Page 20 of Curvy Cabin Fever

DAMIEN

I t doesn’t take much to piss me off, but this ?

Seeing Aria tremble with tears flooding her rosy pink cheeks at the thought of some fucking man? I can rip a man apart. I can hurt him physically, destroy him mentally. A man I can deal with.

But an unnecessarily insecure woman?

No.

I can’t believe how she views herself. If I saw Aria out in the world, I’d be captivated, fucking intrigued, and I’d need to own her.

Like now, actually.

I know society is a cunt. I don’t like it, many people don’t, but we all have to dance to its pretty little tune or we’re fucked over.

I know I’m blessed with good looks and a body with high metabolism and fuck knows what else because I don’t have to do much to keep trim and bulky.

Doors have opened for me in life because of my looks, confidence, and body.

It’s a shambolic state of affairs, truth be told, but I can see that society has taken a rock to Aria’s self-esteem and broken it into a thousand pieces.

It hurts me when it hurts her.

My chest aches with a longing to scoop all the little pieces up and glue them back together, making sure she is as good as new, because she doesn’t deserve this.

No woman does.

I know assholes like the jocks she’s referring to; they don’t see beauty—they destroy it.

They crave the confirmation from society that they’re achieving exactly what they’re meant to, and that right there is the fucking problem.

We don’t need to achieve anything—the end goal is being content.

Not rich and skinny, or ripped to fuck. Who wants to live like that, living off shitty leaf shakes and running miles every day?

Well, Morgan, I guess.

But he loves Aria’s body as much as I do. So much so it makes me jealous, because I’d love to be the only man here she was with.

But fuck, I’m glad she’s being adored. She needs more of it, and I’m going to make sure she gets it.

“He was funny, at first.” Aria squints before sighing. “Can I please have the sheets back?”

“Are you cold?” I ask, tilting my head.

“Yes.”

I know she’s lying, but I’m not being a dick about it. I’ve made my point. I reach down and grab the sheets, thrusting them into her arms. She covers herself, and it’s a fucking shame really, but then she speaks, and she’s firmer than before. She’s more confident when she’s covering her body.

Fucking wild.

“He asked me on a date, and I was so flattered.” Aria stares down at her lap, her hair hiding her from me.

I instinctively reach for her hair band on the side table and hand it to her. She gazes at it, then I watch as she drags her hair into a messy ponytail at the nape of her neck, and fuck if I’m not distracted.

“He was so nice.”

I wait, and it doesn’t take her long.

“Until we moved in together. Then it was the odd comment, you know?”

No, I don’t.

“Enlighten me,” I drawl, crossing my arms over my chest.

Aria presses her lips into a thin line. “He was just a dick.”

“What did he say?”

I need to know, because I’m going to make this cunt pay.

“Just the usual shit,” Aria remarks with a shrug. “Don’t eat that, shouldn’t you be watching your weight? And, oh, you’d be so pretty if you were thinner.”

A chill sweeps through me at the thought of him speaking to Aria that way, but I’m not that na?ve. I know how men can be, giving the rest of us a bad name. I force myself to listen as she tells me more, but I’m not prepared for his last trick.

“I walked in on him bending her over our sofa,” Aria murmurs, blinking rapidly to hold back more tears. “It was a blessing in disguise, I guess, but the pain…” Her lower lip wobbles.

I reach for her, but she shakes her head.

“No, I need to be stronger.”

I can’t help but admire this girl, honestly.

I ease back and listen to her soft, wounded voice.

“I’d had a hard day. It was raining, and I’d rang him countless times for a lift as he had the car that we shared that day.”

This just keeps getting better.

“But he didn’t answer, obviously.”

Obviously.

“He didn’t even hear me coming in, and when he saw me…” Aria sucks in a breath and laughs, but it’s a laugh that lacks any joy or happiness. “He just carried on. Gripping her hips and enjoying her body. The one I didn’t have.”

She dips her head as an inferno rages in my mine, my rage clawing at every cell, dying to be released on this useless sack of come.

“It sounds like you had a lucky escape.” My voice is barbed, and I can’t help but glare out the window. “How long were you with him?”

“Too long.”

“Did you lose your virginity to him?” I ask, bile rising in my throat when she confirms she did with an “Uh-huh.”

“I’m sorry,” she blurts suddenly, clearing her throat. “You don’t need to be burdened with all of my shit.”

I snap my eyes back to her, my wounded little bird. My heart fucking hurts for her, so I tell her as much. “I can feel your pain,” I say, lifting her small hand to my chest. “In here. I’m fucking devastated you were hurt so bad, baby.”

Tears fill her eyes again, but I wipe them away with my thumbs, shaking my head.

“But you know what I am?”

Aria blinks, and I exhale heavily.

“I’m here to heal you, baby. To heal all of your pain. To chase away every nightmare and kiss every scar.”

I kiss her softly, and she sobs, but I don’t stop kissing her. I will inhale her sobs, her cries, her tears, her pain.

Because she is mine.