CAPTIVE by the Prince

Chapter Twenty Two

Ana stared back at her husband’s amber eyes. “Let’s just go on our separate ways, Ivan. We can still honor the contract by staying married with each other. But other than that, I want my freedom –freedom to do as I please; freedom to go anywhere… I want to be as far away from you as possible if I can.”

“No! I can never give you that!”

“I want to put a stop to these feelings I have for you.”

“You can’t stop! Don’t fight what you feel.”

Ana shook her head. “No, Ivan. Things will never work between us. We are too different. We have different customs. We have different beliefs. Heck, we even belong to different races. We will only live miserable if we pretend this will work. Let’s just stop the pretense…”

She was surprised when Ivan suddenly gathered her in his arms and hugged her tightly as he buried his face on her hair. “No! I refused to do so! I will not ruin my family’s name with a scandal such as that. But more importantly I refused to do so because I want to give our relationship a try.” He pulled his face away from her and stared at her intensely. “I can no longer fight what I feel for you. In as much as how Tadhana played its part on our relationship, I knew I cannot resist it any longer. I also feel something for you, Ana, and I don’t want to stop it. I want to fall, no matter how hard and deep it is. Even if I fall knowing I would hit the ground and get hurt in the process, I will still allow myself to fall.”

“But you hate me!”

“Yes I did. In the past I did hate you, and your whole race. Because we were taught to hate your race before. And maybe that was why grandfather had signed my name in the betrothal because he wanted to right a wrong. But now, even if I tried so hard, I don’t feel hatred towards you anymore.”

“What are you trying to say, Ivan?”

“What I’m trying to say is for you to forgive this foolish elf and try to give him a chance.”

“But you hurt me. And you might do it again.”

“Not anymore. I will never hurt you.”

“How can I be sure you won’t hurt me again? Ivan, I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Ivan gently caressed her face and stared deep into her eyes with a firm resolve. “I will show you.” Without warning he descended his face onto hers and conquered her lips with his own. He kissed her hungrily, devouring her mouth with extreme need to satisfy both their hunger. And Ana couldn’t help herself but take what Ivan was offering as she matched his movements. Parting her lips, she allowed his tongue to slip in and explore her mouth. She kissed him back erotically, the very same way he was kissing her, allowing their kisses to deepen even further until she heard Ivan groaned in pleasure. She curved her hand around his nape, her fingers touching his hair, and she felt him lowering her until her back met the soft mattress.

He suddenly withdrew his face from her, and she groaned in protest. Ivan gave a low chuckle, apparently looking pleased that she wanted more of his kisses. He stood beside the bed and began removing his clothes once more, his eyes never leaving hers.

Ana was mesmerized when she saw Ivan standing stark naked in front of her. He was magnificent, gloriously male. The only light was the one coming from the fire on the hearth, but it heightened the splendid picture Ivan had created: His arms and thighs were rippling with muscles, his broad shoulders were exuding with power, and even his chiseled jaw was complimenting his handsome face. Oddly enough, she found his pointy ears sexy in a weird sort of way she couldn’t really understand herself. But all in all, he was near perfection. And it made her suddenly grabbed the quilt and tried to conceal her naked imperfections.