Kaylee and Damien (6th in werewolf series)

Chapter Eleven

"Whoa!" Vanessa said as she grabbed the salt shaker from his hand. "If you put that much salt in the soup, you'll lock Kaylee and Kayleb's jaws." she teased.

"I don't understand." Damien said as he scratched his head. "I thought salt makes the food taste better."

"It does." Vanessa said with a nod.

"But too much makes it bad?" he asked and Vanessa nodded again.

"That's right."

"Perhaps I should just leave the cooking to you." Damien said with a sigh of defeat. Vanessa laughed lightly.

"If you hang in there you might just get the hang of it eventually."

"No. I think I may have found the first thing that I do not have the patience for.... Cooking."

"I'm starving." Kaylee said as she walked in. "Will that be ready soon?" Damien turned quickly and the smile that appeared on his face took Kaylee's breath away.

"You look refreshed." he said as he walked to her and wrapped her in a hug, pressing his lips against her soft hair.

Damien could tell that Kaylee was surprised by his show of affection but he had been paying attention to the other couples all day and he had realized that they always took the time to hug one another when they saw each other after being separated for any amount of time. He decided that this seemed like a good thing to do, especially since it gave him an excuse to touch her soft body and caress her silky hair.

"Have a seat, Kaylee. Damien helped me get the soup ready so if your heart stops instantly from the amount of salt... don't blame me." Vanessa said with a smile as she sat a bowl down on the table. Damien pulled out a chair and Kaylee sat down.

"I don't understand the 'salt' concept." he admitted as he sat down beside her.

"It's not too hard to learn." Kaylee said as she took a bite of the soup and fought to hide the grimace from her face as the salt seemed to lock her jaw. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually." she added while forcing a smile. Damien raised his brow and she knew he didn't believe that she liked the soup.

"For you, I will try." he said and Kaylee smiled as she forced yet another bit of soup down her throat.

888

"I should go." Damien said as he lay in Kaylee's bed later that night, holding her close against him. They had been laying like this for an hour, simply gazing at one another. Damien had memorized every single freckle and curve of her beautiful face and every single tiny fleck of gold in her brown eyes.

"No, don't." Kaylee said quickly as she snuggled up against him and buried her face against his chest. "Stay with me." Damien knew he could not deny her request. Lying here with her wrapped in his arms had to be the closest to heaven that any demon had ever been.

"Okay. I will stay." he said.

"Tomorrow will be a hard day. I'm not working." Damien could hear the sadness in her voice and he held her a little tighter as he kissed her hair.

"I hate to hear your pain. Why will tomorrow be hard?"

"It would have been my moms birthday if Vincent hadn't....." her voice broke and Damien rubbed her back gently.

"I will be here with you, my wolf."

"I don't know why I'm crying so much." Kaylee said as she sniffed and Damien felt her hot tears soak through his shirt. "I've never cried like this in front of anyone but you."

"You never have to hide what you are feeling from me." he replied.

"I just wish there was a way I could see them again." Kaylee said as she cried against him. "I never even got to say goodbye to them. One second they were here and we were all laughing and joking and then the next they were gone and Gwen lost her mommy and daddy."

"So did you." Damien reminded her gently.

"Yes but at least I'm a grown woman. I have thousands of memories to keep with me forever... Gwen won't even remember them. She won't remember the way mom would sing so gently at night when she tucked her in and she'll never hear dads stern voice saying 'you heard your mother', I wish she still had the chance to know them."

"It's late, Kaylee." Damien said as he glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly midnight. "Get some rest and I'll be holding you while you dream."

Kaylee fell in love with Damien even more in that moment. She had known him twenty years and loved him nearly as long but when she heard his words of love and caring and felt his strong arms wrapped around her, she had never felt more safe or more loved and that made her love him even more. She sighed as she closed her eyes and snuggled up against him.

Damien held her for a long time and he heard her breathing become deeper and more even and knew she had drifted off to sleep. He hated to know that she was in pain. He thought about her parents and he knew he could fix her pain. He could give her parents back to her. But the risk to himself was great. Not only could he die while giving so much of himself to bring them back but if his father and brother found out they would send their minions out to get him and the torture would be worse than the last time.

His father and brother would not appreciate him using his powers to bring good souls back from the dead. That would go against everything they believed in.

Damien shook his head and kissed her hair. It was not worth the risk. He loved Kaylee and would do anything for her but surely her pain over the loss of her parents would fade over time. He would simply be here to catch her tears until then.