Page 35 of A Surrender Of Hope

“Fuck!” I snarl, releasing my hold on her so she can land on her feet as I stumble back from her attack. Pup gasps and fallsto her ass on the stone floors, glaring at me like this is all my fault. “Really?” I growl at her, hand pressing against the ache in my chest as she clumsily shoves herself back onto unsteady feet while assessing her surroundings. Well, at least she hasn’t lost her edge to the chaos of this day.

“I said to let me go!” she snaps, her hands shoving the rat's nest of hair off her face as she glares daggers at me. Her lack of fear and defiance does things to me that I don't want to admit to as she twists on her heels and does something that surprises me more than the attack. She willingly walks into my room without a fight. I narrow my eyes at her, suspicion flooding me as I hesitantly follow her through the sturdy, iron banded doors.

What the hell is she up to now?

I stop just inside my rooms, flicking my wrist and letting my magic slam my doors shut before charming them so only my brothers can gain entrance and to ensure my Pup can’t get out. I watch her with keen eyes, tracking her movements and waiting for her to yell at me or attack, but tilt my head in confusion when she simply walks a lap around my quarters. Her eyes snag on my bookshelves while her tentative hand traces the edge of my vast assortment of weapon chests. She then moves over to the bed residing at the center of my room and perches on the edge of it, rolling her head back on her neck with a tired sigh as her eyes flutter shut. Some strange sense washes through me as I stand there, watching her and unsure what to do next. I can handle yelling; I love fighting…. But she looks exhausted and… sad?

Fuck this! I don't do emotions. I mutter a string of profanities before aiming my glare at her, hating how she’s got me doubting everything I know as I cross my arms over my chest. My eyes move from her eyes to her lips, where my attention lingers for a moment before I jerk back, realizing that I’m staring like a love-sick fool and I glare.

This is all her fault! I was perfectly content living my quiet bloody life, then this damn girl stormed in and distracted my brothers, and now I can’t stop looking at her! From the moment she released that first blade that struck my Beast’s shoulders to when I had her pinned under me, I knew something was different.

My Beast had let her go without a fight. He had stepped back and released her without any injury, which has never happened in my life. I have killed and tortured thousands. My body count is higher than most seasoned Demon warriors three times my age. I loved death. I craved blood. I needed fear. Yet he let her go… I let her go and haven't been able to erase the way she looked pinned under me that stormy night. The way her eyes widened with delicious fear. How they then narrowed with a determination to survive, despite the fact that she wouldn’t live unless I allowed it. The way her full lips parted as she stared up at me plays in my dreams repeatedly and then I wake up with an anger I don’t want or know how to control.

I narrow my eyes at my Pup, wondering if I should just end her now and save myself from a fate I refuse to suffer through. But then something worse than pain strikes me in the chest, and I grunt, hand moving to press against my ear, hating the odd feeling. My Beast shifts under my skin, fighting me at the thought of my Pup not existing, and he presses me to move closer.

He wants to taste, to bite and lay claim to the tiny half-human girl, and I can't help but wonder if he only wants to play with her a bit before killing her. He’s never wanted to have someone close before, not even Arch, so this new obsession with my Pup is as worrying as it is annoying.

My eyes immediately move to the darkened corner of my room, and I step toward it, longing to disappear but knowing I can’t. Shit, I should have brought Creed with me. He couldcomfort her so I could escape. Before I can decide what to do next, Pup opens her tired eyes, her attention flicking to me as she tilts her head to the side and glares back at me, the tiredness instantly replaced with annoyance.

“What?” she snaps and I relax a little. Yes. Anger. I know how to handle that.

“What are you doing?” I growl out, still confused about her lack of fight.

“Uh, sitting?” she snarks back, gesturing to the bed where she is currently residing.

“You came in here without a fight,” I point out, and she huffs a sigh, rolling her eyes as she mutters something I can't quite make out under her breath. I glower at her, taking another step forward when she keeps glaring at me, her eyes alight with a stubbornness that excites me.

