Where can I drop this?" I asked.He shrugged and gestured around the room. "Look around, Amelia."I spotted a table, and almost ran to it. In less than a minute, I swept the items on it to one side and dumped the tray on it. I spun around and hightailed it out of there just as Damian began to smear the cream on his chest. I slammed the door, leaned against it as I tried to control my rapidly beating heart. When I heard him moving about the room, I fled down the corridor before he could accuse me of actively spying on him.*******************DAMIENI stopped moving and clearly heard the patter of Amelia's footsteps as she ran down the corridor like a bat out of hell. I chuckled, then laughed when I recalled the look on her face. I had been as surprised as she was to find her in my room, but then she had blushed so prettily that I just couldn't resist teasing her, using the incident to my advantage. The bloom of color on her cheeks had been fascinating to watch.The downside of all this was that I was turned on by her bungling, but frankly carnal appreciation of my physique. She had tried to hide it, but those green eyes of hers gave her away every time. Each look she had cast over me felt like a physical caress.I turned away from the door and firmly put thoughts of her out of my mind. I was then confronted with the breakfast tray. I decided to ignore it. I couldn't afford to let her get the wrong impression that I was thawing towards her. I dressed quickly and left for work.****************************AMELIAThe distance from my bedroom to Damian's room suddenly seemed too short. Hadn't I left my room just a second ago? I swallowed nervously and looked back down the hallway. It would be so easy for me to get one of the domestic staff to retrieve the breakfast tray. But then, what would that make me?A coward, said a voice in my head.I nodded. Yes, I would be a coward, running and hiding from my husband in my own home. Who could blame me though?I doubted many husbands scolded their wives and made them feel like silly, errant children the way Damian did. I steeled myself with the thought that Damian had most likely gone to work.It had been over an hour since I had been in his room, and it was unlikely that he would still be hanging around up until now. Still, I knocked on the door and listened. Nothing from inside. I knocked three more times for good measure, each knock louder than the last.Finally, I pushed open the door and went in. I breathed deeply. Damian's perfume saturated the entire room. My gaze flickered to the spot where he had been standing, and my breathing sped up again. If I closed my eyes, I would be able to picture him there, exactly as he had been with every detail intact. I hoped that the picture of a naked Damian would not haunt my dreams tonight.I shook my head to gather my wits and marched to the tray which was exactly in the same position I had left it. I lifted the covers of the plates, already knowing what I would find. I still felt hurt and disappointed though to have gone through all that trouble just for Damian to leave his food untouched.AMELIAAs much as I tried to tell myself that his rejection of my food didn't matter, my mood took a nosedive, and with a sigh, I picked up the tray. As I slowly walked to the door, I looked around the room. This morning, I had been so engrossed with the room's occupant that I had not even spared a glance at the room itself. Damien's room was plush, decorated in muted colors. A handful of paintings hung on the walls. Every item in the room was perfectly in order. It's sterile cleanliness reminded of a hospital room; cold and very impersonal, sort of like Damian. My foot caught in something. I stumbled, regained my balance, but a fork slid from the tray and into an improperly closed chest of drawers right beside me.I set the tray carefully on the floor, peered into the drawer. It was full of Damian's pairs of socks, neatly sorted by color. I opened it, and carefully fished out the fork, taking it carefully so as not to disturb anything. Damian looked like the kind of guy that would
AMELIA"Stop already!" I groaned and clapped both hands to my ear. The banging steadily increased in volume with each passing second. It soon became so loud that it felt as if my head would split open. It rose to a crescendo and I opened my eyes. Still disoriented from sleep, it took a few seconds for me to realize that the banging was coming from inside my own head. I groaned as I sat up slowly, gripping my aching head, which felt as though it would detach itself from my shoulders at any moment. Only bits and pieces of what had happened was what I recalled. I only remembered drinking a lot of brandy, and then calling someone- Damian most likely, and then I must have passed out because everything from then on was a blank. The effort it took for me to remember increased the intensity of the headache. Damn! I could not recall ever feeling this hungover. Had I somehow drunk my way through all the alcohol in the house? It certainly felt like I had.I couldn’t even remember why I was s
