Chapter Twenty six

Damien's POV;

I go out of my vehicle and strode into my mansion in quick strides. I walked past the guards at the entrance, nodding curtly at their salutations.

I walked through the lobby, then I stopped for a second, looking around the wide living room, my eyes searched the area, for someone. There was no sign of her so I assumed she was somewhere around the house, it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go.

I jogged up the stairs quickly and swiftly walked to my bedroom. I turned the knob and walked in, she jumped up as soon as I got in. I eyed her from head to toe, she was still in the outfit from this morning but she had her hair packed up in a bun or whatever they called such hair style.

"Hi." She squeaked like a mouse, staring at anywhere but me. I stared at her in suspicion, wondering what she had been up to.

"How are you?" I asked, unbuttoning my shirt slowly.

"I'm okay," she was still staring around the room, she seemed uncomfortable.

She cleared her throat.

"Can you uhmm...?" She shook her head like she thought about what she was going to say and decided against it.

"I'll just excuse you." She tried walking past me but I held her wrist and pulled her back. My grey eyes met her black ones and she looked down.

"What's this about?"

"I mean, you were just about to take off your shirt, I just wanted to excuse you while you, you know." She looked so uncomfortable as she spoke and before I could blink she had turned red.

I smirked. Would I ever miss an opportunity to tease her? Never.

"Hmmm?" I hummed.

"What's mine is yours now wifey, so you can stare at me in whatever state and I won't mind." I caressed her cheek lovingly as I said so. She blushed deeper, it amused me.

I threw caution to the wind and leaned in to kiss her but she drew back abruptly.

"We aren't in public, Damien." She reminded, trying to steady her voice.

She rushed out of the room before I could say anything back. I got back to my senses. She was right, I was grateful for the subtle reminder that we were not a real couple.

I took off my clothes and dashed into the bathroom without delay. What was I thinking? Leaning in to kiss her like she was mine, silly me. She was mine legally but her heart probably belongs to someone else.

****

Ariana's POV;

I rushed out and locked the door behind me. I leaned on the door, breathing heavily.

I was so nervous when he came in because I was snooping around his room in search of what I did not know. I was bored and very curious. I assumed there was some sort of secret passageway that led to a room filled with torture devices that he used to inflict pain on people and all these I got from the movies and novels I had seen.

It could be somewhere around this house, I thought.

I had stayed in the room all day, with practically nothing to do for reasons unknown to me. I just kept on replying congratulatory messages as well as comments on our posts. Fiona handled my social media accounts throughout the wedding period and saw to it that they were updated accordingly, if not for her, I would not even have the energy to do all of those.

I had no plans to go back into the bedroom anytime soon, so I walked into the wide hallway, I took my time in observing the paintings on the wall with the little sculptures and plaques I found around it.

By the end of my walk, I realized we had three other bedrooms on this floor plus a study at the farther end of it. It was locked but I knew it was a study because, it was written in bold print on a good plated indicator and when I looked further down, it was said to be out of bounds to everyone except the owner, Damien.

An idea soon popped into my head and I walked briskly into the room, to execute my plan.

I twisted the knob and went in. I found Damien on the bed, working on his Mac book. I stared at him for a while, taking in his look. I had never seen him in anything other than formal attire except at our pre wedding photo shoot when he wore a casual outfit.

He had on black pajama pants with a clingy white shirt on, the shirt showed off his biceps and well sculpted abs. I swallowed, he looked too good and that was one of the reasons why I had come up with my plan to stay away from him.

"Is there something you need, Ariana?" He said, without looking up from whatever he was doing. I somehow liked the the way my name rolled off his tongue whenever he called me.

I shook my head to rid it of those ridiculous thoughts.

"Yes, I have to talk to you about something." I said as I cleared my throat and sat down carefully sat at one edge of the bed.

"Go on." He gestured with the upward flick of his palm, staring at me with his grey orbs following my every move.

I sat with my back turned to him, so I would not squirm under his gaze.

"I'd like to move to a separate room." I said, sitting still while awaiting his reply.

"And why is that?" He asked, his tone was indecipherable.

"Uhmm, well since this is just a deal and all for public show, I don't think it's imperative that we sleep in the same room, on the same bed." I explained. I kept quiet for a while, expecting a response but it was dead silent, so I continued with pitching my idea.

"And, there are spare rooms on this floor going to waste, let me just move into one so I can give you space to do your thing." I finished.

