by Ana Calin
“It sounds to me like you love us, mere humans.” I gave him an honest smile. “But it’s still not for you to decide who lives or dies, Damian. Even if your victims are exclusively Upgrades, they’re still that – victims.”
Damian’s lip curled over his predator teeth. “Nothing will keep Giant from breaking your neck with a flick of his hand if he lays it on you, so don’t go overboard with the morals.”
“Speaking of morals.” I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes. “Will you finally tell me where Svetlana fits into this story?”
“She doesn’t matter.”
I didn’t need more than an instant to go from enthralled to mad, too. “I asked you a question, Damian, don’t take me for an idiot. Don’t lie to me.”
Steady, deep, “I don’t do lying.”
“I know Svetlana used to sleep with my dad,” I snapped at him over the table. “As I know that she’s obsessed with you, and that she’ll go to any lengths to get you. Did she achieve her purpose?”
I waited for a reaction, but none came. Damian kept inspecting my face, his own features expressionless.
“Damian, talk to me,” I insisted, clasping his hand on my thigh. The feel of it sent static up my arm. I thought Damian’s eyes lost some of their sharpness for a second too, but maybe that was just in my head. The air around grew hot, my skin tingled.
“BioDhrome recruited Svetlana Slavic,” he said, “and used her against your father. She seduced Tiberius. They started seeing each other frequently, and, through him, she met me. She developed a weakness for me, but I wasn’t something BioDhrome could give her along with everything else they’d promised.”
Not the slightest change in his tone, as if this didn’t flatter or interest him in the least. “So she tried to use the information she’d obtained from BioDhrome about my past ties with them – the article, The Executioner file, the upgrading process – to force an affair.” Damn, Leona was right! “And it did come to a one night stand, but unfortunately too late to spare you the incidents in the mountains. I only conceded when we returned to Constanța in order to secure her cooperation.
“It got her to tell me all she had on BioDhrome – they had promised her money and upgrading in exchange for her loyalty, but in the mountains she had a particularly violent reaction to the gas, which you know better than anyone. She understood she wouldn’t survive the upgrading process, and this strengthened her decision to betray them. This is the reason I talked to her about my own upgrading, to make her realize it’s not for everyone. Now she’s helping me get to BioDhrome’s leader, which isn’t easy. She might be a double agent, but that doesn’t bother me. I feed her the information I want BioDhrome to get anyway. I keep her in check in the hope for more sex and – of course – with money.”
So cold, so matter-of-fact, even as that word, sex, left his sin of a mouth. After the short stricken phase I became aware of my feelings again – anger.
“When?” I rasped through a dry throat. “When did you two—?”
Damian looked away from me, to the door again, as if this were just casual info. “We drove back to Constanța together after you were all released from the hospital. I invited myself to her place, and she was happy to accept.”
So after he’d allegedly stared at me for hours as I lay in that hospital bed. Just a night before he had tea in the living room with my mother. My brain began to boil.
“What about Dad? Did he cross your mind when you decided to bang her?” My tone was sour even to my own ears.
“He’s better off without her.”
“Maybe he has feelings for her. Feelings you tramped on.”
“Not maybe, surely. He has feelings for a woman who was BioDhrome’s weapon against him. He’ll want nothing to do with her once he gets back, trust me.”
“You made love to her,” I whispered, pain in my chest.
“I didn’t make love to her!” His hand wrapped around mine, bringing it on the table between us. He shook it to make me look him in the face. I couldn’t hide my tears as our eyes met. “I did what I had to do, Alice.”
“Sure, poor you. Being handsome as a god comes with a price, doesn’t it? You spark obsessions against your will, so no wonder you get forced into this or that bed now and then, ain’t it?”
Damian pressed his lips together. A shift in the air signaled that we were no longer alone, and I realized why – Mr. Dimples stood by our table in his apron, the smile wide on his face, a plate of Penne in each hand.
“Sorry for the delay, the chef was on break,” he apologized with a slight bow towards me. I’m pretty sure he gave me small wink, but all I managed back was a twitch of my cheek. He went away kind of disappointed, while Damian and I remained facing each other over the plates, neither of us touching the food. He still didn’t speak, as if there was nothing more he had to add on his affair with my dad’s slut, but tension oozed out of him.
“It’s the way it is,” I eventually broke the silence, grabbing the fork and picking with it at individual pasta that happened in its way. I didn’t take any of it to my mouth. “Actually, if I think about it, yours isn’t such a bad strategy. Maybe I should do the same with Tony, and he’ll tell me everything he knows about BioDhrome, too.”
Before I could blink Damian’s hand clenched around my face. Huge and stone-hard, that’s how it felt from jaw to temples, and I wasn’t sure if he got ready to kiss me or crush me.
“I’m sure Anton Anghel would promise you the world in order to get his dick inside of you.”
What the –? I stared at him dumbfounded. His eyes wandered all over my face, his wooden scent strong in my nostrils, assuring me this was actually happening.
