Chapter 4 – A Dangerous Dance
630 Words
Chapter 4 – A Dangerous Dance
The fire popped in the hearth, a sharp c***k that made me jump. Damian noticed. Of course he noticed. His storm-grey eyes missed nothing.
“Still nervous?” His voice was smooth, too calm, too controlled. “Or is it me?”
“It’s the situation,” I said quickly, hugging my arms tighter across my chest. “Being bought at an auction isn’t exactly my idea of a normal night.”
His lips curved faintly. “Normal is overrated.”
I rolled my eyes, desperate to keep my guard up. “That sounds like something a billionaire with too much time on his hands would say.”
To my surprise, he didn’t snap back. Instead, his gaze flickered—just for a second—with something that looked like… weariness.
It was gone as quickly as it came, the mask sliding back into place. But I’d seen it. A c***k.
“What do you know about my time?” he asked, low and sharp.
“Only what everyone says.” I shrugged, forcing nonchalance. “That you built an empire on ambition and ruthlessness. That you don’t lose. Ever.”
His smile was humorless. “Whispers and shadows. That’s all they have. Yet people love their ghosts more than the truth.”
I tilted my head. “And what’s the truth?”
For a long moment, he didn’t answer. He just stared into the fire, his jaw tight, as though wrestling with something he couldn’t name.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter. “The truth is… the higher you climb, the lonelier it gets.”
The words caught me off guard. Vulnerability wasn’t what I expected from Damian Blackwood. For a heartbeat, I almost forgot why I was here. Almost.
But then he turned back to me, the softness gone, replaced by that relentless focus. “And now you’re here. A woman with fire in her eyes and lies on her lips.”
I stiffened. “You don’t know anything about me.”
His smile returned, slow and devastating. “Don’t I?”
He stepped closer. Too close. His shadow swallowed mine, the heat of him wrapping around me until the wall pressed cold against my back again.
My breath stuttered. “You can’t just corner people like this.”
“I can when they’re mine.”
The word burned through me like a brand. Mine.
“Excuse me?” I snapped, my voice rising to cover the tremor inside me.
His hand lifted, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek with infuriating gentleness. “You walked onto that stage, and I claimed you. That’s how this world works, Amara.”
My skin tingled where he touched me. I hated it. I hated that a part of me wanted him to do it again.
“You don’t own me,” I whispered, even as my heart betrayed me with its frantic rhythm.
His eyes darkened, storm clouds gathering. “We’ll see.”
Before I could reply, his phone buzzed on the table. He didn’t move to answer it immediately, but the sound broke the spell between us.
Finally, he picked it up, scanning the screen. Something in his jaw shifted, tightening.
He ended the call without a word, his gaze snapping back to me with renewed intensity.
“What?” I asked, my stomach knotting.
A slow, knowing smile curved his lips. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
My throat went dry. “What did you do?”
He set the phone down carefully, deliberately. “I had my people look into you.”
Ice flooded my veins. “What?”
Damian stepped closer again, his eyes burning into mine. “And it seems, Amara Cole, that you don’t exist.”
- Writer
