Page 12 of Animal Instincts

I want him to attack me, to just devour every part of me.

Danika had no idea where the thought or desire had come from, but it took control, was at the front seat, and she couldn’t stop it even if she wanted to. Her cell vibrated in her pocket, and she grabbed it and looked at the screen.

Dad: Honey, I know you can take care of yourself, and I know I can be pretty damn smothering, but I just want to make sure you’re okay.

She felt like a bitch right now for just leaving. She may only be ten minutes from where her father lived, but still, she didn’t have to freak out like that.

“I left shortly after you took off, knowing your dad wanted to be alone.” He took a step closer to her.

Before she could respond to Damien or text her father back, she got another text from her dad.

Dad: Just tell me you got home okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, and maybe we can discuss everything that happened.

Danika: I’m home and okay, and I’m sorry for running out like that. Let’s get together tomorrow and talk, okay?

She sent the text, knowing that although she was okay, she still wanted to be honest with her dad about what happened tonight at the party.

Before she even had her phone in her pocket again she felt the lightest touches from Damien. She lifted her head, startled that his

thumb was on her cheek, right beside her split lip. She could see the play of emotion on his expression, that anger that covered his hard, angular handsome face, and changed him from a gentle human to a savage shifter.

“You’ll tell me who did this to you, Danika,” he said in this low, rage seething voice that had a chill racing up her spine. The dominance and demand were clear in his voice, and she knew that she would tell him whatever he wanted.

It was this weird pull and tug she felt inside of her, a part of herself that wanted to submit to this man though she didn’t even know him.

She didn’t want to talk about it, but for some inexplicable reason she found herself telling him exactly what happened. With each passing second as she retold her story, spoke about the assault at the party, in the bathroom, and of Hayden saving her, she watched the rage morph Damien’s face.

He let go of her and took a step back. The anger coming from him was intense, so powerful she felt the hairs on her arms stand on end, and felt her heart pump her blood harder and faster through her veins.

“What’s his name, Danika?” Damien asked, and she was confused as to why she had this connection with him, and why she felt the need to tell him whatever he wanted. They didn’t know each other, and despite Damien being her father’s lifelong friend, this whole situation seemed awkward and misplaced.

But still she felt the need to answer him.

“I don’t know his name, but why do you care?”

He stopped pacing, looked at her, and before she knew what was happening he was pressed right up against her, his chest to hers, his hand on the back of her head, holding it there securely. “I wanted to tell you so damn badly about it all, Danika.”

She swallowed, not knowing what was going on, but also not wanting to move away from the hard, muscular, and hot confineof his body. She felt trapped, but in the best possible way. That should scare the shit out of her, but it didn’t.

“Tell me about what?” Danika tried to sound stronger, she really did, but her voice came out soft and weak, and so vulnerable. It was exactly how she felt right now.

He looked down at her split lip, and this low animalistic sound left him. “If I’d been there I would have killed him for even looking at you, Danika.” Damien slowly shifted his gaze to hers once more, and

his pupils dilated and contracted as his animal pushed forward. She could see the wild beast in his expression, in the way Damien was clearly trying to keep it at bay.

“I don’t know what’s happening right now, why I’m feeling this way toward you, and why I can’t seem to make sense of it all.” She hadn’t meant to say any of this, but her emotions felt raw right now.

And she needed to feel someone close to her, holding her, and telling her that things weren’t as shitty as they always ended up being.

“I know, Danika.” He lifted his hand and brushed the side of her mouth. She felt the sting of his touch, but also the heat that moved slowly through her, starting in her belly and claiming every part of her. “You’re mine though, only mine, and I knew from the moment I saw you four years ago.” Damien spoke softly, and although she should have been afraid of the seriousness of his words, all she felt was the connection she already had simmering inside of her grow to a blistering level. “I imprinted on you four years ago, but it started as my lion waiting to protect you, and nothing more. And then you came into your maturity, and I was intent on having you, claiming you, Danika.” His face was so close, his mouth right next to hers. Damien’s breath was warm, soft on her face, and she wanted to kiss him.

This was ludicrous, but it felt so right. It was crazy right in the intensity of it all.

“This is so crazy, Damien.” She hadn’t meant to say that either, but hell, it seemed when she was around this man she couldn’t control herself.

“I know it is for you, but for me, since the moment I saw you, there hasn’t been a time I wasn’t thinking about this moment.” He lowered his gaze back down to her lips. “You’re my mate, and my lion wants you, Danika. I want to claim you, but I know as a human this is all every strange and new to you.”

And when she shifted on her feet, moving slightly back, maybe trying to grapple for leverage, her belly brushed against his body. She almost gasped out at the feel of the very big, and very hard, erection he sported.

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