Warped (The Manipulation Trilogy Book 2)

by Alicia Taylor

  Dark eyes suddenly crash with mine, his chest heaves as he looks around the room like a caged animal looking for an escape. I run my fingers down his face, trying to bring him peace. His hand comes up and grips my arm tightly. I gasp as pain slices through my body, his hold is bruising.

  “Ella?” Damon questions, looking at me confused. Before I can remove his hand he pulls me down to him and buries his head in my neck. He holds me to him, crushing me, mumbling incoherent words to me.

  “Damon, are you okay?” I ask softly. Our bodies tremble together from the force of his shaking. I lift my head to look at him and find his eyes are wet. He’s crying. What the fuck? I frown and search his face. What has him in such a state?

  “Ella,” his voice breaks. He clears his throat before continuing, “Fuck, Ella.” His hands roam my body as if he’s checking to make sure I’m okay. Or real. I’m not sure which, but he looks fearful.

  “Damon?”

  “You’re here. Fuck, you’re really here.” He’s not making much sense.

  “I’m here.” I console him, puzzled by his reaction. His rigid body begins to relax as he realises I really am in his arms.

  “Fuck, beauty. My God.” I cup his face in my hands and watch as he comes down from his nightmare, his eyes never leaving my face. His hands skim my body up and down my sides, just holding me tightly to him. “Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me,” he pleads. His pain filled voice shocks me. His dream was about me leaving him?

  “I’m not going anywhere, Damon.” I softly stroke his hair back from his face. My finger trails down to the teardrop scar, just below his right eye, and circles it. He shuts his eyes and breathes me in, inhaling deeply, almost as if he’s trying to breathe me into him.

  “I love you, beauty. I fucking love you.” My heart twists at his words. He sounds so genuine. I want to believe him, I really do, but actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words.

  He fucked me over. He betrayed me the first chance he got. I can’t just get over that. I search his eyes deeply, looking for the monster within. I can hate that Damon. This vulnerable one in front of me I don’t. I can’t hate him.

  He kisses along my jaw and down my neck. My mind wants to recoil from his touch but my body betrays my mind. My core pulses and my nipples draw into tight peaks. A moan slips past my lips as he lightly sucks my neck.

  Damon flips us over, switching our positions. His body looms over mine as I’m pinned to my back with his weight. “Don’t leave me, Ella.”

  Damon’s gaze is so intense that it takes my breath away. I shut my eyes and try to turn away. The lump in my throat physically hurts as I try to swallow back my emotions, but Damon cups my face and brings it back to face him.

  “Look at me, beauty.” I shake my head, squeezing my eyes as tightly as I can. “Please, baby. Look at me.” My eyes snap open and I gasp when I feel his lips skim mine in the softest of caresses. “There’s my beauty.” He smiles softly at me. His hand holds my head in place as he stares deeply into my eyes.

  Tears fill my eyes. I close them again, not being able to look at the love in his eyes. Not able to believe it. I’m unlovable. It’s all just a game. I try to purge my spinning thoughts but a picture of Damon kissing Leona flits behind my closed eyelids.

  Anger begins to simmer inside me as I recall what Damon did to me, to us. Damon’s lips nuzzle my neck, placing open-mouthed kisses where my shoulder meets my neck. My breath catches from his touch, fire blazing in my blood.

  Damon is everything my body wants, craves. It’s not enough. I can’t let my body take control. I can’t let Damon win again. I won’t allow myself to be hurt by him again. My heart aches just thinking about being without Damon, but it also hurts to be with him.

  I’m confused.

  I’m hurting.

  I need him.

  These feelings sound familiar. Lydia felt like this. Damon made her like this. Damon made me like this. The need to protect myself and my jellybean is so much more than the hatred I feel. I’m not sure it even is hatred. I still want him. My body aches for his touch.

  I want to bask in his love. I want to live my life with Damon, but I don’t know if I can.

  My mind is screaming that he’s playing games and I need to get revenge. My heart is hurting and needs to protect us, needs to prevent more pain, and is screaming for me to run. To leave and not look back. My body craves his touch. Needs the connection we have when our bodies entwine.

