This is the continuation of my Damien X MC pre-book series, now caught up to present time and mainly following the canon story line. Some events and dialogue come directly from the book, and some are my own vision to fit the story I wanted to tell. Perfect Match Book Timeline – Chapters 8-11
Kai should have tried to close her eyes and get some rest like everyone else around her, but her mind was racing. She couldn’t believe this was real life. Just a few days ago, her biggest problem was that she was more in love with her best friend than her own boyfriend. Now she was was on a plane to Berlin running from Eros. Eros who fronted as a matchmaking service, but was actually testing out super realistic AI robots. Robots so realistic that she didn’t even know her own boyfriend Hayden was one of them until he was tasered by one of the guards when Kai, Nadia, and Damien got caught sneaking in to investigate.
And then there was socially awkward, innocent seeming Sloane, who had lied to them all along. She wasn’t just Hayden’s roommate, she was also his handler, a field technician working for Eros. It was hard to trust her, but at the same time, they all probably wouldn’t have escaped Eros without her. And then, after their pilot had bailed before takeoff due to Eros being on their tail, she stepped up to fly the plane. She really did seem to have all of their best interests in mind, but she still had a lot of questions to answer.
Kai knew all the danger and uncertainty they were facing due to Eros should be weighing heaviest on her mind, but it wasn’t. Having to break Hayden’s heart was worse. She had known for a while that it always felt different, or like something was missing when she was with him. It should have been simple now that she knew he wasn’t even a real person. He was constructed and programmed solely to be everything she wanted in a partner. The memories he had, the things he liked, and everything he knew how to do was put there by someone else. And yet, he had no concept of this until now and actually thought he was a real person with real feelings. He seemed to be making decisions for himself and had developed a genuine connection to Kai. She couldn’t wrap her head around this, and if this would be enough for her, but ultimately it didn’t matter. She was now ready to say that she was, and always had been, in love with Damien.
The timing wasn’t great, probably even worse than before, but she couldn’t keep on pretending with Hayden. She didn’t want it to seem like she was dropping Hayden now just because he wasn’t human, but it wasn’t fair to any of them for her to wait any longer. She and Damien had all but expressed their feelings for each other out loud on the rooftop the other night. And then it was confirmed in his Eros file: “Assessment results suggest strong romantic connection to client #327.” Not the most romantic way to find out someone is in love with you, but Kai was elated to have it confirmed. She knew she had to break-up with Hayden once they settled in at the safe house in Berlin.
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The one thing that could have made the whole situation with running from Eros even worse happened. Damien’s ex-partner, in both the work and romantic sense, just so happened to be staying at the safe house in Berlin. Sure he knew there was a chance that someone from Interpol could be using it when they got there, but the odds were slim. Alana let them stay, but things were awkward, with her seeming to hold some grudge against him, even though she was the one who broke his heart.
And as if running from Eros and dealing with Alana weren’t bad enough, his future with Kai was more uncertain than ever. After what they shared on the rooftop, he was starting to believe she would choose him over Hayden when everything was settled. But the way she was talking at dinner this evening, like she would be there for Hayden no matter what, had Damien questioning how she felt.
Damien probably didn’t help things by suggesting they should leave Hayden and Sloane on their own to deal with Eros. It’s just that Sloane had been part of Eros and had deceived them all for so long. And even though Hayden was innocent in all of this, he wasn’t a human being and Damien was having a hard time seeing it any other way. He saw what Eros did to Steve, switching him back and forth from Steve to Gary and back again like it was nothing. If they were interchangeable at the push of a button, how could any of it be real, even if Hayden seemed to think and make decisions on his own? Would Damien see it differently if his judgment wasn’t clouded by his feelings for Kai?
Damien saw Kai sneak outside with Hayden after dinner, further crushing his hopes. He needed to blow off some steam, to try and clear his head of everything. He went outside and grabbed the ax. He always found chopping firewood to be therapeutic when he was working cases with Interpol, and he was hoping it would help tonight.