“But all he can make is false promises. He doesn’t have any power, and he can give you nothing. He’s nothing but a pawn. Should he ever claim differently and try to get his sleazy hands on you, I’ll burn him alive.”
“Let go of me,” I managed.
Damian’s hand moved from my face to the back of my head, sinking in my hair. He massaged my nape gently while his tongue swept over his upper lip, sending my butterflies wild.
“Know this, Alice – if there’s anyone you’ll ever have to sleep with for advantage, it’s me.”
The statement struck me like lightning. I got goose bumps all over. The way he said those words, the way they left his mouth.
“Why are you doing this?” I whispered, unable to believe there was any way he actually meant it. Maybe he only played with me as punishment for ranting on his affair with Svetlana. The affair with Svetlana . . . With renewed spite I tried to wiggle out of his grip.
“Cut the charade.”
But his clasp didn’t loosen. On the contrary, my chair scraped the floor as he pulled it closer, then he yanked me into his arms. They wrapped around my body, all hard muscle.
“When you stumbled into my arms with a glass of wine, Alice Preda, I saw a pretty girl with sweet freckles trying to act the diva. But I have to say, that ostentatious red lipstick on your sweet little face, your shy yet witty tongue in the bathroom, I barely held back a hard-on.”
Who the hell are you and what did you do with Damian Novac!? Horny instead of offended, I stared speechless at this devil whose eyes glinted like those of an angry beast.
“That night I jerked off, you know? I jerked off thinking of you, of your skin, of the shape of your breasts under the top, and that way you spoke, of the way your hand moved up and down as you rubbed my shirt.”
His breath deepened, his index finger tracing the shape of my cheek, the sensation shooting down to my lower belly. “I wanted you, Alice. And with every time we interacted I wanted you more. Soon I wanted you so badly that it hurt. It was only out of respect for your father that I didn’t do you to last me a lifetime when I had the chance. Remember? In the mountains? Yes, I sensed you wanted me as you lay in my arms.
“I wanted you even as I watched you on the hospital bed. It wasn’t easy to keep it in my pants all this time.
But now, since you’re willing to play a dangerous game anyway, I’ll gladly take the chance and have you spread your legs for me in exchange for, say, not ripping Anghel’s head off.”
I nodded as I finally saw what he was doing, though my heart still thumped and my face burned. So much for “I don’t do lying”.
“You had me for a moment there,” I said with a forced grin, brushing his hand off my face. “But trust me, not all men have this kind of acting skill, and I don’t usually fall for words of passion, not after my life experience.”
He didn’t react, eyes intense on mine.
“Still,” I continued, praying without a hope the heat in my cheeks didn’t show in their color, “you need to understand that I won’t live like a hermit. I want a life. I need a life.”
Damian let me go and leaned back in his chair. Arms folded across his chest, and eyes slowly regaining the sovereign composure that defined him, he smiled. It wasn’t friendly or the smile of a mentor who’d finally brought his student to the desired conclusion, but rather the warning of a bully.
“Maybe there will come a time when you’ll be able to have a life, but it’s not now. Pay attention, Alice. Rule number one. I see a guy as much as hold your hand, I put him in the hospital – just in case.
“Before we come to rule number two, there are some things you need to understand. The gas turned on certain powers in your mind and body. In time they’ll wilt, but right now they can put you in trouble. Back at the hospital in Brașov, your dad had you and your friends on very strong sedatives in order to keep you in bed and looking sick. Otherwise you would’ve recovered from the frost, jumped up and stormed the place as if nothing. The press would’ve easily found out about your odd case, and it would’ve been really difficult for your dad, the R.I.S. and even me and my people to restore ignorance, so to say. Therefore rule number two that you’ll have to live by is no standing out. You’ll have to keep the charms your brain activated in check, and spare poor imbeciles like Anghel and Dimples.
“Rule number three. You notice anyone suspicious around you, you let me know immediately.” Without asking for permission, he grabbed my bag from the rest of my chair and opened it. I wanted to yell an angry “Hey!” and snatch it back, but then I didn’t.
He typed a number – probably his own – into my cell phone agenda. “No matter the time, you call me. Rule number four. No police involvement, for their own sakes. I don’t think I have to draw you a picture of how helpless Sorescu, his men, and even Hector Varlam are in this story.”
Hearing the name, curiosity spiked. “Did you know? That he was with the national Intelligence Service?”
Still typing with his thumb, “I did.”
“Since when?”
“I knew the entire time.”
I snorted. “That’s ridiculous. You can’t possibly keep a ‘file’ on everyone, and besides, I highly doubt that the R.I.S. would be so transparent.”
“I’m not alone Alice, I told you. I have the Order of Lords backing me up, and all their resources at my disposal.”
Dropping the cell back into my bag, he changed the subject. “Rule number five. No wandering around. Keep it to home and campus for a while.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as necessary.”
“What if I need to go to the library?” My intentions since I’d left Dr. Barbu’s class returned to mind.
“The library shouldn’t be a problem, as long as you do it on daylight. No going out in the evenings.”
“Not even my dad imposed such restrictions on me.”
