Damien (Slater Brothers #5)(52)

When Damien’s low laughter filled the room, I felt the sudden sexual tension slip away so I smiled and dropped my hand back to my side.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, a slight frown on his face. “The cat was crying, so I came to check on her and I walked into the table when I came in here.”

I gasped. “Barbara!”

Before I could turn and run into the sitting room, Damien’s voice stopped me.

“She’s in her crate; she’s fine.”

Before we both went to bed—in separate rooms—we set up everything Alec had bought on my behalf for Barbara. There were toys, food, bowls for food and water, litter trays in different sizes for when she grows, a scratching post that took surprisingly forever to put together, a packet of catnip, and a little fur brush. I was confident I’d need to get more supplies for her, but for the moment, it seemed I had everything to sate her needs.

“Did she eat any food?”

Damien nodded. “There is a small dent in what we gave her.”

I gnawed on my lower lip, and worried.

“I hope she isn’t too young for the kitten food.”

“Alec told the woman in the store that you weren’t sure how old she was, but that she was small, so she gave us the food she had for kittens who have just weaned off their mother’s milk.”

I folded my arms across my chest.

“But what if she should still be drinkin’ ’er ma’s milk, and we’re givin’ ’er solid food?”

“You’re going to the vet tomorrow and you know you’ll ask then, okay? We’ve done all we can for now.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

When Damien smiled, I shifted my stance.

“What?”

“We’re standing in your kitchen in the middle of the night talking about a baby kitten, and we’re dating.” He shook his head. “This is just not how I was expecting the night to go when you said you wanted to talk to me.”

“How were you expectin’ it to go?”

“Honestly?”

I nodded.

“I thought you were going to say you just wanted to be friends.”

My lips parted. “Why?”

“I didn’t want to give myself any hope, so I always force myself to expect the worse when it came to you … just so it’d hurt less.”

My stomach churned.

“Dame.” I frowned as I dropped my arms to my side and crossed the room.

He opened his arms and accepted my hug wordlessly. He hugged my body to his and stroked his hand up and down my back. It amazed me how perfectly I fit against him and how soothing I found his touch to be.

“I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to do that.”

“No more apologising.” He kissed the crown of my head. “We aren’t focusing on the past anymore, right?”

I squeezed him. “Right.”

Barbara began to make a lot of noise then, and Damien sighed. “She is singing us the song of her people.”

I laughed, and together we went into the sitting room. I let Barbara out of her crate and encouraged her to eat more food and drink some water. It took a few minutes, but she did consume a little more of both and it relieved me greatly. I pushed her litter tray close to her so she could see and smell it. I tapped on the screen of my phone when a question entered my head.

“I think she has to go to the toilet, and Google says to put ’er on the litter tray after she eats and drinks to promote ’er goin’ to the toilet in it.”

Damien rubbed his eyes. “If Google says so, it must be right.”

I looked up at him.

“Are you bein’ sarcastic?” I blinked. “I’m so stressed out with the cat that I can’t even tell.”

He tiredly laughed, then reached out and hooked his arm around my shoulder, tugging me to his body.

“I love that I can touch you like this without worrying you’ll attack me.”

I slipped my arm around his bare waist, my palms becoming clammy almost instantly.

“When have I ever attacked you?”

“The day I knew you were the one for me,” he answered. “We were eighteen, and everything had just gone to shit between us. You kicked me in the balls and told me to go to hell, and never come back.”

My free hand flung to my mouth, and I laughed.

“I forgot about that!”

“Jesus, I didn’t.” He playfully winced. “I can still feel the blinding pain when I think about it.”

“You’re so full of it,” I cackled.

He looked down at me when I laughed and said, “You’re gorgeous.”

I stopped laughing almost instantly and ducked my head.

“Don’t say stuff like that; you’ll embarrass me.”

Damien groaned. “God, that’s sexy.”

I looked up at him with raised brows.

“What is?”

“The fact that you don’t know you’re gorgeous; it’s such a turn-on.”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to ignore my burning cheeks.

“Stop it.”

Damien smiled with a devilish glint in his eyes.

“Make me.”

I froze. “Nico says that to Bronagh all the time, and nine times out of ten, I make some excuse to leave because I know they’re goin’ to have sex.”