That night, Daemond lay alone in his bed, the room cloaked in darkness, only the faint hum of the city outside breaking the silence. His mind raced, replaying the events of the evening over and over. Mahnoor's words echoed in his ears, her touch still lingering on his skin. His body was tired, but his mind was wide awake, restless with thoughts he couldn't shake.
He stared up at the ceiling, the weight of the last few hours pressing down on him like a heavy fog. He had given in completely—more than he ever had before. Mahnoor had done something no one else had ever managed, not even his late boyfriend. She had unlocked a part of him he had never truly understood, a part he had kept hidden even from himself.
The beast, as he now thought of it, had been buried deep inside, chained by his restraint, by his need to maintain control. With his boyfriend, it had always been gentle, measured, affectionate. But Mahnoor... Mahnoor had stirred something primal in him, something wild and unrestrained.
A part of him that scared him.
He turned onto his side, trying to shake the feeling, but it clung to him like a shadow. He hadn't realized how much he had been holding back until tonight. That raw, untamed version of himself that Mahnoor had teased out, coaxed out—he had never shown that to anyone before. Not even to the one person he had loved so deeply.
Not even to the man who had once meant the world to him.
As that thought crept in, Daemond felt a pang of guilt settle in his chest. His boyfriend had known him as the careful, considerate partner, never as the man Mahnoor had pushed him to become. Was this part of him always there, lurking beneath the surface, waiting for the right person to unleash it?
He hadn't been able to control himself tonight. For the first time, he had let go, fully, completely. It wasn't just about desire anymore; it was something darker, something that had always simmered beneath the surface but had never been allowed to break free.
Until now.
The way Mahnoor had spoken to him, demanding his rawness, his unfiltered self—it had tapped into something deep inside. And once it had come out, there was no going back. She had known exactly how to push him, how to make him lose control, and he had given her everything.
His hands gripped the sheets as he tried to steady his breathing. The thought of his boyfriend flashed in his mind again, but this time it wasn't with the same fondness. Now it was tinged with confusion, with regret. He had loved his boyfriend, hadn't he? But if that was true, why had he never felt this way before?
Why had Mahnoor, of all people, managed to awaken this side of him?
He could still hear her voice in his mind, commanding him, pushing him to break free of his restraint. She had wanted him wild, wanted him to claim her fully—and he had done just that. He had let the beast out, and now it was impossible to put it back in its cage.
Was this who he really was? Or was it only Mahnoor who could draw this out of him?
The questions swirled in his mind, refusing to settle. He didn't have the answers. All he knew was that Mahnoor had seen something in him that no one else had ever seen, and that both frightened and thrilled him.
As he lay there, staring into the darkness, Daemond realized that he wasn't just wrestling with his feelings for Mahnoor. He was wrestling with himself—with the version of himself she had uncovered, the version he hadn't even known existed.
And he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to go back to who he was before.
The beast was free now, and he had no idea what that meant for him—or for the relationship that was growing between them.
All he knew was that Mahnoor had changed him, and there was no turning back.