Page 11 of Damian’s Conquest

Damian turned back and walked to Lydia.

“Lydia, why don’t you keep my guest company while I fix the microphone? Be back in a minute.”

At the door, he added so low only a vampire’s or hybrid’s hearing could pick it up, “Don’t leave her alone in the office.”

Lydia raised an eyebrow, indicating that she’d heard him, and Damian left the office.

~ ~ ~

Naomi felt as if she were coming out of a daze—or as if somebody had poured a bucket of ice water over her. She’d been about two seconds away from allowing Damian to fuck her against the wall of his office. What had gotten into her? She’d never acted like that with any man. She wasn’t the kind of woman who had one-night stands, let alone quickies with strangers. Yet feeling Damian’s hands and lips on her had smothered all her inhibitions.

“I’m Lydia. I sing here occasionally. What’s your name?” the pretty woman in the Steampunk costume asked. She wore her blond hair braided and artfully draped around her head.

“Uhm, Naomi. I’m Naomi. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Naomi. I didn’t know Damian was dating anyone. Guess I’m out of the loop.”

Naomi recognized a fishing expedition when she saw one. She wasn’t going to step into that trap. It was bad enough that Lydia had walked in on them. Didn’t anybody knock these days?

“So, Lydia, you sing here? That’s great. What kind of music?”

Unexpectedly, Lydia chuckled. “I like you. You’re not one to kiss and tell.”

“Wha—”

Lydia interrupted her by lifting a hand. “Don’t take it the wrong way. Some secrets should definitely be kept.”

At the cryptic remark, Naomi wondered what Lydia meant by it, but she wasn’t going to ask. She didn’t want to get drawn into a conversation about secrets. It was a minefield she planned to avoid.

When silence spread between them, Naomi said, “Nothing to tell, really. I’m sure I’m not the first woman Damian has kissed in his office.”

She shrugged. There’d probably been hundreds. And most likely he’d made all of them feel like it meant something. Why that bothered her all of a sudden, she didn’t want to examine. It didn’t matter. Or at least, it shouldn’t matter. After all, she was only doing this for her job.

Yeah, not even she believed that. She could have easily extricated herself from his arms if she really didn’t want him to kiss and touch her. She’d taken self-defense classes, and knew how to stop unwanted attention. She could have kneed him in the balls. Instead, she’d palmed his cock, and boy, he’d felt good. He’d been hard, and thick, and big. Just thinking about it now made her womb clench in response.

If she stayed any longer, she’d probably say something to Lydia that she didn’t mean to divulge just because she was nervous.

“I should go down to the bar and get something to drink,” Naomi lied, searching for an excuse to leave.

“Damian asked you to stay and wait for him.”

“I’ll be right back.” Then she realized that she had to retrieve her cape, but it would look strange if she wore the cape to simply go down to the bar. She needed an excuse to take her cape, because she couldn’t leave without her phone, her keys, or her money. That was it. Money. “Oops, almost forgot my money.” She walked to the desk chair to snatch her cape.

“You won’t need that. Just tell them at the bar that you’re with Damian. They’ll comp your drinks,” Lydia claimed.

Damn it! “Anybody could say that. How would the bartender know?”

“They’ll know.”

Another cryptic response by Lydia.

Maybe a half-truth would satisfy Lydia. “Well, if you must know, I feel a little uncomfortable in this outfit. Every guy just stares at my boobs, and it’s just a little… unsettling. So I’d rather cover up.”

That seemed to have done the trick, because Lydia nodded, “I get it. I’ll come with you. I need a drink anyway. Nerves before the performance, you know?”

Naomi forced a smile, put her cape around her and tied it under her chin. Great, now she had to shake off Lydia somehow. Hopefully, it wasn’t too difficult. After all, it was a mad crush in the club, and it wouldn’t take much to slip away while Lydia ordered a drink at the bar.

On the way down to the bar, Lydia followed her like a shadow. She didn’t understand why she was so adamant about not leaving her alone. As if she sensed that Naomi wanted to leave. She had to resort to a ruse to get out of here.