Page 63 of Dark Prince's Captive

“Definitely the dinosaur periods,” she says with enthusiasm.“Which is why I was hoping you could show me more, um, dragons.”

“The dragons are dangerous.Going anywhere near them is strictly off-limits.”I keep my tone amiable but make sure there’s no doubt about how serious I am.“If I catch you anywhere near one, I’ll lock you in here indefinitely.”

Like a curtain falling, her eyes lose their spark and become shuttered.

A sudden rush of tenderness makes my question coaxing.“What’s the matter?”

She looks away.“Here, I’m nothing but a prisoner.”

I lean forward and take her hand.“No, Elsie.You’re not my prisoner.You’re not locked up in a cell in the dungeons.If you’re in my quarters, it’s because, one, I want to ensure your safety, and two, you’re my mate.”

She looks back at me, her eyes painfully bright.“Back home, I had dreams and a life.Yes, it might have been a short and mostly painful life, at least physically, but…” She bites her lip, unwilling to continue.

I stroke her knuckles with my thumb, enjoying the softness of her skin and the delicate bones of her tiny hand.Coaxing again.Willing her to continue, to open up to me like she did a heartbeat ago.“But what, my sweet?”

“But now that I’m no longer dying—which, by the way, I’m still trying to figure out—why can’t you send me back to Earth?”

I stiffen.“Is that what you want?”

“Yes!More than anything.You have no idea how much I miss my parents.Oh, you’d make me so happy if you sent me back.”

The sound of that is an acrid poison to swallow.Elsie doesn’t feel the pull like I do.Our bond is nothing to her.Her happiness lies not in our connection but in our separation.Indeed, our bond is so insignificant to her she’d rather run away from it, back to the life of horrors and pain she led.

It’s like a slap in the face.To be rejected by one’s own mate is the worst humiliation a man can suffer.

The sweet softness she instilled in me mere moments ago grows hard and bitter.At the prospect of losing her, a tide of possessiveness surges inside me.It turns me into a monster, a beast that will slay anything standing between him and his mate.

The polished reflection stone explodes, twinkling stars of silver flying through the air.

Elsie jerks and gasps, but she sits as still as a good little house pet, no longer tempting the beast.

I let her hand go and pull mine away, feeling the frosty loss of that contact all the way to the solid wall coating my heart.My voice reflects that cold hardness, the steely resolve and sharp rejection that beats in my chest.“Your place is here, Elsie.This is where you’ll stay.You’ve experienced the bond between us every time our clothes have come off.Lie to me about it if you’re such a coward, but at least be woman enough to admit it to yourself.”I stand, towering over her, over my mate who doesn’t want me.“We’ve said our vows.I drank to the toast.You will drink too.Only one thing remains, and that’s my possession of your body.I’ll give you until the end of this moon cycle to get used to the idea.”My hands curl involuntarily into fists.“But know this…When the moon is full, Iwilltake you as my mate, with or without your consent.”

She stares up at me with shock, her cheeks pale and her pink lips parted.

Unable to stand the clear message of revulsion that’s written all over her face, I leave her with that promise.

In ten and four nights, I’ll pin her beneath me, and before I’m done with her, she’ll beg on her knees for me to fuck her like an animal in heat.

Chapter14

Elsie

Conflict is new to me.My parents never got angry with me.They were too busy feeling sorry for me and grieving my slow demise.So needless to say, Aruan’s out-of-nowhere explosion has left me shaken.

A week passes during which we hardly speak, unless you count “good morning” and a stiff “good evening” as conversation.I sleep in his bed, but he doesn’t join me there.

Thankfully.

I have no idea where he’s sleeping and I have no intention of asking him.

He does try to keep me entertained.I can’t fault him for that.He had paints made from colorful sands.Together with brushes and some kind of bleached hides to serve as canvasses, he had them delivered to his quarters.

The materials are stacked in the corner, untouched.I’ve never been an artist.My talent in that domain is nonexistent.Not even boredom can drive me to paint stick men, even though the brushes are interesting.Fabricated with the tube-like stigmas of flowers, they move and wiggle, almost seeming to paint on their own.Judging by the size of them, those flowers must be enormous—at least the size of my head.

When coaxing me into painting didn’t work, he tried to tempt me with a game played with colorful seeds that hop all by themselves over a patterned board.The aim is to flick the seeds into holes carved into the wood that trap them so they’re unable to continue their hopping.Each seed color carries a certain value.The person who gets the most seeds of the highest value into the holes wins.I guess he summoned Gaia to play with me, who reported diligently for board game duty.She quickly gave up when she ended up playing the game by herself.

Aruan has even brought flowers and treats.At each mealtime, he delivers my favorite dishes, which he claims to make himself to protect me from further poisoning attempts.

---