by L. A. Casey
Damien
a Slater Brothers novel
Copyright © 2018 by L.A. Casey
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under S.I. No. 337/2011 – European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Universal Service and Users’ Rights) Regulations 2011, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, establishments, organizations, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously to give a sense of authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
License Notes
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For everyone who has loved Damien and Alannah since DOMINIC,
this one is for you.
ALSO BY L.A. CASEY
Slater Brothers Series
DOMINIC
BRONAGH
ALEC
KEELA
KANE
AIDEEN
RYDER
BRANNA
Maji Series
OUT OF THE ASHES
Standalone Novels
FROZEN
UNTIL HARRY
Title Page
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Six Years Ago ...
Being everyone’s friend sucks donkey balls.
I thought about it as I twirled the ends of my black hair around my fingers and stared up at the ceiling. The bed I was lying on suddenly dipped, pulling me from my thoughts and causing me to flinch at the disruption of my peace and quiet. I glanced at my best friend, who had one hand on her bed to balance herself while she slid her high heels on with the other.
Bronagh Murphy was my opposite in every way. When she wasn’t pretending that she was invisible, she was loud, sassy, and had a solid backbone. She was funny too, and though she didn’t think so, she had a banging body.
My pairing with Bronagh was an odd one because we hadn’t always been friends. In fact, it was only over the past few weeks after Bronagh defended me from an attack by the school bully that we decided to give the friendship thing a real go. After that, we quickly found we were, in fact, BFFs and just had to hang out all the time.
We were a work in progress for Bronagh, though, because I wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. I could make friends easily enough when I wanted to, but Bronagh couldn’t. She had trust issues, so even landing a spot as her friend was a miracle. I had been in her class for the whole of secondary school and often saw her around primary school, but I never really knew her. No one did ... until Nico and Damien Slater moved to our town, got lumped into our tutor class, and quite literally, cornered her until she had no choice but to come out swinging.
Damien Slater. My mind drifted. Where do I start with Damien Slater?
I licked my lips.
Damien was ... my God, he was perfect. He was drop-dead gorgeous, super tall, lean with muscle, had an accent, and he made me laugh. He had an identical twin, but to me, he was nothing like his brother Nico. I knew from the moment I saw him on his first day in school a few months ago that I would secretly obsess over him. I just didn’t know I’d be obsessing twenty-four-bloody-seven over him.
I had never had a real crush on a lad before Damien entered my life. I thought some lads around school and town were good looking, and hot celebrities obviously drew my attention like any other red-blooded teenage girl, but I had no one who I really fancied myself being with. That all changed when I first saw Damien. Even though he was very closed off, I could tell that his personality was larger than life, and as cheesy as it sounded, he looked like he was carved by angels. He was one of those perfect people you instantly knew would never even glance in your direction.
Ten seconds after I clapped eyes on him, I was imagining our wedding. My stomach somersaulted when I pictured his white blond hair standing out against his black tuxedo as we said, “I do”. How his grey eyes would stare into mine as he declared his undying love for me to the world. How his plump rosy lips would feel like velvet as they claimed mine in a heated kiss. How his smile would erase my every worry and fear and replace it with hope. How his large hand would hold mine when we strolled down the street.
It took a further ten seconds for me to realise I never stood a fecking chance. Nearly every girl in our class, and probably the whole bloody school, most likely had the same thoughts as I did because they jumped to be the first one to grab and hold his attention.
It was mortifying to admit it to myself, but Damien consumed a huge part of my life, and we were barely even friends. If that didn’t label me as pathetic, then I didn’t know what would. Thankfully, no one knew about my embarrassing infatuation ... except for Bronagh, who was too attentive for her own good.
“Alannah.” She bumped my leg with hers. “What’re you sighin’ for?”
I turned my attention to her. “Huh?”
“You keep sighin’.”
I do?
“Sorry, I’m just thinkin’.”
Bronagh stared at me with a perfectly shaped brow raised in question.
“About Damien?”
I felt my cheeks burn with heat. Bronagh was my best friend, but that title was new, so she didn’t really know the depth of my feelings for Damien. No one did, and if I had my way, no one ever would.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “About Damien.”
Bronagh simpered. “You’re so cute when you blush.”
‘Cause that’s what every eighteen-year-old girl wants to be viewed as. Cute.
I playfully kicked at her. “Leave me alone.”
“Sorry,” she said, amusement gleaming in her bright green eyes. “I forget how ... much of an introvert you are.”
