by Cherie Marks
“You’re hurt.” His eyes softened slightly as he studied at my now-throbbing arm.
Reality set in, and I felt myself go smartass immediately. “And whose fault is that? What kind of crazy person chases another through the woods?”
His eyebrows dipped together. “You are mine, Toricellia. I would chase you to the end of the earth and back if that’s what it took.”
I didn’t have a response to that statement, but I bristled at the idea of him never giving up the chase. I pushed myself to a sitting position and said, “Stop calling me Toricellia.”
He inched closer, and I watched him with more focus. He lifted my arm gently and examined my wound. His touch was warm and masculine. It was a lightning strike, sending electricity to all parts of my body and centering in my abdomen.
“Yes. That’s right. You go by Celia now.”
“Huh?” I was mesmerized but returned to my senses quickly. With a small jerk, I pulled my arm out of his hands. “Only to my friends and family. Of which, you are neither.”
He stared at me for a couple heartbeats before asking, “What should I call you then?”
Without thinking out what I was saying, I responded, “You can call me cash money, honey. Because before you know it, I’ll be out of pocket and all gone.”
His eyes grew wild once more, and he reached out a hand, grabbing my ankle in a firm grip. He pulled me toward him until I was on my back once more, and in one, quick motion, he turned around, gave me his back, and straddled my legs, pinning them in place.
I twisted and swung my arms wildly, but he didn’t seem fazed at all. Instead, he pulled something from his pocket and began to wrap my ankles tightly together.
“What are you doing? Stop! Let me go!”
He flipped around and pinned my uninjured arm with his thighs next. He pulled a pack off his back and unzipped it one-handed while he held the wrist of my injured arm. He lifted something out of the pack and flipped whatever it was open. Liquid hit my wound, and I cried out at the minor sting. He blotted around the scrape and put a bandage over it.
I’d planned to fight him, but his touch was so gentle, it…stunned me. All I could do was watch his face bent in concentration until his entrancing gaze met mine once more.
“I’m sorry for this. But it is necessary.”
He flipped me onto my stomach and pulled my arms behind my back. I had no chance as he wrapped something around my wrists.
With slow precision, he stood and lifted me to my bound feet. He supported me with his hands as he stared at my face.
“This is not an ideal way to start a relationship. I hadn’t wanted to do this, but it’s clear you will refuse to come with me otherwise.”
“Of course I would’ve refused, psycho! Relationship? Are you truly insane? We will never have a relationship.”
His mouth tightened, and he stabilized my awkward stance enough to bend down, get his stuff together, and throw his backpack onto his back. I noticed that, at some time during the chase, he’d also grabbed my pack. He hooked it to his belt and then turned back to me.
“Like it or not, you are mine, Celia. You will be coming with me, and someday, you will thank me for this.”
He bent and wrapped an arm around my legs. My stomach crashed into his shoulder, and he lifted me until I was just one more thing for him to carry.
“Come! On! You really are crazy.” I went against everything I believed in about handling one’s shit and began screaming like a madwoman.
He bounced me once on his shoulder, and the air left my lungs. Clearly, he wasn’t giving up easily, but neither was I. The minute I caught my breath again, I picked up screaming once more. As before, he bounced me on his shoulder, and my scream stopped.
“I can do this all day. Can you?”
Without giving me a chance to respond, he took off up the hill, back the way we’d just come. Each step was jarring, but no matter how much I struggled, his arm was like concrete over my back. I wasn’t going anywhere. I’d have to wait for a more advantageous time to escape.
And I would. Despite his confidence, I wasn’t going any further than I had to with this madman. I’d figure something out. I always did.
He jogged non-stop to the top of the hill, but rather than turn back onto the path, he turned into the dense underbrush and moved deeper into the forest, away from Asscrack, away from all my friends, and away from Nana Johanna.
I couldn’t believe how long he ran without stopping, and I got more and more anxious the farther away he got. As the light began to fade through the tree leaves, he finally began to slow. I knew we’d gone miles, but I’d done my best to try to spy landmarks to get myself back as quickly as I could. Yet, I’d have to find some way to incapacitate him long enough to get away. I didn’t have a doubt I could do it.
With more gentleness than I expected, he set me on the ground with my back up against a fallen tree log. I stared up at him as he unclipped my backpack and dropped his beside it.
“What exactly do you think is going to happen here? Do you think I’m just going to fall in love at first sight? Sorry to be the one to tell you. But fairytales aren’t real.”
“Fall in love? This has nothing to do with that. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stomped off, leaving me staring after him in confusion. If it wasn’t about being his mate, why did he come after me? Why tie me up and drag me over the mountains of West Virginia?
I wiggled my hands to try to free them, but the knots held tight. No matter how hard I tugged, my feet wouldn’t come free. In desperation, I closed my eyes and tried to shift. But when I opened them, I still sat in the same spot, in human form, and tied up. The only way I was getting loose was when he turned me so. Somehow, I’d have to convince him to undo the knots.
He returned and dropped several sticks of wood on the ground. He busied himself setting up a campsite, dragging in a couple more logs for seats and making a ring of rocks where he built a small fire. He pulled out a few bottles of water and finally approached me once more.
