The Maid's Deception-Chapter 69 - 68: I love you! Damien, I love you!

ARIA’S POV

Aria’s jeans hit the floor, followed by her panties, and then Damien was lifting her, pressing her back against the cool glass of the greenhouse wall.

"Wrap your legs around me," he commanded, and she obeyed, her body responding to his dominance even as her mind screamed that this was wrong, that she should stop this, should confess before it was too late.

She felt him at her entrance, felt the thick head of his cock pressing against her, and then he was pushing in....deeper than ever before. Three inches. Maybe four. Right to the edge of her virginity.

The stretch was intense, overwhelming, and she cried out, her back arching against the glass.

"Feel that?" Damien growled, holding himself perfectly still. "Feel how close I am to taking everything? To making you completely mine?"

"Yes! Please....please don’t stop..."

"Tell me your secrets first." He pulled back, then thrust in to the same depth. "Tell me what you’re hiding and I’ll give you everything you’re begging for."

"I can’t....oh god....I can’t...."

"Then you don’t get all of me." He set a punishing rhythm, those deep thrusts that stopped just short of claiming her virginity. "You get this. You get the torture. You get to feel how good it would be without actually having it."

His hand slid between them, fingers finding her clit, and the combination was devastating. She was crying, begging, completely losing her mind.

"Please, Damien, please.....I need you....I need all of you...."

"Then give me all of you!" His voice was harsh, almost angry. "Give me your trust! Give me your honesty! Give me the truth!"

"I love you!" The words tore from her throat. "I love you! Please, I love you so much, please fuck me, please...."

He groaned, his control visibly wavering. "Say it again."

"I love you! I love you, I love you, I love you....." She was sobbing now, the words pouring out in a desperate litany. "Please, Damien, please, I’ll do anything, just please...."

DAMIEN’S POV

Hearing her beg.....hearing her confess her love over and over while tears streamed down her face.....almost broke Damien’s control completely.

He wanted nothing more than to thrust deep, to claim her virginity right here against this glass, to make her his in the most final way possible.

But not like this. Not in anger and desperation and mutual frustration.

With monumental effort, he pulled out completely.

Aria’s sob of loss was devastating. "No....please....why...."

"Because I won’t take you like this." He set her down carefully, steadying her when her legs wouldn’t support her. "I won’t claim you when you’re broken and desperate and unable to give real consent."

"I am consenting! I want this! I want you!"

"You want to escape." He cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. "You want to forget whatever impossible choice you think you have to make. But Sarah...." He used her fake name deliberately. "That’s not enough. When I take your virginity, when I make you mine in that final way, it’s not going to be because you’re running from something. It’s going to be because you’re running toward something. Toward us. Toward a future. Toward forever."

"But I....." She couldn’t finish, couldn’t form the words through her sobs.

He pulled her close, holding her while she fell apart, his own body still painfully aroused but his mind clear on what needed to happen.

"I know you’re planning something," he said quietly. "I can see it in your eyes. The resolution. The desperation. And I’m telling you now.....before you do whatever you’re planning to do....think about what you’re throwing away. Think about us. Think about whether your secrets are really worth more than this."

She clung to him, sobbing into his chest, and he held her until the storm passed.

When she finally pulled back, her eyes were red and swollen but clearer somehow.

"I need to go," she said. "I need to...I have something I need to do."

"I know." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "But Sarah? Whatever you decide.....whatever you choose to do.....know that I love you. And I will always love you. Even if you break my heart."

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "I’m so sorry. For everything. For not being brave enough. For not trusting you when you’ve given me every reason to."

"Then prove me wrong." He released her, stepping back. "Prove you’re braver than you think you are."

She looked at him for a long moment, her expression torn, then turned and fled the greenhouse.

Damien watched her go, his jaw clenched.

Tonight. It would all come to a head tonight.

She’d make her move to steal the plant. He’d be waiting. And finally, finally, they’d have it out.

All of it. Every secret. Every lie. Every desperate choice.

And then.....either they’d find a way through it together, or everything would shatter beyond repair.

He pulled out his phone and sent a text to security: She’s going to make her attempt tonight. Be ready. But don’t stop her. I want to catch her in the act. I need to handle this personally.

Then he returned to the mansion to wait.

For the confrontation that would either save them or destroy them.

For the truth that had been too long in coming.

For the end of the lies.

One way or another.

********

ARIA’S POV

Aria returned to her room after the devastating encounter in the greenhouse, her body still aching with unfulfilled need and her mind made up.

Tonight. It had to be tonight.

Her mother had hours left. Not days. Hours. And she’d spent those precious hours crying in Damien’s arms instead of acting, instead of getting what she needed.

No more hesitation. No more hoping for another way. No more waiting for courage that wasn’t coming.

She pulled out her mission phone with trembling hands and checked the messages.

Three texts from Marcus, each more urgent than the last:

Aria, your mom is asking for you. She’s getting weaker.

The doctors are saying 12 hours maximum now. Maybe less.

Please. If you’re going to do something, it has to be tonight. She doesn’t have time for you to wait.

Twelve hours. Her mother had twelve hours left.

And Aria had the access card. Had studied the security protocols. Had memorized the layout of the greenhouse. She knew exactly where the Vitalis Radix was kept, exactly how much she needed, exactly how to extract it without killing the plant.

She’d been preparing for this moment for months. Ever since her mother’s diagnosis. Ever since she’d discovered that Damien Blackwood.....reclusive billionaire, ruthless CEO.....was the only person in the world who cultivated the cure.

Everything had led to this night. This choice. This betrayal.

She typed back to Marcus with shaking fingers: Tonight. 2 AM. Tell her I love her. Tell her I’m going to save her.

His response came immediately: Be careful. I love you. Your mom loves you. Whatever you have to do...just come back safe.

She set the phone aside and began her preparations.