Page 4 of Forced Vampire Mate

“You already had your wedding night,” I told him. “You don’t get to touch me again.”

To the outside, his expression didn’t change. Only I saw the way his eyes hardened. “Is that so?”

“It is. You are the only man whom I will ever give myself to, but you will not have me again, Luken. We will have a marriage, but it will be sexless.” I told him calmly and plainly, not bothering to try to hide my feelings from my voice. My face, though, was completely enamored. The many people watching us would think we were whispering the sweet nothings of newlyweds.

Luken’s arms tightened around me. “Are you testing me, Elara? Seeing how far you can push me?”

“Nothing of the sort. I’m telling you exactly how I feel,” I answered. I curled my fingers into his hair, and he shivered, his eyes half-sliding shut. A surge of power went through me, to see how he responded to such a simple touch. But whatever limited power I had here wasn’t enough. “Hell will freeze over before I go to your bed or let you into mine.”

Luken laughed breathlessly. “There’s a lot we can get up to without any beds involved.”

“Ugh, don’t be so literal.” I rolled my eyes.

“Hell will freeze over, will it?” A dark challenge entered his gaze as he spun us some more. My hair flowed out around us, whipping toward him. His hair did the same, and together, it made a circle around the two of us. “I can arrange that.”

A spark of heat lit in my stomach. He could; I was certain of that. Which only made it more frustrating. I pressed my lips together as I struggled to reign myself back in. I wasn’t going to let my hormones get the best of me. I’d trusted him before, and look where it got me. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

“If you can make hell freeze over, why can’t you save my sister?” I asked him, my voice low.

Luken’s motions didn’t slow, but some of the spark left his eyes. He sighed. “I’m not going to promise you something just to get you into bed. Besides, even if I told you right now that I’m working on a plan to save her, would you believe me?”

“No.”

He spun me again and brought me even closer to him. “There you have it, then. Why should I waste words on something you don’t trust me with? I will prove myself to you. You will come back to my bed, I assure you. Once I’ve shown you with my actions what you won’t believe from my words.”

What did he mean by that? If he was trying to be reassuring, it had the opposite effect. I tensed, and it took everything I had to remind myself that I couldn’t yank myself away from him, not in front of all these people.

“Do you think marrying me means that my body belongs to you? Is that what you’re getting at?” I hissed.

Luken’s head dropped toward mine, as though he was going to kiss me. But it was only to hide my expression from the people still watching us. His nose traced over my cheekbone.

“You belong to me as much as I belong to you, Elara. You hate me, but you still want me. I’m cruel, but I don’t want you until you want to want me.” He pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead. “Do you regret the night we spent together? If you could go back, would you stop yourself?”

I bit my lip, hating that he’d asked me that. The truth of it was that I wasn’t sure.

He searched my gaze for a moment before he sighed. “Perhaps I was too hasty. Perhaps you and I need to spend more time getting to know each other. I always assumed that my mate would understand me perfectly without words or actions. My assumptions have hurt you.”

Why did my heart have to flutter at his words? Why did I have to believe that he didn’t want to hurt me? That he longed for that fairytale love that I used to dream about? He was a vampire king, used to getting anything he wanted. He didn’t have the same dreams as the naïve eighteen-year-old I’d been four years ago.

“Let us put the conversation aside,” Luken said, his voice soft again. “I won’t try to seduce my unwilling wife. I can wait. Iwillwait. You’ll soon be begging for me, just like you did before,” he said, his lips twitching into a smile.

I gaped at him. Heat flooded my cheeks, and I barely refrained from yanking myself from his arms. All his talk about wanting me to want to want him. Proving I could trust him. And he ended it like that? With that arrogance that said he could override my wishes and wants and put that desire in me?

My nostrils flared. “You’ll be waiting forever, Luken.”

“We’ll see,” he laughed.

The music ended, and he stepped back, his body leaving mine. Only his hand remained in mind. He bent over it formally and laughed again, his eyes sparkling. If I wasn’t so humiliated, I might have found it attractive—or been curious about what made him so certain. But the anger bubbling inside of me was dwarfed by the chill that stole over my skin from no longer being in his arms.

Even now, when I didn’t want him to touch me, I still wanted him to hold me. And I hated him even more for making me feel like this.

“Thank you all for celebrating my wedding,” Luken called to the gathered crowd. “We are so pleased that you have joined us for these heady celebrations. Now, let’s get this party into full swing. Maestro!” He called, turning to the orchestra that had been playing. “Give us something lively!”

Luken kissed my cheek as a modern song started to play. He winked at me and whispered, “Try not to look like you want to murder me, my dear. I don’t think that will go over very well.”

“Bastard,” I hissed back.

But by then, he’d already released my hand. He moved off with a group of kings from other kingdoms, all of them slapping each other’s backs and congratulating him. I plastered a smile on my face and turned to greet the women who came to flock around me, his words ringing in my ear. I had to get out of here. I had to escape this gilded cage. I had to prove him wrong, to show him I was more than he thought I was.

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