Chapter 8 The Monthly Visitor
On the ride, Ashley still couldn't shake the chill climbing up her spine, the vivid image of a dagger slicing off a man's finger replaying before her eyes.
Damian was a dangerous man, capable of leaving a trail of bodies without a speck of blood staining him. He got what he wanted with little effort on his part, just as he did years ago.
"Damian, I think Mason misspoke."
"How so?"
She gestured between the two of them. "I'm not your wife, but the ex-wife."
Damian's icy glance passed over her unfazed. "What's the difference? It's all the same once I'm involved with it."
They sat in silence for a long moment.
"Where are you off to?"
She was pulled from her daydreams by the man's voice from the driver's seat, deep and smooth as the quiet night.
"What?"
"Going out so late, what's your plan?"
That's when Ashley remembered she needed to stop by the convenience store.
"Pull over here, I need to pick up a few things."
Damian stopped the car, and Ashley hastily pushed open the door and bolted out.
She could feel she was riding the crimson wave.
Damian's hands were on the steering wheel, his eyes unknowingly softened from coldness to warmth as she ran.
But then, seeing a stain on the passenger seat, he burst from the car in pursuit.
That foolish woman!
He wrapped his jacket tightly around her waist from behind, tying it above her lower belly.
Stunned, Ashley glanced down at the unexpected embrace of his arms. "What are you doing?"
Damian wondered if there was any common sense inside her brain. "Your pants are stained."
Ashley's face flushed with mortification. She instinctively tried to cover herself and managed a forced casualness. "Oh, it's that time of the month. Nothing to make a fuss over."
Damian almost didn't know what to say. "Comes every month and you're already 28. Shouldn't you have any preparations?"
It wasn't something that came with a handbook!
Ignoring his comment, Ashley marched into a convenience store with her face set in a stubborn mask.
She headed straight for the feminine products section; Damian waited at the checkout counter.
After she survived a fire, Damian felt a void in him, a nagging unease that she might really be in danger and actually lose her life. Was it love? Or just the habit formed over their three years of marriage?
At the cashier, a young woman stole glances at Damian.
Working the night shift and seeing such a handsome man was a surprise.
But then, such a handsome man already had a girlfriend, attentively waiting as she shopped. She felt a pang of envy.
"Mister, is that your girlfriend?"
The girl blinked, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. The chance of striking up a conversation with him was worth trying.
Damian's gaze drifted leisurely to her. "What's up?"
Her envy spiked upon receiving his tacit acknowledgment, but she replied enthusiastically, "Sir, it's best for a lady to have some iron-rich foods during her period, you know? We sell iron-fortified cereals right here. You wanna take one pack?"
She presented a large pack of cereals, its packaging a catchy shade of pink.
Damian nodded, "Sure."
After Ashley took a box of tampons, she headed to the cashier. Damian, taking the pink-wrapped package, directed her, "Just wait outside for me."
While paying, Damian's eyes caught a glimpse of the sexual wellness products on either side of the cashier booth, including the new campaign for condoms, boldly advertised "Experience the passion, they've got you covered."
Damian casually scanned them without a change in expression.
The clerk, trying to be clever, added two boxes to his purchase, ringing them up together. "The new kind, very popular."
Damian didn't refuse. "Could you make a cup of that cereal? thanks."
Ashley went to the restroom to take care of things and, as expected, her pants were a disaster. And what about Damian's car seat?
Standing sheepishly outside the car, Ashley suggested, "I'll just take a cab. You go on back."
Damian rolled down the passenger window, his voice cool and mocking, "Already messed up my car, planning on dirtying someone else's?"
Ashley tried to smile but failed. Trust Damian to stick to his old ways, same sarcasm.
Damian held a cup of steaming hot drink, the sweet scent of cereal wafting out, "Drink it."
Ashley eyed him suspiciously. Where did he get that from?
"Not drinking? Then I'll just toss it. It came free with the shopping," Damian said, window open, ready to discard it.
Since when did buying tampons come with free cereal? That was new to her.
"Stop!"
Ashley took it from him, holding it in her hands, the warmth of the cereal soothing her from inside out, "Wasting food is bad, didn't your kindergarten teacher teach you that?"
"I never went to kindergarten."
Ashley fell silent for a bit, "Oh, right. I forgot you had private tutors, Damian. Seems they didn't do such a great job then."
As Damian's car rolled on, his gaze distant, he uttered, "At least they didn't raise a murderer."
Ashley's smile faded just as it had emerged.
The car ride was quiet, the atmosphere almost oppressive.
At a red light, Damian pulled the handbrake.
Ashley was about to place the cup in the cup holder when her delicate fingers brushed against his knuckles inadvertently. Their hands touched, soft ripples of warmth cascading through the layers of skin, sinking and meandering into the deep recesses of her being.
The memory of his hand holding hers, traversing memories, all came flooding back. Damian's large hand had caressed every inch of her skin, guiding her through the night to a pinnacle of heavenly pleasure.
It had been too long since she'd indulged in the pleasures of the flesh; her mind had conjured up way too much.
Ashley's hand retracted in haste.
Damian's grip on the handbrake remained, "Sit tight."
"Okay."
Wasn't she sitting properly?
The Bentley rolled into the Henry Larson Villa underground parking lot, right beneath Ashley's apartment building.
"Where's my stuff?"
She meant her tampons.
"In the glove compartment."
Ashley flipped open the compartment and found the opened box. Her eyes inadvertently caught sight of a transparent plastic bag containing a deep blue box of condoms.
A sting shot through her heart, sharp and painful.
This definitely wasn't a freebie that came with her shopping.
Damian had changed a lot for that woman.
Back when they were together, Damian never liked to wear condoms, insisting she be the one on birth control pills.
Ashley snapped the glove compartment shut. She started folding his jacket neatly, then thought of it again. Given Damian's obsession with cleanliness, he'd never want it back, "I'll throw this out for you."
Damian's face darkened. He didn't utter a word and stepped out of the car with her.
Ashley figured it made sense for him to stop here too, after all, they were in the same complex.
But to her surprise, he followed her to the same elevator entrance.
"Damian, this is where I live now," Ashley pointed deliberately at the golden number plate.
"Aren't you going to invite me up?"
His tone was effortlessly casual, as if finding nothing amiss.
"It's not proper." The elevator arrived, yet Ashley didn't hurry to swipe her card.
She didn't want to be alone with Damian; they were adults and long past the age where inviting someone of the opposite sex over was just for "a cup of coffee."
Damian spoke with conviction, “Ashley, did you ever stop to think, are you young and sexy enough? Or do you believe I'm so desperate that I would choose a woman who's just started her period and has stained my car?"
