"Maxine, eat," Sam said watching her from across the table in the dining room. She was refusing to touch the food. She would do all that she could not to devour anything he gave her. /Anything./ "You're being ridiculous with this hunger strike. It won't stop the war."

Maxine turned her head from the wall and stared at him. He watched her grab the bowl and drop it on the floor. The bowl breaking and the food splattering everywhere. She watched as he gritted his teeth, a vein in his neck pulsed as he tried to control his anger towards her. She wasn't making this easy.

Sam thought he had her reeled in, the proposal to stop and merge the demons and witches was premature and he realized this. He knew had stubborn she was going to be and he wasn't going to force her to marry him. No, he wanted her to be willing to walk down that aisle and give her people to him.

"You want to act like a child? I will be more than willing to treat you like one." She didn't say a word. He didn't know if the silence was getting to him or the fact she was being completely stubborn, ridiculously stubborn. He never had to deal with anyone like this before and his own brother was immature. At least his Queen was easy to seduce and bring to their side. She already had a crush on him from day one.

Sam stood from the table and walked over to her. He took her by the wrist and pulled her up. "You really want to continue this?" She didn't say a word. In those first 24 hours she let his touch control her. The desire her body had for him controlled everything. Now she was letting her heart and mind take over.

He drug her from the dining room and up the stairs. She realized they were going down a different hallway. One away from his bedroom. He opened a door and pushed her inside. It was a smaller bedroom. She looked around and then back at him. He stared at her. "You going to act like a child, you're going to be treated like one. Your room without dinner. Enjoy." He slammed the door making her jump. She heard it lock and she let out a sigh. She walked over to the barred window and looked out at the fields. A tear fell from her left eye knowing the demons down there have probably killed so many of her people. There was a way to stop this war and she was refusing. She could stop it by telling him she was going to be his queen. She would be his wife. She just had to be stubborn and tell him no. Her pride was getting in the way of millions of her people. What was she to do?

She moved over to the small bed and placed her hands on her lap. She was trying to think what her mother would do in this position. Would she tell him yes? Would she tell him no? Would she let her people continue to die and maybe even lose this war and end up being slaves again?

There were so many things running through Maxine's head that she couldn't even begin to describe the massive headache she was getting. She got up from the bed and walked over to a door hoping it was a bathroom. She opened the door and sighed in relief. She could take a nice quiet bath and figure this out.

Her clothes laid neatly on the floor next to the tub. She laid her head back on the porcelain and closed her eyes. She relaxed the best she could thinking of her options. She hated the options she had but what was going to do. Maybe she could change things around. Maybe she could turn this sour lemon into some lemonade. Horrible analogy, she knew but it was something.

Maxine thought of Sam, how she disliked him the first night she met him. Well, she found him extremely attractive but when he spoke she wanted to stab him. He was a demonic king, every single one I ever encountered acted like that. She shifted in the tub and thought about the nights they shared together. No words could explain how she felt when he touched her. How her body just crumbled and she let him do whatever he wanted to her. Her first time was with a demon. Her second time, with a demon overlooking the field of his army over a railing.

Just thinking about those times were making her body tingle all over again. She bit her lip and found her hand slipping between her legs. Her fingers played with her clit, teased it. Her other hand tightened over the edge of the tub. She felt hot all over thinking of Sam touching her, thrusting into her over and over again. Her breathe hitched as her two fingers entered her body. Her knuckles turning white from holding the edge. She curled her own fingers and she tilted her head back breathing a little heavier. Those three simple letters that formed his name left her lips. She caught herself biting her lower lip hard and moving against her hand. That familiar pleasurable feeling came quicker than she thought it would and she felt so sensitive and dirty afterwards. She pulled her fingers from herself and sat up nearly cursing herself but also cursing him.

She heard someone clearing their throat and she looked towards the door. Sam was standing there with that smirk on his face. "Having fun?"

Maxine rolled her eyes looking away from him. He walked over to the tub and kneeled down next to it. His hand moved to her face and forced her to look at him. "Next time, you invite me to watch. My name coming from those beautiful lips forced a hard on." Maxine felt her body reacting to his words but she wanted to be strong and tell him to fuck off. His thumb brushed over her lips and he leaned in kissing her deeply and hard. "Say yes." He said against her lips. "You want me, then you can have me all you want if you just say yes. I could make you say my name many times a day."

Maxine swallowed hard as she continued to stare at him. She thought back to what she thought about a few minutes ago. She could be strong for her people and stop this war and change everything. She could do this. She could change how they are treated and how things were going to be.

"Yes."