I Would Kill For You

19. After Dawn

❝ everyone who has ever built anywhere a new heaven first found the power thereto in his own hell. ❞

friedrich nietzsche

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I had never thought that one day, I'd wake up in one bed with Damian Belfort; moreover, I'd wake up in his arms, with my head on his chest. I looked up at him and saw that he was already awake. His dark eyes beamed softly, his features depicting a tranquillity I'd never observed before. His left arm was draped around my shoulders, his head resting on his right one, bent underneath.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Is the pillow comfortable?" he teased with a satisfied smirk.

I gave him an exasperated smile and retreated to my side of the bed, rubbing my eyes to wake up properly. I regretted it, for I still had make-up on. I yawned and extended my arms over my head.

"What time is it?" I asked him, scanning his appearance. 

His hair was messy, but it suited him, offered him a less intimidating look. He must have woken up earlier, because a pleasant smell of coffee wafted in the air, and I noticed the cup on the table. He was still shirtless, and I took advantage of him checking his phone to glance at his abdomen. It wasn't even intentional; it was as if my eyes were automatically drawn to his chest. Or maybe I just wasn't used to having boys half-naked around me. Especially not him.

"Thirty-nine minutes past eleven." he announced.

"Oh no." I groaned, jumping from the bed. I grabbed my phone and looked with a mortified expression at the eight missed calls from my mom. "This is bad."

"Do you want to go home?"

I shifted my sight to him. His eyes travelled from my face to my bare legs for a moment, but he did it subtly, with no trace of promiscuity; though I knew that he enjoyed the view just as much as I enjoyed mine. 

I could go home, but that meant returning to the sour reality of having Avery hate me, having to explain myself to Devon, telling Ellie that I ran away with Damian. And I wasn't ready for that yet. I didn't answer him. I texted my mom a single message:

Hey, everything's fine. We're getting the car fixed and will be home ASAP. Love you.

And with that, I turned my phone off.

"Let's go shopping." I proposed with a smile.

"Let's. With your attire, I bet we'll get the best discount." he quipped, analyzing my legs with a suggestive look.

I took a pillow from the bed and threw it in his face. He chuckled, catching it mid-air, offering me a cheeky smile.

"Sorry, love. You're not that fast."

He was right, but there was no way I'd admit that. I snatched the other pillow from underneath his head, but before I could even raise it in the air, he grabbed my opposite wrist and pulled me down, making me fall over him on the bed. Our faces almost clashed against each other, but luckily I placed my palms on the mattress just at the right moment, stopping the collision. We burst into laughter, but when we stopped, we both became very conscious of our proximity. I felt weak at the knees when I noticed his dark gaze fall to my lips, and it took me a great amount of composure to maintain a bland expression. His hand raised to my cheek gently, and I was the one to lean forward. I placed my hand on his hot skin, feeling the crazy beat of his heart, in sync with mine. He inclined his head to the right and inched even closer, our lips almost touching, but before he could kiss me, I pulled back in the last moment and gave him a saccharine smile.