“What the fuck does that mean?” I said without a second of hesitation.
He watched me, clearly frustrated by my lack of knowledge.
“It means you’re bound to me, body and soul,” he said.
“Oh the fuck I am.” I shook my head. “Nope, I’m not bound to anyone or anything.”
“When you almost died, I gave you a piece of my soul. That makes you mine.”
“Then take it back,” I snapped. It was all too much.
“That’s not how it works,” he said. “You have to stay alive.”
I shook my head. “You didn’t think this through at all, did you?”
“You were dying. I made a call,” he said. “Would you rather I let you die?”
“I mean maybe,” I said out of frustration. At least that explained all the lustful thoughts and feelings.
“That’s not connected to the marking,” he said, watching me.
“So you can hear my thoughts.” I narrowed my eyes. I fucking hate everything about your stupid face. You can’t keep me here.
“That’s not very nice and I can and I will,” he said, grabbing my arm. “Now, act like you want to be here for tonight so no one else will want to claim you for themselves.”
“I thought I was yours,” I snapped.
“The marking lays claim, but there’s more to it than that. You’re protected from the human world. This one is still a danger.”
“Then I should go back to the room,” I said through gritted teeth and tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong.
“I won’t be there so no, you won’t be going there,” he said pulling me closer to him. “The only place you’re going to be safe is with me. So, suck it up.”
I had no way to know if anything he was telling me was true. I could stomp off and go back to the room, but if he was right, I could be setting myself up for a worse night then just staying with him. But then I’d have to look at his stupid mesmerizing face.
“Fine, but there better be drinks,” I pulled my arm away from him.
“I will hold your hand at all times,” he said, grabbing my wrist. “That way no one can steal you away.”
I snorted. “Cuz that happens all the time.”
“Yes, it does,” he said.
I lost most of my humor and thought about what could happen if someone else took me I didn’t know here. They would have full control over me. I’d be their slave. The thought of being on my knees, hands bound and looking up at someone morphed into looking up at Ben and I felt a wave of energy in my lower region. It wasn’t just arousal, but power.
“Stop that,” he said. I glanced at him.
“Stop reading my thoughts.”
“It’s hard when you’re blaring them so loudly.” He paused. “If you want to be on your knees so badly with your hands bound, there’s plenty of time later.”
“You’re a dick.”
“It’s your thoughts, princess.”
There’s that pet name again. I hated it so much, but didn’t protest when he said it again. There wasn’t much point when he had total control of what happened to me next.
“We can stay up here if you like, rather than going back into all the people,” he said.
“You couldn’t have led with that?” I glared at him and he smiled slightly. “What?”
“Most people don’t push back the way you do. It’s kind of nice to know how you feel.”
“What? You can’t read my mind,” I mocked.
“It’s not like that,” he said. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Try,” I snapped. I watched him as his gaze dropped, the first time I saw any kind of vulnerability in him. It made me soften just a little. “I want to understand since I’m in the middle of all this.”
He hesitated and glanced at the people talking and laughing below. “Not here,” he said. “Very few people know about this and I want to keep it that way.”
I sighed and turned towards the ballroom below. It was amazingly beautiful here, but there was a feeling of dread in the air I couldn’t quite put my finger on. These beings were powerful but they were scared of something.
“When will I be allowed to go back,” I said again. I’d asked this a million times, but one thing I knew was if you were annoying enough, people would listen to you.
“We talked about this. Once the Vampires are dead.”
“There’s always going to be a Vampire. That’s a never ending thing.” I didn’t look at him.
“They will back down once the head one is dead. We’ll make an example of him,” he said with bite in his voice.
“You don’t like Vampires, do you?”
“They are horrible creatures that do nothing for the world.”
“And you do?” I challenged, finally looking his way.
“How do you think you have access to the darker sides of magick?” He smiled slightly and my stomach tumbled. That damn smile was going to undo me. “Without us going in and out of your world, you’d lose touch with the dark.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Not if you want to keep your magick overall.” He shook his head. “If we left your world completely, you’re magick would slowly die. There would be no more Witches to defend your world.” He paused for a moment as a light haired woman wearing a light blue ball gown walked past. She was arm in arm with a dark haired shadow man.
“Wait, she’d human,” I whispered.
“Did you think you were the only one here?” He chuckled. “We take human wives from time to time. You’re a bit of a delacesy here.”
I did not like being compared to a meal but maybe that was how they thought about humans. As a toy to play with for a while and then they were just there are traded around like pets.
“You’re not a pet,” he said and I snapped my gaze to his. “Unless you want to be?”
“Stop that,” I said without thinking.
“Jess, you’re safe with me, I promise.” He watched me and I swore I could read something in his gaze. Lust, desire, possession, I wasn’t sure, but a part of me wanted to know and wanted to know right now.