NOVEL NEXT Chapter 82: It's hot. So hot.
"Are you seriously wearing that?" Damien asked while he eyed her up and down as they stood in his kitchen.
It was thirty minutes past five and Katherine had gone back to the Royal penthouse, changed her clothes to a more casual one for Emma's birthday dinner, and went back to Damien's place to bid him goodbye before she leaves. However, the man in a black shirt with the sleeves rolled until his elbow, obviously looking like a snack, had his hands on his waist and was giving her a questioning look.
"Why? What is wrong with what I'm wearing?"
He gave her a thorough examination once again – exposed neck — exposed arms — exposed legs — exposed... lovely face.
Was it possible to have a tailored suit that would cover all those exposed parts that he didn't like to be exposed?
"Too much skin, Katherine. Is Alan going to be there?" He leaned on the counter, crossing his arms as he looked at her.
"It's Adam," she corrected. He's being silly, he obviously knew her friend's name already but he just purposely said it wrongly. "And also, what do you mean too much skin? Did you expect me to wear a turtle neck and a floor-length skirt? What am I, a nun?"
"Oh… you would look absolutely sexy in a turtle neck and a floor-length skirt." He winked.
"Very funny, Mr. Park, but you bought this dress for me. What am I going to do with it? Was I supposed to hang it up in my closet and just stare at it?"
He ran a hand on his face and then raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. Why was he doing it to himself? He did buy her that dress along with all the other pretty dresses because he loved to see them on her. What now, Damien?
"Do you at least have a coat?"
Katherine quickly raised her right hand to show her coat to him. Nodding, he walked towards her, took the coat from her, wore it on her and closed the buttons. "There."
"You do realize that I'm going to remove it when I arrive at the party, right?"
Damien's hands froze and his eyes icily stared into her, making her gulp. "I'll drive you there."
"No need. I already called a cab."
He narrowed his eyes at her as he raised his hand to her forehead and flicked it with his finger.
"Aw!!! What was that for?!"
"That is for you to remember," he said in a low voice.
"Remember what?" She clicked her tongue as she rubbed the sore spot on her forehead.
"No drinking, Katherine." His voice was serious and there was no hint of amusement in his tone. He meant business.
She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes darted to the side, and her hands clutched together. "Emma said I can have one glass and I'll be fine," she reasoned with a small voice.
"Do whatever you want," he resigned and instantly, Katherine felt guilty.
"Stop being broody, I'll be fine." Tiptoeing, she pressed her lips on the corner of his mouth. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"
Shaking his head, he snaked his arms around her waist. "Thanks but I'm already making dinner."
"Beef noodles again?" she chuckled and heard a beep on her phone, indicating that her ride has arrived. "I have to go."
Damien placed a kiss on her forehead before letting her go. "Be safe and enjoy the party. Call me when you're done, I will pick you up no matter what time it is."
"Bye~" Katherine skipped towards the door while he watched her disappear from his place.
Turning to the pot, he switched the burner on and the fire lit. "I guess it's just you and me again, mom," he muttered to himself as he began to cook the dish that he had perfected over the years.
It was the day that his mother left him years ago and the only memory that he had was the dish that she gave him that day which was the reason why he had learned to make the dish himself and made an even better version of it.
…
It was past ten in the evening and Damien just finished taking a shower when his phone rang. Checking the caller, he answered it immediately, "Text me the address, I'll be right there soon."
"Umm… President Park?" Another woman's voice came from the other line and it wasn't Katherine's.
"Who is this?"
"This is Emma… We're at my house. It's just one block away from Katherine's old apartment. You'll see a blue gate with the number 13 on it."
"Where's Katherine?"
"You see… umm… She fell asleep."
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah… she kinda… drank a little…"
Without delay, Damien ended the call abruptly. He grabbed a coat to cover his sleepwear, his wallet, and car keys before he hastily alighted the stairs and into his car in a flash.
"Kitten… you are in big trouble," he said under clenched teeth as he started his engine and sped off.
…
"I'm sorry, President Park, it was my fault. I left for only one minute but my little brothers tricked her into drinking beer." Emma glared at her two teenage brothers and they flinched.
"We just wanted to see fun Katherine. She's always so cool when she's drunk," said one of Emma's brother.
"Yeah, remember that one time when she started beating up all those freaks and ended up in the police station?" The other brother recalled and the two boys laughed at the memory.
Emma gave each of her brothers a smack on the head and apologized to Damien once again.
"Why is she asleep? Did she drink a lot?" he asked.
"Not really… Tequila makes her crazy. Beer just makes her sleepy," Emma confessed.
"Thanks for calling me." Damien scooped her up in his arms, carried her out of the house and into his car.
Because there was no more traffic, it took him less than thirty minutes to arrive back at his place. And just as they entered his bedroom, Katherine woke up and asked to be put down.
"Do you need medicine?" he asked in a cold tone.
"It's hot. So hot."
Katherine started unbuttoning her dress as she walked towards the bed and in a matter of seconds, she had stripped down until she was only wearing her bra and underwear — her clothes dropped to the floor and in an instant, she slipped under the covers and curled into a ball.
As if he was trying to meditate, Damien deeply breathed in and out before he took off his coat and laid next to her, but he stayed on top of the covers to avoid having contact with her skin. It was all that he could do to calm himself.
"I am in control of myself," he muttered to himself a few times.
Katherine's eyes lazily opened and watched the gorgeous man next to her. She knew this man and she was happy to see him beside her. "Why are you still wearing your shirt?"
"Hmmm?" Damien turned his head and met her stare but as soon as he did, the blanket was yanked off from underneath his heavy body and flew out to the side of the bed, exposing Katherine's half-naked state.
"I said…" She rose up and was laying on her side, her luscious chestnut hair flirtatiously fell over her shoulders like a waterfall. Her hand skimmed on the front of his chest and traveled down to his waist as she continued, "Why are you still wearing your shirt? I told you... it's hot."
Before he knew it, Katherine flipped on top of him, her legs straddling on either side of his waist and without warning, she lowered herself and hungrily kissed him on the lips.
With so much restraint that he had with himself, being kissed by his almost naked woman like that, how the f*ck was he going to push her off of him?
'Damn it, I have no control over myself.'
Katherine's kisses were bold — her tongue gained access into his mouth and when she found his, she dueled with it, making him groan.
In a split second, she found the seam of Damien's shirt and she swiftly took it off of him — over his head and to the floor.
Roaming her hands up and down his biceps, she nibbled on his lips and when he found her waist, he gripped it as he tried to say, "Katherine… we can't. I can't do this while you're…"
She dipped her head to the side of his neck and all of a sudden, she stopped moving.
Damien froze and a few seconds later, he heard her soft snore against his ear.
'You have got to be f*cking kidding me.'
He gently pushed her off of him, rolled her back to the bed, and secured the blanket over her body before he got out of the bed.
Damien painfully breathed a sigh out as he felt the throbbing ache in his nether regions — his length was begging for him to be stroked.
Unceremoniously, he headed towards the bathroom and gave himself another ridiculous cold shower. He had convinced himself that he should probably start counting Katherine's debt and when the time comes that she's ready, he's going to start collecting — with high interest.