Chapter 11

Thea awoke with a killer headache. Looking around she tried to figure out where she was as she struggled to focus her eyes through the pain. It seemed that she was in an empty stone room of some sort... with Damian who was also regaining consciousness. “Where the hell are we?” she demanded angrily.

“How would I know? You kicked my ass with that bitch inside of you,” Damian growled as he slowly, painfully sat up and changed to his human form, moaning in discomfort as he did so.

Galena appeared between them looking like an angry mother of two bratty, squabbling children. “Enough is enough. I’m tired of you both hurting and being angry with each other. No more hiding, no more avoiding. You two need to talk and to actually listen to each other. Until you do, you remain here.” Galena then vanished, leaving them alone in the room.

“I hate her right now,” Thea groaned as she sat up and rubbed her temples.

“That makes two of us.”

“What do you know, we agree,” Thea scowled at him. With a sigh, she looked at his still healing wounds. “I’m sorry for trying to kill you, although you did deserve it. Nihasia... she only wants to protect us, albeit in a warped way.”

“Nihasia is one scary Daemoness bitch! She kicked my ass without even breaking a sweat,” Damian commented as he checked the wounds on his chest. “You've never mentioned her before this, not that I've been around much, admittedly.”

“When I was little and started my training to put away my Daemoni side, Nihasia became the guardian of my ‘evil’ powers if you will. She was that inner voice that became my best friend when no one listened to me. When those I trusted caused me pain, she took the pain away. She’s always been there... it was just easier to give her a name. It was what I learned to do in one of my many training sessions.”

“I never agreed with that training. I never wanted that for you. But the past is something that we always look upon with knowledge of the present. With the past comes regret.” Damian looked at Thea sadly, fearing he'd lost her completely. “I made many mistakes. I hurt you and for that I’m sorry.”

Thea looked at him solemnly. “You broke my heart by abandoning me and then you show up all Daemoni prince asshole. I’m not a little girl any more. I’m an adult. If we aren’t together you no longer have a say in my life.”

“Believe me, I’m fully aware you’re no longer a little girl. I've known that truth for a long time. But to be near you and want more when you weren’t ready, well, I didn’t trust myself and I knew of no other way. I wanted to be with you but it wasn’t right. You were too young. Hiding from my feelings and staying away from you became normal,” Damian stated. “And then I saw you with that... that zaer aem o xiqkh (*son of a bitch*) and I may have flipped out a bit.”

“You think?!?” she exclaimed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees as if to protect her heart from him. “I just wanted to spend time with you. I always did. I’ve always loved you, but you never wanted that so I tried to forget. I wanted to stop feeling that love but I couldn’t and the pain of unrequited love…” Thea turned her face away from him to hide her tears.

Damian slowly managed to stand up and walk to where she sat against one of the walls, collapsing down to sit next to her. “Theanna, what I feel for you... I don’t even understand myself. Before you, I never knew love. I saw it in your parents but I didn't truly know it. I want you to be my mate. I’ve always wanted that.”

“I’ve loved you for so long. I was seeing Averic because I was trying to forget you like I’d thought you’d forgotten me. In the last few years I’ve maybe seen you three times. The last time you refused to even look at me without a grimace on your face. How was I supposed to understand that as anything other than rejection?”

“Whenever I saw you, even from a distance, it took every ounce of strength in me not to claim you right then and there. I’ve never had these feelings before. They’re new to me. I’m not good at handling them the right way. For that, I’m sorry.”

“I should’ve confronted you. But, to be honest, I was afraid to hear you wanted nothing to do with me. If I heard it from you then it would no longer be my crazy thoughts, it would be true,” she admitted in a soft voice.

“You’ll never hear that from me, Zoqa. That I swear to you!” Damian smirked as he added, “Even if you try to rip all my skin off. Do you want to know why I didn’t kiss you when you demanded it?”

Thea nodded as she still refused to look at him.

“Because I didn’t want our first kiss to be like that. But then you said you weren’t going to love me any more and the possessive Daemoni male in me needed to prevent that. I’m sorry our first kiss has been ruined, tarnished if you will.” Damian stopped talking as he took a deep breath. He knew it was now or never. “Theanna, what happens next is up to you, but, it’s my hope that I can fix my mistakes.”

“Dnirya, we’re a mess, aren’t we?” Thea sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder, needing to be close to him.

“We’re definitely that.” He looked at her softly. He wanted desperately to pull her into his arms and never let her go but he didn’t want to hurt her any further, so fear stopped him. After a moment he added, “I’ve always loved when you call me that.”

Wrapping her arms around his arm, she started to ask him nervously, “Do you think... maybe we should...”

“I’m listening, truly listening and I’m not going anywhere I promise,” he whispered against her temple as she stumbled and paused.

Thea took a deep breath and began again, “Do you think we should stop being so stupid and try being together as a couple?”

“It's something I hope is possible,” Damian stated as he gently made her look at him. Drowning in her eyes, he said softly, “I don’t want to hide from you anymore. I want you to see how I feel, I want to be with you. I want to show you how much I love you. I want all to know that you are mine.”

“I want that more than I can say.”

“But what about that boy?” he asked, trying not to growl at the mere thought of Averic.

“I forgot about Averic. Well, that says a lot,” Thea sighed.

“He was nice enough but I was never truly with him. I was always missing you when we were together. He’s leaving for Madrid. I guess I should call him and tell him we’re done.”

“You don’t want to be with him then?”

“No, I’ve always wanted him to be you. But if you'd rather I date him instead,” she suggested with a sly smile.

Capturing her lips in a possessive kiss, he told her exactly what he wanted. Breaking the kiss with a smirk, he asked, “May I kiss you, my beautiful Zoqa?”

“That was a little backwards,” she smiled as she reached up and caressed his face. “Yes, you may kiss me, Dnirya.”

Kissing her, again, he tenderly tasted her soft lips. She tasted better than any fantasy he’d ever had. When she sighed into his kiss and her lips parted, granting him entrance, his heart began to soar with joy. Pulling her onto his lap, he held her close, his hands caressing her. “May I make up for all the pain I caused by spending time with you and showing you how I feel, Zoqa?”

Looking at him heatedly, she could only nod at him as he once again captured her lips. After a long while he stood them up and took Thea’s hand in his, his eyes never leaving hers, he ordered, “Galena, show yourself!”

When Galena appeared they immediately left the room and returned to where Darius was. “We will return, eventually,” Damian stated simply and vanished with Theanna.

“So, they weren’t about to kill each other,” Galena smiled.

Darius chuckled. “I think that was the best we could hope for.”