cheekbone.
"Reverse Sleeping Beauty complex," Jessie muttered. "His kiss puts her to sleep."
I fell into the satin darkness with a smile on my face as his breath mingled with mine.
There was a tunnel or maybe a cave. Dark, not a flicker of light to stay away from - or perhaps run to.
But the darkness was peaceful. There was no one there but me. No Jimmy, no family, but the best part
... no Hector. I went down that tunnel gladly and fell off the edge of the world.
The next instant, or so it seemed, I jerked awake. I was alone, and the gray light of dawn shivered on the horizon. I looked down. I was still me. No fangs, no fur. It was a good day.
A soft footfall drew my attention to the door. Damien stood in the entryway, barefoot, tousled, his chin shadowed, skin pale. For an instant I wondered what had happened to the good doctor; then I realized I didn't care. Damien was here. He was the only one I wanted to see right now.
"Did you sleep?" I asked.
"Of course not."
"Wanna come to bed?"
His eyes widened. His mouth opened, then shut. He shrugged.
"Untie me."
"Leigh - " he began.
"Do it, Damien. I won't bite." I let a slow smile spread across my face. "Unless you want me to."
He crossed the room, stood over the bed, staring down at me. Suddenly I was embarrassed. Wanting him at a time like this - what was the matter with me?
"You don't have to untie me," I muttered. "Maybe you shouldn't."
"We can't - "
"We can. I think we've proved that quite a few times."
"But we've never..."
He was having a helluva time articulating this morning.
"Are you trying to say that we've never been together when I knew what you were and I knew that you knew what I was?"
He gave a half-laugh. "Something like that."
"Why do you think I want us to be together now?"
He lifted his eyes. There was that hope again.
"Why?" he whispered.
I'd awoken this morning a human being. No tail, no snout, no savage bloodlust. Maybe, one day, Damien would, too. And if he could, then we might have a future. All I had to do was kill the demon who wanted to mate with me beneath the full moon.
My life - what can I say? - it wasn't for sissies.
"Why?" I repeated. "Because I love you."
I hadn't planned to say that. What if I had to shoot him? But what if he died - what if I did - before I told him the truth? At least Jimmy had known how I felt and he'd died without discovering how I'd betrayed him.
I pushed away the thought. I needed to let the past go and focus on the future. I'd been close to death and worse last night. Every day from now on was a gift.
Dwelling on what I'd done, punishing myself with it, was getting me nowhere. I needed to live or get out of the game. With Damien in my life, I knew which one I would choose.
He knelt by the bed. His clever fingers released the knots. My hands went around his neck and pulled him close.
"Tell me again," he demanded.
"I love you."
Our lips met and I forgot everything but him. There was no one, nothing, else. No werewolves, no demons, no power eaters. Just Damien and me - until Edward walked in.
I had my tongue down Damien's throat; he had his hand up my shirt. A gasp from the doorway made us freeze. I glanced past Damien's shoulder and met the shocked eyes of the man who'd saved, then given me back, my life.
"You have lost your mind."
Damien yanked his hand out of my shirt and tried to pull away. I held on, kissed his cheek, smoothed his hair, then let him go.
"Maybe." Standing, I crossed the room and stopped right in front of Edward. "But it's my mind."
"I see now why you didn't want him dead." He shook his head. "I thought better of you, Leigh."
I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Werewolves are..." He seemed to struggle for the words. "Accomplished at the physical."
"Is that your way of saying they're great in the sack?"
He winced. "If you must. They are carnal creatures. Their senses are heightened. They have lived long enough to learn many things."
I glanced at Damien. He shrugged. What could he say? He knew how to make me scream. Let's shoot him.
"I should have warned you of their allure. But I thought after Hector you