"Kai, are you down here?" she called out as she made her way down the stairs, her arms laden with the box of supplies, but it seemed he hadn't made it down there yet.
He didn't reply and so she looked around, frowning as she dropped the box onto the table and dusted off her hands. Turning at a slight scuff, she found Jaia standing in the doorway to his room in nothing but a pair of pants that hung low on his hips, his hair a wild mess that suggested he had been asleep when she had come down into the basement and had been woken.
"He's not here," Jaia said, his voice low and angry as he looked at her, taking in the form of her in her tight black, uncomfortably low-cut black dress that left much of her skin open to view. It was the only one she would have been glad to see destroyed, and so it was chosen for the task at hand. It was pretty, with elaborate netting at her chest in a mass of delicate strips of fabric with her back covered in elegant lace, but it showed off too much of her skin for her liking.
"Oh," Etani said simply, and she nudged the box away from the edge of the table to ensure it didn't fall off. "It didn't matter, there's more to come down," she said and turned, heading back for the stairs without another glance at him.
He had moved silently, and his warm fingers caught her wrist, drawing her to a stop. Tugging at her arm, he refused to let go, and she turned to look at him, his face angry as she made to retreat without talking to him.
"You can't ignore me forever," he growled, his grip tightening as she tried to tug herself free again.
"Let go of me, Jaia," she whispered.
"No Etani, you need to get over this," he demanded.
Anger flashed in her as she turned on him. "Get over it? Which part would that be Jaia? Your quitting the mission? Your marriage? Your making sure I saw you and her together? Your forcing me to remember you when I made sure I forgot? Which part of that am I supposed to get over?"
He seemed taken aback by her anger but then his eyes narrowed. "All of it. Mistakes were made, and I apologised."
Jerking on her arm, she hissed when he refused to let her go and instead yanked her closer to him, spinning her and pressing her up against the wall.
"Stop being such a brat," he snarled, pinning her wrist in place beside her head.
"A brat? Are you kidding? You're the one who's behaving like a child who had his favourite toy taken off him. You can't have everything in this world, you chose what you wanted and then you get angry when I tried to walk away?"
"You didn't try and walk away, Etani. You made yourself forget me entirely," he bared his teeth at her, furious.
"I tried to forget because you decided to punish me for loving you! Let me go!" She didn't intend to slap him, but the resounding crack of her hand on his face emphasised her last word and his head jerked to the side under the force of the blow.
His eyes flashed crimson, furious as he pulled her from the wall, and she knew she had to get away from him before he could retaliate.
Slamming her foot into his shin, she jerked herself free and took the closest escape she could find, slamming the door shut behind her and snapping the lock into place.
Dancing back from the door, her heart racing, she looked around and realised she had locked herself in his room. It didn't matter which room it was, really. So long as he was on the other side of the door, and she knew Kai would be coming down into the basement before too much longer.
He wasn't strong enough to rip the door off the hinges, and she watched as the handle jerked but the lock stayed in place.
"Open the door, Etani…" his voice was low and lethal, but she shook her head, watching as the handle released.
Tilting her head curiously she had to wonder if he given up already. That was a nice surprise, and she exhaled a breath slowly.
The door slammed open with the sound like lightning striking a tree and she shrieked, his bare foot colliding with the wood a mere inch above the handle, shattering the wooden frame and leaving a hole in the wall where the handle hit it.
He hadn't been that strong before and she felt a thrill of terror as her eyes met his.
He seemed to have gone past the point of being angry and found a calm she had never seen in him before as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, though the wood had been splintered and it no longer latched shut.
His cheek was blazing red as he stared at her, blazing crimson and entirely devoid of emotion, and his calm scared her more than his fury ever had.
"I punished you for loving me," he said in a flat voice.
She swallowed, nodding her agreement.
He moved faster than anyone had the right to, and his fingers curled around her throat, lifting her off her feet. She gripped his wrist, her nails digging into his skin as he turned and threw her bodily across the room.
Her back hit the wall above the headboard, and she dropped onto the bed, wheezing as she struggled to get her breath back even as he approached her.
"You have no idea what love is, Etani," he said softly as his fingers curled in her hair and he dragged her up and onto her knees before him, his eyes trailing down her face to her lips before going further down to her chest. "But I can show you exactly what it is," he breathed.
Using her hair, he forced her backwards onto the bed and she whimpered, squirming to get away with her hair still tight in his grip.
Her hands went to his chest to push him off her and the fingers of his free hand curled tightly around her wrist, jerking her arm behind her and up as far as it would go until she cried out in pain.
Releasing her hair, he caught her other arm, and it too was pushed up painfully high behind her.
He seemed to enjoy her pain, and his eyes scanned her face, taking in every detail before he moved his grip to hold both of her arms in one hand.
"Let me go!" she cried, his response being only a low growl as he traced his lips along her jaw, tasting her skin and shivering in delight.
Panic filled her as she realised too late what his intention was and she shook her head, fear flooding her system. Her mind went blank as she tried to figure out what to do.
Her instinct was to kill, but it was Jaia, she couldn't kill him. As angry as she was, she still loved him, and it would destroy Kai. That left convincing him to stop, and she swallowed hard to get her voice to work again as her mind reeled on what she could say.
"Jaia stop, please," she pleaded, but he ignored her, his breath hot on her skin as he traced his way up to her ear and bit hard with his front teeth as not to damage the delicate skin with his fangs.
"Please, please stop. Jaia, you have to stop. Don't do this to me."
"I love you, Etani," he whispered, "I want to show you."
"If you really love me, you would stop."
He paused and his head lifted, looking down at her for a long moment as he considered that, but she saw the instant he dismissed her words and she whimpered, a broken little sound of fear.
His free hand moved down between them, and he gripped her inner thigh with enough force to bruise her, prying her legs open and he moved between them to keep her from closing them again.
His grip on her wrists tightened, grinding the bones together and his hand moved up to crush the delicate silk of her dress in his fingers.
Lifting it out of his way, he turned his face to hers and his lips came down hard on hers, almost daring her to try to kill him, but she couldn't do it, she couldn't kill him like that and when she didn't, his kiss grew demanding, needy and hot.
"Stop! I don't want this!" she cried against his lips, but he silenced her with the heavy weight of his mouth.
Clenching her jaw, she forced her eyes to the side, silent and enduring.