Hey guys! I'm praying that this chapter will be up quickly. :) I'm such a procrastinator, always like: I'll write more tomorrow, I'll write more tomorrow. And then I don't write anything till forever! Sorry guys. :)
Cover to the side's by BrambleBriar! Thanks!
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Chapter Seven
Moments with Him
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
I woke up to Damen's peaceful sleeping face, something that oddly didn't ruin my day and instead made me feel a bit...warm on the inside. We weren't tangled up, but our legs were brushed up against each other, despite our actual bodies being several inches apart.
I gazed at his face, noticing how different he looked. The frown lines weren't there, no furrowed eyebrows, and his mouth was actually pointing slightly upward in a small, serene smile. His pinks lips were parted the barest bit, his long eyelashes rested, his dark brown hair normal and crazy messy, and a bit of stubble grew from not having shaved yet.
Trailing my eyes down his bare upper body, I yearned to touch him, especially his tattoo. I had to clench my hand firmly shut as it itched to trail my fingers along the thick inky lines of the tattoo, the black lines that complimented his tanned skin so well.
Unfortunately my hands wouldn't stay confined to my side and reached towards the tattoo. I was trying with all my might to stop my hand, only successfully slowing its progression but it seemed to have its own mind as it crept forward. I didn't understand why I always wanted to trace, to just touch those inky lines. It made no sense why my hands just naturally gravitated to it. These thoughts crossed my mind as my nonresponsive hands hovered close to his heated skin.
I gulped, fingers curling with my resistance and uncurling with its own want to touch. Gritting my teeth, beads of sweat forming, I tried pulling away. Maybe just one touch, I thought as even my over-worked mind gave in. Maybe I just have to touch it once and then the need to touch it again will go away.
Carefully sticking a single finger towards the murky lines, I delicately made contact with the jet black lines. I recoiled my hand as swiftly as I could, stroking my finger a bit afterwards.
The feeling I had gotten when I had made simple contact with his skin was phenomenally unusual. True, I always got a light tingly feeling when I touched Damen, but this...this was beyond different. The sizzling, burning sensation had felt electrifyingly extraordinary. So much so that I was scared of such a tremendously amazing feeling. Yet, there was a lingering question that stuck, why did I feel that way when I just touched his tattoo?
In my haze, I didn't even notice that Damen had also woken up from his slumber. He examined his arm with a befuddled expression hanging on his face. He held it as his sun-colored eyes trailed to me. "What happened? I felt this...feeling..." he asked drowsily.
"I touched your tattoo," I whispered a bit, automatically knowing he had felt the same sensitive, arousing sensation, because of the lack of his mental barrier against me.
His beautiful eyes hardened into an icy glare. "Don't touch me again," he voiced through shut teeth.
I rolled my eyes, already having expected something of the sort. "Don't get your panties in a twist, I accidentally brushed against it." More or less anyway. Before he could ask questions I didn't have answers ready for, I heaved myself up and off the bed and out the door.
Quickly brushing due to my grumbling stomach, I made my way to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, I scavenged through all the food contained inside, finally settling on taking some milk out for my cereal. I turned around to smack straight into Damen's hard chest, bouncing off and hitting against the fridge door.
"There's no need to be sneaky all the time!" I yelled, hand over heart, having not heard the lightest of taps on the tile floor.
"It's just so funny seeing your face whenever I sneak up on you," he said with a smile as he opened the steel fridge door, successfully pushing me off of it as he did so.
Glaring at him, I decided to first grab my cereal and place it on the counter beside my highchair. Then, still glaring at him, I shoved him harshly into the refrigerator. Before he even had a chance to react, I sprinted to the other side of the kitchen and hoisted myself onto the chair. When he turned to see me, I smiled sweetly and waved my fingers delicately, mouth full of the delicious cereal.
He grinned back. I was so surprised that I nearly spit half of my cereal back into the bowl and I almost choked on the other half. No fiery glare? No menacing look? He was up to something. That was sure.