Damien swang away, feeling a little more tension slip away with each chop of the ax. He worked up such a sweat, he had to take his shirt off.
“Ay bendito!” He yelled after a big swing.
“Whoa!”
Damien turned and saw Kai standing there in that purple dress with the high slit she had worn to dinner. She looked even more exquisite illuminated by the moonlight. But he figured she was probably out here just to tell him that she had decided to stay with Hayden.
“Oh..Hey, Kai.”
“Damn…Do you always chop wood half-naked in the moonlight?”
Damien rolled his eyes, but the way she said it made him think Kai liked what she saw.
“I mean, it definitely adds to the whole ‘rugged, manly, master of nature’ vibe. But aren’t you worried about splinters?”
Damien tried to banter back like he normally would. “My extraordinarily manly physique is impervious to…such…Ugh, I’m really not in the mood Kai, I’m sorry.”
“Hey, there’s no need to apologize. Everyone seems to be having a rough night. That dinner was…intense.”
“It was definitely not how I–” Damien aggressively chopped another log in half, “–expected this to go!”
“Do you want to talk about it? Or not talk about it?” Kai asked. “Bad jokes and companionship are all I’ve got, they’re yours if you want them.”
“That’s…sweet. But I’ll just stick to chopping wood. You don’t want me burdening you with my problems.” He was stubbornly shutting her out, but he didn’t need her taking pity on him.
“Watching Damien Nazario doing manual labor…Such a heavy burden for me to bear. How will I stand it?” Kai teased.
“Its not that..There are things you don’t know. When you’re around, Kai, I–There are things I’ve been meaning to–” He thought he had the courage to tell her how much he loved her. It really was now or never if she was moving forward with Hayden. But he talked himself out of it for 1000th time and brought the ax down hard again instead. “Forget it. You don’t need to worry about me Kai, I’ll be–” He whacked another log, “–Fine!”
“I’m not going anywhere…so let me worry about you.”
Damien opened up his mouth to argue, but all that came out was a sigh. “…Yeah, okay.” Damien continued chopping wood as Kai watched.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”
Damien showed off by flipping the ax, catching it, and then holding it out to Kai. He may have been trying to avoid talking a little longer. “Why don’t you try it out for yourself.”
Kai took a few swings.
“Whoa, be careful with that!”
“What? I thought the point was to get mad and swing at stuff?”
“Ugh. There’s more to it than that. Come over here, and I’ll show you how to do this without killing both of us.
Damien put a new piece of wood on the chopping block and instructed Kai where to stand. He gently placed his hands on her hips to maneuver her into the correct position. He continued with detailed step by step directions. She still wasn’t quite getting it, so he placed his hands over hers and moved the ax over the log. His bare chest was pressed up against against Kai’s back, his arms wrapped around hers. He couldn’t help but think of other things he wanted to do to her in this position, and he had to take a step back. “Ahem, you should be good to go now.” Kai took a swing and cut the wood right down the center. “Nice!”
“That was…” Kai searched for the right word, “cathartic. I see why you like this.”
Kai hoisted the ax above her head again and Damien grab it before she could complete the swing.”Okay, no more ax for you. Hand it over.”
Damien and Kai talked for awhile about his previous time spent at the safe house, his missions with Interpol, Alana… Being here brought up a lot of memories, and not all of them were good. Damien was reminded they weren’t alone when he heard laughter and talking from the house. “Why don’t we take a walk?”
“In the dark?” Kai questioned?.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
“Oh sure, my hero. But if I trip and break an ankle, I’m blaming you.”
They headed down a moonlit path into the woods. Kai broke the silence first. “So, you do realize I know you well enough to recognize when you’re stalling.”
“Am I that obvious?” Damien asked. He was totally stalling.
“You’ve come up with some good distractions so far. I’m happy to keep playing along, but I think you had something on your mind.”
