Damon stepped out of the gazebo an hour or so later, one arm wrapped around Pandora as he gazed down into her eyes. She smiled back at him, reaching up to fiddle with his shirt as the two made their way out onto the perfect grass. "You skipped a button." She muttered, nimbly fixing the mistake while Damon watched her with a little grin. A part of him was inclined to help her. But then again, he quite liked how she blushed every time her hands met his skin. She was so precious. So sweet. Such a lovely young woman, who knew everything and nothing at the same time. She was so innocent, while also being one of the most tainted people he had ever met. And more importantly, she was his. He could cuddle her and coddle her all he wanted, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. She would just have to endure his love and affection, whether she was in the mood for it at the same time as him or not.
Pandora finished tucking his button into place and looked up at him, blushing sheepishly at the grin on his face. "What?" She asked, pushing him playfully. Damon pulled her in close, grinning even wider at the red in her cheeks. He leaned down over her, placing a gentle kiss on her lips with all the tender care of someone deeply in love. Pandora laughed, returning his kiss and wrapping her arms around him so tightly that he could hardly move. "Mine." She smirked, pulling him even closer until she might as well have been a snake trying to suffocate him. Damon smiled. "Yours." He said, using one hand to brush Pandora's cheek and distract her from squeezing the life out of him. "If you want me." He added, letting his voice sink to the low note he reserved for dealing with heroes and their affiliates. He supposed he was using it for the same purpose now, it was just that the meaning of 'dealing with' had changed. Pandora smiled up at him, her eyes glistening with laughter. "Of course I want you." She giggled. "Who wouldn't want such a handsome puppy?"
Damon mocked a pout, letting out a series of dog-like whines as he rested his chin on Pandora's head. She laughed and pat his back. "Good boy." She said, releasing him from her grasp just enough that he could breathe properly again. Damon laughed. "If I had a tail to wag, it would be going like a hurricane right now." He said, pulling himself away from his lover enough that he could wrap one hand around her waist and use the other to caress her cheek. Pandora blushed again, but she seemed to have lost all interest in covering it up now. She looked into Damon's face, holding his gaze with her own piercing blue stare. Her eyes spoke a million words to Damon, none of which he could have easily put a voice to. So many emotions, so many thoughts. All hidden behind those two perfect circles of pure crystal and framed by curtains of ebony locks, tucked and hoarded away until only the strongest ones could come through. And at the moment, that was exactly what they were doing. There seemed to be so much expression in those eyes, and yet Damon knew it was only a fraction of what actually went on in the mind of his lovely little plaything.
Pandora tilted her head to one side, contemplating Damon with a slightly more serious air. "We are together now, aren't we? This is an official thing?" She asked, looking a little worried. Damon nodded, brushing a stray hair out of her face with his thumb. "I suppose that's how it works. However, if you want to take things a bit more slowly, I'm sure I could manage to restrain myself until you're ready." He added, wishing he didn't have to say it. Of course, he wanted her to be comfortable in the relationship; it wouldn't be nearly as fun if she wasn't. But at the same time, every cell in his body demanded that held her until the sun went out, completely disregarding what people thought or felt of the matter. He wanted to love her for the rest of eternity, without so much as pausing to care about anyone else's opinions. She was his. He would never let her go.
Pandora laughed, her sweet, care free voice relieving some of Damon's fears. "Oh, I don't think taking things slowly is really in the charts anymore. We threw that out the window when this happened after not even a day of knowing each other." She said, gesturing to Damon and herself and then vaguely nodding back towards the gazebo. Damon nodded. "I suppose we did, didn't we?" He said, smiling to himself at the memories of what had occupied the past hour of his day. "What is it that you're worried about, then?" He asked, recognizing the concern in Pandora's voice. The young hero hesitated. "Well..." She said, struggling to put words to her thoughts. Damon leaned in over her a little bit, smiling and tilting her head up so that he could stare directly into her eyes. "It's alright. You can tell me. Whatever it is, I won't stop until I find a solution for it." He smiled. Pandora nodded. "That's sort of what concerns me." She sighed. Damon scrunched his brow, confused. "I don't understand." He said, biting his lip a little bit. "I thought you would have liked having me want to protect and help you." He added. Pandora smiled. "Oh, I do." She said, pushing herself closer to Damon and burying her face in his arms. "It's just that I know a bunch of people are going to come after me, and they're all going to want you dead. I can't say anything to stop them, either; I could kiss you in front of their armies and it wouldn't make any difference. In fact, I bet they'd get even more angry and determined to kill you and anyone who stands in their way the more I try to convince them not to. They would think you're forcing me to do it to save your own ass. And I mean...I guess I just don't want you getting hurt because of me." She said. Damon smiled as she tried to pull him closer still, even though doing so was impossible. She was clearly the type to feel so incredibly guilty if anything were to happen to the people she loved, which would probably be a bit of an issue if they were to keep this relationship up. But Damon knew that he wasn't going to let her go just because he might potentially end up with one more gunshot wound to add to his already extensive collection. In fact, he wouldn't have put the breaks on their love even if it was a guarantee that he would die. He would, however, insist on at the very least having some sort of extensive safety measure if there was even a chance that Pandora might get hurt. Which made it extremely easy to see where she was coming from.
Damon ran a hand through his hair, stepping back a little as he gently pushed Pandora away from him. "I won't get hurt. I promise." He said, knowing it was a lie. But he couldn't have her worrying herself over hypotheticals, not when the two of them could have the 'happy ever after' that villains never got. Pandora shook her head, looking up at him with a tear in her eye. "You know that's not true, and so do I." She said. Damon shook his head and brushed away that single droplet of water, a pang of guilt passing over him at the thought of her crying because of something he had said. Even if it wasn't an angry retort or a snarky remark, he still hated that she was allowing his words to have the kind of power over her that could bring on tears. "I promise you. If anything does happen to me, it will be worth it. I'm not going to die, that's for sure. And even if I was to get severely injured, I would still have you. We would still be together." He smiled. Pandora looked down. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep." She said, her voice fading into a soft whisper.
Damon sighed, a thought coming to him as he watched her try to hold back her tears. "I suppose there is one other option." He said. Pandora looked up at him, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. That tiny sparkle faded a bit when she saw the look on Damon's face, but it still didn't leave her completely. "What is it?" She asked. Damon smiled a little, knowing it was impossible that she would even consider taking the choice he was going to lay out for her. She had said so herself, clear as day. "Come on, let's get back to the house." He said, gesturing to the manor half a garden away from them. "I'll tell you there. And you can lecture me on just how stupid I would have to be to expect you to ever so much as contemplate what I'm going to ask of you."
YOU ARE READING
Morals of a Villain
General Fiction(Completed) Damon, a Duke by right, has never particularly liked the morally righteous narcissists he frequently has to deal with in everyday life. While others might see them as heroes courageously pitting themselves against the horrible and sadist...