“Yeah! Do you know what else I would have done without a fight? Followed you up here on my own two feet. But no, you had to go all caveman and toss me over your damn shoulder!” She shoves to her feet, anger coursing from her in waves as she flips me off and moves toward the massive bookshelves I’ve collected. “Damn Demons…” she keeps muttering under her breath as she goes, moving to the books and running her fingers over the spines as she looks at them with interest. Her finger stops on one, and I tense, not liking her touching my stuff.

“Don't,” I snap as she pulls it from the shelf. I stride over, yanking the book from her hands and shoving it back onto the shelf with force, glowering at her when she growls under her breath. “Don't touch my stuff.”

“You touch my stuff all the time,” she accuses, and I scoff.

“Like what?”

“Uh, well, for starters, my cat!” I slowly turn from the bookshelves, frustration, and anger building when she steps closer to me, far too close, not a spec of fear in her furious eyes.“Milo is mine, and you keep taking him. Besides, you just tossed me off a damned cliff, Razar! I think I can look at a few of your books.”

Before I can stop myself, my hand darts out, wrapping around the slender column of her throat, earning a gasp from her full, parted lips, and I drag her close, no longer caring about keeping space between us. The reminder of her fall and that I stupidly forgot to teach her how to land sets me on edge. This… this right here is a perfect example of why I have stayed away from females. Both Demon and Human. Well that, and I was much more interested in their deaths than their safety. I don’t know how to keep her safe.

“The tiny monster is mine,” I growl, ignoring her cliff comment as my fingers tighten enough to feel her fluttering pulse as her eyes narrow. She brings a hand up, wrapping it around my wrist, her small fingers don't even touch as she grips me tightly, her warmth sending a shiver of anxious excitement down my back. I don't like people touching me. I can barely tolerate it when Mom tries to hug me, but something about her soft finger, the way her silky smooth skin feels on mine, makes me crave more.

“No, he’s not! And this is also mine.” Moving with a speed I didn't know my Pup possessed, she leans into my choking hold, her fingers wrapping around the hilt of one of my most prized possessions, and yanks the Kalis she stabbed me with at the castle from its sheath with a triumphant look in her eyes. She grins at me, the look so perfect on her face that it makes my chest hurt as my heart stalls.

I instantly hate the feeling, hate how I want to make her look at me like that again, and despise how I want nothing more than to make sure she only ever smiles.

Fuck, fuck… fuck!

Panic flares in me as I shake my head. I can’t handle this feeling… it’s overwhelming me. I tear my gaze from her perfect face to the Kalis she holds between us. Time freezes for a moment as something snaps inside me; a choked snarl rips from my lips as I dart forward with my free hand, wrapping it around hers, shaking her arm, trying to get her to release my blade!

“Let go!” I shake her hard, keeping my hand wrapped around her throat as she tries to jerk free of my grip. The move to escape only triggers me more, pulling her closer and ensuring my prey stays pinned.

“No!” She fights back with an effort that has me grinning like a madman. The hand not holding my blade shoves at my chest before she reaches up and grabs my hood, yanking it off my head and making wild dark hair spill around my shoulders. In a move I’m not expecting, she wraps her fingers through my hair, twisting it in her grip and yanking my head to the side. The bite of pain has a ragged moan I can't control, breaking free as a burst of white-hot lust roars to life inside me.

“Release me,” I warn, my eyes shifting, my Beast pressing forward, wanting to challenge this Pup and take her for his own. “Meyer!” I hiss, my hands shaking as she presses up on her toes, bringing her even closer to me as she shakes her head, her tiny pink tongue darting out to lick her lips as she watches me closely.

“No,” she finally says, voice firm and commanding as her eyes release mine, dropping to my lips. “You don't get to push me around whenever you want, Razar. I won't let you. I hate when you do that.”

Her words should be a challenge… would typically set me and my Beast off on a killing rampage, but they don't. No, they do the complete opposite, and I know then that I’m fucked. This girl has somehow gotten under my skin and tamed my Beast enough thathe doesn’t want to kill her, but own her. Take her and consume her in every way possible.

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