A Howling Heart
Chapter eighteen

He leaves me for the rest of the night to an array of thoughts that leave me confused and filled with longing. I find myself falling asleep in the chair I've pulled up beside the couch next to my mother's limp body. Finally, it's not only the soft rise and fall of her chest that gives her life. As astounding as it is, the blood actually gave her more color, and I feel less guilty for letting Matias feed it to her. I awaken to the sound of Matias's voice in my head. "Fae."

I blink slowly, eyes adjusting to my surroundings as I realize I'm in one of Matias's houses. My mother is no longer beside me. I'm in a bedroom I haven't ventured into before, but Matias's smell surrounds me. This is Matias's room.

I can just tell.... He's everywhere in here.

Each sense of mine is enveloped by something of his. His scent, his white button-up shirt, which he's left beside me, is entangled in my hand, and I still taste him on my tongue. His room is simple, but my eyes move to the guitar that I instinctively know is his.

What was he thinking? Why did he put me in here?

I slowly sit up, starting by propping myself up on my elbows, eyes skating down my smooth, uncovered flesh as I realize I'm in panties and no bra.

Why am I naked?

I scramble to cover myself with the blanket that's crumpled at the end of the bed, and take a few steadying deep breaths.

Did he really strip me?

I'm perturbed by that thought-Of how intimate it is. Just because we've shared a few 'close' moments together doesn't mean I'm ready to be stripped by him. I clench my jaw when I swear I hear amused laughter in my head from him, but it isn't followed by any other sound in the house or his distinct voice.

I think I've overstayed my welcome....

I need space from that man.

I scan the room for my clothes, the sun streaming in enough for me to take in my surroundings, but my clothes are missing. Beside his shirt, I'm only left with my panties.

I can't go prancing around here in panties... especially if his deranged uncle is up and about...

I frown, utterly annoyed at my dilemma as my gaze drifts to the door longingly.

I'm not really sure I have much of a choice at the moment.

I sigh, swiping his shirt from beside me and tugging it on before buttoning it up only for it to hang loosely on me.

Crap.

After running fingers through my tangled hair, I move out into the hallway, thankful when I recognize it and realize that Matias has kept me in the same house as my mother. The house I was attacked in....

I shiver, unable to shake how terrifying the memory is as I move through the hallway, passing doors that are closed but still daunting. I descend the steps quickly, eyes searching the living room, where I find my mother curled up beneath a blanket on the couch.

Goodness, she truly does look like she's healing...

I hate to say this, but he was right.

His voice invades my head, and regardless of my mother's sleeping body being the only other person in the room, we aren't alone as Matias makes home in my mind.

"I will protect what is mine."

"Yours? I am not property, Matias."

"Those weren't my words. My body is yours just as much as yours is mine." He presses his hands against his chest for emphasis. I'll pass. Thanks.

A growl booms in my mind, and I swallow nervously before moving back to the chair next to my mother and sitting in it. "My stubborn queen."

There's that word again. Queen. What makes you think I'm your queen?

"Because it is prophesied."

I roll my eyes at how biblical it all seems as I wrap my arms around my waist and lean my head back against the chair.

What if I don't want to be queen? Don't want to be yours...

He's quiet for a moment in my head. It's unsettling. I shift, unsure of what to say to rouse him to be truthful. I glance toward the foyer at the front door, hairs along my body standing on edge as if his physical presence is back within close proximity of me.

Matias?

I dare call out to him, only to gasp when I hear his voice behind me as he comes to stand in the living room. I whip around, stunned by his dominating presence, as my attraction slides over my body naturally, and I find myself salivating for him.

"You're looking at the result of denying your mate." His dark eyes move to my mother, where they linger purposefully, and I gasp with shock, my hand shooting to cover my mouth as it fully dawns on me the reality of her sickness. Wait? This is from her denying... his uncle? The man who tried to attack me?

And this is my fate if I don't accept him?

"Yes. Your mother denied my uncle - Esai - and now they both decay. The longer they are apart, the more inevitable her demise will become."

Images of my mother in various stages of deterioration enter my mind, and I flinch.

"Is there any way to stop it?"

"She will have to accept Esai. Mate with him during a blue moon. It's the only way. Otherwise, they will both die."

If it was that costly, I wonder why Esai didn't just take her against her will...

The thought makes my stomach twist sickeningly.

"Because that is not his way. And your mate must willingly participate."

"So I can say no?"

I know he's stepped further into the room with his heavy footsteps. They make the wood beneath them screech from his powerful stance, and no matter how hard I try to shove away my lust, I'm no match for the bond he implies we have. "There is no way to deny it. You will be mine when it is time."

I don't know if a curse is enough to make me give in to him... This can't be my destiny.

He's so focused on me being his... Yet I know nothing about him.

"Maybe we should just leave it alone... Clearly, this conversation is getting out of control."

"Out of control? You haven't seen me fully out of control, Fae." He moves toward me swiftly, so fast it makes my head spin, and I blink rapidly, trying to adjust to the fact he's in front of me now. He reaches out for the arms of the chair and leans down so his face is a few inches from mine.

"Although, if you keep pushing me... I'll show you exactly what it looks like when I lose control."

I don't think I want to see that...

"Do not tempt me. You've been testing my patience."

"Tempt you? To do what...."

He arches a brow, a humorless smirk playing on his lips as he gauges my startled reaction. His eyes glide over my face, lingering on my lips before they travel down my body and how his loose shirt hangs awkwardly on my frame, giving him an eye full of creamy breasts.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that? Anima mea?"

"Tell me, Matias. What will you do if I continue to ...."

I bite my lip, aware of how breathless his closeness makes me. I pant with passionate need; all my opposition about my bond flies out the window. He groans slowly and deep in the back of his throat, his nostrils flaring as he inhales the dewy scent of my desire.

"Huh, Matias?" I goad him, my eyes moving over his body. He's powerful and strong, and his desire is showcased proudly in his monstrously large pants.

Oh goodness, what's gotten into me?

I can't have one secure opinion near him because my body is so treacherous.

"Mmm.. Fae... Your arousal is growing stronger. I can smell how badly you want me. You smell divine. So potent..."

My insides clench from the greedy moan that slips from his mouth, and I go to clutch the chair to steady myself as my chest heaves up and down as the desire builds in me. When my hands move toward the arms of the chair instead of the wood, I accidentally rest my hands atop his, and the electricity that surges through me is enlivening.

Oh no, I can't resist him...

Matias moans. "Stop, Fae."

A pained groan morphs into a growl from him, and he clamps his teeth down on his bottom lip and forces his eyes to close.

"Stop, or I won't be able to keep myself from having you."

At this point... I don't want him to.

My body is begging for his touch and only his touch.

"Then don't," I say, admitting how badly I want him to give in. I can't believe those two words have left my mouth.

What will he do about them?