Chapter 4 #2
He flexes his hand again and then jerks his chin towards the door. “I don’t want you here. Go back inside.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you admit that you felt something.”
Opening his mouth, he looks like he’s about to snap at me again. But then he just forces out a long, calming breath and instead glances towards the tangle of trees across the grass.
“Fine,” he grinds out. “Come with me. I don’t want to talk about this here where people can hear.”
Hope surges inside me. It’s so intense that I have to scramble to catch up with him as he starts stalking towards the mass of trees and vines on the other side.
The last golden rays of the fading sun barely manage to pierce the woods, painting most of it in shadows. I follow Draven a short distance in. Far enough away that no one will be able to see or hear us. Then he stops right next to a large tree that is covered in vines.
“Alright, fine,” he grinds out again. “I might have felt something when you leaned against the rock wall like that. But it was gone so quickly that I’m not even sure what I felt.”
My heart starts thumping in my chest. “Okay. That’s good. Can you remember anything about what it felt like? Anything at all?”
“No. I don’t know.” He glances at the tree next to us and then clears his throat. “Maybe you could… recreate it?”
That treacherous heart in my chest is pounding so hard that I’m sure Draven can hear it.
Licking my lips, I try to stop the surge of hope inside me from burning out of control as I move over to the tree trunk.
Draven watches me intently as I lean my back against it and then raise my hands above my head.
My heart skips a beat as that fire flickers in Draven’s eyes for a second.
It’s working.
I drag in an unsteady breath as he moves closer until he’s standing right in front of me.
His gaze sears through my skin as he rakes it over my body.
A small gasp escapes my lips when he suddenly reaches up and starts undoing my black fighting leathers.
Each brush of his fingers is like a bolt of lightning through my veins.
When he has gotten the jacket open, I slowly lower my arms so that he can slide it off my shoulders. His strong hands move confidently across my collarbones.
Then the black leather slips off my shoulders and lands with a thud on the ground behind my feet, leaving me in only a thin white undershirt.
Draven rakes his gaze over my body again. “Arms above your head.”
I obey and raise my arms again before crossing my wrists above my head in the same way that I did back at that rock wall.
“This does bring back memories,” Draven says slowly.
A warm shudder rolls through my body as he draws his hands up along my arms. Tilting my head back, I watch as he grabs a few of the vines that hang down from the tree.
“Draven?” I ask, uncertain.
“It was usually handcuffs, I remember,” he says while moving the vines towards my crossed wrists. There is a devilish glint in his eyes. “But I suppose these will have to do.”
Fire washes through me as he ties my hands firmly above my head and then slides his palms down my arms again. I arch my back as he reaches my chest and traces soft fingers over my collarbones.
Bracing his knee against the tree between my legs, he leans closer while he pushes the collar of my white shirt aside, exposing more of my chest. His mouth is so close to mine that I can feel his hot breath on my skin.
“Is this what you want?” he murmurs against my lips. “For me to tie you up and fuck you like you’re mine?”
My heart is almost beating out of my chest. He remembers. Oh Goddess above, he actually remembers. He is fighting against the hatred in his chest. Even if it’s only lust, and not love yet, he is still starting to fight his way back to me.
“Yes,” I reply, my voice a fragile whisper.
He slides his hand down the side of my ribs, making pleasure skitter across my skin.
And then he laughs.
It’s a harsh and cruel sound that slaps me out of my dazed state like a bucket of ice water to the face.
Drawing back, he locks mocking eyes on me. “Did you really think that I brought you in here because I suddenly realized that I felt something for you? That I brought you in here because I actually wanted you?”
Pain stabs through my chest, so violently that I forget to breathe.
He wraps a strong hand around my throat, locking it right underneath my jaw so that he can keep me from moving my head as he leans closer. Hatred burns in his beautiful golden eyes as he levels a vicious stare on me.
“I would fuck that insufferable bastard Orion Nightbane before I ever fucked you,” he growls in my face.
Grinding my teeth, I glare right back at him. “Liar. If I used my magic on you right now, I would find a massive flame of lust in your chest, and you know it.”
“In your dreams.”
“Oh really? What a shame. Well, since you’re not actually into guys, and Orion isn’t into guys either, then maybe I should just go and fuck Orion instead.”
His hand tightens around my jaw.
Victory sparkles inside my chest. That got a reaction out of him.
But all he says is, “Go ahead. I don’t give a shit about who you fuck.”
“Right.”
He flexes his hand around my jaw again while clenching his teeth. Then he abruptly releases my chin, snapping my head to the side in the process.
“Stay the fuck out of my head,” he growls as he spins on his heel and starts stalking away.
I yank against the vines keeping me trapped, but they’re surprisingly strong. When they don’t budge, a flicker of panic pulses through me.
“Draven,” I call while still pulling futilely against the strong vines.
Coming to a halt, he turns around and arches a mocking eyebrow at me. “Yes, little rebel?”
The cruel taunting in his voice when he uses that familiar nickname sends another stab of pain through my heart. It throws me off enough that I only manage a pathetic, “Aren’t you going to untie me first?”
