Kaylee woke up and realized with disappointment that she was alone in the hammock. She opened her eyes and realized that darkness had fallen outside. She could hear the waves crashing against the sand and she rose from the hammock and walked out into the moonlight.

The moon was full and shining brightly on the light sand as stars twinkled up in the endless black night sky. She smelled Damien's smoky scent just before his arms slipped around her waist from behind and she leaned her head back against his chest, enjoying the warmth he provided.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked gently and Kaylee felt herself tremble as his breath washed against her ear.

"I'll be okay." she replied and then her stomach growled loudly. "I'm hungry." she said matter of factly. Damien pulled away from her and pointed down at the beach.

"I thought you would be." he said. Kaylee's eyes followed where he was pointing and she saw the small table from the house sitting down in the sand with candles lit in the center and two small chairs.

"Damien...." Kaylee gasped as she raised her hand to her mouth. "Candles and everything?" she had not pictured him as the romantic gestures type.

"It keeps the bugs away." Damien replied simply as he led her down the beach. Kaylee couldn't help but laugh and he gave her a puzzled look but said nothing. Kaylee's eyes fell on the food on the table and she had to stifle yet another laugh as she saw the cheeseburger and fries and the fast food drink sitting there. Demons don't eat and clearly Damien had no knowledge of what a romantic meal would consist of.

"I hope this is okay. If not I can go get you something else. Anything you want." Kaylee could hear his eagerness to please her in his voice and she smiled up at him.

"No, this is fine." she promised. She could sense something different about him. It was as if he was trying to open up more and putting an effort into letting her know how much he cared. He loved her.... She knew he did. Twenty years of devotion proved that he loved her even though he hadn't said the words.

He pulled her chair back and then gently scooted her toward the table after she had sat down. He sat across from her and stared out at the moonlit ocean as she began to eat. She felt a little awkward eating in front of him when he wasn't eating but her hunger overcame her awkwardness and she quickly devoured the meal.

"Do you want me to get you something else?" he asked as he raised his brow and looked at her. He had forgotten just how big a werewolves appetite was. Kaylee suddenly looked embarrassed as she shook her head.

"No... I'm full." Damien suspected that she was lying but seeing as how she looked embarrassed he said nothing. He had no idea why she would be embarrassed over being hungry. She had to have food. That would be like him being embarrassed because he had to feed off of mortal souls. It was something that had to be done to survive.

"It's beautiful here." Kaylee said as she looked around the beach. Damien stared over at her and the way the moonlight was dancing on her pale face and nodded.

"It is." he replied. "I've lived here a long time and never fully noticed the beauty before." Kaylee blushed and smiled as she pushed her hair behind her ear. Coming from any other man this would seem like the most ridiculous of lines but Damien said the words with such certainty and sincerity that she was helpless but to believe him.

"I should probably be getting home." Kaylee said, standing up and smoothing out his shirt that she was still wearing. Damien realized he could see the black shadow of her bra and panties beneath the thin white fabric and he fought back the desire and passion that she stirred in him. When a demon gave in to passion, pain or death always followed for the women who had stirred him and he could not risk hurting Kaylee.

"I would like for you to stay a little longer." Damien replied. "I told you before that I would tell you anything you wanted to know about me and we haven't had a chance to talk yet."

Kaylee was tempted for a moment to go home and make him wait. He had left her standing alone plenty of times when she had wanted and needed him. But then she saw the love in his blue eyes and even if he refused to recognize the emotion for what it was, she could not ignore it.

"Okay." she said with a nod. "Let's take a walk."

They walked along the beach for a long time and despite the fact that he was supposed to be telling her about himself, Kaylee ended up being the one that did most of the talking. She told him countless stories of growing up in her big, loud family and Damien found himself wondering what it would be like to have a true family.

Silence eventually fell over the two of them and Kaylee wondered if she should do what she wanted to do in this moment. She spared a quick glance at his face but he was looking straight ahead and he looked surprisingly content. Kaylee had never seen that expression on his face before and it made him even more handsome as it relaxed all the hard, tense lines from his face.

She decided that nothing would ever be gained if she was a chicken and so she reached out quickly and took his hand in hers. She cursed the way her nerves were eating at her stomach and she looked up at his face to judge his reaction.

Damien looked down at her with a puzzled expression and then she saw what looked like a war of emotions raging behind his eyes. She was sure that desire flashed in them just before he blinked and it was replaced by confusion and then as he twined his fingers through hers and gave her hand a squeeze, she saw what could only be love fill his eyes.

"Tell me about yourself now." Kaylee said as they walked hand in hand in the moonlight.

"What do you want to know about me?" he asked. He could not explain what was happening to him as he walked with her. It was as if every bad thing he had ever done or experienced had been washed away when she had taken his hand. He did not know what love was but surely that elusive emotion could not compare with the way his heart felt for this werewolf at his side. He would give his life for her happiness and never think twice or curse that the price was too high.

She was all that made his heart feel alive, she made him feel, and because of that simple fact he would do anything for her.

"Do you have a family?" she asked. Damien nodded.

"In the biological sense, yes. In the sense that you speak of family, no." he replied.

"Who tortured you for helping my brother?" Kaylee asked quickly. She wasn't sure why she asked him that or if he would even answer but she wanted to know.

"My brother did, per my father's orders." Kaylee's eyes widened as he turned to look at her. "I did not know that you knew about that."

