Chapter Seven - The Deal

Not caring if Loki was leaving angry red marks on Arianna's skin, he came up to her and firmly grabbed her hand.

Arianna tried but couldn't free her hand. "Ugh!,Stop! Kindly stop; you are hurting me”. She grumbled while tears started to gather at the brink of her eyes.

"What in the world gives you the right to reject me like that?" His face expressionless said, "What is it?"

Arianna started to get afraid very fast.

She had already broken the mating bond and rendered them strangers, hence there was every chance that this man could harm her now and she stayed silent.

Nothing Loki despised more than not getting a response when he posed a question. Though Arianna's actions were starting to severely irritate him, he tried his best to control his wrath.

"I asked you a question and I need an answer right now." Loki insisted, and Arianna started to shake slightly out of anxiety.

"Well, I.... You didn't want to let me go and I wouldn't want to stay here with you. I deliberately turned it down so you wouldn't have an excuse to keep me here. I apologize if I offended you; but please let me go”. She begged gently.

Though much of his wrath vanished and his heart melted at the sight of her tears, he realized he still had to come up with a plan, or just something that would force her to stay.

"I promise you; it was quite reckless of you to reject the Alpha; I won't enable our mating bond to be broken that easily. I can keep you with me forcefully and force you to become my Luna against your will even after you reject me. Is that what you want? He asked and she nodded no.

" Good. You're lucky. I'm not as merciless as the former Alphas, I'm not one to push a lady into a relationship, hence I'm ready to provide you options. It's an ultimatum basically; if you agree to it, it will be best for you; else, I will just have to keep you with me violently”. He said; she nodded once more.

He grasped her chin and elevated it such that her eyes pointed squarely into his emerald orbs. "I'm going to strike you a deal. Instead of punishing you for rejecting me, I will give you a decision in the matter. You will be living with me in this palace for ninety days; I will make sure you fall in love with me within those ninety days.

You will be the one coming to me, professing your love and begging me to make you mine, To touch you, mate with you and sense the depths of your skin." 

Loki remarked, not looking away from hers or letting her go either.

Although Arianna would be sure not to fall for his stimulating and thrilling comments, she struggled hard not to let her skin get covered with goosebumps.

"And if I don't?" She replied quickly assuming once more a stern and unbroken attitude. He grinned, and the sight of his practically perfect white teeth made her want to grin too.

"You should know that no woman can resist me; that is impossible." He said proudly. "You know, I find that hard to believe given that I not only just resisted but rejected you also." Arianna answered in a fearless manner.

Loki's smile vanished fast and changed to a straight look. "Never ever repeat that again; I will personally punish you." She said nothing, attempting to look away as he cautioned.

"I want you to always look at me when I speak with you." He insisted, and her gaze turned back to his.

"This deal has two sides and I am a man of my words. If I fail to bring you to fall in love with me during the stipulated period, I promise to personally take you back home. I'll make sure you never see my face ever again and I won't get in touch either." Loki spoke deadly, in a dead serious manner.

Arianna started to wonder herself about the cause of her sudden down heart. She should have been delighted; in fact, she would be returning home in three months to make sure she would not let herself fall for his pranks.

Her life would then return to normal, hence she was meant to be glad that she could be returned home. She would then marry Valentin and forget that any of this had happened but somewhere deep within was 

disappointed with the idea of never seeing him once more.

She searched herself for the cause she was experiencing such emotions but came nowhere. Loki gently pinched her on the neck to help her to focus once again.

"What are you daydreams about? Were you even paying attention to what I said?" He questioned.

"Yes, I heard everything you said and I accept your deal but you should start getting ready to return me back home soon because there's no way in the world you could make me fall for you." She answered boldly and Loki smirked slyly.

We will just have to see about that. Loki whispered, then snatched Arianna's lips in a passionate kiss before she had a chance to speculate what he was talking about. 

His actions left her paralyzed; she could neither kiss back or push him away; she only stared wide-eyed and felt the sweet taste of his lips on hers.

He broke the kiss fast, glanced at her one more, then let go of her and left the room without another word.

Arianna was still in amazement as she gently stroked her lips and tried not to flush; she had been kissed by someone else except Valentin and that was bad. She had loved it, yeah, she had liked the way he kissed her since it caused her lower tummy to feel sparks and a tickling feeling. It seemed inappropriate.

She had hardly understood the circumstances when a knock on the door opened and a middle-aged woman came in.