Page 51 of Sticks & Serpents

But I couldn’t relax—not with the memory of Damien so fresh in my mind. Not when every instinct screamed at me that this wasn’t right. This wasn’t how things should go between two people who had just met.

“I can’t do this,” I managed to choke out as I yanked my wrist from his grasp, feeling an overwhelming urge to put distance between us. "This was a mistake."

I yanked my wrist from Andrew’s grip, my heart racing.

“I said, don’t touch me,” I said again, the urgency in my voice pushing me to back away. The warmth of his hands felt suffocating, not comforting.

Before I could step back far enough to catch my breath, everything changed.

One moment, Andrew was there—his smirk fading as confusion flashed across his face—and the next, he was suddenly yanked away from me. The force of it sent him stumbling backward until he hit the floor with a thud that echoed through the quiet hall.

I blinked in disbelief as Damien emerged from the shadows like a storm cloud ready to unleash its fury. His fists were clenched tight at his sides, and his jaw was set hard enough that I could see the muscle twitching beneath his skin. His eyes were dark—like thunderclouds rolling in before a downpour—intense and furious.

“Damien!” My voice came out half a gasp as adrenaline shot through me. I took an involuntary step back, my body instinctively bracing for whatever chaos would follow.

He stood over Andrew, breathing hard as if he’d just sprinted miles. There was nothing calm about him now; every ounce of control had shattered like glass beneath a hammer.

Andrew scrambled to push himself off the ground, surprise morphing into anger as he looked up at Damien. “What the fuck, man? Back off!”

But Damien didn’t seem to hear him. His focus remained locked on me, that same fury radiating from him like heat from a firestorm. I saw the way his chest rose and fell with each heavy breath he took—the raw energy crackling around him like electricity waiting to strike.

I felt caught between two worlds: one where I craved safety and normalcy and another where Damien's wild intensity ignited something dangerous within me.

I watched in shock as Damien didn’t answer Andrew. He just swung.

A brutal punch landed straight on the guy’s face, the sound of impact echoing in the small space. Blood spatters flew across the floor, a vivid splash of red against the pale tiles. My breath caught in my throat, my heart racing at the sight.

Damien was lethal like this—his rage coiling around him, thick and palpable. The way he moved, it was as if he’d been waiting for this moment, his body a finely-tuned weapon ready to unleash chaos. I felt a mix of fear and something else entirely—a twisted admiration for how he commanded that kind of power.

Andrew stumbled back, hands raised in surrender. “Jesus—okay, okay! I’m leaving!” His voice trembled as he backed away from Damien.

But Damien wasn’t finished yet. He grabbed Andrew by the collar, slamming him against the door with a force that made me flinch.

“Touch her again and I’ll fucking break you.”

The threat dripped from his voice like poison, low and dangerous.

The color drained from Andrew’s face as he met Damien’s fierce gaze, eyes wide with the realization that he had crossed a line he shouldn’t have even approached. He didn’t argue; fear propelled him out of the room like a bullet from a gun.

“Damien,” I finally managed to say, stepping forward hesitantly, but my voice wavered as uncertainty coursed through me. Did I want to pull him back from this edge? Or did I want to revel in how fiercely he protected me?

Silence. Heavy. Electric.

Damien turned to me, still breathing hard, his chest rising and falling with a fierce rhythm that matched the chaos in my heart. His eyes locked onto mine—dark, possessive, fucking furious. I felt the heat radiating from him, the raw energy crackling in the air between us like a live wire ready to snap.

My pulse pounded in my ears. I should be mad. I should scream at him for acting like a wild animal, for throwing punches over something so trivial—over me. But instead, I stood there, frozen, chest rising and falling too fast as adrenaline coursed through my veins.

Because he came for me.

That thought sent a jolt of something thrilling through my chest. He hadn’t just shown up; he had charged into the room like a storm, fists ready to fight for what was his—what he believed was his. And deep down, I knew he always would come for me.

Damien took a step forward, and I didn’t move. My back pressed against the wall, the cold surface biting into my skin, leaving me with nowhere to go. The space between us felt charged, a tension so thick it made it hard to breathe.

“Do you think you can let another man touch you and I won’t fucking stop it?” His voice came out low and dangerous, each word like a blade slicing through the air.

My nails dug into my palms, grounding me as panic swirled inside. “You were with someone else first,” I shot back, desperation coating my words.

His jaw flexed, and he exhaled sharply. I could see his eyes flash with something volatile—anger mixed with a hint of something darker that made my heart lurch in my chest. “I was trying to keep you away,” he growled, his frustration seeping through the cracks of his controlled demeanor.

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