He pushed his nose up to hers and rubbed it back and forth. Forgiven. She smiled and hugged him."Come on, I'll finish making breakfast the old fashioned way."She took the still frozen bacon out of the microwave and peeled it out of the plastic. She put it onto a baking sheet and put it into the oven, setting it on low. She went over to the table and sat down."Want to listen to the stereo while we wait for the bacon to thaw out?"He gave her a quizzical look. She laughed."Oh, yeah. You wouldn't know about stereos."She reached over to the counter and flipped on the small clock radio.'I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might--Kryptonite' started blaring from the speakers. She smiled at the irony of the song and who her lover was. Yep, Three Doors Down nailed it with that one. She hummed and sang along with the song. She looked over at Damien for his reaction to the radio. He wasn't even looking at it; he was watching her. His ears were standing straight up and his head was

She went into the kitchen and started making breakfast. She pulled the thawed bacon out of the oven and peeled off several slices and put them in the larger skillet. The sizzling slices gave off the wonderful aroma of hickory-smoked bacon that always made her think of the mornings with her father. She missed him and she wondered for a moment what he would have thought about Damien. Perhaps it was best that her parents weren't alive to see her this morning. She poked and flipped the slices while she thought about what had happened over the past few days.Damien wanted to give her some space; to let her think things out without him sitting there, watching her, making her paranoid that he might be listening in on her thoughts. He purposefully shut out her presence, completely blocking out any feelings and thoughts that she might inadvertently send his way. He walked over to the spot that she had danced in and found the sweet spot for the sound pouring out of the system. He sat down and l

"I need to know, Damien. That first time; when you showed me your pain. I know it was an accident, but I have to know. Did you make me fall in love with you?"You cut me to the bone, my lady. But I can't blame you for thinking this. No, I didn't make you fall in love with me. I allowed you into my mind that time. You saw the real me inside that quick glimpse. Yes, there is a lot of pain and suffering I carry with me, but since I have fallen in love with you, it has gone away. We saw into each other's souls in that brief moment, and I believe that is why we fell in love."I see your point. You're right, I saw your soul and I knew we were meant to be together from that moment on. Okay, I'm not mad at you anymore. I love you too much to stay mad at you. Friends forever?"I am your servant, my lady. I love you with all my heart and soul. I only ask one small favor. I am going to give you a phrase to say, and you must repeat it exactly as I give it to you. Will you do that?She furrowed her

"Good morning, Deputy Lock. Yes, I decided to do this. I have to do something, and I guess this is the best way to get him to stop.""I know it's not perfect, but it's the best I can do for you right now."He seemed to want to say something more. He looked around to see if there was anyone within hearing distance, and he started to look uncomfortable."Miss Elena, uhhh, I want to ask you something, but I'm not sure where to begin."Elena was used to men getting nervous around her, she knew she was good looking, but she never let it go to her head. Watching guys get tongue tied around her was nothing new. Grinning, thinking she knew what he was going to ask next, she nodded."What is it, Deputy Lockhardt?""Well, uhhmmm, oh, damn. I feel so embarrassed about this, but, well..."He was turning red, blushing, and he couldn't quite meet her gaze. He was shifting his weight back and forth on his feet, and his hands were twitching nervously. She watched this display, having seen it before,

"My friend literally scared the piss out tom . Not figuratively, literally—he wet his pants and ran. My friend didn't attack him, didn't do anything but stare at him, but that was enough. Tom ran away scared shitless. I imagine that his male ego didn't take to well to that display and that's why he acted out."She met Mark's gaze head on, not looking away; trying to believe her own words--which weren't a total fabrication—and found it relatively easy for her to do. Mark chuckled, shaking his head."Okay. Yeah, I can see that happening. Your friend is huge and if I had to stare right into that, I guess I'd be more than a little intimidated myself. Knowing that he took on a grizzly and tore it apart, yeah, I'd be scared shitless too. Okay. So, tom freaks out and goes running off. What did you do then?""I knew that when he freaked out and ran off that I was in deep trouble. So, I packed up all my stuff and left."She left off several details, but that wasn't really lying, so it didn't b