Music:Ruelle ft. Fleurie – Carry You
The woman gave a hard look at Damien before twisting her lips, “Will you take me out to the theater?” she asked unashamedly in front of everyone.
Lady Helen who was making her way towards the councilwoman stopped to go back to her brother. This woman was courting Mr. Quinn too?! With the drink which was on your dress and on one side of her face, she quietly glared at the woman. It was as if two women were fighting and the third one appeared ready to snatch the prize.
Penelope had guessed that the answer would be no but instead, Damien surprised her by saying,
“Sure, I will take you to the theater,” he agreed, surprising everyone in the room. Some of them didn’t know what was going on. Three women who were courting the man, Damien Quinn was a popular man, “But, I will tell you the time and place,” he added for the woman to nod.
“Okay.”
When the crowd dispersed by the end of the party, Damien took a wet cloth, wiping Penny’s face. They hadn’t spoken to each other since they had left the halls. In the bathroom, Damien continued to run his hand with the cloth on her skin.
“We need to get you out of the wet clothes,” he said. Penny stood up, feeling the dress tightly holding her which she hadn’t noticed before with the people around her which had been keeping occupied. She turned around as the laces were tied from behind and she would need him to pull and untie them before it would release itself.
She didn’t know what was going on in Damien’s mind. Out of adrenaline rush, Penny had picked up the bottle and had rammed it against the side of Helen’s head for the words the vampiress had uttered. She had tried to be patient. Gave her a window to let her feelings out but instead, what did that little girl do? She had thrown the drink on her.
Penny didn’t understand why Damien had agreed to go out with that councilwoman. Her lips were pressed tightly against each other, refusing to speak a word right now.
“You have been very quiet since we left the hall,” stated Damien, noticing her tense shoulders. He placed his hands on either side of her shoulders.
“Why did you agree to go out to the theater with her?”
“Is that what is bothering you? Feeling jealous and insecure?” Damien asked her, his hands sliding down her shoulders to her arms before they shifted down to her waist, “I won’t leave you, mouse.”
Damien couldn’t stop the grin that formed on his lips, feeling her emotions which she had been holding well until Evelyn showed up, now had turned out to be anxious. Her nerves were errant in worry, her thoughts muddled and confused as to what he and why he had done.
“Why?” he heard her question again.
He had started to pull the lace from her back which had been tightly tied, removing the knots around the crisscross corset and throwing it to the side of the bathroom, “We don’t want another case of you using the bottle to hit someone.”
“Are you disappointed?” she asked him, her words coming out to be short as she spoke to him as if she were upset with him.
Women didn’t behave the way she did. At least not in a gathering which even she was aware of but she couldn’t help not reacting back at the vampiress for continuously trying to bring her down. By this act, she had proved the vampiress right that she had no class. That she came from a place where nobody wanted her. The one who wanted her was dead but the rest didn’t care.
With her anger and words all spent outside talking to the girl and woman outside in the hall, there were no more words she could think of. Rather she felt vulnerable. The councilwoman had made it clear the day they had visited the cemetery on how she had her interests when it came to Damien. He had touched the woman before, they both had, did he perhaps want to touch her again? But it didn’t seem like it, thought Penny to herself.
“I am impressed,” she heard Damien speak behind her.
Feeling his hands around her legs, she felt Damien raise the dress she wore and she raised her hand to remove it completely.
She took off the rest of clothes which had turned wet because of the wine while Damien ran his hand over her back which had red lines, he traced them with his fingers, “How did you breathe in this?” he asked her, getting closer to her, when she stood straight, he caught her in place. Bending down he kissed her back, his lips touching the red lines, “Does it hurt?” he asked.
“No,” Penny whispered her words to him. Feeling his warm hands on her skin. Penny was usually the one to subtly protest but she didn’t want to today. She still hadn’t received her answer from him on why he was going to the theater with that councilwoman named Evelyn.
“You don’t have to wear these clothes if you aren’t comfortable,” he murmured against her, leaving a couple more kisses and then standing up. Reaching for the fresh gown, he helped her wear it.
Penny had hoped to be kissed more by him but Damien did nothing like that. He helped her button her dress up while zipping at the back to see her in a floral printed dress.
“You broke a bottle on her head and she was persistent in having you being dragged to the magistrate or the court council. Do you know what will happen in the court council? You might be either exposed or you might be highlighted in a way you don’t want to be.”
“Don’t the council have other better things to do than play with the common people?”
“Sometimes they don’t,” Damien responded back.
