"Come here, kitten", Damon's low voice echoed in the cave. He shifted into his human form and was sitting on the cot.
Damon's magnificent naked self was exposed for Talia to see completely, but the cave was filled with bitterness, and she couldn't make herself enjoy the visual.
Talia didn't move, even after Damon raised his left hand toward her, silently urging her to get closer.
"Why are we here?" Talia asked suspiciously.
"We are here to fix the wrongs", Damon said without lowering his hand that was hovering in the air and waiting for Talia's. "I promised you good memories, so many of them that they will bury all the bad ones. But it's hard to forget when negativity grips my heart and repeatedly reminds me that I hurt you. I am your mate, and it's my duty to cherish you, yet I ended up messing up over and over again. That's why I decided to give this a try. I want to fix bad memories."
"How?"
"Let's redo our moments in this place, kitten." He patted the cot with his right hand. "I will lay here, you will tend to me, and when I open my eyes, I will know how important you are, and things will be OK."
Talia's eyes blurred from tears. His sincerity really touched her, but what hit her harder was the grief and regret that poured into her through their mate bond.
Talia realized that Damon was struggling with the things from the past, maybe more than she did. He wished that he didn't forget about her (twice), and he wished that he didn't have so many women in his past, and he was blaming himself for those and much more because his past actions were casting a shade on their present and future.
Talia was the first one Damon cared for, she was his other half, and he hurt her. Repeatedly.
Damon was not proud of many things he did, and he kept messing up after they met. Some of those were not his fault, but they happened on his watch, and he was drowning in guilt.
Talia had an urge to assure him it was fine. Things were not perfect, but as long as they worked on their relationship and put each other first, things would work themselves out. They had to.
She walked to him and put her hand into his that was still waiting for her. Of course, he was still waiting for her. Since he found her in the attic of the Red Moon pack, Damon was waiting for Talia to get stronger, braver, to accept him and grow confident, to recognize him as her mate… the willful and impatient Alpha was always waiting for her and that showed how much he loved her.
"What should I do?" Talia asked.
Damon gave her fingers a squeeze, and then he laid on the cot; his head rested on the neatly folded blanket that was there, and he didn't let go of her hand.
"Do what you did while I was unconscious.", he instructed.
"Alright", she agreed to this experiment, but she already knew it will work because instead of thinking about how Damon pushed her away and left, she was completely focused on his attempts to make things right. Good memories were not replacing the bad ones; the good ones were squeezing in, making the bad memories appear smaller and less relevant.
Talia tore a piece of the blanket and disappeared among large rocks, knowing that there was a tunnel that led toward a stream of fresh water. She went there numerous times to soak the fabric so that she could wipe Damon's body.
At that time, Talia was desperate and lonely, and she had a belly full of anger for Cassandra and the two Alphas who harmed her mate, and now things were different. She was hopeful and excited to see how this would turn out.
Damon didn't move a muscle, and he watched her as she returned with a damp cloth.
"You should close your eyes.", Talia instructed, and he did so obediently.
Damon flinched when cold droplets fell on his firm abs.
"How long will you pretend to be unconscious?" She asked.
"Until you are done taking care of your mate, Alpha Talia.", he responded with all the seriousness in the world.
Talia paused. Was he joking? If this was for making good memories, there was no need for him to relax like that, yet it looked like he was about to take a nap. A long one!
Talia's attention was drawn to his erection that was standing there, making it impossible to ignore.
She got an idea.
"Let your mate take care of you. I will take a gooood care of you."
Damon's lips lifted into a wicked smile he was unable to suppress. "Maybe I should take care of you."
"Nonsense", Talia said. "You are unconscious, under the effect of dark magic. You can't move. Remember?"
"Alright", he said obediently.
"No moving. You promised. If you move before I allow it, this game is over, and we are heading back", Talia said, and he wondered why she insisted on it, but he agreed.
Damon jolted violently when the cold sensation enveloped his cock as she put the damp fabric over it.
Damon growled. Didn't she know that cold water will make it shrink? He could feel himself go soft already!
"Kitten…"
"No talking either", Talia snapped. "You are unconscious, suffering. Let me take care of you."
Damon's eyebrows twitched when he heard her steps disappearing in the direction where the stream was. He was suffering, alright. He didn't think that they would get frisky, not right away at least, but what she was doing was pure torture.
"AH!" Damon exclaimed when another splash of cold water hit his groin area. He peeked to see that she had a bowl in her hands. Where did that come from?
Talia suppressed giggles at the sight of Damon, who was obviously regretting his idea of coming here.
She stared at his cock, which shrunk under cold water like it was hiding from her. She saw Damon naked plenty of times, and he was mostly hard and ready, or half-hard, and this shrunken form was something new.
"How small can it go?" Talia asked, and Damon opened his eyes to see her down on her knees, visually inspecting his little brother that was pathetically small.
Damon cleared his throat awkwardly. Out of all the situations he ever found himself in, this was the most embarrassing, ever!
"Cold makes it shrink", Damon said eventually.
"Will it go smaller if I cool it further?" She was genuinely curious.
Damon didn't know how to answer this, so he didn't. "Can we change the topic?"
"Do you really want to talk about something else?" She asked teasingly. "I am curious… we were under the waterfall, and the water was cold there, yet you were not like this."
"At that time, you kept me warm, kitten."
Talia's eyes flashed with understanding, and she put her palm on his thigh. "Will this make it hard?"
"It will help if you give it a squeeze. And you can rub a little", Damon said in a signing voice. The silent promise of carnal pleasures dispelled any shame he felt.
