304 Very Shirtless

Katherine and Damien gasped as they rose above the water, all of their clothes were wet and the other bugs that were possibly on them should have been short-circuited already. She violently coughed, water spewed out of her mouth and nostrils as she swam towards the edge of the pool. He followed behind her.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, his voice tainted with irritation. He couldn't believe she pushed him.

"Did you have to pull me with you?!"

"Did you have to push me?" he countered.

Katherine couldn't say anything else. She was too busy coughing out the water that she accidentally drank when they fell, her chest burned as she did. She climbed out and sat on the edge of the pool facing the water as she tried to compose herself, slightly shaking because of how cold the water was.

Damien came to her side and asked, "Are you okay?" He was pissed but was still worried about her, concerned that her chest was hurting from inhaling water.

"I'm fine," she answered with a hoarse voice. Her eyes were red and she coughed some more.

Styles came back with towels and handed them to Damien who nodded at him, his way of saying "Thank you".

"I'll just be inside." Styles left the two outside and went back to the penthouse. He was going to try and contact Falcon about the current situation, hoping that he could get a hold of her.

Damien draped a towel on his shoulder and placed another around Katherine's shoulders, pulling her up to her feet, carrying her bridal style. "Let's go back inside. We'll catch a cold."

She let him bring her inside, folding her arms in front of her chest while her hand clasped the two tiny bugs that she found on Damien earlier which were now fried.

The two were dripping wet, especially Damien who was wearing a three-piece suit in black—even his Italian-leather shoes were drenched.

He had yet to know what was going and who was behind all this but as of the moment, his main concern was Katherine. "Where's your bedroom?"

She pointed the door to the left and Damien ushered her towards it. ;

"Here… Figured you need a change. You're taller than me… and obviously more um… anyway, these are the largest ones I have." Styles handed a set of clothes to Damien.

"It's okay, my assistant can bring me a spare change of clothes. I just need to call—damn it." He patted his inner coat pocket and realized that his phone took a dive in the pool with him too and was now dead. Sighing, he received the clothes from Styles. "Thanks."

"No problemo!" Styles turned around and headed back to his room while the other two got inside Katherine's bedroom.

"Bathroom?" Damien questioned, in which Katherine tipped her chin to the right side of the room. "You go first. Use warm water," he added.

Katherine didn't argue with him. She was exhausted from everything that happened since earlier and her chest was still painful. She coughed again as she got inside the bathroom and walked into the shower that's separated by glass that had a frosted part in the middle of it for some privacy.

She didn't know where Damien was or if he followed her inside the bathroom. She couldn't care less about him at the moment — she just wanted to shower and get out of the stupid wet dress that's clinging onto her body. ;

Damien was by the bathroom door, contemplating whether he should go inside or not. He didn't think that there was a need for him to shower and so he thought of just changing directly to the clothes that Styles lent him.

He started unbuttoning his clothes and one by one he peeled it off his body until he was only wearing his boxer briefs, leaving the wet clothes by the door of the bathroom. ;

The water in the shower was still running while he checked on the casual clothes that he set on the counter. His back was facing the shower, avoiding the chance of seeing her naked or he would truly lose it.

After drying himself with the towel, he wore the joggers over his wet underwear. It was a little short for him but the cuffed design made it look stylish. He was just about to reach for the shirt on the counter when the shower door opened and he stiffened for a few seconds before his hand grabbed the t-shirt.

Katherine froze up and cleared her throat. "Aren't you going to shower?" she asked, seeing that he was already wearing the jogging pants. She was looking at his bare back but it was more than enough to make her face flushed.

"No need."

She needed to pass by him to get to the walk-in closet. But he stood casually, blocking the doorway like he was a security guard on watch.

He had his hands on his waist and his head hung low as though he was carrying a huge problem on his shoulders. The sight of his back muscles tightening made her gulp and look away. 'What is he doing? And why the hell was he not putting on a shirt?' she wondered.

She fixed her bathrobe in an attempt to cover her chest properly before she took a step forward. "I'm just going to change."

He didn't move.

"Umm… I need to…" She curved her body as she passed, avoiding his elbows that were sticking to the sides.

He didn't budge.

Katherine managed to exit the bathroom and she headed towards the walk-in closet on the opposite side—which was still somewhat connected to the bathroom. She could feel a pair of eyes boring into her exposed legs, making her feel extra conscious. 'Was he planning to watch me change? How awkward.'

She tried to ignore the fact that Damien was just standing several feet away from her, watching her every move as she looked for clothes to change into.

Placing a dress at the end of the island counter in the middle of her walk-in closet, she turned around to face him. "I need to change… Can you—"

She choked on the rest of her words as she came face to face with Damien who was now only inches apart from her and he was still shirtless… so very shirtless.

He leaned forward, his hands planted on the counter on either side of her and trapping her in between his arms.

"What are you doing?" She took a deep breath, too deep that her breathing hitched when she saw the corner of his mouth curl up into a lopsided grin, making him look both evil and handsome. He was a handsome devil.

He tilted his head to the side, his gaze flitted from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes and locked it with his. Wetting his lips with his tongue, he noticed her swallow. Good. She was affected.

"Kitten…" he started, his voice was almost a whisper that it sounded so sexy and hot. "That stunt that you pulled in the elevator earlier, what was that about?"

Her toes curled and she bit on her bottom lip. For some reason, Damien was holding her hostage and she couldn't find it in her to get out of this trap. It was as if she was glued to the floor and her body was waiting for its doom — waiting for her punishment, dangling at the tip of Damien's hands.

"What do you mean?" she asked, despite already knowing what he was talking about.

"You don't know? Or are you pretending?" ;

Damien leaned closer until his lips were less than an inch away — he could practically taste her sweet breath.

His eyes went dark and his voice got colder as he added, "Those were some lewd noises, Kitten. However, it lacked something. Would you like me to remind you how you sound when I make you come?"