My eyes flutter up. A fang dangles in front of me. His necklace. I reach up, touching it gently. His gaze is straight ahead, his strong arms engulfing me. It's cold. His estate is, and the area around it. We must be home. I snuggle in a little closer, and he lets me. In the silence, I examine the fang. I think...it's real. But I have never seen an animal with fangs this large.

But then again I've never seen a man as large as him. He's walking through the house now. He doesn't have a lock. He doesn't need one I guess.

God of War.

Anyone coming in is...probably just dead. The estate always smells of roses and the metal his armor is made of. Who planted those roses? He doesn't seem to care much for them, but they look tended to.

We're going through another door. I should probably fake sleep. It's too late though, because he's laying me down on a bed, and my hand is still on his necklace, and suddenly those red eyes are burning into me again. They flit down to my hand and back up to my eyes, and then back down to my breasts. I wish he would stop doing that.

Actually...no I don't.

My ears burn. Oh...his gaze. When he looks at my body does very strange things. I'm undecided whether I love or hate it.

But I feel strongly either way.

His body hovers over mine, my hands still wrapped around that fang. He reaches out, his fingers softly touching my lashes. I close my eyes for a moment. His thumb strokes my lashes, and then my cheeks.

He looks over my face, slowly, between my eyes, then to my lips, back up. Then he pulls away, only pausing when he's stopped by my grip on his necklace. But he's not stopped is he? No. I couldn't stop him. Not unless he wanted to. And then he's looking at my lips again. They heat under his persistent gaze. He raises his brows expectantly.

I don't let go.

His brows dip. He leans in a little closer, his lips hovering over mine. His large hand coaxes mine off his necklace.

"Slade..." I whispered.

He brushed his lips against mine, just barely, making my breath shudder.

"Let go, Monika." He murmurs.

I pull on his necklace again, pressing his lips closer to mine. His hands grab my wrists, pinning them above my head. His hair falls into his eyes. He inhaled, exhaling softly.

"Good night...little wife."

Slade shakes me off with ease.

"I'm well-rested," I whisper.

He frowns. "What do you want from me? Hm?"

I move over a bit. "Will you sleep next to me tonight?"

He clenched his jaw. "Monika...I'm going to ask you a question and then I'm going to leave for tonight. Tomorrow at breakfast I expect an answer."

Slade pauses.

"Do you want to belong to me for all of eternity? You will be my wife. And bear my children, lead my armies, and you will exist until the word war and its meaning ceases to exist."

I open my mouth but he raises his hand, closing his eyes.

"Tomorrow. Breakfast."

• • •

Po is waiting when I open my eyes. "Big day, Madam. Big day. We must make you look perfect."

She lays out a few dresses for me. My focus is shifted. Slade is going to expect an answer from me. I'm sure it should be no. I mean, it would make the most sense.

But...

I pad through the intricate halls, ignoring the clothes and Po's calls for me to slow down and let her fix me up. I run to the dining room, my feet pounding against the stone floors. I swing the door open, and there he sits, waiting. Fingers tented, seated at the edge of the table those eyes burning into me.

"Good morning, Monika."

"What about you?" I huff. "What will you do?"

He leans back, looking over the mess that is me. I'm disheveled, hair haphazard and messy, my nightgown from last night wrinkled from the tossing and turning of sleep.

"I will be your husband and your god. I will take care of you. I will give you my children, I will raise those armies and I will kill anyone and anything that stands in the way of your happiness. I will break you. But I will build you into a goddess. My Goddess."