“You’re the one who wanted me to tie you up. Are you saying that you’ve changed your mind?”
Frustration rips through me, and I snap, “Goddess damn it, Draven! You—”
“Raise your voice at me again, and I swear to god, I will gag you.”
I draw in a long, calming breath through my nose while my treacherous core throbs at the pure command in his words. Utter power seems to roll off his muscular body like smoke as he stares me down, daring me to do it. Fire flickers through my veins.
Holding his commanding stare with eyes full of challenge, I keep my voice level as I retort, “Once I’ve figured out how to remove that flame of hatred from your chest, I’m going to make you spend an entire night repaying me with your tongue for this conversation alone.”
That searing fire of desire flares in his eyes again.
The sight of it snatches the breath from my lungs.
But then he rips off part of a vine and advances on me with vengeance on his face.
My heart jerks, and I try to back away before I remember that there is a thick tree blocking my way. I yank against the vines keeping my hands trapped above my head, but they still refuse to budge. Draven closes the final distance between us.
“No, wait,” I blurt out, pressing myself against the tree. But there is no escape from the Shadow of Death. “Draven, wait, I—”
He shoves the vine between my teeth and ties it firmly behind my head. I growl curses at him, but it only comes out as muffled noise, so I try to stomp my heel down on his foot instead. He answers by wrapping his hand around my throat again.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he declares, authority dripping from his dark voice.
“You’re going to stay here while I go back in there and eat my dinner in peace.
Then, I’m going to come back here and do one of two things.
Either I’m going to untie you, or I’m going to blindfold you as well and leave you here for the rest of the night.
Which option I choose depends on how you behave when I return. Understood?”
I glare back at him and silently promise to make him pay for this when he’s back to normal again.
“I suggest nodding.” He gives me a look pulsing with command. “Or we’re already going to be off to a bad start.”
While narrowing my eyes at the domineering bastard, I force myself to nod.
Releasing my throat, he gives my cheek a couple of mocking pats. “Good girl.”
Annoyance and desire flash through me. But before I can do anything else, Draven turns around and strides out of the tangle of trees and back down to the dining room.
It takes him twenty minutes to return.
Part of me had begun to worry that he wasn’t going to come back. But the smug smirk on his face when he strides back into the woods informs me that he was rather looking forward to this part.
I, however, spent the first few minutes of his absence planning how to play this. I want to bait him. Desperately. Both because I hate losing to his power plays and because I’m hoping that it might trigger another flare of emotions that will tug on our mate bond.
But unfortunately, I know that he is being dead serious with his threats. If I don’t do what he wants, he will blindfold me and leave me tied up here. That massive flame of unnatural hatred in his chest makes sure of it.
If he doesn’t untie me, it means that I will have to wait for one of our other companions to find me. And I would rather eat a live snake than suffer the mortification of being found like this by any of them. Which unfortunately leaves me with only one choice.
Wicked anticipation glitters in Draven’s eyes as he comes to a halt before me.
I glare back at him while I still can. Amusement tugs at his lips as he reaches up and starts undoing the knot on the vine that gags me.
But when it’s free, he doesn’t immediately remove it.
Instead, he locks commanding eyes on me.
“When I remove this, your first words had better be, I apologize for my temper.”
I hold his stare in angry silence since there is nothing else I can do.
At last, he lowers his hands and removes the vine from between my teeth. I draw in a deep breath.
Then I force out, “I apologize for my temper.”
“Good.” His eyes glint in the now almost entirely dark forest. “Now, beg me to untie you.”
I can’t stop myself from glaring at him, but I manage to press out, “Please untie me.”
He arches a dark eyebrow. “You hold your chin quite highly for someone who is begging.”
Curling my fingers into fists, I try desperately to hold on to my temper. After taking a deep breath that does very little to calm me down, I slowly lower my chin and drop my gaze to his boots. “Please untie me.”
“Are you going to obey my orders and never bring up that damn rock wall again?”
If he weren’t so much taller than me, I would’ve headbutted him.
“Answer me,” he commands. “Are you going to obey?”
“Yes,” I grind out, still glaring down at his boots.
“Yes, what?”
My heart skips a beat and heat floods my core. “Yes, sir.”
“That’s right.”
His fingers appear underneath my chin, pushing it upwards. I raise my head right in time for him to shove the vine back between my teeth and tie it behind my head again. Thrashing against the tree trunk, I stare up at him in disbelief.
He lets out a dark chuckle. “I just wanted to hear you beg.”
A tearing sound fills the space around us as he rips off another piece of vine. I snap my gaze towards it while a sudden burst of panic pushes out the irritation for a moment. Don’t tell me he’s going to…? He can’t—
“So fucking gullible. Did you really think I would show you mercy?” Shaking his head, he lets out another smug laugh.
“I deliberately terrorized the human population in Frostfell for years just to make them do what I wanted. And I didn’t even have anything against those people.
But you… You I hate. So why would I ever show you any mercy?
” His eyes glint as he moves the vine towards my face. “Have fun in the dark.”
Then he blindfolds me.
And walks away.
I am going to fucking kill him for this.