“I’m so not an introvert. You are.”
“Me?” Bronagh gleefully l
aughed. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “Which one of us kept to ’erself for years?”
“I was purposely blockin’ everyone out, though; you weren’t.”
I didn’t reply, so Bronagh raised her brow once more and stared at me, a knowing grin on her rose-coloured lips.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “I’m a little bit of an introvert, but it suits me fine. When I try to be outgoin’, it fails, so keepin’ to one’s self is a safe bet.”
“When did it ever fail?”
When hadn’t it failed was the real question she should have asked.
I rolled my eyes. “With Damien.”
My friend frowned. “You’re his friend, his only female friend apart from me, and that’s only because I’m with his brother. If I wasn’t, he’d probably try to pull me, then never talk to me again when he realised I wasn’t interested.”
“It’s not like we’re even real friends, though. I only see ’im outside of school because I’m with you all the time now, and that means I’m also with Nico. And where Nico is, Damien is.”
“Alannah—”
“I don’t like it when he flirts with me because I know what he wants,” I cut Bronagh off, swallowing. “He is so open about not wantin’ a relationship longer than a rumble under the bed sheets, but I don’t want to just have sex with ’im. I don’t want to be on his hit list. I really like ’im, and it sucks that he doesn’t like me in the same way.”
Bronagh reached over and placed her hand on my knee.
“Sorry, Lana. I wish he was different.”
“He is great the way he is,” I stressed. “But I want ’im to like me. I don’t wanna be like Destiny or Lexi; they go through lads like it’s no one’s business, and I can’t be like that. I can’t be like them just to have his attention. I just ... I just wish I was worth more to ’im than a quick shag ... ye’know?”
Bronagh nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
The mood had quickly turned melancholy, and I felt bad.
“I’m sorry, Bee. I’m bummin’ you out on your big night.”
She tilted her head. “Me big night?”
“Your hoo-ha has been deflowered.” I deadpanned. “That means it’s a big night.”
Bronagh widened her eyes before she grabbed a pillow and hit me with it, causing me to sputter with laughter. She hit me with it again, so I squealed and laughed harder.
“You’re a bitch.”
I smiled wide. “You love me, though.”
“Yeah,” Bronagh said, sounding like she had just come to some sort of revelation. “I do.”
I knew that her accepting me as a friend was a big deal for her, but I knew caring for me was an even bigger deal.
“Hey,” I said, gaining her full attention. “I love you too, and that means you’re stuck with me for life. Nico will have to get used to me as a third wheel.”
My friend snorted. “He thinks you’re gorgeous, so he won’t mind.”
I practically choked on air. “He does not!”
“He does,” Bronagh tittered. “We randomly talked about it. I’m totally cool with you knowin’ it too because I know you’re the only girl at school who prefers Damien over ’im.”
That was the truth.
“Mate,” I cringed. “Nico is ... ew.”
Bronagh cracked up with laughter. “Damien is his identical twin. They literally have the same everythin’. Well, not the same hair colour, but everythin’ else is the same.”
I disagreed.
“When I look at them, I see two completely different people. It’s hard to explain, but they’re nothin’ alike to me even though they have the same everythin’. D’ye see Damien in Nico?”
Bronagh shook her head. “At first, I did, but now, I don’t. Dominic has so much personality that his body can’t contain it.”
“Speakin’ of loverboy.” My lips curved upwards. “Did it, ye’know, hurt?”
Bronagh’s cheeks tinged with redness as she nodded, shyly.
“At first, it pinched, then it was uncomfortable, and then everythin’ changed, and it was amazin’. The pain honestly wasn’t as bad as I always thought it would be, but if Dominic wasn’t so focused on makin’ me feel good, I think it just would have just been basic like most people’s first time.”
“That’s good to know.” I exhaled. “Maybe I won’t be so wound up when I finally lose me own V-card.”
“I’m a little sore now, but Dominic says that’s normal because it was me first time. Eventually, it won’t feel uncomfortable at all afterwards. That’s what he says anyway, but he doesn’t have a fanny so I don’t even know why I listen to ’im.”
I snickered then roamed my eyes over Bronagh as I thought about the new change in her life. She was a young woman whose life had just become very adult with her and Nico’s new physical intimacy.
“You’d better go on the pill. Ye’know, just to be safe.”
“I know, Branna said she’d take me to the doctor to get a monthly prescription.”