“And look where that got you. You have the attention of highly dangerous people, Alice.”
Including yours, only not the way I’d hoped. I bit into my lip again, fighting the frustration away. Further discussion was obviously pointless. “I understand.”
Chapter Thirteen
The food just wouldn’t slide down my throat. Maybe it stuck because of Damian’s domineering attitude, or because of the entire place staring at us, but what I knew for sure was that I felt uncomfortable.
To add to the awkwardness, Damian insisted not only to help me into my coat, but also wrap the shawl and fix the bonnet on my head as if I were a helpless kid, then lead me out with a possessive arm around my back. It made things unmistakably clear for Mr. Dimples. No question the boy had been observing our body language – Damian’s hand on my thigh, our heads close together, me plastered to his chest as he closed his arms around me and set longing loose in my body, but the handsome barbarian still had to make a final point.
In the car I couldn’t keep from staring at Damian, a huge frame whose head reached the ceiling, his jaw hard, his eyes glassy and cold. His features, perfectly sculpted, seemed imbued with the ruthlessness of a hitman indeed. Impossible that the passion he’d shown me was real. Impossible that he requited my infatuation.
I still gave this open wound spins as he pulled up in front of my parents’ house. I hoped for a sign from his part, a gentle touch, a smile, no matter, something. But he looked away from me, cool and detached as he spoke.
“Say hi to your mom for me, will you?”
“Sure,” I muttered and cracked the door. I did it in slow motion, hoping he’d take the chance and add something more personal. He suddenly reached over and slammed the door back shut, startling the crap out of me.
Before I knew it he put his arm around my shoulders, his face big and close, his lips inches from mine. I blinked fast in surprise.
“On a second thought,” he murmured, his breath warm on my face, “I do need a little something that’ll seal our agreement.”
“Agreement?” I mumbled.
“See, you forget. That’s why I need a token that you’ll comply with the, what did we call them again? Rules. How many were they?”
“Umm . . . Five?”
“Five indeed. What was the first one?”
My thoughts spinning, I couldn’t place any of them. “I didn’t exactly mark the sequence.”
“You better, because I listed them in the order of importance. You are to discourage any man who courts you, for safety and prevention reasons – the first rule. And as fate will have it, here is my chance to aid you in the endeavor this very evening.”
He leaned even closer, brushing my ear with his lips and sending current through my body. “Anton Anghel is hanging by the bar across the street, beer bottle in hand, talking to Sorescu’s men. I take it he’s been there for a while now, waiting for you to return home, since I gather he didn’t even dare ask your mom to let him wait inside. Considering your history, I mean.”
I looked over Damian’s shoulder. The street was dark, but the lonely bulb hanging from a wire above the entrance to the dump cast a cone of hazy white over three big-bellied figures.
“He didn’t even call me,” I muttered under my breath.
“He did, but your phone was on silent, and I erased the calls when I saved my number in your agenda.”
Emotion surged in my belly, but I struggled to repress it. “Don’t you think you’re taking too many liberties?”
“I’m taking protection measures.” Damian caressed my chin with a gentle finger, and my judgment instantly clouded. “Let’s paint Tony boy a picture that should stick with him, shall we?”
I had no idea what he meant but, under the spell of his touch, I responded to all his actions without protest. I waited in the car until he walked around to my side, opened the door and held out a hand to help me out.
The way he kept his arm around me as we walked to the front door sent my heart thumping again, but this time things felt different than at Marvimex or Café d’Art. Damian emanated a different kind of tension.
I couldn’t believe it when, once under the overhang, he spun me round and closed his arms around me, pulling me to his chest that felt like concrete beneath his trench coat.
I stared wide-eyed at his face, a perfect sculpture that hovered over me, framed by raven locks. I don’t know at w
hich point I realized he was going to kiss me, but, when I did, I stopped breathing. And the instant I felt the stone-smooth touch of Damian Novac’s lips on mine, my legs turned to jelly.
His kiss was unexpectedly gentle, his mouth warm as it softened and molded mine. I tinged him with the tip of my tongue, my buds opening like flowers at the slightly metallic taste of his lips.
He took his time as if savoring the feel of me, then grew bolder on my lips, taking them between his over and over again. His tongue kept shy of mine, but with one huge hand he cupped my head possessively, while his other arm tightened around my waist, crushing me against him. I understood he granted his instincts some freedom, but fought to control himself at the same time, like keeping attack dogs on long leashes. My mind clouded, completely the prisoner of Damian’s kiss and of his arms until I had no air left.
Damian loosened his embrace, then clasped my shoulders to hold me steady. He pulled away, but still planted thirsty pecks on my lips as if our mouths had a will of their own and didn’t want to separate.
When I pushed my lids open, Damian Novac looked at me with brows scrunched in what I interpreted as restraint that seemed to hurt. His lips were slightly reddened from our kiss, lending an angelic touch to his perfectly carved, strong-boned barbarian look. Damian Novac just kissed me . . .
“This should make things clear for Mr. Anghel,” he said, his voice low and throaty.