But then he rips off part of a vine and advances on me with vengeance on his face.
My heart jerks, and I try to back away before I remember that there is a thick tree blocking my way. I yank against the vines keeping my hands trapped above my head, but they still refuse to budge. Draven closes the final distance between us.
“No, wait,” I blurt out, pressing myself against the tree. But there is no escape from the Shadow of Death. “Draven, wait, I?—”
He shoves the vine between my teeth and ties it firmly behind my head. I growl curses at him, but it only comes out as muffled noise, so I try to stomp my heel down on his foot instead. He answers by wrapping his hand around my throat again.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he declares, authoritydripping from his dark voice. “You’re going to stay here while I go back in there and eat my dinner in peace. Then, I’m going to come back here and do one of two things. Either I’m going to untie you, or I’m going to blindfold you as well and leave you here for the rest of the night. Which option I choose depends on how you behave when I return. Understood?”
I glare back at him and silently promise to make him pay for this when he’s back to normal again.
“I suggest nodding.” He gives me a look pulsing with command. “Or we’re already going to be off to a bad start.”
While narrowing my eyes at the domineering bastard, I force myself to nod.
Releasing my throat, he gives my cheek a couple of mocking pats. “Good girl.”
Annoyance and desire flash through me. But before I can do anything else, Draven turns around and strides out of the tangle of trees and back down to the dining room.
It takes him twenty minutes to return.
Part of me had begun to worry that he wasn’t going to come back. But the smug smirk on his face when he strides back into the woods informs me that he was rather looking forward to this part.
I, however, spent the first few minutes of his absence planning how to play this. I want to bait him. Desperately. Both because I hate losing to his power plays and because I’m hoping that it might trigger another flare of emotions that will tug on our mate bond.
But unfortunately, I know that he is being dead serious with his threats. If I don’t do what he wants, he will blindfold me and leave me tied up here. That massive flame of unnatural hatred in his chest makes sure of it.
If he doesn’t untie me, it means that I will have to wait for one of our other companions to find me. And I would rather eat a live snake than suffer the mortification of being found like this byany of them. Which unfortunately leaves me with only one choice.
Wicked anticipation glitters in Draven’s eyes as he comes to a halt before me. I glare back at him while I still can. Amusement tugs at his lips as he reaches up and starts undoing the knot on the vine that gags me. But when it’s free, he doesn’t immediately remove it. Instead, he locks commanding eyes on me.
“When I remove this, your first words had better be,I apologize for my temper.”
I hold his stare in angry silence since there is nothing else I can do.
At last, he lowers his hands and removes the vine from between my teeth. I draw in a deep breath.
Then I force out, “I apologize for my temper.”
“Good.” His eyes glint in the now almost entirely dark forest. “Now, beg me to untie you.”
I can’t stop myself from glaring at him, but I manage to press out, “Please untie me.”
He arches a dark eyebrow. “You hold your chin quite highly for someone who is begging.”
Curling my fingers into fists, I try desperately to hold on to my temper. After taking a deep breath that does very little to calm me down, I slowly lower my chin and drop my gaze to his boots. “Please untie me.”
“Are you going to obey my orders and never bring up that damn rock wall again?”
If he weren’t so much taller than me, I would’ve headbutted him.
“Answer me,” he commands. “Are you going to obey?”
“Yes,” I grind out, still glaring down at his boots.
“Yes, what?”
My heart skips a beat and heat floods my core. “Yes, sir.”
