Bite, My Love (22 page)

To stay
with him forever I’d have to feed deeply. Daniel has enough venom
in his blood to keep me alive, but there’s no guarantee I won’t go
mad.

I nod
jerkily, both at Ben’s words and Daniel’s question.

Freedom
is mine, but I don’t want to regret not hearing him out.

Grudgingly I admit I had unlikely hopes about our
relationship. I hadn’t considered the prejudice we’d have to face
as a couple. I hadn’t thought of the consequences of openly tying
myself to the Vampires, and of not going to see my Alpha to declare
my feelings.

I’d been
disrespectful to my old Pack, and if I was honest with myself, I’d
acted like the naïve girl Daddy always says I am. I can face my
faults. I was bold enough to make the mistakes, so I’ll be woman
enough to face the fall out.

What
pisses me off is that my mate should have been there to set me
straight. He treats me like a child instead of his equal. He’s
older and wiser. Surely he can help me without
condescending?

My poor
heart is a little battered, bludgeoned by what he has done. I feel
like an abused puppy waiting for the next kick – the one that
renders me unconscious.

Daniel
tries to take my hand and I shy away.

His
shoulders hunch to his ears, and his face flinches as if I’ve
struck him. Single-minded, he wraps his arms around my hips and
presses his face into my stomach.

I curl my hands into his hair. I want to remain distant, but
his open affection is making that impossible. This was what I had
wanted from him all along. Touches that say without words how much
he needs me.
‘Is that your master plan?
Confuse my senses with your touch and scent until you can snare me
in your web of restrained feeling again.’

Clever
bloodsucker.

“
Mitt hjärta blöder.” His cheek rubs
my stomach. “My heart bleeds.”

“
I’m sure you’ll survive.” Sarcasm drips from me in fat drops
of acid. “Certain, in fact.”

He tilts
his head back with a sigh, eyes shadowed with regret.

My hesitation to jump back into this relationship is hurting
him. Surely he understands I’m reluctant to return to paddling my
feet in the treacherous depths. I’m holding on to what semblance of
dignity I have left.

‘
What if I betrayed you? What if I had dragged you before
Daddy that first day without a second thought? If you’d survived
you’d never speak my name again let alone pause long enough to let
me explain myself.’

“
Please be mine again.” He looks close to
outright begging. “I wanted you safe and my life to return to
something I could control. You make me
feel.
Perhaps too much for a soul as
broken as mine. Walking away and hearing that
mongrel
,” he growls the word like a
profanity
,
‘tell
you I didn’t care–” His lids lower as his fury rises. He breathes
through it. “Understand that if you come to me now I will never let
you go. I am not a good man. There are things I have done
considered evil, and I will do things considered wicked. You have
to accept this and love me in spite of it. I make no apology for
what I am, but I do regret with all that I am, and ever will be for
causing you harm. It was not my intent.”

When he stares at me like that it seems as if I’m his whole
world. The truth is I don’t mean that much to him.

His head cants to the side. A glorious smile brightens his
angel’s face.
“You’re wrong,
sweetling.”

Giving in
now seems wrong.

What do I
do?

Ocean waves crash upon the rocks. Seagulls crow loudly as
they fly overhead, and
a gust of wind
whips through the grass, sprinkling my skin with the finest grains
of sand from the beach. I lick my lips and taste the sea’s salt.
The lighter stone of Castle is outlined against the black sky.
Yellow lights twinkle behind the glass windows. Ben and Lee light
fires to warm their home.

‘
Your home.’
Daniel is hesitant, worried about encroaching on my thoughts
when we’re arguing.
“
Our home if you want it to be
.”

Lord, this is hard. I don’t think…. I can’t do it. My heart
pounds, and bile rises in my throat. I don’t think I can forgive
him.

‘
I feel your pain. Let me soothe you.’

He
betrayed me. I gave him everything and he trampled over me. He
can’t think to ever love me and treat me so coldly.

“
My feelings for you were never in question. If I were a Lycan
male you’d shrug my behaviour off as vying for
dominance.”

“
At least you no longer describe my wolf sprit as a
squatter.”

He
winces. “Let’s move past this.”

My wolf, an ancient being created alongside the elder
creatures of this world is so enraged she’s concentrating her power
to break free of the invisible bonds that trap her inside my skin.
She rises, taking control of my voice. “You held us in your arms
and swore that you cared.” Her voice is profound, echoing with
power. “You washed our hair, bathed our skin, and kissed our Human
lips accepting love ordained for the mate of our soul while hiding
the intention of throwing it back in our face.” I stifle a sob as
my wolf’s grief flows from my lips. “You made us feel safe.
Cherished. Your betrayal breaks our heart. It would not cut so
deeply if you were not our true mate, but because you
are
the betrayal is too
immense to disregard. You, Danielius are a demon with an angel
face. Tricking us with your poisoned pledges of devotion. Take your
hands off us. We are no longer yours.”

He’s so
shocked his hold loosens. I can taste his panic as his arms clamp
back down.

Scrunching my eyes shut, I push at his shoulders. “Let me
go.”

“
No.”

My wolf
recedes to where she can grieve in peace. I don’t blame her. This
confrontation is hell.

“
I can’t.” Leaning away from him, I fight his grip on my hips.
“I need time away from you. I have to learn how to guard my heart
so you can’t destroy me each time you think you’re doing what’s
best.”

His
expression hardens. “I won’t let you leave me.”

My patience snaps. “You don’t have a choice. You can’t
control
this.”

He stands
to loom over me in all his dark majesty.

Strangely, I’m not afraid of his strength, but of what will
happen if I don’t get away. I’ll fall deeper under his spell and
never get free.

