Ashlynn - Release Date : To be Announced!

”You need to wait for me to give you an answer; it’s rude to just walk off without me. Walk by me.“ Markus looked at me, and I stared back, I tried to shake his hand off me but he tightened his grip almost painfully. I cringed and stuck my tongue out at him.

”Fine, whatever you say.“ I rolled my eyes at him when I realized he wasn’t going to budge on this issue, and there’s no way I’d be able to pull my hand out of his, so I gave up trying..

”Careful princess, I can find better uses for your mouth than your shrewish temper.“ He arched a brow at me and I felt my face turn red.

”Do you even know my real name, or how old I am, or anything about me?“ I asked, attempting to change the subject, and pretend like I didn’t get the gist of his naughty comment.

He walked slowly towards the woods where the trail was partially cleared. You can see the path from the field and I had to slow myself to walk at his pace and not charge ahead, it was hard to walk slow, I was so used to running everywhere I wanted to go.  He didn’t answer me for a moment, instead his hand relaxed on mine and he looked straight ahead.

”I know your name Princess, I know how old you are, and I know you’re a termagant who needs taught her place and a few lessons about real life. I also know you’re not the person you try to pretend you are. But you are really good at being a brat, you just need a strong hand to tame you and teach you some manners since you mother obviously failed...“ His lip quirked up at the corner of his mouth, in that irritating way he had when he acted like he knew something I didn’t.

I was beginning to hate that corner of his mouth. If he hadn’t still been holding my hand I think I might have picked up a stick and hit him with it. How dare he bring my mother into these conversations, what secrets and lies had my father told him about me anyways?

”Okay, whatever, why don’t you tell me more about you, all I know is your name is Markus, you’re in your mid thirties and my father hand selected you…to marry me. I would bet money you did something to piss him off if he would saddle you with me. I am not someone most people can handle…“ I couldn’t quite meet his eyes, I cringed inwardly as the words left my mouth; they sounded kind of pathetic, even to my own ears. I stared at the tree as we walked on the path, pretending I hadn’t just said what I did.

”Well, I had heard stories of you growing up; I heard of your antics, I was the one who approached your father about you. You sounded like a challenge, and if you love as fiercely as you hate Princess, I think its well worth putting up with you.“ His voice softened and he turned towards me, grabbing my chin in his left hand, forcing me to meet his eyes.

”You are beautiful, and I am thinking somewhere, under your gruff exterior hides a sad little girl who just wants a hug….“ He reached out like he was going to hug me… and I snapped.

He ruined it. Had he just stopped at the beautiful part, and not tried to psycho-analyze me, I wouldn’t have done it. But he did. He tried to imply that I was a little girl, if one more person brought up how small I was, how tiny I was, how young I looked, it would be too soon, and he pushed the one button that made me rage faster than any other...

I snapped and I punched him right in the gut. He doubled over for a second and then reached out and grabbed me. I hit him in the shoulder and started to rant at him.

”Screw you bastard, you can take your hugs, and your ideas, and your philosophy and you can go find a princess who wants to hear your damn words, this little girl thinks you’ve never had anyone tell you no. I am not a little girl, I am not small, I might not be as strong as you but I can find a way to kick your ass. NO.  Do you hear me? N…O…  Do I have to spell it out for you even more clearly than that? I don’t want anything from you, I don’t want you to touch me, I find you irritating and I wish I had never met you, you’ve ruined my life, and it was perfect until you got here...“ I tried to kick him and missed as he moved out of my way, by the time I had finished my tirade, I was breathless and practically shrieking at him.

One of these days, I really, really needed to learn to control my temper, especially where he was concerned. I realized that in my attempts to hit him, he had both my wrists pinned against his chest and had managed to back me into a tree. I frantically looked past him, realizing that there was no one to come to my rescue. I tried to knee him, but he blocked me and shoved his knee between my thighs, effectively trapping me.

I am not sure what made me angrier, that he was capable of physically over powering me, or the fact that I kind of liked being trapped by his strength and I felt my thighs instinctively tighten around his knee before I could stop myself and I pushed myself against him….

”I think you lie little girl; you can’t even be honest with yourself can you? I think you like to argue, and you need a man who can handle you. I think you need someone who’s not afraid of you, who won’t bow to every wish and whim you have, and I think princess, that you sometimes need a good reason to get mad…“ he taunted me with his words and I struggled against him, shaking my head, denying his claims.

I could feel his body heat as he pushed me harder into the tree. The bark of the tree was tearing at my delicate fabric of my dress and my hair was tangled in a mess around my shoulders.

”See, this is why you should wear braids, it keeps your hair out of your face, one of these days, you will understand that I have logic for the things I say to you and it might be okay to listen to me.“ He chuckled and raised my hands above my head with one hand, and used the other to brush my hair off my face.