No.
Don't come any closer.
Please…
He heard her frightened plea even though she hadn't said a word, and it grieved him to know that revealing himself had pushed her over the edge.
She sat on the floor, her back against the wall, knees drawn up with her arms around her shins, her bent. Her shoulders were shaking with the force of her tears, and the terror that radiated off her in waves as he came closer. She looked like she was trying to shut the world out – which might have been true for her at the moment. Her white nightgown pooled out on the floor, her wavy platinum hair loose over her shoulders, making her look more fragile than she already appeared.
She looked up as he came to stand in front of her, backlit by the moonlight. Slowly, he lowered himself to one knee, and reached for her.
For a moment, she panicked, and then he had her in his arms, holding her firmly to prevent her from escaping, but gently enough so that he wouldn't hurt her. She felt his fingers thread themselves in her hair, pulling her even closer, while his other arm tightened its hold around her waist until she could feel herself crushed against him. She could feel the raw, dangerous power in his embrace, and it only added to the terror coursing through her because she knew that death would come as slowly, or as swiftly as he chose...
He held her as she cried and her tears flowed, his fingers stroking her hair. She didn't know how long had passed, but gradually, her sobs slowly began to subside as she realized that the nightmare that had followed her into her waking moments began to fade, the blood on the walls disappearing.
He was drawing back now to look at her, his violet eyes seeming to glow, cradling her face between his palms as he kissed her tears away, his thumbs tracing their paths until she calmed before she rested her forehead against his shoulder with a soft sigh as she closed her eyes, suddenly unable to meet his gaze, and hesitantly wound her arms around his waist.
Why?
She wanted to ask him that question as he shifted his hold on her and rose to his feet, carrying her in his arms as he turned.
When he reached the bed, he lay her down gently, and she gasped as he covered her body with his, forcing her eyes to meet his before he lowered his head.
His kiss was impossibly tender, yet fiercely possessive, and as his hands began to caress her body, she knew that she was lost.
He was marking her as his...
And yet... she had been his from the very beginning...