Page 44 of Ruled By The Alpha

His expression hardened. “I will not go back to what I was—and neither will you. There will be no more hiding. I will keep you safe. You are too important.”

Her? Important? “I… I thought I was just prey.” She had never been anything else.

His expression turned ferocious. “You are everything.”

The heart she thought so safe from ambush stuttered and then started up again, double time, exposed in a way she had never experienced before. Could it be he truly did not see her as only prey or a vessel for his lust?

“You will think on my words and see by my actions I am giving you the truth.” Without warning, he was up and moving.

Her curiosity grew.

What was he up to now?

The more she watched, the more confused she became. Especially when he pulled something wrapped in a hide from beneath some rocks. With his broad back turned to her, she couldn’t see what he was about.

Suddenly, he spun around.

She caught the triumphant look on his face first. Then her gaze slipped downward and she saw what was in his hands. A polished bone plate and, on top, chunks of meat, a handful of bright red stara berries, and a hollowed-out bowl with liquid inside it.

Surprise shot through her. Food and drink.

Her stomach rumbled.

The pleased look on his face increased.

He moved to the middle of the floor and placed his offerings just below where she floated. Then, he stepped away, backing up until his spine hit the wall.

Wrapping his massive arms around his chest, biceps bunching, he simply waited. Studying her. The trap set.

Did he really think it would be that easy? Her stomach rumbled again, the sides of her throat sticking together, her thirst suddenly greater than it had been before.

Maybe it actually was.

She drifted closer. There was no use denying a part of her was softening despite herself.

No one has ever looked at me like that before.

I like this happy.

You will come down and we will both have this happiness feeling as you rock against my cock.

He was such a maddening, disarming mix of dominant, outrageous, honest, and—she almost could not believe she was adding this—sweet. She no longer believed he would tear her apart. The truth was, all he’d done was ruin her with unimaginable pleasure and give her the kind of hope and power she’d never had before.

“You will eat and drink this.” He stepped back until his spine hit the wall. “You are losing energy and need this to keep control while floating.”

Her stomach contracted, rumbling in response. How long had it been since she’d eaten or drunk? Too long.

She swallowed hard.

“I will not seize you when you come to get it. You have my word.”

She eyed him. Eyed the food. Could she trust him?

“I am fast,” he told her, “but you are faster. I won’t try anything. You may have these offerings freely. But if I lie, you can still get away. I feel the power in you. It is quicker even than my own abilities at evasion.”

The force inside her sparked higher, as if proving the truth of his words. She was fast.

But was she confident enough to test the word of a beserketh?

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