continuing my advance. Naima began backing away. The wondrous mix of fear, desire, and confused anticipation emanating from her further turned me on. “I simply didn't start what I knew we couldn't properly finish with an audience spying through the cameras. Our first time together would never happen in that closet you call the bathroom. It is not an appropriate setting for my bride.”
Naima’s lips parted with a mix of shock, arousal, and another emotion that I could only interpret as her being flattered at me showing that consideration towards her. And yet, I could hear her mind racing to come up with an argument that might convince me to not pursue what she knew to be inevitable, and that she secretly desired in spite of all her denial.
“I appreciate your restraint when I failed to display the same,” Naima said. “However, what I told you earlier still stands. There is no us. I am here to be—”
A gasp escaped her when her back met the footboard of the bed. The expression of a trapped animal that descended onto her features sent a jolt of lust and excitement straight to my groin. My predatory instincts roared to the forefront. Judging by the panicked way Naima began to look for a place to flee, the emotions her reaction had awakened in me must have shown in my face.
“Why are you fighting this?” I asked, my shadowy tendrils emerging, ready to kick into action and catch her should she attempt to run. “I can read your mind in this realm, remember? You want me as fiercely as I want you. You ache to touch me just like I am starved with the need to touch you, to taste you, to make you mine.”
Naima faced away from me, unable to hold my stare as she prepared to spew the lies forming on her tongue.
“Your expectations for us are unrealistic,” Naima argued. “You are my Nightmare, not my mate.”
“I am your Darkest Desire,” I snapped back, slightly angered by her continued denial. “I hear the ridiculous thoughts you're trying to use as a shield to deny us both.”
“They're not ridiculous!” she exclaimed, seizing on to her outrage to give herself the strength to resist in a battle lost before it had even begun. “What would you know about—?”
“About what?” I interrupted, invading her personal space. “About those intangible and repressive concepts that you humans call morals? Virtue? Being a proper little lady?” I asked, my voice dripping with contempt. “What crime are you committing by yielding to what you want? We’re both consenting adults, burning with desire for each other, unattached to any other partner, and shielded from wandering eyes by the privacy of my domain. So, what the fuck is the hold up?”
“Being able to do something doesn’t automatically mean that you should,” Naima countered harshly. “Choices have consequences. Acting on an impulse, especially in response to our baser instincts, often leads to people getting hurt!”
“And refusing to act on what you know can never cause you pain is hurting the both of us,” I snapped.
“You spent your entire existence terrorizing me!” Naima exclaimed.
“Because it’s what you wanted!”
“I never wanted this!” she shouted, slapping her chest angrily.
“Your subconscious did because, deep down, you thought you deserved it. And I can only ever do to you things that you want me to,” I retorted, just as heated. “You dated all those fucked up boyfriends looking for me. I can fulfill any of your fantasies, however dark, however twisted, or however innocent, no judgement, no condemnation, no boundaries. And I will never go beyond what you want or can tolerate, because it is physically impossible for me to harm you or go against your will.”
“And yet, here you are trying to force me into something I repeatedly told you I didn’t want,” Naima snapped back.
I placed my hands on top of the footboard on each side of my woman, caging her in. She leaned back, away from me, holding my stare unwaveringly.
I tilted my head to the side and gave her a smug smile. “Yes, I am. Because you want me to. You want me to give you the arguments that will allow you to yield to your desires without guilt or fear. And deep down, you know it.”
The expression on my woman’s face was all the confirmation I needed. I leaned forward and brushed my lips against hers. Naima placed her palms on my chest and tried to push me away with a complete