“She called me a week ago,” Hunter continued conversationally, as if I were here of my own free will, as if he hadn’t just fucking kidnapped me. “She gave me the heads-up. Even offered to make that little trinket you’re wearing. Her only proviso was that her part in all this not be revealed.” His smile was wicked. “I agreed, of course.”
But he was breaking his word to her, and he didn’t give a shit. Just proved my assessment that Hunter only cared about himself and what he could gain.
My glare was direct and filled with heat. “Why are you telling me this?”
He gave me an indecipherable look. “I would have thought that was obvious. To show you that you trust too easily. To teach you that you need to be on your guard.”
“Oh, jeez, thanks for the life lesson.” I gave him a mock salute. “I’m all caught up now, so how about you let me go?”
He gave me a flat look.
It was worth a try.
“I suppose your naivety worked in my favor,” he said. “So, let’s make this as painless”—he moved closer—“and as pleasurable as possible.”
The pulse in my throat jumped and throbbed, enticed by his proximity and his tone.
Breathe, Fee. Control it. “I’m not doing this with you, Hunter. I won’t mate with you. If you want me, you’ll have to take me by force, because I will fight you. If you want me, you’ll have to violate me. Is that who you are?”
His eyes narrowed and glittered with anger as he advanced. “I’m not a fucking rapist, Fee. I didn’t force myself on you in wolf form. You came to me. You instigated it, and when the heat hits, I won’t have to force you. You’ll beg for my cock, and I’ll oblige.”
He gripped my jaw and tilted my face up, his lips inches from mine. “I’ll take away the pain with deep satisfying thrusts. I’ll fill you in a way that only a fated fucking mate can.”
Oh, God. I closed my eyes to block out his burning eyes and his searing words.
“Look at me, Fee.”
“No.”
“Look at me.”
His words were a command, and my eyes snapped open. I stared at my dazed reflection in his inky pupils.
“This is the way it’s supposed to be,” he said. “The heat, you, me, and this bed.”
He propelled me toward it and managed to get me halfway across the room before my brain came back online. I locked my knees and jerked my chin out of his grasp.
“Dream on.” But my words sounded weak, even to my ears, because he was right. When the heat came, I’d have no control.
When the heat came, the desire and need simmering beneath the surface would explode. I wouldn’t be able to control it. Whatever this thing was between us would take over. When the heat hit, it would be game over.
His smirk told me he was thinking the same thing.
But there was time.
A week’s worth of time.
I lifted my chin and locked gazes with him. “The guys will find me before the heat does, and if they don’t, if the heat hits and you take advantage, then you might get your mating bond, but you’ll never have me. I’ll be your mate in name only, and I’ll hate you forever, do you understand me?”
His lips curved in a sardonic smile. “You can hate me, Fee. It won’t stop you from wanting me. It won’t stop you from begging me to fuck you. It won’t stop your body from coming alive every time I’m near.”
He bridged the distance between us, and I stumbled away from him, not wanting him to touch me again, because every time he did, my body responded like a flame to oxygen—greedy and hungry.
The back of my legs hit the bed, and I lost my balance and made a grab for Hunter instinctively to halt my fall, but instead of bracing me, he fell with me, crushing me under his powerful form.
I gasped and slammed my palms against his pectorals. My fingers curled, digging in and feeling him out before I could stop myself. Fuck, his hips were planted between my thighs, crotch to crotch. He was hard as a rock and pressed against me. I bit back a moan when he rolled his hips.
“You see what I mean?” His voice was thick with desire, his eyes hooded, mouth parted. He licked his lips. “See what you do to me?” He moved against me again, and heat bloomed at the apex of my thighs, slick and wet.
I turned my head away, eyes burning with impotent tears because my fucking body, my traitorous bitch Loup, was loving this, wanting this, and without my demon side to counter and give me strength, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fight him.
His breath fanned across my cheek, and then he ran his nose down my jawline. “When we’re mated, your Loup will belong to me, and mine…Mine will belong to you.”
There was an aching vulnerability to his tone now, and I held my breath and slowly turned to face him. I caught the darkness in his gaze, a desperate void, and then his expression shuttered.
He stood and looked down at me. “I can smell your arousal, Fee. I can’t wait to taste it.” He headed for the door. “Come into the kitchen when you’re ready, I’m making pasta.”
What the fuck? How do you go from talking about wanting to taste someone’s arousal to talking about pasta? He made my head spin with conflicting messages. I lay on the bed for long seconds, heart pounding, clit throbbing angrily, and waited for the arousal to pass. Long minutes passed while I breathed through it and blinked back angry tears, because there was no doubt in my mind that if I didn’t get away from Hunter soon, this proximity would put me into heat early.
I could already feel it simmering beneath my skin. The damn bracelet was going to make it extra hard for the guys to find me. The guys…But maybe not a Grigori…
I sat up quickly, hope blooming amidst a swirling cloud of despair.
“Uriel, I need you.” I kept my voice low, gaze flicking to the open door to make sure Hunter didn’t come back. Nothing happened. Shit. Maybe I needed to be louder. I shut the door with a soft click and then hurried into the ensuite bathroom. “Uriel, I need you.”
I channeled every ounce of intent into the call and then waited, barely breathing, for him to appear.
Long seconds passed and nothing.
Either the bracelet was interfering with my calling him, or he was ignoring me. I dismissed the latter thought almost as soon as it entered my mind. Uriel wouldn’t ignore me. If he could hear me, if he could come, he’d be here. A prickle of foreboding skated over my scalp.
No. I couldn’t worry about why Uriel wasn’t answering my call right now. I had more immediate problems. I needed an escape plan.
So, I was sans reaper ability, but I had my Loup and my wits. My Loup, which meant I got to control her, not Hunter or some fated mate rule. I blew out a breath and exited the bathroom to scan the bedroom once more.
My gaze flitted from the chair to the window. If he was telling the truth, which I was sure he was, then running out all wild and crazy was a dumb decision. I needed to know more about our location and the surrounding area before I made a firm plan, and then my wolf would get me the fuck out of here, I’d make sure of it.
The smell of carbonara sauce and garlic bread drifted into the bedroom, momentarily distracting me. My stomach grumbled. I should fuel up in preparation for my escape.
I headed for the door.
I’d dine with the enemy, but like hell would I sleep with him.