“Thirsty?”
“I don’t want anything from you, stretch.”
He shrugged and set it beside me, within reach if I had free hands. Then, moved back across the campsite, pulling a few more items out of his pack.
“Besides, you probably drugged it. I’m not into being rufied, thank you very much.”
“It’s still sealed shut. I haven’t tampered with it at all.”
I lifted my chin and turned to look in the opposite direction, trying not to notice how dry my mouth suddenly seemed to be. Though I’d prefer a cocktail about this time, that water was looking pretty irresistible. “Will you put it in my hands? Let me drink it on my own?”
He approached again and motioned for me to sit up. With a firm grip, he untied my hands and pulled them to my lap. He re-tied them just as tightly and made a show of breaking the seal and placing the cap on the log behind me before setting the bottle of water into my hands. He stepped away, and I raised the bottle in my bound hands up to take a drink. The cool liquid felt satisfying going down my throat.
He crouched next to the fire, putting a small pot on a metal grate he’d unfolded over the flames. He ripped open a large, silver pouch and began stirring for a moment before banging the metal spoon on the side of the pan and sitting back, resting himself on one of the logs, setting the spoon on a tin plate nearby.
“Do you have any idea the mess you’ve caused?”
“I’ve caused?” I couldn’t help but ask. “I didn’t kidnap another person. You’re the cause of this mess.”
He shook his head, and I got the feeling I didn’t know the whole story. I hated not being the smartest person in the room…or the clearing, as the case may be…and right now, I felt very ignorant.
I waited for him to explain exactly how I was responsible for this mess, but he didn’t continue. He stirred whatever was in the pot some more, and I studied him.
He was even more gorgeous than I’d rememb
ered him being. As I’d become a woman, he’d grown to be a man in every sense of the word. His face had become more angular, emphasizing strong cheekbones and a full mouth. His shoulders had been wide before, but now, the rest of him had caught up. His broad chest tapered to narrow hips, which crowned long legs and some large-ass feet. How had he run so fast and stayed so nimble on those monsters?
Of course, I knew what they said about large feet. My eyes strayed to his crotch. Too bad—for him—I’d never…ever…ever…find out if that theory were true. I wanted nothing to do with him romantically, even if I couldn’t seem to stop looking at him.
Dammit! I forced myself to look away, but again, my gaze strayed back to stare at the symmetry of his perfect face. I wanted to smooth my fingers over his lips to see if they were as soft as they looked. Even better, touching my lips to his would do the job too.
And that hair! Like on the riverbank before, it still fell to his shoulders, in dark, layered glory. He looked like a warrior who belonged in these woods. He looked like he’d been born to hunt and run in the freedom of nature. He looked like a prince of the wilderness, and I didn’t like my reaction to him at all.
Whatever he was cooking gave off a potato-y, tomato-y, delectable smell, and my mouth watered to have a bite. He pulled the pot off the fire and began to dish something soupy out onto a tin plate. It steamed, and I was afraid I might break down and beg for some right then and there. Then, all thoughts of food disappeared with his next movements.
He stood and began unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled it off, and I parted my lips involuntarily at the sight of his rock-hard abdomen and bounce-a-quarter-off-it chest. So beautiful. My mouth began to salivate at the sight of his naked skin. It was too much.
I needed to get free and get out of his presence before I did something stupid like run my traitorous hands over his muscular biceps and lickable chest. I needed to find a way to get free, and I needed to do it sooner rather than later.
“Hey, do you think you could untie me, so I can take care of some private business…if you catch my drift.”
But he didn’t answer. Instead, he turned and glided away.
Dafuq?
Maybe he hadn’t heard me. Yet, a few minutes later, he came back with hair dripping and water droplets running down his golden skin. I was suddenly parched. The errant thought that I could quench my thirst on him suddenly popped into my brain. I shook my head to clear it.
“We’ll eat first. Then, we’ll take care of…business.”
Now what had he meant with that pause?
Yet, before I got the chance to ask, he strode over with the tin plate in one hand and a spoon in the other. He lifted a spoonful to my mouth for me to eat, but I refused to open my mouth. It smelled even more delicious up close. However, again, I didn’t plan on making things easy for him.
He sighed and turned the spoon to put it into his own mouth. After he’d chewed and swallowed, he said, “See. Not drugged. Now, you have to be hungry. You need to eat.”
My chin lifted again. “Not hungry.”
Of course, at that moment, my traitorous stomach growled loudly, proving my words to be completely false. Yes, I was hungry, but I didn’t want to eat here with him. I wanted to be home, eating one of Nana Johanna’s meals.
“Your body says otherwise.” He sat back, beside me, our shoulders touching, and proceeded to eat the entire plate in front of me. When he put the plate down beside me and stood, I nearly dove into what was left face first. I was hungry, and stubborn pride wasn’t a terrific substitute for food.
He reached down and pulled me to a standing position. Once I was stable, he knelt down and quickly released my legs. He, then, stood up and did the same with my hands. I couldn’t believe he was letting me free. I waited for the next trick, but it never came.