He walked over to his seat beside me, his own bowl of cereal in his hands. "How have you been lately?" he asked casually, munching on his cereal.
I looked at him with a questioning, raised eyebrow while the other one scrunched down in confusion. Yup something was surely up. "It's been pretty good, except that I have to live with this intolerable guy. He thinks he's the best person ever, and if you ask me, I'm pretty sure the only person who likes him is himself," I spoke as if the person I had just described wasn't sitting right in front of me.
He nodded understandingly, nothing flashing in his eyes as a snide comment usually made them do. "Tell me about it. I have to live with this unattractive girl who touches me while I sleep," he retaliated, voice cheery with an underlining indignant tone.
I forced my smile to withhold, not allowing any leakage of my true feelings. Unattractive. Of course he thought that. What was I thinking? That maybe he might just insanely be the small bit enthralled towards me as I was him? I laughed cynically at myself mentally for thinking such petty, hopeful thoughts.
I didn't want to speak back, but I knew that if I didn't, he would translate my silence into defeat. "Freaks aren't that bad. I hate conceited people, especially ugly conceited people." I kept my narrow-eyed gaze on him as I spoke.
He shrugged, though his eyes hardened a little. I tried to keep back from grinning victoriously. Though I should've known that he must've plotted his revenge from earlier and I just made his resolve to carry out his plan stronger, I stupidly forgot. Next thing I know, there's cereal and milk slushing down my back. My eyes widen as I turn around, and without skipping a beat, pour the remains of my cereal over his head.
Jumping off my seat, I rush to the fridge to find Damen already there. Using my back, I roughly push him away from the fridge and open it, grabbing the first thing my hand touches. That thing, happened to be a chocolate syrup bottle.
It was Damen's turn to shove me away, nearly falling over but catching myself on the freezer door. Quickly standing straight up, I pointed the nozzle at him and squeezed, not caring or stopping when he sprayed me back with whipped cream. Jumping onto his body, I climbed up a bit to get better access of his hair and emptied the bottle into it and throwing it away when it finished. He slammed me onto the counter, making me sit on it, as he continued to smother my face with the whipped cream.
I laughed, having almost forgotten the obnoxious sound. I hadn't even noticed the genuine smile on my own face to even start comprehending Damen's breathtaking one. Pushing Damen away, I hopped off the counter and opened the fridge again, fetching the spaghetti from the day before.
Practically ripping the lid off, I scooped up a big handful and threw it smack into Damen's face. The shocked expression on his face was priceless as the spaghetti slipped off his countenance, leaving red streaks in its place.
Maneuvering around me, Damen took a container out, whose contents were unknown through its red plastic. He opened the lid slowly, smirking as he leisurely progressed towards me as I slowly moved the opposite direction, horrified at what filled the container. Soup. Chicken soup. It would be a nightmare getting just the smell out of my hair.
Holding my hands up in front of me as a barrier, I bumped into the sink. I reached back, stretching the faucet out to act as a weapon as I held it like a gun with one finger on the button that would allow water to be released.
"Don't..." I didn't finish the sentence on purpose, to add to the dangerous illusion.
"And if I do?" Damen asked, one corner of his syrup-covered mouth lifted up in a challenge.
"Then I'll do this!" I pressed the button and sprayed him and the soup container with water, not wanting to take any chances.
Letting the soup container fall and splatter on the kitchen floor, Damen dashed to me in inhuman speed. The nozzle was out of my hand and pointed towards me before I could take a mere blink and understand what had just took place. I looked up at Damen's half-dark brown, half-tanned face (due to the syrup) that held a big smile as he crushed me into the little bit of granite before the sink started.
