Page 9 of A Debt of Darkness

We can’t carry on like this.

I need to know she’s mine and she needs to accept her place.

I need her to submit but I want her to do it freely. Of her own volition. It’s a complete contradiction to my nature. I’d never offer this to any other human, especially not one as tempting as her. My instincts fight against themselves, telling me to treat her like any other pet and put her on a pedestal because she’s my mate.

Ryan shakes his head and pleads with me not to do this. It’s another thing we discussed in the last twenty-four hours. Yet another dilemma I faced as I watched her sleeping peacefully, wishing I’d exhausted her while I debated sedating her and fucking her while she couldn’t fight me.

“I’d prefer we followed my family’s customs.”

Making it a tradition is the easiest way to introduce the concepts to her. We can deal with specifics later. When she starts asking questions, I can guide her through it. She shouldhave accepted our bond by then, and that should make it easier for her—and for me.

Her eyes widen for a split second before she regains her composure. It’s a relief to know I’m not the only one affected and I wonder if it’s right to be so happy when she’s so miserable. But then she shrugs and I want to shake her until she does something—anything—as long as it isn’t this. I don’t care what her reaction is as long as she gives me one, because any reaction tells me she’s responding to me.

I’ll take anything over nothing. Anything over this.

“Fine.” She huffs.

“We’re agreed then.”

Her weight shifts and I hear her heart racing. She’s panicking. I smell the fear seeping from her. Ivy’s terrified and yet she refuses to show me one sign of it. Her demeanor hasn’t changed, and if all I knew was what I could see, then I’d never guess how damn scared she is. I wouldn’t know unless I was a vampire.

Fuck, she’s stunning. More than that, she’s magnificent.

She’s brave and smart. Cunning and quick. She’s more beautiful inside than out, and I want to peel all her layers back. I want to know her in her bones, feel her every thought or emotion. I’m desperate to know every curve and line of her body and how every inch of her tastes.

I want her, and it’s dangerous. Especially as she’s human and she doesn’t feel our connection. Not yet. Not until I’ve won her heart.

She’s a weakness in every way, and I adore her because of it. I’ve never wanted anyone or anything as much, and it’s so damn tempting to leap over the desk between us and claim her. I’d be gentle if she’d let me be. I’d give her a moment to accept me. Then I’d fuck her until she screamed my name and lost her goddamn mind in the pleasure I’d give her.

It's so tempting. So easy. Too easy, perhaps.

A little nip and a touch of venom would ease her through it. It would be a kindness, really. She’d be less afraid and the ecstasy would be greater. A moment of pain for a lifetime of pleasure. I’d make sure she was taken care of. I’d please her. I’d adore her.

I'd have her in my thrall and I could play with her. Ivy would be the play thing she was meant to be, but more than that, she'd be mine.

“We’ll have a small ceremony. Today.”

Ivy’s mouth drops and her heart pounds so hard that Ryan stiffens. Her head shakes and the façade crumbles. She didn’t expect this. She doesn’t want this. She’s crawling up her seat away from me as if she’s rejecting me.

I growl instinctively and it’s a mistake.

She panics and her lip trembles as her already pale skin whitens.

“No.” Her voice is firm and her decision is definitive. She doesn't want this. She's made her wishes perfectly clear. My jaw ticks again and I decide her needs trump her wants. My needs trump her wants.

“You've agreed. A small ceremony is better.”

“Not today,” she says, her voice edged with desperation for the first time.

“Today is perfect. We'll have a bigger ceremony later.”

The remaining color drains from her face and the blood pooling in her chest excites me.

“We're not ready. I don't have a dress. Nothing's ready.”

Gods, she's shaking and I want to pull her against me. I crave the feeling of her little heart pounding against my chest and I shift, earning myself a stern warning glance from Ryan.

“We will be by sunset. It'll be perfect. I promise.”

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