“
I will make you hear me.” He leans down until our mouths are
a hairsbreadth apart. As he speaks his lips brush mine. “We’ll
compromise. I will keep you with me until the day I
die.”

I realise
it is a bum deal as he upends me over his shoulder like the Viking
plunder he confessed he once was.

I bounce
on his shoulder as he runs back towards Castle.

“
But you’re immortal.”

“
Quite.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Things
have gone from bad to utterly fucked.

Mismatched pillar candles dimly light the room. The nutty
smell of beeswax is velvet thick and I taste sugary pollen at the
back of my throat. Yellow flames gilded with black smoke sway on
crispy wicks, quivering madly as a draft steals through the open
window, ushering the sound of sea waves breaking on the rocky
shoreline.

Spread-eagled, I’m lashed to Daniel’s four-poster bed like
some fresh Sub who doesn’t realise her Dom is out for pain. The air
is cold on my cheeks, red from the exertion of the last hour or so.
My throat is raw from growling and cursing. I haven’t screamed,
yet, but I’m skirting the edges of one.

Flowers
surround me. The leaves are deep green and the petals blush pink.
I’ve noticed that before about Castle. Every room is densely
decorated with vases of red roses. The larger potted plants with
twisted trunks and leaves so thick they crinkle at the edges tend
to always be flowering too.

The
bedspread is satin soft under my back. A small mercy? Not really.
All the wriggling is getting me nowhere since my limbs keep
slipping. Raw cotton would have given better purchase.

My eyes
swivel wildly and I dismiss the heavy drapes on the four-poster as
being useful. The mantle over the roaring fireplace is crowded with
collectable objects, and the worn rug I’m assuming came from some
exotic place where they weave exquisite patterns.

There’s
coldness to the room, a deeply engrained sadness clinging to the
walls and seeping into my skin. It hums in the air. Others might
find it creepy or discomforting. I find it curiously intimate. This
room means something to Daniel and that’s why he has brought me
here.

I just
wish I wasn’t a victim of kidnapping that’s all.

I wiggle
my fisted hands that are tied at the wrist. The cotton ends are
jagged since Daniel body slammed onto the bed – I may have bitten
him a few times – and ripped strips from his own shirt to secure
me. He did offer me the option of not being tied, but I wouldn’t,
quote, “settle down,” end quote. I’d already ripped most of the
shirt from his back as I fought to get free, so he’d had little
work to do.

Back in
the field I saw my life flash before my eyes. It was terrible. If I
didn’t draw the line now Daniel would turn into a possessive,
overbearing jerk who thinks his way is the only way.

I was
supposed to spend my life baring my throat in submission every time
he does the exact opposite thing I ask for?

Trade one
gilded cage for another?

He watches me from across the room his blue eyes glinting
with lust. Legs crossed at the ankle his shoulders are propped
against the aged stonewall, hips thrust forward to expose that
enticing slash of muscle at his groin. Not that I care about that
at all. He’s unflustered and unaffected by my obvious distress. A
snarling woman bound to his bed is something he contends with on a
daily basis? How blasé he can be? His arms rest high on his broad
chest, hands tucked into his armpits, thumbs tapping the crease
where his shoulder meets his pectorals. His skin seems pale and
colourless. Unremarkable. But his bearing lends him an untouchable
vibrancy. Containing him, sliding, and flexing over wiry sinew and
prominent bone making him more colourful somehow. Colour is nothing
but light on a spectrum. His flesh transforms the firelight
bouncing off his chest when he breathes into a rare Omni-shade.
Blonde head rolling to the side, he’s wondering what to do with me.
I can see it. He nibbles his bottom lip in
contemplation.

‘
It’s not like I sashayed in here and tied myself to your bed.
Why the puzzled expression? Has your unintelligent plan run out of
steam already?’

He
smiles. “Not at all.” Inch long fangs are brilliant white against
red lips, and cause hot stabs of lust to spear me between my
legs.

“
Do
not
read my mind.” My relentless
attraction to him needs to be kept under wraps. “Stay
out.”

Those
thumbs stop tapping and his hands fall to his sides. “I can’t. They
flow to me and I have no desire to keep them out. It is a good
thing. It will help us communicate.”

I glare.
“You’ve lost it. Not sure what the ‘it’ was you had before, but
‘it’ has left the building.”

He lifts
a shoulder. Nonchalant. “I can’t let you go. I’m not going to
try.”

“
You can’t
keep me here. That is
not
healthy and
not
accepted as reasonable mate behaviour.” The
negative words drop like kamikaze bombs into my sentences. I’m
adding emphasize on my ‘not’s’ to stress the seriousness of his
offense. His common sense is broken because he isn’t responding to
negative reinforcement at all. Time to try threats. “Ben and Lee
won’t let you–”

The flat
of his palm slaps the wall.

The sound
cracks the air, whip-like, tearing through my trailing
words.

His eyes
switch blue to black, and his brow slants as fangs lengthen to
pierce his bottom lip.

He hisses
like a wildcat ready to pounce.

I cringe into the mattress at my back – my shoulders and hips
pushing down. My heart has just
stopped
. I’m quiet now, lips sealed
and quivering with the rest of my body.

I take a
vow of silence if it means his ire remains directed at the
wall.

He’s
mollified and the rage recedes. Strolling to the foot of the bed,
he glares down at me. The cut of his chin juts in vexation. “They
don’t have a say.” He bends at the waist. “I will not give you
up.”

“
Tying me down won’t change my mind.”

If I give
in now he’ll be worse than before. He’ll think he can run me over
whenever he takes a fancy to it.