Page 67 of Lumi

CHAPTER 13

Darkness

Lumi

When I opened my eyes, Damian was watching me. It made me self-aware, and I turned away, rubbing my face, and making sure that I didn’t have sleep in my eyes.

“Good morning, princess. Did ye sleep well?”

I stretched my arms. “Yes. What about you?”

“There was a part of my night that was very eventful and pleasant.”

I gave Damian a quick smile.

Last night I hadn’t been able to sleep what with the disturbing thought of his having sex with a random woman. Making love to him had been a spontaneous decision, but I didn’t regret it. I was just sad that it hadn’t led to his declaring his love for me.

“We’re going to the gym today. I need it,” Damian declared.

“Fine, but I have to do some work, and Jolene and Atlas are coming over for lunch. I want us to cook together.”

“Ye know what that means, right?”

“A disaster in the kitchen?”

“Probably, but it also means that we’re almost half-way through the experiment. We’re three nights in already. Only four more to go, and ye haven’t killed me yet.” Damian leaned over and kissed my shoulder. For a moment, I held my breath, hoping for more, but he pulled back and smacked the sheet. “Sundays are my favorite days, so let’s get movin’.”

“Whoa, you have way too much energy this early. I’ll need tea and toast to wake me up.”

Damian swung his legs over the side of my bed. “I’ve been awake since six.”

“Why?”

“Just a lot on my mind. Remember that tomorrow mornin’, we’re movin’ to my place.”

I frowned. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll need to go into the office for a meeting; I told you.”

“Then we’ll just move to my place today. I live closer to your office anyway, and I need clean clothes,” Damian spoke in a tone that revealed he’d already made up his mind.

After an intense workout at his gym, we went grocery shopping together.

“I hate how people stare at us,” I muttered low.

“Here. Wait a minute.” Damian pulled a long-sleeved sports shirt from his backpack and unlocked the handcuffs to put it on.”

“I thought you said you were hot.”

“I am, but this will make it less obvious.” After locking the handcuffs again, he made sure his long sleeve covered the black leather cuff on his wrist. Damian took my hand. “See, now we look like a regular couple holding hands.” He gave me a satisfied nod and picked up the grocery basket he’d been carrying. “Do we need bread with the salmon?”

It felt surreal to me, walking around the local supermarket holding hands like all the couples that I’d envied over the years. Spencer had been my only long-term boyfriend, and he’d told me from the beginning that he detested any public display of emotions. Born an aristocrat, he had a firm view on personal conduct.

I prided myself as an independent woman, but at that moment, I experienced something close to an out-of-body experience. I was there, walking next to Damian, but my brain took a rest for the first time in as long as I could remember. I didn’t need to be on top of things or have opinions about everything. I didn’t need to follow a list and pay attention to every detail. I was safe.

Damian made little remarks like, “I’m getting Atlas and me some beer. Do you think Jolene wants beer too? I know ye prefer white wine, and that goes well with the fish anyway.”

He might as well have been talking to himself, because all I did was nod while walking in a daze of hopes and dreams of one day having a romantic relationship with a man who wanted me as much as I wanted him.

Not only did I need this sort of partnership in my life, it became painfully clear that I craved it!