"When the rains blowing in your face and the whole world is on your case, I would offer you a warm embrace, to make you feel my love. When the evening shadows and the stars appear, and there is no one to dry your tears, i could hold you for a million years, to make you feel my love... There ain't nothing that i wouldn't do. Go to the ends of the earth for you. Make you happy, make your dreams come true. To make you feel my love." 'To make you feel my love' Garth Brooks

Kaylee stripped down to her black lace bra and panties and went out into the water. She took her time to make sure she got off every bit of blood and the stink of the sub demons. She grabbed her tattered jeans and scrubbed them as clean as she could before laying them over a rock in the sun to dry.

She walked out of the water and pulled on Damien's shirt. She had to roll the sleeves up several inches so she could see her hands and the bottom of the shirt hung halfway to her knees. Kaylee sat down in the sand and stretched out her long legs. She leaned back on her elbows and threw her head back, closing her eyes and letting the sun shine on her face. This place was truly beautiful.

She didn't even realize Damien was around until his shadow fell over her and she opened her eyes to see him sit down in the sand beside her. He sat cross legged with his arms resting on his knees as he stared out at the water.

"Why?" Kaylee asked after several long moments of silence.

"I thought that it was best." Damien replied.

"How could you have possibly thought that hiding that from me was best?" Kaylee asked as she raised from her elbows, brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Damien sighed and looked over at her. Damien was over one thousand years old and he had seen everything there was to see in this world. Kaylee was not the most beautiful woman he had ever seen but there was something about the sight of her that tugged at his heart. Something about her pale skin, deep brown eyes, and soft red hair made a part of him come alive that he hadn't even been aware existed. Demons were not supposed to feel caring, or gentleness but when it came to Kaylee he felt all of those things.

Toward everything else in the world he could remain indifferent and cold but there was no use in him pretending he could do the same with Kaylee.

"I had my reasons, Kaylee." he said. Kaylee rolled her eyes and looked over at him and she saw that his blue eyes were locked on her.

"Don't you think I deserve to know what they are since it's me that you hurt?" she demanded. She saw pain in his blue eyes as he reached out and laid a gentle hand on her cheek.

"I never wanted to hurt you Kaylee."

"Well you did." she replied pulling his hand away. "And I want to know why." Damien dropped his arm back down onto his knees and looked back out at the water.

"At first I hid it because I did not understand it. Demons do not have mates. Then you acted frightened when you learned I was a demon and I continued to hide the fact that I was your mate because I did not think you would be happy to find that you were mated with a demon. Then as the years went on I hid it because I worried your family would disapprove." Kaylee took a moment to digest everything he had told her.

"If demons don't have mates then how are you my mate?" she asked. Damien shrugged.

"I don't know." he replied.

"So all these years when you've always been there every time I've needed you, it was because we were mates?" she asked and she found that she was upset by this fact. She had fallen in love with Damien without knowing that he was her mate. She had hoped that his devotion to her came from something other than a mate bond.

"No." Damien replied. "I do not feel the mate bond in the way that you do. I am aware that I am your mate but I feel no pull toward you because of it."

"Then why.....?"

"I don't know why. That is what has frustrated me for all these years. I am a demon, Kaylee. I am not supposed to care about anyone. I am not supposed to care whether or not you are happy. I am not supposed to want to see you smile. I am supposed to thrive off death, destruction and pain but instead something inside of me comes alive when I see you happy and smiling. I don't understand it and I don't know what I am feeling or why I feel it but I feel it nonetheless." Kaylee felt as if she was going to float right off of the sand and into the endless blue sky.

"You should not have kept it a secret from me, Damien." she said matter of factly.

"I know and for that I am sorry.... See that is another thing, I should not feel the need to apologize to you. I am not supposed to care. I do not care about a single other person in this world. If you were anyone else I would simply shrug at your pain and walk away."

"Damien, you shouldn't have hidden you being my mate from me but I am kind of glad you did."

"You are?" Damien asked and he looked just as confused as he had when she had tried to compliment him earlier. She smiled.

"Yes. Because it gave me the chance to fall in love with you without my wolf screaming at me every second and telling me you were my mate."