Damien gazed at Kai and smiled as they walked, but he couldn’t keep up the happy facade. It was time to bite the bullet and put it all out there. “Being here after all this time is…hard. I hated the person I was back then. I never want to be that man again.” They walked further on before Damien spoke up again. “I did a lot of things I’m not proud of.” Damien went onto explain his undercover work, often having to deceive good people to get the job done.
“But you did it to help them. You protected those people.”
“…I couldn’t protect everyone.”
“You’re talking about Beitan, aren’t you? In that file we saw at Eros.”
Damien flinched and balled his hands into fists. “Yes, Beitan…One bad call. Just one piece of bad intel. That’s all it took to destroy a life.”
“Damien…”
“My superiors told me it wasn’t my fault. I made the right call with the information I had. Doesn’t change what happened…I was a mess when I got back to the States. All I did was wallow in my guilt. You don’t know how much your friendship meant to me. You invited me places. Got me to Laugh. Kept me from drinking alone.”
“Damien…I’m here for you. You know that.”
“I do know. You’ve always been there when I needed you. The one constant good thing in my life…And I almost lost you.”
“Damien…I’m okay because you protected me. You were there when we needed you back in New York. And the whole way here.”
“That’s not as comforting as you think it is, Kai. We had a few close calls. What if I hadn’t been there? What if Eros caught you? Even if you got away, you’s have left the country and…You’d stop answering my calls one day…I’d never know where you went or how much danger you were in. It’s all I’ve been able to think about. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you, and I had been too big of a coward not to tell you how I felt.”
“How you felt?” Kai had a look of surprise on her face, but maybe the biggest shock to her was that Damien was finally saying this out loud.
Damien stepped closer, taking in every feature on her face. “I care about you Kai. More than anyone I’ve ever cared about anyone. No matter how dark my life gets, you’re always there lighting it up again. You’re…you’re everything Kai. And I know you’re with Hayden. You’ve already found your perfect match. But I–”
“Hayden is important to me, but…only as a friend, and I told him so tonight. I thought he was perfect for me, but there was always something in the way. Yes him being an android now may be part of that and explains some of the questions I had. But even before that, I couldn’t give all of myself to him, and now I’m finally ready to admit why. Damien, I–” Instead of saying anything more, Kai stepped closer to Damien, slid her arms around his neck and kissed him.
This reaction was the last thing Damien expected. He gasped and his body went rigid before melting into the kiss. “..Oh.” As the kiss came to a close, he rested his forehead on hers, eyes remaining shut. “You didn’t have to do that.” His tone of voice was much lower and huskier than before.
“Damien, You aren’t the only one who has had feelings and you know that. I’ve been trying to tell you. I’ve wanted you for a long time. Really since the moment I met you. I just wasn’t sure, until recently, that you felt the same.
“We’re a couple of idiots, aren’t we?” Damien ran his thumb along Kai’s jaw, teasing the corner of her lips.
“Just kiss me again, dammit.” Kai commanded with a smile.
Damien brought his lips to Kai’s harder this time, trailing his fingertips softly along her back. They both eventually pulled away with reluctance.
“If this is going to happen Kai, I want to do it right.”
“So we’re taking it slow then?”
“I’ve waited four years to kiss you, Kai. I think I’ve more than proved my patience…well I mean I waited four years to kiss you for real.”
“You mean the kiss at Stacy’s wedding? That was one hundred percent real to me, Damien. Why do you think I threw myself at you that night? Yes I was a bit drunk, but I remember it all clearly. I wanted you so bad, and every bit of it was real.” Kai kept her eyes locked on Damien’s, and at that moment, a switched was flipped in Damien and he knew he couldn’t go back.
“Forget what I said…Screw waiting. We’ve wasted far too much time. I want you now…all of you…but I still want to do this right. What do you say we go back to your room?”
Kai’s lips curled into a smile. “I thought you’d never ask.”