“You’re a slag,” I teased. “Needin’ the pill and an actual condom supply.”
Bronagh’s face flared with heat once more, and I momentarily wondered if the colour would ever leave her cheeks.
“Stop it. I get so embarrassed when I think of it. And I’m mortified to be on me own with Dominic again.”
I raised a brow. “But he’s your fella.”
“So?” my friend questioned, her cheeks still flushed. “I love ’im, and we’re in a relationship, but he just saw me naked and took me virginity. I can’t help but be embarrassed.”
“You’re so weird, Bee.”
Bronagh snorted. “That’s nothin’ new.”
Male laughter from downstairs got my attention, and I quietened down.
“The twin’s brothers,” I said upon hearing them, “are a lot hotter than what you said they were.”
“They are?”
I stared at her as if she’d just grown an extra head.
“You said they were good lookin’, but babe, they’re on fire. I’ve never met men quite like Ryder and Kane before. And Alec? That is too much sexiness to claim one person. Then there are the twins, who are another kind of hot. Their gene pool is bloody amazin’.”
Bronagh bobbed her head in agreement. “You should have seen me when I first met them. I stared without blinkin’, and I think I even drooled.”
“No one would blame you if you did.”
My friend laughed. “Are you ready to go?”
I sighed as I pushed myself up from the bed and got to my feet. I straightened out my dress, hoping it wasn’t creased.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Bronagh hesitated. “If you’d rather stay—”
“No, I want to go out. I’ve never been clubbin’ before; it’s just ... I hope I don’t get upset if Damien pulls a girl. I have no claim on ’im, but I really like ’im, so you can guarantee me emotions will kick off if he pulls. I just hope I don’t cry and make a show of meself.”
“Ye’know what?” my friend said, sudden confidence filling her tone. “You are goin’ on the pull tonight. You’re goin’ to kiss the socks off a lad and forget about Damien Slater.”
If only.
“Yeah.” I whooped with fake enthusiasm. “Good idea.”
Bronagh beamed, pleased with herself.
“Great. Go on down and tell the lads I’m ready. I’m gonna go get some of Branna’s perfume and see if she’s good to go.”
I nodded and left the room. When I reached the ground floor, I turned and walked down the hallway and into the kitchen where I slammed headfirst into one of the Slater brothers. I looked up and found Alec Slater looking down at me with a shit-eating grin on his way too perfect face. He placed his large hands on my shoulders to steady me, and he left them there, which had me freaking out because he was too hot for words to be touching me for any amount of time.
“I’m so sorry,” I said rapidly, the words sounding jumbled togethe
r. “I wasn’t watchin’ where I was goin’.”
He continued to grin. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, sweetheart.”
I heard a groan from inside the kitchen followed by some snickering.
“She’s barely eighteen, big brother.”
It was Nico who spoke, and I wanted to pummel him for embarrassing me.
Alec simply winked at me before he removed his hands from my shoulders, moved around me, and ventured off down the hallway then upstairs. I inhaled and exhaled before I stepped into the kitchen. Without realising it, I turned around to the empty space Alec just vacated and stared as if he would magically reappear.
“He’s so feckin’ pretty.”
I looked to my right when male laughter sounded, and when I found the remaining four Slater brothers staring at me, I widened my eyes.
“Did I say that out loud?”
The group nodded, and I felt blood rush up my neck to my cheeks, which prompted me to place my face in my hands.
“You’re doing much better than Bronagh, if it’s any consolation?” Nico offered. “She stared at all my brothers when she first met them. I’m sure she drooled, too.”
I dropped my hands back to my sides, my cheeks still aflame.
“Speakin’ of Bronagh, go and put ’er out of ’er misery.”
Nico blinked. “You wanna expand on that?”
“She’s mortified to see you even though you both ... ye’know.”
He smirked. “Yeah, I know.”
Ryder and Kane shook their heads while Damien bumped fists with his twin as if Nico having sex with Bronagh had put him on some sort of pedestal.
“Go act normal so she can stop freakin’ out ’cause when she is freaked, I have to be freaked. Best friend code.”
Damien laughed even though his brothers didn’t. I felt a surge of pleasure that at least he thought I was funny.
“I’ll go take care of her,” Nico said as he stood, moved past me, and left the room.
When I was alone with the remaining three brothers, I found myself rocking back and forth on my heels. I stopped moving when fear of my ankles giving way under my high heels entered my mind.
“So.” I cleared my throat. “You’re American.”
