The Ashes of Vows (Elara and Damon) novel Chapter 10

10

Early morning. A cool touch ghosted over his chest, like a soft, searing kiss.

Damon wasn’t fully awake, but he instinctively pulled the body in his arms closer, intertwining his fingers with theirs. His voice was a low, husky rumble, thick with sleep and affection.“Elle, easy there…”

But the words barely left his lips before his body went rigid.

That hand…

I’d worked as a nanny and a caregiver, and growing up, I’d known nothing but hardship. My hands always had a thin layer of calluses. Even after he showered me with endless love, even going as far as having a special hand cream custom–made for me, those calluses were like an indelible mark of time, refusing to disappear.

During our intimate nights, he’d gently caress my fingers, his touch always full of such a tender ache.

But now, the skin he was holding felt impossibly soft and smooth…

A ‘boom‘ went off in his head. Countless scenes suddenly flooded his mind, and he bolted upright in bed.

The room was a disaster. Clothes were tossed everywhere. And on the rumpled king–sized bed, a completely naked Sloane was curled up, clutching the covers to herself, a ‘shy‘ smile playing on her lips.

“You’re awake?

It’s still early. Don’t you wanna just stay in bed a little longer?”

At that, Damon’s face went a shade paler.“We…

What’s going on?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on‘?”

Sloane pouted playfully.“You tell me! The second you walked in, you had me pinned against the door, like you couldn’t wait for anything. You left marks all over me. Now I’m super sore.”

She sounded like she was complaining, but her voice was practically dripping with the sweet satisfaction of getting her way. Something clicked for Damon, and he squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.“You drugged me last night, didn’t you?”

It was a question, but he already knew the answer.

Last night, Sloane had spiked the cocktail she ordered for him. That’s why he was in her bed.

And honestly, it wasn’t even the first time Sloane had pulled a stunt like this.

She’d been chasing him for a decade. Her first love letter? That was back in high school. The year she graduated from college, she even bought a private island overseas just to declare her feelings for him. And that very night, she had someone slip him something, then dragged him back to her bedroom…

But he’d just explode, smashing å glass and cutting his wrist, all to stay clear–headed and fight off the drug. He even ended up at the hospital, getting his stomach pumped.

Back then, all Damon felt for the relentless heiress was pure disgust.

If she hadn’t ended up in a coma saving him a year ago in England, he would never have given her the time of day.

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He owed her. He was eternally grateful, indebted beyond words. He could let her get away with anything, protect her no matter what…

But that didn’t mean he liked her.

What no one knew was, back then, after getting drugged and having his stomach pumped overseas, he’d chartered a plane straight back to Blackwood Manor.

At a corner of the garden, he unexpectedly collided with a frail figure. He was so weak then, he just collapsed and blacked out.

He woke up in his bedroom, a pair of red–rimmed, tear–filled eyes staring at him from beside the bed.

That was my first time meeting Damon. When he woke up, I quickly grabbed a towel to wipe his forehead, but I was so scared my fingers were trembling.

For some reason, those tear–filled eyes just slammed right into his heart. His restless emotions finally found solid ground.

“That worried about me? You knocked me out. Now you’re on the hook.”

He was totally messing with me.

But then I just started crying, totally snapping back at his joke, “Who’s worried about you?

If you hadn’t woken

up,

I would’ve lost my job!”

So cute.

And just like that, he thought…

Suddenly, for some reason, memories of me just flooded Damon, a sharp, piercing ache in his chest.

A crushing wave of guilt washed over him, a heavy weight for the current mess, for the profound betrayal of his marriage.

His face went stone cold in an instant. He swung his legs off the bed, his voice stiff, all business:“I’m going to pretend last night never happened.

Sloane, I’m really grateful to you. I can protect you, spoil you rotten even, but that doesn’t mean I want to be with you.”

“I never once thought about divorce, never truly considered betraying Elle. Don’t ever pull that kind of disgusting stunt again. When you do stuff like that…

it just makes people really hate you.”