He heard the door lock click behind her. So close. He was so close to having her surrender and then this. What the fuck happened? He knew she had felt the explosion of passion, the carnal need for each other just as he had. Could she still be denying what was right in front of her? Did he do something wrong? One moment she was melting in his arms and then she had slipped out of his grasp. A harsh coldness replaced the warmth that had previously blanketed him. All he could hear was silence.

He rested his head on the door separating them. “Mara, don’t do this. Please come out.” Nothing. He must find a way to calm her, bring her back to him. He couldn’t stand having anything separating them, this door was about to become a thing of the past. “Mara if you don’t come out, I will come in.” Still nothing.

He listened intently but all he could hear was her faint, uneven breaths. He began twisting the door handle, easily snapping the lock and edging the door open. Something was blocking it though. He pushed harder and then heard a cry. It was her, she had been sitting in front of the door.

He had only opened the door an inch when it was forcefully slammed back into place. “Oh my God! Can you please leave me alone for like five fucking minutes?!? You never intended to let me leave regardless of the outcome of our little experiment. You win okay? I’m stuck here. With - you. All I am asking for is a little bit of alone time. You totally upend my entire world in one day and I am just asking you for a second to like breathe okay? Please.” She had conceded, the least he could do was grant her this.

Sitting back on the bed, he tried to understand this creature he’d been given. One minute her passion had equaled her fiery attitude. His hard shaft pulsated with need just thinking about it. Then the next minute she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Why?

Frustrated, he palmed his shaft imagining it was her hand instead of his. He was so consumed with need for her, denying his urges was the worst agony he had yet to feel in all of his lifetimes. He solemnly realized the extent of control this woman had over him. If he could not learn to fight it, he’d be doomed.

Struggling, he forced himself to stop rubbing and to concentrate on what happened and what he should do about it next. He replayed their kiss in his mind, her reactions, her need. His need and his aching shaft. Them coming together so perfectly, him lighting a fire inside of her and her providing something that had been eluding him for so long.

Having a taste of the kind of pleasure she would bring him and would no doubt receive in kind herself, made him all the more determined to win her over to him. Truly, he would never force her, never imagined he would have too with his mate, but all the same. He must get her to desire him as much as he did her.

The way she reacted to their kiss silenced any questions about whether or not she had desires. He would need to make her comfortable enough to surrender to those needs and come to him to have them fulfilled.

When she had broken away her face was flushed, eyes darting and chest rising up and down trying to take in deep breaths. She had been ... nervous? Then to run away and hide so quickly. Was she frightened or perhaps embarrassed about what they’d done? She’d yet to show any signs of fear so it was probably the latter. And if it was the latter that meant …. His face paled and he cautiously tread to the door as if just his heavy footsteps might startle her.

“Mara,” his tone was soft, “Have you never been with a man before?” He forced himself not to say another word until she answered. He anxiously waited for a response but got none and he was almost glad for it.

He’d gone into a blind fury earlier when he thought she had a man. Now, with the possibility of her being innocent and ignorant of such things… he didn’t know which made him feel worse.

The door suddenly swung open to reveal a woman so angry most men would flee on sight. “I am so not talking to you about this.” She barrelled past him to grab a blanket off the bed and made her way towards the sitting room in their suite.

“Oh God, that’s a yes!” Him realizing this made her grow even more furious yet had the opposite effect on him. He liked the idea of no one else having her except for him. And he’d have her, completely.

“Why did you not say something before?” She stopped in her tracks and turned to him. Her brows raised incredulously, her expression bewildered as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

“Why would I share anything about my personal life with you? Here’s a tip, typically manhandling, kidnapping, and not keeping your grubby paws off a woman the first time you meet is not exactly recommended if you want her to volunteer information about herself.”

He frowned, “I did not kidnap you. We both agreed it was in everyone’s best interest safety-wise for you to come with me.”

“Oh, well in that case my apologies. How could I not remember that as long as a man doesn’t technically ‘kidnap’ me, then all is well and I should have no trepidations about having no control and no other choice but to sleep in a strange man’s bedroom. A strange man who is delusionally convinced that I am his mate even though he doesn’t know the first thing about me! Oh, and who also happens to be the reason my family and I are in danger to begin with.”

Not interested in giving him any chance to process what she’d said, she abruptly turned and plopped down on a couch just outside the bedroom entryway. He followed, but she was already laying down under the blanket facing away from him as if she meant to sleep there.

This will not do. Did she honestly think he would let his mate sleep on a couch? When the bed he’d dreamed of sharing with her was not fifteen feet away? Armed now with new information perhaps he could gently coax her to him. She was a virgin, she was probably terrified of him after today. Damn it, he’d pushed her too hard and far, but now he would be softer and go slowly.

“Will you not come to bed? I cannot have you sleeping out here as if I’ve not been able to provide you with proper accommodations.”

“Ha! What’s wrong with that, worried about your reputation? I may have to stay in this room with you but no one ever specified which piece of furniture I was required to sleep on.”

Frustrating woman. She had a point, it’s just that this situation was completely foreign to him. Never could he have imagined a mate so averse to being with him. It was unheard of. And as for her comment earlier he did know not only the first thing about her but had in such a short time learned much more after that.

For one so young she was impossibly brave, fearless, and beautiful. She was loyal and protective of her family, not hesitating to take her father’s place in his threatened punishments. The thing about her that seemed to be his main and quickly growing problem, was her stubbornness.

He’d heard of give and take, but he feared it would take a lot of giving until she was even the least bit mollified. Whatever he’d have to do, he’d do it.

“What if I’m not in the bed with you? Then will you go and sleep properly?” Silent treatment. Again. Maybe she did not believe him.

“Mara, I realize you do not know the bond that I instantly felt for you, yet, and I may not know you as others do, yet. The difference is because you are my mate, I don’t need to know you first to know that no one can make me happier than you and no one will make you happier than me. The difference is I know I will love you and everything about you ahead of time. I want to learn you as much as I need to be with you. Once I mark you, you will feel this connection as I do and you will understand. Not only are we fated, but this union specifically has been foretold.”

He laid his hand on her shoulder in some effort to convince her of his sincerity, but her entire body stiffened at the contact.

She had expected him to rip her from the couch gloating with male satisfaction as he threw her on the bed and was surprised when he didn’t. It seemed the brute was capable of using words instead of physical force.

That didn’t mean she believed anything he said. “And when exactly is it that you plan on marking me?” She said cooly, still not turning to face him.

He hesitated for long moments as if he was carefully debating what answer to give.

“I will not mark you until you are ready. Not until you have accepted me as yours as I have accepted you as mine. I promise you this. I need you to feel comfortable and safe in your new home.”

Could she trust that he would let her sleep in peace without waking up in the middle of the night with his fangs in her neck branding her as his? He believed their match had been foretold but she was in no way convinced of this.

Turning to face him, she studied his demeanor. He seemed sincere enough and he could have easily dragged her over as he’d done earlier. He’d somehow refrained and was now asking her to do it. Besides, did she actually have a choice in trusting him?

“Fine. But only if I have the room to myself. Alone.” He held his palms up in agreement and backed away. She grudgingly got up and headed back towards the bed, but stopped before getting in. She stared at him until he realized she would not proceed until she’d watched him leave first.

With a sigh he did.