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Kai and Damien breezed past the others in the house, mumbling excuses about being exhausted and needing sleep. It would have been obvious to anyone paying attention that something was going on, but Kai and Damien weren’t worried about sticking around long enough to see if anyone noticed. They hurried to Kai’s room, and Kai locked the door behind them.
“I know I said I didn’t want to wait anymore, Kai, but I could really use a shower. You might have enjoyed the sight of me working up a sweat, but a shower is long overdue.
“Then I’ll join you,” Kai said without skipping a beat. “Help me unzip my dress?”
Damien swept Kai’s long locks aside and carefully unzipped the back of her dress. Kai turned around to face him and slowly let her dress fall to the floor, a pool of purple satin and lace at her feet.
Damien swept his gaze up and down her entire body, as if taking time to etch every inch of her into his memory. “Last time I saw you like this, I was too much of a gentleman to stare. I’m glad I don’t have to pretend to be one this time.”
Kai pulled Damien closer for a quick but heated kiss. “I’ll go start the shower. Meet me in there when you are ready.”
Kai walked into the en-suite bathroom and turned on the water. She got in and waited with anticipation. Seconds later the shower curtain opened and there stood Damien as she had never seen him before. She had spent the past four years what was inside his pants, and what she saw definitely lived up to her expectations.
Kai squeezed some body wash into her hand and then did the same for Damien. He knew what she was getting at without Kai saying a word. Their hands went to work, washing and exploring every part of each other’s bodies. They were careful to work around the more sensitive places first. The Damien worked his way up her torso and didn’t stop, his hands gliding smoothly across her breasts, sending electrical pulses to her core. She grabbed his erect member in response, slick hands moving up and down his shaft, eliciting a guttural sound from Damien.
Damien swiftly but gently turned Kai around and pressed her front side against the cool tiles of the shower wall. He kissed her neck and spoke softly in her ear. “We seem to keep finding ourselves in this position a lot lately. Every time, all I can think about is how much I want to take you like this.” Damien reached down and slid his fingers through her folds, teasing her clit briefly before pulling away. “But that can wait. This first time I want to be able to see you, to look into your eyes.”
Damien turned off the water, wrapped a towel around himself, and then one around Kai. He scooped her up and carried her to the bed. He threw his towel aside and unwrapped hers like she was a gift. He looked her over once again and Kai had never felt so wanted by anyone. He kissed her lips and then moved down to her breasts, cupping one in each hand, while making sure to pay equal attention to each nipple with his mouth. He continued lower with his mouth until he reached her core. Kai’s breaths quickened as Damien’s tongue traced circles around and flicked her clit.
Kai was getting close. “Oh, Damien, don’t stop,” she let out just loud enough to for Damien to hear.
Damien pulled away with a mischievous smile. “Not yet…I want you to watch you come with me inside you.” Damien laid back on the pillows and flipped Kai on top of him in one smooth motion. “You are so beautiful Kai.”
Kai lowered herself onto Damien and they moved together in perfect rhythm, alternately between kissing and watching the looks of ecstasy on each other’s faces. Kai went slowly at first, savoring the feeling of Damien’s cock filling her up so perfectly. The pace got faster and faster as Kai got closer to the edge and she let out a strangled moan.
“Yes, Kai. Come for me.” Damien pleaded.
As if responding to Damien’s command, Kai’s orgasm overcame her. It was long and intense, like it had been building for four years. She could feel herself pulsing around Damien, and all of it seemed too much for him to take. He grabbed her ass, pulling her in harder with each thrust until he found his release.
Kai collapsed beside Damien, both struggling to catch their breath. Damien turned to Kai and tucked her wild hair behind her ear. “You are amazing Kai.”
Kai smiled and kissed Damien on the lips. “The feeling is mutual.”
Kai and Damien held each other for a while longer in silence. Everything around them was mess and uncertain, but Kai knew she could get through anything with Damien by her side.