Chapter 324: Don’t Make Me Lose You Twice

His thumb brushed away a tear on my cheek. "I couldn’t look at anyone the way I look at you and I tried to convince myself I’d eventually stop missing you."

His voice softened. "But I didn’t."

My eyes opened wide. "Not once?"

"Not once." He shook his head as he spoke. "There wasn’t anyone else. There couldn’t be."

Something broke inside me.

Not painfully, just enough to let all the fears I had been holding in pour out and I stepped forward and buried my face in his chest.

His arms immediately wrapped around me.

I clung to him tightly, my hands gripping the back of his shirt while he held me, one hand slowly moving up and down my back.

"I’m here," he whispered. "And I’m staying, no one is taking me away from you. I won’t let them... I love you so much."

I closed my eyes as his arms tightened around me. "I love you too."

We stayed like that for what felt like forever.

Eventually, my breathing slowed.

The fear was still present, but it no longer controlled me.

When I finally lifted my head, Damien was looking down at me with a soft expression that made my heart ache.

Until Damien leaned down and kissed me.

The kiss started off gentle, almost cautious while his hand remained at the back of my neck while the other wrapped around my waist, pulling me close without demanding anything from me.

I kissed him back, slowly.

Then again.

Somewhere between one kiss and the next, the relief I had been feeling shifted into something warmer, something harder to ignore.

I curled my fingers into his shirt and pulled him closer.

He responded immediately, tightening his embrace as his lips pressed against mine once more.

The kiss deepened, and I could feel my heartbeat quickening, the same nervous excitement I’d felt years ago when everything between us was still new and uncertain.

Only now, I knew exactly what I wanted.

Him.

I broke the kiss just long enough to catch my breath.

Damien rested his forehead against mine. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Yes."

He studied my face for a moment.

Then he kissed me again.

My hands slipped into his hair, fingers threading through the dark strands as his hands found their place at my waist.

The quiet house faded around us.

All I felt was the warmth of his body, the familiar scent of his cologne, and the sensation of being embraced by someone I had missed for four long years.

When his lips drifted from mine to my cheek and then along my jaw, I felt my breath hitch.

"Damien..."

I clung to him, allowing myself to sink into the warmth of his embrace, letting the relief and longing I’d carried for years finally find its release.

His forehead rested against mine as we caught our breath.

"I’ve got you," he murmured into my hair. "I’m right here."

Those words should have been enough. Almost. But the fear that had been clawing at my chest all evening refused to let go.

I pressed my face into the curve of his neck, inhaling his scent as if I could keep him there simply by willing it.

"I waited so long," I whispered, my voice shaky. "I finally felt whole again. And now—"

"No one’s taking me," he said firmly. One of his hands cradled the back of my head. "Not my mother. Not the board. No one. You’re the only one I want, Oliver. The only one I’ve ever wanted."

I pulled back slightly to look into his eyes. They were dark and serious, with no trace of the cool CEO mask left. Just Damien. The man who had returned for me.

Something inside me broke open.

I kissed him.

It was anything but careful or hesitant. It was the kind of kiss that expressed four years of longing and the urgent need to prove he was real.

Damien made a low sound in his throat and kissed me back with equal intensity, one hand threading into my hair while the other gripped my waist, pulling me flush against him.

The hallway wall met my back before I even realized it. All I could focus on was the heat of his mouth, the way his body pressed against mine, the undeniable proof of his presence.

His tongue slid against mine, and I opened up for him instinctively, fingers gripping the front of his shirt. When that wasn’t enough, I pushed the fabric up, desperate for skin.

Damien broke the kiss just long enough to pull his shirt off and throw it aside, then his mouth was back on mine.

My hands explored the contours of his chest, the warmth of his shoulders, the line of his back. He felt even better than I remembered.

Damien’s mouth left mine to kiss down my jaw, trailing lower and pressing gentle kisses along my throat.

I tilted my head back, breathing shakily as his teeth grazed the sensitive skin just above my collar.

"Damien—"

"I know," he murmured against my neck. His hands slipped under my shirt, his palms warm against my bare stomach. "I know."

He pushed the fabric higher, and I raised my arms for him to pull it off completely. As soon as it was gone, his mouth found mine again, this time hungrier.

One of his thighs slid between my legs, and I gasped at the friction, instinctively rolling my hips forward.

Damien groaned low in his chest, the sound sending heat pooling in my stomach.

His hands gripped my waist tight enough to leave marks as he pressed against me, eliminating every bit of space between us.

I could feel how affected he was. The hardness of him against my hip made my head spin. My arousal was impossible to ignore now, straining against my jeans, with every movement igniting sparks up my spine.

His fingers worked on the button of my pants, pausing with his forehead resting against mine, breath uneven.

"Okay?" he asked, his voice rough.

I nodded, reaching for his belt. "Don’t you dare stop."

That was all the invitation he needed.

The kiss turned deeper, messier. Our hands moved with urgency...mine pushing his pants down, his sliding beneath my underwear to grip bare skin.

I moaned into his mouth as his palm wrapped around me, the dual sensations of his hand and our bodies pressing together almost overwhelming.

We were both breathing heavily, half-undressed, mouths barely parting between kisses.

The fear that had gripped me earlier had transformed into something different...need, relief, an intense desire to be as close to him as possible.

Damien’s lips brushed against the corner of my mouth, then my cheek, and then the shell of my ear.

"I’m not going anywhere," he whispered, his voice low and filled with longing. "You’re mine, Oliver. Only yours."

I turned my head and captured his mouth again, pouring everything I couldn’t express into the kiss as his hand continued to stroke me and our bodies moved together in the dim light of the hallway.

Neither of us had any intention of stopping.