Chapter 5. His True Face

He caught her. Damon Kalesto.

Damon’s hands gripped her shoulders tightly, holding her against his chest. Silence stretched between them, a deafening silence that made Sarah terribly uneasy. Against her back, she could feel the soft rise and fall of his chest, along with the erratic thumps of his beating heart. And on her cheek, his taunting breaths incited those familiar, inescapable tingles that ran amok across her skin, wanting to devour its entirety.

Why was his heart beating as fast as hers? Why wasn’t he letting go?

She was sweating, too scared to move much less utter a single word. Just how long was he hanging around? She hadn’t even heard him approaching.

Sucking in a breath, Damon’s grip tightened as he lifted her off her feet and tucked her behind him as if she was a weightless doll. She stood there facing the warmth of his back while he stood tall, towering like a brick wall.

“What’s going on here?” His voice boomed as he turned to his slaves, his hard expression promising a disaster.

Alexis, who was riddled with panic, drained of color at the question. Her gaze darted, glaring over his shoulder at a fidgeting Sarah. She hadn’t pushed her, she hadn’t! A poke barely enough to move a half-filled bottle of water could not have sent her tumbling for the floor! Was this little show deliberate? Was this her declaration of war?!

If that bitch opened her mouth first then she would definitely have the upper hand!

Alexis trembled with rage, her fists tightening at her sides. She, a stunning beauty, had been Damon’s for years, stuck to his side like glue and worshipping the very ground he walked on! She’d be damned if she allowed this troll of a mate to come between them! Over her dead body!

“She came up to us first!” Alexis cried, pointing a trembling finger at Sarah. “Trixie wanted to hang in her room, so we were heading down to the kitchen for a snack, when she approached us, saying these attires were unfit for useless slaves like us! She clearly wanted a fight, b-but I didn’t touch her, I swear! I would never…! She fell on her own…”

“Is that true?” Damon looked back at Sarah, making her flinch. It was a lie, she should’ve said. But his hazel eyes, steely and unforgiving, made her lips wobble pathetically under his gaze.

“I-I d-didn’t—” she swallowed, her fingers twisting before her nervously. Would he believe her? What if he begun to beat her and didn’t stop until her last breath?

“I asked you a question. Are you incapable of speaking? Do I need to draw an answer out of you myself?”

Sarah could sense his distaste as he stared at her, stripping the room of air like a suffocating foreboding of death. The careful tone he had used with her before was gone, replaced by an annoyed edge to every word.

Sarah glanced up at the slaves, feeling her stomach drop at the smirk Alexis gave her, lasting for a second before disappearing under her innocent facade. The other two were standing by her, so they were just as bad as she was.

“I didn’t…” She said, her voice barely a whisper. “I n-never said such things.” She caught the way Alexis stiffened instantly, but she didn’t let that make her waver. “She was the one who approached me and accused me of do—”

“Enough.” The icy command cut her off instantly. “Trixie, Haguy.” He jerked his head towards Alexis’s lackeys. “Take her to her room. I’ll deal with her later.”

Sarah’s eyes bulged, panicking. “I… I d-didn’t do anything!” Her throat felt as if it was trapped in a tight grip, the words barely passing through. “She started this, I swear… She kept saying I was b—” Before she could finish, her arms were locked in a tight hold by Trixie and Haguy, a hand covering her mouth. She struggled in their hold.

“Master has heard enough.” One said, yanking her forward.

She looked back and over her shoulder, her desperate eyes willing Damon to look at her if just for a moment. But he didn’t glance her way as they dragged her along.

Her writhing arms went lax. So, he didn’t even care to listen to her side? She stopped her useless fighting, following the girls up the stairs and through the hall.

It had only been a moment since she was happily eating at the table and now, everything had fallen into chaos.

She didn’t utter a word as she was shoved into a room, the door slammed shut behind her. With a sigh, she sat silently on the floor, leaning back against the cold wall. There was nothing surprising about this situation. Who would trust their newest slave?

Still… it hurt. It hurt that she was not the one he chose.

‘I’ll deal with her later’

A chill ran down her spine. Though she was in a large room with a huge bed, pretty lights and sleek furniture, she didn’t spare the luxury any attention. There was too much promise in his tone for her to be at ease.

Sarah shifted, lying flat against the floor with dreadful anticipation coursing within her. Hugging her knees to her chest, she began to hum a soft tune, wanting to ignore thoughts of her impending punishment.

Minutes passed before drowsiness kicked in again, her eyelids drooping. A click sounded just then, and the door creaked open. Through the blur of her lashes, she caught a glimpse of him, Damon Kalesto. But her mind didn’t process the danger, her eyes slipping closed.

Footsteps sounded, then an arm slipped under her back and another under her legs as he picked her up against his chest. Sarah unconsciously nuzzled into his warm embrace, drifting asleep to the feel of tingles running wild on her skin.

“I’ve dealt with her for you…” His whisper slipped by her ear, but the sleeping woman had not heard a word.