"Don't. Don't. Ahh!" I screamed as he ignored my pleas and sprayed me with the faucet, not even taking a miniscule break as I turned my head side to side, completely wetting my whole head. "Ok, ok, stop!" I laughed, even as he continued to spray me. That was when I heard an alien noise I hadn't ever heard before. It was deep, rumbly yet velvety, and wonderful. Damen's laugh. Trying to hide the shock from masking my face, I yelled, "I surrender!"
Damen let go of the faucet and we stared at each other with wide smiles, breath rough and uneven from laughing so much. Chests heaving, our over-sized grins fell to a small smile until eventually fading away as we gazed into each other's eyes.
It felt like I was swimming in his beautiful eyes. I completely lost myself in his deep, sun-colored eyes, their waves beckoning me closer to him. Soon I realized that he was moving towards me, too, the result being that our noses were only mere centimeters apart. His enticing eyes captured my attention and brought goosebumps to my arms at the way they peered back at me. Desire, curiousity, want. I was sure these things were reflected back at him from my own eyes.
My heart beat so rapidly that I couldn't tell one beat from another, they all mushed together as his lips neared mine. In this very moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to feel those pink lips on mine, moving with mine perfectly. I craved for his kiss more than anything else. The world blurred into an ignorant blurb, only making me focus on him that much longer.
His lips brushed against mine gently, so gently that if I hadn't felt the sparks that rushed through me, I wouldn't have known it had happened. My heart rate spiked so high that it was nearly impossible to breathe. His muscular arm snaked around my waist tightly, pushing my body closer to his, our eyes shutting simultaneously as our heads moved closer together. Placing my hand on his right arm, I trailed it down lightly, accidentally brushing against his tattoo.
The same electrifying feeling. The same burning pleasure. The exact same sensations passed through us at the exact same time, causing us to push each other away. Our eyes were wide as we stared at each other before avoiding looking at each other.
"I-" I cleared my throat, pushing my hair behind my ear, unable to meet his eyes. "We should clean this up."
Sneaking a look at him, I saw him run a hand through his hair, face slightly distraught as he nodded. I was honestly surprised by his answer, but decided against questioning it or else I'd have to clean up the whole mess by myself.
Grabbing wet rags and cleaning solutions for the both of us, we cleaned the kitchen in an awkward haze. After the last tile was mopped, the last counter wiped, I turned towards Damen. "I'm gonna go take a shower," I said, putting the rags and mops away.
When I glanced up, I saw his smirk. "Not before me," he said and sprinted towards the bathroom door.
"Damen!" I knocked loudly on the white door. "You meanie! I was supposed to go first!"
"Too bad! You were too slow!" Damen shouted from the other side.
I sighed, knowing there was no way to get him out. Walking my sticky self towards the couch, I sat down on the ground in front of the TV. Flipping through the channels for approximately five minutes, I decided to just watch the dumb soap opera playing while I waited for Damen to finish showering.
"I'm gonna go to Carl's house. Probably won't be back for awhile," Damen said, wiping his hair as he exited the bathroom half a soap opera episode later. "Damn, Arella, how much chocolate syrup did you put in my hair? It took forever to get out."
"A lot," I stuck my tongue out at him as I walked slowly towards the bathroom, due to my clinging, tacky clothes.
Entering the shower, I revelled in the warm water, lathering shampoo through my hair and rubbing soap over my body. Ah, being clean felt so good. Now only if my sticky hair wasn't so...sticky. Finally being able to run my fingers through soft, clean hair, I washed off the shampoo.
Grabbing a towel, I dried myself and my hair before stepping out from behind the curtains. I looked at myself in the mirror. At my glowing green eyes that held dark circles, pointy nose, thick lips, tanned skin, and dark brown hair. Was I really unattractive? Was I ugly like he said? Fat?
I shook my head, rattling these thoughts around till they ricocheted away. There was no way I was letting that motherfucker ruin my day. He was trying to make me feel like this. I shouldn't pay heed to him.