  I’m torn in three different directions.

  It’s too much to deal with. I’m hurt, I’m confused, and my hormones are all over the place. “Damon.” My voice cracks as tears fall from my eyes, leaking down my temples and into my hair. “I can’t... I can’t do this.” I whisper. I avert my eyes, not able to look at the pain I see flash in his eyes.

  “Ella.” That one word holds more pain than I thought possible. I look back at Damon and see his eyes glistening with tears. My heart skips a beat. My heart literally hurts to see Damon look so devastated, vulnerable, and open.

  I sniffle before I hide my face in his neck. His hands hold my head to him, clinging to me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he doesn’t keep his hold on me. The feelings this man evokes in me in me are hard to bear.

  “I’m sorry, beauty. So fucking sorry.” He says brokenly. “Leona...” I tense as soon as her name slips past his lips. Damon sighs at my reaction. “Ella, she’s just a friend. Nothing more, I promise.”

  He just doesn’t get it. I’m going to have to spell it out for him. “Damon, she’s your ex.” Damon cuts me off before I get to finish.

  “Tom’s your ex.”

  “Tom’s not in love with me.” I snap. My hormones are so erratic that I feel like I’m giving myself whiplash. Jealousy burns through me. I hate that he can make me jealous. I hate that I don’t know if it’s all a game. I wish I could read Damon better.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, it was never like that for me and Tom. He’s just a friend and if you’ve forgotten, he’s the one who broke things off with me because of you.” This is getting us nowhere. He just doesn’t understand. “Damon, Tom doesn’t want me like that.”

  “Do you want him?” he sounds so unsure that I can’t help but try to reassure him.

  “No.” A smirk pills at his lips.

  “As long as he knows he can’t have what’s mine.” My brow arches.

  “Yours?” I feel myself recoil, repulsed by his words. I’m not his anymore. Not after what he did.

  “Yes.” He grins. “You’ve agreed to marry me, you’re mine.” I roll my eyes for show but inside my stomach churns, my heart sinking. I know what he’s trying to do and it almost works. He almost distracted me enough to forget what we were talking about. Another one of his games.

  “You have nothing to worry about when it comes to Tom, Damon.”

  His lips descend to mine but I place my hand on his chest to push him back. I can’t let him distract me with sex again. We need to talk about this. His answers are going to be what help me decide my next steps.

  “Damon, we need to talk. We can’t avoid the whole Leona thing.”

  “There is nothing to say, beauty. She’s my past. You’re my future. You don’t need to worry about Leona. You’re all I want, Ella. Just you.” The sincerity ringing in his voice relaxes my tense body and I melt back into the mattress.

  Damon’s lips caress mine, his tongue runs along the seam of my lips but when I open my mouth to give him access, he just teases me. The tip of his tongue dips in just enough to skim the edges of my lips. I try tempting him inside with my tongue but Damon just takes his time. He cups my neck, and his fingers tangle in my hair, as his thumb strokes the shell of my ear.

  When his tongue finally enters my mouth my body is ready. I’m already hot, wanting, and wet. I spread my legs to cradle Damon’s hips between my parted thighs. He pushes my vest up, freeing my boobs to his roaming hand.

  My back arches into his touch. I’m so fuck
ing wanton but I need rough sex. I can’t deal with him being soft. I can’t fall for his games again. I need this to be just a hard fucking.

  My hands grasp and pull at Damon, trying to make him speed up, needing to stop him from touching me like he cherishes me. I need real.

  I thought we had real.

  His hand comes up to stroke the underside of my breasts as mine come up to hold on to him. My fingers clench around his hair, fisting the strands. I shut my eyes and moan at the soft caresses he’s showering on my body. He teases my tits, lifting and squeezing them until my nipples pebble to bullets. His thumb rubs first one, then the other to tighter peaks.

  A vision of Leona in Damon’s arms crashes behind my eyelids. I wail in pain and anger. I tug his hair hard, wanting to hurt him.

  “Damon.” I whimper against his lips. I open my eyes and find his already locked on mine. He pulls his lips away enough to whisper to me.

