Damien left the house at the first hint of dawn. Sleep had evaded him again the night before. He had spent hours shifting restlessly across the mattress, his body refusing to settle, his mind refusing to quiet. He knew exactly why. The truth was crude and frustrating he was painfully, relentlessly sexually frustrated. Never in his entire life had he felt this way, and it gnawed at him with a ferocity he could barely contain.
The beast inside him offered no help. If anything, it only fanned the flames, urging his temper and darker urges closer to the surface. With her around, every instinct he possessed felt sharpened, raw and dangerous. She had become a living, breathing trigger to his animal nature. Each day he fought to dull those instincts, forcing them down with sheer will.
He had tried convincing himself it was nothing more than a passing attraction something temporary that would fade with time.
But damn him, because it wasn't fading.
It was growing.
