Ch 10

LILY'S POV

I was drowning.

Not in water, not in anything tangible, but in Damien's presence, in the air around him. His voice still echoed in my head, and the weight of his touch lingered like an unshakable mark. I didn't know what I expected coming here, but it wasn't this.

I should have turned around. I should have run the moment I stepped off the elevator, the moment I saw the dark, unyielding look in his eyes. But I hadn't. Instead, I had stayed. I had let him in. And now, I couldn't escape the feeling that I had crossed a line I could never uncross.

The penthouse was silent now, but it wasn't peaceful. It was charged with something darker, something I didn't want to acknowledge but couldn't ignore.

"I didn't come here for this," I said, my voice shaking as I tried to make sense of my own emotions. "I'm not—this isn't what I thought it would be."

Damien didn't move. His voice was low, calm, but there was a deep undercurrent of something far more dangerous. "You think you have a choice, Lily?"

I swallowed hard, trying to steady my breathing. I felt exposed, as if every part of me, every vulnerable corner, was on display for him to see, and worse, for him to exploit.

"I don't know want you," I said, my words coming out sharp, defensive, but a part of me feared he could see through the walls I was desperately trying to build around myself. I wasn't as strong as I wanted to be. "and I'm not the kind of person you think I am. I'm not here to—"

"Don't lie to me." His words cut through the air, sharper than I expected, and I froze.

I wanted to deny it, to scream that he was wrong, that I wasn't like this, that I wasn't the kind of woman who could just give in to the kind of dark obsession he was offering. But when I opened my mouth, the words didn't come. There was a weight in my chest, a pull, and I couldn't escape it.

"You're lying to yourself," Damien continued, his voice colder now, his tone almost hypnotic. "You know that everything inside you is screaming for this. For me."

I turned toward him, a sense of urgency bubbling up within me. "No, Damien. I came here because I—"

His dark eyes were locked onto mine with an intensity so raw that it made it impossible to look in those eyes or speak.

"You came here because deep down, you know you need this. You need someone to take control, to show you who you really are."

I couldn't breathe. His words pressed down on me, crushing everything I thought I knew about myself. I wanted to scream, to tell him he was wrong, to run, but my body refused to move. Every part of me seemed to be tethered to him, as though my very soul had been ensnared the moment he spoke.

"You're not the first to come here seeking something," Damien said, his voice soft now, almost conspiratorial. "But you're the first who doesn't even realize how much you crave it. How much you want me. And you'll be the last who leaves through this door, Lily."

I took a step back, my heart pounding in my chest. "I don't know what you're talking about," I whispered, more to myself than to him, but my voice wavered. I knew he was right. I could feel it. There was a part of me, buried deep within, that was drawn to him, a part that wanted to surrender to the darkness he offered.

Damien took another step forward, closing the distance between us. "Stop pretending, Lily," he murmured, his breath brushing against my cheek. "We both know you're already mine. You've been mine since the moment you stepped into this world."

I tried to step back again, but there was nowhere to go. The wall was behind me now, and his body was closing in, trapping me. My heart raced, a mix of fear and something darker. Something that felt dangerously like desire.

"I'm not yours," I managed to say, but the words felt hollow, like I was trying to convince myself more than him.

"You are," Damien said, his voice dark with authority, but there was something else there too. Something more personal, more insistent. "You don't even know it yet, but you will. The moment you stop fighting it."

I trembled, my body betraying me as I fought the pull of him. I didn't want to give in. I couldn't give in. But with every word, with every breath, I felt myself slipping further and further away from the person I used to be.

Damien reached up, his fingers brushing my jaw, his touch impossibly gentle for someone who radiated so much power. "You've spent your whole life hiding from the truth, Lily. Hiding from the parts of yourself that you don't want to see. But I see them. And I'm going to show you how to embrace them. Embrace me."

I tried to push him away, but my hands shook, and my arms were weak. I wanted to escape, but I was drowning in the magnetic pull of him. My breath came in shallow gasps, my chest tight as I fought to regain control over myself.

"I don't belong here," I whispered, the words trembling in my throat, but I didn't even believe them anymore.

"Then why are you still standing here?" Damien's voice was like a challenge, daring me to contradict him.

I couldn't answer. I didn't have a response. Because I knew. I knew why I was still here. I was here because, in some sick, twisted way, I wanted this. I wanted him. I was addicted to the pull of the darkness he offered, and I didn't know how to break free.

"You're mine," Damien repeated, his lips brushing against my ear, his voice thick with certainty. "And nothing you say or do will change that."

I closed my eyes, unable to fight him anymore. The words echoed in my mind, each one sinking deeper into me, eroding the walls I'd built around my heart.

"I don't want this," I whispered, but it was too late. My body betrayed me.

I was already lost.