Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Their eyes scanned the room for a second before they landed on a pair that was dancing to the beautiful old love song which was sung by the live band on stage. Katherine couldn't help but smile as she was genuinely touched by what she witnessed.

"Damien… Isn't that the old man who won Nana's necklace during the auction?" Katherine was amazed at how Nana and the old man were looking so engrossed in the slow dance.

"Yeah…" Damien turned to the nurse and asked, "Why is Nana dancing with that old man?"

The nurse shrugged. "I'm sorry I need to rush to the restroom," she said before walking away.

"I think it's actually cute." Katherine smiled a sweet one as she watched them from afar.

Damien saw the look on her face and his hand automatically swallowed her delicate one, making her look up at him. 

"What is it?" she asked, suddenly conscious that someone might see them holding hands.

"Dance with me," he said.

For some reason, Katherine became nervous. "But…"

Damien understood what was on her mind right away. There were inside the event hall swarming with personalities — all influential individuals whose words held a lot of power.

"Are you scared?" he asked.

"Not scared… but worried." 

She slightly withdrew her hand but Damien gripped it securely, interlacing his fingers with hers. She didn't really want them to stop holding hands but she became very conscious about everything around them, especially after the stunt that he pulled earlier, in which she still meant to get back at him.

A gentle smile formed on his face and he told her, "One thing that you should know about my uncle… Privacy is very important to him and everyone here knows that. So whatever happens inside these walls of tonight's charity gala, it stays inside. The guests who are invited… let's just say that they know they shouldn't leak anything. You may have not noticed it yet, but security is tight… no media has gotten inside. So they can stare and talk all they want about tonight but no scandals are going to make it out on the tabloids."

Katherine looked at him and had a hard time believing his words. "But… you can't possibly stop everyone from posting online on their social media…"

"That's true, too. But look around you, everyone is having too much fun to care about gossips… despite having every reason to be trending at this very second…" Damien's voice trailed off when his and Katherine's stares landed on a popular male singer who was making out with a male model at one corner of the room.

"Wow… I never thought they were gay…" Katherine was surprised while Damien had already looked away. "Good for them," she commented when she found the pair extremely cute together.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face, catching her attention and making her look at him again. She giggled.

"So what about it, Ms. Miller?" Damien tilted his head towards the dance floor. "Would you like to take the risk with me and regret later?"

She stared at him for a few seconds before she exhaled a sigh and smiled at him, "You know what? Screw it. Let's live this moment and regret together later." She squeezed his hand.

Damien smiled back at her and pulled her with him to the dance floor just in time when another song started to play. He placed a hand on the small of her back while his other held Katherine's hand. 

"I got you," he whispered to her ear and he felt her relax in his arms. 

She hugged him close, his cheek resting against the side of her head and the two slowly swayed from side to side while James Arthur's "Naked" played in the background. The version of the song was slow and sweet which instantly tugged their hearts.

♪ Hey, you there... Can we take it to the next level, baby, do you dare? ♪

Under the dimmed, romantic lights, Damien and Katherine were lost in their own little world, ignoring everything else that was around them as they just danced. 

"You look really lovely in that dress," he whispered.

"Yeah? Did you purposely choose it because of its high slit?" she asked as she remembered Damien's hand was on her thigh earlier.

Damien softly chuckled. "Maybe…"

"I like it," she muttered next to his ear, making him smile. He had been smiling a lot lately, it was strange yet a really nice feeling.

He pulled away slightly and they stared at each other. "Mm… then you should wear it more often."

"You're not going to buy me more dresses like this, Damien." 

"I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't say anything."

She scoffed, "Yeah, but your face did."

Damien laughed. He couldn't hide anything from his woman as she was able to read him very well. He could hide his real emotions from others but Katherine was not like others — and he loved that about her.

He gazed into her eyes tenderly and saw his own reflection in them — And there was this… extraordinary pull in his heart that he had never felt before, at least, not with anyone else other than Katherine. He had already noticed it for a while and though it was unusual for him, it was a feeling that he actually enjoyed.

Katherine's heart started to race. Damien was looking at her with the softest and warmest gaze and it was the most comfortable feeling that she had ever felt. She swallowed and secretly wished that he would never look at anyone else like how he was looking at her at that moment. She wanted that gaze to be only hers — no one else's but hers.

"Are you happy?" He suddenly asked.

Her brows knitted, she was seemingly confused why he would ask her that, out of nowhere.

"I mean… are you really happy? With what's happening in your life right now… with me?" Damien didn't like asking questions like these and he had never asked anyone those questions before. However, whenever he looks at her, all he wants is her happiness. All he wanted was to see her smile.

"Of course," Katherine answered in a tone that said 'Isn't it obvious?'. 

"For the past five years since I woke up from coma, I have been living my life as though I was on auto-pilot. I didn't understand everything around me. I would see my name and I would feel estranged from my own self. I didn't exactly have any passion other than to live my life day by day. But ever since I met you… I mean… since I met you again…" Her voice trailed off, she didn't even know what or how to tell him her thoughts. "I'm happy, thanks to you."

Nodding, Damien was glad that he made her feel that way. "Katherine… I want to take care of you for a long time."

"You already have. You've been taking care of me since… Day 1."

'That's not what I mean…' he said in his thoughts, suddenly feeling like a total fool that he wanted to laugh at himself for being this way.

Believing that it would make him calm down a little, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. 

"Katherine…" Damien tilted her chin up so that he could look into her eyes as he mustered himself to tell her the words that he had been wanting to tell her for a while. He could not contain the drumming in his chest and all he could do was swallow. And as though he was in a trance, the words just left his lips…

"I love you."

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Katherine could hear her own heartbeat in her ear. She could only stare at him while he told her the words that she didn't expect to hear that night. She didn't know what to say as her body seemed to have been possessed by something she couldn't explain when all she wanted to do was to hear the words from him again.

"I love you." 

And he did. Damien said the same words again and there she was – dumbstruck.

"You don't have to say anything back just because I said it." A bittersweet smile cast on his face, making her feel a slight prick in her heart.

"It's okay not to say it back, Katherine. I'm not expecting you to if you're not ready. But let me say it… I want to say it to you because if I don't, I might explode… Is that okay?"

Silently cursing herself at that moment for feeling so selfish, Katherine slowly nodded.

Damien leaned until his lips were just above her ear and she melted like chocolate when he whispered in a smooth and clear voice, "I love you, Katherine."