“Did you use compulsion on me last night?”
The blue eyes didn’t waver. Didn’t blink. She watched them change. That gentle, sweet look he had disappeared, replaced by one so predatory she took a step back and one hand went to her throat defensively.
“Last night was beautiful. Every single moment. Why would you want to pick it apart?” he countered.
He didn’t sound hurt or regretful. Nor did he sound guilty or innocent. He asked a question in a tone she couldn’t read.
“I acted out of character last night. You had to know I’ve never been with another man. I never let other men touch me. Not once. The thought of it was… abhorrent. Yet the moment you touched me, I responded.”
“Detonated.”
“What?” She blinked. His tone was once again readable – smug satisfaction.
“You detonated when I touched you. That belongs to me and to no other man. Me. After searching for you for so long, believe me, sielamet, I loved that. I loved that every time I reached for you, you didn’t hesitate. You made me feel extraordinary, and when I kissed you, after, you looked at me as if I were the only man in the world. I want to be that for you. The only man in your world.”
She had detonated when he touched her and she knew it would happen again. Every time. “I don’t want you to ever use any form of compulsion on me. Not. Ever.” She stated it firmly so there would be no mistake. She would do everything in her power to care for and please this man, but she had to know he would respect her boundaries and want to care for and please her as well.
“I have taken a vow to cherish you and place your happiness above my own. It is an irrevocable vow. Once said, the words cannot be undone.”
Wait. Wait. Wait. Her heart began to hammer too hard. Too loud. Too fast. He had said a lot of things to her in his language. It had been sexy. But it also had been uttered in a deep, firm, committing voice. What had he said? You are my lifemate. I claim you as my lifemate. I belong to you. She had loved when he’d said it. She had no idea what a lifemate was, but it had sounded hot and sexy when he’d given her that title. A woman above all others to him. That was how she took it because she’d wanted to believe she was special to him. And she’d wanted desperately to belong to him.
She didn’t do one-night stands. She didn’t hook up. Intimacy meant something to her, as did giving the gift of her body to someone. She made no judgments on others, but she wasn’t wired that way, even when she’d wished that she were. What else had he said? He just stood there, watching her like the predator again. Waiting for her to figure it out.
“Say it. In English. Whatever you said last night,” she ordered softly. She wouldn’t be afraid or intimidated by him no matter how big or dangerous he appeared.
“I offer my life to you. I give you my protection. I give you my allegiance. I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I give you my body.”
The blue eyes never wavered. “And I did give you all of those things. I meant every word. For me, there is no taking it back. For you, there is no way to take it back, either. We’re bound together.”
She wanted to shake her head, to deny what he said, but she was an intelligent woman – most of the time – when her hormones weren’t ruling her, and right then she felt the pull of him, the threads binding them together. She might walk away physically, but she knew she would suffer for a lifetime if she did. No one else would ever satisfy her. She would think of him day and night and need him. Crave him.
“There was more.” Because she needed to know.
His gaze remained absolutely steady. “I take into my keeping the same that is yours.”
He made the statement in that voice, the one that melted her. The one she couldn’t resist. But this time she understood. He wasn’t touching her, frying her brain. She understood. Her heart stuttered. He’d done that. Somehow in the night between his touch, his possession and his vows, he’d managed to take into his keeping her body, heart and soul. She kept her gaze on his.
“Your life will be cherished by me for all my time. Your life will be placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate. You are bound to me for all eternity. You are always in my care.”
She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. He took a step toward her and she stepped back, lifting one hand to ward him off. “No. Stop. I have to think.”
He shook his head and walked toward her. “There is nothing to think about. This decision was made last night and again this evening.” He sounded implacable. Fierce. Unafraid. Certain.
How could he be so sure when she was freaking out? She had been certain until that moment he had pushed at her mind, trying to force her to obey him. It was a small push, but she’d caught it. She had the same reaction when anyone tried to manipulate her. Her actions the night before and again this evening had been out of character for her. He hadn’t exactly denied compulsion, although she hadn’t felt it being used on her and she would have… wouldn’t she?
He just kept coming until he had her back against the half wall, the hand she’d put out to ward him off smashed right against his chest. He captured that hand and held it tight against him, right over his heart.
“Do you feel that, Charlotte? Do you hear that? My heart beating? Do you feel the rhythm of your heart?” He put his other hand over her heart, fingers stroking caresses over the curve of her breast.
“It isn’t fair,” she whispered.
“What isn’t fair?”
“Owning me with a touch.” Her whisper was barely audible and her gaze slid from his blue eyes down to his hand covering hers on his chest.
“You still do not understand, sielamet.” He lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “You own me. Body and soul. I would never harm you. Not under any circumstances. Whatever you feel for me, I feel even more for you. You make my body come alive. You gave me everything. When a man has had nothing at all, when he’s lived long in a dark, gray void and a woman brings with her the warmth of sunlight and laughter when he’s been cold, joy and happiness when he has none, he will do anything for her. Anything at all to make her happy. You are that woman for me.”
When he said things like that she couldn’t resist him. She didn’t want to resist him. He let her know she wasn’t alone in her madness. He was in as deep as she was – if she could believe him, and she did. There had been no sweet courtship, no getting to know each other. She didn’t know a single thing about him, other than what she’d learned from the occasional magazine article. Still, her instant acceptance and out-of-character reaction to him alarmed her. Even his instant reaction to her, as if he’d known her forever.