WARHAVEN

Twenty-Five

My hands shook with righteous anger. Over my dead body would this happen. I would do everything in my power to stop it.

We stood there. Me shaking, him completely composed.

He eventually spoke, "I would never force myself upon you. But you will submit to me eventually. Nature says so. You will be mine and you will bear me as many sons as I can fit inside of you." His voice was a deadly whisper, a promise. "I have waited a millennium for you, Davina. I would never hurt you. But this will happen. Whether it takes twenty years, or another millennium. You will bear my seed. My scent will be permanent upon your skin." He got even closer, almost nose to nose and said, "Your sex, will be mine." Seeing him so composed did nothing for my anger. He was so completely unbothered that it made the bile ride in my throat. How could I make him see how incredibly unfair this was?

He answered the thought aloud, "The world is unfair, my dearest. With me, you will never see harm. Me and my people will sooner die brutal deaths than see you harmed. We will all protect you with our souls." A deep intensity filled his features as he continued.

"You are safe with me Davina. You will never go hungry, never be cold. You will have whatever your heart desires. All I ask is that you don't close your mind off to the idea. Like I said, even if it takes a millennium." He reached up and ever so gently pushed my hair behind my left ear. His fingertip barely grazed my ear. The toughness was like erotic fire on my skin. It made me even more angry that he was right.

It all made sense. I had never felt this way about men in my entire life. They all make me uncomfortable. He is the first man that I've ever been attracted to, or had a desire to be sexual with.

Although I acknowledged this truth, I also acknowledged the fact that it was simply the sire bond. It was just another way for someone else to have control over me. And I would deny it until my last breath.

"I would sooner end my life before I submit to you!" I yelled. I hit his chest. Over and over. He didn't even budge. He didn't flinch. His body didn't even react. I grit my teeth and spit out, "I would rather go back to Simon! I will run. I will run for a millennium if it means escaping a fate chosen by another. My whole life has been about other people's needs and desires. If you think for one moment I will allow you inside of my body, you have completely lost your fucking mind!" I screamed and hit him once more with my fists. He was quick as a strike of lightning when he grabbed my jaw. He was so gentle and strong that not an ounce of pain radiated across my skin.

He stared so intensely into my eyes that my anger seemed to fade slightly. His face was so close to mine, I almost couldn't breathe.

"If that is how you feel right now, that is fine. But you fail to remember that we share a link, my dear. Our minds, our souls are connected with an unbreakable bond for eternity." He lowered his voice, and moved his lips to my ear.

Fire shot through me as his lips grazed the skin there with his words, "You forget Davina, that I feel what you feel. I hear your thoughts. I see what you see...I felt the rush of moisture to your sex as you sat by the lake and rubbed your nipples. I felt your body calling me closer, inviting me in. From miles away." His words made me so hot. It was uncontrollable. I melted in his grasp.

He continued, "Just as I know right now...that you desire for me to stretch you. To fill you. For hours. And I know it's getting even more intense, as that desire for the same, builds within me..." My sex was pulsating and my skin begged for more of his touch. I needed to get out. I wasn't strong enough for this.

I backed a large step away from him as he released me. I could see the lust in his red eyes. I could feel this primal urge to open up for him building with me. The desire he felt only intensified mine. I needed to get out of here. Put a stop to this. Now.

"I will always run from you. No matter where. No matter how far. I will always run. I will never bear your children. I will never allow you to touch me. I will never be yours. I am only mine." My voice was embarrassingly weak, but I needed to put the nail in the coffin and hit him where it hurt, "I would sooner bear Marcellus' children. Where is he now?" I looked at him with seething rage. And he matched mine. The last part of my comments made him shake.

I was trying my best to convey that I meant the words that I said. Although my body had other ideas. Ideas that were encroaching upon my mind. The rage I felt started to mask the desire for him.

"I will always find you. No matter where, no matter how far. I will. Always. Find. You." He snarled at me, so close I could feel his breath hitting my lashes. His eyes were black with rage, the darkest I'd ever seen them.

He was impossibly close, dangerously so. The fear — the desire, crept through me, from my toes, to the tips of my now blush hot ears. My whole being down to my soul was on alert at his sudden proximity. I tried to back up but felt a large tree against my back. I was truly trapped.

I was angry, and humiliated. He didn't own me. I was not his property. No matter how much I was starting to realize that I wanted him, and he knew it. He could smell it. My core ached for him. My skin warmed and almost reached for him. It made me sick.

"I am not yours." I could barely think straight, forming words took far too long. I needed to show him that I was not some weak plaything, here for his sick entertainment.

And I would fight to the death to prove it.

"And I will die before I ever, and I mean ever," I promised, voice unwavering, as I stepped to him. Getting closer than I ever imagined, "submit to you."

The rage rolled off his body, and intensified tenfold. He started to shake, despite his terrifying stillness. His nostrils flared in anger and gripped my arms below my shoulders, hard.

He pulled me closer to him, and put his lips so close to my ear, I was sure he could feel the warmth building there. He laughed. It was a dry, short, humorless laugh. I felt nothing but terror as he said, "I hope for your sake that you would never be so foolish." And we were gone.