Just as Emira was about to escape, Zen caught her wrist. Emira stiffened as she realised that something was very wrong. The man seemed to be furious... And not just about Lyra trying to attack her. Her instincts had been screaming at her to escape... It was why she had hurriedly said goodbye to...
Emira stiffened.. She’d addressed him as ’your highness’. He couldn’t have heard that right?
She tried to free her hand but his grip was strong and unyielding, making her stumble back a step.
Before she could think of some other way of pulling away, he tugged her sharply that she lost her balance and fell face first into his chest. The movement knocked the breath from her lungs. His other hand came up, and cupped her neck, making her look up at him.
She blinked. His eyes looked thunderous. Grey and yet dark. As if his wolf was just below the surface. And then he spoke in a rough voice that sent shivers down her spine, "What did I tell you about calling me ’Your Highness’?"
He tilted his head slightly, mouth close enough that she could feel the heat of his breath. "If you want a kiss, just say so, Little Fire. No need for using titles between us."
Emira opened her mouth, ready to stammer her denial and to insist she didn’t mean it that way. But before the words could leave her, Zen’s mouth was already on hers, nibbling at her lips as if he wanted a bite out of them. Emira tried to protest, even as her hands instinctively came to push against his shoulders. But the sheer force of him overwhelmed her. And her resistance wavered.
And then, against all reason, she yielded. She let him kiss her because that is what her body wanted.
Zen deepened the kiss instantly, as if that surrender was all he had been waiting for. The world blurred. She felt nothing but the rough press of his mouth, the solid weight of his chest, the cage of his arms. For a moment, she drowned in him, forgetting the fear, the wounds, even the humiliation of minutes before.
But then it happened. Her body betrayed her. A shudder rippled through her chest as she tried to move closer... It reminded her of Lyra’s cruel words. That, whether she wanted to not, her body would always answer the Alpha’s call. She pulled back... not physically but mentally. Yes. Her body was already reacting to his, wanting to get closer to him but her mind rebelled.
Prince Zen broke the kiss then. Even though he was as immersed in the kiss as she had been, he seemed to have sensed her agitation...
She looked up at him... And even though she did not want to cry and show him her vulnerability, she could not stop the tears that filled her eyes. She didn’t want to be at her body’s mercy.
***
Tears.
Prince Zen looked down at her swollen mouth and the tears in her eyes and let out a curse in his heart. Dam* it! This was little fire. She was not supposed to cry!
Something inside him cracked. He let out a low growl of frustration and pulled away letting his hand falling from her face and then stepped back and turned away. "Go. Just go."
With that one command, he turned his head away and turned to walk towards the forest. He needed a good run or a good fuck! Since the latter was out of the question for now, it would have to be the former.
***
Emira stood frozen for a moment, the echo of his kiss still lingering on her lips, her chest aching from the sudden loss of his warmth. Her tears still ran hot down her cheeks, but now confusion mingled with them. His abrupt change had been too sudden.
Before she could think better of it, her feet moved on their own. She chased him. She didn’t know why but she did not want him to go wherever he was going at this point.
"Wait!" she called as she ran after him.. She caught up to him and reached out, grabbing his wrist the way he had seized hers earlier.
He stopped. Slowly, he turned his head and looked down at her hand wrapped around him.
Emira had to forcefully suppress the urge to let go of his hand. Gathering her courage, she asked, "Are you okay?"
For some reason, her voice came out small and uncertain.. She didn’t know why she was asking. But something told her that he was not okay. And letting him go would be a mistake.
Zen let out a short, humorless laugh. His mouth curled into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
"Little Fire," he said softly, almost gently, "if you don’t want to be f*cked senseless right here, I suggest you scram from this place in the next ten seconds."
The words dropped like stones in the air between them, heavy and crude, but threaded with a rawness that made her heart stutter.
Ans she knew she should run away. The words had been said as a warning to make her run away. But as she looked into his eyes, she knew that it was not the case. And his next words confirmed it," What? Didn’t your ex pack mate just taunt you about being a wh*re, unable to control her urges?"
Emira looked away, but did not let go of his hand. Whatever it was that was troubling him, would not harm her, she was sure of that. So, she shook his wrist and stubbornly asked," Are you okay?"
He didn’t answer. Instead, he caught her wrist and made her let go of his hand, prying her fingers open one by one.
And then, before she could react or repeat her question, he hauled her up with effortless strength and slung her over his shoulder.
"See what happens when you don’t let go... when given the chance."