  “I’ve got you, beauty. Just feel.” I close my eyes again, shutting my mind off, just feeling his touch as his hand slides down past my waist and hips, to my thigh and back again, leaving goose bumps in its wake. He kisses along my jaw, down my neck, to my collarbone. He licks and nips his way to my breasts, drawing the whole nipple and areola into his mouth before switching to latch on to the other, paying them both the same attention.

  Every nerve ending in my body feels like an electric current is zapping through me, causing my arousal to heighten. I roll my hips into his to get friction in the place I want it most. His burgeoning arousal presses into my pussy with the perfect amount of pressure.

  My back bows from the bed, pressing me further into his mouth. I’m so wet, I can feel my juices leaking and dampening my knickers.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful, Ella.” Damon leans back on his heels, and his hands dance around the hem of my shorts all the way around to the back. Gripping them, he begins to tug them up my thighs as I lift my legs into the air to help him take them off. Holding my feet in place, legs stretched straight up into the air, Damon’s eyes follow the length of my legs until they settle on my closed pussy.

  A groan pours from his lips as he sees how wet my thighs are. He brings a hand down and softly strokes along the seam of my pussy lips with a finger. When he lets go of my feet, my legs fall back to the bed. My feet are planted on the mattress and my knees spread wide.

  Damon doesn’t take his eyes away from my core as he pushes his lounge pants down, freeing his massive erection. Swallowing, I take in the sight of a naked Damon. He’s truly gorgeous. Every hard muscle is defined, every dip and curve highlight how well he takes care of his magnificent body.

  “Beauty, I can’t wait. I need in you. Now.” He moans as he wraps his hand around his cock, stroking himself.

  “Yes.” I breathe. “Fuck me, Damon.”

  “No, beauty. I want to make love to you. I need this slow, baby.”

  Damon settles himself between my thighs again and rubs his cock through my juices, coating himself in my wetness. He positions himself at my entrance and pauses. I whimper, not liking his teasing any more. I just need him to fill me.

  “Damon, please.”

  “I’ve got you, beauty.”

  He slowly pushes his way in. He fills, stretches, and pulsates inside me. The perfect fit. Cupping my face with both hands he just stares into my eyes as he slowly starts to retreat before he works himself back to the hilt.

  “You’re so fucking tight, beauty. So fucking perfect.” The soft, slow rhythm he’s setting is new. We’ve never paired together this way. It’s always been fast, passionate and hard. This is slow, sensual and soft.

  My core clenches around Damon, pulling a groan from his lips. He grinds his pelvis into me, staying deep inside. My clit swells and throbs with every rub.

  Our moans, groans and whimpers mix to create music that is just us. My orgasm tears through me as wave after wave of pure pleasure explodes around my body. I cry out Damon’s name, seeking his lips with mine.

  He gives me the connection I desperately need as he spills his seed deep inside me. We lie panting, both of us coming down from euphoria. Damon whispers words of love, and our future. I’m not so certain that our future will be as he thinks.

  Damon peppers kisses all over my face before rolling off me and pulling me into his side. I rest my head on his shoulder, place my hand across his chest and shut my eyes. Tiredness takes over and I drift into a deep sleep, safely tucked in the demon’s arms.

  CHAPTER NINE

  When I wake I reach over to feel for Damon, but his side of the bed is empty and cold. As I sit up my head swirls with everything that’s happened in the last few days, so I take a second to gather myself before slipping out of bed. Grabbing Damon’s dressing gown off the back of his door, I make my way downstairs to find him.

  He is sitting at the kitchen table talking to someone on the phone and when I sit down he looks up and smiles, and reaches for my hand across the table.

  “Yes she’s here... We are both very happy...Hold on I’ll ask her.” He covers the phone by pressing it against his shoulder as he speaks to me. “It’s my mum. She wants to know if you’re free this week to go for lunch. She wants to discuss our engagement party.”

