I feel like I’ve been socked in the stomach. All the air leaves my body in a whoosh and I only stay standing because the island counter is close enough that I’m able to hold myself up. My thighs shake, the words that Jaak said hang in the air between us, and the potion comes to the fore once again. Lust washes over me, my clit aches and my thighs clench. I’ve never had a man touch me before, it wasn’t allowed with the destiny the cult forced on me.
I want everything Jaak is talking about. I’m curious about all of it. Could he do those things to me? My nipples ache, the line of desire moves through me straight down to my core where my clit pulses. I press my hands to my thighs and try to think straight but it's impossible with my body going crazy. All I have to do is think about what he just said and I’m primed to orgasm. There’s no explaining my body’s reaction to him, it just is.
I want him to do all of those things. I need him to.
“Meadow,” Jaak prompts me. The harsh edge of his voice sets me on fire. Gods, why does he sound so sexy just saying my name? It isn’t fair. How am I supposed to be reasonable or rational, or anything resembling a woman on a quest to save her friends and the world? Right now, I don’t care about the world’s fate or whatever freaky biz the Chamber of Commerce has going on with the mages. I care about right here and now with Jaak. This is all that matters.
I startle at his words, rub my palms on my thighs and try to calm down. “Yes, I-I understand.”
“You must go. Now.” Jaak thrusts a hand out in the direction of the door. He still hasn’t turned to me.
“No.”
I watch him go stone still. If I didn’t see the intake of his breath through the rise and fall of his shoulders I’d mistake him for a living statue.
“You are my prize, Meadow. I’ll not be able to protect you from myself. Not if you stay.
I raise my chin and cross my arms. The pressure against my breasts makes me suck in a sharp breath. It’s just my arms but it might as well be Jaak’s hands with how sensitive I feel right now.
“You can’t send me away. I want you just as much as you want me. I-I want you to do everything you said to me. All of it,” I tell him. A growl fills the room, it’s low and slow, it rolls through me like thunder. I know where it’s coming from. I’m so close to getting the wild side of Jaak that I’ve craved, that I’ve only seen in my dreams.
In all those dreams, he kept me safe. He’ll do the same tonight even if he thinks he won’t.
“You can’t force me away, Jaak. I refuse to go. I’m not hiding from you. This is my choice as your wife.”
Jaak slowly turns, he doesn’t face me all the way, his profile stares straight ahead. I watch my husband take in another breath and then he chuckles. I drink the dark and sweet sound of him up.
“If you are to stay with me, there is one thing you must do for me, wife.”
Wife.
He’s called me his wife before, but not like this. I hear what he says with that word. Mine. I love it. I love him. I want to be his.
“What is it?” I ask. I’m willing to do anything he asks, well, other than leave so I tell him that. “Don’t you dare think about telling me to leave again.”
“I wouldn’t. Not after you told me your wish but if you are to stay, you must not run.”
“What? What do you mean I must not run? From what?”
Jaak turns his head to look at me. His eyes aren’t brown anymore, they shine silver in the low light of the kitchen.
“Me.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
The first time I ran a mile was in middle school and I threw up when I finished. Buffy had to hold my hair and rub my back while I got sick a few feet away from the finish line while the rest of our class made fun of me. It was embarrassing.
“She’ll get faster one day. Leave her alone!”
That’s what Buffy had yelled at everyone until they all scattered. She was right. I did get faster and I haven’t puked once. I don’t know what made me do it when Jaak said not to. Maybe it was fight or flight, or maybe it was the part of me that knew exactly what his silver eyes meant that I took off the second he said not to run. I’ve been running for about five minutes now in a game of cat and mouse with Jaak. I’m smaller than he and quicker when it comes to slipping in and out of rooms.
At least, I am so far. Again, we’ve only been at this for five minutes. Time will tell how long I’m able to hold out or if I even want to hold out. I’m running with one goal in mind.
To be caught.
I pump my arms and force myself to go harder. I sprint down a hallway and rush up a hidden set of stairs that I didn’t notice until the house opened the door for me. Jaak isn’t far behind. He slams into the door the second it shuts behind me. I trip oncerushing up the small staircase when I hear him roar on the other side of the door.
“Meadow!”
