Unexpected: Forever His (Book 1)

Chapter 24: Protector, Captor, or Lover?

I took a deep breath as I pulled the door open to the castle. The damp air hit me as soon as I entered and I grimaced. Only a few days and I missed the smell of the ocean air in Syros. That was only the beginning of what I missed. It had only been 5 days and I felt like I was going to lose my mind without Dante. I lifted my hand and looked down at the ring. It had lost some of its luster since I had been here. I figured it was probably because I had too.

The people that saw me when I went outside of the castle looked at me like I was golden, but I felt like I was one of them. Something lesser. Nothing seemed right to me here. Alexander had been nothing but kind, and I was grateful for that, but he knew I didn't want to be here. I sighed again and walked towards the hall that led to my room, but when I got closer to the throne, I realized that Alexander was there.

I bowed my head, which I knew he disliked, and stopped. "Forgive me, King Alexander, I did not see you there."

He stood and stepped down to me. "5 days, Kayla. It has been 5 days and yet he still resides in your mind as if he belongs there. When will you see that I am trying to right the wrong I made with you?" He grabbed my waist and pulled me against him. I felt sparks, but they were minimal. He waited. I never looked up. His grip tightened. I remained still, gaze down. "Have I damaged our bond so greatly that you cannot even feel it anymore? I need you to feel it. Feel something for me, Kayla." He pulled me even closer against him. "Look at me, dammit!"

I lifted my head, but did not look directly at him. Instead I looked at his lips. They were blood red, as if he had been feeding, and I grimaced and looked away again. He let me go then. "So now you are repulsed by me, Kayla?"

I didn't respond. Instead I turned away from him slightly, which made his anger radiate throughout the room. "So now you are a mute? What would you have had me do, Kayla? Allow Corrina to challenge you when you weren't ready? You would have lost the challenge easily. You stand no chance against a wraith with her power. Only two that I have ever known of can easily command her. Donovan earned her respect, as did Dante. The Ancients are your only chance of learning how to defeat her and if they do not recognize your bond, they will not help you in a challenge." He stepped behind me and slid his arms against my waist and pulled me back against him. The coolness of his body pressed firmly against me and I felt my body react to his in a way that I didn't want.

"You see, Kayla, I can make your body feel what it is supposed to feel with me regardless of what your mind is saying right now." I shivered and I closed my eyes. My heart ached. My mind told me to stop, but my body responded without hesitation. He lowered his head and kissed my shoulder. "I don't think you realize how powerful our bond with each other is." He allowed his lips to caress my skin up to my neck where he stopped and allowed his teeth to graze my skin. "I should show you. Open your mind and heart up to it. It doesn't matter that the Ancients want you with Dante. They will learn that I will not give up so easily what was mine to begin with." I sucked in a breath of air and tried to pull away. His grasp was iron tight and I couldn't move. "No, Kayla. This was meant to be. So let it." His teeth against my skin felt like ice and I gasped as the iciness entered into my neck. It took only seconds for the coolness to evaporate and the feeling that replaced it made my mind explode with thoughts of what I wanted and needed this vampire to do. His thoughts. What he wanted to do. Also now my own. I relaxed in his arms and felt a break in my heart. My thoughts jerked and stood firm in the back of my mind. The ring on my finger burned my skin where it touched. I gasped and lifted my hand. "Dante..." It was a minimal whisper, barely even audible to my own ears, but Alexander heard it. He drew his teeth out and lifted his head.

"He'll be here soon enough, Kayla. He knows what's happened. He will either challenge or relent. Either way you have my mark on your neck now." He pulled me back against him and lifted my hand with the ring. "As soon as he makes his intentions known, we will know what to do with this." I shook my head. "I...I don't..."