"Can you stay over?" She pleaded when he looked at her questioningly.

He gazed down at her and tried to calm his racing thoughts. He didn't mind staying over, but wouldn't he be asking for a beating from Theodore? He knew that her father didn't fully approve of him yet, and he might just decide to kill him if he thought that he was trying to take advantage of Zaria. Not to mention, there was the puppy that didn't seem fond of him either.

"Let's go to my place instead, if you don't mind." He suggested.

"Okay." She placed her hand in his, ready to go to his mansion. They got back to his car and drove to his home. They had already had their dinner at the celebratory banquet so neither of them was hungry. They freshened up and Desmond changed into cotton pajamas, while Zaria wore the nightdress that they had bought on their way.

She climbed onto his large bed that was covered with white sheets. His room was quite similar to his office and his resting chamber—large and white themed with a few touches of black. She covered herself with the sheets that had his scent on them and peeked at him as he finished up what he was doing before walking towards the bed.

It was not her first time sleeping in his bed but it was the first time she did so with him present, so her heart raced at the thought of it. Would he kiss her again? Would he want something more?

"Are you nervous?" He asked as he lay on the bed, under the same covers as her.

She shook her head. "No." She denied, even though her eyes stated otherwise. Her fingers were curled around the sheets, letting him know that several thoughts were running through her mind. He smiled and turned off the lights, so it was not too bright to sleep but not dark enough to feel spooky.

She looked up at him using the dim lights. They were facing each other, and she was able to see his sculpted face from a closer angle. Her eyes slowly trailed down his neck, just in time to catch his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed.

"What are you trying to portray by looking at me like that?" He teased. "That you want a kiss, or that you want to see a clearer view? Don't be shy, tell me if you want to see more than just my face."

She shook her head and averted her gaze with a flush. She was a grown up woman. How was he still able to ignite such intense feelings in her, that she couldn't help blushing?

She was still wondering about this when his lips connected with hers, claiming her. He held the back of her head and kissed her as he pushed her onto her back.

"You're the most important woman in my life, Zaria. Which is why I want to treasure you." He said as he softly kissed her jaw.

She met his intense gaze that made her feel heat creep up under her skin. How she wished they could stay like this forever… but there was still something between them. She averted her gaze at the thought of it.

"It was my first boyfriend." She spoke out of the blue, of something that was not part of what he was talking about.

"Mmh?" He looked at her questioningly, before he slowly understood that she was talking about the man who had tried to hurt her before, the one who had made her afraid of doing the intimate.

"I was only seventeen then and ready to explore everything I was curious about. Of course I hid it from my dad who would never allow me to date until I was eighteen. But it was only a year so it was alright, right?" She sighed and he pulled away to lie beside her, as a frown settled on his face.

"Parents have a reason for not wanting their kids to date at a young age. It's because they want the kids to be old enough to understand people and not easily fall into traps." She laughed as she said the words she would never imagine herself saying in the past, when she believed that her father was being overly protective of her and that he should calm down a little.

"Zaria, you don't have to talk about it." He took her hand. He knew that it was probably not something easy to talk about, so he wanted her to be ready to open up before she did.

"I know. I want to get it off between us." She explained and continued talking about it.

"I met Gabe. I found his looks pleasing at the time but he was a playboy. I hate to admit that I had a thing for men with rumors circulating them about being playboys. I used to believe they would know how to treat a woman right—having been with many of them. Stupid logic, I know. " She slapped her forehead just thinking that she could ever believe such nonsense.

Desmond didn't say a word but she knew that he was probably giving a round of internal lecture to her younger self.

"It's part of growing up." He finally remarked, making her laugh.

"Gabe was the son of dad's friend. He treated me like a little sister when we met but it slowly turned into things you don't want to imagine doing with your sister." She frowned.

She sunk into the memories she had forced herself to expel from her mind before. The man had treated her like a treasure before, which is why she didn't mind it when he started to become too close. However, with time, she began to find his actions uncomfortable.

She frowned at the thought of what a scumbag she had gotten together with. "He would spy on me and pay my friends to report my every move. It was almost as though he was stalking me. When I confronted him about it, he said that I was so pretty that he was afraid someone else would chase me." She explained, making Desmond frown and want to punch the teeth out of the man's mouth.

She chuckled and decided to skip the obscene facts, like how he kept trying to kiss her and asked why she wouldn't let him have his way with her. As a convenient excuse, she said that she was not legal yet. He insisted that it was alright as long as she wanted to, and she started avoiding him. The truth was, she was starting to be scared of him and was finding a way to break up, which she did.

Realizing that he wouldn't have his way, he became a completely different person.

"I didn't notice the red flags until it was too late. He would do something wrong and apologize. But it worsened each time. It took me an ocean of tears to realize that he was a sadist with the weirdest fetishes, which he expected me to embrace and when I didn't, he threatened to defile me." Just the thought of it nauseated her all over again.

"What in the world?" Desmond was furious.

"He actually tried to." She laughed it off, but he knew that it was not something so easy to talk about. It must have been awful, considering she still felt the aftermath of the trauma almost a decade later. She smiled as she concluded it as thought it was nothing. "Luckily, someone found out what was happening and saved me."

His fists were tightly clenched as he infinitely cursed the scumbag who had the audacity to try and force himself on a minor. He hoped the scumbag was in prison but when he realized that she had not named her saviour, he was curious. "An unknown person?"

"I didn't see them clearly. I was too shocked. All I remember is my father's embrace when he found me." She responded.

Theodore had been so shocked that the scolding she expected did not arrive. Instead, he showered her with more love and spent more time explaining to her the dangers of keeping it a secret when she was being harassed. Of course, he sued the scumbag.

Seeing his gaze that was begging for the idiot's location so he would teach him a lesson, she had to break the news. "He was found dead a day after. His entire family and everyone else who knew about our relationship is dead."

He was startled. "Was it your dad's revenge?"

She shook her head. "I don't know either. I used to think it was him too but he denied it when I asked. I'm glad I hadn't told Xim about it at the time." Otherwise, perhaps she would be dead too.

"I'm sorry you went through all of that." He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

She placed a hand on his shoulder with a gentle smile. "I've long moved on. It's just hard to control my defensive instincts when someone tries to touch me."