Fated to the Ruthless CEO

They ended up having a late dinner. Amber could not stop Devlin from taking her over and over again. He was too strong for her. Besides, she must admit that she enjoyed every fiery moment they shared together.

By the time they get to the kitchen, she was all red from the teasing smiles Devlin was throwing at her. She kept rolling her eyes at him.

“What?!” She asked one time when she couldn’t take anymore the teasing smile of Devlin.

“Wife, I am sorry about all those marks all over you.” She only gave her a half-hearted angry look.

“But I never regretted how I made those marks.” Amber was cherry-red from what he just said.

“Devlin, will you knock it off? Are you going to eat or no more of your naughty…?” He immediately looked at her wide-eyed. He could not believe that she was giving him a warning.

“Fine! Let’s eat, wife. What do you want to do after dinner?” Amber only raised her eyebrow at him. ‘Doesn’t he know the time right now? It is almost midnight!’

“I don’t think there is much to do at this time. It is already very late.” She said while almost finishing her food.

“Well, leave it to me. Who cares if it is very late? Tomorrow is the weekend anyway.” He said nonchalantly. She simply shrugged and finished her food.

After they finished dinner, they went to the entertainment room. She thought that they were going to watch a movie but he had something else in mind.

“Wife, you never told me that you can play the piano.” He said out of nowhere when he opened the grand piano to the corner. Amber’s forehead only creased in wonder.

“Well, I heard one of the cleaning ladies talking about how good you are at playing the piano. You must have played it the day they were cleaning here.” Devlin was looking at her, urging her to play the piano for him.

“Baby, could you please play the piano for me? I just want to hear it myself.” Amber simply nodded. Even if she still feels sore from their lovemaking, she could not say no to her husband’s request.

She took a deep breath before hitting some keys for a warm-up. Then, she closed her eyes. She started playing the piece that she first learned from her marmee. She smoothly ran her fingers through every key. Devlin was just watching her quietly to the side. The moment she started playing the piano, she was completely lost in the music. She was thinking of the green fields when she was a young child. She saw herself with her marmee, her mom, and dad. Those happy memories together with her family, before things started to fall apart.

The moment she finished, a lone tear escaped her eyes. She immediately wiped it off before Devlin could see it.

“That was a great performance, baby. Is it marmee who taught you the piano?” He asked while he slightly pulled her towards the couch. He noticed the sadness in her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look sad?” He asked with his gentle voice. He circled his right arm around her body. Amber leaned on his chest. She felt much better finding her comfort in Devlin’s arms. She never expected to find what she is longing for from someone who despised her before.

She slightly shook her head but tears began to fall from her eyes. She tried to hide but Devlin cupped her face.

“Shush baby…” He only said and hugged her tightly. When she was done crying, she calmed down.

“Mind telling what made you cry?” His concerned voice warmed her heart.

“That song I was playing was the first song that marmee taught me when I was a young child. And, everytime I play that song, it always reminds me of that distant past together with my mom, dad and marmee while we were having a picnic.” She paused before she could cry again. She is trying to hold her breath.

“A week after that, dad died from a car accident. Then, you know the rest. My mom got married a year later.” She said with sorrow.

“Oh baby, I am sorry. It was my fault that I made you play the piano. I could have saved you from relieving those sad moments in your life.” But Amber vigorously shook her head.

“No, that was not your fault. I just wanted to play that song. It was very special to me.” She was looking at him. She wanted to tell him how much she loves him but held back. There is a time for that.

Suddenly, she remembered something. She immediately excused herself and went to her bedroom. She took the box where she put her gift. It was a sculpture of a panther. It was an expensive piece because it was made from natural black onyx. It is a rare find. She was told by the salesman that most of the black onyx in the market have already undergone some treatment method to attain its full black color. That’s why the item she bought was really expensive.

She took her time as the item is quite heavy. When she got inside the entertainment room, Devlin gave her a questioning look. He saw her carrying a medium-sized box.

“Baby, do you want me to help you with that? It looks heavy.” She only shook her head. She set the box carefully on the table in front of Devlin.

“You can open it. I bought this as a gift for you. I hope you like it.” She said shyly.

Devlin was surprised. He was looking at the box with amazement.

“Go ahead. Open it.” She said with an excited voice this time. Devlin quietly opened the box. He opened the piece which was covered with specially designed paper. When he unwrapped it, he saw a panther made from black onyx. It looks like it was ready to launch at his prey. He ran his hands on the expensive piece.

“What do you think? I am sorry this was the only available item from that store. It reminds me so much of you so I bought it. It looks powerful, fierce, and strong.” She said while never leaving her eyes on Devlin.

“I saw you have huge collections of stuff like this. You can add it to your collection if you like.” She added shyly.

“If I like? Of course, I would love to have this displayed here. Thank you. This is really nice.” He said who looks like a kid right now. You can see the tenderness in his eyes.

“Do you know that I started collecting all those figures because of grandpa?” He pulled Amber to show her his collections.

“This one here is my first ever gift from grandpa.” He showed her one of his biggest collections in terms of size. It is a bald-eagle which looks like it is about to fly. It is made from hardwood.

“He bought this for me when we went to the zoo together. This was part of the display at a souvenir store. It was not for sale but I could not stop crying because I wanted to have this for myself. I remember how I found it so fascinating at that time. I did not want to leave the shop until I could have this thing here.” He ran his fingers to the carved wings of the bald eagle. That was also the first item that caught Amber’s attention when she first came to the penthouse.

“Grandpa left me for a few minutes to talk to someone at the shop. We left that place with this carved bald eagle at the back of our car.” he said with a wide smile.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“And from there, my collection has expanded. Whenever I travel and see anything about carved items that caught my fancy, I buy them immediately.” Devlin opened a room for her which made her gasp in surprise. She has never been to his personal office in the penthouse. He has more collections of carved figures. He got an intricate carved figure of an owl, a lion, and more. Aside from animals, he also got figures of action heroes, comic characters and more.

“Wow! This is amazing. I never thought you would have more collections here. If you put everything together, you can have them displayed in an art gallery.” She saw those figures made of other gemstones. She saw something made from marble, quartz, amethyst…

“Thank you for this gift. This is very special to me. Do you know that you are the only person who knows that I have this kind of collection?” Devlin asked which made her all the more surprised.

“Really? What about, Raven?” She asked without thinking. She bit her lower lip. She should have just closed her mouth.

“Not even her. She never saw this place. And she never really asked about my interest.” Devlin sounded slightly disappointed. Amber finds it weird that you don’t know that much about the person you are with.

“My relationship with Raven was more like friendship than a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. She was there when I needed someone to talk to. She knew about my issues with my family and with my brother. But it never came to a point that we shared more intimacy until later. But by then, our relationship was already in trouble. So, the rest you knew about it. We broke up and she fell in love with my brother.” He said frankly without any hint of regret or bitterness in his voice…