Hope Is Not Optional — Manuel Flores 95
94 Sleep with me
Not because I cared about the pack. Not because I wanted to protect them. But because if Damien wiped them out in a single night, my revenge would be meaningless. Everyone who had a hand in my deaths would escape the suffering they deserved.
Footsteps crunched against the stone path, growing closer.
I looked at Damien, and before my mind could catch up with my body, I reached out and grabbed his cold hand. The chill of his skin sent a jolt through me, enough to make his eyes snap down to mine. He looked surprised but I didn’t give him time to question me.
“Follow me,” I whispered urgently.
I didn’t wait for his response. I dragged him with me, my strength fueled by desperation, and shoved him into the shadowed corner of the garden wall. Without thinking, I pressed myself against him, my chest to his chest, my body shielding him as best as it could just as the guards’ footsteps reached the entrance of the garden.
I could feel him stiffen, his presence overwhelming.
The guards froze when they saw Adrian sprawled on the ground.
“Oh my gods,” one of them gasped. “Prince Adrian!”
“What happened to him?” another said frantically. “And where is the Moonborn? Didn’t they come here together?”
“I don’t know,” someone answered, panic rising in his voice. “But the prince is unconscious. Quick, take him to the healer. If the alpha finds out Prince Adrian was attacked, he’ll be furious.”
I stayed completely still, barely daring to breathe as they lifted Adrian and hurried him out of the garden. Their retreating footsteps echoed through the hallway until, finally, everything fell silent.
Only then did I sag in relief.
?
I exhaled shakily and lifted my head, and froze.
Crimson eyes met mine.
4
Damien was still pinned against the wall, looking down at me with an intensity that made my stomach twist. We were too close. I realized then that my hand was still pressed over his mouth, my palm warm against his cold skin, my body flush against his.
Before I knew it, the heat inside me flared violently, my body reacting in a way I didn’t understand and absolutely did not want. My legs trembled, a strange dizziness washing over me as my heart began to race out of control.
I stumbled back clumsily. “I-I apologize,” I said quickly, my voice unsteady as the world tilted.
Before I could fall, strong hands caught my waist, pulling me back against his chest as if I weighed nothing at all.
I froze the moment my forehead brushed his chest.
My body betrayed me completely, trembling so violently that my legs nearly gave out beneath me. If it weren’t for his hands locked around my waist, I would have collapsed right there. My breath came out in uneven gasps as I rested my head against him, my cheek pressed to his chest, unable to pull away.
Fuck.
Even through layers of fabric, his body felt solid, and I hated that my mind remembered things it shouldn’t, how fit he had been back then in that hotspring. My fingers twitched, lifting on their own, hovering inches from his chest as if drawn by something darker than instinct.
I clenched my jaw and shook my head sharply.
What is wrong with me?
Why was my body reacting to him?
Adrian, I could understand. The mate bond, the history, the manipulation of fate. But Damien? The man who had slaughtered armies and walked away without a scratch? I was supposed to fear him. I did fear him. So why did my skin feel like it was on fire where he touched me?
Before I could retreat any further, his fingers slid under my chin and lifted my face.
I was forced to look at him.
He tilted his head slightly, one dark brow lifting as he studied me with intensity, as though I were some rare creature he had stumbled upon in the wild. And gods help me, the way he looked at me sent something sinful curling low in my spine. His thumb brushed against my lips.
I sucked in a sharp breath, my body reacting before my mind could catch up. My lips parted instinctively, my tongue
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941 Sleep with me
betraying me as it wanted to draw his thumb in. I caught myself at the last second, biting down gently, forcing control back into my trembling hands.
His gaze darkened.
“Do you want me to take care of it for you?” he asked, his voice low.
The words hit me like a physical blow.
I blinked up at him, my mind scrambling, convinced for half a second that I must have imagined it. But his expression didn’t change, as if he had asked me something simple, and ordinary.
Everyone knew what those words meant.
Why was he so blunt? And unapologetic? There was no teasing, or manipulation, just an offer. And that somehow made it worse. I told myself there was no way. Absolutely no way I would let him be the one.
As I argued with myself, Mira’s voice echoed softly in my mind.
‘Why?’
I stiffened. ‘What?’
‘Why can’t he be the one?’ She asked calmly.
I didn’t have an answer.
Both Damien and Adrian were devils in their own ways. But at least Damien had never pretended to be anything else. He never hid his nature behind pretty promises or righteous excuses. And if I was being honest, I would rather burn once with a man who was honest about his darkness than be consumed slowly by someone who wore light like a mask.
Besides, it would only be once.
Damien’s voice pulled me back.
4
“If you want me to take care of it,” he said again, “I will. But there will be consequences.” His eyes locked onto mine. “So I’ll ask you again. Do you want me to sleep with you?”
I searched his face. I didn’t know what he wanted. I didn’t know what consequences he was talking about. But I did know one thing.
Right now, he was the only option standing in front of me.
And I had learned long ago not to waste opportunities when they presented themselves.
I rose onto my toes, my hands lifting to cradle his face. For a split second, I expected him to pull away, and stop me.
He didn’t. He just watched me.
“Fine,” I whispered. “Sleep with me.”
3
Before he could respond, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.
The world seemed to tilt the moment our mouths met.
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