Now that he wasn’t speaking, the feeling of warmth cocooning me took over again. It reminded me of a vague memory of a hug from my mother. Yet it was still so foreign I couldn’t relax into it.
What was this feeling?
The name of it.
“Home,” he said suddenly, bringing me the cooked meat on a large leaf plate. I refused to grab it from his hand.
He sighed, sitting beside me, and a trickle of his disappointment colored my emotions. Probably because I refused to be obedient.
Anger filled me, and I slapped his hand, hoping all his hard work went flying, but he was prepared for my response. He lifted his hand, and I braced myself for the retaliation. Instead, he tweezed a piece of meat between his claws and put it in front of my face.
It might have been childish, but I turned my face away. He sat the plate down beside him, grabbing my chin to face me toward him. When he stuffed the food in my mouth, I chomped down on his fingers as hard as I could.
He growled, and this time when he grabbed my chin I could feel the bruises he’d leave behind on me. For a long moment we stared at each other, waiting for the other one to concede.
His growl morphed into a purr, and my cheeks warmed up. I held my face, but on the inside I wanted to melt into him.
He caught the whiff of victory, and his smugness radiated between us like its own entity. His purr grew louder and louder, until I could swear it was vibrating up my spine. My thighs shook and I used every muscle to keep myself upright.
I whimpered as my back started slowly collapsing downwards. Every second that passed made it harder to stay in position.
She’s strong, his thoughts echoed in my mind.
He… thought I was strong.
The fragile hold I had on myself shattered, and I flopped into his lap. My breathing heaved from the expanded effort it has taken to stay to stay upright. “You cheating bastard.”
A smug sound, that made me want to slap him, left his throat. He stared down at me with mild annoyance and something akin to confusion.
His hand hovered over me, clenching into a fist. I narrowed my eyes on him, refusing to shrink further. He better knock me into next week or I’d make it my life’s goal to annoy him.
His claws came down heavily on my scalp, but it didn’t hurt like I expected it too. It was more awkward, like he didn’t know what he was doing. My hair got wrapped in his fingers and tugged when he moved.
Was he trying to play with my hair?
He growled in response to my thoughts, yanking his claws from my hair and taking some with him in the process.
“Ow!” I complained loudly. “Easy.”
He crossed his arms, staring across the den like a petulant child that didn’t want to put his jacket on. I waited a few moments for him to say or do something, but all I got was the waves of anger and desire.
Rolling my eyes, I moved to sit up, and one heavy hand pushed me back down.
“What do you want?” I sighed.
He didn’t answer. Instead his anger rolled over me again. It reminded me of Shannon trying her damndest not to want the donuts the other morning and getting pissed because she did.
His claws sank back into my hair. This time he gently scratched his nails against my scalp. The sensation sent a wave of goosebumps down my spine, legs, all the way to my toes. The tension bled out of me, making me melt into his lap.
The sedating effect made it hard to even wiggle my toes. Loss of control with no fear. Even my mild irritation quickly faded into something that wasn’t even worth fighting for.
Triumph filled his red eyes, and he started purring again. This sounded deeper. Like all the other times he’d made the sound to accomplish a reaction, but this time he felt it inside him.
Once again, he tried to feed me. Spearing a piece of meat with his claws, and I found myself weary he’d impale my palette by accident. Not even because he meant to.
He moved with gentle intention, that made me hesitantly allow him to stick the meat in my mouth. He even went so far as to guide my jaw to help me chew it.
A shaky breath blew out of him and his eyes grew wide. As if something inside him settled. The hand in my hair moved lazily with slow strokes that made me accept bite after bite, even though the meat was bland.
