Chapter 242 - Tryst 4

There was nothing fancy about how Katherine and Damien danced in the balcony. They were unpracticed … no fancy movements… just swaying from side to side really slowly. They weren't even in sync with the song and if people were watching them, they'd probably laugh that they were actually offbeat. 

But it was the way that he held her so close to him that made her heart throb in such a really nice and warm way. The kind of throb where you'd crave for more. She'd wanted to feel more of it.

And unabashedly, she did. She moved closer, pressing her chest against his so that they were now hugging… and dancing.

Hearing her name from his lips and telling her that her name was the best word to describe her made her softly chuckle. She could feel him smile too as his lips brush the top part of her ear before he rested his cheek on the side of her head. The feeling was so nice that she just had to close her eyes to savor it.

Katherine's mind was blank and there was nothing that caught her attention at that moment but only the sound of his relaxing breathing, his warm hands that were holding her so close and making her even warmer she thought she was burning under his touch but she loved it because it made her feel alive yet calm.

It was so peaceful — and he was so gentle. And because of that, she felt so weightless as if she was free.

"Free…" she muttered.

"Hmmm?" Damien slightly leaned back to look at her, "What did you say, Kitten?"

For the first time that night, he saw the clearness in her eyes. "Pure" just like what her name meant and though there was a hint of sadness, he held onto the positive one.

She looked up at him and she didn't know what happened but her walls crumbled down as she started telling him what her deepest wish was. 

"My dream," she said in hushed tones. "I want to be free."

Those were only five simple words but Damien could feel that those were five words of truth that she just confessed to him. For all the lies and her answers when she's dodging questions from him, he could feel the truth in these words. 'What has got you trapped, Kitten?'

How fast her walls came down was also how fast they were back up again when she showed him a smile. "But just like what you said… it's free to dream right?" She said it like it was something glum instead of good.

Thinking about what she said earlier, he made a wild guess, "Is it because of your work?"

But he had no idea that he was spot on.

"Yeah… I guess…" Katherine brushed it off and hid her face by pressing her cheek against his shoulder. She was so good at portraying so many personas but there was just something about Damien that made her vulnerable. It was as though she couldn't help herself but be weak with him around.

"If you don't like your job, you could get a new one. You're still young right? I'm sure you'll have lots of opportunities out there."

She smiled.

If you only knew, Damien.

"Yeah, it's not that easy. This… my boss… I owe him and the company my life. Working for the company is how I repay them even if I… want to be free. I can't."

"If you're not happy about something, you should leave it. Your life is too precious to waste on something that you are not happy with."

"Ah… if only it were that easy…"

Katherine let out a sigh. She shouldn't be socializing with people so closely. Yet here she was, breaking all the rules by getting close and cozy to one person that she genuinely liked… and was dangerously treading towards a feeling that she shouldn't be feeling.

But just this once… Just this once, she wanted something for herself. 'Can't I just please… want something—someone and wish for him to want me back?'

All of a sudden, Damien stopped moving. His voice dropped low as he told her softly but with an assertive tone, "Come away with me."

Katherine's initial reaction was to chuckle. This man really knew how to sweep her off her feet. Did he expect her to just nod and say yes, drop everything and run to the ends of the world with him? She snorted in her head. She was only thinking about her secret wish and now, unexpectedly, he wants her to go away with him? She didn't say her wish out loud, did she?

She began to panic and leaned back to look at him, only to see the seriousness in his face – he wasn't kidding.

So she could only say the first thing that she had in mind, "You don't even know me."

As if on cue, the song said, ~Dreaming about the things that we could be~

Katherine's heart began to race and her breathing hitched when his fingers found her cheek, brushing her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear. 

"Life's too short… but I could spend it getting to know all about you," he stated. His words were so clear to her and it made her even more nervous.

"And if I go away with you, where would you take me?" She was so into their conversation that she had no control over how she responded to him. It was as if she really was going to let him take her away. She knew it wasn't possible. But hey, she could dream, right?

Looking at her, Damien clipped her chin with his finger and his thumb, lifting it up so they could meet eye to eye. His gaze traveled south and landed on her plump lips that he'd been dying to taste again since the moment he saw her earlier.

"I can take you anywhere you want to go. All you have to do is tell me where and I can have my private plane up and ready. We can be thousands of miles away from here if that's what you want. Don't you remember? For you, the sky's the limit…"

"What if I want the sky?"

A small and charming smirk danced on his lips as he replied, "Heaven could fall and hell could freeze over… Katherine, if you want to live in the sky, I'll willingly spend a fortune to make that happen. That way, we could count the stars closer."

Call him crazy because he was acting like one now but he couldn't care less about it.

He's Damien Park and he always knew what he wanted.

And right now, he wanted Katherine.

The wind sang with the song and the next thing she knew, she was tiptoeing towards him.

Because her heart was somehow in sync with his at the moment. She wanted Damien.

And she proved it when she brushed her lips to his.