"You don't own me Liam."
He turned to watch another group of people coming down the hill. "Sera, you belong with me."
"I know that just as well as you do, but you don't own me and you can't dictate my life."
"If your life is in jeopardy, then I can, and will dictate it!"
Her chin was thrust out as she finally turned to look at him. "No, you won't. You will talk to me about it, and we will decide together, but you are not going to order me around. I won't have it, especially not in front of your friends."
Liam ground his jaw as he tried to keep a firm hold on his fraying patience. "I will not let you be injured, and if that means that I have to tell you what to do, then you are going to do it."
Sera launched to her feet, her hands fisted as she rounded on him. "No I won't!"
"You're just being obstinate now." He was staggered when her eyes flashed with red.
She couldn't believe that he was treating her like this, that he was saying this to her. "I am not being obstinate. I'm telling you that you will not treat me like some possession that you can walk all over, and tell what to do. I am my own person Liam, and so help me God if you keep this up, I really will go find Beth, and..."
Sera was cut off in mid-tirade as he seized hold of her arms. She started in surprise; she'd never even seen him move. He lifted her so that she was eye level with him. "I'm telling you right now that you don't want to finish that sentence. You will stay away from Beth, and as long as there is any threat to you, you will listen to me!"
"Liam..."
"No!" His eyes were filled with torment. "If something were to ever happen to you..."
He broke off as she laid a hand against his cheek. His eyes instantly returned to their brilliant emerald color. "Nothing is going to happen to me," she vowed. "But you can't treat me like this Liam, you just can't. I can't live like that, not forever; I won't live like that forever." His eyes flashed again as his jaw clenched. "Talk to me, don't order me."
He dropped his head to rest against hers. "Sera, when it comes to this, I can't help but order you around," he admitted with a ragged breath. "I am the one that will protect you, and keep you safe. I have too."
Some of Sera's resentment began to melt as she realized that he wasn't trying to be cruel, or unkind to her, he just couldn't bear the thought of losing her. When it came to the issue of her safety the beast in him was just below the surface, and able to break free at a moment's notice. "All right," she relented. "But could you at least try and talk to me, instead of treating me like I'm an idiot."
"You're not an idiot, you're infuriating," he groaned.
Sera frowned at him as he lifted his head to smile at her. "I am not!" she protested.
He lowered her back to the floor. "You're infuriating... aggravating...tempting...and completely irresistible."
He punctuated each of his words with a kiss. By the time he was done, Sera's anger was gone, and her body was beginning to burn with desire. She twined her arms around his neck as she smiled seductively and pressed her body against his.
"And you are just as infuriating, aggravating, tempting, and completely irresistible," she whispered as she brushed her mouth against his.
His lips seared into hers, melting her clear down to her toes as she sighed in delicious contentment. Her fingers stroked the nape of his neck as she opened her mouth to his invasion. "Hey... Oh for God's sake get a room. The party's starting!"
Sera pulled reluctantly away to face Kathleen. She stood in the doorway with her hands planted on her hips as she grinned at them. "Hi Kathleen," Liam greeted.
She shot him a disgruntled look before turning back to Sera. "Well, come on."
"We're coming, we're coming," Sera assured her.
"Sera," Liam growled in her ear.
She frowned at him as she cast a glance out the window. "The sun has set."
His head jerked to the window. "Fuck!"
Sera stroked his cheek in an attempt to soothe him. "It will be all right," she assured him.
"You stay close to me."
"I will," she promised but the tension in his gaze didn't ease.