He pointed into the trees. “That way has more flora cover than you could possibly need. Take care of your business and come back when you’re finished.”
I stood still, sure there was some trick. “Seriously?”
“Do you know any songs?”
“Excuse me?”
“What songs do you know?”
Yep! He was crazy. “Why do you need to know?”
He sighed heavily. I was really working his lungs. “Pick a song and sing it while you go. If the song stops, I’m coming in after you.”
His logic sunk in. It was a way to monitor without having eyes on me. Kind of clever, if I did say so.
“Well, it’s your ears’ funeral.” I stepped over the log and began making my way in the direction he’d pointed out. I sucked in a deep breath and sang, “Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere…”
I continued singing as I made my way into the overgrowth of the forest, but I didn’t dare let my guard down. The minute I saw the way I wanted to go, I stopped singing and took off in that direction. I made it over a rise and down a small hill before I skidded to a stop. He stood directly in front me, hands on his hips, a shrewd look on his face.
I tried to run around him, but he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back against him. I struggled, but he quickly wrapped his arms around my upper body. I kicked backward until he locked my legs between his. I settled down, breathing rapidly with my futile efforts.
“I know your thoughts before you act. You can’t get away from me, Celia.” He pointed behind me. “Take care of your business and meet me back at the campsite. I don’t have time to play games with you. We have a lot to talk about—like how we’re going to free your parents—and I’m on a tight deadline.”
With easy motions, he released me, letting me get my bearings before completely pulling away. Defeated for now, I trudged back into the bushes without looking back at him.
He called after me, “Sing!”
I began my song again, a bit muffled this time. I could make another break for it, but I had a feeling he’d know it before I took off. Could he really read my mind? Or had he just expected it because it’s what a captive would do? Either way, I needed answers. I wanted to know everything he knew about my parents. I wasn’t planning on being the prince’s captive much longer, but I also didn’t want my parents to suffer needlessly either. If I could find out where they were being kept, I would gather my own crew of witches and shifters, and we’d kick some ass.
I finished up and made my way back to the campsite. He was waiting there, and as I shuffled into the circle, he lifted the tin plate toward me again. This time I took it.
It occurred to me that he could’ve easily put something in this plate when I was in the forest, and I was taking a huge chance in eating it, but I took a bite anyway. I rolled it around on my tongue, reveling in the hearty taste of the stew. There was no doubt it was reconstituted, but as hungry as I was, it tasted delicious.
I eased around the fire and sat on one of the logs, feeding myself and watching him watch me.
“Do you know why I’m here, Celia?”
“The better question to ask is if I give a fuck. And the answer is no. I give no fucks.”
We sat in silence for a while until his lips lifted in a humorless smile. A sadness filled his light brown eyes, and he said, “So strange that you’re finally in front of me. All these years, I’ve waited to tell you one thing.”
I raised my eyebrows. Despite my bravado, my interest was piqued. “What could you possibly have to say to me?”
His face hardened. “You ruined my fucking life.”
Chapter 5
Back straight as a pole, I asked, “Isn’t that a bit dramatic?”
He glanced up into the branches of the trees, releasing a deep breath. “You left, and I thought it best to let you go. I watched you float away and never thought anything of it. I knew, eventually, your parents would bring you home, and everything would be set right.”
“My parents never came. Nana Johanna said I should wait for the okay from them before I even attempted returning. So many times, I took a chanc
e and called them with a burner phone, and I even sent a friend to their house a few times, but in all that time, they had never been home. I never knew what happened to them. At times, it was all I could think about.”
“They weren’t home because they were in a dungeon.”
Red-hot anger took over and filled my brain. I stood up and marched closer to him. “How could you? What did you do with them?” I stood with my hands on my hips. “I mean, how was I even supposed to know they needed me?”
He stood up in front of me and crossed his arms over his chest. “I did nothing to your parents.”
I closed the distance between us. “You just said they were in a dungeon. Did they put themselves there, asshole?”
“Maybe I should officially introduce myself, so you can stop calling me by such colorful nicknames. My name’s Ethan, and I didn’t put your parents into the dungeon, same as I didn’t put my own parents or myself there.”
I stared at him dumbfounded, unsure of what he was telling me. I glanced down at the ground, trying to unravel what he was saying. Had they been punished because of me? But who had decreed their imprisonment? Confusion filled my mind.
My gaze lifted to meet his, and I saw the heavy pain there. What had I done? “You…you were in prison because…of me?”
He shook his head back and forth quickly. “No. It wasn’t your fault in that way, Celia. We weren’t put there because you ran away. We were put there until you were found.”
“But, I’ve been in Assjacket the whole time.”
He stepped away from me, turned around until I couldn’t see his face, and scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Turns out, it was the best place you could hide. Someone was strong enough magically to keep you hidden all these years.”
“What about when I trekked off to college or took trips?”
“All I know is that someone protected you. I don’t know why, and I don’t know how, but that protection was pulled when you shifted earlier today. You were completely helpless, and as soon as I sensed that was true, I escaped, and then, I came for you.”