"Love?" Damien asked and he was truly shocked. She loved him? He was a demon. Cold, heartless and evil. She should not love him. She was warm, soft and good... His complete opposite.

Kaylee could tell by the look in his eyes that he was not about to say 'I love you too' and her heart fell. She saw him open his mouth to speak and shook her head to silence him.

"Let's talk about something else, okay?" she asked. Damien saw the pain on her face but he did not know what had caused it. His wolf had so many different emotions every second of the day, that he found it impossible to keep up.

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"You." Kaylee replied.

"What about me?" Damien asked.

"Anything... I don't know a thing about you." Damien shrugged.

"There is nothing for you to know about me." he replied. He recognized the anger that flashed in her dark eyes and she stood up quickly and brushed the sand from her legs. Damien couldn't help but stare at her long legs nearly completely revealed to him as she stood there in his shirt.

"If this is how you're going to treat me then you can just go to hell, Damien." Damien was confused. Why was she mad? He had no idea... This woman and her constantly changing emotions were a mystery to him. He stood up.

"I was born there actually." he said. "Why are you angry at me?"

"You were born in hell?" Kaylee asked as she tilted her head and stared at him. Damien nodded.

"Many have called it hell." he replied. Kaylee glared at him, trying to come up with something sharp and witty to say. She was angry that he was being so vague with her and wanted nothing more than to make him feel as angry as she was.

"Well then.... Go to heaven." she spat. A loud laugh burst from Damien and while Kaylee was surprised by the sound and the way it made her smile, Damien seemed to be completely shocked by it as he stopped laughing quickly and clamped his mouth shut.

"What's wrong?" Kaylee asked. Damien shook his head.

"I laughed." he said with confusion in his voice.

"Yes you did. It was nice. I've never heard you laugh before." she replied feeling all her anger melt away. He looked like a baby who had just taken his first step and was now standing in shock and waiting for someone to tell him it was okay.

"I've never laughed before." he replied and he saw the disbelief in her eyes. "I'm serious. I did not even know I could."

"I gave you your first laugh." Kaylee said with a wink. "And what I said wasn't even that funny." she added.

"Yes it was." he argued. "The thought of a demon being sent to heaven as punishment... it's very entertaining."

(Damien, I need you. There are men snooping around here and I am afraid.) Damien cringed at the sound of his mother's scared voice inside his head. He knew there was more than likely nothing wrong with his mother but she tended to panic whenever someone she did not recognize came around her home.

(I'm coming, mother.) he replied and then he looked down at Kaylee.

"I have to go." he said. Kaylee snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Of course you do." she said. "You always have to go."

"I'll be back and we will talk." he promised. "I'll tell you anything you want to know about me."

"I might decide not to wait on you." she replied harshly. She saw something that looked like pain in his eyes and then he shrugged.

"If you are not here when I return then I will simply have to find you." Kaylee fought to keep her happiness at his words off of her face.

"I'll be here." she said, looking out at the water instead of at him.

"I won't be long." he promised and she felt her heart speed up when he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. He pulled away, the air shimmered and he was gone.

Kaylee looked around her and wondered how she was going to keep herself occupied. She walked up to the shack and stepped inside. If Damien insisted on being vague about himself, maybe she could learn something inside his home.

Her hopes for that were quickly dashed when she saw that his house was plain. There was not a single decoration, splash of color, or personal touch anywhere. A hammock was in the corner of the one room shack and there was a plain brown couch, a fireplace and a small rickety looking table.

Kaylee walked over to the hammock and climbed inside. She might as well get a little rest while she waited since she had not slept much the night before or the entire last two weeks for that matter.

She was just getting comfortable and drifting off to sleep with the sounds of the waves helping give her peace when her brothers voice came into her head.

(Am I interrupting anything?) he asked with a smile in his voice.

(No, I'm trying to get some sleep.) she replied.

(Sleep? Where the hell is prince charming?)

(He had something he needed to do.) she replied.

(Where are you?)

(At his house. On a beach on a tropical island.)

(Take care of yourself, sis.... Just so you know grandpa is having a heart attack, knowing that you are alone with a demon.)

(Tell him not to worry. Damien would never hurt me.) Kaylee replied.

