Chapter 5: Breaking Point

 POV: Valerian

Everything goes silent.

Then something inside me roars with approval.

Yes. She fights. She's strong. She's perfect.

I turn my head back slowly and touch my jaw. The skin is already healing, but I can still feel where her palm connected.

"Feel better?" I ask.

"Not even close," she snaps. "You're insufferable."

I laugh and can't help it. The sound rumbles up from my chest.

"What's so funny?"

"You." I take a step closer and she has nowhere to go. "You just slapped a Lycan King. Most people would be executed for that."

Her face goes pale.

"But not you," I continue. "You know why?"

"Because you're insane?"

"Because I like it." I lean in. "You fight back. You don't cower. You don't submit. Even when you should be terrified, you're still looking for ways to hurt me."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"It's the truth." My hand comes up slowly, giving her time to pull away.

She doesn't.

I cup her face again and tilt her chin up so she has to look at me.

"Most women would have fainted by now," I say softly. "Or begged. Or tried to manipulate me into letting them go. But you? You slap me."

"You deserved it."

"I know." I lean down and let my lips brush her temple, not a kiss, just barely touching. "And I'll probably deserve worse before this is over."

She shivers and I feel it run through her whole body.

"What do you want from me?" she whispers.

"Everything."

"I can't give you that."

"You will. Eventually." I pull back and look at her face, flushed and breathing hard. "Because every time I'm near you, you lean a little closer. Every time I touch you, you tremble a little less. You're already starting to give in, Aria. You just don't want to admit it yet."

"You're wrong."

"Am I?" I let my hand trail down her throat gently, and my thumb rests on her pulse. "Then why is your heart racing right now?"

"Because you're touching me."

"Exactly." I lean in with my lips hovering over hers again. "And you're not stopping me."

Her hands come up and press against my chest, but she doesn't push. Her fingers curl into my skin instead, gripping.

"I should push you away," she says.

"But you won't."

"Why not?"

"Because you want this as much as I do." I let my lips brush the corner of her mouth. "You just hate that you want it."

She makes a sound, small and frustrated, need wrapped in denial.

That sound nearly destroys me.

My hands move to the wall on either side of her head and claws dig into stone, because if I touch her any more, I'll lose what's left of my control.

"What are you doing?" Her voice is breathless.

"Stopping myself."

"From what?"

"From kissing you until you forget every reason you think you should leave."

Her breath catches. "You can't just..."

"I can and I want to. More than I've wanted anything in my entire life." I press my forehead against hers. "But I won't. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because when I finally kiss you, Aria, it won't be against a wall with you still fighting me. It'll be because you want it, because you're begging me for it."

Her eyes go wide. "I would never..."

"You will." I pull back slightly. "You'll come to me willingly, desperately. And when you do, I'll give you everything you've been denying yourself."

"You're so sure of yourself."

"I'm sure of us."

"There is no us."

"Not yet." I lean in one more time and let my lips hover over her pulse. "But there will be. Soon."

I pull away before I do something I'll regret, or something only she'll regret.

"You run from me again," I say, letting my voice drop dangerously low, "and I'll chain you to my bed."

Her eyes go wide.

"Not as punishment, little mate." I let my lips brush her throat finally, just once. "As promise."

She gasps and the sound shoots straight through me.

I force myself to step back, to release the wall, to turn away before I lose control completely.

"Is that clear?" I ask without looking at her.

She doesn't answer.

I walk toward the door and every step feels wrong. Everything in me screams to turn back, to claim her, to make her understand she's mine.

But I keep walking.

My hand reaches the door handle.

"Wait."

I freeze and turn back.

She's still against the wall, still flushed, still breathing hard. Her hand is pressed against her throat where my lips touched.

"What?" My voice comes out rougher than I intend.

"That prophecy." She swallows hard. "The one that made you reject your first mate. What did it say?"

I should lie, should tell her it doesn't matter.

But I can't.

"It said my true mate would either be my salvation or my complete destruction."

The color drains from her face.

"And which do you think I am?" she whispers.

I look at her, this stubborn, beautiful, impossible woman who's already changed everything.

"I don't know yet," I say honestly. "But either way, I'm keeping you."

I leave before she can respond.

The door closes behind me and I hear the lock turn. I hear her slide down the wall.

Her breathing is as ragged as mine.

Good.

Let her lie awake tonight, feeling this pull between us. Let her toss and turn, remembering my lips on her throat. Let her wonder what it would be like if she stopped fighting.

Because tomorrow, I'll be back. And the day after that. And every day until she breaks.

And when she finally gives in, when she comes to me willingly, it will be all the sweeter for having waited.