Page 26 of Bound

He’s so frustrating. He’s the essence of the dominantpartner. It’s in everything he does. Why does he deny it? I settle down.There’s no way I’m getting away from him tonight. He sets his face against thenape of my neck. His warmth is so sweet. I find myself pulled in again.

I’m leaving in the morning. Earlier he explained that he’sgoing to get up at dawn and find some breakfast for us. While he’s hunting,I’ll leave. Dante’s wrong. It’s not up to me to train Beck. It’s not up to meto teach him that it isn’t wrong to love the way he wants to. He won’t listen,and I’ll end up hating him and myself.

So I’ll leave, and he can find a more proper bondmate.

“Good night, love,” he whispers in my ear.

I’m silent because good night means good-bye, and I can’tbring myself to say the words.

Chapter Ten

Meg

I wake the minute he leaves the small nest we sleptin. I felt him disentangle himself and missed the heat of his body. He drapedhimself around me all through the night, tangling our limbs together. It’s thebest sleep I’ve gotten in a long time.

I stay still, listening as he dresses, rebuilds the fire,and prepares to hunt for breakfast. He leans over and kisses me softly beforehe stalks off to find food.

The sweetness of his actions almost makes me reconsider whatI’m about to do.

Almost.

I force myself to count to one hundred before getting up andtossing on my clothes. I pull on the boots last and then retrieve the saddlebagDante gave me the day before. There’s food and a canteen, and what looks like afirst aid kit. He also slipped his business card in. It declares him Head ofthe Green Sales Unit. Ah, used car salesman to the core. There are a few otherthings I don’t recognize, but I throw the bag over my shoulder and wonder whichway to go. I decide on south, since I can make it back to the market. ObviouslyI’m not planning on going to the market since they would likely call up Beck toretrieve his wayward property, but perhaps there will be someone on the roadwho can help me.

As I begin to walk, I wonder how Beck will take me leaving.My heart hurts when I think of him. How could I get so close to someone in solittle time? He’s a heartbreak waiting to happen. He can’t accept himself. Howwill he ever accept me? The endless forest seems to fly by as I walk briskly,unable to get my mind off the faery prince.

He’s a victim of his own success. He’s proven to me, onceand for all, what I want in a relationship. Then he turns around and tells mehe won’t give it to me. I’ve suspected for a while that I prefer to besubmissive during sex. I’m not sure how I feel about submission outside of thebedroom, and that’s the reality that gives me pause when I contemplate jumpinginto the lifestyle. It’s probably asking far too much to get what I want in thebedroom and remain autonomous outside of it.

I’ve been walking for a good half an hour when I suddenlyfeel disoriented. I’ve seen that tree before. Right? I thought I was walking ina straight line, but I’m almost certain I’ve been here. Panic starts to grow. Ican’t find the path. This isn’t the one we’d taken the day before, and it seemsto get narrower and narrower. I squint, trying to see ahead. Does it stop?

What the hell am I doing? I’m not nature girl. I don’t hike.I really don’t hike in faery forests. Yes, there’s the panic attack. I can feelmy heart beating a hundred miles a minute. I’m lost, and I swear I can feeleyes on me. I turn, but everywhere I look is exactly the same. That’sdefinitely the same tree. It leans the same way as the other one. Which way amI supposed to go?

Dante told me these woods are dangerous. I thought he wasexaggerating to make me stay close to Beck, but now I feel real fear.

Oh, why had I ever left the comfort of our bed?

It’s stupid decisions like this that always get me introuble. I’m impetuous. I get lost at DFW airport, but I think I can navigateon an entirely different plane of existence? I should have waited until we madeit to Beck’s village. Maybe there, I could have hired a guide or something.What the hell am I doing walking through the woods alone?

I should have stayed with Beck and helped his brother. AfterI save his brother, he’ll be reasonable and help me find my way home. This wasan act of pure arrogance. Or desperation. I wanted to spare my heart, but itlooks like I’ve put much more at risk.

“Can I help you, miss?”

The sound makes me start in pure terror. I spin around andbarely miss clocking the little man with my twirling bag. Naturally I end up onmy ass in the dirt, looking up at the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. Given myrecent travails, that’s saying something.

He’s small, no more than four feet tall, with a stocky body.He’s barrel-chested with squat legs. His torso is the longest part of him. Hisface is dominated by a large, doughy nose, and his skin has splotches of yellowacross it. He seriously needs to get his liver checked.

The suit he wears is the most disconcerting thing about him,though. It’s a brilliant, vibrant red. From the top hat on his head to thesocks and shoes on his small feet, every piece of clothing he wears is red. Theman brushes invisible lint off his coat and shakes the tails out. They trailalong the dirt. He looks down at me, waiting for a response.

“I’m lost,” is the only thing I can think to say.

The red man cocks a bushy eyebrow. His accent is evenheavier than Beck’s. “Are you, now? And here I was thinking you were out for apleasant walk in the woods.”

I shake my head. “I need to get back to the marketplace.”

The red man frowns. “And why would you need to do that? See,I was thinking a girl like you would prefer to go home to the Earth plane.”

On this announcement, the red man turns and begins walkingdown the path. I scramble to my feet to chase after him. Can he really get mehome?

Do I want to go home? Of course I do. Don’t I? The idea ofBeck’s brother dying without my help weighs on me. Shouldn’t I try to help? Ishove the question aside for the moment.