Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
So what now? Am I supposed to simply pick up the pieces and move on from where I left off when my name was Laliss? Except, I’m not Laliss. The only name I know is Elsie, but I don’t feel like her either.
A hollow laugh tears from my chest.
“Elsie.” Aruan closes the distance between us and catches my wrists to pull my hands from my ears. He holds them at my sides in the vise of his fingers, not allowing me space or a chance to flee. “This isn’t the end of the world. It’s just the beginning.”
“The beginning of what?” Another hysterical laugh bubbles over my lips. “Of our happy ending?” I wrestle to free myself from his hold, but he doesn’t let up an inch. “If that’s what you think, you’re fucking naïve.” I lift my chin. “Do you know what this is? This isn’t you and me galloping off together into the sunset.” Thinking about that prophecy again, I continue, “This is the beginning of the mother of all clusterfucks.”
“Calm down,” he says, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “There’s no point in upsetting yourself. This situation doesn’t have to be bad for you.”
“Not bad for me? I’m your prisoner, Aruan. I don’t want to be here, do you hear me?” I get into his face. “I don’t want to be Laliss, and I don’t want to be your fucking mate!”
A deadly quiet comes over him. He stares at me with narrowed eyes, something disturbing gleaming in their silver depths. “You’re mine, Elsie. Mine. That’s how fate designed it. That’s your destiny. You can either do this the hard way by fighting it, or you can accept it.” His eyes narrow further, all the way into slits. “Whatever you choose, the fact that you’re mine isn’t going to change.”
The unjustness wells up inside me until it’s about to blow.
“Get your hands off me,” I say through gritted teeth, fighting him anew.
Instead, he wraps me up in his arms, trapping me even more effectively.
“Let go!” I scream, kicking for all I’m worth, but my efforts have no effect on him.
He easily lifts me off my feet. It’s difficult to breathe. I think he may crush my ribcage in the unyielding squeeze of those muscled arms.
“Are you done?” he asks in a tight voice.
I’m beyond thinking or acting rationally. All I want is to get out of here, to escape from this prison and frightening reality.
I twist and kick, fighting like never before.
“Stop it, Elsie, or you’ll leave me no choice but to restrain you before you hurt yourself.”
I don’t stop. I can’t. I’m like a wild animal trapped in a cage, clawing my way to freedom.
In the back of my mind, I’m aware that we’re going down to the floor. The ceiling tilts. Aruan breaks my fall with one hand beneath my head and the other on my back. He absorbs the shock of the hard flagstones, shifting his hold to pin both my wrists above my head in one hand while holding himself up on his arm.
I go quiet.
His weight is anchoring without crushing me. We stare at each other in a frozen moment of shock, one of us in anger and the other with calculation. My chest heaves with laborious breaths. With Aruan’s torso like a slab of granite merely an inch from mine, there’s scarcely space to breathe. Every inhale makes my breasts brush against those hard muscles. The layers of our clothing are not nearly enough of a barrier. My nipples harden. His closeness sparks an unwelcome but undeniable awareness of him deep inside me.
That scent.
He smells so fucking good.
The way he fits against me feels so good. He’s hard in all the right places, especially where his cock presses against my stomach.
The quickening of my breathing is no longer from the physical exertion of fighting. The urge to wrap my arms around him and hold him to me is strong. I almost act on it, remembering too late that he’s pinning my arms to the floor.
Dangerous.
My position is vulnerable.
Yet I can’t stop myself from spreading my legs to make space for him between my thighs.
“Elsie,” he says with an animalistic growl.
A warning.
But I’m helpless against the pull of my body. My mind is useless. It’s no match for the strange instinct that has taken over and is now dictating my actions. I can fight it as little as I can fight Aruan and win in physical strength. I know I’ve lost even before I’ve had a chance to fight. Despite the excruciating heat that grows in my belly, my imminent defeat fills me with helpless anger.
As if sensing my surrender, he loosens his hold on my wrists. Something almost tender shifts into his eyes. When he presses our mouths together, it’s not with the clashing, violent urgency from our first kiss as I expected. The way he molds his lips around mine is tender and probing yet assertive enough to make me part my lips for him without being prompted.