Captive

33 // One More

I dreaded everything possible about coming back. I had guards stationed outside my studio when I was painting, outside the bathroom, you name it. I didn't have a moment to myself without a man breathing down my neck, and in Damien's case, that meant literally. 

I had been the most submissive that I had been in years. I couldn't risk doing anything to set Damien off so that he would try and mark me without my consent again. This time, The Council wouldn't have anything to say about it. He was acting like his father, and they feared his father more than anything. 

I recognized the creak of the door, and didn't even need to look behind me to see who it was. He would come in here after work, and simply sit and watch me paint. Anything to assure his wolf that I wasn't going anywhere. I kept silent with my headphones in, and tried my hardest to imagine that he wasn't there. 

Today, however, my saving grace Alessia had come for a visit. 

"Hello my little Van Gogh," she grinned as she skipped in through the door. I turned with a smile, continuing to ignore Damien's presence. 

"Hey," I smiled. 

"What's the art fairy working on today?" She began running her fingers through my hair, spreading a soft smile across my lips. Damien used to do that all the time, until I fell asleep. 

I couldn't help but wonder if Xander was okay. As if sensing my thinking about him, Damien cleared his throat on the couch behind us. 

"It's getting late, Cyan." 

I knew what that meant. 

"We're still on for lunch tomorrow, right?" 

"Of course," I sent a defeated look her way as she left the room. I got up, trying my best to avoid eye contact, but my arm was pulled back as I spun into Damien's chest. For just a moment, I imagined us in the ballroom on the night of his coronation ball. But as I looked up into his eyes, a new darkness coated them that I did not recognize. 

"How long are we going to go on like this?" He spoke partly out of anger, and partly out of defeat. 

"I don't know what you're talking about--" 

"Don't lie to me!" he roared. I flinched back, but his hold on my waist didn't let me move. 

"As long as you keep doing that! That's how long we'll go on like this," I spat. He let me go now, he didn't expect me to yell back at him. I was surprised that I even spoke up. 

"As long as I feel like every time I'm in the room with you, you're itching to mark me again! I'm not a fool, Damien, I know the Council wouldn't stop you this time, and so do you. So do what you want, tie me to that altar and force me to be your Queen, mark me in my sleep, but let me make one thing very clear. I came back to you by choice. Maybe, one day, I will learn to love you as I once did, but if you dare take me without my consent, I will spend the rest of my life trying to escape you." 

He looked like he had just woken up. His eyes fell to the ground, and he stepped back from me. 

"You are not your father, Damien. Show me the man I fell in love with in that ballroom all those months ago." 

Without another word, he rushed from the room. He stopped by the guard, telling them to escort me to his room. I wasn't surprised, but above all else I wanted to know what he was thinking. I wanted to know what he was going to do, and whether I had gotten through to him or just pissed him off further. 

He didn't come to his room that night, or the night after that. I wasn't sure if what I had said had chased him away, but when I came back to my studio after lunch with Alessia the following day, a ballgown was draped across the couch with a letter. 

Cyan, 

Give me one last dance.

Damien 

 It was a dusty rose dress, with a fully blown ballgown and a train to match. It was silk, with translucent lace designs overtop it. It was nearly as beautiful as the dress I had worn when I first met him. 

"Are you going to put it on?" 

I whirled in place to see Alessia smiling in the doorway. 

"You knew?" 

"Just one dance, Cyan. Trust me?" 

She helped me lace it up, giving me the perfect shoes to match as she did my hair. When it came time, she led me to the ballroom. If it was possible, it was even more extravagant than his coronation night. The entire room was lined with peonies and every shade of pink rose in existence. I turned around to smile at Alessia, but she was already gone, and the door was closed. 

Damien stood perched in the center of the dance floor, and I swallowed before stepping over to him hesitantly. I flinched as the music began playing, and he held his hand out as he bowed before me. 

"May I have this dance?" 

For a brief moment, he wasn't the monster that marked me without my permission, or the man that took me from his home and held me captive in his palace. He was the man that had fallen in love with a human girl, regardless of whether or not we were mates. 

Without a word, I gave him my hand, and he whisked me off my feet. I had nearly forgotten how magnificent a dancer he was, since I had never danced with him at his coronation. I was lost. Lost in his eyes, in the way he swayed me back and forth. He knew exactly what he was doing. I no longer saw a monster in front of me, I saw the beauty and the beast. 

As the song ended, his forehead was pressed against mine. I let my hands wander his arms, traveling up to the tattoos on his neck. My eyes flickered to his, who were studying me intently. 

"Another one," I whispered. 

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EEEEEEEP! I'm so smitten with this story right now, two chapters might be coming tonight...who knows....maybe if you vote and comment a lot I'll be more persuaded to release it tonight. 

It's almost Friday. 

You got this. 

*ALSO* If you want to know what days the updates are, I announce them on my profile so just go hit that little follow button. 

xoxo 

Kate