Episode 3

DAMON

“Finally got your task?”  

I jumped, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest as Luciano’s voice cut through the silence the moment I stepped into my room and bolted the door.  

He was there, standing by the window, shrouded in the faint glow of moonlight. Calm. Unbothered. Dangerous.  

“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed as I double checked if I had actually locked the door. “How did you even get in? Are you trying to get me killed?” I whispered, taking off my booths as I used the corner of my palm to wipe my tears so he wouldn't see them. 

If he did, he would know I had been crying since I knew I would be the one to execute him.

“That’s not the answer to my question.” He leaned casually against the frame, the faintest smirk playing on his lips, so effortlessly composed it made my blood boil. 

He looked exactly as he had years ago when I first met him—infuriatingly perfect and utterly untouchable.  

“What does it matter to you?” I snapped, pacing the room in an attempt to shake off the whirlwind of emotions clawing at my chest. “You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave. Now.”  

 “Your task walks right into your arms, and you tell it to leave? That’s not exactly Hunter's trait, Damon.” He swirled to face me and then chuckled, his voice surprisingly low yet dangerously soft.

“Besides, you're the one who said we’re enemies now, right? Go ahead. Do your job. Kill me.”  

“Vampire prince? Really? You’ve been holding onto that little detail all this time? If I didn't find out myself that you were a vampire, would you have ever told me you were, let alone a prince?” I half yelled, struggling to keep my voice low and my emotions in check.

He took fewer steps forward and I must say, the way his dark eyes locked onto me sent a shiver down my spine, and my thoughts slipped dangerously into places they shouldn’t.  

“Are you angry because you didn’t know, baby?” He asked, his smirk widening into something wicked, a glint of teeth visible now. 

The moon shone on the piercing on his lips and I swallowed hard, shutting my eyes and shaking my head to clear my head.

My breath hitched, and I swallowed hard, forcing myself to hold his gaze. 

“Not really. And I’m not your baby. I’m just shocked you could lie so easily to someone you claimed to love.” My voice faltered at the edges, betraying me. 

  “Lie?” He tilted his head slightly, the smirk never wavering. “What part of me said I ever play fair, Damon? And besides, last I checked, you never asked.” I chuckled surprisingly as my jaw line tightened.

I need to forget how hard my dick was as I tried to maintain my anger.

“Asked? I was supposed to ask something I wasn't even aware of?”   

“Mmm.” I opened my mouth to reply, but his next step brought him close enough to touch me, and the words died on my tongue. He towered over me now, his shadow swallowing what little light remained in the room.  

“Let me know when you’re ready to stop playing the good little hunter,” he murmured, his voice a dark purr that sent a jolt of heat down my spine. His gaze dropped briefly to my lips before rising again, locking onto mine with intensity.  

“And kiss me.”  

The room felt suffocating, his presence overwhelming. I wanted to speak, to push him away, but all I could do was stand there, my pulse hammering in my ears while my eyes fell to that piercing on his lips.

“You’d be surprised how much better it feels to kiss me with this piercing.” Luciano’s finger grazed the small silver ring on his lip, his smirk curling in that devilish way that always seemed to strip me bare. 

It was as if he could hear the thoughts I’d been trying so hard to bury.  

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to glare at him.

 “Quit deluding yourself, Luciano. I’m over you. I don’t want to kiss you. I don’t feel anything for you anymore, so leave—now—while I’m being nice. Consider it my repayment for saving me at the club.”  

He tilted his head slightly, studying me with an intensity that sent a shiver rippling down my spine. 

His dark eyes seemed to pierce right through me, pulling apart the walls I’d desperately tried to build. It was like he was drilling holes into my body just with his gaze.

 Then he shook his head, a small, mocking gesture, like I’d just told him the most amusing lie.  

“No,” he murmured, “Your mouth says you don't feel anything for me anymore, ” He stepped closer, “but your body tells me an entirely different story.”  

Every nerve in my body screamed for me to push him away, but I was frozen as he stared at me with those beautiful eyes.

I wasn't sure if it was the lighting by the moon or the fact that the room was dark but his eye balls shone crimson red.

Before I could muster a response, his hand slid up, cupping my jaw with a firm yet almost tender grip.

 He leaned in, his lips brushing mine, and in that fleeting moment, every thought I had dissolved like smoke.  

Before I could get the chance to breath, he captured my lips in an urgent kiss filled with…passion? Old memories?

It wasn’t the kind of kiss meant to coax or convince. No, this was a claim—a reminder of everything we’d been, everything we still were. 

The piercing on his lip pressed cool against my skin, heightening the sensation as my knees threatened to give out beneath me.  

I hated how easily he unraveled me.  

I was already hard as a rock and I couldn't even stop my body from reacting as I returned the kiss just when he was about to pull away.

That is what I hated more!

 How desperately I kissed him back, my hands gripping his jacket like it was the only thing keeping me grounded.  

When he finally pulled away, his smirk returned, wicked while I looked like I had been stripped bare.

“Still think you’re over me?”