His Queen

21. Winning Hearts

Damien's POV

Aliya looked stunning; sitting across from me with her hair tied up in a messy bun, a few pieces of her hair fell on her face moving ever so lightly with the gentle breeze of the AC. The sunlight kissed her beautiful face giving it a magnificent glow.

How could she manage to look so effortlessly pretty all the damn time?

It took every fiber in my body to hold myself back from reaching out and touching her. I promised myself I would keep my distance, as nothing good would come out of this.

Due to the same reason that she was human and I was a vampire.

But her beauty and innocent face made it extremely difficult to keep that promise.

She tucked a strand behind her ear as her eyes met mine, she didn't say anything but it seemed her eyes were talking to me silently.

This was my paradise, she thought.

It surprised me to no end. I knew I was invading her privacy by reading her thoughts, but sometimes I found myself doing it unintentionally. When she was near, our undeniable connection became stronger and her presence and thoughts would consume me. I couldn't focus on anything else but her.

Why did the gods decide to torture me like this, by binding me to something I could never have?

Besides, why would she think of this place as her paradise?

I was too stunned to even ask.

Then she would definitely know I was again being a creeper and reading her mind.

"I honestly still don't know what kind of life I want for myself," she admitted, after a moment of silence.

"Well, what do you like? What are your interests?" I asked her, something that I had never asked someone before.

It sounded strange, but I wanted to know everything about her.

"I don't know... I mean, I never had any hobbies growing up. I was only allowed to read to pass time," she mentioned, still trying to think of something that she enjoys.

Her words cut deep, like a blade. I was the reason she didn't grow up to explore her creative side.

"You'll probably find it childish; but I do have like a bucket list," she smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

A bucket list?

What the fuck is that?

Not wanting her to think I'm that old where I don't even follow the latest trends, I asked her what was on the list instead.

"It's a bunch of things that I want to do, like learn how to swim, eat at a rooftop restaurant with city views, umm learn how to drive for sure. I took a few classes but it's a work in progress. I also want to bake a cake, a chocolate cake because I love chocolate. I also want to go to a snowy mountain! I've seen pictures of snow but never seen it in real life, and-"

"That's a long list, princess," I raised my eyebrows at her. But watching her go on and on about the experiences she would like to witness was fascinating, her eyes gleamed and the way she spoke seemed like she could almost picture everything in her head.

I was surprised to find how normal and common her wishes were. I thought it would be a list of stuff that she wants, I was expecting to find some materialistic things on it like a Gucci bag or a pair of Jimmy choos.

I rolled my eyes mentally at my sister's current obsession.

Instead of wanting something physical, Aliya longed for experiences and good memories.