Chapter 48 - Kitten

Crown Resort Group

Arriving at the top floor, Damien noticed that Katherine had been quiet the entire time since they left the hospital. Thinking that she was not feeling well after her doctor's visit, he placed his hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you feeling okay?"

Damien saw the dazed look on her face although she was quick to change her expression to a smiling one.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired."

"Are you sure?" He studied her face and saw how she lied to him again but he did not want to call her out if she didn't want to tell him about what was on her mind.

"Of course." A small smile formed on her lips.

"Okay." He looked at the time in his watch and said, "Why don't you go inside and take a rest? There's nothing left to do until tonight anyway."

Following Damien inside his office, they stopped at the corner of the room in front of the door to his place. He pressed a button and a small panel with numbers appeared on the wall. He turned to face her and said, "1802."

"I'm sorry?"

"The passcode to my door. It's 1802." He said casually, pressing the code on the panel and the door slid to the side.

"Oh." 

'Why is he telling me? And why am I feeling giddy?'

He stepped inside the entrance hall and removed his shoes. After wearing his slippers, he turned and saw that Katherine was still standing outside. "Aren't you coming in?"

Katherine was feeling nervous all of a sudden. It seemed as if his place was now as small as a matchbox and that getting inside would make her feel suffocated. She could feel the sweat forming on her back and soaking her dress. Why does she feel like she had just been upgraded in Damien's life only because she now knows his passcode? What a silly thing to think about.

"Katherine?" 

"Ah– yes." She walked inside and wanted to bite her tongue for being so curious. Alas, she couldn't help but ask him, "Who else knows your passcode?"

'Why?!'

'Why did you have to ask?!'

'Why does it matter who else knows? Did you think you're so special?' she berated herself.

"Just you," he answered nonchalantly. 

"Oh," she uttered. Unsure of how to respond to that lovely piece of information.

Seeing the unreadable expression on her face, Damien didn't know what was running through her head. "Why?"

"Not even Markus? Mr. Yoo? Dr. Evans?" 

Damien shook his head and crossed his arms in front of him. He had a feeling that it wasn't the only thing that she wanted to know.

But Katherine didn't want to say it. How could she ask? If she mentions Lexi's name, she was certain that he would think she was jealous. And she is not!

"Really? No one at all?" She gulped. Her tongue felt itchy and her mouth threatened to ask on behalf of her.

Seeing the slight quiver of her lips, Damien suppressed the urge to chuckle. This adorable little kitten… could it be that she wanted to know if there were other women?

"No one. No other woman knows." He turned and headed towards the kitchen to get some drinks. "But to answer your real question, no… not even Lexi."

Katherine's eyes widened in shock as she followed him into the kitchen. "W-what do you mean? I didn't ask!"

"Hmmm…" He grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and tossed one to Katherine. "But you thought about it."

"I did not!" She angrily opened the bottle and drank half of it, muttering incoherent words as she wiped her mouth. 'Can he really read minds? That's absurd!' she said in her thoughts. Though she didn't really believe that he could, funnily enough, she didn't want to think about anything else for fear of that possibility.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kitten." A charming yet goofy smile appeared on his face as he sauntered towards the sofa in the living room.

Wanting to change the subject, Katherine followed him and asked, "Why do you keep calling me Kitten? I'm not a cat."

Damien slumped on the sofa and chuckled at her question. How could he forget that night when he finally knew her first name?

"Why are you laughing? Is it something about my past? Can you tell me about it?" She asked as she sat next to him.

Damien straightened his back and looked at her. His gaze moved from her eyes and down to her lips before he started, "It was one night in December about six years ago…"

***

In the balcony of Onyx Mountain Hotel, there were two people standing close to each other. Their bodies were pressed and their foreheads touched as they slightly panted.

"Thank you," Katherine whispered, a gentle and bashful smile formed on her beautiful face. She could still feel his warmth on her moist lips as she inhaled his seductive and delicious scent. She didn't want to stop but she had to go and her hands that clutched on his suit proved how much she wanted more of him.

"My pleasure." He responded with a low and unhurried voice. Damien glided his hand on her waist and lightly tightened his grip that made her sigh.

"I have to go," she hesitantly pushed him away and turned around to leave the balcony when Damien grabbed her hand which made her stop in her tracks. 

"Can you tell me your name now?" he asked.

"Well, if I tell you that… then we wouldn't be strangers anymore," she chuckled.

"True. But even strangers can be part of our memories. And I like my memory to have a name." He inched closer and was now standing in front of her.

Thinking that she probably won't see him again in the future, Katherine was driven to tell him this one bit of information. "Katherine."

A gust of wind suddenly blew just as she spoke, Damien was unable to hear her very well, "Is that Greek? Or Russian? Katerina…"

"No, it's with an H. It's Kath not Kat." She rolled her eyes.

"Huh… I could have sworn you said Kat. And I would have thought that your name suits you… you're indeed a cat. Probably even a tigress." A devilish smile formed on his lips.

"Really?" Katherine crossed her arms. Her interest was piqued because of the man in front of her who always looked so stylish… posh… and tasty. "You think I'm a tigress?" 

She inched closer until she was less than a foot away from his face. She raised her hand, formed her fingers into a claw and grazed her nails on his chest as she spoke in a low and sexy voice, "How do you not know I'm actually a kitten?"

"Hmmm…" Loving the proximity between them, Damien placed both of his hands on her waist and stared at her lips. "I can call you anything you want… Kitten." He leaned forward and was about to press his lips to hers but before he could even do so, Katherine had already slid away from his hold.

"Goodnight, Mr. Park." She giggled before she strutted away, that left Damien in the balcony with his hands now in his pocket as he wondered when he'll see her again.

***

"That's it?" Katherine's brow raised. Learning about the past, she thought that it was something very interesting. Damien chuckled once again when he saw her expression. He had recalled the entire scenario in his head but in actuality, he had left out a lot of details and did not tell Katherine about it. Instead, he only told her a part of their conversation about her name and how she was the one who mentioned Kitten which was why he started calling her that.

Leaving the part where they had their first kiss and of course, how close and sensual those feelings were.

Katherine saw the playful smile on his face as if he was trying to reminisce something. "There's something that you're not telling me…"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Damien turned to the side and without a warning, he laid his head on Katherine's thighs and straightened his legs on the sofa.

"Umm… What are you doing?" Katherine swallowed and had her arms raised mid-air awkwardly as she didn't know what she was supposed to do when Damien already closed his eyes.

"Shh... keep quiet. Let me take a nap." He shushed, which made Katherine purse her lips into a thin line. 

Reluctant to disturb her boss, she breathed out a deep sigh and leaned on the sofa. She laid her head on the backrest and thought about random things until she felt her eyelids getting heavy. Soon enough, Katherine fell asleep too.