Hope Is Not Optional — Manuel Flores 64
Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Selene
I blinked slowly, staring at the man lounging in the hot spring as if he owned not only the cave but the entire world surrounding it. My heartbeat pounded uncomfortably in my chest.
“Strip off your clothes and join me.”
For a moment, I genuinely wondered if I had misheard him. Perhaps the steam from the hot spring had distorted his words, or maybe exhaustion was finally getting to me after everything that had happened in the past weeks.
Surely he couldn’t have meant that. A man like him wouldn’t casually tell a stranger he thought was male to undress and bathe beside him as if it were the most natural request in the world.
Who the hell says something like that? To someone they just met? Even if I looked like a man, it didn’t make sense. And I absolutely could not strip. If I did that, he’d know I was a woman. He’d know my identity. In this life, I swore I would stay far away from him. I thought if I didn’t go to war against his pack, then I would never meet him again.
There would be no massacre, no last stand, and certainly no death. But as fate would have it, here we were again.
Why did destiny keep throwing him in front of me?
If I kept running from something, it kept coming back. Was I truly doomed to die by his hands in every lifetime?
I forced a smile, it was awkward, strained, and desperate. “Really, thank you for the offer,” I said, voice cracking like a teenage boy, “but I’d like to decline.”
Damien didn’t respond immediately. He simply watched me with an unreadable expression, his eyes sharp and focused in a way that made me feel as though he could see right through my disguise.
Steam curled around his shoulders and chest, trailing down over muscles that seemed carved from stone. The water clung to his skin, dripping slowly down his abdomen, disappearing beneath the surface of the hot spring. I had no idea whether he wore anything beneath the water, and the thought alone made my face heat embarrassingly.
I looked away before my imagination started doing things that would get me killed.
Trying to recover my composure, I touched my chest lightly and added, “Even if I’m a man, I’m still a very shy one. Being naked with other men makes me extremely uncomfortable. It’s practically a condition.”
To my horror, his mouth curved into a small, amused smirk, a dangerous, breathtaking expression that made my stomach twist unexpectedly. He tilted his head as if examining me.
“You’re quite funny,” he said.
My heart nearly stopped.
“W-what?” I managed weakly.
“You claim you don’t share hot springs with men you just met,” he said, his tone deceptively mild, “yet you had no problem sharing a kiss with a man you just met.”
My face burned so hard I thought the heat from the hot spring had somehow climbed up into my head.
Of course I had to kiss him. What else was I supposed to do? Stand there and let the guard haul me out of the cave? Let everyone discover the phoenix’s release? Let everything I had planned crumble?
I kissed him because I wanted the guard to leave. It meant nothing.
12:56 Tue, Dec 23
Chapter 64
And honestly, if anyone here should be offended, it should be me. After all that kiss had been my first kiss in this lifetime. I had never planned on giving it to Adrian, but the last thing I ever expected was for Alpha Damien to be the one to tak it. And worse, he kissed me back with so much intensity my knees had nearly given out.
I pressed my hands against my body looking at him suspiciously. Was he interested in men? Is that why he kissed me back so easily? Is that why he didn’t pull away?
My eyes drifted over him before I could stop myself. I wasn’t judging him. In fact, the idea of seeing someone like him kiss another man would probably be interesting. But I wasn’t a man. What if he wanted something with me because he thought 1
was?
I really wanted to know what he was thinking. But no matter how hard I tried to slip into his mind, I couldn’t get through. Some people were easier to read now, especially those with weak mental defenses, like Sienna. But powerful people like Adrian and the fox from the temple had stronger mental walls. I needed more effort to push past them.
But this man? It was like his mind had a massive, impenetrable wall that I couldn’t get pass through. The more I pushed, the more his mind rejected me, effortlessly blocking every attempt as if I weren’t even trying.
As expected of him. It was terrifying.
“Don’t worry,” Damien said. “I will not try anything. You’re a man, after all. I just need some company.”
“Right,” I muttered under my breath. “A man.”
I bit down on my lip, hesitating. My instincts screamed at me to stay out of the water, to keep my distance, to avoid anything that might expose me. But the longer I stood there, the more suspicious I would seem, and if there was anything I couldn’t afford, it was making him suspicious.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I sighed softly to myself and said, “O-okay, I’ll join you. But I’m keeping my clothes
on.”
Before he could question it, I added quickly, “In contrast to your big muscles, mine are very small, and tiny. For my self- esteem, it’s better if I just keep everything on. I hope you understand.”
I nodded firmly at my own ridiculous lie.
Men cared about these stupid things like muscles, size, and strength. He wouldn’t find it strange. And I wasn’t worried about anything feminine showing; I had wrapped my chest tightly with white cloth, flattening everything enough to pass as male.
Damien simply nodded. “Fine.”
I released a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding and mustered a small smile as I stepped forward. I tried not to look at him. The moment my foot entered the water, a wave of heat enveloped me, sinking instantly into my muscles. A soft, involuntary sound escaped my lips.
It was heavenly.
I sank deeper into the spring, letting the water swallow me up to my shoulders, and for a brief moment, I forgot entirely that the most dangerous man alive was sitting just a few feet away until I felt his eyes on me again.
And suddenly, the hot spring didn’t feel relaxing at all, it felt like stepping willingly into the jaws of a beautiful, deadly beast.
12:56 Tue, Dec 23
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