Glancing around, I noticed that I had forgotten to bring any clothes. Good thing Damen's not home. Wearing a bra and panties from my underwear drawer, I wrapped my towel around myself and walked out. I peaked my head out first to make sure he wasn't still here, but seeing that he was gone, I walked out.
I noticed that the TV was still on, and it was playing one of my favorite songs at the time. Walking up to it, I felt the need to dance along. Looking around, I dropped my towel, figuring that no one would be here to witness me dancing half-naked, so why not?
I closed my eyes and started dancing to the fast beat, my head swishing from side to side as I rolled my hips and made my way around the room. I smiled, showing my teeth, feeling happy to dance, not having done so in such a long time. It was impossible to nowadays because Damen was always around.
As the song fell to an end, I slowly opened my eyes, still smiling brightly. Hearing loud clapping, I turned my eyes a bit to see Damen leaning against the wall, a smirk on his face. I froze, too shocked to do anything, even as he started walking towards me.
He looked me up and down, and even though his body language and face seemed indifferent, his eyes were darker than I remembered, a tinge...lusty even. Bending down, he retrieved my forgotten towel and wrapped it around me. This gesture made me even more awed. He had relatively been a gentleman.
"I-I thought you were going to your friend's house," I uttered shakily, beginning to come back from surprise at last.
"We decided to just meet here," Then I'll go do something with Ophie and the girls I guess, I thought. "Which means you should probably change," he smirked, giving me another once-over before strolling past me, brushing my shoulder lightly with his arm.
I ran into Damen's room (where I kept my clothes) and shut the door behind me with a thud, leaning against it, cheeks flushed, no doubt.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"We have to train at the uni today," I chirped excitedly.
"I already know," Damen grumbled, leaning his head back on the sofa before turning it to look at me, "Why are you so happy about it?"
"Because I can get all my pent up anger out," I smiled at him joyously, "and the best part is that it's on you."
He scowled at my statement. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have morals, but I do, even for you." he smirked at my offended reaction.
"Asshole," I uttered annoyed and got up, heading towards the door and walking out.
While driving my Volare, I didn't bother heeding the speed limit. I was angry and frustrated, making it hard for me to concentrate on anything else but Damen. I don't even know why I like him. He makes me angry, he's an asshole, and he can't talk to me without making me feel like shit about myself. There was no logical explanation to why I held feelings for him. There was just something about him that I liked, and it wasn't just his appearance. I was rooted to my belief that something bad had occured in his life to make him how he is now, to make him so bitter, and I wanted to find out what exactly it was.
Having been driving so fast and without even noticing the correct turns I had automatically taken, I arrived in the university parking lot. Hearing another car park behind me, I didn't even turn around to see who it was. I already knew. I just kept walking towards the gym, passing the plaque that read "Essure University"; passing the pond that exhibited the rare breed of Shoris, a small bird with exotically highlighted feathers and gills, a natural crossbreed of a duck and a fish; passing the other cream-colored, wide buildings surrounded by colorful trees and plants before finally crossing to the gym. The slightly cold air, despite it being summer, bit at my legs, goosebumps reaching under my workout shorts.
"Arella, Damen," Coach nodded at us, "just in time. I want you to drop and give me 200. No knees, Arella, and 500 for you Damen." He walked back into his office to probably watch us suffer. Forgetting once again that he can read my thoughts, he poked his head out from his door and glared at us before pulling it back in.
Normally, I might've been offended by the fact that Damen had to do more pushups but I wasn't because it wasn't about him being a man, but because he was ten times stronger than normal Atlantics. Even then, I had a hunch that Damen did more than 500 when working out. I was proven correct when he perfectly performed them at twice my rate.
Having to do 200 pushups wasn't so bad since Coach had always made me do more than the other girls. Now I got the reason behind that. It wasn't because he was picking on me like I'd thought, but because he was trying to prepare me for the future.
My tank clung more to me with every minute of pushups that passed. Before I got seriously exhausted of doing pushups, I finally finished. I was embarrassed as soon as Damen sat up only shortly after I was done.
