(A/N) Some citrus is present in this chapter, consider yourself warned.

Officially edited

When Dezra rose the next morning, she felt deeply exhausted, as though the hours she had spent sleeping did not give her rest at all. She groaned into her pillow and rubbed her face before flinging back the covers. She had placed her feet on the floor when someone knocked on her bedroom door. Victor didn't wait for her to answer, he merely opened the door and strode in with all the confidence of someone who lived in the house. Dezra raised a red eyebrow and stared at him accusingly.

"Is there a reason for you barging into my room?" She asked scathingly. The tall man gave a predatory grin and crossed the room towards her. She immediately rose from the bed and removed herself from the corner; the last thing she needed was to be caught in a corner with a predator in the room. Her white silk robe was hardly shelter from the cold temperatures outside as she pushed her balcony doors open, but Dezra desperately needed some breathing room.

"Why bother running? You know I'm going to catch you." The syllables rolled from his mouth as he wasn't trying to restrain his purr. She stepped out onto the balcony and a cold wind ripped across her skin.

"I know I will be caught eventually, but I will choose when and where." She whispered, gold eyes flashing with stubbornness. He laughed heartily and took another step towards her.

"I love a good fight." He snarled, reaching out to caress her face. Just before he made contact with her skin, Dezra leaped backwards over the rail and launched herself into the snow. He immediately jumped off the balcony as well and started following her path through the frigid snow. She ran like a wild animal, weaving through trees and passing over rocks.

He watched her scale a tree and start leaping from branch to branch, so he followed below, stalking her all the while. The very primal part of him delighted in watching her move through the woods like she was a part of nature. Her red hair flicked behind her, not catching on branches, but swaying behind like a long tail. Her pale form flitted swiftly through and he chased her, eager for the confrontation. Her foot slipped of a branch and he took the opportunity to grab it and haul her down to his level. She roared in outrage and bit his hand to the quick. He snarled in her face and got a solid grip on her jaw. The slightest twist of his hand and her mandible broke. Her gold eyes went wide and she howled in pain. One of her feet flicked up and kicked him full force in the side of the head. His world went bright for a moment and he released her.

When he could see again, she was scampering away from him, heading deeper into the woods. Victor Creed gave into his beast and let his animal rise. He bent to all fours and ran after her with the speed of a lion on the hunt. His fangs were openly visible, ready to bite into her tender flesh and rend her to pieces in his rage. When she was just a few feet away from him, he leapt into the air and pounced on her. His fangs bit into her neck and she went completely limp beneath him. Her womanly form became supple in his arms, molding to his body in a sinful invitation. Burning lust roared in his veins and he scooped her up and pulled her close to his body. Her legs wrapped around his hips and he was ready.

When they joined, the beast roared his satisfaction into the resting day.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The snow had a crisp, wet smell to it that had long ago settled in Dezra's senses. She could taste every nuance of the forest on her tongue and her beast delighted in all the dark things that belonged in the forest, but were found on her mate's body. She nuzzled against his warm chest and nipped him with the tip of her fangs. Bright red drops of blood swelled to the surface and she licked them with a proprietary tongue. Every inch of his body belonged to her. She trailed her foot up his leg and nudged his most intimate place with her thigh. A large paw reached down and stilled her leg with the ease of immense strength.

"You done playin' around spitfire?" Abruptly, his words struck nostalgia in her mind and she was pulled back to a time and place not so different from this one.

Flashback

The stench of sex, cigarette smoke and booze assaulted Dezra's nostrils. Her nose wrinkled in distaste but she obediently followed behind her mentor. The brunette was making her way around the room, greeting clients and other women, before slowly making her way towards the back corner where someone was seated. Even through the hazy atmosphere in the room, she could smell his utterly masculine scent and see his cutting blue eyes. She wondered briefly if blue eyes could be heated, because if so, his eyes would utterly melt her into a puddle. Despite her hesitation to greet him again, she was given no choice but to follow her dark haired leader into the back corner.

She learned that he had a special team of men that he had trained himself, and each of the men in his company had passed the rigorous trials only to be accepted into his team of black ops specialists. So enraptured by the information she was memorizing, she failed to notice the attention Victor was paying her until her mentor claimed offense.

Her words spoke of the leader's undivided attention being focused on Dezra and not her mentor. She was baffled. She hadn't been aware that Victor was observing her, but now, she realized that he had been silent for the course of the conversation, only his men speaking for themselves. Realizing this, she blushed a deep red.

"I have had enough of this treatment!" The irate woman exclaimed, rising from her chair and gripping Dezra's arm. "I will not be treated with less attention than my shadow!" She started to storm away, yanking Dezra right along behind her, but her motion was stopped by a large hand wrapping around the younger woman's opposite arm.

"If you have had enough, then leave," He said, his deep voice rumbling through his chest, "but the spitfire stays."

A tongue pressing against her mouth brought Dezra back to the present time, where she was more than happy to oblige Victor's questing kiss with a reciprocation. He kissed her lazily, taking his time to learn her mouth. She soaked in his taste and let her senses be massaged with his familiar scent. When he slowly leaned back, she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes to meet his blue eyed gaze.

"Where didja go?" He asked, referring to her recent mental diviation. She thought about it for a moment before answering him.

"I don't know. Some place that no longer exists." She lifted herself from his warm body and looked around them. Several trees had claw marks that had ripped bark away in huge chunks. The snow around them had melted and pale grass was underneath. Dezra cast a gaze at her own body and saw the last vestiges of her tattoos fading away back into her skin.

"Why do the marks fade?" Victor asked, a curious rumble in his voice. She shrugged and stood up to stretch. His eyes followed the curve of her form so that when he finally found her face again, she was blushing red once more.

"My tattoos have always been predictable. My body doesn't always behave the way that it's supposed to." Victor took the opportunity to stretch this time and he enjoyed being openly ogled by the standing woman. Her gaze lingered on his body until he chuckled. Her eyes snapped to the side to hide her embarrassment.

"It's okay frail, you can feel free to watch me all you want." His smug tone caused an immediate flaring of her anger. She snarled at him, gold eyes flashing as she responded.

"I despise that appelation. I am in no way, shape or form, 'frail'." Victor rose from the ground, a hulking beast of blond hair and muscled body. He wrapped an arm around her body and pulled her up against him. He had to lean down to capture her lips against his own, sending her heart pounding in her chest.

"Compared to me, everyone looks frail Dezra." He kissed her again and lifted her up into his arms. "I will call you what I choose to call you. Ain't go nothing to do with what you like or don't." He bit her lip lightly, but his teeth were so sharp the skin tore with ease. She hissed at him and pulled away as her lip healed quickly.

"If you have that perogative, then I will call you whatever I wish as well." He chuckled at her stubbornness and let her slide lower on his body until the most intimate parts of him pressed against the moist parts of her. Her eyes went wide and she gasped in surprise and pleasure.

"Say what you will, but your body is mine alone." There was a possessive purr in his voice that irritated the proud Shi'Aki side of her, but another side, the primal beast was purring with him in delight. She thought about protesting, but he pushed into her as he started walking back to the hosue and she lost the ability to speak.

"Now let's see if I can get you to scream my name before we reach the house."