CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

 

 

(ALINA POV)

 

 

Damian’s question still hung between us,

 I glanced at him, the words forming on my lips but never making it out.

 

Instead, I muttered something incoherent, avoiding his gaze as I stepped aside to take the call.

 

“Alina, where are you?”

 

My father’s voice came immediately.

 

I pressed the phone closer to my ear, glancing back at Damian.

 

He leaned casually against the edge of the counter, his arms crossed, his dark eyes fixed on my own.

 

There was a fire  in his gaze that made me feel clumsy.

 

Though he couldn’t hear my father’s voice, the way his lips twitched upward told me he had an inkling of the conversation.

 

 

 He looked amused, almost smug, as if he could see right through me.

 

“I’m at my friend Chloe's apartment,” I lied, my voice steady despite the instant guilt that hit me.

 

 “We’re just rounding up this movie”

 

The smile that curved Damian’s lips was slow and deliberate.

 

I avoided his gaze further.

 

I knew I shouldn’t have lied, especially not to my father.

 

But instead of doing the sensible thing which was heading home, I stayed. I stayed for him, for the intoxicating pull of his presence.

 

A part of me hated myself for it, validating the whispers my stepmother and Clara often murmured behind my back.

 

Whispers about me being reckless. Irresponsible. and a bad girl.

 

I shrugged it off. This was a one-time thing, I told myself. Just this once.

 

“Alina?”

 

My father’s voice jolted me out of my thoughts

 

 

 

 “You know It’s getting late right? Wrap up whatever you’re doing and come home. The streets aren’t safe at this hour.”

 

I nodded reflexively, even though he couldn’t see me.

 

“I will, Dad. I’m heading out now.”

 

My gaze shifted back to Damian.

 

 

 His sly grin was still the same, it made it harder to focus.

 

“Good,” my father replied, his tone softening slightly.

 

“Be careful, okay?”

 

“I will,”

 

I promised before ending the call.

 

 

I tucked my phone into my bag and exhaled, feeling even more guilty.

 

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking up at Damian.

 

 “I really have to go now. It’s…it's..”

 

I didn’t get to finish the sentence. Damian closed the space between us in an instant, his hands grabbed my face as his lips crashed into mine.

 

 

The kiss stole the air from my lungs, leaving me lightheaded and dizzy.

 

My bag slipped from my hand, hitting the floor with a soft thud.

 

 

 His hands were warm, his touch firm yet tender, he pressed me against the wall as his mouth dug deeper into mine, he grabbed my thigh with one hand and to my surprise I was kissing back hungrily.

 

 

My heart hammered in my chest, my thoughts were scattering like leaves in the wind.

 

 

His hands explored my body, pulling me even closer until there was no space left between us.

 

The world outside faded away, leaving only the two of us locked in a feverish embrace.

 

Then, I started to feel him lifting me slightly, his strength effortless.

 

 My legs wrapped around his waist instinctively,

 

 

He led me to the bed and dropped me on the soft surface after then he pounced on me hungrily,

 

Time seemed to stretch and blur as we lost ourselves in each other.

 

Every kiss, every touch, every whispered breath pulled us further and further until we were naked and tangled on the bed, matching thrust with thrust, until we reached the point of climax together.

 

 

When it was over, we lay together with our limbs lost in each other's own.

 

 

 

And soon I started to close my eyes, every single bone in my body feeling weak, my thoughts unable to think of nothing else, I had gotten a little more than the alcohol or food,  all I wanted to do now  was sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I woke up the next morning with a jolt, the sharp ache in my head made me throw a palm to it.

 

 

I winced, pressing my fingers against my temple as the pounding in my skull reminded me of just how much I had to drink last night.

 

 

My throat was dry, my body sore, but none of that compared to the slow  realization that hit me as

 I began to shift under the sheets…I was stark naked.

 

A rush of heat flooded my cheeks as I frantically pulled the covers up to my chest, my heart beating fast as I tried to piece together the events of the previous night.

 

 

I blinked repeatedly, my mind scrambling to make sense of it all.

 

 

Faint memories began to surface, one after another, like pieces of a puzzle I wasn’t sure I wanted to solve.

 

The stranger. Damian. His intense, piercing eyes, the way he had pulled me close without hesitation.

The phone call, the lie I had  told my father…my father.

 

 

 

I swallowed as the image of last night started to replay in vivid detail: the kiss, the fire that had consumed me, and finally, the moment when I had let go of everything and given myself to him.

 

 

My heart was sinking. I had just had a drunken one-night stand with a complete stranger.

 

 Worse still, he was nowhere to be found.

 

I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth as the gravity of what I had  done settled in my chest like a stone.

 

I threw my head  around the room again, searching for any sign of him, but all I found was nothing, the room had no other life in it.

 

 

 His absence was deafening.

 

As I sat there, blinking at the emptiness of the bed and trying to calm my racing thoughts, my phone suddenly vibrated to  life beside me making me half jump on the bed.

 

 

 The sound was shrill, almost accusing,

 

 I glanced down at the screen, and my stomach dropped.

 

Dad.

 

I gasped again, louder this time, my hands trembling as I stared at the caller ID.

 

 

For a moment, I was blank , torn between answering and throwing the phone across the room.

 

Every inch of me screamed that I wasn’t ready for this conversation.

 

But the phone kept ringing, insistent and unrelenting. I swallowed hard, the ache in my head now nothing compared to the dread twisting in my gut.

 

“What have I done?” I whispered.