DAMIANTHREE DAYS LATER"We're here, sir," the driver said, his voice bringing me out of my swirling thoughts. I opened my eyes to see that the jeep came to a stop in front of the hotel. Finally! I breathed a sigh of relief. I fiddled with my tie and loosened it a little. Today's conference had been more tedious and tasking than the others, and I had to keep up with everything that was said and done. But it was the final day of the three day business conference, thank goodness! All I wanted now was a long, cold shower, a lot of rest and then perhaps something to eat. I got down and headed straight for the elevator. I got a bit irritated when I found that it was in use. I glanced towards the stairs, but I was too tired to climb up them all the way up to the fourth floor where my room was.I fidgeted, transferred my briefcase from one hand to the other as I watched the elevator's panel. Finally, the doors opened and I was face to face with none other than Noah. My fingers clenched on
AMELIAI drove Damian back home, and my mind was conflicted with thoughts. Did he fight Noah because he insulted me? Initially, I believed it was because of a business deal or something. But the anger in Damian’s eyes when he told me what caused the misunderstanding couldn’t be ignored. I wanted to pretend that it didn’t mean anything to me. That defending me in front of Noah was just his usual job as my fake husband. But it was more than that. He’d put his reputation on the line because of me. He’d dropped his usual unbothered act to defend me, which meant a lot to me. “I’m sorry you had to get into that fight with Noah,” I said as we walked into the sitting room. He didn’t look bad, unlike Noah. But he was fuming. “I thought you fought him because of a business deal. He deserved what he got.”“I would never stoop so low to confront him over a business deal. I’m far superior to him, and I would never lose an offer to him.” “That’s true,” I sighed, feeling completely awkward. I was
AMELIAFor almost a whole week after the house party, I was still a major news item in the entertainment section of magazines, newspapers, and blogs. There were talks and speculations on when and if ever I was going to host another party, and if so, who was going to be on the invitation list.I didn't want to pander to the public's wishes, not really. Still, after lazying about mostly at home with nothing to do and remembering how very in my element I was while preparing for the house party, I decided to host another one. But this time, I would take it further, and it would be a big party.A color-themed party was what I opted for, and I began preparations right away. Thankfully, Damian's sprawling mansion had enough space to accommodate any other would-be party crashers. How easy it was for me to organize everything still amazed me."I think you're a natural at organizing events, Ms. Donovan," said the foreign chef I had hired when she and her assistants stepped into the grounds and
NOAHI lengthened my strides, and got into the car and zoomed off before Lucy could think of doing something stupid like following me. Just before I drove past the house, I heard her yell something about me being too drunk to drive.I supposed I was, but I didn't give a damn. I drove with the car windows all wide open to help clear my head. Amelia's party was held at an event center I had been to for a business luncheon, but it was hard to recognize it as the same place. The decorations she had put up for the event had changed the whole outlook of the place. The parking lot was full of cars and I was barely able to find a parking spot. I slammed the car door and stomped towards the entrance. The bouncer recognized me at once and hestitantly allowed me to go in. Lucy was wrong after all. I was not getting thrown out. I was bigger and better than that imposter, Damian. My name and face would get me through any door.The number of cars outside had told the right tale of attendance at t
AMELIA"I'm sorry," I muttered and pulled away.Damian nodded politely but said nothing. I felt my face flush in shame. Damn! I was such a fool. What had I been thinking, attempting to kiss Damian? He had made it quite clear that he wanted no form of physical intimacy with me. Why couldn't I reason or act responsibly around him? It was just that he had sounded so kind, so sincere, and pissed at what Noah had done that I had allowed myself to imagine that we were about to have something romantic. Damian looked everywhere in the room but not at me. I felt annoyed at myself for causing him this much embarrassment. No doubt, from now on, he would be extremely wary of coming close to me whenever I was in an emotionally vulnerable state.I clambered off the bed, wanting to get as far away from him as possible so I could stew in my shame. Then I just stood there as I recalled being in my room. Maybe I could escape to another part of the house. Damian sensed my distress. He got off the bed
DAMIANWith a tired grunt, I pushed the laptop away as my phone rang. The call was from Amelia. I frowned. Why was she calling? Wasn't she in the house? Glancing at the time, I concluded that she had to be indoors as it was very late. Was she calling about the Noah incident again? Maybe she needed me around to talk her out of her mood. Shame that I couldn't comfort her better."Amelia?" I said into the phone.There was no answer for a moment, and I thought she had accidentally dialed my number. Then, I heard the sound of a car zooming past. A scream followed this in a voice I instantly recognized as Amelia's. The scream had me sitting ramrod straight."Amelia?" I called, clenching the phone tightly, worry and panic trying to swamp me. "Amelia, what is going on?"And then I heard something that sent a chill up my spine.A male voice spoke in a low growl, "Stop screaming. You can't get away. Screaming will only make it tough for you.""Please. Please. Let me go. I beg you. You don't wan