Page 12 of Kidnapped Rejected Mate
I use what magic is available to me—now that I’m using it, it’s starting to feel like I’m scraped clean—and force it into my muscles, boosting my movement off the bed and toward the door.
Still, when my hand lands on the doorknob, Soren is already on me, his arms encircling me, pulling me back into him.
I gasp at the contact, at the way it zaps through me, wholly electric and consuming.
All this time and space between us was good for one thing—it allowed me to forget the magic of his touch. The feeling that consumes me, like it’s only right for him to have his hands on me, is intoxicating.
“Aurela,” he breathes hotly into my ear, making me shiver again. “Don’t fight me. You won’t win.”
I open my mouth, wanting to tell him that he’s wrong—that I’m stronger than he thinks. That with my magic, I could hurt him and get away instantly.
But there’s something wrong with my magic right now. It’s not right there, bubbling under my skin like it normally is.
And I know it must have something to do with what happened with Tara in the woods.
Five minutes later, he’s wrestled me back onto the bed. I’ve mostly let him, breathing hard and desperately trying to redirect my mind to other thoughts so my heat doesn’t start right here and now.
When he’s done, he staggers back, shaking his head and looking at me like he doesn’t even know me.
He doesn’t. I’m not the same girl I was when he decided he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. The years have changed me. Physically, obviously, but in more ways than that.
“Did. You. Start. The. Fire?” Soren grits out.
I press my lips together, sitting up as well as I can against the back of the bed. “Fuck you,” I spit. “Untie me!”
“No!” He throws his hands in the air, gesturing wildly to somewhere outside the cabin, his eyes wide, wholly shocked at the way I’m talking to him. “Do you even understand what’s at stake here?”
“I understand that I want nothing to do with you, Soren, and you need to let me goright now.”
“I can’t, Aurela. Not until you answer some questions.”
He seems to force himself to take a deep breath, turning for a second, and I watch the muscles in his back shift under his shirt as he does. I force myself to look away, not to focus on his strength, on the body that’s continuing to change without me, too.
Back when I had access to his body, he was a teenager with burgeoning muscles and facial hair. Now, everything is done developing, and I missed all of it.
“What were you doing with Tara in the woods?” I hear him say, and when he turns back around, his face is neutral, like he’s only just managed to get control of himself. The emotions from earlier—hurt, temptation—are gone.
“It’s none of your business where I was, or what I was doing,” I bite back, body shaking with rage. Where the hell does he get off, kidnapping me and trapping me here? “This is acrime, Soren. You need to let me go.”
“Why are you being so cagey about what you were doing?”
“Because I don’t have to answer to you! What is this—is Xeran just going to be Declan again? With a little group that can run around and do whatever they want?”
Soren’s face darkens, and his jaw goes tight as he looks at me. Apparently, mentioning Xeran is setting him off. When hesays nothing, I stare straight ahead at the side of the refrigerator and try to reason with him.
“My parents will be wondering where I am, Soren. Do you remember them? Do you remember who my family is? They’re going to befuriouswhen they find out you’re holding me hostage. Let. Me. Go.”
To my surprise, Soren doesn’t say anything, though he doesn’t come closer to undoing my bindings. Instead, he crosses the room to where I almost can’t see him, grabbing a coat from the wall and pulling it on quickly, rage written all over his face as he does.
“I’m going,” he says. “And when I come back, you’d better be ready to fucking answer me, Aurela.”
“Wait,” I protest. “Soren—you can’t just leave me here—”
But he opens the door and slams it behind him before I can even finish what I’m saying.
I sit in the quiet of the cabin, entire body trembling, trying to figure out what in the hells just happened.
And more importantly, how I’m going to get the fuck out of here.