  The panic that has been in my stomach since I tried to sleep last night is slowly rising, and my throat clogs. I realise that I haven’t replied but I can’t get the words to form in my throat. Damon must sense my hesitance because he makes up some excuse and ends the call. He pulls me up from my seat and sits me down in his lap.

  “What’s wrong, Ella?” I can feel tears prickling behind my eyes. I’m so unsure of how I’m feeling. Everything is whirling around in my mind. As much as I try and ignore my feelings, ignore the kiss that Damon shared with Leona, and Damon’s nightmare, it’s killing me. I feel so full of rage and jealousy that I can’t think clearly.

  I feel hurt.

  I tell myself everything will be okay, but now that I’m pregnant, I’m not sure I can deal with this. With us. Now I’ve thought about it, I’m not sure I have the strength.

  Damon lifts my chin so I’m looking directly at him, his eyes glowing with concern. I can’t help the tear that escapes, as he gently rubs my back in soothing circles.

  “Talk to me, Ella. Please.” He waits while I control my emotions.

  “I’m sorry. It’s all just too much. I feel like everything is happening so quickly. I didn’t expect this.” I tell him honestly, trying to turn my head away. Damon holds my face steady though, refusing to let me look away. “I didn’t expect us to be like this and now with the...” I stop myself in time before I say baby. Taking a deep breath I continue, “Engagement, I feel like I’m drowning.”

  Damon continues to rub my back. It’s comforting so I lean my head against his chest and we stay like that for a moment before he speaks.

  “I’m sorry. I know this has happened quickly, and I didn’t expect this either Ella. I didn’t expect to love you like I do.”

  My heart contracts at his words. I want to believe them more than anything but then I think of what he did to Lydia, and my feelings are unsure again. Is it all a game? Thinking of him kissing Leona, and playing me, my heart almost breaks. I feel weak.

  Defenceless.

  All my plans changed, each day my hate diminished, and some days I even forgot why I was doing what I was doing.

  It’s then I realise I don’t hate Damon.

  I hate myself for loving him.

  I reach up and move my mouth to his, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. I don’t want to say anything because I’m not sure I know how I feel yet. I can’t say the words he wants to hear. I have never said the words he wants to hear.

  In the past when a guy told me he loved me I never said it back. I instigated sex, I used them. Men have this weird notion that when a woman has sex it’s a sign of love, but it’s not. It’s a sign of fucking, or for me, manipulation.

  I have always used sex as a weapon, a gain, a manoeuvre towards getting
everything I want. I can make a guy promise me the world while my lips are around his cock. It was mine for the taking, but I never lost focus. My whole reason for continuing to live was to get to Damon.

  I never made love until last night. The way Damon was so gentle with me, protecting me, felt good. It felt natural. It was perfect.

  Now sitting here with him like this, I don’t want to fuck, I want the real thing. I want this to work. I want him to want me more than anything or anyone else in the world, and not for any other reason than because he makes me feel safe.

  But it’s wrong to want this. I need some distance, need to think. I feel so erratic. One minute I hate him, the next I don’t. I want him to kiss me, then I hate myself for wanting him so much. How did I let this happen?

  I can feel myself getting upset again so I push Damon away and stand up, moving away from him as he reaches for me.

  “I need to take a shower. Please give your mum my number so we can arrange something. I’m sorry Damon I just need to think. Please just give me some space to think.” The look in his eyes kills me. I feel like I’m tearing myself in half trying to figure it out, and no matter how much I want to throw myself back into his arms, I turn on my heel and head for my room.

  When I get to my room I feel exhausted. I just want to sleep, but I really need to get to work on the emails Spencer sent me. He wanted me to look over his new plans for his business.

  Pulling out my laptop I start to read through my notes on what I think he can do differently that will save him some money. I love his idea, however some of it will not be possible. He wants the whole hotel to be able to be hired out and decorated as the customer wishes, but to do that each time will cost a fortune, more than what I think will be financially feasible.

  What I am suggesting is that he sections the hotel off. He has four main themes that can be adapted to what the customer wants. This will also allow a quicker turn around. By making sure that one section is as the customer wishes will allow other staff members to focus on another area, allowing two events at the same time, or even run night after night.