The Fallen Ones (Holloway University #1)

6. Damien

Chapter 6

Damien

L ily Parker was always meant to be mine. I thought I’d won when my father married her mother, but that was shot to shit when he cheated with Jace’s whorebag of a mother. Everything came crumbling down, ruining all my fucking hopes for something more with her.

Me getting lucky enough to learn Jace’s plans and getting Lily in that way was more about me than my hatred and rivalry for my former best friend. Taking someone from him after his piece of shit mother had taken from me did have its appeal, but this was more than that. With Lily, it wasn’t only about winning.

It was about possessing.

Owning.

Showing him she was still mine despite all the shit we’d been through. The only thing I remained grateful for was I never told him my feelings for her. It was one of the only smart things I’d done in regards to anything to do with my pretty little devil.

Lily was different than any other girl I’d ever known. At least to me she was. Beautiful, sweet, intelligent. Fierce. Fuck was she fierce. I loved how it clashed with her sweetness. Everything about Lily was a vibrant contrast to who I was. If I was a dark stormy night, she was the sunshine and gentle breeze on a perfect summer day.

From the moment I saw her, I knew she was it. It was that simple. Lily Parker owned me.

The issue was I knew I’d take a good girl like her and twist her into the same madness that I was.

I wanted that. There was a sickness inside me that made me want to break what was so pretty and perfect.

I’d even tried it the night I’d kissed her at that Halloween party so many years ago. My pretty little devil all dressed in red. She was mine then, and she was mine now. I could have made my move and truly claimed her by now, but I hadn’t. Maybe I liked the misery. Maybe I liked fucking over every guy who got close to her. I made it a point to push as many of the pricks away as I could.

Then Jace got her. He fucking knew his mother fucked my father while he was married to Lily’s mom. He knew the fucking pain at his family breaking apart. He knew what Lily had gone through. Yet, here he was. Trying to fuck her over again.

I should have been pissed, and maybe I was. But my desire to finally have her and have a way in, if only for a night, was winning that war.

So I’d gladly share. Maybe I’d make her scream for me while I fucked her tight little ass and force him to watch all the ways I could make her come for me.

I was certainly eager to try.

I wasn’t the good guy in my world. I was the fucking despicable villain in hers, willing to do whatever I could do to get to her. Any means necessary. That’s what it had boiled down to at this point.

Her being scared of me and hating me for the sins of my father hadn’t aided in my plight. So this was the next best thing. I may have given Jace and Caleb shit over their plan, but when it boiled down to it, I was more than willing to participate.

There were no saints it seemed.

Well, except maybe her.

That would change.

I didn’t call her my little devil for nothing.

A few good thrusts and I’d have her sucking my cock for the rest of eternity.

That was the hope anyway.

A few days after my deal with Jace and Caleb beneath the oak tree by the science building, I spotted Lily in the courtyard. She sat on a bench, her dark hair in mass of waves, as she sat reading a book. It wasn’t often I’d spot her without her nose stuck in a book. If I had to guess, that was an escape from reality for her.

“Lily,” I greeted in what I hoped was a calm voice, stopping to stare down at her.

She snapped her attention to me and met my gaze. It was only a moment long, but there was a flash of something in her gray eyes. Eyes that reminded me of storm clouds. Not only was she my little devil, but she was also the storm wrecking havoc on my fucking heart.

“Damien,” she muttered, not bothering to sugarcoat her greeting. Her fingers tightened around her paperback, her plump lips set into a frown. She was scared of me. I both loved and hated she was. God knew I’d made it a point to terrify her whenever I could with violence. I knew she’d seen me lose it time and time again and beat fuckers to a pulp seemingly randomly. It was more than that. I beat the ones who looked at her. Who had plans to take her. Jace should have counted his lucky fucking stars I hadn’t killed his ass. Maybe deep down I still cared about the prick, but I highly doubted it. I figured I was just a glutton for punishment and wanted to wait for the perfect time to fuck him over.

“What book are you reading?” I asked.

Her cheeks flushed pink at my question.

“Is it one of those smutty romance novels all the girls are wild about?” I pressed, hoping she said yes.

“No. It’s for class. A book on art theory.”

“Oh.” I wrinkled my nose. That didn’t sound the least bit exciting, but I knew she was a hell of an artist, so I didn’t push it. She didn’t get there by chance. She worked for it. It helped she did have a natural talent, but that wasn’t my point.

I took a spot on the bench next to her, making sure I was close enough to make her uncomfortable.

“You just love to read, don’t you?”

“Beats reality,” she muttered.

So I was right. It was her escape.

I studied her for a moment. She was so fucking beautiful, it was nearly painful to look at. Painful in the way it was crushing my heart to not have her be my girl. Lily didn’t flaunt her beauty. She walked in that sweet silence with it, letting the world know she didn’t give a shit what they thought. She was so perfect and uncorrupted.

I was desperate to tear it all to pieces and reform it into something twisted like me.

I schooled that thought. While I loved it, I also hated it. It was something I was working on.

“Jace fucking with you?”

She glanced at me before looking away, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.

“Why do you even care, Damien? You hate me. You and Jace hate each other. Why does any of it matter?”

“You’re still my sister,” I said.

She turned and looked at me, those gray eyes really storm clouds now.

“I’m not your sister, Damien. I haven’t been for a long time.”

“You’ve always been funny,” I said, leaning in, my voice low and seductive. Her gray eyes skirted my face, her small body tensing. “Silly little devil. You’re mine still.”

“I’m not yours,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“I remember our kiss,” I continued, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. She closed her eyes at my touch, her lips parting.

That’s right, baby. You remember it too.

“And that kiss was sealing a deal with the devil.”

She opened her eyes and stared back at me. “You think you’re the devil, Damien?”

“No.” I gave her a smile and pulled away, both loving and loathing the lurch in my guts at the distance and pain it brought me. “I think you are, Lily.”

She blinked at me as I got to my feet.

“If I’m the devil, what does that make you?” she called out.

“Your fucking sinner,” I answered, giving her a wink as I backed away.

The tiniest of smiles graced her lips.

That was it.

If I wasn’t in on the plan with Jace and Caleb before, I sure as fuck was now.