His chuckle was dark. Really dark, it sent a few chills down my spine.

"Oh sweet little Ari." He tapped my nose with his index finger.

I shifted hastily. How one earth did he get in front of me so quickly? I questioned myself.

"You seen to be trying to pull a fast one on me." He said casually.

I frowned in befuddlement but did not say anything back to him.

"Well, your idea would have been well welcomed but for the fact that we still have to put up a show for my family. It would not give a good impression if a newly married couple starts sleeping apart, would it?" He said slyly.

"But no one comes here, they're all probably to scared of you to want to come into your bedroom anyway." I spoke my thoughts out and he glared at me in annoyance.

"You should stop saying things before you're sure of them." He said as he walked away from me and went towards the balcony.

"You're not moving out of this room Ariana." He said with an air of finality.

"But," I tried protesting.

"No buts! Stop trying to defy me! I'm not letting you sleep somewhere else." He snapped and scolded like he was talking to a child.

Like a bucket of cold water had been poured on me, I withdrew and kept quiet. I took myself into the bathroom to take a shower so I could tuck in for the night afterwards. By the time I came out of the bathroom, he was not anywhere in sight.

I breathed a sigh of momentary relief. I did not want any awkwardness and thick tension usually associated with such fights in the air.

I picked up my pajamas and slid them on while in the closet. I combed my hair and sat outside on the plush set of chairs placed at the balcony, to receive some fresh air and also dry my hair out.

The moon was out, so I sat there looking up at it. Bruno Mars' song, 'Talking to the moon' came to mind and with the benign breeze that came with the night, I found myself singing it out. I did not sing often even when I knew I had a nice voice, I just did not find myself doing it. I sang in my mind mostly but singing out was not something I did often.

I had never sang in front of anyone, maybe when I was a child but after that I could hardly place any memory of me singing to anyone's hearing.

I heard shuffling behind me and I stopped singing. I turned around quickly.

"Your voice is such a delight to hear."

"Thank you." I said, pushing back a few strands of hair behind my ear shyly.

It was mom. A small part of me, a teeny tiny one, wanted it to be Damien.

"I knocked but no one answered so I had to let myself in. Where's Damien?" She asked, looking around for him.

"He left the room not too long ago." I said.

"Oh alright then, I just wanted to say good night to you two." She said and gave me a hug and peck before leaving.

Well now I kinda understood why Damien did not want me sleeping in another room. His mother's entry was absolutely unexpected. Oh well, I'd have to figure some other way to avoid getting close to him.

I stood up and went inside the room, thinking of what to do, I looked around until my eyes fell on the huge bed.

Bingo!

I picked up the pile of excess pillows arranged on the bed, that nobody was using anyway. I placed the one after the other, in the middle of the bed, making sure that both sides were equal.

Damien walked in while I was doing this and stared at me with a frown marring his face.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"As you can see, I'm putting a barricade so we'll both have sides and you wouldn't have to touch me." I said placing my hands on my hips. His eyes followed my movement before he looked back at me.

"And what makes you think it'll change anything?" He sounded really amused, though his face seemed expressionless, his eyes held mirth. Was there something on my face? Because, I knew I was dead serious.

"You'll stay on one side of the bed while I stay on the other. Since our marriage is just for the public eye, there is absolutely no need for you to touch me unless we're keeping up our act, that is, in front of your family or the general public." I explained my point extensively just so he could sink it into his rock hard head.

"Hmmm." He hummed, folding his arms across he chest and flexing his large biceps as he did so.

He drew closer to me, I stepped back, that only urged him on. He kept coming closer until he had succeeded in trapping me against the wall with his hands on either side of me. I put my hands on his chest to keep him farther away from me as I possibly could.

"You see that barricade over there?" He asked rhetorically. I stared up at him as he spoke.

"It's not that much of a challenge to push it aside and get to you if I want you. It's not in any way a barrier between you and I." He gestured between me and him.

"Don't be deceived, Ariana, if I really want to have you in my arms, I would but of course, you're not my type." He said, shocking me.

"Why didn't you get married to your type then? You should have tied someone in your league down instead of me!" I gritted trying to push him off me but he would not budge. His words got to me even more than they should have. How dare he say such to me?

He smirked and walked away from me, he blatantly ignored me.

I muttered some colorful words in Spanish before stomping over to the bed, fuming. I got under the covers and angrily switched off the bed lamp before I covered myself up and eventually slept.