One really had to die to get a clearer perspective. Things began to click together, and when Celine looked up at Lucian again, she no longer saw the boy who was playing around with her feelings.
She saw a man who had to do everything in his power to escape his fate. He even had to hurt the woman he loved and then convince himself that it was for the best, just so he could live to see another day.
Lucian pushed himself in between her and the desk, showing his crotch at her face as if telling her to apologize to his hidden little general, who had done nothing wrong to deserve such treatment.
He reached toward her, but she slapped his hand away.
"Keep your hands to yourself," she said sternly.
"Or what?" he asked, sounding amused, "Will you bite it off? Or will you kiss it better?" He leaned closer, "Is little general not your favorite toy to play with?"
His words would make her want to forget everything that had happened and just get lost in his arms again.
"It's Lucian's body," he continued to taunt her, "It's your right."
Celine stood up, the chair behind her clattering to the ground.
His face dropped onto her shoulder before her hand could strangle him.
"..."
"Hold me," he said, "My body is still hurting from the beating. You have to make me feel better, or I'll be a sad little man who cries himself to sleep."
"Pathetic," she muttered under her breath, not holding him, but not letting him drop on the ground either, "Can't even win a fight with a woman. What kind of a man are you?"
"A lucky one, for he has a woman who is stronger than him."
Shameless.
That's what he was.
She pushed his face away with her hand, "I have to bathe," she said.
"I can help you bathe," he offered.
"Get out."
"Can I watch?"
"No."
"Can I sit in the corner and pretend to be invisible?"
She pushed him away from her, "You'll get to watch me bathe when pigs fly."
"I can arrange that."
Why couldn't he be this clingy when she was in the mood? Why was it always when she was this close to snapping his neck?!
He moved into the corner of the tent by her bed and sat on the ground with his knees to his chest, making a gesture of zipping his mouth shut.
This man was truly unbelievable.
'You think you are in control, but then he just appears, and you are completely at his mercy,' Celine's thoughts mocked her, 'A little bit of attention, a smile, a touch, and you are a complete mess. Pathetic, just like him.'
She felt the anger and frustration slowly creeping back in.
Because she knew what would happen next.
She would fall into his arms, and he would hold her close, making her feel like the most important person in his life.
She would give him her body, letting him touch her like no man has touched before. She would feel like the luckiest woman in the whole world.
And then he would leave her.
"Let's see how long you are going to stay this sweet and caring to me this time," she said with a mocking tone, picking the chair off the ground, "If you want an excuse to reject me, I'll give you plenty."
He widened his eyes when she raised the chair above her head, looming over his figure. Her words could never reach him, but her touch always did, whether painful or loving.
"I'll give you a reason to hate me so much that the thought of being with me will make your blood boil with rage," she threatened, her tone filled with bitterness. "I'll make sure that the moment you hear about me, your heart will feel like it's about to jump out of your chest."
Her cursed powers turned the wooden chair into a weapon that could inflict serious damage.
He still believed she wouldn't hurt him. He didn't move an inch, didn't even blink until the last second. When she swung the chair down, aiming at his head. He caught it, but it dragged him to the ground, unable to resist its force.
"And then, I'll kiss you better after," she promised, smashing the chair on him a second time, and then a third, and a fourth, "I'll make you forget about all the pain and suffering I put you through. I'll make you believe that everything will be alright, and I'll make you believe in a bright future for us. I'll make you love me. And when you do..."
She threw away the broken chair and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him up to face her, "I'll make you regret that you ever met me, again."
His tears wet the hand she used to hold him up by the chin, his eyes closed tightly as if he was trying to hold back his sobs.
"I don't give up on things easily," she got on her knees, pressing his face against her shoulder to muffle his sobs, "Especially not you," her voice was softer than a whisper, "You can be the biggest scum of the world, and I would still be chasing after you. That's the least I could do to repay you for the life I didn't get to live."
He didn't hug her back, and his body was tense in her arms, but it didn't stop her from hugging him tighter.
She couldn't depend on him to keep his word to her to not leave her behind, but she could depend on herself to not let him go. He was a vengeful man who would never let go of his grudges, so she had to make herself a grudge he couldn't let go of.
'He won't die without making me pay first,' she reassured herself, 'That's the kind of man he is.'
An awakened shackled would also give up on gaining her trust, because the relationship was already ruined. It would look for another target to deceive. But not Lucian. He would do his best to make her suffer for the rest of her life.
She unclasped her mask and pressed her lips against his jaw, and then his neck. A whimper left his throat when her lips reached the spot under his ear where the chair just hit him, and she stopped there.
"Let go," he pushed her away from him, but she was stronger, forcing him down on the ground. He was panicking. She was slipping through his fingers, and he couldn't do anything about it.
Lucian hated being powerless, he hated being forced, and most importantly, he hated not being in control.
"Your lady commands you to stay still," she whispered in his ear, and his body tensed up in response to her order, "Or I will go further than just kissing you better..."
He stopped moving completely.
"Go to my bed and wait for me there," she stood up, picking up her mask from the floor.
He refused to move, not saying a single word, so she added, "Is force the only way to make you listen?"
He clicked his tongue in irritation, but obeyed her orders nonetheless, disappearing under her covers, "Don't take too long."
He recovered faster than she had expected, or he just didn't want to appear as a weakling before her. She was sure the former had more weight.
She had to admit, though, she was enjoying the momentary power she had over him. Her cheeks felt warm, and her heart was beating faster. He should show his obedient side more often. It was an addicting treat to witness.
"I'm not a patient man," he said from under the covers. Lies, "I won't wait for long," another lie, "So if you don't want to be disappointed in bed, I suggest you hurry," and another lie.
"Are you asking for another beating? Or are you going to behave?" she asked him.
He didn't reply to that and returned to sulk in silence. His cuteness and sense of humor were the only weapons he had left against her, and he tried to soften her attitude towards him, knowing how much she liked his playful side.
'He has too much energy to run his mouth like this.'
'Don't tell me it has something to do with his little wife wish, who is giving him shackled strength?'
'I can't let him become stronger than me. How am I supposed to win against him then?'
Just the thought made her want to weaken him in some way, so she would always have the advantage.