Chapter 46
Chapter 10:
Trisha’s P.O.V
“What do you want?” I asked her wearily.
“I don’t steal another’s man, Trisha.” Rosanna gave a cunning smile. “But he’s available and he’s powerful. If you don’t act fast, don’t sulk when you find him in my bed tomorrow morning.” With that she turned and left my room.
I unclenched my fists, finally aware of the sting and the feeling of blood dripping down my fingers. I brought my hands up in front of me and plopped down on to the bed as I watched the tiny half-moon shaped marks heal in front of my eyes. It only took a few seconds for them to be completely healed.
Rosanna was right; Damien was powerful and very much single. Everyone’s eyes will be on him tonight and so will Rosanna’s. She’s a very sexual woman, and she is drop dead gorgeous. I wouldn’t be surprised if I did find Damien in her bed tonight.
NO! My heart screamed…but he’d already rejected me once. Will I be able to capture his heart again? Did I ever have his heart? He came all the way into enemy territory to find me, but that’s only because he wants my help and he thinks he can manipulate my emotions for him to make me do his bidding. Will he think of me as a desperate woman if I go to him right now?
When they finally came after me, I just couldn’t stand there and let them kill me. I had to see you again. I just had to be with you, even if it’s for my final moments.
My mind went back to that night, almost a year ago from now, the night when everything had fallen apart. I can still remember the look in his eyes as he stood surrounded by fire. Nothing. They’d been completely blank, just two pieces of emeralds that had lost its shine. Then he’d asked me to leave…and I’d done exactly as he’d said.
I gasped.
Damien had asked me to leave him and I had. He’d asked me to go and I’d listened to him without complaint because I’d been scared, scared that he’d do something reckless in his grief, in his anger.
“No.”
It hadn’t been just because I was scared…it was because I had always been uncertain. I had always doubted his love for me and maybe…my own feelings for him too.
I’m so much more than that. I’m also the King of all Vampires and all the land available. I have several duties, several obligations. If you must accept me as yours, accept all of me and not just the man I am alone. You’ll have to accept the crown that comes with me. Only then you’ll be able to understand what goes on in my life.
His words rang loud and clear in my ears; words he had spoken to me on that gazebo in his palace gardens. Damien had always wanted me to accept him with everything he is, not just the King of all vampires but also the man. But on that fateful day with the castle burning behind us, I had chosen to obey my King. And in doing so, I had left the man alone.
Accept all of me. The words kept reverberating in my head until it was all I could hear.
And that was when I realized my own mistake. Have I truly been able to accept all of him? Both the man and the King? Have I just been in love with the idea of loving someone I could never have? Or have I truly loved Damien for who he was.
No, that’s not true. I’ve always tried to love Damien for who he was, both as the man and as the King. But even I have to admit, it hadn’t always been that way. When I’d first met Damien in that gazebo, over a hundred and seventy years ago, I’d felt an instant admiration and liking for the man that had the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard. But then I’d learned that he was the King and my admiration had shifted to a hero-worship of the man who I served and whose life I wanted to be a part of.
Somehow, I hadn’t imagined what it would be like to share not just a work-relationship but something deeper, stronger. I hadn’t imagined what it would be like to wake up next to him or to fall asleep in his arms. It was only after I’d encountered Neema that my feelings for him had started to change. That doesn’t mean that I never loved him; in fact, I don’t think there has ever been a time when I hadn’t been in love with Damien. But love comes in many forms and I think I finally realize what I felt for Damien.
This morning, when he’d told me about his death wish of facing the council, that was when everything had finally come into prospective. I was clear about what I wanted now.
I got up from the bed and strode out of my room, slamming my door shut in the process. The old Trisha had been afraid to go against his command, but I saw it clearly now. I wasn’t just afraid, I’d been unsure of myself. I’d been unsure of us, unsure that my love wasn’t enough, that I wasn’t enough. But I’m done giving up. One hundred and seventy two years…I’ve lost too much precious time. And now, we were almost out of it.
Damien’s door was unlocked so I turned the knob and pushed it open. What I saw inside could have easily made me freeze and run the opposite way. Rosanna was with Damien, her arms were on his shoulders and it looked like she was about to lean up and kiss him. I wouldn’t have interrupted if I’d seen Damien was interested, but his face was set in hard lines and it looked like he was about to shove her away.
“Out! Now.” I snapped at Rosanna who gave me a smirk and removed her hands from Damien’s shoulders oh-so-slowly. Then she walked out of the room, swaying her hips in open provocation and slammed the door on her way out.
“Trisha? What are yo-“
I didn’t let him finish. I was in front of him in an instant, pushing on his chest hard enough so that he lost his balance and tumbled onto the bed. And then I was climbing on top of him, straddling his hips and bringing my face down to him. “I’m not going to listen to you anymore.” I told him frankly. “Acceptance goes both ways, so accept all of my feelings because I’m not staying away, so you’ll just have to learn to deal with me.”
Damien looked up into my eyes for a few agonizing seconds before his lips tilted up at the sides. “Good.” His hands rode up my arms and one of them curled possessively around my nape. “Because I won’t be letting you go either.”
And then he tugged my head down to his and crashed his lips to mine in a heart-stopping kiss.
