A longer chapter but that's because I won't be able to use my laptop until tomorrow x) So please! Do enjoy this one. . .
Weeks passed and life went back to normal for the girl. She hadn't seen that man in some time and was relieved to be rid of him. But her relief was short lived. Once again when she was down by the river, this time gathering water to drink, he took her by surprise.
The morning had been foggy and mist still lingered when she got down to the small river not far from her home. She kneeled down and put her bucket in the water. Cold air made the air still and not a creature moved. She suddenly heard movement somewhere behind her and when she spun around her eyes widened. There he was! The man from before!
Fear and excitement now gripped her and she dropped the bucket in the water, her skirt twirling behind her as she ran back into the forest to get her brother.
Looking over her shoulder she didn't see him when he walked out in front of her causing her to collide with him. He grabbed her shoulders and she looked up at him terrified.
"Arielle," he said.
She struggled to get free. "Let me go you beast!" She screamed.
He furrowed his brow in confusion, "Don't you know me? I am your lover, your mate! You are my woman!"
She shook her head from side to side, "I belong to no man!"
He growled and put her back against a tree, leaning into her and stopping her struggles. She looked back at him and he saw genuine fear, something Arielle never had towards him.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Elleira," she said.
He scowled, "Arielle you need to remember! Whoever you think you are, you are wrong!" He shouted at her, shaking her hard.
She cried out in fear and closed her eyes, refusing to look at him. The Kurgan was at a loss. Arielle never acted this way and now that he had her in his arms he knew it was her. Her eyes, her hair, her scent, they were all the same, she just didn't remember who she was. This would explain why she pointed a sword at him back at the castle nearly a year ago and had that look in her eyes. . .
"Damn the Duke!" He bellowed, "His son did this to you. You are Arielle. Hear me?! You are not Elleira, you are The Kurgan's mate Arielle!"
"No I'm not!" She shouted back, "Let me go!"
He growled and put a hand up her skirt, snaking it all the way up to between her legs. There he felt that her body remembered who he was, while her mind didn't. She screamed as he touched her and put a finger inside of her. When he took his finger out he shoved it in her face and showed her what he could make her do.
"You are mine. See? Your body remembers, you need to now," he said, his sapphire gaze staring at her intensely.
She only struggled more, "That means nothing! You monster! Release me!"
With a growl of rage he moved her and flung her to the ground where he got on top of her and hovered over her. She looked back with tears in her eyes and fear on her face. He grabbed her in his arms and pressed his mouth to hers. She continued to stare at him with wide brown eyes and when he pulled away he saw that she was blushing furiously.
"Are you shy woman?" he asked her.
Tears fell from her eyes, "My brother has forbid me to see any man my whole life."
At that he laughed and looked up at the forest as if what she said was amusing, "You believe you are a virgin?" He looked back at her, "How much of your life do you remember?"
"My brother says I lost my memory when. . .," a sudden look of realization came across her face, "When a demon called The Kurgan killed our father." Her voice was hushed and fearful.
He growled and his smile vanished, "He was not your father! Your father is in an entirely different world! And the man you live with is not your brother! Your real brother is dead!"
She squirmed, "You mad beast! Stop playing with me and just end it now!"
As she cried he looked down at her softly, "I could never hurt you Arielle. Never beyond pleasures of the sexual nature."
At that her eyes flew open and her struggles grew stronger, "No!" she screamed.
The Kurgan ran his fingers up her smooth leg and drew her skirt up with it. He kissed her neck and undid the ties on her shirt until her breasts were exposed, he grabbed them gently and kissed them, the woman screamed. The Kurgan knew this was Arielle and he was going to make her remember who she was one way or another. He hadn't slept with a woman since her disappearance and craved her body, he knew that after a year of not sleeping with a man that she would be in perfect condition. One of his hands made its way back to her woman flesh and a finger slid inside of her. When he looked at her face he saw how badly she was trying to resist but the feelings he awoke in her were too strong, her face was even turning red with the effort to stay quiet.
While The Kurgan touched her and kissed her he didn't notice that she had grabbed the dagger at his belt. Once she had a firm grip on the handle she screamed and plunged it into his side. The giant on top of her bellowed in rage and his body instinctively jerked away from her. She quickly wiggled out from under him and took off running again through the forest. The Kurgan knew she would be go back to the where the Duke's son was and decided to follow her. He went back to his horse, which had wandered closer, and galloped after her.
Arielle, as Elleira, burst through the doors of her and her 'brother's' cottage.
"Bronson!" she screamed, he looked from where he was working to repair the hearth.
He got up when she screamed his name again, "What is it Elleira? I'm right here!"
She rushed up to him and in a panicked voice explained, "It's The Kurgan, The Kurgan has found us we must leave now!" She tried pulling him to their belongings but he stopped her.
"Now wait a moment. The Kurgan is here?" He asked as he grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Yes!" She stressed, "He is here and we have to go! Now!"
She yanked her hand away from him and went to her room in the loft. Bronson grabbed his sword and strapped it around his waist, he knew he couldn't run now. The Kurgan would be close behind the woman and now it was time to kill her. He closed his eyes as he remembered what his father had instructed him to do.
"We took The Kurgan's woman to destroy him. We can't let him father children and by taking this woman we will draw him here and kill him. "
"What if it doesn't work father? And he defeats you?" Bronson had asked.
At that his father smiled, "I have thought of that as well and have another plan. When he comes you will hide in the tower. No matter what happens to me or our home you stay hidden until The Kurgan's woman is unattended. When she is alone you steal her away and take her far to the north to the dark forest. Take her to the cottage and hide her there, convince her you are her brother or lover, either one will do."
Bronson had been courting a woman and had no desire for The Kurgan's.
His father continued, "Hide her away and fill her head with lies. Make her believe it and keep giving her the root, it will make her forget. Never let her go to a village and never let her see another person again. She will be isolated for the rest of her life."
Bronson nodded, "What if The Kurgan happens to find us again? We must think of every possibility father."
The Duke nodded thoughtfully, "You are clever as well as brave son. If The Kurgan finds her again, kill her. No matter how close you may become with her you must kill her. Even if it costs you your own life The Kurgan must not get her back."
Now the time had come. Bronson had intentionally played the part as the harsh older brother to not grow attached, and he hadn't. Yes he thought of her as his younger sister but no matter what he tried to think of her as, he always thought back to her in bed with the disgusting Count Von Krohn, it made him sick. That, and her unmarried status to her old lover, was enough to make him distant enough from her to be able to kill her. He had never felt any attraction towards her and had convinced her that she was his worthless younger sister. For some reason, though, she had worshiped him and loved him as her brother.
As Bronson planed her death downstairs, Arielle was busy gathering the few possessions she had gathered over the time she had lived there. Sudden she glanced out the window and froze when she saw The Kurgan approaching.
"Bronson!" she screamed.
"I hear him," a calm reply came from below. "Come down Elleira, this is no time to pack our things."
She obeyed but was confused when she noticed the calmness of his voice. The Kurgan's horse thundered closer and Arielle came to Bronson, grabbing his arm. "Where are we going to go Bronson?" she asked in a terrified tone.
"Nowhere," he said.
When she looked at him in confusion he turned with a placid face and roughly grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing Bronson?" she asked in a small voice.
He looked at her coldly, "You'll see."