"I'm not stupid, Damien. You yourself told me that you would be in trouble if you helped Vanessa and so when you disappeared right after ward and then show up a month later with your guts hanging out, I put it all together."

I know you are not stupid. I hoped you didn't know because I didn't want you to worry."

"How long did they torture you like that?"

"Thirty days. That is why I could not come to you that night on the porch when you waved for me. They were already summoning me to the castle and I did not want to keep them waiting and have them come looking for me and find you."

"Did you know what the punishment would be?" Kaylee demanded as her grip on his hand tightened. Damien nodded.

"Yes."

"Then why in the hell did you do it?" she demanded.

"Because it was something you needed me to do." he replied.

"Damien, I don't want you doing things for me that end with you getting hurt!"

"There is no price too high to pay if it leads to your happiness my wolf." His words of devotion did little to soothe her anger with him. She decided to change the subject before she punched him again like she had under the bridge.

"So you have a brother and a father?" she asked looking down at their legs moving in sync as they walked through the sand.

"Yes." Damien replied. "Though Rotan is technically my half brother. We have different mothers. His mother was a demon and my father killed her shortly after she gave birth to him."

"Lovely." Kaylee said dryly and Damien shrugged.

"That is what happens when a demon gives into his passions." he replied. "My mother was lucky, though few would see it that way."

"Your mother was mortal... Isn't that what the sub demon at the bridge said?"

"She was born mortal. My father, Victor, turned her before she gave birth to me and then he held her prisoner for nearly five hundred years before I was able to free her. Now she lives in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. She is frightened of everything and refuses to ever leave her home even though I have told her that she has nothing to fear from my father. He has no more use for her."

"You freed her?" Kaylee asked. She knew enough about psychopathic freaks to know that this Victor, would not have just allowed Damien to free his mother.

"Yes. I will not tell you how. There are some things about my past I would rather you did not know." he said sternly. He had actually given his father ten virgin mortals to take the place of his mother and had then endured nearly a decade of torture once his father had grown bored of his new toys and killed them all and wished to have Damien's mother back. In the end his father had given up and replaced Angelica with a new 'passion' slave.

"Fair enough." Kaylee replied. "Maybe one day I'll meet her."

"She has been scarred by her years with my father. She is not what you would consider to be normal." Damien said matter of factly. Kaylee smiled and looked up at the moon and the stars.

"Maybe one day you'll get to know my family and you'll realize that I wouldn't have a clue what 'normal' is." she said and Damien smiled as they stopped walking. He laid a gentle hand on her cheek and she leaned against it and sighed.

"I really do have to go home, Damien. It will be dawn soon and I always get Gwen up in the morning."

"Your ability to care for so many people amazes me. I will never understand how you are able to keep all of them on your mind and in your heart at once."

"Isn't there anybody that you care about, Damien? Isn't there anyone that is always on your mind?"

"Only one person." he replied honestly as he traced her full bottom lip with his rough thumb. Kaylee felt herself tremble beneath his touch and was amazed at how quickly her feelings for him had turned from love and affection to love and passion. Being alone with him on this beach, with his fingers touching her soft skin filled her with fire.

"And how do you feel about me?" she asked softly. Damien looked down at her and thought about his words carefully before responding. He had never tried to speak from the heart before, then again he had never truly used his heart before.

"From the first time you smiled at me you've had my undivided attention. From the first time I heard you laugh, you've had my urge to laugh with you. From the first time you cried, you've had my urge to hold you and when you told me you loved me, you got my urge to give my heart to you forever."

Kaylee felt tears of happiness and hope fill her eyes. She raised her own hand to his face and ran her black painted fingernail along his cheek. She felt him tense up and his eyes darkened in the moonlight.

Time seemed to stand still and the crashing of the waves was the only sound as they stared into each others eyes. Kaylee parted her lips slightly and ran her tongue quickly along her bottom lip and she saw his eyes follow the movement. Damien lowered his head toward hers as she closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for his kiss.

Their lips brushed together and both felt the sparks at the feather light contact. Kaylee had never been much for clichés but she swore she could hear bells ringing and see doves flying and then suddenly he pulled away.

"I cannot, Kaylee." he said, his voice raspy and full of regret. Kaylee opened her eyes and stared at him with confusion.

"Why?" she asked feeling a mixture of hurt and disappointment.

"Because I'm a demon, Kaylee, and it is not safe for you if I give in to what I'm feeling."

"You would never hurt me." Kaylee said laying a gentle hand on his cheek. He stepped away from her and shook his head.

"There is no way to be sure and I will not risk your life." he said. "Maybe you should go home now." His body was screaming to have her. He could feel the blood pounding in his veins and the heat settling low in his body. He wanted her and if she did not leave he wasn't sure he could stop himself from taking her.

"Fine." Kaylee said as she took several steps away and ran her hand through her hair. "When am I going to see you again?"

"I don't know." he replied as he clenched his jaw and fought the passion rising inside of him. Kaylee clearly did not understand what passion did to a demon or what a passion crazed demon could do to her. Kaylee didn't even bother saying goodbye before the air shimmered and she was gone.

Damien let out an angry roar and quickly decided that hunting was the only thing that would calm the fire coursing through his veins. He had to feed on mortal souls to live. He never took more than he had to in order to survive and he only took souls of 'evil' mortals such as murderers and rapists. Yes feeding was the only thing that would calm the current torment going on in his soul.