His Lover, My Mate

Six: Not Him

"Then why didn't you?" she asked. "You hate him. You and your men are stronger. What's stopping you?"

Something dark flashed in his eyes. "The night," came his cryptic response. He looked down at the soup and he took the spoon, stirring the warm, thick liquid before raising it to her lips. "Eat up."

She wanted to resist, but she knew if she had to deal with him, she needed energy. And maybe...maybe she could try escaping. Her lips parted and the warm liquid flooded into her mouth. It was creamy, rich, something she never had the luxury of tasting back when she grew up with her parents. Lucien had given her these rich, expensive foods. He'd given her pretty dresses, and a large bed. He'd given her his life to share.

The thought of Lucien made her heart lurch and tears stream out of her eyes. She missed him. She missed him so much. She didn't care if he lied to her. She loved him. To her, he was still her mate, her only one.

"What's wrong?" he inquired. "Too hot?"

She shook her head, wiping her tears away. These were not tears for him to see. She let him feed her the rest of the soup before he was finally satisfied.

He placed the tray outside her door for one of the maids to take away. Then he closed her door again. "Have you bathed?"

"No."

He came closer and brushed her hair away from her shoulders. He pulled the sleeve of her dress down and sniffed. "You smell like honey," he murmured, and her heart began to hammer against her chest. He pulled her sleeve back up. "But you also smell exhausted."

"I don't need you to be sniffing me," she said, inching away from him. She knew what he intended to do with her. It was the tradition of the Darklands to consummate the marking and bathe your mate on the first night together. He came back for a reason, and the thought made her skin crawl. "I'll bathe when you leave."

"I'm not leaving, Aletha," he said. "I want to see you taken care of."

"You can come back and check on me when I'm done," she said shakily, feeling his hand close in on her wrist. No no no. "Please leave me alone."

"I can't do that, love," he whispered, his mouth against her ear. She shivered at his voice, wanting his touch. She craved his touch. The pull was so strong that it made her weak, and she hated it. She hated how submissive he was making her already.

She took a deep breath. He was going against her will, and she wouldn't let her. Maybe the whores he was with were more than willing, but she wasn't. "You can't bathe me," she told him. "I'm not going to turn into a harlot in front of you! I don't care that you're used to females kissing your feet. I won't do it."

"You're not a fucking whore," he said, his jaw ticking with anger. "You're my--"

"Mate? Come on. Give me a break. I don't want you."

It took him less than a second to yank her out of her feet and storm into the washroom.

"Hey!" she screamed. "What are you--" Too late, she was thrown into the tub of water.

"You can't appreciate anything, can you?"

Her dress clung to her body and she covered her breasts with her arms. "Not with you I can't," she snarled, looking up at him through her wet, messy hair. "Admit it, you only want a whore to be your mate. You only want someone to willingly spread her legs for you without question for centuries. And when you're tired of her? You can just dispose of her, especially because she'll give you hundreds of heirs by then."

"I don't want a whore for a mate," he growled. "I want you!"

"I don't believe you," she said coldly, getting up to her feet. "You want me to be willing, but I am far from willing. I don't want you touching me. I don't want you talking to me. I don't even want you in front of me, because I don't want to see you!"

"Aletha, shut up," he warned. "You don't know what you're saying. You haven't even given me a chance."

"A chance?" she scoffed. "What chance? You never had a chance, Rush. Not when I had another male between my legs, an Alpha on top of that. That's the way you like to hear it, don't you? This is the only way you'll get it, because you can't take a hint. You want to know how he was in bed? He made me moan more than you can ever make any female moan. He's made me scream over and over...and over." Now she got out of the tub, and water pooled around her. "If it wasn't for you, I would have been happy. I would have been his Luna forever!"

He froze. She knew she said far too much. She knew from the strain in their bond that she'd broken something between them. That she hurt him.

And she didn't care.

"You will never amount to anything he makes me feel, Rush. You won't make me love you like the way I love him. You're not him. You'll never be him. I don't want you. I reject you."