"Okay, you two," Coach said, walking out of his office not even a minute after we'd finished our warm-up. I was probably right with my earlier prediction; he had been watching us suffer.
He turned to me, eyes twinkling, "But Ms. Moon, I haven't even started making you suffer. But you're right, I will watch you exhaust with a smile on my face."
I scowled at him, despising the fact that he could read my every thought. He only smilied kindly back, making me glare even harder.
"Warm-up's not over yet," Coach looked right at me before continuing, "I want 150 jumping jacks, 100 bicep-curls with thirty pound dumbbells, and 250 sit-ups. Everything's tripled for you, Damen, even the weights."
I sighed, having become quite lazy in the two weeks I didn't have to work out. In an attempt to be more positive and push myself, I told myself I had to be stronger so I could cause real damage to Damen with my punches instead of only minuscule pain. Besides, I also had to accumulate more strength for my mission in the Outside Realm. Who knows how many people I'd have to fight off at a time? Or what other obstacles lay ahead? Coach may seem quite cynical at times, but I knew he was doing this for our own good. I appreciated that, even though he reminded me of a large, evil elf.
I was quite proud of myself when I didn't start breaking a sweat and actually start feeling like I was working until halfway through the bicep-curls, after having completed the jumping jacks. Thank god my arms didn't look like those of a man's even after all the weight-lifting I had done through the years.
When I had finally finished with Coach's required exercises (he did watch with a big grin), sweat had started to appear on my upper lip and plastered my tank top to my back. It wasn't long before Damen ended, too.
"Great!" Coach clapped his hands together once with enthusiasm. "That took longer than I expected! But no need, you will get faster and stronger and better!"
I wasn't sure if I was discouraged by his words or invigorated with the want to try harder.
"Now, 300 laps around the track for both of you. Who knows what'll start chasing you and how fast," Coach informed us as we walked outside to the massive track.
Now this would definitely make me feel like I was working. However, running was my thing. I had always been the fastest in my training group, even faster than Damen. Well, faster than his human speed anyway, since he wasn't allowed to use his animal speed. I also had great endurance because of all the times Coach made me run for the whole training day, just for fun most of the time.
As I stood before the start line, I spent my time taking deep breaths and reminding myself not to stop no matter how much it burned. If I did so, I'd only want to stop more often.
The first 200 laps weren't so bad. I kept my eyes on my legs, pushing each stride to make it longer and swifter. It was after several more laps that my breaths got really ragged, sweat beads formed, and the faint beginnings of cramps surfaced. This time I lifted my strained eyes and stared forward, willing my mind to think of anything but sprinting, to reduce the desire to cease running.
Taking deep breath after deep breath, I tried to vainly lessen my burning heartbeats in my throat. My mouth watered faster than I could swallow it. Yet, I pushed myself harder, reminding myself that the quicker I got this done, the quicker I'd be able to take a rest. These thoughts fueled my legs to run even faster.
When I finally finished, Damen hadn't, making me want to show off immaturely to him. Maybe I should repititively poke him while shouting sharp "ha, ha!"'s.
It wasn't long till my legs wobbled violently and gave out, causing me to fall face first into the soft bed of grass. I didn't make a move to get up and instead just laid there, steadying my heartbeat and pounding breaths. Closing my eyes, I decided to take a little nap since Damen was still running his last fifty or so.
"Arella! Wake up!" Coach Sky shrieked over my head.
Groggily, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Huh?"
"Enough rest! It's time for your next activity!" Coach didn't lower his voice, despite me being fully awake and aware of my surroundings, which was still the track.
"What's that?" I heard Damen ask, choosing not to look up to see him, not wanting to.
"Fighting each other!" Coach clapped his hands excitedly.
Finally, my favorite part.
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Song of the Upload:
I Don't Wanna Care Right Now by Lupe Fiasco