(You can't tell him anything. The entire family seems to hate your mate. All except for me, Vanessa, Jake and of course Aunt Angela. I don't think she hates anybody.)

(Was there something you wanted or were you just wanting to make me never come home?) Kaylee demanded.

(You know I love you, sis. I just want to make sure you know what you're in for whenever you do come home. Enjoy your mate and your home on the beach and don't forget that my offer to kill him still stands if he hurts you.)

(I love you too Kayleb, now leave me alone because next time you really might be interrupting something.)

(Dad just rolled over in his grave.) Kayleb said with a mixture of entertainment and sadness in his voice.

(Well he shouldn't have been listening.) Kaylee replied with a light laugh.

(You know dad, he never could mind his own business when it came to us kids.) Kayleb replied and then he closed the link. Kaylee rolled over on her side in the hammock and cried as she thought about her mom and dad and how much she missed them.

888

Damien had been right about his mother being fine. Her strange men that were watching her had been nothing more than some mortal men that had been out hunting in the Montana mountains and had wandered too close to her cabin.

He dashed back to the beach where he had left Kaylee not long ago but she wasn't there. He listened closely and when he caught the sounds of her quiet sobs coming from his shack his feet seemed to take on a life of their own and carried him quickly inside. He dropped to his knees beside the hammock and smoothed her hair from her face. Her eyes flew open and at first she looked afraid but then she recognized him.

"Damien." she said softly. Damien felt something in his heart seem to thaw at the sound of her tear filled voice saying his name.

"Why are you crying?" he asked gently. "I cannot stand to see you in pain."

"It's nothing." she said trying to dry her face but the new tears were falling too quickly.

"It is something." he argued.

"My brother ...." Damien cut her off.

"You need to quit basing your own happiness off of your brother's. You care too much for too many people." he scolded as he took her hand in his and kissed her fingertips. Kaylee felt herself tremble at the feel of his lips on her sensitive flesh and she shook her head.

"No, it's nothing like that." she said. "I shouldn't even be crying, it's stupid." Damien shook his head.

"If it makes you cry then it is not stupid. Now tell me what is causing you pain so I can fix it."

"You can't fix this." Kaylee replied. "It's just something he said."

"Should I kill him?" Damien asked and his attempt at a joke surprised him. Perhaps because he had never attempted one before. He was desperate to see her smile.

"No. He says the same thing about you though."

"He wants to kill me?" Damien asked, raising a brow.

"Only when he sees me hurting because of you. That's the way men are over women they love." Damien took a moment to digest her words. Did men become protective over women they loved? Was his demon heart in love with Kaylee? He certainly cared about her more than any other person, even himself, and just being near her made him feel happy somehow.

"Why are you crying then?" he asked.

"I miss my mom and dad." Kaylee replied and then her tears began falling again. "At first I was just angry when they died. I wanted to kill Vincent and get revenge. And then after Vincent was dead, I was too worried about Kayleb for their deaths to truly sink in. Then came the shock and now all I can do is cry. I miss them so bad and I feel so alone. I know my family misses them too but they all have somebody." Kaylee was crying so hard by now she could barely speak. "I don't have anybody." she gasped and the sobs that racked her slim body were more than Damien could bear.

He pulled her into his arms and climbed onto the hammock. He held her close to his chest as she clung to his shirt with her fists and cried hard.

"You have me, wolf. You have me." he said as he ran his hands along her back and kissed her hair, trying to give her what comfort he could. "I am sorry I was not there when you needed me before to deal with your loss but I am here now. I will hold you and dry your tears." He didn't feel the need to tell her that he had been too busy being held prisoner and tortured to be there for her. He knew that learning he'd been tortured for a month over helping her brother would do nothing to help her feel better.

"I love you, Damien. I know that you don't love me back but I love you with all my heart." Kaylee whispered as she kept her face buried in his strong chest. Damien sighed and kissed her hair.

"It's not that I don't want to love you, Kaylee. It's just that I am a demon and I don't know how." he replied and Kaylee felt the tiniest ray of hope as she snuggled closer to him.

"Just hold me, Damien. I just need you to hold me."

"I can do that." he replied gently.