Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Spooning – His new favorite.

Damien could feel the slow and unhurried breathing of Katherine while her back was pressed against his chest. He never liked spooning. But just what was with Katherine that made him do things that he doesn't normally do? 

He couldn't help but bury his face in her smooth, coconutty chestnut hair. His nose was tickling the back of her head yet instead of pushing herself away from him, she leaned onto him some more while she was asleep, loving the warmth of his embrace while his arms cradled her and the calm beating of his heart served as her lullaby.

He could stay like this with her forever — but his vibrating phone just had to remind him that a business phone call needed his attention.

Carefully, he slid out of bed while simultaneously placing the Damien pillow in her arms, grabbed his phone and went out to the balcony to take the call. Markus called him to discuss what they needed to do as soon as they land the next day and despite the chilly air on the balcony, Damien immediately got down to business. 

Katherine let out a groan while her eyes were closed. Her brows slightly scrunched as she murmured incoherent words and her hands gripping the pillow a little too tight – another nightmare disturbed her sleep.

And in her nightmare, she was on a hospital bed with straps keeping her in place — making it impossible for her to move. 

"Why are you doing this to me?" she hissed with her teeth clenched. Her breathing was ragged and the more that she tugged the straps that were binding her, the more frustrated she got. 

But the man whose face was not clear just looked down on her. She hated that man with every fiber of her being. She looked at him but all she felt was betrayal mocking her in the face as though she deserved it. 

"I don't want to do this to you." 

The man had the nerve to stroke her head, making her feel filthy. "But I have to… Believe me my Katherine, I'm doing this for you," he murmured in her ear, "Don't fight it. Just go with it and everything will be over." 

"Everything will be over…" 

The words echoed in her head but no matter how much she wanted to believe everything will be over, the agony lasted for what seemed like forever. She was almost at her wit's end, gasping for air and begging for them to stop. 'It's too painful…' she screamed.

But who were these people? Why was she there in the first place? She did not understand what was going on but all she knew was that they were trying to hurt her and there was nothing she could do. No one was there to save her. 

"Please… Chris… stop… stop…" Katherine whimpered with tears in her eyes, her breathing was labored and her forehead glistened with sweat. She repeated the words a few times in her sleep and that was the state that Damien found her in – clutching the pillow and begging a man's name that he did not recognize.

The brows in his eyes were crossed as he stared down at her, trying to figure out who the hell was this 'Chris' and why was his woman saying his stupid name in her sleep and asking him to stop?

Despite his questions, he went back to lay down beside her. Katherine was pulled into his embrace, her tears wiped by his fingers as he said, "Shh… you're okay. You're okay…" 

Her eyes opened when she felt the strokes of his fingers on her face and amidst her blurry eyes, she saw his expression that was filled with concern. And it was all that it took for her to calm down that she instantly nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck while her arm wrapped around him as if it was the only blanket of security that she needed — his presence — his embrace — and just all of him.

"I'm here, baby." 

Sensing her uneasiness as she clung to him so desperately, Damien tightened his hold on her and started to lightly caress her head. In her drowsy state, it didn't take long for her to be pulled back to sleep in a minute. Only this time, the nightmare no longer came back.

It was already past midnight and because of what he witnessed, sleep didn't come to him so easily.

…

The shuffling sound of clothes woke Katherine up and the first thing that she saw when she opened her eyes was Damien putting on his coat. 

She had to blink a few times before she could adjust her eyes to the surroundings and when he noticed her waking up, he immediately went to sit next to her.  "Hi… Sorry, I woke you up." 

"What time is it?" 

She checked the clock on the nightstand and heard him say, "It's six in the morning. It's still early, you should go back to sleep." 

Despite her sleepiness, she pushed herself off the bed and sat to face Damien. "You're leaving already. What time do you need to be at the airport?"

"In thirty minutes." He looked at her and remembered what happened last night. He wanted to ask her about it but figured they didn't have that much time, so he decided to ask when he comes home in a few days, "Are you going somewhere today?" 

Shaking her head, Katherine indiscreetly checked her breath and was ready to run towards the bathroom but Damien lowered her hand, "What are you doing?"

Covering her mouth again, she swung her feet off the bed and ran to brush her teeth. Damien chuckled as he watched her in the bathroom from where he sat, "Are you embarrassed, Kitten?" 

Katherine was very quick in brushing her teeth and even rinsing with mouthwash before she wiped her face clean and faced Damien again. 

"Now are you ready to face me?" he asked as she walked back towards him.

"I don't want you to have horrid memories of my morning breath while you're away. You might not want to come back to me anymore," she replied as she sat in front of him. 

"That's nonsense. That would never happen." Damien pushed her down to the bed and in an instant, he was already hovering over her. 

"Now let me check if you've done a thorough job."

Katherine's eyes widened for a second the moment that she felt Damien's soft lips on hers. Her eyes slowly closed and she started to kiss him back. 

"Hmmm…" he hummed on her mouth as he pulled back slightly and stared into her eyes. "I'm beginning to think that this trip was a huge mistake. Ask me to stay and I will cancel everything."

"Don't be ridiculous, President Park." Katherine laughed. "You need to work hard. How else are you going to afford to dote on me if you neglect your responsibilities?"

Damien's eyes brightened upon hearing her question. They had talked about it yesterday and she was adamant about telling him to stop spending on her. "Are you finally agreeing with me? Can I spoil you?"

"No." She rolled her eyes. "But still, you can't skip on this one."

"You're right." He brushed locks of hair away from her face and he asked, "I still worry about you while I'm gone though. You had a nightmare again last night. Are you really going to be okay?"

"I did? Well… I don't remember it. It's okay, I don't remember them anyway." She shrugged. "You should go now… you don't want to be late on your first meeting."

He nodded. "Before I go, let me just…" Damien dipped his head and his lips aimed for Katherine's neck. She instantly reddened when she felt jolts of electricity with the way his skillful lips were kissing her. She had to bite back a moan, not wanting to show how lewd she would sound in front of him. 

Damien raised his head again and caught her closing her eyes and biting her bottom lip down and a satisfied grin danced on his lips. Katherine swallowed and was embarrassed when she saw him looking at her — she must have looked so lustful just now which made her look away.

"You are so adorable, Kitten. Do you know that?"

"And you are such a bully. Do you know that?"

Damien let out a bark of laughter. She was too precious and it made him want to keep her to himself. 

Lowering his mouth to her lips, he gave her one long kiss. He moved to her ear and nibbled on her earlobe before he whispered in a low, husky voice, "I want you to think about me all the time and wait for me. I want you to remember the touch of my lips on your skin while I'm gone, Katherine…" His hand brushed her side and her breath hitched. "Miss me… and when I come back, I will kiss you on any part that you want me to."

Damien gently pushed himself away and smiled down at her, "See you later, Katherine."

Her hand flew to her chest only to feel her heart race as she watched him leave her room. "See you later, Damien," she murmured.