Love Bites

Chapter 33: Pressure

"You knew from the moment that we met? Are you serious right now? So you've been hiding it from me for almost nine months." Zoey throws her hands up in the air in exasperation. He was unbelievable, "So what happens now?"

He runs his hands through his hair, "nothing happens, Zoey. You aren't obligated to do anything about it. There is no pressure, so don't worry about it."

She grunts and stares up at the ceiling. Looking at it right now was doing wonders for organizing her thoughts, "How can there not be any pressure, Damon? I'm your supposed 'destined' partner. What am I supposed to do with that? So what? You'll never find someone to love because of me? Even though I don't want a relationship. I'm barely facing the fact that I lost the man I love, and then I get hit with the fact that I'm supposed to love his best friend instead when I don't have feelings like that for you whatsoever."

Damon gets up from the side of the bed to walk around it and settle himself in front of Zoey, which gets her attention. He picks her hands up and puts them in his to ensure he has her full attention to what he had to say, "Zoey, I already knew where I stood with you from the beginning. The bond I feel is more physical. It doesn't alter my feelings. It wasn't like I fell head over heels in love with you when I met you. The only thing that did happen was that you have a powerful effect on my hormones..." he trails off so that he could avoid anything too graphic before he continues, "but it's not like you're breaking my heart or anything or that I won't be able to find someone else to love. It just means that my body reacts particularly strongly to you. Not my feelings. That's it."

She eyed him suspiciously. She wasn't sure if she believed everything coming out of his mouth. It all sounded too reassuring and low-pressure, which was a bit unsettling. She didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, "So when you told me you didn't have feelings for me, you were telling the truth. Your body just gets horny around me. Is that it?"

Damon laughs at how crass she had put everything he said, "A little more than horny, but that's about right."

Zoey nods and bites her tongue. She had no reason not to believe him, at least not yet, and she didn't particularly see it as a problem that she could flip his switch so quickly. It might work to her benefit with how sexually pent up she was. As long as he didn't have feelings for her, she didn't care if they had sex. Zoey would be lying if she didn't say she didn't enjoy the sex, although she could barely remember most of it since she had spent all their nights together drunk off her ass. They had stopped because she thought he was starting to like her, but that wasn't the case, "Alright. I believe you. For now. So what now? We act like everything's normal?"

"Yeah. I don't see why not, but sometime soon, I'll need you to stay away from me for a while. It'll be easier now that you know." He lets go of her hands and puts distance between them again.

"Why?" Then it hit her. It was because of his rut. Natalie had said that he was taking hormone suppressants that must have been to suppress his rut, "It's for your rut. Isn't it? That medicine we talked about before. That was for your rut. You said there were side effects, but you didn't say they were so deadly. You're an idiot. I know you don't want to hurt anyone, but there have to be other ways to go about it than poisoning yourself." She smacks him on the shoulder.

He chuckles, "The medicine isn't as dangerous if you only take it a few times, but it isn't ready yet. There is another way, but it isn't as sure of a way. Especially because my rut periods have been more intense lately, I'm not sure it'll work, so the medicine was the best method."

She had a feeling she knew why they were more intense, "And let me guess. It's because of me. Isn't it?"

He nods, "Now that my wolf knows who his mate is, he wants to mark her and make it official. When I'm in rut, I lose my sense of reasoning, and he's mainly running the show. It's all instinct, and his instinct is calling him to you, and nothing will stand in his way."